Connecting the Dots: Man, God, Angels, and Demons

By Dave Shaw

(updated for easy read on Kindle) This is the foundational book in the Connecting the Dots series; it is a study to answer many questions about the role of Satan, demons, and angels in our lives. In this book Dave goes back to basics to understand Angel society and Lucifer, and why he rebelled. In answering these and many other questions, Dave connects the dots and reveals a grand plan that God had since before the angels, before man, and before the cosmos and earth existed. There was a grand sequence, where one stage had to be completed before the next could start. Motivations of angels and Satan are examined to understand what happened. Eventually God’s plan becomes clear, and why He used such drastic measures to achieve His will on earth. This will provide seeker, non-Christians, and mature Christians, a new perspective, and an understanding of why God is unfolding His plan the way He is.

Dave has used his analytical skills developed over his 50 year career in technology to link together many hundreds of statements in the Bible. His observations are backed up by hundreds of bible verses, linking together strange passages, and seemingly out of place statements. Dave believes everything written in the Bible is there for a reason, and has used his 25 years of study of the Bible to try to resolve his own questions. In this book you find real answers to why bad things happen in this world, and why God does not seem to stop it. God has a grand plan and Dave reveals that this plan has been unfolding for thousands, if not millions of years.

It provides a synopsis of the struggle God has had with mankind, trying to provide a 'good life' for us, His creation, and in the end providing a perfect solution for us to be reconciled to Himself. Dave hopes that through this book you will see that God has had a plan from the very beginning, even from before He created the earth, right up to this present day, so that you can have confidence in Him. Through that you can come to believe that you too can be assured of a wonderful life in eternity in His Kingdom.

Through this study Dave has found a peace that comes with understanding that what may seem like chaos to us is actually His plan unfolding the way He intended, given that He does not violate our free will. He cannot be outwitted by Satan, and everything is on track for God's will to be done on this earth.

If you have ever wondered why God, who knows everything and knows the future, would have created Lucifer, the angel of light, for him to turn into Satan and rebel against God, bringing much evil into this world, then you will find answers in this book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dave Shaw
• Release date: Jun 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310693946

Book preview

This book is the first in a series connecting the dots that I see in the Bible to reveal more than the Bible’s literal content. You could call it reading between the lines, but it is much more than that, it goes broader and deeper, linking many seemingly unrelated passages in the Bible. It is meant for non-Christians and Christians alike. For non-Christians, it may demonstrate that there is reason and order in the Bible, revealing a big picture of God’s plan unfolding, and lead to a belief that God is real, and the Bible is less fable and more a vast archive about the nature of God Himself. For some Christians like me, it may answer some of the questions that, although not essential, may provide even more proof that God is in control, showing that some of the most baffling events are actually part of a very big plan, spanning much more than the time of mankind on earth.

Although I have written periodically since my youth, it was just heart stuff wanting to see the light. After almost 50 years in technology, mainly in design, and having studied the Bible for 25 years, my analytical mind wanted answers beyond what was simply stated in the Bible, or what I found written about elsewhere. For me it seemed there were many blanks in the Bible, either intentional or not. I’m sure all the essentials are in the Bible to fulfill God’s plans for us as individuals, but if I have questions, I’m sure others do also. In this series of books I use the innate skills I developed as a designer, to recognize patterns, make inferences, and overlay what logic I can to form a big picture regarding seemingly disconnected events and passages. What is written in the Bible, the statements or passages that leave me with a big question, I call dots. I try to offer a logical, but inferred connection, and these are the lines connecting the dots, the relationships between them.

I ponder things that don’t sit right with me in the Bible, and usually, sooner or later there’s a little flash that turns into a dim glow; the aha moment. As I focus on each issue that troubles me the glow brightens and that dot will connect to other dots, as my mind lets me know what it is seeing. The flash is the feeling that there is some type of link; the glow comes like fog lifting, revealing the nature of the link. That moment for this book came about four years ago, but I was deep in design for a large technology project, and I put the blurry image of connections off until I could research it further.

That initial aha moment has grown as one by one the dots have linked to each other to form the skeleton of an overall picture. This wasn’t the result of conscious research, although that has since been a large part of this book, but instead it was something below my consciousness, chewing on the issues, forming concepts. The picture began to connect a carefully orchestrated sequence of events, not yet complete, but inferring the events had been planned.

