What is the biblical basis that Satan is/was an angel?
score:3
One particular Scriptural reference you haven't given is in Job 1:6–12
One day, when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, the satan also came among them. The LORD said to the satan, "Where have you been?" Then the satan answered the LORD and said, "Roaming the earth and patrolling it." The LORD said to the satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him, blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil." The satan answered the LORD and said, "Is it for nothing that Job is God-fearing? Have you not surrounded him and his family and all that he has with your protection? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock are spread over the land. But now put forth your hand and touch all that he has, and surely he will curse you to your face." The LORD said to the satan, "Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on him." So the satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
(Translation: New American Bible, Revised Edition)
There is a note to "the sons of God" which reads:
members of the divine council; see Gn 6:1–4; Dt 32:8; Ps 82:1. The satan: lit., "adversary" (as in 1 Kgs 11:14). Here a member of the heavenly court, "the accuser" (Zec 3:1). In later biblical traditions this character will be developed as the devil (Gk. diabolos, "adversary").
This is an unusual depiction of "the Devil", as it depicts him as a servant of, rather than a rebel against, God; but it does also exemplify his depiction as a heavenly being, that is an angel.
Interestingly, Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologica doesn't appear to even question whether the Devil was in fact an angel. He describes the Devil as an angel (First Part, Question 63, Article 3 and Article 5). One very interesting thing is that in the latter Article he does quote the passages you cite from Isaiah and from Ezekiel, and he says "it is said of the devil under the figure of the prince of Babylon ... it is said to the devil in the person of the King of Tyre". In other words, although you are correct in interpreting the literal meaning of those two passages, typology intervenes and allows these two people to stand in for the Devil.
Upvote:0
You are correct in your assertion that the King of Babylon does refer to a man. However; the reference to Lucifer may in fact be a comparison to the wickedness of Lucifer, which is a name given to Satan prior to his rebellion in Heaven.
Where we find that Satan, who has many names in the Bible, is a fallen Angel comes from Jesus and Revelation:
All Scripture is quoted from the King James translation unless otherwise noted.
Luke 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
and
Revelation 12:7 through 9 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
The Book of the Revelation is broken down into three parts; the things that are, the things that were, the things that are yet to come.
In accordance with Jesus' words the war in Heaven had to have happened before then. And although we cannot say exactly when Satan and the rebellious Angels were ejected from Heaven we can say that according to Revelation 12:9 it had to be sometime after Genesis 1:1 and almost assuredly before the fall of man.
Upvote:2
Well it is worth mentioning that the devil was behind those evil kings and them having those beliefs of being gods opposed to God was because the devil was fueling them and or using them. As far as scripture goes when thoes things were said of those kings it was in regard to both the king and to the devil who was driving them. I also would have to say on this one that theological speculation must be used such,
(1) that God and the word of god existed before allthings (2) God is good and everything he creates in the begining is good, for the good God does not produce evil (3) the angels were created before man and animals, they beheld the creator at work in creation (4) the devil was afoot to decieve at Adam and Eve's begining
God is good he does not produce demons in genesis because they are not good, so the devil was not created evil,
The devil had to have been a angel at first because that was the only race of beings serving God before the advent of man.
The angels were the only race of beings capable of disobedience at that particular time
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