In the modern church, ha’satan has been given a lot of backstory:
- He led the worship choir in heaven- He saw his own reflection and became filled with pride
- He tried to usurp the throne of God
- He was kicked out of heaven for disobedience at the beginning of creation
While it makes for entertaining movies and art, this is all church myth inspired by the Renaissance period of mixing Greek/Roman mythology with biblical allegories.
Most of these ideas come from two passages in the Old Testament: Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, which are taken literally. But, when ancient prophets wrote, they often used vibrant poetry, cultural myths, and extreme exaggeration to make a point.
Isaiah 14
How you have fallen from heaven, O brightstar, son of the dawn! How you are cut down to the earth, you who made the nations prostrate!
You said in your heart: “I will ascend to heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit upon the mount of meeting, in the uttermost parts of the north. I will ascend above the high places of the clouds— I will make myself like Elyon”.
Yet you will be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest parts of the Pit.
— Isaiah 14:12-15
In context, Isaiah 14:4 says, “You will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon” so we know this passage is about a human king.
Historically, Babylon was a brutal, arrogant empire that oppressed ancient Yisrael. Isaiah writes a poetic song imagining the day the tyrant king dies. The poem pictures the king descending into the underworld (Sheol), where the spirits of previously conquered kings mock him because he has become weak just like them.
The words “bright shining star, son of dawn” are also often translated as “morning star”.
The Hebrew is helel ben shachar– which means “shining one, son of dawn”.
The Latin Vulgate (The official translation of the Catholic Church) translated Helel into the Latin “lucifer” – which means “light-bearer”. Over time the church began to use this term as a proper noun for ha’satan. But the term actually describes the solar body Venus.
Ancient Babylonian kings frequently claimed to be descendants of the gods or associated themselves with the stars and planets. Calling the king the “Morning Star” was a way of mocking his claims to divinity in a clever way. Venus rises in the morning seeming bright, but it fails in comparison to the Sun.
In the New Testament, we see the “morning star” title applied to Messiah:
- Revelation 22:16: “I am the root and descendant of David, the bright morning star.” (aster lampros prōinos– “star shining early/ at dawn”)
- 2 Peter 1:19 “the morning star rises in your hearts.” (phōsphoros– morningstar)
Venus appears in the pitch-black sky right before the dawn, signaling that the dark night is ending and a new day is beginning. In ancient understanding, it was viewed as a symbol of royalty, victory, light, and a new beginnings.
This title is appointed to Messiah because He alone is the ultimate, victorious King who brings God’s new day to the earth.
When it was applied to the king of Babylon, it was used to mock him. To say, “you believe you are the morning star, but Gods true harbinger of day is coming.”
Ezekiel 28
Son of man, lift up a lament for the king of Tyre.
Say to him, thus says YHVH Elohim: ‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering —ruby, topaz and diamond, beryl, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and emerald—your settings and your sockets a workmanship of gold —in the day you were created they were prepared.
You were an anointed guardian cheruv. I placed you on the holy mountain of God. You walked among stones of fire. You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you.
By the abundance of your trade they filled you within with violence. So you have sinned. So I threw you out as a profane thing from the mountain of God. I made you vanish, guardian cheruv, from among the stones of fire.
Your heart was exalted because of your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. I threw you down to the earth. Before kings I set you up as a spectacle.
By the multitude of your iniquities, in the injustice of your trade, you profaned your sanctuaries. So I brought fire out from within you, and it has consumed you. I have turned you to ashes on the earth in the eyes of all who saw you. All who know you among the people will be appalled at you. You have become a horror and will be nothing forever.
— Ezekiel 28:12-19
Again, this about a human ruler- the King of Tyre- and uses more poetic, Hebrew language.
Ancient Near Eastern cultures frequently used Eden as a poetic symbol for paradise, luxury, and abundance. Tyre was a massively wealthy, world-famous sea-trading port. Ezekiel was essentially telling the king: “You had it all. Your city was so beautiful, wealthy, and perfect, it was like living in paradise.”
Later, he uses this same language in Ezekiel 31, where he compares the King of Egypt to a massive cedar tree in Eden.
Another common literary style of the time was building up an enemy’s ego to cosmic proportions just to show how devastating their real-world defeat will be.
In the first half of the chapter, the king claims, “I am a god; I sit on the throne of a god.” (Ezekiel 28:2). Ezekiel responds with heavy sarcasm to mock his arrogance, depicting him as a cheruv to say, even if you are high and mighty, you will still be thrown to the ground and exposed “before kings, to feast their eyes on you”.
If this were ha’satan being cast out of heaven before creation, there would be no human “kings” standing around to watch it happen. This is actually a prophecy of political humiliation- other earthly rulers watching the powerful kingdom of Tyre get conquered and brought to ruin (outlined in Ezekiel 26).
Isaiah & Ezekiel warn human rulers that extreme pride against God always results in a catastrophic fall. Their fall is a punishment for arrogance.
The problem comes when we mix these passages together with Yeshua’s proclamation “I saw satan fall from heaven like a bolt of lightning”. Many understand this verse to be talking about a fall related to pride, and Messiah warning His disciples not to fall into the same trap.
However, Luke 10 describes ha’satan‘s fall not as a punishment for vanity, but as a corporate downsizing.
The disciples casting out demons proved that the Kingdom had arrived. It was a sign that ha’satan‘s legal grip on humanity was already breaking. Messiah was essentially saying, “The invasion has begun. The prosecutor’s power is already collapsing right before our eyes.”
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