“And the great dragon (red 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." Rev 12:9

"And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years." Revelation 20:2

Reading Revelation 12:9 and 20:2 leads to the conclusion that the words, satan, devil, serpent, and dragon are used interchangeably. Unfortunately these words all have different meanings which need to be understood, and once understood then perhaps the meanings can be applied to the same entity. Scripture uses various titles for God such as El for The Almighty, Elohim for The Creator, and Jehovah for The Eternal. Likewise the word Satan means adversary, and devil means slanderer, and both words appear to describe the same entity -- The Dragon. But to compound the problem most of these words are used figuratively rather than literally.

The word structure of Revelation 12:9 is such that the phrase, "that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan," modifies or is a descriptive phrase of the subject of the sentence, i.e., "dragon." Likewise in Revelation 20:2, the words "that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan," are also descriptive of the same entity -- THE DRAGON. Grammatically then, when we speak of "Satan" or the "Devil" we are referring to the great red dragon. The only question remaining is what or who is "THE DRAGON."

Christianity abounds with theories on Satan -- from the "fallen angel" theory to the "no devil" doctrine. This author has never been satisfied with the "fallen angel" theory; however, reading the "no devil" doctrine books also leaves a lot of unanswered questions. They all fall short in that they have no real explanation as to who or what "satan" is, if not some real person or entity. A case is made that the devil or satan is the inner self, the war within us, our evil nature fighting good: the good being of God and the evil being our satanic or evil nature. While these arguments are not totally convincing, their authors make a lot of good points which need to be considered.

In reading Scripture one is hard pressed to come to any other conclusion but that there is a force or something evil out there, be it physical or spiritual, and this book will provide at least one answer to that problem.

Before a study can begin on such complicated verses of Scripture, much space will be devoted to determining what words mean. Only when there is a common understanding of the definition of words, can an intelligent discussion be undertaken. However, before defining the words, they will also be analyzed from the perspective of the number of times they appear in the Old and New Testaments. For example, the following statistics are provided for analysis:

In reviewing these statistics we need to keep in mind that the Old Testament contains more books and words than the New Testament. However, considering the size of the testaments, the number of times some of these words are used in the New Testament is staggering in comparison to the number of times they are used in the Old Testament.

Probably the most striking thing the above data reveals is the complete absence of the word "demon" or "demons" in both the Old and New Testaments. Next might be the absence of the word "devil" in the Old Testament and the numerous amount of times it appears in the New Testament. Next comes the lack in both testaments of the words "accuser" and "deceiver." Finally, considering the numbers of books and words in the testaments, the words "satan" and "dragon" are used far more frequently on a percentage basis in the New Testament than in the Old Testament.

The purpose of this book is to examine these words and determine who or what entity they represent and what they do not represent. In this regard, this book does not read like a novel nor is it light reading. It is a study, and as such it is meant to cause the reader to study the word of God.

This book is only one study on the subject of "The Dragon," the Devil and Satan, and the information and arguments presented are directed toward a specific and narrow conclusion, and that is:- that in many cases where the words serpent, Satan, and Dragon are used in Scripture it is in reference to tyrannical governments such as Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Rome, and even to modern-day governments.

This author fully realizes that he has not commented on every reference in Scripture containing these words and also that his arguments are not applicable to every verse in which the words are used. In this regard, it should be fully understood that the conclusions contained in this book cannot be applied to every usage of these words in Scripture.

"We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error." 1 John 4:6

It is a commonly held belief among Christians that the word "Lucifer" was the name of Satan before his fall and this theology has its roots in the writings of Isaiah which states:

"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!" Isaiah 14:12

This rendering comes from the King James Authorized version, and referring to Strong's (1996), we find the word "lucifer" comes from Strong's 1984 "(in the sense of brightness); the morning-star:-- Lucifer," and the root word at 1984 means "to be clear,..to shine..." Webster's Dictionary reveals that the word "lucifer" has no root in the Hebrew/Chaldee language but finds its origin in the Latin language, which did not develop into a language until approximately 200 B.C., which is some 500 years after Isaiah's writings. This should make anyone question why the word is in Scripture in the first place.

The translation as "Lucifer" in the King James Authorized version is not among the more popular renderings. For example, the English Revised version of 1885 states:

"How art thou fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst lay low the nations!"

Moffatt translates this verse as follows:

"What a fall from heaven on high, O shining star of the dawn! How low and limp you lie, who once swayed all the nations!"

