YOU WERE PERFECT IN YOUR WAYS FROM THE DAY YOU WERE CREATED TILL INIQUITY…
Lucifer was the sum of perfection—till… here is where things began to change. He was perfect until something somehow began to bubble up inside of him. That something was “iniquity.” From this phrase we may conclude at least two things: 1. Lucifer lost his perfection, his entireness, once iniquity was found in him, and 2. It was iniquity itself that caused him to lose that perfection and entireness of character. Hence, iniquity is the culprit here.
Before we fully explore what happened to Lucifer, we must realize that his entire downfall converges onto this one particular word. Iniquity is the reason for his fall; therefore, it is the reason for the war in heaven.
How can we know what iniquity is? We can begin by asking some questions: what does it mean in Hebrew and Greek? How did Jesus use it? What else does the Bible say about it? If we can come to a biblical understanding of this word we will be on the right path to a greater understanding of Lucifer’s rebellion, and we will grasp the true meaning of his Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
INIQUITY—HEBREW
According to Strong’s Dictionary there are ten Hebrew words translated as “iniquity” in the Old Testament. We will list only two of them here:
ʻevel; or ʻâvel; and (feminine) ʻavlâh; or ʻôwlâh; or ʻôlâh; (moral) evil:—iniquity, perverseness, unjust(-ly), unrighteousness(-ly); wicked(-ness).
ʻâvôn; perversity, i.e. (moral) evil:—fault, iniquity, mischief, punishment (of iniquity), sin.
The Hebrew word “evel” is very similar to the English word “evil.” The Complete Word Study defines iniquity as, a masculine singular noun meaning injustice, unrighteousness. The word refers to anything that deviates from the right way of doing things. It is often the direct object of asah… meaning to do… and is in direct contrast to words like righteous… upright…and justice…God has no part with injustice (Complete Word Study).
All ten Hebrew words place “iniquity” in the context of a perversion of morality. Collectively they define iniquity as “moral evil,” “moral distortion” and “moral perverseness;” “to go amiss,” “punishment,” “wicked- ness,” “unrighteousness,” “violation,” “condemnation” and “disturbance.”
There is also an element of “crookedness” to this word. This is the crookedness that Jesus would set straight. John the Baptist quoted Isaiah’s prophecy of the Saviour as one who would do exactly that:
Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough ways smooth, and every flesh shall see the salvation of the Lord (Luke 3:5-6).
Jesus would put things back into their proper place; He would return all that Lucifer had made crooked into its original, correct position. Then we would be able to “see the salvation” of God.
Some of the other words for “iniquity” also carry an added element of “nothing- ness” and “nonexistence.” This is so because iniquity causes those that are thereby deceived to walk into destruction and to go into eternal death, complete annihilation, nonexistence—“in the day you eat of it you shall surely die,” (Genesis 2:17). The Bible calls this “perdition,” and calls those that suffer this end “sons of perdition”—as in the case of Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus. This will be explained in greater detail in another book, soon to be published, on the cross of Christ.
Iniquity then, is a deviation from “the right way of doing things.” We could safely say that “the right way of doing things” is God’s way—not our way or the world’s way, which are both founded upon Satan’s way. God’s way of doing things is the way of righteousness. Thus, iniquity does things that are outside of righteousness, and as such it is in direct conflict with God. Iniquity is entirely opposed to God’s righteousness and justice. In fact, the Bible does often use the word “iniquity” interchangeably with the word “injustice.” Notice the following verses. Speaking of God, they say:
He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and with- out injustice [evel]; righteous and upright is He (Deuteronomy 32:4, emphasis added).
What injustice [evel] have your fathers found in Me, that they have gone far from Me, have followed idols, and have become idolaters (Jeremiah 2:5, emphasis added)?
Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding: far be it from God to do wickedness, and from the Almighty to commit iniquity [evel] (Job 34:10, emphasis added).
First of all, these verses clearly connect iniquity with the issue of justice—this is a legal issue. From these verses also we come to understand that there is a type of “justice” that is actually injustice, and not only that, but downright “wicked- ness.” One also gets the impression that God is cautioning us to beware, lest we think there is any iniquity or injustice in Him. He is telling us that “all His ways are justice” and there is no “injustice” in Him. He is also making sure we know that He does not “do wickedness” or commits “iniquity.”
Why is there a need for God to distance Himself from iniquity? Why does He tell us to make sure we don’t think He commits iniquity? The need is there because we have been confused about this, and because we have made Him out to be a God of iniquity. Once we understand exactly what iniquity is we will see how we have done just that.