The aha moment said that there had to be some rational reasons why an all knowing God, who sees and knows everything in the past, present and future, would create the angel Lucifer, the angel of light, who would later become Satan the fallen angel of darkness (don’t get bent out of my use of the name Lucifer, it is explained in the Chapter of that name). God knows everything, He sees the future. He knew Lucifer would become Satan. If you knew you would end up in a car crash, would you even start the journey? Knowing that this angel would one day lead a rebellion in heaven made no sense (to me). But while I was still perplexed, there was a flash, dots began to join and other dots appeared in the dim glow of a big picture, a very big picture.

I already understood it was God’s plan to have exquisite fellowship with His creation; to love those He had created and to be loved in return, more and more, as the relationship developed. Besides being infinite in all abilities, God’s essence is limitless love. As many people do, I found it hard to reconcile the evil in this world with a loving God. God is consumed with such a depth of love for His creation and to be reconciled to us, that He gave His only Son, Jesus, to satisfy His unavoidable justice that our dark thoughts and acts require. I believe this plan, for us to be reconciled with God, was formed long before the angels and the earth were created; if I am right it is a huge plan. As I researched, more and more elements fleshed out the dot picture, and I try to lay them out in a logical order for you to judge for yourself.

There is an underlying thread of love in the Bible starting in Genesis right through to Revelation. I believe that everything in the Bible is there for a reason, and maybe every single thing is woven into a vast tapestry, if I only I could see it. I know there are other dot pictures in the Bible that I can sense, and that is why I know that I will write more books in the series.

Over the centuries science has gradually stripped mankind of his garb of self-importance. Once, mankind was the centre of the universe, he and his dominion were majestic in the universe; in his own mind anyway. The earth and whoever considered themselves most important were at the centre of the universe. The rest of the universe was reduced to a cloth hung over our dominion spattered with tiny lights. We dressed the clusters of mighty star systems in simplistic pictures of not-so-perfect gods.

Science has revealed our more humble place in the cosmos, but not our place and relationship in the bigger view of God’s realms. I hope this book starts to shed some light beyond our realm, and into the realms of the angels. I try to link events in the heavenly realms, one of which I believe is the realm of our earth. It seems to fit, just like the gaps in the early periodic table, hinted at undiscovered elements.

The relationship between our earth, which now is Satan`s domain, and God’s heaven would appear to be governed by rules, just as the cosmos has its equations of motion and gravity. Of course I do not leave out the subset of angels referred to as Fallen Angels or more commonly, as demons. No longer do I see Satan as just messing things up; he would seem to be a key element in God`s plan.

I hope you find the ideas I propose in this book thought provoking. If you do not call yourself a Christian, I hope it prompts you to look further into your relationship with whatever you call or think of as God, even being as bold as to ask Him to reveal Himself to you personally. Or if you have started your journey with Jesus, I hope that this book gives you more confidence that your current walk with God is part of a greater plan. Growing a relationship in your world of circumstances, that often does not seem to make sense, is a carefully sewn thread in the great tapestry of God’s plan. I hope this book allows you to see the big picture from God’s perspective, and gives you confidence that He has billions of plans for individuals, as it is we who are the focus of this very big picture.

The former chapters are the meat, while the subsequent chapters go into much more detail about the reasoning and other observations I made while writing this book. If you are a Christian, some of the latter chapters may be a refresher, sprinkled with insights. If you are not already a Christian, it will provide some background into Christianity and will help put the earlier chapters in context.

Some of this book is quite deep and to lighten it up I have added little episodes of my life with my dog Jasmine and other perspectives called Dog Days.

Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright,

a man who fears God and shuns evil."

~ Job 1:8

The First Dot

I struggled to find words that would adequately describe the perception I first had about the ideas and concepts that have come to me. It gives me a measure of peace, about the ‘whys’ that wave flags at me from behind some phrases and statements in the Bible. I started to attend Bible studies just after I became a Christian and that really helped me to understand the ever important context. That little bit of help was all I needed to get hooked; I started to read the whole Bible, and completed it in a few months. It’s like God scattered clues for a multidimensional crossword puzzle across the whole Bible. I encountered the first question, the first ‘why’, almost as soon as I began to read the Bible. I came across the book of Job. I was searching for God in the Bible. I had started at the beginning, learning the basics of the origins and development of the nation of the Hebrews, the forbears of the modern nation of Israel. I had many questions, but assumed I would find the answers later in the Bible, or when my understanding grew. It took me 20 years before I got most of the answers I was looking for.

