Ezekiel: God who travels Chapter 31

 

By the abundance of your trading,
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
—Ezekiel 28

Abundance speaks of plentiness—excess, even grossness. Trading here refers to the voluntary exchange aimed at gaining profit and rising above others.

In this way, the first business in heaven was born through Satan’s trade. Does this mean business itself is evil? Why not? In business, typically only the owner truly wins and profits. But are they willing to share? Profits are often gained by taking as much as possible from others, with little intent to give back—simply to store up wealth for oneself.

When God created man in His image and holiness, He did not create business within man. Everything God made was given freely. God did not require payment or profit from man’s labor. In fact, God’s command in Genesis 2 was clear: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

A simple command, yet one that easily derailed humanity’s destiny, all because of the sin of disobedience. Satan’s first sin, however, was pride. Pride led Satan to refine his ‘business’—introducing trading as a way to profit beyond what God had given him. Trading became the avenue for Satan to take more than what was allotted, to seek gain beyond God’s provision. Did greed enter then? Certainly. Did God allow Satan to swallow greed in its vilest form?

Perhaps we should ask: Why didn’t God show mercy by teaching Satan about greed—so Satan could behave better, respect God, and avoid trading or ‘business’ altogether?

Here, the subject grows more complex.

Because the next question is: Where did evil truly come from? If evil existed before angels and humans, does that mean God was the first being to control it by establishing its opposite—“good”?

Can evil exist on its own without the existence of good?

How can one know evil without knowing good?

The answer lies in trading.

You got it here.

AC

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