Greed is your brother, O sin!

Resentment is your sister.

They multiply, these things, your kin,

into an evil elixir.

The days that followed seemed like an eternity to Lucifer. Because for every angel he talked to, everyone that he tried to win to his cause, was a potential informant that could cause the ruin of all his plans and machinations. So paranoid was he, that the whispers and caresses of Death in his dreams were less terrifying to him than his waking hours. But amidst all of the scheming and plans being laid down by Lucifer, something extraordinary happened that changed everything. The heavens reverberated and the air shook as, for the second time in all of eternity, God had created something from nothing. From His word alone the heavens were stretched out and light and matter came into being. And furthermore, by God’s word alone, came stars and planets, plants and animals, and most importantly – a being made in God’s image just as the angels had been made. This being was called man, and was given a formal name – Adam.

At first Lucifer, as well as the rest of Heaven, was in shock. But slowly, slowly in his heart of hearts, Lucifer became overcome with rage. “How dare He make this... thing when He has us! Angels!” But this rage only lasted a moment before it was overcome by confusion. Why did God create this lower being along with this lower plane of existence to house it? Angels were wise, beautiful, powerful, and almost completely independent upon creation. But this thing was almost completely dependent – devoid of knowledge or power from the start. Only free will separated this entity known as man from the rest of the animals created alongside it.

Then a new delusion entered into Lucifer’s mind. This new being was completely dependent on God. What if, just if, God needed the worship of others to maintain His power? This delusion hit Lucifer’s mind like a pseudo-epiphany. A rising excitement grew inside him. What if by tempting others away from God, he could, in turn, grow in power? What if that was the secret of deity-hood. This growing madness grew more and more inside his mind and although he could no longer notice it, the silent, intangible tendrils of the Leviathan reached out across eternity to grope at his back – never quite touching Lucifer – held back by the grace of God.

~~~~~~~~

The garden almost seemed to glow. The light of creation having not yet left it. There was... a freshness to it. An air of vitality and youth instilled into every living thing within it. And yet for all of Lucifer’s nefarious designs, he could not help but be charmed and enchanted by this seemingly mystical garden. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but... it was innocence. This place was innocence incarnate. For a moment Lucifer wavered. Should he taint such a... pure place? The thought lingered in his mind before outrage overcame him. “No! I am not tainting this place! I will revolutionize it! It will be my weapon and my tool to become divine! If anything, it should be an honor to this lowly place, to these lowly beings, what I am about to do to them. Yes, an honor! The honor of helping usher in the new god!”

These thoughts coursed through him like a violent river as he looked upon man and his newly created mate – Eve was her formal name, but Lucifer preferred to simply refer to her as ‘the woman.’ His mind darkened as he plotted and schemed – watching the two humans interact with each other. What were their habits, their feelings, their thoughts, their most unconscious actions – everything! He learned as much as he could about them, trying to decide how he would use them against God or at the very least turn them against God. But his thoughts were interrupted as God, Himself, entered in all His glory into the garden.

Lucifer was taken aback and fear penetrated every fiber of his being. Why was the fullness of God’s presence here, in this lowly place? Why would God lower Himself to this vulgar plane of existence? As Lucifer hid himself in terror of being discovered, God finished His descent to the garden and was before Adam and Eve. And while there was awe and reverence in their eyes as they looked upon Him, there was also love and adoration in them. There was no fear in their eyes, but there was respect. And the sight of this enraged Lucifer. These... animals were acting like sons and daughters of God. And Lucifer’s rage grew as God responded with love and tenderness towards the humans – acting as He would towards any angel in Heaven. God dared to put these... beings on the same level as angels? Lucifer cared not anymore about whether he tainted this place. He would taint it blacker than the void he had seen inside the maw of the Leviathan if he had to, but he would use these inferiors to achieve his goals.

As he thought these things though, God began to speak to Adam and Eve. “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.”

This shook Lucifer to his very core. While he did not fully understand what God had meant by ‘die,’ he knew it was connected to Death, the opposite of life and to the Leviathan who personified it. This Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was these humans’ equivalent of the forbidden door in Heaven. But he had opened the forbidden door and lived. However, God had never said to the angels that the day they opened it they would surely die. Even though Lucifer no longer believed in the all-knowing and all-powerful nature of God, he did know one thing – God never promised something that He didn’t intend to make so. But why? Why would he threaten these lowly beings with the threat of death if they ate the fruit of this tree of knowledge? Was the knowledge so forbidden that even opening the forbidden door paled in comparison to it? Now Lucifer desired this fruit for himself. In fact, he could make these animals eat the fruit too along with him! No, no, he shouldn’t be so careless... He should make these animals eat the fruit first. Test the threat that God had made and then take the fruit for himself if the humans lived after eating it.

Lucifer’s mind raced with all the possibilities and he put together all he had learned about the humans and how he might include them in his plan to overthrow God. If the worship of these beings and the angels in Heaven truly was the source of God’s power then he would have to separate them from God’s following. It was then that he realized that despite how much he looked down on these creatures, he would have to convince them personally to turn away against God. But what would convince them?... Lucifer smiled evilly. He would promise them what he had promised his brothers and sisters in Heaven. He would promise that they would become like God. But instead of saying they would become like God if they helped kill Him, since these beings seemed to adore Him, Lucifer would promise instead that if they ate of the forbidden fruit, that they would be like God “knowing good and evil.” It was too easy! These beings knew nothing and because they knew nothing, they would be easy to convince. He would aim for the youngest among the two, just to be sure – the woman.

After all he planned to do to man and the woman Lucifer planned to stage the rebellion in Heaven immediately after the humans had turned away from God. This seemed to be the most effective way in his deluded mind to carry out his rebellion. He left the garden after God left and returned to Heaven to add the final touches to his grand overthrow of Heaven. At last! At last, it would not be long now!