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| 1592 painting of Pied Piper |
In this study, I will show that satan was originally a holy angel, known in Latin and English as Lucifer ("Helel" in Hebrew), who fell into sin. There are Christians who actually deny that satan and Lucifer are one and the same being. These people do not believe that satan was originally an angel. So let's compare these two prophecies side-by-side, and we will see that they are both speaking about the same person.
| Topic | Isaiah's Prophecy | Ezekiel's Prophecy |
| Original perfection, beauty, and wisdom as an angel in heaven | "You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in
beauty. (Eze 28:12b) "You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, Was in you. On the day that you were created They were prepared. (Eze 28:13) "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. (Eze 28:14) "You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you. (Eze 28:15) |
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| Original sin | "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. (Eze 28:16) "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, That they may see you. (Eze 28:17) "By the multitude of your iniquities, In the unrighteousness of your trade You profaned your sanctuaries. Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you; It has consumed you, And I have turned you to ashes on the earth In the eyes of all who see you. (Eze 28:18) |
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| Welcome to hell | "Sheol from beneath is excited over you to meet you when you come; It arouses for you the spirits of the dead, all the leaders of the earth; It raises all the kings of the nations from their thrones. (Isa 14:9) | |
| Humiliation | "They will all respond and say to you, 'Even you have been made weak as we, You have become like us. (Isa 14:10) "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?' "All the kings of the nations lie in glory, Each in his own tomb. "But you have been cast out of your tomb Like a rejected branch, Clothed with the slain who are pierced with a sword, Who go down to the stones of the pit Like a trampled corpse. (Isa 14:16-19) |
'Will you still say, "I am a god," In the presence of your slayer, Though you are a man and not God, In the hands of those who wound you? 'You will die the death of the uncircumcised By the hand of strangers, For I have spoken!' declares the Lord GOD!"'" (Eze 28:9-10) "All who know you among the peoples Are appalled at you; You have become terrified And you will cease to be forever."'" (Eze 28:19) |
| Splendor and Music | '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.' (Isa 14:11) | “…The workmanship of your tambourines and of your flutes was prepared in you in the day that you were created.” (Eze 28:13b, MKJV) |
| Fallen from heaven to earth | 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! (Isa 14:12. KJV) | |
| Pride, blasphemy, claiming to be a god | "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.' (Isa 14:13-14) | "Because your heart is lifted up And you have said, 'I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods In the heart of the seas'; Yet you are a man and not God, Although you make your heart like the heart of God-- (Eze 28:2b) |
| Avarice and pride | Behold, you are wiser than Daniel; There is no secret that is a match for you. "By your wisdom and understanding You have acquired riches for yourself And have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries. By your great wisdom, by your trade You have increased your riches And your heart is lifted up because of your riches-- (Eze 28:3-5) | |
| Thrust down to the pit of hell | "Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit." (Isa 14:15) | Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because you have made your heart Like the heart of God, Therefore, behold, I will bring strangers upon you, The most ruthless of the nations. And they will draw their swords Against the beauty of your wisdom And defile your splendor. 'They will bring you down to the pit, And you will die the death of those who are slain In the heart of the seas. (Eze 28:6-8) |
| Peace for the righteous when he is removed | "When the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and again choose Israel...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! (Isa 14:1a,3-4) "The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, The scepter of rulers (Isa 14:5) Which used to strike the peoples in fury with unceasing strokes, Which subdued the nations in anger with unrestrained persecution. (Isa 14:6) "The whole earth is at rest and is quiet; They break forth into shouts of joy. (Isa 14:7) "Even the cypress trees rejoice over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, 'Since you were laid low, no tree cutter comes up against us.' (Isa 14:8) |
"And there will be no more for the house of Israel a prickling brier or a painful thorn from any round about them who scorned them; then they will know that I am the Lord GOD." (Eze 28:24) 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and will manifest My holiness in them in the sight of the nations, then they will live in their land which I gave to My servant Jacob. (Eze 28:25) "They will live in it securely; and they will build houses, plant vineyards and live securely when I execute judgments upon all who scorn them round about them. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God."'" (Eze 28:26) |
Harmony of Scripture
Isaiah's prophecy against the king of Babylon in chapter 14 is a single oracle (14:3-23). Ezekiel's prophecy against the king of Tyre in chapter 28 is given in two oracles (28:1-10 and 28:11-19). Both passages are obscure and ambiguous. Yet there is unity between Isaiah's and Ezekiel's prophecies that becomes clear when they are viewed and understood together. While they were intended for two different earthly kings, they have a double meaning, one of which is not about those kings. The one oracle in Isaiah 14 speaks of the same person as the two oracles in Ezekiel 28. To use an analogy, the harmony between the two passages is similar to that which we see in the mathematical equation 14 x 2 = 28, which happens to contain the actual chapter numbers connecting these two passages together.
Angels Referred to As Men
One of the reasons some people deny that these passages refer to an angel is their reference to a man. Indeed, the word "man" is used in both of these two passages in Is 14:16 and Eze. 28:2,9,12,21. However, the word "man" is used to refer to angels all throughout Scripture, and these passages are no exception to that pattern.