If God’s justice, which is aligned with His righteousness, is directly opposed to iniquity which is injustice (an unrighteous justice), then we must make sure that we don’t misinterpret God’s justice, and make it look like the brand of justice which is aligned with iniquity. This will become clearer when we discuss the word “justice” later on.
Interestingly, iniquity is also somehow connected to “partiality,” to “taking of bribes:”
Now therefore, let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take care and do it, for there is no iniquity [evel] with the Lord our God, no partiality, nor taking of bribes” (2 Chronicles 19:7).
As we proceed it will become clear just how iniquity is related to bribes.
Once, while talking to the Pharisees who already had designs of taking His life, Jesus said:
You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it (John 8:44, emphasis added).
What “beginning” was Jesus referring to? Wasn’t it that initial rebellious thought that gripped Lucifer’s mind—the iniquity that was found in him? And if so, how was he a murderer when he had not yet killed anyone? Could it be that he was a murderer because in the iniquity found in him was em- bedded a death principle, a moral law that leads one towards death?
INIQUITY—GREEK
In the New Testament there are three Greek words for “iniquity.” They are paranomia, which means “transgression,” adikia, which means “injustice,” and anomia, which means “illegality.” Like in Hebrew, these Greek words exist in the context of law as well as morality. They further mean “lawlessness,” “violation of law,” “illegality,” “transgression of law,” “injustice,” “opposition to law” as well as “moral wrongfulness.”
As we contemplate these definitions we must understand them in relation to God’s law of life, the law of agape love. Lawlessness, for example, does not mean “lack of law;” it means a lack of God’s law. The Man of Sin, the Lawless One (2 Thessalo- nians 2:9), does not do away with God’s law; he changes the law to suit his purposes.
Likewise, iniquity is an impostor, a new law, a spin-off on God’s law that promotes itself as being the real thing. As such, it overrides God’s law in our minds, and as a consequence it causes us to transgress the true law. Consider the following verse:
Shall the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law, have fellowship with You (Psalm 94:20)?
We will discuss this verse in more detail later on, but the idea here is that iniquity “devises evil by law.” Iniquity is injustice embedded in a law that passes itself off as “justice,” and thus it deceives us.
INIQUITY—AS DEFINED BY JESUS
Paul states that Jesus is the wisdom from God:
But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God (1 Corinthians 1:30)
Jesus, then, can give us great insight into this extremely foundational concept called “iniquity.” How did He use and define this word?
Jesus used the word “iniquity” only four times, as listed below. As we go through these verses please keep in mind that it was Lucifer that originated “iniquity” — it was “found in him.” Iniquity was the original thought that arose in his mind as he turned away from God’s moral law of agape love.
a. FALSE PROPHETS—MATTHEW 7:15-23
The first time Jesus uses the word “iniquity” was when He warned His disciples to “beware of false prophets:”
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness [WORKERS OF INIQUITY, KJV] (Matthew 7:15-23, emphasis added)!’
What are these verses telling us about iniquity? First, we can see that iniquity is the moral law of false prophets. We must be wary of them because they appear good on the outside; they come in “sheep’s clothing.” Inside, however, they are ferocious and violent as wolves. Already we can see that they operate by a contrary duality; they do not have singleness of character.
Iniquity is closely intertwined with violence, as we shall soon see. Eventually false prophets reveal who they really are by their violent actions, “their fruit.” Notice the following about the “workers of iniquity:”
Those who claim modern sanctification would have come boastingly forward, saying, “Lord, Lord, do you not know us? Have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works?” The people here described, who make these pretentious claims, apparently weaving Jesus into all their doings, fitly represent those who claim modern sanctification, but who are at war with the law of God. Christ calls them workers of iniquity, because they are deceivers, having on the garments of righteousness to hide the deformity of their characters, the inward wickedness of their unholy hearts. Satan has come down in these last days, to work with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish. His satanic majesty works miracles in the sight of false prophets, in the sight of men, claiming that he is indeed Christ Himself. Satan gives his power to those who are aiding him in his deceptions; therefore those who claim to have the great power of God can only be discerned by the great detector, the law of Jehovah. The Lord tells us if it were possible they would deceive the very elect. The sheep’s clothing seems so real, so genuine, that the wolf cannot be discerned only as we go to God’s great moral standard and there find that they are transgressors of the law of Jehovah (The Review and Herald, August 25, 1885) – {5BC 1087.8, emphasis added}.
