It is common for modern religious writers to point out the erroneous “popular” assumptions that have developed about the nature and activity of angels. Good people don’t sprout wings and go off to heaven to get a halo and harp and “become” angels. Nor do messenger angels in the Bible show up looking like pretty women in billowy dresses with attractive, feminine blond hairstyles and gaudy wings, such as the beings one sees portrayed on the tops of Christmas trees, or in medieval paintings of “The Annunciation.” (For more details on what the Bible actually says about angels, see Biblical Angelology.)
Some religious writers also mock, and rightly so, the notion that the Devil is a red character with a forked tail, a Van Dyke beard, horns, a trident, and a leering grin (such as seen in the Hallowe’en costume shown here), and that he gleefully presides over a Hellish playground where grotesque demons get their jollies tormenting the souls of the lost.
Unfortunately, however, many of these same writers may have absorbed, developed, and promoted a few equally erroneous mythologies related to angels, demons, and the Devil. They do not seem to understand, in particular, that much of the “back story” of the Devil that has been promoted in religious circles for centuries is not based on solid scriptural exegesis, but on what might best be referred to as a hodgepodge of erroneous and strained interpretations of a handful of obscure scriptures, mixed with “Jewish fables” of rabbinical writings, and Christian legends and myths that grew up from medieval times on.
In particular, the details of the scenario regarding the “fall of Lucifer” as presented in Christian literature over the centuries is not solidly based on clear statements in the Bible. These details come from interpretations, by both Catholic and Protestant Bible scholars, of a handful of vague biblical passages.
It is quite likely that some of these interpretations were brought into evangelical circles in particular through the bombastic, dogmatic—and very idiosyncratic—writings of late 19th century Protestant commentator E.W. Bullinger in his Companion Bible. That volume is a very popular, standard Bible reference work in many conservative Christian circles. Bullinger, and many of the other theologians of the past century and more, have adapted the scenarios in their writings from the kind of Jewish fables found in the Talmud and ancient pseudepigraphal and apocryphal literature like the Book of Enoch. They have often liberally mixed in with this ancient material their own touches of speculation.
And they have frequently added to that recipe the kind of Christian mythology/legends/speculation
found in the writings of such classical authors as Dante and Milton—who themselves
owed much to the non-
The following is a composite scenario that presents a variety of elements often included
in commentary about this “fall of Lucifer.” Not all authors include all of these
details, but most include a significant proportion of them. (Some of the details
included here would only be promoted by authors who accept the “Gap Theory” of Genesis.
This theory postulates that the actual creation of the Earth, with all sorts of life
forms on it including dinosaurs, occurred perhaps billions of years ago. A catastrophe
occurred which destroyed all of this “pre-
Eons ago God created a beautiful archangel whom He named “Lucifer,” which means “light bringer.” The name was given to him because of his shining countenance, and because he was intended to bring light to the Earth. He was one of only three such named archangels (Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer), and held the position of one of the “cherubs” overshadowing the throne of God in heaven, physically represented by the cherubs on the Ark of the Covenant in the Israelite Tabernacle and Temple on the Earth.
Lucifer had a key part in the government of God over all creation, and was trained in administration at the throne of God. After the creation of the Earth, he was given dominion over it, as leader over countless angels who inhabited the Earth. He had the position of chief administrator of the whole Earth for perhaps millions of years, and Earth under His administration was a beautiful paradise.
At some point in time, he decided that he was dissatisfied with this responsibility, and wanted to be greater than God Himself in power and authority. Through a long campaign of disinformation and gossip among the angels, he succeeded in enlisting one third of them to take part in a rebellion, leaving Earth and going to heaven in an attempt to overthrow God and take over his throne.
He was defeated by the forces of God, although the ensuing battle between the good angels and the bad angels was a titanic physical struggle that encompassed the whole solar system and perhaps beyond, with angels tossing asteroids at one another and, for instance, leaving the moon pockmarked and the Earth in desolation.
