What have YOU been taught about Lucifer? I was taught he was the highest archangel in heaven that wanted to take over God’s throne. He was the leader of music, as instruments were built into his very being. I was taught that he caused a war in heaven and was cast out with a third of the angels with him. When he and his angels fell to earth, he became the Devil or Satan. This must have happened before Adam and Eve were created, as Lucifer was also the Serpent that deceived them in the Garden of Eden.

When I read somewhere that some people don’t believe Lucifer is Satan, I set out to prove he is. How? By studying the Bible, like I do whenever I have a question (or when someone else has a question I wish to knowledgably answer). You might be surprised at what I found out. It does not appear that what I was taught is correct.

I carefully looked up and read all the passages churches use to claim this traditional teaching. I have typed them here for you to carefully read also. You will see that Lucifer cannot be the same entity as Satan himself!

Let’s start out with the war in heaven. I couldn't believe it when I recently read a hub that taught Michael, the Archangel was the one who caused the revolt in heaven! Though I corrected him, he still chooses to teach falsely! Amazing! Let's read about this war and see literally what the Bible says: the only account of this is found in Revelation 12:3-4a “And another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.” Now go on to verses 7-8 “And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” So, it's obvious that Michael is not a fallen angel, let alone the devil. Now, let's look at what the Bible says about this serpent in the Garden of Eden:

Genesis 3:1 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"

Cross-reference this with Genesis 2:19 “Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.”

Serpent is the Hebrew word nachash (naw-khawsh'); a snake (from its hiss):-serpent.

So far, we see the DRAGON waged war in heaven, not an angel. We also see that the SERPENT was a created beast of the field. What we don't see here is any inclination that Satan was an archangel by the name of Lucifer who led all the music in heaven. That would be contrary to scripture, for Satan is never said to have been an angel "from the beginning". Let’s see what the Bible says about Satan:

John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Dragon is the Greek word drakon (drak'-own); prob. from an alt. form of derkomai (to look); a fabulous kind of serpent (perh. as supposed to fascinate):-serpent. In fact, if you study the book of Revelation, this dragon with seven heads and ten horns is Satan, who rises up out of the “sea” of peoples, nations, tribes and tongues. Seven kingdoms with ten kings.

If you cross-reference the word "dragon" in Revelation, you will be brought to Psalm 74:14: “Thou didst crush the heads of Leviathan”. For a pretty graphic description of this dragon, read Job 41!

Speaking of "crushing heads", what was the curse on the "Serpent" in Genesis 3:15? "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

We're about to go on focusing on Lucifer, but I wanted to let you know I have two more hubs about Satan and his purpose of battling for your soul: "Satan's PURPOSE": http://hubpages.com/hub/Satans-PURPOSE and "The Battle for Your SOUL": http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Battle-for-your-SOUL.

Was Lucifer in the Garden of Eden? Was he the serpent? Let’s look at the only passage used by traditional doctrine:

Ezekiel 28:12-16 “Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. On the day that you were created They were prepared. You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you. By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, And you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as profane From the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire.”

I don't see Lucifer mentioned here at all. In fact, it would be the "king of Tyre". I don't see an archangel mentioned here either, but rather a cherub. Did God place cherubim in the Garden of Eden? Yes.

Genesis 3:24 confirms, “So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.”

The only passage that mentions the name Lucifer is found in Isaiah 14:11-17 “Your pomp and the music of your harps Have been brought down to Sheol; Maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you And worms are your covering.' How you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer (star of the morning), son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. 'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit. Those who see you will gaze at you, They will ponder over you, saying, 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms, Who made the world like a wilderness And overthrew its cities, Who did not allow his prisoners to go home?'”

In order to know who Lucifer is, we must go to the beginning of Isaiah 14:3-4 “And it will be in the day when the LORD gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and harsh service in which you have been enslaved, that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say, "How the oppressor has ceased, And how fury has ceased!”

Obviously, we see that the cherub, the king of Tyre, has the same make-up as Lucifer, the king of Babylon. The king of Tyre is said to have “tabrets and pipes”, whereas the king of Babylon is said to have “music of harps”. Are they one in the same? It doesn’t appear so, if you look at Ezekiel 29:18 “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre; every head was made bald and every shoulder was rubbed bare. But he and his army had no wages from Tyre for the labor that he had performed against it."

It is reasonable to deduct that these fallen cherubim were both the king of Tyre and the king of Babylon (Lucifer).

We can reasonably deduct that the king of Tyre and the king of Babylon (Lucifer) are cherubim (instruments built into their beings based on scripture). Is a cherub a serpent-like creature? No. Is there an angelic being that resembles a serpent? Yes; the seraphim. How about an archangel? No. Let's look up some scripture about each of these angelic beings:

Ezekiel 10:20-21 “These are the living beings that I saw beneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar; so I knew that they were cherubim. Each one had four faces and each one four wings, and beneath their wings was the form of human hands.”

Cherub is the Hebrew word keruwb (ker-oob'); of uncert. der.; a cherub or imaginary figure:-cherub, [plur.] cherubim(s).

