If you have read the previous articles in the Darkness series, you know that scripture teaches that Satan was created as he is now, a devil. But as noted at the end of the previous article titled The Smith and the Destroyer, there are many questions yet to be addressed concerning this topic. Here, we will speak on Lucifer. What does scripture say of him? Who is he? I will tell you now, Lucifer is not the devil as has commonly been taught. But let’s begin with an examination of the one verse in all of scripture where Lucifer is used:
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!
Isaiah 14:12 KJV
“How art thou fallen from heaven“
“A fall from heaven” is used biblically to refer to a loss of authority/power/dominion. While heaven can be used to refer to a place, biblically it is often used positionally. That is, a person in heaven speaks not to their location but to a position of authority/power/rulership they hold. We see this clearly here:
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Ephesians 2:6 KJV
Believers in Jesus have been “raised up” to heavenly places, a position of authority, though our feet remain firmly planted on the earth. Consider this: When Solomon was praying to dedicate the temple, he made this curious statement.
But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
1 Kings 8:27 KJV
While this is often used to illustrate the ‘bigness’ of God, and it’s certainly apt, we ought not miss that the magnitude of God’s ‘bigness’ is not about him occupying a geographic space, for God is a Spirit and existed before the creation of time, space and matter. Understand, “to behold the heaven and heaven of heavens” is akin to saying: behold the king and the King of kings. It’s about God being the authority above all others, the highest heaven:
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Luke 2:14 KJV
God is saying that even seat of “the highest” i.e. the heaven of heavens, is unable to contain him, because he’s so much more, he is the highest and yet transcend even that.
There is much more to be said concerning the heaven of heavens but suffice to say, if there is a heaven (singular) of heavens (plural), then it’s clear that there are multiple heavens. Within this plurality of heavens, God occupies the realm of ‘the highest’, he is the highest power, the highest authority, the highest ruler, but there are ‘heavens’ below him. Understanding this is critical in gleaning what Lucifer’s fall from heaven speaks to.
We get further confirmation of there being more than one heaven here:
He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.
Ephesians 4:10 KJV
Now notice from the above scripture, apart from confirming there are many levels of authority i.e. many levels of heaven, we are also shown that one can ascend… that is, one can climb in authority.
Knowing that there are different heavens, the question then becomes which heaven did Lucifer fall from? Verse 13 of Isaiah gives us a clue:
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:
Isaiah 14:13 KJV
That fact that Lucifer desire “to ascend” means that he’s not in the highest heaven. But without doubt, he’s in a heaven, because verse 12 says it’s where he falls from:
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!
Isaiah 14:12 KJV
Clearly, from the above, Lucifer has authority (he’s in a heaven), but what’s also clear is that his desire to “ascend into heaven” means that his authority was not the highest authority. So how would we determine the level of authority/heaven Lucifer occupied? Here’s a clue:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Isaiah 14:14 KJV
What does it mean to ascend above the heights of the clouds? Naturally, clouds have a “height” that they operate in. The water vapor that rises to become clouds has a glass ceiling i.e. a height that they cannot surpass. Clouds can be lower than the glass ceiling but never higher. Lucifer’s desire to ascend above the heights of the clouds means he desired to go beyond the glass ceiling for clouds, he desired more authority than clouds are allowed. What authority do clouds have?
Recommended reading: Clouds
‘Clouds’ is used allegorically of man:
But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet. [17] These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
2 Peter 2:16-17 KJV
The clouds above, refer to ungodly men. They are blown/moved by the winds (tempest) of the devil’s spirit. But there are also godly clouds (men), who are moved by the wind of God’s Spirit.
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Hebrews 12:1 KJV
Given ‘clouds’ is used in reference to man, ‘the heights of the clouds’ therefore speaks to a level of authority given to man. Just like the natural clouds begin as waters on the ground/earth, but then rise to become clouds, and yet those clouds cannot rise above a certain height, man, the allegorical cloud, can rise/ascend in authority but only to a certain height.
The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth; [22] It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.
