Chapter 4
Heaven is Changing
When we arrive at the tree of life, Jesus is walking towards us.
He smiles and greets us lovingly. ‘Good morning dear children.’
‘Hello Jesus’, we all reply. ‘Are we going to the diamond room again?’
‘No, we are going to a garden.’
We begin walking – past the mansions, past angels happily working in the gardens. Others are playing harps. Heaven is a happy place. We wave as we pass and the angels wave back with smiles on their lovely faces.
Soon we arrive at a garden with lots of magnificent flowers.
‘Oooooh, this is lovely’, exclaims Jeannette.
Summer looks closely at one of the flowers. ‘It has such delicate colours.
What kind of flower are they?’
Jesus tells us they are beautiful begonias.
We sit on the grass and Jesus continues the story of Lucifer’s fall.
He reminds us that the Father and His Son did everything they could to help Lucifer, but nothing made any difference. He was determined to take the Son’s place on the throne.
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The angelic host is confused. What is going on? Why is there such confusion?
They do not understand.
One day an announcement is broadcast to the whole universe that every angel must be at the great hall in three hours.
Artist: Nancy Hamilton-Myers
No one is to miss this meeting.
Angels immediately stop what they are doing and prepare to go to heaven’s grand hall. Some are far away on distant galaxies, so they begin at once to wing their way to the holy city. Angels travel very fast and every angel will attend.
At the appointed time hundreds of thousands of angels are seated in the hall. All is quiet. Each angel is wondering why they have been called together so suddenly.
Could it be about the confusion? Will they understand after the meeting?
The Father begins to speak.
‘Angels, you have been called to this meeting for a very special purpose --- to give honour to My beloved Son.’ .
All over the hall angels smile and nod their heads with happy approval. God’s Son is their loving Commander and they are delighted to give Him honour.
The Father continues. ‘My Son Michael is begotten of His Father. He is not a created Son. You my dear children are created sons.
My Son has the same divine nature as His Father. We share the throne together. My Son alone fulfills My will in all parts of the universe. In the heavenly courts, everything goes through the beloved Son, including the life of each one of you dear angels. It is through My Son that you are alive and sit here today. You live because of the Son.’
Every angel listens intently as the Father continues speaking of His beloved Son.
‘Only the Son can fully enter into My plans and purposes. He will use His divine power in the creation of the earth and man upon it.’
The angels are happy for their beloved Commander and excited that creation of the new world might begin soon. Lucifer cringes when he hears mention of the new world, but keeps a smile on his face. Inside he is struggling with his feelings.
The Father then says, ‘Every angel is to regard the Son with equal authority to the Father. In obeying Michael your Commander, you are obeying Me.’
Again Lucifer cringes in his seat – an absolute ruler is not what he wants.
When the Father finishes speaking, every angel in the vast assembly bows before the throne. Lucifer bows with them, but there are conflicting emotions in his heart. Should he be loyal to God or should he continue his desire to be the supreme ruler? He feels God’s love and wants to surrender, but pride holds him back.
As the angels return to their occupations, Lucifer walks alone in the glittering halls. He catches a glimpse of his form in the mirror-like walls and his jealous thoughts return.
I am beautiful, he says to himself.
I want the Son’s power.
I will not submit to an absolute ruler.
I will be the supreme ruler in heaven.
I will sit on the throne of God.
Lucifer’s decision is made, and he immediately seeks out his friends.
‘Toga, why should the Son be exalted over me? I should have equal authority’, he says to his friend.
‘Lucifer!’ replies the angel, rather shocked. ‘What are you saying?’
‘I mean it Toga. Why should the Son be above me?’
‘My friend’, says Toga, ‘you know our Commander is God’s Son. That gives Him authority over you.’
‘But I am a son too’, adds the rebellious angel. ‘Why should He be honoured over Lucifer?’
Somewhat frustrated Togo replies, ‘Because you are created and He is begotten, that’s why.’