Lucifer’s name was then changed to Satan, a name that means “adversary.” And the rebellious angels who fought with him were then given the designation “demons.” And he and they were cast down to the Earth again, and restrained here. He still, however, had dominion over the Earth, and will until it is taken from him by Jesus at His return to establish the Millennium.
After Satan was cast out of heaven, God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden. Realizing that these humans were designed to replace him as rulers of the Earth, Satan entered the Garden and lured them into disobeying God so that they would be disqualified.
From then on, he and his associate demons have continued throughout all generations to tempt people to sin. But ultimately, Jesus was destined to provide redemption to sinful mankind, and they would join Him in rulership over the Millennial Kingdom to come, with Satan bound for a thousand years and unable to influence mankind.
The primary purpose of this article is to clarify that almost all the elements in this scenario are not established in the Bible. Some were initially garbled interpretations of obscure passages. Some are outright error based on faulty interpretation of Bible passages. And others are rank speculation based on nothing of substance at all.
If you limit yourself to the testimony of scripture about the history of Satan the Devil, then there are only four passages that are used by religious authors to deal with the specifics of that topic in any way. It is around these four passages that the entire tale is spun, embellished by the contributions of Jewish fables, Christian legends and myths, and grandiose speculations. This article examines these four scripture passages, and evaluates what they contribute toward the scenario described above.
The Bible is clear that there really is a great supernatural being who is opposed to God. He has functioned throughout history as the adversary, tempter, tormenter, and accuser of God’s servants.
There really are supernatural beings who are his associates, and who assist him in his evil works. There really are such supernatural entities as demons who are under his command.
And he really does have methods and tactics with which he accomplishes his dirty work—which believers need to be aware of and resist.
But all of this information can be shared in religious literature without incorporating the apocryphal “history of Lucifer” as described above.
Isaiah 14: The origin of “Lucifer”
The word “Lucifer” is used only once in all of the KJV Bible, in Isaiah 14:12. In
verse three of this chapter, the Lord tells of a “taunt” that the nation of Israel
will some day take up “against the king of Babylon” when his power is destroyed.
Most commentators are agreed that the first eleven verses of the chapter are about
that human king. But beginning in verse 12, some have long speculated that God has
here inspired Isaiah to use the king of Babylon as a metaphor for Satan the Devil,
and to describe a time in pre-
Consider the content of Isaiah 14 in context in the NIV traslation below: (Bolding has been added for emphasis of sections to be commented upon below.)
1 The LORD will have compassion on Jacob;
once again he will choose Israel
and will settle them in their own land.
Aliens will join them
and
unite with the house of Jacob.
2 Nations will take them
and bring them to their own place.
And the
house of Israel will possess the nations
as menservants and maidservants in
the LORD's land.
They will make captives of their captors
and rule
over their oppressors.
3 On the day the LORD gives you relief from suffering and turmoil and cruel bondage,
4 you will take up this taunt [KJV: “proverb”] against the king of Babylon:
How
the oppressor has come to an end!
How his fury has ended!
5 The LORD has broken the rod of the wicked,
the scepter of the rulers,
6 which in anger struck down peoples
with unceasing blows,
and in fury
subdued nations
with relentless aggression.
7 All the lands are at rest and at peace;
they break into singing.
8 Even the pine trees and the cedars of Lebanon
exult over you and say,
"Now
that you have been laid low,
no woodsman comes to cut us down."
9 The grave below is all astir
to meet you at your coming;
it rouses
the spirits of the departed to greet you—
all those who were leaders in the
world;
it makes them rise from their thrones—
all those who were kings
over the nations.
10 They will all respond,
they will say to you,
"You also have become
weak, as we are;
you have become like us."
11 All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,
along with the noise
of your harps;
maggots are spread out beneath you
and worms cover you.
12 How you have fallen from heaven,
O morning star [KJV: Lucifer], son of
the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low
the nations!