Daniel 4:20,22 KJV
Nebuchadnezzar rose to king of Babylon i.e. his height, his authority reached heaven. Lucifer’s desire to “ascend above” the heights of the clouds means he desired to rise above the limit of man’s authority. Remember, he was in a heaven and was seeking to rise above the heaven he occupied. Lucifer is clearly a cloud in heaven that desires to ascend above the heights of it, that is, Lucifer is man with power, who desired more.
Now aside from the obvious reference to the king of Babylon in verse 4 of Isaiah 14, which man had authority (was in heaven), desired more authority than he had (desired to ascend into heaven) and ultimately fell from heaven (lost his authority)…… Adam.
Adam was given authority by God in the beginning:
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Genesis 1:28 KJV
He was positioned in the heavenly space of the earth i.e. he was given the position of earth’s ruler. Adam was a cloud who was positioned in the heights of the clouds i.e. in authority over the earth, but desired to ascend above that height, and hence his fall.
What lead to the fall of Adam/Lucifer:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. [15] Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Isaiah 14:14-15 KJV
The desire to be like the most high, the desire to rise from the heaven they occupied, to the heaven above all heavens i.e. the highest heaven. Where do we see this desire in Genesis? When they gave in to the temptation:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. [6] And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Genesis 3:5-6 KJV
One may say, but doesn’t scripture say Adam was not deceived but the woman? Indeed it does!
Recommended: Adam was not deceived
But recall while Adam is the name of a man, it’s also the name of the people (Adam and Eve):
Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
Genesis 5:2 KJV
Just like Israel was a man, but yet the name of all God’s people.
And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.
Exodus 5:2 KJV
Adam was not deceived, but the woman who bears his name was. Therefore, the woman eating the fruit is effectively Adam eating the fruit. When she believed the lie of “shall be as gods”, pride swelled, the thought of “being like the most high” entered, the fruit was eaten and the fall from heaven took place. This is where man lost the authority/dominion received from God.
Are there any other indicators that point to Lucifer being Adam? There sure are!
“O Lucifer, son of the morning“
Though Lucifer is regularly used as a name, biblically, it’s an adjective not a noun i.e. it’s a descriptive word, not a name. To dig deeper one only needs examine what the word is describing:
Lucifer means – “Light bearer” Mankind was created to “bear” light and we had a choice from the beginning of whose light we would bear: the fake light of the devil or the true light of God.
Recommended reading:
God – The Risen Sun
Satan – The light of darkness
Man – The light of our parent
God instructs man not to take or bear his name in vain (Exo 20:7). We bear the name of God in how we live, if we are living by the faith of Jesus, we are shining/bearing the Light of God.
Recall that Eve ‘beared or took’ the name of her husband, ‘they’ were called Adam. There are two husbands in the spirit, God or the devil, and mankind has the choice to be the wife of either. If we’re married to God, we will bear/take his name, and vice versa with the devil.
The man/husband does not bear the light/name of the woman, the woman bear/carries the light/name of the man:
For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.
1 Corinthians 11:7 KJV
As a light bearer, Lucifer cannot be the devil, because spiritually the devil is a “husband – a light giver”, albeit fake light. Bearing light is a function of mankind, and we are ‘a woman’ in the spiritual sense.
“Son of the morning” also clues us in that Lucifer is not the devil as it’s a biblical synonym for son of God. The devil is never called a son of God. Some cite the account in Job as evidence of him being a son of God, but the devil is said to have come “among” the sons of God, and not that he is one.
Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.
Job 2:1 KJV
Adam however, is called a son of God or son of the morning:
Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.
Luke 3:38 KJV
“how art thou cut down to the ground“
Lucifer being cut down to the ground is a throwback to God’s response to Adam’s sin. When Adam sinned, man was cut down to the ground:
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Genesis 3:19 KJV
Being “cut down to the ground” speaks to death. Hence the nations being weakened as a result of the fall.
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!
Isaiah 14:12 KJV
How does the fall of Adam result in the nations being weakened? Remember, all nations come from him i.e. from his blood:
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth….
Acts 17:26 KJV
And he passed death unto all men:
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Romans 5:12 KJV
That’s how Lucifer/Adam weakened the nations, by passing death upon all men.
