The Truth About Lucifer

Introduction

As we are continuing to fill our building with more and more people, though we have a good number of folks out tonight, and we have the number of visitors present with us, our singing just gets better and better and better. And you realize at some point, if we have to leave the premises here and take this show on the road somewhere, we will be in a bigger auditorium, and the singing will not be as good. So we’re not moving. And there’s plenty of room up here on these three front rows that never get used. So we’re going to cram in here until it just becomes unbearable because the singing is so good. The second verse of the first song. I loved it when it said, Give thy word success, spirit of holiness on us descend.

That perfectly summarizes the one of the purposes and aims of our worship together. That God’s word may have success in our hearts, that upon us, his spirit of holiness would descend. Hopefully, that will occur as a result of our interaction together in worship tonight. This is a bold subject that I am proclaiming tonight to attempt this in a lesson because it will require the rapt attention of the audience, or you will get lost. But we are going to talk about the one who desires your destruction.

And he is known by a variety of designations in the scripture. The tempter is referred to as our adversary, Beelzebubul, and Belial are terms applied to him deceiver, the devil, the enemy, the evil one, God of this world, the great red dragon, murderer, old serpent, ruler of demons, prince of the power of the air, ruler of the world, roaring lion, and of course, Satan. I’m glad that’s all of them because I’ve run out of room. But there is one name conspicuously absent from the list. And many would know him by this name, and that is the name of Lucifer. Is that a reference to the devil? And this comes from the fact that we introduced this in a Bible class, and I saw a lot of puzzled looks on people’s faces, so I decided to preach on it tonight.

We’re going to talk about the truth regarding Lucifer and the one text in some Bibles that has that title, Isaiah 14 and verse 12. My version, the New American Standard, does not use the term Lucifer. If you have a King James Version, I’m sure you’ll find it there. How you have fallen from heaven, Isaiah 14 12, how you have fallen from heaven. Oh, Lucifer. Mine says, O star of the morning, Son of the Dawn. You have been cut down to the earth. You who have weakened the nations. Well, why is the belief that Satan is Lucifer so firmly entrenched in people’s minds? Let’s do some introductory work tonight in regard to the term the King James Version uses in Isaiah 14 and verse 12. Let’s first start with the Hebrew word that is translated Lucifer or star of the morning.

1. The Word Translated Lucifer

It literally means a shining one. The Hebrew root represents the giving off of light by celestial bodies. Nelson’s illustrated Bible dictionary that I’m going to quote twice in the introduction of this lesson. Lucifer is the Latin name for the planet Venus. Star of the morning, incidentally, Venus, when it is in the sky, can often be seen in the morning. And it will stand out among the stars when it is available in the sky. The newer versions, like the New American Standard and the ESD, I believe, and the NIV, translate this word morning star, or Son of the Dawn. The Amplified Bible translates this word, light bringer, or day star. And I only mention the Amplified Bible, not because I would recommend that as a Bible for your usual use.

The Amplified Bible, if you’ve ever heard that, if you have a copy of it, was never intended to be a literal translation of the Bible. It was put out by the people who do the New American Standard, and it is meant as a paraphrase translation. And so if you want to try to get the sentence more like a commentary built into the text, is really what it is. And in the footnote at Isaiah 14 and verse 12, the amplified Bible observes, light bringer or shining one was originally translated Lucifer, but because of the association of that name with Satan, it is not now used. Some students feel that the application of the name Lucifer to Satan, in spite of the long and confident teaching to that effect, is erroneous.

The application of the name has existed since the third century A.D. was not translated Lucifer at that time. And is based on the supposition that Luke 10 and verse 18 is an explanation of Isaiah 14 and verse 12, which some authorities feel is not true. So let’s go over to Luke chapter 10 and verse 18 and notice any similarities there. Notice the first phrase in Isaiah 14 and verse 12 says, How you have fallen from heaven. Oh Lucifer. But in Luke chapter 10 and verse 18, Jesus is talking to the 70 who have returned with joy because they were casting out demons. He says, I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Who could argue that this is not similar language? I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning.

And here we have in Isaiah 14 and verse 12 how you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning and sun of the dawn. And so many connect the two passages because of similarity of language. Now a little bit more.

