Let’s read of the one place in the Bible where the name ‘Lucifer’ is mentioned.  Isaiah 14:12-15 says, “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! 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: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”  While this passage is referring specifically to the king of Babylon, it also references the spiritual power behind that evil king, namely, Lucifer.

When did Lucifer’s fall take place?  It’s impossible to say, but we do know that the angels were created before the earth was created.  We read in Job 38:4-7, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”  The ‘morning stars’ and the ‘sons of God’ are no doubt referring to angels.  We also know that Lucifer fell before he tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden (Read Genesis 3:1-14).  His fall, therefore, must have occurred somewhere after the time the angels were created and before he tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  Most likely, Lucifer was created before God created the ‘heavens and the earth’.

So, what, or who, tempted Lucifer/Satan to sin?  He fell because of pride.  There was no tempting spirit.  There was no enemy at work to make him sin.  He wanted to be higher than God as we read in Isaiah 14:14, “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”  Lucifer’s pride is the attitude of someone who’s only God is himself.

The name ‘Satan’ means ‘accuser’.  In Revelation 12:10 he is called “the accuser of our brethren.”  That says, “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”

The devil, another name for Satan is called the ‘father of all lies’ in John 8:44 which says, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”  Notice he is the FATHER of lies.  He originated the practice of lying.  There was no evil spirit that came before him and enticed him to tell lies.  NO.  Satan in himself, desired to lie and he now entices others to lie.

In reference to the Lord’s temptations in the wilderness, we read in Matthew 4:3, “And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”  Here, Satan is called the ‘tempter’.  He is not the one who is tempted.  He is the one who tempts others to sin.

In closing, let’s remember that the Lord created Lucifer, whose name means ‘the morning star’.  It was because of his rebellion and sin that his named was changed to Satan, the accuser.  (351.2)