The New American Standard Bible, which is one of the more popular study bibles, renders this verse as follows:

"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!"

The Lamsa Bible states:

"How are you fallen from heaven! howl in the morning! for you have fallen down to the ground, O reviler of the nations?"

Ferrar Fenton translated this verse as follows:

"How fell you from heaven, bright son of the morning? Down, down to the earth, you destroyer of nations?"

Probably the most revealing translation comes from the Amplified Bible which states:

"How are you fallen from heaven, O light-bringer and day star, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who have weakened and laid prostrate the nations [O blasphemous satanic king of Babylon!]" The Amplified Bible, p. 776-777

So right at the end of verse 12, we see a reference to Lucifer as the king of Babylon. There is also a footnote in the Amplified Bible on the subject of Lucifer which states:

"'Light-bringer' or 'Shining-one' was originally translated Lucifer, but because of the association of that name with Satan it is not now used. Lucifer, the light-bringer, is the Latin equivalent of the Greek word Phosphoros, which is used as a title of Christ in 2 Peter 1:19 and corresponds to the name "bright Morning Star" in Revelation 22:16, which Jesus called himself..." The Amplified Bible, p. 777

And finally the Jewish encyclopedia states of Lucifer:

"...(the brilliant one," "son of the morning"), name of the day, or morning star, to whose mythical fate that of the King of Babylon is compared in the prophetic vision (Isaiah 14:12-14). It is obvious that the prophet in attributing to the Babylon king boastful pride, followed by a fall, borrowed the idea from a popular legend connected with the morning star;..." The Jewish Encyclopedia, 1905, VOL VIII, p. 204

The word "Lucifer," then, is the creation of the translators who apparently had a better knowledge of Latin than they did of the Hebrew language and there are many such problems in Scripture. However, there is nothing wrong with using the word "lucifer" as long as it is understood as a word which is being applied to the king of Babylon and not satan or the devil. As a verb the word means to "yell" or "howl" and that is something the king of Babylon should be doing because he was soon to fall.

A plain reading of Isaiah, chapter 14, reveals that this is a "proverb against the king of Babylon." It addresses the king of Babylon as a being as magnificent as a star in the heavens. It begins by introducing the king as one of high ambition and designing to ascend into the heavens, making his throne above the stars and aiming at equality with God. Then his end is foretold in poetry as a star which falls from the heavens to the earth. The chapter has nothing at all to do with any supernatural being. For our purposes, this story begins with verse 4:

"That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!"

In verse 4, the phrase "take up this proverb" provides the understanding that this chapter is written in the form of a parable. The parable was written in approximately 712 B.C. while Babylon was the greatest power on the known earth, and for Isaiah to predict its destruction must have been met with laughter and ridicule as it would be 174 years later in 538 B.C. before Babylon would fall. But Isaiah was told to speak this parable "against the king of Babylon" and does so by stating in verse 4 what seemed to be an obvious impossibility with the question; "how hath the oppressor and the golden city ceased?"

Then in verse 5 Isaiah tells us that God has broken great nations with the phrase:

"The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers."

Verse 6 describes the viciousness of Babylon's reign as he "smote the people in wrath" and "ruled the nations in anger." Verses 7 and 8 tell us that with the absence of Babylon's power there will be peace and quiet on the earth and the earth will break forth with singing and even the trees will rejoice because they will be safe from being cut down.

Verses 9, 10 and 11 are representative of death for Babylon in a very unique way in that the once great nations of the past who have since died speak out from the grave to welcome Babylon to its new home among them in the grave. This must be construed as a parable because no evil spirits, or nations which no longer exist, can possibly speak from the grave. It should be understood that all prior great governments existed by the grace of God and were destroyed and buried by God in accordance with His will, as Isaiah states in verse five God "hath broken the staff of the wicked and the sceptre of the rulers." When God breaks them up they disappear from the face of the earth and this should be clear in reading verse 11, which states:

"Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee."

The lesson is that Babylon's pomp, pride, haughtiness, and greatness will be brought down to the grave, or completely destroyed, and this is emphasized by stating that worms will be above and below thee. Now let us look at verses 12 through 14:

"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
"For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
"I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High." Isaiah 14:4, 12-14

If verse 12 is to be taken literally, and if we also assume that heaven is somewhere off the earth, then verse 12 presents a problem, because if heaven is off the earth, how did the king of Babylon get there to fall back to earth?

