Ezekiel 28:17 – “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.”
If it is true that this passage (above) is speaking directly of the devil, we can see how he deceived Eve. But even if it is not speaking directly of the devil, we can still see the pattern of pride which comes from the devil. Pride starts with the heart being lifted up because of something in the person or something desired. Any wisdom or reason that the person has is then corrupted by that. The devil was the first being to sin that we know about. He led the fall of the angels and then deceived Eve. His pattern in deceiving others is according to the pattern in Ezekiel 28:17. He deceives the human being into thinking something about themselves and their heart is lifted up in pride. Once that happens, their wisdom is corrupted and they are easily led into sin. We can see that pattern in Genesis 3:1-6.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden ‘?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate (Genesis 3:1-6).
The serpent was indeed crafty, but his wisdom was now corrupted. Instead of using his wisdom to do all to the glory of God he used his wisdom to deceive human beings into sin. He began by questioning the character of God to Eve. The evil one told her that God was not telling her the truth but that God just didn’t want her to be like God. This is the original promise of the devil that so many have bought today. It was the promise to be like God. Eve desired the fruit of the tree to make her wise which is to say that she desired to be wise like God. We can see the pattern of the devil here. He deceived the woman into thinking that she could be like God and so her heart was lifted up in pride. With her thinking corrupted because of that pride she desired to have the wisdom of God. The moment a person desires to be like God that person has bought into a lie and it is a horrible pride that would desire that. Little do people see that behind every sin there lurks a darkened wisdom in the person playing God to self.
We see this pattern in the writings of John: “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world” (I John 2:15-16). The world is defined in some way by John as being full of the lust of the flesh and of the eyes. It is also full of the boastful pride of life. Eve saw that the food was good for food (lust of the flesh) and that it was a delight to the eyes (lust of the eyes). The reason that it was a delight to the eyes is what she thought it would do for her. Her desire to have the wisdom that it would give was in effect the desire to be like God. That is the boastful pride of life. All of these things are not from the Father, but are from the world.
We can see from Ephesians 2:1-3 where the world and its patterns of life come from. “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” The course of the world is according to the prince of the power of the air. The prince of the power of the air is the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. They live according to the lusts of the flesh and indulge the desires of the flesh and of the mind. That is precisely the pattern we see in I John 2:15-16, Genesis 3:1-6, and then Ezekiel 28:17. All of these texts show us that sin starts with pride which corrupts the way we think which leads human beings to live as their own gods. The horrifying nature of pride is set out for us. Pride has its source in the devil and is always in rebellion against God. Pride exalts self and desires to be like God which blinds the soul to true wisdom and reason. This is the work of the deceiver. The person that lives by pride is really just repeating the sin of the devil as he works in them. How we need brokenness and grace.
God Loves... Himself 
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