The name Lucifer is mentioned in Isaiah, King James Version, where the Bible talks about his fall from heaven.
“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! 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: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”
Isaiah 14:12-15
From these Scriptures, we learn that before the fall, Lucifer was part of the heavenly family. He lived in heaven and served in different capacities before the Lord. The Scripture in Isaiah 14 calls him the son of the morning. Does this reveal to us anything about the roles he played while he was still in heaven?
Lucifer is a name that is often associated with pride, rebellion, deception, evil, and temptation. He is a being that was created by God to serve him like other heavenly beings. Bible Scholars reveal that Lucifer, who is Satan, was an angel who was given power and authority by God. He ranked highest in position of all created beings and was also considered the highest in the angelic hierarchy. But what was his main job in heaven? What tasks did God assign to him?
Read Also: 40 Bible Verses About Revival In The Last Days
What Was Lucifer’s Role in Heaven?
- To Serve God
As we all know, angels were created to serve God in different capacities; they are God’s messengers and each angel has a specific role. There are guardian angels, angels of death, and angels who deliver special messages from God to the people.
One of the roles that angels play in heaven is as illustrated in Psalms 103:20; “Praise the Lord, you His angels, you mighty ones who do His bidding, who obey His word.” Doing God’s bidding means following up to make sure that His commands are adhered to. So, some angels make a follow-up to ensure that people do as God instructs. Since Lucifer was also one of the angels that God created, his main role in heaven was to serve God. His first role was to do God’s bidding; to ensure that Adam and Eve obeyed what God commanded them.
God commanded Adam and Eve to be in charge of every created thing and to eat every fruit except the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. However, Lucifer failed to execute his duties. Instead of commanding or requesting them to obey the command of the Lord, he saw a chance to make them disobey Him. He was full of pride and wanted to overthrow God and take His position.
Additionally, Lucifer was supposed to warn Adam and Eve about the consequences of disobeying God. We read in the Scriptures about angels warning the people of the earth about the consequences of going against the will of God, Genesis 19:1. However, Lucifer did not warn them about what would befall them if they ate from the Tree of Knowledge.
Instead, he urged them to eat the fruit telling them that God had warned them not to eat it because He did not want them to become knowledgeable like Him. So, Lucifer’s role was to warn mankind of God’s impending wrath should they disobey Him but once again, he failed in executing his duties.
Read Also: 53 Timeless Bible Verses About Eternal Life
- Lucifer Was a Morning Star
“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!”
Isaiah 14:12
Lucifer is identified as the son of the morning. In other words, he was the morning star during the time that he served in heaven. A morning star is a symbol of brilliance, beauty, and splendor. This means that he shined the light that was preceded by the darkness of the night into the world at that time. Furthermore, as the sun rose in the Garden of Eden, it was he who brought about a beautiful ambiance each morning.
“Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.”
Ezekiel 28:16
The Scriptures reveal to us that since Lucifer was beautiful and radiant and these super qualities made him proud. He did not use his beauty for the glory of God but for his own selfish desires. Some say that he was the bearer of light but he introduced darkness into the world.
- To Worship God
Another role that angels, including Lucifer, played in heaven was to sing praises to God and worship Him.
“Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise Him in the heights above. Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His heavenly hosts.”
Psalms 148:1-2
Lucifer was one of the heavenly hosts who were assigned the duty of worshipping the Lord on His throne. He must have witnessed how awesome God felt when all heavenly hosts worshipped and bowed before Him in awe and reverence. Lucifer wished to experience the same and tried to battle for the position of the Lord. He wanted all these for himself, and instead of worshipping God, he planned on how he could overthrow God and make the heavenly beings worship him.
Read Also: 50 Scary Bible Verses & Shocking Scripture
- Lucifer Was a Guardian Angel
God’s angels also play a significant role in guarding His people against spiritual forces of darkness and all other forms of attacks. The archangel of God guarded many people in the Bible who were in the face of danger. Consider the example of Daniel in the den of hungry lions. It was the angel of the Lord who watched over Him and protected Him from being attacked by the hungry lions.
Lucifer’s role, as an angel of God, was to guard, protect, and defend God’s throne and all other created beings. Ezekiel 28:14-16 reads, “You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade, you were filled with violence, and you sinned.
So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.” God Himself refers to Lucifer as a guardian cherub. He adds that He ordained him to guard and protect His creation but he was filled with wickedness. Instead of using the power and authority assigned to him, he used it to rise in war against God. He was an ordained guardian angel.
- He Was in Charge of All Other Heavenly Beings
As mentioned earlier, Lucifer was in charge of all the other angels. When he rebelled against God, some angels took his side and helped him wage war against the Lord. As the angel with the highest rank of all the angels, he must have had the responsibility of overseeing their work.
Read Also: 55 Verses About Repentance in the Bible
Lucifer must have had the responsibility of instructing other heavenly beings and checking if they successfully carried out their duties.
In conclusion, Lucifer’s role on earth is known to every believer. Jesus referred to him as the father of all lies; his main agenda on earth is to deceive mankind to turn against God. Additionally, he seeks to devour the people of God and lead them down a path of destruction.
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
1 Peter 5:8
Lucifer is the enemy of God and the enemy of all believers. He has no good intentions for us; he desires to see us suffering and living under confusion. He is not yet done with the violence, war, and rebellion that he started while he was still in heaven. The Bible mentions that he was full of wisdom before he rebelled against God.
He used his wisdom to deceive Adam and Eve rather than encourage them to obey the Lord’s command. And today, he has turned into a cunning spirit that continues to deceive the people of God.
Read Also: 60 Bible Verses About Trials
Let us, as the Bible instructs, be alert and sober-minded so that we can discern his deceptive ways and rebuke him before he devours us. Lucifer is not a friend of the world; he is an enemy. However, we are hopeful that his influence will one day be brought to an end. Lucifer, together with the angels that helped him rebel against God was defeated in a battle between him and God’s angels, (Revelation 12:7-8).
And, he will still lose in a final battle between him and Jesus Christ at Armageddon, (Revelation 19:11-21). This will be a fight between good and evil and Jesus Christ will win, bringing an end to all evil that was introduced into the world by Lucifer.