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recoverer
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Alan:
There is no such thing as a being named Lucifer. The myth of Lucifer is due to a translational error. Below is something I wrote:
Regarding fallen angels, this way of thinking is primarily the result of later versions of the Book of Isaiah. Initially Isaiah spoke of a fallen king of Babylon, a physical person. It is believed that Isaiah (depending upon which chapter is considered) was written somewhere between 681 and 734 B.C. More than 1,000 years later (A.D. 382) a man named Jerome was commissioned by Pope Damascus to make an official revision of the Latin versions of the Bible.
Jerome made a translational error and changed the Hebrew word heylel to the Latin word Lucifer. Lucifer means light (lux) bearer (ferrous), which is different than what heylel means. Heylel comes from the primitive root word halal. Halal is used 165 times in the Old Testament and means either praise (117 times), glory (14 times), boast (10 times), mad (8 times), shine (3 times), foolish (3 times), fools (2 times), commended (2 times), rage (2 times), celebrate (1 time), give (1 time), marriage (1 time) or renowned (1 time). Heylel is used just one time in Isaiah 14:12 (depending on the translation) and in this case means Satan. Not a fallen angel, but a fallen king, a physical person. It is just that Jerome’s erroneous use of the word Lucifer has caused many people to believe that a fallen angel named Lucifer (aka Satan) exists.
Here is the relevant verse from Isaiah 14:12: “How are thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer (“Heylel” in the Hebrew version), son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!”
Regarding the usage of the word heaven, this way of speaking was romantic, not literal. A similar approach can be found in Exodus 20:22, when God told Moses “Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.” Heaven in this case means the mountain in which Moses saw a burning bush.
As a side point, there are a number of new age sources of information that speak of Lucifer as if he is in fact a fallen angel. They speak of Lucifer in different ways and therefore contradict each other. Some of these sources are the words of an allegedly channeled high level spirit being. I find it hard to believe that such a being would believe that a fallen angel named Lucifer exists. For, even if such a being didn’t know about the mistranslation Jerome made, why would it speak of a being that doesn’t exist?
Some people believe that the Book of Revelation supports the fallen angel concept when it speaks of a dragon with seven heads and ten horns (Revelation 12:3). In the form of a letter, Revelation was written by a man named John while He was a prisoner on the Island of Patmos. Christians were going through a lot of difficulty at the time, and John wrote them a letter that was very symbolic so the Romans wouldn’t be able to understand what he was talking about. The seven heads of the dragon have a double meaning. They represent seven hills in Rome and seven kings. They don’t represent a literal description of how an odd looking fallen angel looks. As far as I’m concerned, a dragon with seven heads and ten horns has a stranger look than a man with red skin, a tail, a pitch fork, and just two horns. The ten horns also have a double meaning, they refer to ten future kings and ten provinces of the Roman Empire.
The antichrist that is referred to with the number 666 is Emperor Nero Caesar. In Hebrew, Nero Caesar’s name was Nrwn Qsr – n,e,r,o,n; q,s,r. Archaelogical findings show that a first century Hebrew spelling of Nero’s name provides the value of 666. Some Biblical manuscripts read 616. The difference between 666 and 616 isn’t an accident, because the two aren’t similar in appearance in the original Greek. However, a strong case can be made that John (the author of Revelation), a Jew, used Hebrew in order to spell Nero’s name and resultantly came up with 616. It is hard to believe that it is just mere coincidence that whether you use 666 or 616 it is reasonable to conclude that Revelation 13:18 refers to Nero. There are other reasons for believing that 666 refers to Nero; however, it is beyond the scope of this book to them. I recommend Reverend Kenneth L. Gentry Jr’s article The Beast of Revelation Identified, if you can find it, it used to be available on the internet. He does have a DVD.
Some of the Words attributed to Christ in the Book of Revelations show how the names Satan and Devil could very possibly refer to a physical person, not a fallen angel. Consider the following verses from Revelation 3:9-10:
“I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan. Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.”
I believe John meant a Roman leader of the time period when he said Satan, not a supernatural being. Even today there are examples of people referring to people as Satan, such as when Saddam Hussein referred to the United States as Satan. Perhaps it wasn’t appropriate for the members of the referred to synagogues to give in to Roman control to the extent they did; however, it is a bit much to contend that they had it in mind to follow a supernatural being known as Satan, and that Satan actually controlled their synagogues. To the extent they were devoted to God and had a higher purpose, God was in their synagogues.
Certainly God is wise enough to realize that we often get confused about what divine truth is. This being the case, it is hard to believe that he would abandon somebody’s synagogue so quickly and allow an evil being to take over. Perhaps John’s anger with what was going on during the time period caused him to be overly zealous and accusatory with his words. It is also important to remember that he was required to use symbolic words, so he probably couldn’t name the Roman leader he was speaking about.
Regarding the statement about the devil throwing some people into prison, does it make more sense to conclude that a Roman leader referred to as the Devil will throw some Christians into prison, or that a supernatural being known as the Devil would do so?
Revelation 2:13 reads: “I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained faithful to me.” When considering if a supernatural being is referred to with this verse, it is important to note that when the messages to the churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatria, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea are given, only Pergamum is named as the city where Satan has his throne. Pergamum is the city where a temple with a statue of the mythological Greek God Zeus was kept. Some scholars believe that Revelation 2:13 refers to this statue. Perhaps John was opposed to the fact that such a temple and statue existed within Pergamum.
Another example of when a supernatural being isn’t referred to when the word Satan is used can be found in Matthew 16:21-23:
“From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead.
But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!”
Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's.”
I believe it is clear that Peter spoke as he did not because he had evil intent, but because Jesus was dear to him and he was concerned about his welfare. Since the Bible hadn’t been completely written at the time and wasn’t available to the extent it is today, it is very possible that Peter didn’t understand that it was Jesus’ divine destiny to be crucified. In fact, his statement shows that he didn’t have such an understanding. I find it hard to believe that Jesus actually believed that Peter was Satan or being influenced by Satan. Yet according to Matthew 16:23, Jesus used the name Satan. Jesus' high regard for Peter is made clear in Matthew 16:13-19:
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
“Well” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
Then he asked them, “but who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”
Then he sternly warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
It is interesting to note that there are no verses between when Jesus praised Peter and when Jesus rebuked Peter. I don’t know how accurately Matthew 16:13-23 portrays the chronological order of events; but perhaps it is significant that Jesus’ praise and admonishment of Peter can be found within one range of verses. Perhaps, such an occurrence provides people with an opportunity to consider what precisely the name Satan refers to. Perhaps as Jesus says, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
John 6:70 provides an example of the word Devil being used in a generic way rather than referring to a specific being:
Then Jesus said, “I chose the twelve of you, but one is a devil.” He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the Twelve, who would later betray him.
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The problem of evil (Read 2398 times)
