The Origin of Satan
One of the interesting subjects in the Bible is the Devil himself — Satan. Why not? He has been blamed for all the pain and suffering in the world. Some would say man has himself to blame for causing his downfall, but others would infer that man wouldn't have done so if not for the devil's prodding.
Believe it or not, Satan used to reside in heaven and was named Lucifer, which in Hebrew means "light bearer" or "shining one." The Bible describes him as a guardian cherub (Ezekiel 28:14) but other verses mention him in conjunction with angels. There are times when Satan masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), which could refer to his former being.
Lucifer was a special being who was given authority and responsibility above the heavenly host. He was endowed with attributes, abilities and wisdom above other created beings. He was ranked above all the principalities and powers and was closest to God's throne (Ezekiel 28:14).
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Lucifer fell from his lofty position when pride crept in and he desired to take God's position (Isaiah 14:12–14). Lucifer attempted a coup d'état along with one-third of the angels (Revelation 12:4) but Michael the archangel and the others fought and threw them out of heaven (12:7–10).
Lucifer was thrown to earth where he lost no time fulfilling his first act to influence the serpent to tempt Eve into eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which led to the fall of mankind. Since then, the Devil has been associated with horrible happenings.
Satan's name is derived from Hebrew which means "adversary" while the word "devil" means "false accuser." This just goes to show that all his actions are against God's will. The Bible describes him as a tempter and deceiver for which he and his army of fallen angels will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10).
