Why does the Bible refer to both Jesus and Satan as the “morning star?”
Lucifer, the Morning Star?
One of the main verses and sections of Scripture where Lucifer or Satan (also called the Devil) is called the “morning star” is in Isaiah 14:12-15 which says “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.” One thing to note is that Satan or Lucifer has brought the nations down low. He has weakened the governmental systems of this world for sure. Satan was once called the “Day Star” and “star of the morning” not the morning star as some translations give (NASB). The Hebrew word used for “star” is “heylel” and means “light-bearer” or “shining one” and is not “morning star.” The Hebrew word “heylel” is just another name for Lucifer. Any light that Satan or Lucifer once had was lost in the fall when he tried to usurp or take over the throne of God because as Isaiah 14:14 says “I will make myself like the Most High” or basically “I will become God.” God’s response to Satan was a cold reality as God said, “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit” (Isaiah 14:15).
Satan was once called the “Day Star” and “star of the morning” not the morning star as some translations give.
Jesus, the Morning Star Scriptures
Peter writes about Jesus as the Morning Star in 2nd Peter 1:19 “We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” So too does the Book of Revelation mention Jesus as the Morning Star in Revelation 22:16, “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
A Lion
Both Jesus and Satan are referred to as lion but they have decidedly different reasons for being call as such. Peter warned the church to “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet 5:8) so here Satan is described as a ravenous lion seeking out someone to destroy or devour and Satan typically goes for the stragglers, the ones who are hurting, just as a lion in the wild does, and those who are injured and separated from the sheepfold are the most vulnerable.
Jesus is referred to as “the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David [Who] has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals” (Rev 5:5). Jesus is the light of the world (John 9:5) and “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:4-5) and Jesus was and is “the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man” (John 1:9) but Satan is the prince of darkness and Paul warns us to not partake in the “unfruitful works of darkness” (Eph 5:11). Jesus came “to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me’” (Acts 26:18).
The Fallen and the Risen
Jesus sent out His disciples and “The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning” (Luke 10:17-18) indicating that Satan had fallen but was this from heaven? It could be what Jesus was referring to since He was an eye witness of Satan being cast out of heaven down to the earth and that’s why He said “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.” That is why Paul writes to “not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness” (2 Cor 6:14). Satan and all his demons will be cast down into the lake of fire as described in Revelation 20:10 “the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” but Jesus will rise like no morning star anyone has ever seen and “He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday” (Psalm 37:6). As for Jesus “there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever” (Rev 22:5). We will behold what John saw in his vision “I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth[s]will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it” (Rev 21:22-26).
Conclusion
If you have never had a time in your life where you’ve repented and trusted in Christ, then your name is not written down in the book of life “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:15) but there is no need for this. All who believe in Christ will never be condemned (John 3:36a) but whoever rejects believing in the only name by which they can be saved (Acts 4:12) will have the wrath of God upon them for all time (John 3:36b).
Related reading: Why and When Did Lucifer Fall?
Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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