Lucere, shining. And so that’s why Jerome chose the word Lucifer that found its way into the King James translation in Isaiah chapter 14 and verse 12, further adding to the mystique about this verse, Shakespeare and Milton use the term reference in their works as a reference to the devil. And so that further split, you know, the more times somebody says something, the more entrenched it becomes. And I’m just thinking off the top of my head, it’s like using impact as a verb. You just go back a few years ago.

And because so many people in the media kept saying impacted, it has now become a verb in English language. And so if people say something long enough, people start believing it, much like the phrase, the outward sign of an inward grace, as applied to baptism and the false teaching that says baptism is an essential to salvation, or just accept Jesus Christ into your heart as your personal Savior. I mean, that’s become a catchphrase to teach faith only. And so if people say something long enough, and if authorities or even poets and writers use something long enough, then that catches on with a lot of folks and influences people.

2. Spoken About the King of Tyre and Babylon

Nelson’s illustrated Bible dictionary, page 657 says, the word Lucifer appears only once in the Bible. Okay, if you’re King James Version, you search that, you’re only going to find it here. Literally, the passage describes the overthrow of a tyrant, the king of Babylon. But many scholars see in this passage a description of Satan who rebelled against the throne of God. Just because many scholars see it as that, doesn’t make it so. The same kind of interpretation is often given to Ezekiel 28, verses 11 through 19. The description of the king of Tyre, thus is believed to reach beyond that of an earthly ruler, to the archangel who was cast out of heaven for leading a revolt against God. That’s why Ed, in our class, when this came up, I said first, what?

The king of Tyre. Because I was confusing the two texts myself, Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14. But I want you to look over to Ezekiel 28. We’re going to read those verses and get the flavor of that. Ezekiel 28 11, because it is a similar kind of language to Isaiah 14. Again, the word of the Lord came to me saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, thus says the Lord God. Now he makes it clear whom he’s talking about here. You had the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect and beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Now listen. Obviously, we’re using descriptive language that could be applied to Satan as he was in Eden.

But who is he talking about? The king of Tyre. It is obviously figurative, as it pertains to him. Every precious stone was your covering, the ruby, the topaz, the diamond was in you, he says in the latter part of that verse, on the day that you were created, they were prepared. You were the anointed cherub who covers. You were blameless in your ways from the day that you were created. But then in verse 17, your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground, I put you before kings that they may see you. Obviously, this seems to picture Satan and his role in the introduction of sin into the world, but yet this is said about the king of Tyre.

Maybe he is emulating the devil. Maybe he is the pawn of the devil, and thus so described. But his heart is lifted up. Now back in Isaiah, let’s read the context of this. Much like the Ezekiel text, it says, You will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon. Verse 10, they will all respond and say to you, even you have been made weak, as we you have become like us, how you have fallen from heaven, verse 12 and verse 13, but you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven, I will raise my throne above the stars of God, I will sit on the Mount of Assembly in the recesses of the north, I will ascend above the heights of the cloud, I will make myself like the Most High.

3. A Similarity of Language

Well, who could argue that, yes, even the devil had that kind of arrogance in regard to God? But again, in this context, these are words spoken against the king of Babylon. So who is Lucifer? And we’re going to look at five things here. One problem that we experience in our study of these passages is a similarity of language. Because we have similar language in Luke 10 and similar language in Isaiah 14, people automatically think that it’s the same thing, same person. While there may be some tentacles from those passages in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 that make us think of the fall of Satan, again, the context suggests that it is the king of Tyre and the king of Babylon that is the subject of these references.

Well, Isaiah 14, 12 may not be directly referring to Satan. He in his own mind is a Lucifer, to an extent, one filled with pride, and exalting himself against God. But we need to be careful. This could be very similarly identified to anyone who exalts himself against God, like the son of destruction or the man of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians 2, 3, and 4. But obviously Isaiah and Paul have different people in mind, as the person is described in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. And if you want to find some similar language in Scripture to Isaiah 14, the closest language you’re going to find is 2 Peter chapter 1. Interestingly enough, as we’ve studied in our adult auditorium class, 2 Peter chapter 1, where Peter talks about the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention, as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.

