Was Satan ever an angel?

[Riverwolf]

Hope I am not kicking a dead horse here...
Ok, first, I did spend considerable time here using the search function. But all relevant posts seemed to be not exact matches or just old and forgotten.
I also Googled till my eyes hurt. This question arose from a Bible verse arriving in my email ISAIAH 14:12-15
And I know that some say it is about the King of Babylon.
Later the same day I asked five people about Satan. (Chosen at random)
Seems most think Satan was an angel in Heaven.
Alot of people will say he was an Archangel.
Please answer with links to Bible verses.

Again, if this is in the wrong area, let me know.

 

[Deavonreye]

This is actually a good question. With this question in mind, one could also ask, . . . where is the verse that states that "Satan" is the same person as "Lucifer", . . . or is it just "understood to be the case"?

I'm interested to seem some responses to this topic.

 

[cleanfreak]

This is actually a good question. With this question in mind, one could also ask, . . . where is the verse that states that "Satan" is the same person as "Lucifer", . . . or is it just "understood to be the case"?

I'm interested to seem some responses to this topic.

There is not a verse that I know of that specifically states that Lucifer is Satan, however, there are some scriptures that will help with the understanding. Take a look at Isaiah 14:12 and then compare it to Luke 10:18. Isaiah refers to Lucifer and Luke refers to Satan. In each instance, there is a fall and IMO it is the same fall. Another fall is found in Ezekiel 28.

 

[TRUTH over TRADITION]

Scripture never links the lightbringer (Lucifer) with the adversary (satan). Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 have been taken from their context as well as being flat out twisted in order to insert the devil into them. The fact is that scripture gives us virtually no info as it relates to the origin of the satan. He may well be a fallen messenger of God but to say so is just conjecture because the Bible doesn't support such a belief.

As far as the Luke 10 passage, read its entire context and one sees that it is not about satan once being an angel in heaven, but instead it is about theastounding feats Jesus' sent ones reported to have done and Jesus' response to them about their successes.

 

[Sinthesis]

The answer can be either 'yes' or 'no' depending on how you define 'Satan' and 'angel'.

 

[TRUTH over TRADITION]

One thing that has puzzled me about the devil and the satan is its mortality. Is the Satan who tempted Jesus the same one who possessed the serpent in Eden? When I read passages like the one in 1 peter 5:8 that says "your adversary (satan), the devil (opposer) is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour" it makes me ask if Peter was speaking indirectly about the Roman authorities that were persecuting the christian community as opposed to the entity we perceive as The Devil. And as I read through scripture, it seems to me like the Satan is a word that is very much like the work God as it is not a proper name but rather a descriptive term.
From the scriptures I see NO connection between Lucifer and the Satan. It can even be argued that according to scripture there is NOT necessarily just one Satan. We must keep in mind that from old Bible translators have picked and chosen how they would translate certain words in order to prop up certain widely held dogmas. They include or exclude definite articles like "the" and "a" in order to convey the ideas they believe in. Why not simply avoid using the term "satan" and instead use the English equivalent "adversary"? Doing so would clear up a lot of confusion and give the reader a more accurate understand of the texts.

Here are some texts that can be looked at to learn of the devil.

Job 26
12 ‘By His strength He has settled the sea in its bed, and in His wisdom He’s filled it with whales. 13 The bolts from the skies stand in awe, and He’s ordered the death of the dragon that rebelled.

Revelation 12:7-9
7 Next, war broke out in heaven. Michael and his messengers went to war with the dragon, and the dragon and his messengers fought back; 8 but he lost and could no longer stay in heaven. 9 So, the huge dragon was thrown out. He is the first snake (the one who is called the Slanderer and Opposer) who is misleading the whole habitation [of man]. He was thrown down to the earth along with his messengers.

Isaiah 27:1
In that day, God will bring His great, holy, and strong sword against the dragon – the crooked and fleeing snake – and He will do away with the dragon, the one in the sea.’

 

[tim-from-pa]

We know that the Devil and Satan are used interchangeably along with dragon and serpent (Revelation 12:9). His angels were cast out with him. If he's over them, then what does that make Satan?

Connecting him to Lucifer one can quote 2 Corinthians 11:14

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

We know that "angel" in Greek means messenger or bringer of a message. But that's the same as the etymology of the name "Lucifer" i.e. "Bringer of Light". And Paul connected this "Bringer (or angel) of Light" with Satan.

Back to the Revelation verse, it mentions the Old Serpent. In the bible the serpent tempting Eve was also associated with something shiny (again, a Bringer of Light). And the Serpent is Satan.

Besides the proofs I already cited, Ezekiel 28:14 states he is of the class of cherubim angel.

Satan has different names depending how he's portrayed just as God does ---- it doesn't make the different names as separate entities. The bible portrays even people with different names; it's not uncommon in the bible.

 

[cleanfreak]

We know that the Devil and Satan are used interchangeably along with dragon and serpent (Revelation 12:9). His angels were cast out with him. If he's over them, then what does that make Satan?