Again, the one thing that jumps out at us after reading this quote is the fact that the “workers of iniquity” are two-faced—they do not have the singleness of character that the spotless Lamb does. They claim sanctification but are “at war with the law of God.” They have on the “garments of righteousness to hide the deformity of their characters, the inward wickedness of their unholy hearts.” They are a mixture—on the outside they appear to be like sheep, but on the inside they are ravening wolves. They are impure—corrupt. Because they are so deceptive, there is only one way to know whether they are of God or not—they “can only be discerned by the great detector, the law of Jehovah.” Only by going to “God’s great moral standard” can we know whether they are of God or not. If we “find that they are transgressors of the law of Jehovah” then they are filled with iniquity and are definitely false prophets.
Jesus says these false prophets are themselves deceived, because they believe they are worshipping God and doing His will, when in fact they are doing the will of the Devil and being empowered by him. How did they come to be so deceived?
Could it be that the false prophets mentioned in Jesus’ parable are deceived by the very works they do? After all, they prophesy, cast out de- mons and do wonderful works! Aren’t these works “good?” And yet Jesus is clear: these works are not done in the name of the true God. Inwardly, these false prophets are ravenous wolves, not sheep, and it cannot be that God is behind their miracles because God is not a ferocious wolf.
It is very interesting that Jesus points us to a Tree—a corrupt Tree.
Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them (Matthew 7:17-19, emphasis added).
Think of the two Trees in the midst of the Garden of Eden for a moment. There was a good Tree there—the Tree of Life. This Tree bore only good fruit—life. Thus, it was a good Tree. Deuteronomy 30:15 defines for us what good and evil are:
Behold! I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil.
According to this definition, life equals good, and death equals evil. The other Tree—the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is a puzzle because it is the Tree of the Knowledge of both Good and Evil. If we fol- low Jesus’ and Deuteronomy’s criteria, this Tree cannot be a good Tree, because it bears a bad fruit—death. But if this is a bad Tree, then how does it have both Good and Evil in it?—“Nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.” What is going on here? How do we solve this conundrum?
The answer is: this Tree is a corrupt Tree. As such, its claim of goodness is false. This Tree is a wolf clothed in sheep’s skin. If the Tree is corrupt its fruit will also be corrupt, and it is. This Tree is a mixture of Good and Evil, but its pretense of Good is a lie. This Tree has a contrary duality, a “double-mindedness;” it does not have that singleness that is characteristic of Christ. Thus the root problem of the false prophets is that they are just like this Tree: they are dualistic. Their moral law is not God’s pure law of agape love; their morality is corrupt, just as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is corrupt. This corruption has no common ground with Jesus, therefore any union with Him and this Tree is absolutely impossible.
b. THE WHEAT AND THE TARES
The next time Jesus uses the word “iniquity” is in Matthew 13:24-30. This is the parable of the wheat and tares. The tares, which look deceptively like the wheat, grow together with the wheat, but they were sown by the enemy, the Devil:
Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn’” (Matthew 13:24-30).
Jesus explains the parable in verses 36-43:
Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawless- ness [INIQUITY, KJV], and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 13:36-43)!
He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. What seeds did Jesus sow when He was on earth? He sowed the seeds of the eternal gospel, the good news about the eternal Father—these are seeds of the Tree of Life. This was the truth about His Father’s singleness of character—His eternal unconditional, impartial love for every human being.
Jesus came to magnify the law Lucifer had thrown to the ground. He came to de- stroy death, which the kingdom of iniquity had forced upon us. The “seed” Jesus sowed is the news that God is love, grace, and mercy and that we are His beloved children.
Like the wolves in sheep’s clothing, the tares appear to be true, but are not. Here is deception again. Both onlookers and tares are deceived. We cannot tell them apart, and Jesus cautions us to not even attempt to separate them. We are not able to discern the true worshippers of God from the false, because only God sees the heart. Eventually, all things that offend and that do “iniquity” will be rooted out of His kingdom at the time of “harvest”—“the end of the age.”
c. THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
The third time Jesus uses the word iniquity is in the Book of Matthew. This is His famous rebuke of the Pharisees, who appeared beautiful on the outside, but inside were “full of dead men’s bones” and all uncleanness—a reference to death, which is caused by Satan’s death principle represented by the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He prefaces His rebuke by saying in verses 1-10:
Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore, whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the bor- ders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the syna- gogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:1-12).
Jesus points precisely to the root of their problem – iniquity:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like white- washed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawless- ness” [INIQUITY, KJV] (Matthew 23:28, emphasis added).