13 You said in your heart,
"I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my
throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of
assembly,
on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the
Most High."
15 But you are brought down to the grave,
to the depths of the pit.
16 Those who see you stare at you,
they ponder your fate:
"Is this
the man who shook the earth
and made kingdoms tremble,
17 the man who made the world a desert,
who overthrew its cities
and
would not let his captives go home?"
18 All the kings of the nations lie in state,
each in his own tomb.
19 But you are cast out of your tomb
like a rejected branch;
you are
covered with the slain,
with those pierced by the sword,
those who
descend to the stones of the pit.
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
20 you will not join them in burial,
for you have destroyed your land
and
killed your people.
The offspring of the wicked
will never be mentioned
again.
21 Prepare a place to slaughter his sons
for the sins of their forefathers;
they are not to rise to inherit the land
and cover the earth with their
cities.
22 "I will rise up against them,"
declares the LORD Almighty.
"I will
cut off from Babylon her name and survivors,
her offspring and descendants,"
declares the LORD.
23 "I will turn her into a place for owls
and into swampland;
I will
sweep her with the broom of destruction,"
declares the LORD Almighty.
The first problem with the speculation regarding Satan connected to this passage is that of even using the word Lucifer at all.
The word Lucifer is not a translation of the actual Hebrew word, heylel, underlying it. Lucifer is a Latin word that was used by the translator Jerome in his Latin Vulgate (a fifth century translation of the Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament into the common Latin of the time).
The KJV translators, working from the Vulgate as well as documents in the original languages, borrowed the word directly from Jerome, and obviously assumed that it was a “proper name” of a being (because the mythology of this had been building for centuries), and thus made it seem that way in their translation. But almost all modern translators render the passage similar to the way the NIV does in verse 12 above, using the term “morning star” in place of the KJV’s Lucifer.
The “morning star” referred to here is almost universally accepted as a reference to the planet Venus. And although there has been a notion for centuries that this passage is referring to the Devil, many modern commentators are convinced that this is not a description of the Devil at all, but intended by Isaiah as “irony” directly aimed at the king of Babylon.
In other words, in verses 13 and 14, the king of Babylon is portrayed as considering himself like a god, and unconquerable. And Isaiah is delivering a message from God to the king, mocking him and saying, in essence, “Oh, yeah … you were really the greatest of the great, just like the mythical Venus, morning star that shines brightly, weren’t you? Well, now look at you. You’ve been brought low just like all the wannabees before you.”
Again, there definitely is an Adversary referred to as Satan and the Devil in the Bible. But many Bible scholars are convinced, with good reason, that this passage isn’t about him.
Here is a section of the Wikipedia.com entry on “Lucifer” that clarifies some of these reasons. This is not in any way an idiosyncratic interpretation by the author of the entry. The same points are made in many modern reference works.
In modern and late Medieval Christian thought, Lucifer is a fallen angel commonly associated with Satan, the embodiment of evil and enemy of God. Lucifer is generally considered, based on the influence of Christian literature and legend, to have been a highly regarded angel in heaven, prior to having been motivated by pride to rebel against God. When the rebellion failed, Lucifer was cast out of heaven, along with a third of the heavenly host, and came to reside in the world.
Lucifer was originally a Latin word meaning "light-
… The original Hebrew text of this verse was הילל בן שחר (heilel ben-
…The Jewish Encyclopedia reports that "it is obvious that the prophet in attributing to the Babylonian king boastful pride, followed by a fall, borrowed the idea from a popular legend connected with the morning star." However, this metaphorical "falling from the heavens" was later misinterpreted as a literal fall from heaven when the passage's original meaning was made opaque by retranslations and eventually forgotten.
