Satan, the Worship Leader?

Have you ever heard the story that Satan was once a great worship leader of heaven, but then, due to his arrogance, he lost that place and was kicked out of heaven? Is this what Scripture teaches?

You might have heard this narrative taught before: Satan was an exceptional angelic being who once was only second to God. Even more, in his angelic role, Satan was the great worship leader of heaven. Unfortunately, due to a swelling of pride, he desired to rise up and be exalted over all, even organizing an attempt at usurping the throne of God. Thus, he lost his place in heaven, along with a third of the other angels who joined his side, with them all being hurled from heaven to earth.

That's the general framework of the story many have been taught.

But is this the best storyline for Satan? And was he actually the great heavenly worship leader so many imagine?

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To begin, much of this understanding of Satan is built upon two Old Testament passages - Ezekiel 28:12-19 and Isaiah 14:12-17. In particular, it would be best to read the passages in the old KJV or NKJV. Not because those are the two best translations, but rather they help give a background to the story that has been perpetuated about who Satan is. Let’s get a small sample of the passages:

12...“You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.

14 “You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you. (Ezk 28:12-15, NKJV)

We then find these words from Isaiah:

12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit.

After reading these two passages, it's easy to think that the normative narrative about Satan is the best one available.

However, we need to remember a simple hermeneutical rule as we engage these ancient words. That rule, or question, is this: What's going on in the context?

When we recall this important guideline, a lot of unhelpful Bible interpretation can be alleviated. For example, when we read vs1 and 11 from Ezekiel and vs3-4 in Isaiah 14, we get a different picture. These short and clear statements give us the setting of the ancient oracles given by the two prophets. They show us that the passages speak of actual human kings. Ezekiel's words are spoken of the king of Tyre; Isaiah's words are directed at the king of Babylon.

Consider Ezk 28:1. We are told, in a poetic way, that the ruler of Tyre has claimed: ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods, In the midst of the seas.’ Pretty lofty words! This is not unlike the account given of King Herod in Acts 12:

21 On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22 They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

Both are describing the despicable acts of human kings. The latter (about Herod) does not speak of Satan — of course, we know that. But, considering the account, we can see some connection with the words of Ezekiel. Ancient pagan kings tended to be identified with the gods. Think of Caesar, think of Antiochus IV, think of Alexander, etc. These were, on some level, divine beings.

And, so, in Ezk 28 we are simply reading the words that have been spewed forth by a king, particularly the king of Tyre.

But let’s go back to the prophetic passages of Ezekiel and Isaiah. If we consider the genre these words fall under, we will note they are very poetic descriptions of the two kings. And remember that poetry takes “license.” Imagery, metaphors, even exaggerations are utilized to make the point. That’s the tact employed by the two Hebrew prophets of old.

So we read of the king of Tyre in Ezk 28:13: “You were in Eden, the garden of God.”

“Aha, that's it! You see, this describes the serpent in Genesis 3!” - one might argue.

Again, no. The context of Ezekiel tells us it is describing the king of Tyre. But we have poetic license to describe this king. And if you read the verses before and after vs13, it seems to be speaking more of this ruler’s original perfection rather than evil. Eden represented perfection before the incident with the fruit and fall. So, here in the words of Ezekiel, we don’t have a connection to the serpent/Satan. Instead, vs13 is a statement of grandeur and wisdom before pride!

Regarding the question of whether Satan was a worship leader, well, I think we are on safe ground that there is no strong basis for this claim. Again, the end of Ezk 28:13 does not speak of him, but of the king of Tyre.

So, does that make this king a worship leader?

Well, in this discussion, it’s neither here nor there, but I’d probably say this ruler didn’t have such a role. The statement in vs13 has differing translations, which makes the passage somewhat unclear. But whether you read the KJV, NKJV, NIV, ESV or another translation, it’s fairly difficult to say the person being described is a worship leader. The best one could argue is that there was a great assortment of ornate jewels and other fine elements, along with instrumentation, which were both crafted and present at the birth of this man. This makes sense knowing the passage speaks of a man who will become king. Think of all that was brought to Christ at his birth! Kings of all types tended to be celebrated.

Now, obviously, there are some similarities between these two Old Testament texts and others found in the New Testament. In Luke 10, we encounter the 72 who had been sent on a mission by Jesus. Upon their return, they have these words to offer: “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name” (vs17), to which Jesus replies, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (vs18).

Powerful mission, no doubt!

However, it is important to note that Jesus’s statement speaks of that moment following the significant mission of the 72. It does not speak of something that happened “pre-Genesis” or “in the Garden of Eden.” A great defeat of the adversary took place in the ministry of Christ and his followers.

But what of Rev 12:3-4?

3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.

I think when it comes to the context (a first-century, Jewish context), one will recognize that the apocalyptic vision of John, which is brimming with imagery, describes an ongoing battle of God’s people in his own time. This does not describe a heavenly battle that took place sometime in Genesis 1-2, just not reported in Genesis 1-2.

I know there are varying interpretive lenses for the book of Revelation. But when one gets down to the nitty-gritty of first-century Jewish writing, especially in the form of apocalyptic prophecy, I am fairly convinced that John describes a real battle amongst the persecuted church he had pastored. And that battle undoubtedly had a great Satanic force behind it. John captures such in the imagery of ch.12, and even throughout the whole of Revelation!

The one caveat I might add is that I think that a good case could be argued that Rev 12 does give a picture of the ongoing battle between the people of God and the personified evil of Satan, including in our time. However, to claim this is a picture of a moment in heaven sometime around Genesis 1-2, I believe, lacks a solid foundation.

One last thing.

Going back to Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14, what I will offer is this: I do believe those two kings (of Tyre and Babylon) have characteristics that typify the work of the great adversary of God’s people, the Satan. It’s not unlike reading the Davidic psalms and seeing aspects of David that typify the character and work of Christ. We identify many of the psalms as prophetic and messianic. And they are! David was the anointed one (messiah, christos) back then and he in some sense exemplified the great anointed one to come, Jesus. However, we don’t irresponsibly apply all aspects of David to Jesus. Or we shouldn’t!

I’d argue we need to remember the same when it comes to these ancient kings and Satan. We need responsible interpretation, sensible hermeneutics.

In all, I offer that we need to, first, stop identifying Satan as a former great worship leader of heaven. It’s difficult to find actual Scriptural basis for such. Even more, I would argue that we tread carefully upon the passages of Ezekiel and Isaiah (and all Jewish prophetic literature) as we look to interpret them within their ancient context.