The Four Beasts of
Revelation
“A great
and wondrous sign appeared in heaven;
a
woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet
and a crown of twelve stars on her
head.”
-Revelation
12:1
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NIV
“How you had
fallen from heaven, O
Morning star, son of the
dawn! You have been cast down to the
earth, you who once laid low the
nations!” (Isaiah 14:12,
italics mine)
NASB
“How you have
fallen from heaven, O star
of the morning, son of the
dawn! You have been cut down to the
earth, you who have weakened the
nations!”
(Isaiah 14:12, italics
mine)
The translators of the
KJV chose to translate the Hebrew
word heylel with the Latin
name “Lucifer,” whereas the
translators of the NIV and NASB chose
to translate heylel as
“morning star” or
“star of the morning.” The
differences between the KJV and later
translations stems from an ancient
practice. Venus was a prominent
morning star during the first century
A.D. Pliny the Elder (A.D. 23-79)
lived during the time of Christ and
he wrote, “The star called Venus
[has two names]…when it rises in
the morning it is given the name
‘Lucifer’ [which means
‘light bringer’]…but
when it [Venus] shines at sunset it
is called ‘Vesper.’”
(Pliny the Elder, Natural History,
Book 2, par. 36, insertions mine)
Early translators of the Bible, as
far back as Jerome’s fifth
century Latin Vulgate, preferred to
use the Latin name
“Lucifer” for heylel rather
than translating the Hebrew word as
“morning star.” This is how
the name Lucifer found its way into
the KJV because Lucifer’s given
name is unknown. It is ironic that
Venus shone brighter than any of the
other stars each morning and in a
spiritual sense, Lucifer allowed his
surpassing glory to bring about his
downfall. “You were the model
of perfection, full of wisdom and
perfect in beauty. You were in Eden,
the garden of God; every precious
stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and
emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper,
sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your
settings and mountings were made of
gold; on the day you were created
they were prepared. 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.” (Ezekiel
28:12-15)
A review of Isaiah
14:12-17 and Ezekiel 28: 12-18
reveals that Lucifer was once an
anointed cherub in Heaven.
Eventually, he became
arrogant and self-seeking. He became
dissatisfied with God and His
government. He coveted worship and
adoration that belonged to Michael,
the archangel. When Lucifer became
jealous of the archangel Michael,
Lucifer did not know Michael was God
living “in the feathers.“
Let me explain what I mean. The Bible
indicates that Jesus, the Creator,
lived among the angels. This seems to
be Jesus’ pattern. Jesus created
the angels and lived among them (as
Michael) – He also created man
and lived among us. Michael lived
among the angels, but Lucifer did not
recognize that Michael was God. This
mistake led to his undoing.
Lucifer’s experience in Heaven
is similar to what happened when
Jesus lived as a man on Earth. The
Jews did not know that Jesus was God
living “in the flesh.” Our
Creator (whether of angels or men) so
closely identifies with His creation
that no one can know that He is God
unless there is a revelation of this
truth! (This is the essential reason
for the upcoming revelation of Jesus
Christ!) Through malicious lies and
deceptive innuendo, Lucifer persuaded
one-third of Heaven’s angels to
join him in rebellion against
Michael, and this is how Lucifer
became the Antichrist. The
Godhead loved Lucifer and his
followers. They did everything
possible to change the feelings and
attitudes of their subjects, but
there was no repentance. When it
became evident that extended mercy
would bring no change and have no
redeeming effect, God’s
forbearance ended. God cast Lucifer
and his angels out of Heaven. Jesus
told His disciples, “I saw
Satan fall like lightening from
Heaven.”
(Luke 10:18)
When Lucifer and his
angels were cast out of Heaven, their
anger and bitterness toward the
Godhead turned into a roaring rage.
To get even, they focused their wrath
on Jesus’ handiwork-the creation
of Earth. The devil studied Adam and
Eve for several years before he
developed his subtle and deadly
approach. The devil led Eve to
disobey God and Eve led Adam into
disobedience. Of course, the devil
did not stop there. Cain, the first
born of Adam and Eve, became a
murderer. Astoundingly, within ten
generations of creating Adam, human
beings became so degenerate that God
grieved that He had even made man!
(Genesis 6) Consequently, God washed
Earth with a flood of water, sparing
just eight people – Noah and his
family. The flood may have slowed the
devil’s efforts to destroy
mankind, but Peter reminds us that
the devil is relentless. He goes
around like a roaring lion seeking
whom he may devour! (1 Peter 5:8,9)
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