Later Jewish tradition, influenced by Babylonian mythology acquired during the Babylonian
captivity, elaborates on the fall of the angels under the leadership of Samhazai
("the heaven-
The Helel-
One other point about the term Lucifer: It is, as noted above, a specific reference to the morning star, Venus. But the technical etymology of the word itself does, indeed, mean “light bringer.” And the Hebrew term heylel, which Jerome rendered as Lucifer, can be translated “shining one” (also a reference to the morning star).
Thus Bible speculators who insist that it is actually a reference to Satan often
do some creative tale-
While all of that makes an elegant mythology, it is not at all present in the Bible.
To try to spin whole back-
For many more details on the linguistic issues regarding the word Lucifer, see:
http://www.kjvonly.org/doug/kutilek_notes_on_lucifer.htm
One writer commented regarding Isaiah 14:
“The context of this passage is a referral to the king of Babylon as presented in
his pride, splendor and fall. However, it is to the power behind the evil Babylonian
king that this is actually addressed. No mortal king would claim that his throne
was above that of God or that he was like the Most High. The power behind the evil
Babylonian king is Lucifer, Son of the Morning.” http://www.allaboutgod.com/story-
This is nonsense. Ancient rulers did promote themselves in this way all the time, as recorded in both the Bible and secular history. Nebuchadnezzar had a statue built to himself and condemned all who would worship any other god.
In Revelation, the false prophet causes all to worship the Beast, and the Beast sits in the Temple of God proclaiming himself as God. Emperors, Pharoahs, and all types of rulers in societies all over the world–including in modern times the Emperors of Japan–have allowed themselves to be worshipped as gods!
The connection between Satan and Isaiah 14 is tenuous at best and is not necessary in order to establish the point about Satan being the adversary of God and the Saints. And since the term Lucifer is only present in that one passage, and nowhere else in the Bible, using it is introducing a mythology into what should be, instead, sound presentations of what can be known just from the Bible. The Lucifer/Satan mythology makes for a more exciting story, but in the end it confuses rather than clarifies what is really important.
Ezekiel 28: The Musical “Anointed Cherub that Covereth”
The other metaphorical Bible passage which has historically been linked to the “pre-
1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 "Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
"
'In the pride of your heart
you say, "I am a god;
I sit on the throne
of a god
in the heart of the seas."
But you are a man and not a god,
though you think you are as wise as a god.
3 Are you wiser than Daniel?
Is no secret hidden from you?
4 By your wisdom and understanding
you have gained wealth for yourself
and
amassed gold and silver
in your treasuries.
5 By your great skill in trading
you have increased your wealth,
and
because of your wealth
your heart has grown proud.
6 " 'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says:
" 'Because you think
you are wise,
as wise as a god,
7 I am going to bring foreigners against you,
the most ruthless of nations;
they will draw their swords against your beauty and wisdom
and pierce
your shining splendor.
8 They will bring you down to the pit,
and you will die a violent death
in
the heart of the seas.
9 Will you then say, "I am a god,"
in the presence of those who kill you?
You will be but a man, not a god,
in the hands of those who slay you.
10 You will die the death of the uncircumcised
at the hands of foreigners.
I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD.' "
11 The word of the LORD came to me:
12 "Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: 'This
is what the Sovereign LORD says:
" 'You were the model of perfection,
full
of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
3 You were in Eden,
the garden of God;
every precious stone adorned
you:
ruby, topaz and emerald,
chrysolite, onyx and jasper,
sapphire,
turquoise and beryl.
Your settings and mountings [KJV: tabrets—tambourines—and
pipes] were made of gold;
on the day you were created they were prepared.
14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub [KJV: thou art the anointed cherub that
covereth],
for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God;
you walked among the fiery stones.
15 You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created
till
wickedness was found in you.
16 Through your widespread trade
you were filled with violence,
and
you sinned.
So I drove you in disgrace
from the mount of God,
and
I expelled you,
O guardian cherub,
from among the fiery stones.
Lucifer expelled from Heaven
Illustration by Gustave Dore’ for Milton’s 1665 Paradise
Lost (1866 edition)
17 Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted
your wisdom
because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth;
I made a spectacle of you before kings.