‘Toga, I thought you were my friend’, snaps Lucifer.
‘I am your friend, but you are being unreasonable.’
Lucifer walks off angry that he has received a rebuke.
Toga stands watching him. What has happened to the leading angel? He seems so different.
Lucifer is determined to go ahead. Now that he has made his first complaint about the Son’s supremacy, he cannot go back. But, ‘I need to be more careful’, he says to himself. ‘I need to keep the angels confused so they won’t know who to blame.’
Soon he sees another friend. ‘Dani, can I talk to you?’
‘Sure, what’s on your mind Lucifer?’
‘Dani, don’t you think I should also be honoured with God’s Son?’ he enquires.
‘Oh I don’t know Lucifer’, says Dani.
‘Well I am a son too.’
‘Yes, we are all sons’, replies Dani, ‘but Michael our Commander is begotten of His Father.’
‘Oh yes, that’s true. Thanks Dani, I appreciate your help.’
Gradually Lucifer has spoken to many angels in a subtle manner, and once again there is confusion.
‘Betil, what is happening?’ wonders Meilon.
‘I really don’t know my friend’, he replies.
Toga gives a suggestion to his friends. ‘We need to honour Lucifer though.’
‘Yes, Toga’, hesitates Caph, ‘but it seems very strange that Lucifer wants to be honoured above the Son.
Soon Yami arrives and looking at everyone he states, ‘I think we need to think about what Lucifer is saying. He might be right.’
‘Yami, how can you say that?’ protests Meilon.
Yosfi wonders. ‘We’ve always trusted Lucifer and it is difficult not to trust him, and yet I wonder if he can be trusted.’
Yami repeats Toga’s words. ‘Yes, we must trust him. He is our leader.’
Caph’s mind is in greater confusion, and he stammers, ‘We just don’t know what is going on. It is all so confusing.’
‘I agree’, adds Betil.
Meilon tries to clear the air. ‘I don’t think anyone is saying we should not trust Lucifer.’
Yosfi agrees. ‘You are right, none of us is saying we should not trust him, but we are concerned with the confusing things he says.’
‘I agree with you both’, adds Betil. ‘We may be confused, but we certainly don’t want to have the Son dishonoured, not even by Lucifer.’
‘I say again’, says Yami, ‘we should listen to what Lucifer is saying. We can’t just dismiss his words. After all, he might be right. If you had a concern you would talk about it, wouldn’t you?’
‘The problem is’, answers Meilon, ‘Lucifer is not taking his problems to the Father. He should do that first.’
‘How do you know he hasn’t done that?’ challenges Yami.
‘I suppose I don’t know’, admits Meilon, ’but to have him contradict God is total disrespect. The Father said publicly His Son is to be honoured, and Lucifer says he should be honoured instead. How can he be right to say that?’
Yami again corrects him, ‘Lucifer doesn’t say he should be honoured instead of the Son, but as well as the Son.’
‘That may be true’, Meilon replies, ‘but his manner of speaking is putting himself above the Son.’
‘Well’, comments Toga, ‘There may be things we don’t know.’
‘That is probably true’, agrees Betil, ‘after all, God is God. There are many things we don’t know, but there are also things Lucifer doesn’t know, and his thinking might be all upside-down.’
Caph again voices his doubts, ‘I don’t know what to think with all this confusion.’
‘Just trust God Caph’, replies Meilon.
‘Yes Caph’, advises Betil, ‘never doubt God and His Son’,
‘I go along with Yami’, says Toga. ‘It is wrong not to listen to what our leading angel says.’
‘Well, you can trust Lucifer if you want to’, adds Dani, ‘but I would rather trust the Father and His Son. And I intend to continue doing so.’
‘That’s my position’, puts in Yosfi, ‘and no angel is going to move me.’
‘Good on you both’, states Meilon. ‘I will stand with you.’
‘Me too’, agrees Betil.
Caph is still wavering and again voices his concern. ‘I am not sure yet.’