Are there any more indicators of Lucifer being Adam?
They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; [17] That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
Isaiah 14:16-17 KJV
The question asked: “is this the man?” Then some accolades are ascribed to him:
“That made the world as a wilderness”:
When authority over the earth was given to Adam, he was positioned in the Garden of Eden, a symbol of life. When Adam fell, the world became a wilderness, a symbol of death. But God made a promise to lead us by his Spirit out of the wilderness (death) and into Eden (Life).
A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
Joel 2:3 KJV
Adam is the man that made the world as a wilderness, that is, death entered and reigned because of his sin.
“That opened not the house of his prisoners“
Adam made all mankind prisoners of death & darkness by virtue of his sin.
To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
Isaiah 42:7 KJV
He couldn’t open/unlock us from the faith he brought upon us, but Christ – The last Adam set us free from the prison of Adam, now, we are prisoners (Eph 3:1) of Jesus, by choice.
“Abominable branch“
But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.
Isaiah 14:19 KJV
Branch is a term used in reference to men:
I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. [2] Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
John 15:1-2 KJV
Jesus is the ‘true vine’ and the branches in him refers to persons who put their faith and trust in him. Adam was cast out as an ‘abominable branch’. We see something similar spoken of Israel, where God broke of some of the branches:
And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; [20] Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
Romans 11:17,20 KJV
Adam also functioned in unbelief when he sinned and was cast out. The point here is that ‘branch’ is used of man, not the devil
“The raiment of those that are slain“
All of mankind has on a ‘raiment’, that is, all mankind is clothed in either the first Adam, which speaks to flesh, or the last Adam (1 Cor 15:45), which speaks to Spirit. When we chose to walk with Jesus (the last Adam), what comes with that decision is a change of clothing. We put off the first Adam and put on the last Adam. This change of ‘raiment’ equates to moving from death, clothed in Adam, to life, clothed in Christ – the last Adam:
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15:22 KJV
The first Adam is the raiment of those that are slain. Everyone clothed in Adam will die as said above. But everyone clothed in Christ will live:
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Galatians 3:27 KJV
“Thrust though with a sword“
Words are weapons in the spirit. There is the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God (Eph 6:17). But the words of the enemy are also weapons. When Adam (Eve) got into the verbal confrontation with the devil, there was a spiritual battle taking place. With every lie, the devil was swinging his sword:
..…..Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Genesis 3:1 KJV
And Eve’s initial reply was a successful “shield of faith” response to the opening strike of the devil. But by the time the battle was over, the devil was able to thrust through Adam, he won, he was able to slay man with his sword of lies. This is why Jesus called him a murderer from the beginning.
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.
John 8:44 KJV
“that go down to the stones of the pit“
The pit is the place of death, sometimes used synonymously with hell.
As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
Zechariah 9:11 KJV
Here God is speaking prophetically of how he would liberate man from the pit, from death, which held us prisoner since Adam’s fall took us there. When Jesus saves us, we become living stones:
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:5 KJV
However, before Christ, we were “stones of the pit”, that is, dead stones or stones of death. This is why John said this of stone:
And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
Matthew 3:9 KJV
John was not just being poetic in talking of how God would raise up stones to be children of Abraham. We went down in that pit because of Adam and it’s only through Christ – The last Adam, can we come out.
“as a carcase trodden under feet.”
Under feet is used biblically to refer to a place of defeat, a place of subjection, as in, being subject to the feet you’re under. We see this in Jesus declaring:
Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Luke 10:19 KJV
Before Christ gave us the power “to tread” over the power of the enemy, we were under it. We were under the feet of the devil, that is, under his authority, under his power. The power of the enemy is death (Heb 2:14) and we were “as a carcase trodden under feet”.
At this point I pause. Though this is not a exhaustive examination of Isaiah 14, I trust that it sufficiently demonstrates that Lucifer is Adam and not Satan. There are yet many unanswered questions and in the next article, we will address Satan’s fall from heaven as described in Revelation 12 and Luke 10.
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