18 By your many sins and dishonest trade
you have desecrated your sanctuaries.
So I made a fire come out from you,
and it consumed you,
and
I reduced you to ashes on the ground
in the sight of all who were watching.
19 All the nations who knew you
are appalled at you;
you have come
to a horrible end
and will be no more.' "
In verse 2, Ezekiel is told to address the “ruler” [KJV: Prince] of Tyre with a judgment from God. Just as in Isaiah 14, this ruler pridefully claims to be a god. And God declares that in spite of all of his boasting and all the wealth he has amassed, he will be put to death and his kingdom destroyed at the hands of ruthless foreign nations. But in verse 12, Ezekiel is told to address the “King” of Tyre. It is at this point that many Bible teachers and commentators make the assumption that a shift has been made, and Ezekiel is actually to address the Devil himself, using the King of Tyre as a “type” of the ultimate evil Ruler.
A case is made by other commentators that this is really just another incident of prophetic “hyperbole” and irony—and sarcasm, with God mocking a human king just as was done in Isaiah 14. After all, in Ezekiel 26, the city of Tyre itself is spoken of in very flowery, personified terms not totally unlike what is said in Ezekiel 27 about the King of Tyre. A sample:
"Son of man, take up a lament concerning Tyre. Say to Tyre, situated at the gateway
to the sea, merchant of peoples on many coasts, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD
says:
" 'You say, O Tyre,
"I am perfect in beauty."
Your domain was on the high seas;
your builders brought your beauty to perfection.
They made all your timbers of pine trees from Senir ;
they took a cedar from
Lebanon to make a mast for you.
Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars;
of cypress wood from the coasts of
Cyprus
they made your deck, inlaid with ivory.
Fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail and served as your banner;
your
awnings were of blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah.
(Eze 26:2-
Thus it is certainly not outside the realm of possibility that the Ezekiel 27 passage was intended only as irony and the like. However, it is understandable why some would still speculate it was intended to be addressed to the Devil. After all, the references to “Eden” and the “mount of God,” and to being “blameless in your ways from the day you were created,” seem to go far beyond just admitting that a nation or a king was beautiful or powerful or prideful.
And yet … by the end of this very short passage, statements are again made that seem to have no proper application to the Devil. “So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.” In fact, even among those who assume this passage is a veiled reference to the Devil, the speculation is that there is a subtle shift by the end back to physical references to a physical king. Many claim that verse 17 is a veiled reference to the “fall” of Satan, or his “casting out of heaven”:
Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted
your wisdom
because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth;
I made a spectacle of you before kings.
And then they assume that suddenly the scene shifts back to the human king.
If we would agree that verses 1-
There is nothing here about Satan being the ruler of a perfect pre-
After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard [KJV: keep] the way to the tree of life.
The Hebrew word here is shamar—“hedge about” or “guard.” So even if Satan was a “guardian cherub,” there is nothing in the Ezekiel passage that insists that he was one of the two beings represented on the Ark of the Covenant as overshadowing God’s throne. The cherubs at Eden were “guardians” also.
There is nothing in this passage indicating that Satan was an “archangel,” either. That term is never applied to him in the Bible. And even if he was a cherub, the reality is that, from all other evidence in the Bible, a cherub (Hebrew kerub) is a different sort of being from an angel (malak). (See Biblical Angelology for more details on this topic.)
If this passage is about Satan, there is minimal information of substance that we can learn about him from it. He was “blameless in all his ways” from the day he was created. But what does that really tell us? Did God create any supernatural beings with a “lawless” nature from the beginning? He was beautiful and full of wisdom. But did God create any “ugly” supernatural beings, or foolish ones? Is the emphasis here that he was the “best God could create,” or is the emphasis what he became, the opposite of beauty and wisdom?
