The Harp of God | Page 9

by which he was to be governed while in Eden? ? 33.
Describe the creation of Eve. ? 34.
By obeying God's law, how long could Adam and Eve have lived in Eden? ? 34.
A star is used in the Scriptures to symbolize what? ? 35.
What is the meaning of the Scriptural term "bright and morning star"? ? 35.
Who is the most highly honored one in the divine realm? ? 35.
Who is the devil or Satan? and who made him? ? 36.
What was his original name? ? 36.
How does the prophet Ezekiel describe Lucifer? ? 36.
What other beings in heaven are called sons of God? ? 37.
When God created man, what was the effect upon the host of heaven who observed the creation? ? 37.
What is the first string upon the divine harp? ? 38.
Does the revelation of this string cause rejoicing? and if so, by whom? ? 38.
Who is light and without darkness? ? 38.
Has God ever created an imperfect creature? ? 38.
What is the disposition of God's creatures while in harmony with him? ? 38.
What was the condition in Eden when man was created? ? 38.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER III
String 2: Justice Manifested
One of the divine attributes is justice. "Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne." (Psalm 89:14) Divine wisdom devised the great divine program or plan. Divine justice must perform its part in harmony with the other divine attributes. God's law must be unchangeable. Being unchangeable, his creatures can have absolute confidence and faith in him, that he always does exactly as he says. A violation of Jehovah's law must be followed by punishment in the exercise of justice. The prerogative of justice is to see that the law is enforced. The manifestation of justice magnifies the name and the dignity of Jehovah. Without the manifestation of justice it would have been impossible for Jehovah so fully to manifest his love toward man in providing for his redemption and subsequent blessing. When one understands the office of justice and why it was manifested, he rejoices. A failure to understand and appreciate the divine attributes makes it impossible for one properly to appreciate Jehovah's goodness and loving kindness to mankind. Jehovah is too good to be unjust. He is too wise to make a mistake; he is too loving to be unkind; and his power is always exercised in such a way that ultimate good may result.
[40]The manifestation of justice is one of the strings upon the harp of God; but we must see and appreciate it in order to understand the beauty and harmony it brings when used in connection with the other springs.
[41]Good and evil are antagonistic principles or rules of action. Good is the law or rule of action by which God is always governed. Evil becomes active only when some creature of Jehovah violates his law. God made man a free moral agent. He did not compel him to do or not to do certain things. He told man that if he did certain things he would be blessed; and that if he did other things contrary to divine law he would suffer punishment; and the punishment prescribed was death. Mother Eve was deceived by Satan, the devil, and thereby induced to violate the law of God. Father Adam, seeing that his companion and helpmate had violated the law and judging that she must die, preferred to join her in the transgression and die with her. (1 Timothy 2:14) It will be of interest here to examine the circumstances leading up to the violation of the law of God and to see why his justice toward man was manifested in sentencing him to death.
[42]All dominion rightly belongs to Jehovah. He had given man dominion over the things of earth. Lucifer observed Adam and Eve, the perfect ones, in Eden; and knowing that they were endowed with authority from Jehovah to multiply and fill the earth, he conceived the thought in his own heart or mind that he should have a dominion of his own, and that he could have this by separating man from God and by inducing him to come under his (Satan's) dominion. The prophet Isaiah gives us some light upon this subject when he says: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit"--Isaiah 14:12-15.
[43]Thus we see that Satan had