Question: I would really like some input on whether Satan and Lucifer are one and the same. Some say yes, others, a firm no. | thebereancall.org

TBC Staff

Question: I would really like some input on whether Satan and Lucifer are one and the same. Some say yes, others, a firm no.

Response: We are convinced by Scripture that Lucifer and Satan are the same entity. We recognize that there are those who seek to deny that Isaiah 14 refers to Satan, limiting the passage only to the King of Babylon. Yet, exactly like Ezekiel:28:12-18, this passage speaks of an individual who transcends an earthly king. The statement made in Isaiah:14:12 is, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning.” Clearly, the king of Babylon never fell from heaven, just as the earthly king of Tyrus was never “in Eden” (Ezekiel:28:13).

It has been pointed out that the word “Lucifer” appears in only some translations of Isaiah:14:12 and that Lucifer is a Latin word. Isaiah was originally written in Hebrew. Translated, the word “Lucifer” means “light bearer” and was the Latin equivalent of the Hebrew Heylel ben Shachar. This Hebrew term means “shining one, son of the dawn.” The descriptions we read in Isaiah:14:12-20 and Ezekiel:28:12-18 establish him as the enemy of God called “the serpent” in Genesis:3:1 and Satan in Job:1:6 and other places. Again, his activities clearly transcend earthly entities. The name “Satan” is derived from the Hebrew ha-Satan, literally meaning “the adversary.” Man is not the adversary of God, as the Scripture clearly teaches. For the Christian, “...we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians:6:12). The name “Satan” is actually a title rather than a name. Revelation:12:9 tells us, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Revelation:20:2 reads that at a certain point in history, an angel will lay hold of “the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan.”

Again, Isaiah:14:12 tells us, “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!”

The Hebrew word translated “ground” in this verse is erets. The same word, however, is translated as “earth” 712 times. We know from Scripture that although Satan had access to heaven on occasion, he himself stated that his station involved “going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it” (Job:2:2). It is on the earth that Satan, “as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter:5:8).

Going further, Satan is rebuked because, “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). This parallels Psalm:48:2, “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.” This speaks of Jerusalem, clearly, but verse 1 of Psalm 48 identifies it as the “city of our God.” We can see the reference to the Messiah, the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” (Revelation:19:16). Again, this very clearly speaks of more than the earthly king Cyrus.

Isaiah:14:14 further details boasts of this great pretender to the throne: “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” This has always been Satan’s goal, that is, to be God. It is the very temptation he used on Eve in the Garden of Eden: “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” (Genesis:3:5).

“Lucifer” and “Satan” are names for the same individual.