Then there are the strange references in verse 3 to his being adorned with jewels at his creation, and having “tambourines and pipes.” Some have speculated that this actually meant that his body itself was bejeweled, and that he had “built in” musical instruments in his body parts. While an interesting visual image for perhaps a science fiction movie made with special effects, these references are so obscure that they are not particularly helpful in any theological sense.
This hasn’t kept many authors from spinning speculative scenarios around this one vague verse. The following is a typical effort of this type. This author, a prominent leader in the Charismatic “Praise and Worship” movement, accepts the Isaiah 14 passage as being specifically about Satan as “Lucifer,” adds it to Ezekiel 28, and builds a whole theory of the musical role of Satan before his “fall” around these obscure passages!
http://www.destinyimage.com/static/rebirth-
Most theologians believe [the use of the term “most” may be an extreme exaggeration!] that lucifer had tambourines and pipes built into his body, and that he possessed the ability to play these instruments extremely well. It is very clear that lucifer excelled in music and that it was an actual part of him.
The Bible refers to 'pipes,' plural, meaning there were more than one. The notes these pipes made were possibly harmonious, blending with one another. And since there were more than one, perhaps three, they could have made a chord.
The tabrets, or tambourines, another part of lucifer's body, gave him rhythm, a beat
for the music that he played. In fact, within lucifer's makeup represented most categories
of musical instruments that we have today-
Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the sound of your stringed instruments; the maggot is spread under you, and worms cover you. How you are fallen from heaven, O lucifer, son of the morning! (NKJ, emphasis mine)
These stringed musical instruments were 'viols' or a six-
Not only was lucifer a musician, but he was also the instrument as well. Lucifer didn't sit down at a piano; he was a piano! And he didn't carry a guitar around his neck; he was a guitar. Lucifer possessed this talent and the ability to play instruments, producing a sound in his service of worship to God.
According to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, lucifer's name means 'light-
All of this from the embellishment of one single, obscure verse!
And at the other extreme are those religious commentators and teachers who agree that Satan was created as the ultimate musical being, and now uses his musical talent to seduce the masses through contemporary music.
http://www.av1611.org/crock/religious.html
Satan was created a beautiful musical creature: "...every precious stone was thy covering,...the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created" (Ezek 28:13). Since music was built into his very nature are we foolish enough to assume that he will not use it to deceive and enslave?
While Satan may, indeed, influence musicians to use their gifts for spiritually unhealthy or evil purposes, there is no reason to assume that this is because he was the “master musician” speculated above. He can influence anyone to use any natural gift for the wrong purposes.
Or how about this theory of Satan and music:
http://www.present-
Many people believe that the Bible has nothing to say on the phenomenon of religious music. That music just wasn't way back then. But you know we can go back to that time "When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." Job 38:7. What was that music like, in the pure atmosphere of heaven. We can go back even further than that, to the day when the greatest of all the skilled workers in heaven, the most highly trained was created. We know that there was one who was perfect, the highest of the created beings. One in whom "the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created." Eze 28:13. One who had such a musical quality in his voice that he directed the choirs in heaven. It was he who wrote the songs, he was the most talented. We also know that tabrets are a percussion instrument and so we know that his voice had a special rhythmic quality.
We then come down to the time a little later at a different place, the garden of Eden, and a serpent in a tree. But wait, was it just a serpent talking? Or was it a certain sound that captivated a woman as she listened to the first of the great infamous love ballads sung and directed especially for her. Here we hear the first alluring, captivating love song, and that tremendous power was focused on moving the emotions of his one person audience, and to incite rebellion in that heart. We are told in 'Story of the Redemption,' p32 that Satan utilized all of his musical talent merged with the very words of Jesus to touch and allure and to captivate the attention. There it is that sin as we know it began. [The “Story of Redemption” is a book by Seventh Day Adventist “prophetess” Ellen G. White, in which she wrote: “Satan had led the heavenly choir. He had raised the first note; then all the angelic host had united with him, and glorious strains of music had resounded through heaven in honor of God and His dear Son.]
