Why California? Why San Francisco? Why Now? (Part 1)

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

Because our minds are limited by space-time continuum thinking, it’s hard to wrap our minds around the simple truth that God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit never had a beginning. They always were and always will be.

This simple truth is the foundation for all of our Christian faith and belief in God. It is one which cannot be partially accepted, but must be believed in whole, in order for us to have a vibrant faith in God. Anything less than 100% on this truth will create doubts which will limit the works of God in our lives.

Okay, assuming we all accept this simple truth,  how did God create the heavens and the earth?

Then God said, “Let there be light; and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3)

For years, I figured God spoke His words, wiggled His nose, much like Samantha on Bewitchedand then presto,  light and all the rest of creation appeared on the scene. But there are other scriptures which give us a clearer glimpse of how God created the heavens and earth.

Bless the LORD, you His angels, mighty in strength, who perform His word, obeying the voice of His word! (Psalm 103:20)

Our English word angel is translated from the Hebrew word malak which actually means messenger, representative, or deputy. Therefore  God has deputy helpers who perform His words, including the creation of our world.

The Bible gives the names for three angels: Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer.

Gabriel (strength of God or warrior of God) is an archangel who was sent as a messenger with important messages for  humans, such as Daniel, Zacharias (John the Baptist’s father), and Mary.

Michael (who is like God) is a chief archangel, a protector of Israel, and the leader of God’s heavenly angel army.

Lucifer (light bearer or morning star) was also a chief archangel.  In Jude 9, Michael still respected Lucifer’s high level of authority, even though he had fallen and was now known as Satan.

Okay, now let’s do some digging.

For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. (Hebrews 2:5)

For whatever reasons, God set up our present world to be in subjection to angels or under an angelic governmental system. God created this system to be obedient to His words, but obviously, angels, like humans, have a free will. The system was eventually corrupted with Adam’s fall.

Yet, God being true to His own system had the Law brought to man under the direction of angels.

Now, the idea of creating man and man’s home here on earth was always in God’s heart. It was His highest priority as He longed to share His love and fellowship with other beings. And it’s only natural to assume that His angels all knew about the importance of earth and how a being called man would eventually fit into God’s plan for His kingdom on earth.

So, who did God choose to be His chief angel over earth?

You [Satan] were in Eden, the garden of God… (Ezekiel 28:13)

You [Satan] were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. (Ezekiel 28:14)

Eden, the garden of God, and the holy mountain of God were on earth, not in heaven. Thus, it’s my belief that Lucifer (Satan) was chosen by God to be the head angel, or His chief ambassador, here on earth. Satan was actually created to be man’s helper and a minister to us humans, not our accuser and destroyer.

But because Lucifer (Satan) was proud of his authority over earth, he wanted to exalt his throne over all of all the other angels and to be like the Most High God. Then because of Satan’s iniquity, war broke out in heaven. Michael and the good angels drove Satan and his horde (a third of all the angels) out of heaven.

And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (Revelation 12:9)

Who were Satan’s angels?

Most likely, Satan’s angels were those he had authority over here on earth, his underlings. Later, Paul referred to a part of Satan’s fallen angel horde as principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this age, spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Keep in mind that Satan is not a creator. He is a liar, a deceiver, and a usurper of God’s creation and His plans.

Thus, when Eve was deceived and Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, God’s authority to rule on earth passed from man to the fallen angel, Satan. He became the god of this world.

And because Satan had authority on earth and in the heavens surrounding earth, Satan’s angels replaced God’s angels in the spiritual governmental system reigning over earth. Satan’s angels were already trained to do exactly that, but instead of obeying God, these fallen angels now obeyed the father of lies,  Satan.

The bad news is that we are stuck with this corrupted angelic system until Jesus returns. But the good news is that we have a new spiritual governmental system on earth, not subjected to angels. It is the Kingdom of God.

Are you scratching your heads and wondering what this has to do with California and San Francisco?

(Continued in Part 2)

11 Comments

Filed under Christianity

11 responses to “Why California? Why San Francisco? Why Now? (Part 1)

  1. Catholic Glasses

    Actually Saint Raphael is an Archangel who was sent by God – who is the only one who can Govern the Heavens and Earth. St Raphael accompanied Tobias (Tobit) on his journey for a wife.

    A theologian told me the Angels only had One Choice: serve God or not. Lucifer and a 1/3 of the Angels, in heaven said, “Non serviant!” or “I will not serve!” St Michael led 2/3 of the good Angels to drive Satan and the bad Angels out of Heaven. This Catholic Theologian said, “Angels have a fixed will, once they chose.” You are wrong to say angels govern. They are messengers from God who governs. They guide us to God by demanding we obey Him. However, we are free to obey or not. Our degree of freedom lessens, with every sin we commit. Read St Thomas’ Summa contra Gentiles or Summa Theologica, or St Augustine’s works. Both are excellent theologians to this day. For All Truth is “Evergreen.”

  2. Another cliffhanger? I can’t stand it.

  3. Catholic Glasses,

    Thanks for your insights into different points of view.

    To be honest, I had to do some research to figure out who St. Raphael and Tobias were. They are included in the Book of Tobit, a book considered canon by the Roman Catholic Church.

    As you probably have figured, I only used the books of the Bible considered canon by Protestants (39 books in the OT and 27 books in the NT).

    On this point, we’ll probably disagree.

    “..You are wrong to say angels govern…”

    Using Hebrews 2:5 and 2 Cor. 4:4, I believe I can make a strong case that Satan and his angels are the spiritual rulers over earth at this moment and will stay in power until Jesus returns.

    The war in heaven and the continued spiritual battles of today are fought for one reason: to control the governmental system over man. Satan wants to rule man and thereby frustrate the plans of God for His kingdom on earth.

  4. Naphtali,

    Thanks. I, too, can’t stand it.

  5. Larry, it was completely clear to me what this has to do with California and San Francisco. 😉 Okay, okay .. .you got me. Will stay tuned and find out! God bless you as you study His word and listen to His voice.

  6. Debbie,

    Thanks. Like the author, James Michener, I want to lay some foundation for later.

  7. “But the good news is that we have a new spiritual governmental system on earth, not subjected to angels. It is the Kingdom of God.”

    Larry, to think I was subjected to those demons & devils for nearly 40 years … how awesome the love, mercy & compassion of God that they’re now subjected to us ‘born-againers’ in Jesus’ name 1 Thessalonians 1:5.

    Looking forward to the next episode!

  8. rogerw,

    Thanks. I became a member of the Kingdom at age 39 and I’m still learning how to be a son of a great King.

  9. You did a very good job here explaining angels…As far as Cali and SF, ones mind can guess, but I will wait and see:) Blessings Darrell

  10. darrellcreswell,

    Thanks. We too often look only at the natural rather than looking at the spiritual causes of problems in our nation. Hopefully, this will open our eyes.

  11. Pingback: Why California? Why San Francisco? Why Now? (Conclusion) | Larry Who

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s