Ezekiel 28:16 records your great wealth filled you with internal turmoil, and you sinned. Therefore, I cast you out of the mountain of God like a common sinner. I destroyed you, O Guardian Angel, from the midst of the stones of fire.

What the Christian Church understands about the devil comes mainly from this section of Scripture. Since the Bible is God’s recorded works, will and ways little is mentioned of His enemy but enough information is given to help us avoid the pitfalls he seeks to lead people into. Satan was a created being as men are and as such all that he had came from God.

The fact that he was blessed with great wealth was God’s choice but it lead to his rebellion against God.

The devil’s wealth came in three areas: first, he was wealthy in beauty. Our culture is absorbed in the pursuit of beauty, perfect health and body. This pursuit is not new to humanity but its source is not God. The most beautiful of all is God Himself, when we pursue health and beauty above God Himself we are placing ourselves in the same camp as the devil.

Second, the devil was wise. Another cultural idol is intelligence or education. Again, learning is good but the learned have a propensity to dismiss the Word of God finding themselves suddenly smarter than He Whose foolishness is wiser than the wisest of men. We must guard against becoming too smart to take God literally at His Word.

Finally, the devil was wealthy in money. He offered the wealth of the world to Jesus Who quickly dismissed his temptation by His commitment to worship God alone. The desire to be rich has led many astray from the works and will of God. Making money our pursuit above God Himself puts us in the devil’s camp.

The secret to being successful against all these things is to find Jesus the most beautiful of all, Jesus the Wisdom of God and Jesus our greatest treasure.

Make the pursuit of Jesus your greatest effort and you will keep yourself from being lumped into the enemy’s camp.