Every Christian I know will agree that the image of Satan as a red guy with horns, a pointy tail, and a pitch fork is just a legend and a non-biblical description. It probably was adapted from pagan imagery (google "Krampus")
But many Christians believe that Satan was an angel named Lucifer who was once the most beautiful angel in heaven, but who rebelled and was cast out for his pride. This notion comes more from Paradise Lost than from the Bible. That verse in Isaiah that people use to support the idea that Lucifer is a fallen angel actually refers to the king of Babylon. Let's look at the entire passage in context. I'll add emphasis and comments where needed.
Isaiah 14:4-20
(Comment: so right off the bat, we see that the following message is for the king of Babylon.)
(comment:This is the verse that people take out of context and attribute to Satan. In the king james version "morning star" is replaced with "lucifer." It's a title, not a proper name.)
(comment: notice here that this lucifer is contrasted with other human earthly kings. Other kings are buried in tombs when they die, but this king is left out to be trampled like a branch. And again, at the very beginning of this whole passage, we see that this message is specifically and blatantly for the king od Babylon. It doesn't describe an angel falling from heaven.)
But the name of Lucifer is never connected with the adversary or Satan in the Bible. In the new testament, Satan is seen as evil, but in judaism and the old testament, Satan is an angel, very much under God's command, who acts like a prosecutor in a court room. This is seen clearly in Job. God is the judge, Job is the defendant, and Satan is the prosecutor.
So why do some Christians rightly reject the pagan-mythology-based image of Satan as a red-horned devil with a pitchfork, but accept this false equating of Lucifer and Satan? I mean, I get it, the Bible itself isn't very consistent on the idea. In the old testament, Satan is an angel from God who acts as a prosecutor, in the gospels he becomes evil, and in Revelation the character blows insanely out of proportion from the original writing of the old testament.
So what do we think of all this?
But many Christians believe that Satan was an angel named Lucifer who was once the most beautiful angel in heaven, but who rebelled and was cast out for his pride. This notion comes more from Paradise Lost than from the Bible. That verse in Isaiah that people use to support the idea that Lucifer is a fallen angel actually refers to the king of Babylon. Let's look at the entire passage in context. I'll add emphasis and comments where needed.
Isaiah 14:4-20
4 you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon:
(Comment: so right off the bat, we see that the following message is for the king of Babylon.)
How the oppressor has come to an end!
How his fury[a] has ended!
5 The LORD has broken the rod of the wicked,
the scepter of the rulers,
6 which in anger struck down peoples
with unceasing blows,
and in fury subdued nations
with relentless aggression.
7 All the lands are at rest and at peace;
they break into singing.
8 Even the junipers and the cedars of Lebanon
gloat over you and say,
“Now that you have been laid low,
no one comes to cut us down.”
9 The realm of the dead below is all astir
to meet you at your coming;
it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you—
all those who were leaders in the world;
it makes them rise from their thrones—
all those who were kings over the nations.
10 They will all respond,
they will say to you,
“You also have become weak, as we are;
you have become like us.”
11 All your pomp has been brought down to the grave,
along with the noise of your harps;
maggots are spread out beneath you
and worms cover you.
12 How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
15 But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,
to the depths of the pit.
(comment:This is the verse that people take out of context and attribute to Satan. In the king james version "morning star" is replaced with "lucifer." It's a title, not a proper name.)
(comment: Notice in the verse immediately following the verses thought to describe a fallen angel, the lucifer character is referred to as a MAN who shook the earth.)16 Those who see you stare at you,
they ponder your fate:
“Is this the man who shook the earth
and made kingdoms tremble,
17 the man who made the world a wilderness,
who overthrew its cities
and would not let his captives go home?”
18 All the kings of the nations lie in state,
each in his own tomb.
19 But you are cast out of your tomb
like a rejected branch;
you are covered with the slain,
with those pierced by the sword,
those who descend to the stones of the pit.
Like a corpse trampled underfoot,
20 you will not join them in burial,
for you have destroyed your land
and killed your people.
Let the offspring of the wicked
never be mentioned again. "
(comment: notice here that this lucifer is contrasted with other human earthly kings. Other kings are buried in tombs when they die, but this king is left out to be trampled like a branch. And again, at the very beginning of this whole passage, we see that this message is specifically and blatantly for the king od Babylon. It doesn't describe an angel falling from heaven.)
But the name of Lucifer is never connected with the adversary or Satan in the Bible. In the new testament, Satan is seen as evil, but in judaism and the old testament, Satan is an angel, very much under God's command, who acts like a prosecutor in a court room. This is seen clearly in Job. God is the judge, Job is the defendant, and Satan is the prosecutor.
So why do some Christians rightly reject the pagan-mythology-based image of Satan as a red-horned devil with a pitchfork, but accept this false equating of Lucifer and Satan? I mean, I get it, the Bible itself isn't very consistent on the idea. In the old testament, Satan is an angel from God who acts as a prosecutor, in the gospels he becomes evil, and in Revelation the character blows insanely out of proportion from the original writing of the old testament.
So what do we think of all this?