Satan was never an angel

Arrant nonsense and heresy to boot.

Before the earth was in exis­tence, God created angels. We know they existed prior to the earth becaus the Bible says they sang and shouted for joy together when it was created (Job 38:4–7).

So far, so good. But wait!

Apparently, a third of the angels were put under the authority of the super-archangel Lucifer (cf. Revelation 12:4; Isaiah 14:12–14; Ezekiel 28:12–15).

Okay, ladies and gentlemen. Here’s Revelation 12:4, NAS translation (my preferred is the NRSV, but I can’t find it right now):

“And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour the child.”

So here we have a description of this really nasty evil beast, the dragon. Revelation 12:7-9 says:

“And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”

So the dragon is pretty clearly also the devil and Satan. But where does it say he was an angel, let alone a “super-archangel”? Or named Lucifer? Or given authority over any angels by God? Just because the angels joined him doesn’t mean he was an angel. Humans join the devil too, and are led astray and cast down by him, and that doesn’t mean he’s a human.

Now, here’s Isaiah 14:12-14:

“How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

But wait– here’s Isaiah 14:3-11:

“And it will be in the day when the Lord gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and harsh service in which you have been enslaved, that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say, ‘How the oppressor has ceased, how fury has ceased! The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers which used to strike the people in fury with unceasing strokes, which subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution. The whole earth is at rest and is quiet; they break forth with shouts of joy. Even the cypress trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, “Since you were laid low, no lumberjack* comes up against us.” Sheol from beneath us is excited over you to meet you when you come; it arouses for you the spirits of the dead, all the leaders of the earth; it raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones. They will all respond and say to you, “Even you have been made weak as we, you have become like us. Your pomp and the music of your harps have been brought down to Sheol; maggots are spread out beneath you, and worms are your covering.'”

Yes, that’s right. The entirety of Isaiah 14:4-21 (set up by 3 and 4) is actually an anticipated taunt by the nation of Israel against the king of Babylon. Your Lucifer-was-an-archangel-ites would have it that suddenly, for no reason, and with no visible transition, in the middle of taunting the king of Babylon, the oppressed nation of Israel suddenly starts talking about an angel named Morningstar (the translation here subsituted for Lucifer) who was also really prideful and evil and was also cast down from his proud place. But even casting aside the lack of reason and transition, this doesn’t jibe with the text. If Lucifer/Morningstar was an archangel at the time when he sinned by deciding to become “like the Most High,” then why would he also claim he would “ascend into heaven”? The intention of ascending into heaven isn’t arrogance for an archangel; it’s only arrogance for an earthly king. Angels, even ones posted for earth duty, ascend into heaven all the time. Otherwise the devil’s angels wouldn’t have been “cast down out of heaven,” now would they? Likewise, angels can sit on the mount of the assembly of God– especially Lucifer, if he was, as is claimed, some sort of “super-archangel.” Who do you think the assembly is, if not God and his super-archangels? This is an escalating passage of insane arrogance that is only uniformly insane arrogance if it’s spoken about the king of Babylon, as, rather obviously, it is.

And I have to pause here, because they’re translating “Lucifer” as “star of the morning,” and check out their footnote: “Lit., the bright one, evidently a reference to Satan, because of Christ’s similar description (Luke 10:18) and because of the inappropriateness of the expressions of Isaiah 14:13-14 on the lips of any but Satan (cf. 1 Tim. 3:6).”

Ahem. I have just demonstrated the inappropriateness of the expressions of Isaiah 14:13-14 on the lips of any but the king of Babylon, but let’s see if 1 Tim 3:6 has anything to refute me.

“lest he become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.”

*squints at verse*

Oh. So they’re saying that… dude, this is the stretchiest stretch that ever stretched. They’re saying that this verse tells us the devil was condemned for his conceit, and therefore anyone who has ever been described as conceited is the devil. Right. Moving on.

Luke 10:18: “And he said to them, I have been watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.”

What? Only one entity in the history of the universe can be described as having fallen from heaven? So because in the middle of a descriptive passage in Isaiah about the King of Babylon, he’s described as having fallen from heaven, and because Jesus, who was, by the way, very well-versed in Isaiah, used similar imagery to describe the events recounted to him in Luke 10:17 (“And the seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.'” Context! Ain’t that a thing!), that passage in Isaiah was describing Satan. Yes. Moving further on.

Ezekiel 28:12-15 says: “Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God: ‘You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the ruby, the topaz, and the diamond; the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper; the lapis lazuli, the turquoise, and the emerald; and the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you.** On the day that you were created they were prepared. You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you on the holy mountain of God; you walked in the midst of the stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you.***”

Okay, which are we claiming here: that Satan is also the king of Tyre (that must have been a complicated succession debate), or that God has attention deficit disorder? Because usually when you tell a prophet, “Tell the king of Tyre I said the following,” the following addresses the king of Tyre, not a random wayward super-archangel. I am picturing the following scene:

God: Ezekiel, prophet of mine, take a letter to the King of Tyre. Dear King of Tyre:

Lucifer (sashaying rebelliously past): What up, my ex-commander in chief? How those humans working out for you?

God: CURSE YOU, YOU EX-SUPER-ARCHANGEL! YOU USED TO BE SO NICE AND PERFECT AND PRETTY AND COVERED WITH JEWELS, AND NOW YOU ARE UNRIGHTEOUS!

Ezekiel (busily writing): Man, the king of Tyre used to be a super-archangel?

God: What? Oh, right, sure. I also have a judgement for Sidon. Tell Sidon she’s a jerk. *mumblerassafrassin’Lucifermumble*

Man, I was going to take on that whole essay, but if I do I’ll be late for church. Sorry guys, you’re on your own as to whether a giant apocalypse quietly took place between verses one and two of Genesis.

*I take the liberty of paraphrasing their lame phrase “tree cutter.”

**I am not making this verse up.

***Or this one.