Connecting him to Lucifer one can quote 2 Corinthians 11:14

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

We know that "angel" in Greek means messenger or bringer of a message. But that's the same as the etymology of the name "Lucifer" i.e. "Bringer of Light". And Paul connected this "Bringer (or angel) of Light" with Satan.

Back to the Revelation verse, it mentions the Old Serpent. In the bible the serpent tempting Eve was also associated with something shiny (again, a Bringer of Light). And the Serpent is Satan.

Besides the proofs I already cited, Ezekiel 28:14 states he is of the class of cherubim angel.

Satan has different names depending how he's portrayed just as God does ---- it doesn't make the different names as separate entities. The bible portrays even people with different names; it's not uncommon in the bible.

great post

 

[TRUTH over TRADITION]

Besides the proofs I already cited, Ezekiel 28:14 states he is of the class of cherubim angel.

Satan has different names depending how he's portrayed just as God does ---- it doesn't make the different names as separate entities. The bible portrays even people with different names; it's not uncommon in the bible.

Though religion and cultural histories link the cherub to God's messengers, the Bible never makes such a claim. All we can tell with any degree of certain about cherubim is that they were flying creatures. There is NO scriptural evidence that the cherubs were angel.

 

[tim-from-pa]

Though religion and cultural histories link the cherub to God's messengers, the Bible never makes such a claim. All we can tell with any degree of certain about cherubim is that they were flying creatures. There is NO scriptural evidence that the cherubs were angel.

So then, what is it (Cherub)? What's an angel for that matter? This gets down to definitions. Angel is used by most people as the generic spirit being. In other words, we can think of God as "people" and angels as "animals" by the earthly counterpart. Lord knows there is a wide variety of animals. So we can ask ourselves, what sort of "animal" is Satan? A serpent.

Jewish angelic hierarchy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BTW, there is apocryphal literature, specifically Enoch that also deals excessively with angelogy and demonology. I believe the bible does not say much about them due to the admonition not to worship them.

 

[Jeremiah1]

Go to The Narrow Path.

Click on "topical lectures".

Scroll down to the section on "spiritual warfare".

There is a lesson there you can listen to on the origin of Satan. I believe Steve does a great job in that lecture presenting his case, which is not that Satan is a fallen angel, though he does deal with that idea and verses used to support it.

 

[Riverwolf]

Thanks to all the replies so far, I am following with great interest.
Prehaps I should have phrased the question as to whether Satan actually came from Heaven in the first place and was kicked out, as in Fallen Angel. For if he was an angel, would he not still be? However disgraced, he would still be whatever he is, yes, or no?
LUKE 10:18 seems to say so that he fell, but the context of that sentence in the whole verse seems real odd as if talking about something else all together.
"I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven". To me this sentence does not fit anything in what they are talking about.
Anyway, just how to biblically answer was Satan an angel that was kicked out of Heaven is my question for now.
Thanks again for your time.

 

[TRUTH over TRADITION]

I believe that scripture does indeed illustrate to us that we have an adversary (satan) who in the past had direct access to God in Heaven. We can see this in the case of Job and Revelation 12 seems to show us that this satan, the "serpent of old" would lose his access to the heavenly realm at the hands of God's chief messenger (Michael).

 

[warhorse]

Eze28v12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13 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.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

And this is the revealing as mentioned in 2 thes 2

 

[Sam21]

Good posts. It is true that the bible does not say that satan was ever an angel, it does say in one place that he is able to make himself appear as an angel(deception because he is not an angel). There is a real mystery around satan, in the first and last books of the bible, satan is said to be a serpent. Satan was not a snake because originally he did not crawl on his belly, that happened to him as part of the curse that God put on him. Since Adam named all the creatures he may have chosen to call the deceiver a serpent because God cursed him to crawl on his belly like a snake.
If we really just look at the bible then the creature that Adam named serpent was just part of the creation and was originally created less than man and under the authority of man. The only thing outstanding about the serpent was that he was very intelligent and cunning. By deceiving the man it seems that he achieved a spiritual position of authority on the earth and also at some point part of the angels were deceived into following him.

 

[warhorse]

Good posts. It is true that the bible does not say that satan was ever an angel, it does say in one place that he is able to make himself appear as an angel(deception because he is not an angel). There is a real mystery around satan, in the first and last books of the bible, satan is said to be a serpent. Satan was not a snake because originally he did not crawl on his belly, that happened to him as part of the curse that God put on him. Since Adam named all the creatures he may have chosen to call the deceiver a serpent because God cursed him to crawl on his belly like a snake.
If we really just look at the bible then the creature that Adam named serpent was just part of the creation and was originally created less than man and under the authority of man. The only thing outstanding about the serpent was that he was very intelligent and cunning. By deceiving the man it seems that he achieved a spiritual position of authority on the earth and also at some point part of the angels were deceived into following him.

huh-hum
cherub = angel see eze 28.