Once again, all this elaborate scenario about Satan’s early career is built upon the skimpiest of biblical evidence.
So what are we to make of the passage in Ezekiel? Perhaps it is possible that a small section of it is a veiled reference to Satan’s history. But what of the end of it? We are told that God “reduced to ashes” whoever is being referred to as the King of Tyre, and that it was to be done “in the sight of all who were watching. The nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.” Does this align with other scriptures dealing with the future of Satan?
Luke 10: Satan Falling Like Lightning
Whether or not the passages discussed above in Isaiah and Ezekiel are actually about Satan’s history, there are two passages which seem to address his “fall” (or expulsion from heaven) directly. What can we learn from them? During His earthly ministry, at one point Jesus sent out pairs of His disciples on an “evangelism tour” to preach and heal.
Luke 10: 17-
The seventy-
This single sentence is also spun out into elaborate scenarios. And yet what information does it specifically provide? Is Jesus talking about an event in the prehistoric past? We have no clue from the context, no mention of Satan as originally the choir leader of heaven or one of cherubs overshadowing the throne of God. There is no mention of a heavenly rebellion, no mention of a third of the angels following the lead of Satan. Some commentators even speculate that perhaps this is just a poetic, metaphorical way that Jesus was responding to the report of the disciples—their mission was so successful that it was as if Satan’s efforts were given a huge blow. In the context of the passage, that makes as much sense as any other interpretation. If Jesus intended for His disciples (and Bible readers to this day) to understand a more complex reason for His comment, He made no effort to elaborate so that it would be clear.
Revelation 12: The Dragon’s Tail
What then of the “third of the angels joining Satan in a rebellion” before the creation of Man? What of the alleged cosmic battle that led to the pockmarks on the moon according to some commentators? There is no hint of any of that in the three passages covered so far in this article. And we have only one passage left. So upon this one passage hinges much of the scenario promoted about the rebellion of Satan. Here it is:
Revelation 12:1-
A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have come the salvation and the
power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the
accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has
been hurled down.
They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by
the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to
shrink from death.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short."
The “third of the angels” part of the Lucifer Scenario is entirely built around the
one sentence in this passage describing John’s vision of a “dragon” (identified later
in the passage as Satan the Devil) sweeping a third of the stars from the sky and
hurling them to the ground. The assumption is that, since the term “star” can sometimes
signify an “angel” elsewhere in scripture, this means Satan drew with him a third
of the angels. And a verse or two later it is made clear that Satan and these angels
engaged Michael and his angels in a battle and lost, and they were thus “hurled down”
from heaven. But when does this event occur? The Earth and the sea are said to be
in woe as a result of this event because the devil “is filled with fury because he
knows that his time is short.” In other words … this isn’t some pre-
This passage even notes that Satan accuses brethren “before our God day and night.” This certainly seems to indicate that Satan had access to heaven right up until this “war” with Michael and the angels. We see this in the description of Satan appearing before God and accusing Job. And this passage says that the Devil and his angels had a “place in heaven” before the battle. Whatever we can ultimately deduce from this information in Revelation, there is no question that it does not present a clear description of events in the ancient past.
It is important to realize that this whole passage is neither a historical nor a
prophetic documentary. It is a highly symbolic vision given to John. To attempt to
take a section of this out of context and “read into” it a whole back-
In Conclusion
To take these four passages, and try to mix enough of their separate details together
to construct a history of Satan is not “using scripture to interpret scripture.”
It is using vagueness to clarify vagueness. This also is not careful biblical exegesis,
and should be avoided by those who wish to base their theological understandings
squarely on the Bible rather than extra-
If these four passages actually tell us very little about Satan the Devil, just what can we know about him, and where in the Bible do we find that information? For answers to those questions, see The Devil Dark Angels and Demons
The Devil in the Details