This is a reference to Christ in us, the hope of glory. And if you turn over to Revelation 22 and verse 16, how is Christ identified there? The root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star. So we have a similarity of language, but that’s obviously in the book of Revelation, not a description of Satan. And in 2 Peter 1 and verse 19, that’s not a description of Satan, but it is a description of Jesus. And so let’s take all these texts and put them together and find something interesting. Those who exalt themselves and are carried away with their own pride, like the king of Tyre and the King of Babylon, and the devil, for that matter. Exalt themselves as a star of the heavens, as the morning star.

But the true morning star is not he who exalted himself, but he who humble himself and is therefore exalted with a name that is above every name, Philippians chapter 2 and verse 9. The one who has the rightful claim to the title, morning star, the bright morning star, the sun of the dawn, is the one who humbled himself to the uttermost, declaring the truthfulness of Jesus’ words, he who exalts himself shall be humbled. He who humbles himself shall be exalted. Somebody says, Well, you’re splitting hairs. This description of arrogance in Isaiah 14 could apply to the arrogance of the devil. It could apply to the arrogance of any person. But again, in the context of Isaiah 14, it is a taunt against the king of Babylon.

And let me just give you this as a little Bible study note. That similarity of language, even the exact same word, can mean something in one context and mean something else in a different context. Don’t just assume, you know, you can’t just go say, well, this word is used 75 times in the scripture, but therefore it is used the same way in every context. I was studying a word recently that’s only used four times, and I would never have known that it was the same Greek word just by reading the English translation. It was so totally different in the other context. And so we said, well, that’s sort of hard and difficult. We do it too in English. We do it with the word love all the time.

In one context, Steve says, I love Terry. This is pick on Steve’s Day if you didn’t know it. And in another context, he says, I love pizza. Same word. I mean, exact same word. L-O-B-E. But let’s hope Steve doesn’t mean the same thing in those two sentences. Let’s hope Terry’s just a little bit above pizza. So it’s true of Bible study that just because a word is used in a certain way in one place, it doesn’t necessarily mean that same word is used the same way in another place. The context determines that. Let me just give you a biblical example.

The first reference to that in Isaiah 65 and verse 17, if you want to do some extra study on this, go for it. It’s not in this lesson, but I’ll tell you in Isaiah 65, it is a prediction of the era of the Messiah and the new order that the Messiah would bring. That is also found new heavens and new earth in 2 Peter 3, as we shall study shortly in the auditorium class, that talks about what happens after all of this is burnt with intense heat and burns up with fire, and then there will be a new heavens and a new earth. I believe both texts are figurative. But they’re not referring to the same event or to the same time. But it’s the same phrase.

4. Star of the Morning Is the King of Babylon

So that might be one example. There are many others that we could choose. And so don’t just assume because something means something in one context that it means something in another. So I would proclaim as I read Isaiah 14, I think this is pretty safe here, that this star of the morning, Son of the Dawn, is a reference to the King of Babylon, because that’s who Isaiah says it is about. And the book of Daniel, incidentally, gives us some insight later on, almost 200 years later, to the pride of Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel chapter 4. And I probably could have asked you this because of the study that we had. Remember the study that Thad made us have? On Daniel chapter 7 through 12. Remember our study of the book of Daniel?

We all know what every chapter of the book of Daniel has in it, right? In chapter 4, the pride of King Nebuchadnezzar and how that he’s humbled by God. So is Isaiah 14 a taunt in regard to Nebuchadnezzar? I think Ed raised that question when this came up in Bible class. In chapter 5, at least Nebuchadnezzar humbles himself, but his descendant, probably his grandson Belshazzar. Remember Belshazzar in Daniel 5, the guy that saw the handwriting on the wall, many teckless and parson, you have been weighed in the scales and found deficient. What happened to him that very night? He said, bye-bye to his kingdom. Bye-bye the living. And he was instructed by Daniel that he had not learned the lesson that Nebuchadnezzar learned about pride.