Yami makes a suggestion, ‘All the information is not in yet Caph, so why don’t you wait before you make a decision?’
Meilon is not happy with this advice and remarks, ‘As far as I am concerned, I have made my decision already. I will honour the Son because the Father has said so. You make your own choices.’
‘Me too’, agrees Betil.
The discussions continue all over the holy city. Many angels are upset. They want to respect and honour Lucifer, but his questions and statements are confusing.
When Meilon and Betil are alone, Meilon confides in his friend. ‘Betil, I often wonder how Lucifer, the first of the covering cherubs who sits so close to the throne, could rebel against God. It seems so impossible, don’t you think?’
‘That’s a good thought Meilon’, replies Betil. ‘I don’t know either.’
Betil continues. ‘Lucifer has everything. The glory of God overshadows him. He is the leading angel and the master of the angelic choir. He is beautiful and has the most magnificent voice. What went wrong?’
‘It’s a mystery to me my friend, but I think we need to go and speak to him’, suggests Meilon.
Betil is in agreement. ‘Yes, it is a good idea. We will do that. Maybe we can help him change his mind.’
The two angels wait for an opportunity to speak to the rebellious angel.
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Kevin has a question. ‘Why is everyone confused?’
Jesus explains. ‘The angels are confused because they have never distrusted anyone before.’
‘No one ever?’ asks Kevin.
‘No, never’, answers Jesus. ‘It was a new experience for the angelic host, but there is still no excuse in following Lucifer. They must first doubt God before they believe Lucifer.’
The children think about these words a moment, then Summer makes a suggestion. ’Jesus, you said if we don’t believe the Father, we will not believe the Son. Is it right to say that if we do not believe the Son, we will not believe the Father either?’
‘Yes dear one’, responds Jesus. ‘That is absolutely right. It goes both ways. The Father and His Son are equal in nature, so to deny one is to deny the other. The Son was born with the Father’s nature, just like you were born with the same nature as your father and mother.’
‘Is it wrong to say you are God, Jesus?’ queries Summer.
‘No dear, it is not wrong. Both of us have the same nature, so we are equally God in nature. But always remember that the Father and the Son are two separate persons. One is the Father, the other is the Son. Do you understand?’
‘I think so’, she replies.
‘I have a question’, says Kevin. ‘Who is your mother?’
Jesus smiles. ‘Let me ask you a question. Who was Adam’s mother? And who was Eve’s mother?’
The children laugh and call out, ‘They didn’t have one.’
‘You are right’, says Jesus. ‘In heaven, God’s Son did not have a mother either, just a loving Father.’
‘Jesus is God your true Father?’ asks Jeannette.
‘Yes dear, my true Father.’
She continues. ‘That means you were born of Him.’
‘Yes, I was born of Him. That is what begotten means.’
Kevin begins to quote a Bible verse. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” That’s what the Bible says doesn’t it?’
‘Yes Kevin.’
‘Will you teach us some more Jesus?’ asks Summer.
‘Tomorrow you will find out more’, answers Jesus. ‘It is now time for you to go back home. I want you to be prepared to learn lessons about why heaven changed, so before you go to bed, ask God to help you understand why it all took place.’
‘We will Jesus.’
If you wish to read the whole book, go to -- www.theverylongstory.com
If you go there now and move to other chapters, you cannot come back to this site. You will have to begin this site again. If you just go the site, but do not move around in it, you can come back here.
The rebellion that began in heaven is clearly put forward on the page entitled 'The Conflict of Two Heavenly Sons', which I suggest you read first. The following is taken from the book for young ones entitled, 'The Very Long Story'. It is based on the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy, but written to appeal to young people. Below is one of the chapter relating to our subject. The characters in the story and three children, Summer, Jeannette and Kevin, who are able in Heaven's imagination go to heaven where they are taught by Jesus the story of Lucifer's fall.
Heavenly Rebelion