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Bible Answer
Who has replaced Lucifer in his role?
Since Lucifer was a Master of the choir in the kingdom, and no one was like him in the holy angel's creation, who has now replaced him?
Unfortunately, the Bible does not exclusively suggest that Lucifer was a choir leader. Many scholars refer to the King James Version of the Bible to defend Lucifer as the Heavenly choir master, although, when we look at the Hebrew text it doesn't add up. Ezekiel 28:13 in the KJV reads as follows:
EZEK. 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering: the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold; the workmanship of thy taborets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
NASB reads:
EZEK. 28:13 “You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The ruby, the topaz and the diamond;
The beryl, the onyx and the jasper;
The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald;
And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets,
Was in you.
On the day that you were created
They were prepared.
Therefore, the NASB renders the original Hebrew meaning better than the KJV. As the writer is describing stones that clothe Lucifer and are set in a socket type of layout. Let us continue in Ezekiel to help us understand Lucifer's role in the Heavens:
EZEK. 28:14 You were the anointed cherub who covers,
And I placed you there.
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
EZEK. 28:15 You were blameless in your ways
From the day you were created
Until unrighteousness was found in you.
EZEK. 28:16 By the abundance of your trade
You were internally filled with violence,
And you sinned;
Therefore I have cast you as profane
From the mountain of God.
And I have destroyed you, you covering cherub,
From the midst of the stones of fire.
EZEK. 28:17 Your heart was haughty because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.
I threw you to the ground;
I put you before kings,
That they may see you.
EZEK. 28:18 By the multitude of your wrongdoings,
In the unrighteousness of your trade
You profaned your sanctuaries.
Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you;
It has consumed you,
And I have turned you to ashes on the earth
In the eyes of all who see you.
First, v.14 states that Satan’s trade was covering the glory of God in the heavenly tabernacle. Because of the description in the scriptures it is safe to say that Satan was the closest created being to the glory of God. Of the three branches of angelic beings — angels, seraphim, and cherubim — cherubim served closest to God’s glory while the closest of all cherubim to God, was Satan. This was Satan's occupation (service) in the Heavenly realm.
Secondly, v.16 tells us that this supreme privilege of Satan's trade became cause for him to be filled internally with violence, jealousy, and pride. This means that Satan burned with evil longings and a desire to act in malice ways against God. The scriptures don't explicitly state what action Satan took (or was intending to take) but throughout the rest of the Bible we know what Satan is seen trying to do; distract mankind away from the Sovereign God and place himself in God's throne.
For example, Daniel tells us that after Satan indwells the Antichrist during the Tribulation he will declare himself to be God:
DAN. 11:36 “Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done.
Furthermore, Satan was called the anointed cherub. The word "anointed" in Hebrew is messiah, therefore, Satan was the messiah’d cherub, which certainly must have suggested to him that he could be a replacement for Jesus.
Today, we still see this same pattern displayed on earth: abundance leads to self-satisfaction, self-satisfaction leads to pride, and pride leads to malice toward God, which manifests in many ways through sin.
Satan’s corruption of the heavenly tabernacle and our following in sin after his pattern are reconciled by Jesus' blood. When Jesus was resurrected, He traveled to the throne room of God to make atonement for sin by applying his blood to the mercy seat that Satan used to guard. By that application of blood to the mercy seat, Jesus cleansed the heavenly tabernacle.
HEB. 9:22 And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
HEB. 9:23 Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
HEB. 9:24 For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;
HEB. 9:25 nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own.
The scriptures tell us plainly that Satan was a covering cherub who became so convinced by his importance and beauty that he could be God. In a rebellious moment of violence and pride, Satan seized the mercy seat in the Heavenly tabernacle declaring Himself to be God and in doing so, he profaned the Heavenly tabernacle.
In Ezekiel v.16 the Lord says He cast Satan down from the mountain of God (in Heaven), and in v.17 we hear that Satan was cast to the ground. The Hebrew word for "ground" is the word for earth ('erets). We know that Satan fell into sin prior to the events of Genesis 3, where he met with woman and seduced her to sin. From this we know that Satan was roaming the earthly garden of Eden because he had been cast out of the Heavenly garden of God.
Jesus described seeing this moment in the Gospels:
LUKE 10:18 And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.
This is largely the extent of what we know concerning the occupation of Lucifer in Heaven.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org
