We
all know this phrase that the devil presents himself as an angel of light. But
what is the original context of that verse? Let’s have a look,
“1 I wish you
would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2 For I feel a
divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you
as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve
by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure
devotion to Christ… 12 And what I do I
will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to
claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. 13
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as
apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an
angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise
themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their
deeds.”[1]
Paul
is having some trouble with these so called “super apostles” (v 5). They are
preaching a false gospel, leading people away from Christ and causing all sorts
of issues. And where does he hark back to? Back to Genesis 3 and Eve’s
encounter with the devil:
“3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by
his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion
to Christ…13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising
themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises
himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also,
disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to
their deeds.”[2]
Paul
saw exactly what we talked about; the devil pretending to be a good guy, a
liberator. Isaiah 14 tells us this,
“12 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! 13 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: 14 I will ascend above the heights
of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”[3]
This
is the famous King James translation, which uses the famously ancient
translation of the Hebrew word “heylel”, into the latinised Lucifer, to
describe him as the ‘morning star’, or the bright star of the morning.
You
will hear some people object to calling the devil Lucifer for two reasons. One
is that this passage in verse 4 is addressed to the King of Babylon. The other
is because the Hebrew word translated “Lucifer” here just means “Day Star” or
“Morning Star”, alluding to the bright star that is still visible in the
morning. But we must remember that here Isaiah is using an ancient
understanding of the devil’s fall from heaven to talk about the king of
Babylon. Consider too that we are to interpret the Old Testament through the New.
And who is the real king of Babylon in Revelation? The dragon. The devil. He is
behind it all.
In
fact, Isaiah says this to the Philistines about Babylon: “Rejoice not, O
Philistia, all of you, that the rod that struck you is broken, for from the
serpent's root will come forth an adder, and its fruit will be a flying fiery
serpent.”[4]
In some sense, Isaiah is saying that the spirit of Babylon is not
finished and that the dragon shall rise again from her. I do not understand how
someone cannot see a connection to the devil here, for he is the dragon at the
source of Babylon’s evil. Also “Lucifer” is a very fitting name for the devil
because it means “light bringer” or “light source”, and that is what he claims
to be; the giver of “divine light”, or divine knowledge.
And
this is exactly how his servants work themselves into the church:
“13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful
workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for
even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if
his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end
will correspond to their deeds.”[5]
This
pattern of pretending to be good, while being truly evil is seen often in the
servants of Satan. Judas was the “son of perdition”, destined to betray Jesus,
and possessed by the devil when he did so: “Then Satan entered into Judas
called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve.”[6]
But he presented himself as someone who cared about the poor:
“4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who
was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three
hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared
about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag
he used to help himself to what was put into it.”[7]
The servants
of evil will often place themselves in positions where they are responsible for
doing good, especially if there is money involved. Just like their master. Be aware of this.
List of
References
[1]
2 Corinthians 11: 1-3, 12-15.
[2]
Ibid.
[3]
Isaiah 14:12-14 (KJV).
[4]
Isaiah 14:29.
[5]
2 Corinthians 11:13-15
[6]
Luke 22:3.
[7]
John 12:4-6.
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