According to Strong’s Concordance a hupokritēs is a “an actor under an assumed character (stage player), that is, (figuratively) a dissembler.” A hypocrite is false, two-faced. He appears to be something that he isn’t and for this reason he cannot be trusted.
These so-called followers of God have two added characteristics that reveal who they really are: they “impose heavy burdens” on the people and everything they do is “to be seen by men.”
What were the heavy burdens the Pharisees imposed on the people? Were they not the multitude of conditions, which they claimed had to be met before one could find the favour of God? They promoted a system of works that supposedly led to salvation. These works of iniquity are the same doctrines with which Satan has been oppressing the world for millennia. He is the chief oppressor, as described in the Book of Isaiah:
…How the oppressor has ceased, the golden city ceased! The Lord has bro- ken the staff [THE LAW] of the wicked, the scepter [THE LAW] of the rulers; he who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he who ruled [WITH A LAW] the nations in anger… (Isaiah 14:4-6, emphasis added).
By contrast, Jesus’ burden, His love, is light, not heavy.
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Everything the false teachers do is done in the spirit of pride, “to be seen by men.” This is a characteristic peculiar to the iniquity that arose in Lucifer, and is related to the “bribe” component of iniquity, which creates a hierarchy system. Again, we will discuss this in greater detail later on.
These false teachers just love display, and like to be called teachers, spiritual leaders. They revel in the fact that they have a following, that their name is a household one. They call attention to their own good works and wisdom instead of pointing the people to the real source of wisdom, Jesus Christ, “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Since they leave Christ out of the picture, they can’t help but to be full of hypocrisy and iniquity, because that is the default of the world.
Jesus taught that we are to do all our good works in anonymity, away from the praise of men. Again, deception is the sad state of these false believers; they think they are following God but aren’t.
d. MATTHEW 24—THE END OF THE WORLD
The fourth and last time Jesus used the word iniquity is in Matthew 24, where again He warned against the deception of false prophets, saying,
…many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness [INIQUITY, KJV] will abound, the love [AGAPE] of many will grow cold (Matthew 24:11-12; emphasis added).
“False prophets…” “deceive many…” Have you noticed how “deception” is the common denominator between all these verses? It seems that everyone involved is deceived—including the wolves and false prophets themselves. Jesus is teaching us how we can see through the deception. Only He can take this deception away from us—without Him we are hopelessly misled.
But why is iniquity so deceptive? Because iniquity appears to be right, it seems the right thing to do, the right thing to think, the right thing to believe. In fact, iniquity appears to be wisdom personified, and it is in fact a type of wisdom—but it is the wisdom of Satan. And because it is peddled off as wisdom, it has an awesome power to deceive.
Solomon addressed this phenomenon succinctly in the Book of Proverbs:
There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (Proverbs 14:12, KJV).
So rooted is iniquity in the human psyche that its deceptive power stays strong till the very end of earth’s history, according to Matthew 24. But as right as iniquity appears to be, it is not love, it is not mercy. In fact, Jesus said that because iniquity would “abound” the love (agape) of many would grow cold. Thus iniquity also has an amazing ability to neutralize agape love, if we allow it. Jesus indicated that iniquity would especially thrive in the last days. This means that deception would also abound.
So let’s look at the overall picture here. If we analyze these four passages, we see that each time Jesus used the word “iniquity” it was in the context of deception—in particular among the professed followers of God. When we consider that even a third of the angels were deceived by Satan’s principle of iniquity, we realize how powerful this principle can be.
Each deceived believer in the verses we looked at had a false façade: what appeared to be sheep were really wolves, what appeared to be wheat was really tares, what appeared to be true prophets were really false prophets. These all appeared to be something that they were not. They appeared to be good—even did wonderful works—but were fundamentally evil, “workers of iniquity.”
It seems also significant that even though iniquity is rampant in the whole world, Jesus addressed only God’s followers. From this, one would conclude that iniquity appears to thrive especially in religion, or at least in false, or counterfeit religion.
So, if we combine the Hebrew and Greek definitions along with Jesus’ usage of the word “iniquity” we may conclude that:
1. Iniquity has to do with morality: it is moral evil, moral distortion and moral perverseness.
2. Iniquity can mean “to go amiss”.
3. Iniquity is wickedness, unrighteousness.
4. Iniquity involves punishment and condemnation.
5. Iniquity is lawlessness, violation of law, illegality, transgression of law.
6. Iniquity is injustice, opposition to law as well as moral wrongfulness.
7.Iniquity is crookedness, distortion, transgression, a perversion of God’s moral law.