When the Lord appeared to Abraham with two angels, the text refers to them as three men (Gen 18:2). When two angels went to Sodom to rescue Lot, before they destroyed the city, they were referred to as men (Gen 19:1-12). When the angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah, he and his wife referred to the angel as a man (Jdg 13:6,8,10). When angels appeared to Daniel, he referred to them as men (Dan 8:15; 9:1; 10:5; 12:6-7). In fact, he even referred to one of them as having human appearance, resembling a human being (Dan 10:16,18), and he described the archangel Gabriel as one who looked like a man (Dan 8:15). When Ezekiel saw six angels with weapons of destruction in their hands and one with a writing kit at his loins, he referred to them as men (Ez 9:2,11; 10:2,6-7). When Zechariah saw angels, he referred to them as both men and angels (Zech 1:8-14; 2:1-3).
Immediately after the resurrection of Christ, the angel that appeared to the women at the empty tomb was described in Mark's gospel as a young man wearing a white robe (Mk 16:5), and in Luke's gospel as two men in dazzling clothing (Lk 24:4), while John's gospel described them as two angels in white (Joh 20:12). Immediately after the ascension of Christ, the angels that appeared and spoke to the disciples were referred to as two men in white clothing (Ac 1:10). Cornelius referred to the angel that appeared to him as a "man in shining clothes (Ac 10:3,7,22,30; 11:13). Therefore, when Lucifer, the anointed cherub, now known as satan, is referred to as a man, it is consistent with the rest of the Scriptures.
Putting it All Together
It should be abundantly clear by comparing these two prophecies given by Isaiah and Ezekiel that they are both speaking about that same evil musician, who is the adversary of God and man. These Scriptures reveal to us his original perfection, beauty, and wisdom as an angel in heaven. He was an anointed cherub on the holy mountain of God. The Scriptures speak of the day he was created, so he was a created being. He was a musician with great splendor. In fact, some believe that he was in charge of music in heaven.
All of this magnificence continued until unrighteousness was found in him. His original sin is clearly explained to us. There was avarice, which is greed, and pride. With the great wisdom God had given him he acquired gold and silver and filled his treasuries with them. Then his heart was lifted up with pride because of his riches (1 Tim 3:6). This led to his sin of blasphemy, claiming to be a god. He exalted himself above all the other angels and wanted to be like God, enthroned on high.
Therefore, since he committed sin in the holy sanctuary, God cut him off from the midst of the fiery stones in His presence, and cast him down as profane from His holy mountain in heaven. He thrust him down to earth, even to the pit of hell, along with his music.
He has fallen from heaven to earth. And for the time being, he is allowed to be a ruler with a kingdom for himself in this world (2 Cor 4:4; Jn 12:31; Eph 2:2). He is allowed to oppress mankind, which is made in God's image, and is placed on this earth. He is able to weaken the nations and persecute people (also see Rev 12:7-12).
But there will come a day when it will all be over. His final end will come, when he will be removed and cast down forever to his place of eternal punishment (Rev 20:10). He will never again be allowed to harm the righteous. And then, when he is welcomed to hell by all the kings and people of the earth that were oppressed by him, and who ended up there, they will be appalled at him. Then he will suffer utter humiliation before all of them, when they see that he has been ruined. Then there will be peace for the righteous.
Don't be deceived into hell by satan. He comes to kill, steal, and destroy (Joh 10:10). And one of his tactics is to use music to steal worship from God. He has many different styles of music to suit everyone's taste. And all who listen to or sing to his secular music are following his tune. They are like the rats that followed the Pied Piper.
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| The Pied Piper leads the children out of Hamelin |
Likewise, satan uses his secular music that he has produced in hell in order to lead people astray. And when they follow his tune, he is able to steal worship from God, since all music was originally meant for worship of the Most High. Those who listen to secular music may not realize they are following satan, because he is invisible, and he is a very crafty deceiver. But they are, nonetheless, still following him. He is leading them away from heaven, away from God, and down to hell to torment them, where they will ultimately be destroyed.
Jesus warned of the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, and said that all the wicked will go to that place as well (Mt 25:41). Turn back, people! Don't go to that place!
If you are listening to or singing secular music, then repent now before it's too late. The Lord Jesus is coming back right away, but He is only coming for the holy ones. He is not coming for those who are compromising with the world. Mercy is only available while you are on earth, so repent, for the kingdom of God is near.
Part I of this article is The Origin of Sin, Satan, and Secular Music.
Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, except where noted. 1592 painting of Pied Piper copied from the glass window of Marktkirche in Hameln. It is the oldest picture of the Pied Piper copied from the glass window of the Market Church in Hameln/Hamelin Germany (c.1300-1633). "The Pied Piper leads the children out of Hamelin," illustration by Kate Greenaway for Robert Browning's "The Pied Piper of Hamelin"
Author's note: I also recommend reading my articles, The Origin of Sin, Satan, and Secular Music, Sin, Satan, and the Submerged Sphere, Rock, Rap, and Reggae Music -- Five Divine Revelations, Avoiding Worldly Worship, The Forgotten Sin of Worldliness, For the Glory of God Alone, Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, Alcohol and Cigarettes -- Ten Divine Revelations, Angelica Zambrano Hell and Heaven, Ask for the Ancient Paths, Godly Attire & Adornment -- Seven Divine Revelations, The Kingdom of Darkness, Australian Pastor Raised from the Dead, and The Marine Kingdom and Queen of the Coast, as well as the articles available through the Home page of this blog. I recommend viewing a video called Hell’s Bells: The Dangers of Rock ‘N’ Roll (parental guidance is suggested for young people). You may access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and believe.
Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org
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