We have the answer to this question in Isaiah 14:12, “How YOU ARE FALLEN from heaven, O LUCIFER, son of the morning.” His name was Lucifer, which in the Hebrew language means “shining one.” In Latin the name Lucifer means “lightbearer.” We see in this verse that he is also called “son of the morning” which is more literally “son of the dawn.” The Romans spoke of the name Lucifer as the “Morning Star.” These all join to tell us that Lucifer was a mighty angel who was created by God to reflect the glory of God.

We learn more of this magnificent creature/angel in Ezekiel 28:14, “You were the ANOINTED CHERUB who covers; I established you….you were PERFECT IN YOUR WAYS from the day you were created, TILL INIQUITY WAS FOUND IN YOU.” It is clear that Lucifer was one of God’s chief angels, perhaps the highest of them all, UNTIL INIQUITY WAS FOUND IN HIM. This brings us back to “his FALL.” What was it that caused him to fall? What exactly was the “iniquity” that was found in him? We have the answer in Ezekiel 28:17, “Your heart was lifted up because of your BEAUTY; You corrupted your WISDOM for the sake of your SPLENDOR.” In a word, Lucifer was lifted up with PRIDE! He was proud of his beauty, wisdom and splendor; instead of being occupied with God’s infinite beauty, wisdom and splendor, he was taken up with himself. Back in Isaiah 14:13-14 we learn that he desired to dethrone God and sit on His throne: “For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God…I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.”

The moment Lucifer fell, he became the Devil (which means “accuser”) and Satan (which means “adversary”). These names are seen together in Revelation 12:9 and 20:2-3, “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world…He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit.” These verses speak of a future time when the Devil and Satan will be “cast down to earth” and later “cast into the bottomless pit.” In verse 10 we read of another judgment upon him, “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.” So, it is only a matter of time and this one, who was possibly God’s mightiest angel and had the highest place in heaven next to God Himself, will be confined to the lowest place of all, the “lake of fire and brimstone.”

Before we close our meditation, we read in the preceding verses that he is also called the “serpent of old.” Why is he called this? Ah, because he was the one who approached the woman in the Garden of Eden and tempted her to sin. We read in Genesis 3:1, “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.” Since this serpent is also called a “beast” we believe Satan possessed this magnificent animal and used it in the temptation. It is striking that the word “serpent” (which is the Hebrew word NACHASH) also means “a shining one” and thus Satan used one who was, like himself, a beautiful creature. We read that the serpent was “more CUNNING that any beast of the field” so he was also, like Lucifer, filled with wisdom. What was the main temptation that the serpent put before the woman? I trust most readers know that the serpent tried to get the woman to eat of the forbidden fruit in the midst of the garden. Listen to what he says in verse 5, “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD, knowing good and evil.” Satan tells the woman “You will be like God!” This was his original sin and this is the sin he tempted mankind with from the very beginning. We know that the woman succumbed to the temptation, along with her husband Adam (see verse 6), and the moment they did it was THE FALL OF MAN! Thus both the “fall of Lucifer” and the “fall of man” were caused by PRIDE and the desire to “be like God.” Satan has never changed his strategy to this very day, for he is still using the world and all of its attractions to lure men into sin; to create in their hearts the desire to “be like God.”  (411.5)  (DO)