Who is Lucifer?

WHO IS LUCIFER?

When many people hear the name “Lucifer,” they picture what religious tradition describes as Satan before his fall, a beautiful archangel, heaven’s chief musician, who became proud and was thrown out of heaven. That story has been preached so often that most people assume it is plainly written in the Bible.

But is it?

The Bible never says Lucifer was: Satan’s original name. An archangel. Heaven’s chief musician. The leader of a prehistoric angelic rebellion.

The word “Lucifer” appears only once in the King James Bible:

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

Isaiah 14:12

But Isaiah had already identified the subject:

That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!

Isaiah 14:4

The Hebrew expression translated “Lucifer” means “shining one, son of the dawn” or “morning star.” It describes the brilliance and downfall of a proud earthly ruler not Satan’s personal name.

The king imagined himself ascending into heaven and becoming like God. But God declared that he would be brought down:

They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;

Isaiah 14:16

Notice the words: “IS THIS THE MAN?”

WHAT ABOUT EZEKIEL 28?

This chapter is also commonly treated as Satan’s biography, but Ezekiel identifies his subject:

Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

Ezekiel 28:2

The ruler of Tyre possessed extraordinary wealth, beauty, wisdom, and commercial power. Ezekiel described his splendor through the imagery of Eden, precious stones, and an anointed cherub.

The King James Version mentions “tabrets” and “pipes,” but it never calls him heaven’s worship leader or chief musician. That conclusion was added to the passage.

Isaiah 14 concerns the KING OF BABYLON.

Ezekiel 28 concerns the KING OF TYRE.

Neither passage calls its subject Satan. Neither gives us the biography of an angel named Lucifer. Both describe proud earthly rulers who exalted themselves as gods and were brought down by the true God.

Sometimes tradition becomes so familiar that it sounds like Scripture. But familiar does not necessarily mean biblical.

So who was Lucifer? This is very interesting:

Lucifer was the poetic title given to the king of Babylon not the king of Tyre. The king of Tyre supplied other imagery that tradition later attached to Lucifer.

According to the context of Isaiah 14, he was not a rebellious angel named Satan.

He was a proud and fallen KING.