And he was judged in accordance with his pride. And so we could raise the question in Isaiah 14. Well, is he talking about Nebuchadnezzar? Is he talking to Belshazzar? Or is he talking about all the kings of Babylon? Because I tell you, they were probably all bad apples when it comes to pride and arrogance and saying about their kingdom like Nebuchadnezzar did as he went out and looked over his city and said, Wow, look at this beautiful kingdom of mine. Look at what I built. And so it may just be a spirit of all the kings of Babylon. Well, there’s some parallels to this language. You’ve already looked at the language in Ezekiel, in Ezekiel chapter 28. But if you went back earlier in that context, in verses 2 through 6, I want you to notice in Ezekiel 28, 2 through 6, what is said about the leader of Tyre.

You see, this is very similar to the attitude of the devil, no question, because your heart is lifted up and you have said, I am a God. Many emperors of biblical times saw themselves as deities. Even Roman emperors. I sit in the seed of the gods in the heart of the seas, yet you are a man and not God. Although you make your heart like the heart of God. Somebody tell me why we saw Satan fall down from heaven like lightning. The angels who sinned and were cast down, as we studied this morning in our Bible class in 2 Peter chapter 2. Why is that? Because they possess the same heart as the king of Tyre. Behold, you are wiser than Daniel. There is no secret that is a match for you.

By your wisdom and understanding, you have acquired riches for yourself and have acquired gold and silver for your treasures. Your heart is lifted up in verse 5, because of your riches. I want you to underscore that phrase. We’re coming back to that in a second. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, because you have made your heart like the heart of God. If indeed we are made to think of the devil who was in the Eden and the serpent, and his character and behavior in the very beginning in the latter part of this text. Again, all of this is being applied to the king of Tyre. Wormwood. Wormwood is another expression found as the seals are being broken and revealed in the book of Revelation in Revelation chapter 8.

I want you to just notice the similarity of language. Wormwood was known for its bitterness, but in the book of Revelation, it’s being personified. It is giving the given the characteristics of a person in Revelation 8, 10 and 11. And notice this.

Something like what we read in Isaiah 14. A great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. Oh, what is it? And the name of the star is called wormwood. You ever heard wormwood before? Read any of C.S. Lewis, the screw tape letters? Wormwood, an ally of the evil one. Where does that expression come from? From Revelation chapter 8. And the name of the star is called wormwood. And a third of the waters became wormwood. Well, if this was actually a reference to the devil, it seems like more than a third would be affected. And many men died from the waters because they were made bitter. That’s what we have here a similarity of language, a parallel to the same kind of language we see in Isaiah 14 and in Ezekiel 26.

5. The Proud Person Is Going to Be Humbled

Well, I’m pretty much done with that. The rest of what you want to do with that is up to you. But I’m not just going to go on theoretically about this passage without bringing it home and making some application. What are these passages telling us? The proud person is going to be humbled. Like I noted in Matthew 23, he who exalts himself shall be humbled, but as Jesus, he who humbled himself shall be exalted, and he who humbled himself like no other ever has was exalted to a place where no other person is, and he is the true day star. The bright and morning star. And if we would be exalted in the end with him to reign with him, we must humble ourselves. I said this morning, I was going to address this again.

Remember what I said? I’m sure you do. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life. Two areas where we need to constantly monitor our hearts. I suggested pride and selfishness, and the two go hand in hand. Somebody says, Well, I’m not overly carried away with myself. I don’t say like the king of Tyre, look how beautiful I am, look how powerful I am. Everybody should bow down to me. There’s people that act like that. It’s nauseating. Don’t do it. Somebody says, Well, I’m not just carried away. I don’t think I’m the best looking thing, as we talked about this morning. I don’t think I’m the smartest thing that ever came down the pike. And I don’t look in the mirror like what is it, Gaston in beauty.

I love Gaston. I mean, it’s perfect. And say, look how marvelous. Beautiful. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have a problem with pride. What was the attitude of the king of Babylon who gloried in his heart? I’m a self made man. I’ve arrived. I’m talented. I’m strong. I’ve conquered the world. I don’t need anybody or anything. Listen. We’ve got to beware that we don’t develop that mindset. The mindset of self-sufficiency. We sing that song, I need thee every hour. We sing that quite often here. I need thee every hour. But what if we sing that and then we leave this building and we fail to pray to God until we arrive here at the next appointed service. Do we really mean I need thee every hour?

