Lucifer
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucifer
Satan, who in Milton‘s Paradise Lost is also called Lucifer,[1] on his way to bring about the downfall of Adam.Gustave Doré‘s illustration for Paradise Lost, Book III, lines 739-742 by John Milton.
Lucifer is a Latin word (from the words lucem ferre), literally meaning "light-bearer", which in that language is used as a name for the dawn appearance of the planetVenus, heralding daylight. Use of the word in this sense is uncommon in English, in which "Day Star" or "Morning Star" are more common expressions.
In English, "Lucifer" generally refers to the Devil, although the name is not applied to him in the New Testament. The use of the name "Lucifer" in reference to a fallen angel stems from an interpretation of Isaiah 14:3–20, a passage that speaks of a particularBabylonian King, to whom it gives a title that refers to what in English is called the Day Star or Morning Star (in Latin, lucifer),[2] as fallen or destined to fall from theheavens or sky.[3] In 2 Peter 1:19 and elsewhere, the same Latin word lucifer is used to refer to the Morning Star, with no relation to the devil. However, in post-New Testament times the Latin word Lucifer has often been used as a name for the devil, both in religious writing and in fiction, especially when referring to him before he fell from Heaven.
Satan as Lucifer
The Lucifer story
A myth[4] of the fall of angels, associated with the Morning Star, was transferred to Satan, as seen in the Life of Adam and Eve and the Second Book of Enoch,[5] which the Jewish Encyclopedia attributes to the first pre-Christian century:[6] in these Satan-Sataniel (sometimes identified with Samael) is described as having been one of the archangels. Because he contrived "to make his throne higher than the clouds over the earth and resemble ‘My power’ on high", Satan-Sataniel was hurled down, with his hosts of angels, and since then he has been flying in the air continually above the abyss.[4]
Gustave Doré‘s illustration for Milton’s Paradise Lost,Book IV, lines 1013–1015: Satan (alias Lucifer) yielding before Raphael
Early Christian writers continued this identification of "Lucifer" with Satan. Tertullian ("Contra Marcionem," v. 11, 17),Origen (Homilies on Ezekiel 13), and others, identify Lucifer with Satan, who also is represented as being "cast down from heaven" (Revelation 12:7–10; cf. Luke 10:18).[4]
However, some contemporary exorcists and theologians such as Father José Antonio Fortea and Father Amorth in their experience and based on Biblical interpretations, assert that Lucifer and Satan are different beings.[7]
In the New Testament the Adversary has many names, but "Lucifer" is not among them. He is called "Satan" (Matt. 4:10; Mark 1:13, 4:15; Luke 10:18), "devil" (Matt. 4:1), "adversary" (1. Peter 5:8, ἀντίδικος; 1. Tim. 5:14, ἀντικείμενος), "enemy" (Matt. 13:39), "accuser" (Rev. 12:10), "old serpent" (Rev. 20:2), "great dragon" (Rev. 12:9), Beelzebub (Matt. 10:25, 12:24), and Belial (comp. Samael). In Luke 10:18, John 12:31, 2. Cor. 6:16, and Rev. 12:9 the fall of Satan is mentioned. The devil is regarded as the author of all evil (Luke 10:19; Acts 5:3; 2. Cor. 11:3; Ephes. 2:2), who beguiled Eve (2. Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:9). Because of Satan, death came into this world, being ever the tempter (1. Cor. 7:5; 1. Thess. 3:5; 1. Peter 5:8), even as he tempted Jesus(Matt. 4). The Christian demonology and belief in the devil dominated subsequent periods.[8] However, though the New Testament includes the conception that Satan fell from heaven "as lightning" (Luke 10:18; Rev. 12:7-10),[9] it nowhere applies the name Lucifer to him.
The Jewish Encyclopedia states that in the apocalyptic literature, the conception of fallen angels is widespread. Throughout antiquity stars were commonly regarded as living celestial beings (Job 38:7).[9] Indications of this belief in fallen angels, behind which probably lies the symbolizing of an astronomical phenomenon, the shooting stars, are found in Isaiah 14:12.