Job is a good sized book and has many lessons for us. Chapter 1 left me with many more questions than answers. It is quite self-contained, not seeming to depend directly on other parts of the Bible; it is apparently much older than any other book in the Bible. It is a brief skeleton of a story about God, Satan and a man, Job, who is kept in ignorance of why the events in his life were unfolding the way they were. It obviously took place before the crucifixion of Jesus, still in the time when Satan was recruiting his following and accusing men of their weak, if any, loyalty to God.

Job, Chapter 1

¹In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. ²He had seven sons and three daughters, ³and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.

⁴His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. ⁵When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. This was Job’s regular custom.

⁶One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. ⁷The Lord said to Satan, Where have you come from?

Satan answered the Lord, From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.

⁸Then the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.

⁹Does Job fear God for nothing? Satan replied. ¹⁰"Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. ¹¹But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."

¹²The Lord said to Satan, Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.

Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

¹³One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, ¹⁴a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, ¹⁵and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"

¹⁶While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!

¹⁷While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!

¹⁸While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, "Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, ¹⁹when suddenly a mighty windswept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"

²⁰At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship ²¹and said:

Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.

²²In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

It is a happy ever after story and in the end, after many lessons, Job gets twice as much as he had before and a new family, after initially losing all he had including all his children. If I were him though, I’m sure I would have preferred for God to do whatever He was up to with Satan another way. But Job a true servant of God, took it all in stride, even if he did demand an explanation; which he never did get.

Now bearing in mind that this is way before Jesus came to earth and His work of salvation; it would be when, and the Bible itself verifies, Satan was ‘debating’ with God about the verity of man’s love for God. Satan must have been a bit confused why God was still working in this way, as if Satan had not corrupted mankind back at the dawn of his existence, creating an unbridgeable chasm to prevent mankind ever being resurrected and living in the presence of God. It was true; the nation of Israel had demonstrated effectively that they could not keep God’s laws to justify their entrance into God’s heaven. This is widely held to be God’s way of showing mankind just how powerless he was to be holy in his own strength.

There are two threads going on here in the first Chapter. First the context and life of Job and his family, and secondly is the conversation between God and Satan. This Chapter raises so many questions for me starting in verse 6, bearing in mind Satan had already corrupted man.

Why was Satan tagging along with the angels? Obviously this was before he had been banished, cast down to earth. God strikes up a seemingly casual conversation, Where have you been? As if God did not know, same old, same old replies Satan. This is strange, Satan had corrupted man, determined to thwart God’s plan for mankind before it even gets going, but God invites him into a conversation. This is the period after man’s corruption and before Satan and his followers are kicked out of God’s heaven. We don’t know if, at this point, Satan has a following or if it’s just between him and God. But it is clear that God is fostering the ‘debate’ about His authority, and more importantly the love bond He is establishing with men. It was likely to have been a gradual affair, as Satan and his followers become emboldened; demons were certainly active when Jesus was on earth as He spent some considerable time casting them out of people, and the Bible devotes many stories to this act in various forms. God was obviously fully aware that Satan had corrupted His latest creation from the beginning. Did He call Satan to stand before Him and give an account? We are never told, but God is patient and has a plan, a plan that includes Satan! Was Satan emboldened by pulling off his corruption stunt and not being immediately zapped by God? Would God’s justice allow Him to do that? I think God knew exactly what Satan was up to and was playing along, or rather playing him; for God, this phase of His plan had only just started.

Back to Satan in the presence of God - God initiates a challenge with Look at Job; what a great guy, honest and obedient. He honours me in all things. This probably pressed a few of Satan’s buttons that would send him off on a tirade about how it’s just because God blesses Job so much. So God sets Satan loose on Job, but Job does not turn from God. The scenario almost repeats itself in the next Chapter, where Job has nothing but his health left.

Job Chapter 2

¹On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. ²And the Lord said to Satan, Where have you come from?

Satan answered the Lord, From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.

³Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his