The Truth About the Father of Lies

He was an Archangel named Lucifer. The most beautiful in fact. He led worship for all of heaven, until he looked in a mirror and thought "boy do I look marvelous!" Because of this, he led a rebellion against God, and got tossed into hell where he now rules, and punishes people who get sent to hell when they die.

Of course, this is the prevailing theology regarding the Prince of darkness...however, it is entirely BS.

First off, his name is not, and never was Lucifer. Lucifer, is a Latin word. It was a holdover from the Latin translation of the Bible, straight out of a passage in Isaiah.

Isaiah 14:12-14 KJV

[12] 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!

[13] For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

[14] I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

When they translated the Latin Vulgate into the King James version, the translators, because of years of using the Latin version, assumed the word "lucifer" was a name. The direct translation of the word from Latin to English (or back to Hebrew) is "morning star, or star of the morning".

"So, is his name morning star?"

No, and neither is satan, or the devil, his name. These are all descriptive terms. The devil's name is not in scripture at all. Of course, since Jesus called him the "father of lies", all of this error in theology suits him just fine...

I have a theory that the term "morning star" is a title, like president.

"?"

You see in Revelation 22:16, Jesus is referred to as "the Morning Star". The only change at that point is that Jesus has returned, and taken over authority of the planet. I think the Morning Star is the title the "Prince of the World" has.

No, it is not an elected position. That authority is given by The Father, who is God, outside of time and space.

Luke 4:5-6

[5] The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.

[6] And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.

Clearly, at this point in time Satan isn't stuck in hell tormenting sinners. In fact, no where in scripture is He tossed into hell. He never will be.

Revelation 20:1-3

[1] And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain.

[2] He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

[3] He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

No, the bottomless pit, or abyss is not hell. Hell is always listed as hell, gehenna or sheol. This bottomless pit is another place. Assumptions, are always the origins of false doctrines.

Always lean literal!

After 1000 years Satan is released from his prison and will cause another rebellion against Jesus. This one, however, will be very short-lived. God, the Father will annihilate everything so that nothing exists except every soul before The Father's massive white throne.

Judgement Day.

Satan, then gets tossed into the Lake of Fire, or "The second death", which I believe is utter destruction, possibly even from record and memory...complete non-existance.

"Ouch!"

Well, by then he will have served his purpose, just like Judas did. He is no longer needed.

"Needed!? You think God made him to fall?!"

Obviously. Do you actually believe God, The Father, makes mistakes? If you do, you are not reading the Book, but listening to the lies.

"But Lucifer was an Archangel!"

Do you know, that the only Archangel listed in all of scripture is Micheal? Not even Gabriel is listed as one.

The word angel means "messenger". The word arch means "chief". Michael is the chief messenger. No one else is.

You must keep in mind much of the scriptures attributed to Satan are clearly aimed at someone else. This is where many problems arise.

The chapter, where he is called the morning star, begins in verse 4 as a taunt directed at the current King of Babylon.

Still, scripture often has a pluralistic bent to it. Many of the prophetic scriptures related to the coming Christ and fulfilled by Jesus were originally aimed at others.

"That's confusing!"

Yes, it can be. However, if you look at the scripture and compare it to the actual historical person that the passage seems aimed at, you will often find a "divergence".

Once the passage begins about the King of Babylon in Isaiah chapter 14, the description of him quickly deviates from things the King of Babylon actually did. Though arrogant and self-important, the actual King of Babylon didn't attempt a coupe against God. The passage, like many others, diverts and is clearly pointing to another.

Theologians, many years past, speculated that Isaiah 14 refers to the devil. Yes, it is an assumption and should be considered carefully. However, I do agree with the assessment.

"Why!?"

It fits with scripture as a whole. Its like all of the passages regarding the coming Christ. If you look at how the Apostles, and writers of the new Testament books used many divergent passages of the Old Testament showing they referred to the coming Christ, then you can see how they fit...after the events of Jesus' coming unfolded.

Like a road map, they were rather difficult to see and understand, prior to the events happening in a current time frame.

"Oh, there is the Dunkin Donuts! It was right behind the Starbucks! So, that's what the map shows!"

"So, Satan did a coupe, like they all say?"

Not yet.

"What?!"

Again, much of this can get really off track if you assume that you passed something pointed to on the map...when you actually haven't, yet.

Additionally, there is a common error about prophetic predictions. Take the passage about Satan getting tossed into the "pit" in Isaiah chapter 14.

Isaiah 14:14-17

[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?"

Just because the book of Isaiah was written long before Jesus Christ was born, doesn't mean the event described his taken place yet! Prophecy is often spoken of in past tense, because to God, it did happen in the past...and the future...and the present. So, when prophets "see" an event, though they see it as an event that's happening, their "view" is of the future.

"So when did Satan fall?"

Ok, so Jesus refers to him as prince of the world when He was here walking amongst His disciples. Obviously, he is not stuck in hell or kicked out yet.