8. Iniquity is extremely deceptive, deceiving not only the onlooker but the actor as well.
9. Iniquity appears to be good, the right thing to think and do.
10. Iniquity imposes heavy burdens upon mankind—a works oriented system of salvation.
11. Iniquity causes people to be two-faced, hypocritical.
12. Iniquity is filled with pride (works to be seen by men).
13. Iniquity destroys agape love (the love of many shall grow cold). 14. Iniquity involves corruption (it is not pure).
15. Iniquity involves violence (ravening wolves).
16. Those that practice iniquity were “sown” by the enemy, Satan. 17. Iniquity will “abound” in the last days.
18. Iniquity leads to nothingness, death.
19. Iniquity will be rooted out at the end of the great controversy. 20. Iniquity involves partiality.
21. Iniquity involves bribes.
These definitions must all be understood within the context of God’s law. For instance, iniquity is a moral distortion of God’s law, which makes it morally perverse. Iniquity goes amiss from God’s law of love. While it boasts to be good, iniquity is really wickedness, unrighteousness according to God’s law—it is a violation of God’s principles of righteousness. Iniquity promotes punishment and condemnation, which are contrary to God’s law of love. It is “lawlessness,” meaning that it is completely devoid of God’s law or of the spirit of God’s law. It is a violation of the law of agape love. This is why iniquity is “lawlessness”—because it is a transgression of the law of God. While iniquity boasts of great justice, in God’s book its justice is actually injustice, because its justice is in opposition to God’s law of mercy; thus, iniquity’s type of morality is actually moral wrongfulness according to God’s law.
This is why iniquity is crookedness; it is a distortion, a transgression, a per- version of God’s moral law. For all these reasons, iniquity is extremely deceptive. It appears to be good, it appears to be the right thing to think and do but it imposes heavy burdens upon mankind and distances us from God.
What is iniquity then? It is a moral law—Satan’s moral law, which is a perversion of God’s law. Because it is a moral law, iniquity is extremely deceptive. Aren’t we all morally inclined? Don’t we all think that our morality stems from God? But what if our morality doesn’t come from God? What if our inner sense of what is right and wrong is based on Satan’s deceptions? What if we are living by Satan’s moral law? Has the very thing we consider “good” and “wise” deceived us?
There are ways we can put our morality to the test. Are we involved in imposing heavy burdens upon man? Do we stress works over love and mercy? Are our hearts filled with love, or with an obsession with what is right? Are we double-faced? Are we good to some and mean to others, whom we con- sider to deserve our contempt? Do we love our enemies or do we hate them? Are we good to the good and the evil, as our heavenly Father is, or are we good to the good and evil to the evil, as Mercurius, the alchemical spirit is? Do we use or condone violence in the name of what is ostensibly right, in the name of good? Do we condemn others? And if so, do we believe they deserve to be punished? Do we believe that violence and meanness is the way to correct evil behaviour or that love is a better solution? Are we partial? Are we proud? Do we take bribes? Do we do good in order to receive a reward?
…WAS FOUND IN YOU.
It is extremely important to realize that iniquity was “found in” Lucifer. The Hebrew word for found is mâtsâ, which means, “to come forth to, i.e. appear or exist” (Strong’s Concordance). This indicates that iniquity had its beginning in Lucifer and in him only, not in God.
Iniquity first began as a thought in Lucifer’s mind. In its embryonic stage, his turning away from God began in the form of a questioning thought, which, as time progressed, developed into full-blown rebellion. All the actions that followed his thoughts were indeed sinful, but the iniquity that was first found in him was at first just a thought. His subsequent evil actions were simply reactions to what had first begun in his thought processes. His actions were the physical manifestation of those thoughts.
This means that initially, iniquity did not demonstrate itself outwardly, empirically. For this reason, it could not at first reveal its full depravity. Its enormous potential for evil and calamity could not yet be fully observable by the angels or even by Lucifer himself.
The principle that one’s thoughts precede and in fact predict one’s actions is laid out in Proverbs 23:7: “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” Jesus also con- firmed this principle when He said that even lusting in one’s heart is adultery:
You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:27-28).
It is extremely important that we realize that iniquity began in Lucifer and in him only—why? Because he has deceived us, leading us to believe that the principles of “iniquity” are principles that God Himself uses. As we research further into the meaning of Lucifer’s moral law, we will see just the extent of his deception in making us think that God uses the moral law of iniquity.