But no, for here we have the king of Babylon referred to as a falling star and nothing could be more striking in representing his fall from power than the idea of a star that falls from the heavens to the earth never to be seen again in its splendor and glory.

Adam Clarke, in his commentary, sums the issue up with the following comments:

"...And although the context speaks explicitly concerning Nebuchadnezzar, yet this has been, I know not why, applied to the chief of the fallen angles, who is most incongruously denominated Lucifer (the bringer of light!), an epithet as common to him as those of Satan and Devil. That the Holy Spirit by his prophets should call this arch-enemy of God and man the light-bringer, would be strange indeed. But the truth is, the text speaks nothing at all in concerning Satan nor his fall, nor the occasion of that fall, which a great many divines have with great confidence deduced from this text. O how necessary it is to understand the literal meaning of Scripture, that preposterous comments may be prevented! Besides, I doubt much whether our translation be correct. Heilil which we translate Lucifer, comes from yalal, yell, howl, or shriek, and should be translated, 'Howl, son of the morning:' and so the Syriac has understood it..." Clarke's Commentary, supra, Vol IV, p. 82

Lamsa, in his Old Testament Light, basically agrees with Clarke and states:

"The Eastern text reads ailel (howl, mourn). The reference here is to the king of Babylon whose impending fall is foretold by the prophet. The king of Babylon, like the king of Assyria and Egypt whose doom was predicted by the prophets, is told to howl and mourn over his fall.

"The king of Babylon had lifted himself to heaven but would come down into sheol. This passage has nothing to do with the falling of an angel, a star, or Lucifer. It refers to the fall of Babylon and its tyranny ruler who had lifted up himself and compelled the nations to worship him as a god. The whole chapter is about the fall of the king of Babylon [verse 4]." Old Testament Light, supra, p. 646

In verses 13 and 14 the king of Babylon promises himself that his power shall surpass all the other nations around him and he shall "ascend above the heights of the clouds." Babylon sees his greatness above that of the once mighty nation of Israel by the phrases "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit upon the mount of the congregation" making himself "like the most high." Such is the folly of man and man's governments.

"I will ascend into heaven] I will get the empire of the whole world. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God--above the Israelites, who are here termed the stars of God... This chapter speaks not of the ambition and fall of Satan but of the pride, arrogance, and fall of Nebuchadnezzar." Clarke, supra, Vol IV, p. 82

The king of Babylon views himself as the highest pinnacle of earthly glory and fealty and that he shall be the greatest power on earth. Figuratively speaking, it seems to be the aspiration of man to raise as high above his peers as the stars are above the earth. In Babylon's case, he "said in his heart I will ascend into heaven." Since the parable states that Babylon will view himself as being ascended "into heaven," it should not be difficult to understand how Isaiah could state: "How art thou fallen from heaven." The question is asked rhetorically and answered in verses 15 through 23:

"Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
"They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
"That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
"All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
"But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.
"Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.
"Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.
"For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD.
"I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts." Isaiah 14:15-23

Thus was the destruction of the great king and nation of Babylon. Since the king of Babylon viewed himself in heaven, the Word of God simply foretells of his fall with words describing his fall as being cast down from heaven and into the graves with the other dead nations. Christ may have had the writing of Isaiah in mind when He stated:

"Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:
"Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
"But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.
"And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
"But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee." Matthew 11:20-24

The similarity between what is written here and in Isaiah, chapter 14 cannot be mistaken for both speak of the fall of great governments.

Since this parable of Isaiah speaks of the king of Babylon being in heaven when he was actually on earth, it should not be difficult to understand how there can be wars in heaven or how Babylon can be cast down from heaven -- heaven being the lofty, pompous, pride, and arrogance of the warring nations.

Once this is understood then it follows that if Babylon and other nations are cast into the earth, they are either made low like the other nations or destroyed, such as was the fate of Babylon. If this concept is not understood, then parts of the Book of Revelation cannot be understood.

This concludes the Introduction and the first chapter in the book entitled “The Satan Among Us, and what you have read is only the first message of 12 messages on this subject. The entire study is available in Book form or on audio tapes. It consists of twelve 45 minute messages recorded on six 90-minute audio tapes and is packaged in a convenient and attractive cassette album.

To obtain the tapes on “The Satan Among Us,” enter Tape Album A004 on the order form.