Or are we finding ourselves self-sufficient? Because of our influence, as we read in the text of Ezekiel 2 and verse 6, because of our riches, our heart can be lifted up with pride, and we cannot perceive how needy we really are. And that’s why the scriptures are always appealing to us. Humble yourselves. God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. James chapter 4 and verse 6. It’s more, the problem of pride is more than just a conceited arrogance that makes people sick.

When we don’t see how truly powerless and hopeless we are without God. In James chapter 4. I don’t think we can visit that text too much. When somebody says, today or tomorrow we’re going to go to such and such a place and we’re going to do this or that, and who knows what your life is going to be like tomorrow. Our lives are a vapor that appear for a short time and then vanish away. I know you’ve seen perhaps the news reports today, the passing of Joe Paterno. Oh, I know he was in his 80s. He lived, he lived a long life. He’s been the football coach at Penn State since I was in diapers or before. And all of that mess that broke loose with the Penn State scandal several months ago, and now Joe Paterno, Joe Paft this world.

I mean, our time here is so short. Some of you in this audience are approaching 50 or more. Some of you. Yeah, it is funny. How did that happen? We were looking at our house this afternoon at some pictures of Brett when he was little bitty. What happened? We turned around and he’s over six feet. I mean, we go through life so very quickly. And we have such confidence sometimes about what we’re going to do tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that. Instead, we ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will do this or that. And you know what that passage says about the one who fails to do that? And just boasts about what tomorrow is going to bring? He says, all such boasting is evil.

It’s pride. It’s pride that causes us to think that there will definitely be a tomorrow, and a day after that and a day after that. Ultimately, there won’t be a day after that at some point in our lives. And God may determine that there won’t be a day after today for any of us. He could. The scriptures warn us to be prepared for that eventuality. So that could be an evidence of pride. And so each day we live is a day for faith. I want to more consistently start each day with.

Some folks can’t say that as they get out of bed. This is good. This is a good thing. I don’t hurt. I see. What a blessing. I hear.

6. Every Problem Connected to the Problem of Pride

To be thankful for every day of life. And boy, didn’t I sleep on a nice mattress last night. And to realize how blessed we are and how much we need him every day. If we are not thinking such things in our lives, have we become complacent? Have we exalted ourselves with pride to say, I don’t need him. Let us humble ourselves before God and submit to his ways. I’ll tell you, every problem that man has spiritually is in some way, shape, or form connected to the problem of pride. It is a lack of humility that causes us to think, I’m okay with my religion and my faith as it is. I feel pretty content and good about it. And I don’t want to inquire any further to see if there might be something other that God has in mind.

It’s pride, the cause of that kind of thinking. Or that says, I’m not going to submit to God’s word as he instructs me to be baptized for the forgiveness of my sins. I’m not going to acknowledge that. I have family members who have tried to shove that down my throat. And if I acknowledge that’s the truth, I lose.

If I acknowledge what the Bible says about baptism for the remission of sins, then that means that they were right and I was wrong. Look, we’ve got to swallow our pride. And humble ourselves. We can say, well, no, I’m not going to do that because that would make them think that they were right and I was wrong. Well, what if you lose your soul over that? Isn’t that so wicked? The issue is God is right. And I need to submit to him.

And that’s why I like the song, What is Love? At the end of that, God is right. What a perfect way to finish that. And we need to get that in our minds. And we need to humble ourselves before him. And that is, look, if my interpretation of certain passages needs some tweaking, then let’s do it. Let’s be right rather than be proud about those things. And I’ve already mentioned this morning about our place in his kingdom, our service in his cause. But it is never an occasion. I don’t care how you are regarded, how others might put you on a pedestal. We only are what we are because of him and for him. Because from him and through him and to him are all things.

Conclusion

That’s God. Romans chapter 11 and verse 36. And that’s why you submit to him, because ultimately everything is from him. It is through him and ultimately to him. And you need to be ready to meet him. So you need to humble yourself in obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ and respond to his invitation while there’s time and opportunity. Won’t you come if you need to while we stand and say?