"Well, he could be stuck on earth!"

Well, yes, that is going to happen, but it won't last long...

Revelation Chapter 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.

[2] She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.

The woman with a crown of 12 stars, is Israel with its 12 Patriarchs, or in other words, the 12 sons of Jacob. Clothed with the sun is a representation of the nation being clothed by the presence of God. Israel was waiting for the birth of the Messiah or Christ.

[3] Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads.

The dragon is the devil represented by all the kingdoms of man. This is clear after you consider the descriptions in both the books of Daniel and Revelation.

[4] 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.

Here is a reference to Satan deceiving one third of the angels along with His efforts to stop Jesus as a child. The trick here is again to consider the timeless nature of prophetic vision. Although the fall of Satan and his angels didn't happen before Jesus was born, Satan is described as if he had done it already. This is where most get off track. The descriptions of events, and actors, can be past, present or futuristic. Judas was called the betrayer before he betrayed. Satan is called fallen before he falls.

[5] 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.

[6] 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.

So, here Jesus is born and taken up to heaven. Yes, it skips the details of how it all happened and combines an event that hasn't happened yet as if they are almost immediate. Jesus did get taken up to heaven, but the 1260 days, 42 months, a time, times and a half a time, or 3 and a half years has not started yet.

I will digress here in order to place a time frame on the event in question...when Satan falls.

The 3 and a half years is mentioned throughout scripture. It is listed in any one of the 4 formats above, and it always refers to the same time period. It's called the Great Tribulation.

No, most are wrong, terribly. The Great Tribulation is not 7 years and never listed as such in scripture. The 7 year period comes from Daniel chapter 9.

Daniel 9:27

[27] He will confirm a covenant with many for one `seven.' In the middle of the `seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing [of the temple] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."

This is the only place the "seven" yesrs are mentioned. You will note that, in this verse, the seven is divided, "in the middle of the seven". Half of seven...is three and a half years. The Great Tribulation starts on the last half of the last seven years.

This is what its says.

It is very important here to realize that this last three and a half years is kicked off by an event called the Abomination of Desolation. Scripture has quite a bit of information on this event. Daniel speaks of it, Jesus taught it, and Paul goes into some great detail in 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2.

Jesus says Jerusalem will be surrounded and all in the city should flee to the mountains. Paul says the coming Antichrist will stand in the temple and declare he is God. Immediately following, there will be persecution, but the Jews who reach the mountains will be protected.

[7] And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.

[8] But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven.

[9] 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.

[10] 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.

[11] 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.

[12] 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."

He will only get three and a half years. It is interesting to know that Jesus' earthly ministry lasted three and a half years. God is fair...

[13] When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.

[14] The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach.

Again, Israel, the Jews, or the woman is protected.

[15] Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent.

[16] But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.

[17] Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring--those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

It is extremely important to note here that during the Great Tribulation, the last 3.5 years of this age, Christians will, in fact, face persecution. This is why it is called the Great Tribulation.

Satan, then, is kicked out of heaven right before the beginning of the Great Tribulation.

Since Paul says in 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2, that the event is known by the man of lawlessness announcing himself as God in the temple site, Satan is still in heaven and able to go back and forth in the earth just like he was during the time of Job.

The war in heaven has not happened yet.

"So, if prophecy is from a timeless perspective, how do you know that the fall of Satan happens immediately prior to the Abomonation of Desolation?"

Well, before Jesus went to the cross He tells Peter that he will be tested. He says "Satan has asked to sift him as wheat".

Satan asked for permission. Clearly, even though he is prince of the world at that time, he doesn't just get to do what he wants. He answers to God, the Father, just like everyone else. He also clearly has access in heaven, and is not kicked out yet.

Sure, it is possible to "interpret" the scriptures and come up with all kinds of "theologies" regarding Satan's fall. One pastor I've heard believed that Satan has had many falls. Clearly, he is holding to a chronological position of the passages that bring it up. Yet, if you held to that ideology, could not the Messiah have come many times?

Lean literal...but understand prophesy comes from a view outside of time. It may look like it's happening now if a prophet is seeing the future.

Scripture is like a big puzzle. You need to consider all the pieces and put them together where they fit...not where you want them to fit.

Satan is an angel. He is the prince of this world. He does still have access to heaven, and he is messing with the lives of men. He will get his chance to become a man and decieve the world. He will fail. He will never go to hell. He will, instead, go directly into the Lake of Fire.

"Why does God allow it?!"

Why did He "allow" Judas?

Like Judas, Satan is going to play his part. God has a plan. Satan wont see or understand it, until its too late. It WILL happen the way God wants it to. There are no mistakes. He isn't "allowing" anything. God is God. He IS in control.

To say otherwise isn't a position of faith.

Isn't that what God wants?

Luke 18:8

[8] I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

I know He will.