Isaiah 6:2 states, “Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew." Now, seraphim are defined as the only serpent-like creatures; however, the Bible does not state that seraphim were in the Garden of Eden.

Seraphim is the Hebrew word saraph (saw-rawf'); burning, i.e. (fig.) poisonous (serpent); spec. a saraph or symbol. creature (from their copper color):-fiery (serpent), seraph.

The word “archangel” is only used twice in the Bible: once in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, when Jesus returns with “the voice of the archangel”; the other is found in Jude 1:9 “But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’” We also don’t see an archangel in the Garden of Eden.

Archangel is the Greek word archaggelos (ar-khang'-el-os); a chief angel:-archangel.

In the Old Testament, the word angel is the Hebrew word malak (mal-awk'); from an unused root mean. to despatch as a deputy; a messenger; spec. of God, i.e. an angel (also a prophet, priest or teacher):-ambassador, angel, king, messenger.

In the New Testament, the word angel is the Greek word aggelos (ang'-el-os); to bring tidings; a messenger; esp. an "angel", by impl. a pastor:-angel, messenger.

We read that Lucifer was the king of Babylon, a fallen cherub just like the king of Tyre. The king of Tyre was in the Garden of Eden, cast out as “profane from the mountain of God”. The king of Babylon (Lucifer) was “brought down or thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit”. Is there a king in Sheol who is also an angelic being? YES.

Revelation 9:11 “The king who ruled them was the angel from the bottomless pit (also called the abyss). In Hebrew he is called Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.” Abbadon/Apollyon means destruction (perdition).

Revelation 11:7 (Regarding the two witnesses) “And when they have finished their testimony, the beast (Antichrist) that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them.”

Revelation 17:8 “The beast (Antichrist) that you saw was and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth will wonder, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come.”

Earlier in Isaiah 14:13-17 we read that the king of Babylon (Lucifer) weakened the nations and said in his heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. 'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' Nevertheless he was thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit. Those who see him will gaze at him, They will ponder over him, saying, 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms, Who made the world like a wilderness And overthrew its cities…”

Cross-reference this with the prophecies of the Antichrist to come in Daniel 7:25 “He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.” And also cross-reference with Daniel 11:36 “Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done.” If you begin reading in verse 28, you will see that Daniel is speaking of the “king of the North”.

It appears now, that Lucifer is indeed a fallen angel, the king of the bottomless pit, who comes up out of that pit to be the king of end-time Babylon, the Antichrist. Lucifer was called “a man”. Did angels come in the form of men in the Bible? Absolutely (Genesis 19:1, 5; Luke 24:4). We already confirmed that fallen angels are kings of the earth.  In fact, if you look at the definition of the word "angel" in the previous section, you will see they are not only kings, but can be prophets, priests, teachers and pastors!

The Dragon (Satan) and Lucifer (the Antichrist) cannot be the same entity. Why? Because the Antichrist and the False Prophet are thrown into the Lake of Fire at the beginning of the millennial reign of Christ (Revelation 19:20). Satan, on the other hand, is bound in the bottomless pit during this reign of Christ. He is released after the millennial reign, destroyed, then cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:10).

So now, let’s answer the following questions, based on this study:

1. Lucifer was the highest archangel in heaven.

• False. It appears he was a cherub.

2. Lucifer wanted to take over God’s throne.

• True. He is the king of Babylon, the king of the North, the prophesied Antichrist in Daniel 11:36 & Isaiah 14:13.

3. Lucifer was the leader of music in heaven, as instruments were built into his very being.

• Assumed. He appears to be a cherub with musical instrument(s) built into his being. So was the king of Tyre.

4. Lucifer caused a war in heaven and was cast out with a third of the angels.

• False. The Dragon, who is the “Serpent of Old, the Devil and Satan” warred in heaven and he was cast out with a third of the angels.

5. Lucifer became the Devil or Satan.

• False. Because Lucifer is the king of Babylon and the prophesied Antichrist, he is cast into the Lake of Fire at the beginning of the millennial reign of Christ; while on the other hand, Satan is bound in the pit until the end of the millennial reign.

6. Lucifer was the Serpent in the Garden of Eden.

• False. The Dragon possessed the created serpent, a beast of the field, to entice Eve into sinning. Furthermore, because the cherub placed in the Garden of Eden appears to be the king of Tyre, it is unknown as to whether Lucifer (the king of Babylon) was in the Garden of Eden at all.

The only scripture that would tie Lucifer and Satan together is found in 2 Corinthians 11:14 “No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” The name Lucifer, as we saw in Isaiah 14:12 means “morning star”. Speaking of “Antichrist”, Jesus Christ is also called the “bright and morning star” in Revelation 22:16.

Truly, the LORD guised (not disguised) Himself as an angelic being (a man) to Abraham (along with the two angels that went to rescue Lot) in Genesis 18. Likewise, Satan will disguise himself as an “angel of light” by empowering Lucifer, the Antichrist (Revelation 13:2).

For more information on Satan and Lucifer, I invite you to read my hub, “Lucifer: The spirit of Antichrist”: http://hubpages.com/hub/LUCIFER-The-spirit-of-Antichrist and “The Unholy Trinity”: http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Unholy-Trinity