The Morning Star in Isaiah 14:12
The Book of Isaiah has the following passage:
When the Lord has given you rest from your pain and turmoil and the hard service with which you were made to serve, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased! How his insolence has ceased! … 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 on the mount of congregation on the heights of Zaphon; I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High." But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the Pit. Those who see you will stare at you, and ponder over you: "Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who would not let his prisoners go home?[10]
The passage refers to the king of Babylon, a man who seemed all-powerful, but who has been brought down to the abode of the dead ("Sheol"). Isaiah promises that the Israelites will be freed and will then be able to use in a taunting song against their oppressor the image of the Morning Star, which rises at dawn as the brightest of the stars, outshining Jupiter and Saturn, but lasting only until the sun appears. This image was used in an old popularCanaanite story that the Morning Star tried to rise high above the clouds and establish himself on the mountain where the gods assembled, in the far north, but was cast down into the underworld.[4][11]
The phrase "O Day Star, son of Dawn" in the New Revised Standard Version translation given above corresponds to the Hebrew phrase "הילל בן־שׁחר" (Helel Ben-Shachar) in verse 12, meaning "morning star, son of dawn". As the Latin poets personified the Morning Star and the Dawn (Aurora), as well as the Sun and the Moon and other heavenly bodies, so in Canaanite mythology Morning Star and Dawn were pictured as two deities, the former being the son of the latter.[12]
In the Latin Vulgate, Jerome translated "הילל בן־שׁחר" (morning star, son of dawn) as "lucifer qui mane oriebaris" (morning star that used to rise early).[13] Already, as early as the Christian writers Tertullian andOrigen,[11] the whole passage had come to be applied to Satan. Satan began to be referred to as "Lucifer" (Morning Star), and finally the word "Lucifer" was treated as a proper name. The use of the word "Lucifer" in the 1611 King James Version instead of a word such as "Daystar" ensured its continued popularity among English speakers.
Most modern English versions (including the NIV, NRSV, NASB, NJB and ESV) render the Hebrew word as "day star", "morning star" or something similar, and never as "Lucifer", a word that in English is now very rarely used in the sense of the original word in Hebrew (Morning Star), though in Latin "Lucifer" was a literal translation.
A passage quite similar to that in Isaiah is found in Ezekiel 28:1–19, which is expressly directed against the king of Tyre, a city on an island that had grown rich by trade, factors alluded to in the text.[14] In Christian tradition, it too has been applied to Lucifer, because of some of the expressions contained in it.[15] But, since it does not contain the image of the Morning Star, discussion of it belongs rather to the article on Satan than to that on Lucifer.
Lucifer (Le génie du mal) byGuillaume Geefs (Cathedral of St. Paul,Liège, Belgium)
The same holds for the Christian depiction of Satan in other books of theOld Testament as, for instance, in the Book of Job, where Satan, who has been wandering the Earth, has a discussion with God and makes a deal with him to test Job.
The Tyndale Bible Dictionary states that there are many who believe the expression "Lucifer" and the surrounding context in Isaiah 14 refer to Satan: they believe the similarities among Isaiah 14:12, Luke 10:18, and Revelation 12:7–10 warrant this conclusion. But it points out that the context of the Isaiah passage is about the accomplished defeat of the king of Babylon, while the New Testament passages speak of Satan.[11]
Islamic point of view
According to the Qur’an, Iblis (the Arabic name used) disobeyed an order from Allah to bow to Adam and as a result was forced out of heaven and given respite until the day of judgement from further punishment.
When Allah commanded all of the angels to bow down before Adam (the first Human), Iblis, full of hubris and jealousy, refused to obey Allah’s command (he could do so because, as a jinn, he had free will), seeing Adam as being inferior in creation due to his being created from clay as compared to him (created of fire).[16]
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"It is We Who created you and gave you shape; then We bade the angels prostrate to Adam, and they prostrate; not so Iblis (Lucifer); He refused to be of those who prostrate."
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(Allah) said: "What prevented thee from prostrating when I commanded thee?" He said: "I am better than he: Thou didst create me from fire, and him from clay."
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Qur’an 7:11–12
It was after this that the title of "Shaitan" was given, which can be roughly translated as "Mischievous" or "Devil". Shaitan then claims that if the punishment for his act of disobedience is to be delayed until the Day of Judgment, that he will divert many of Adam’s own descendants from the straight path during his period of respite.[17] Allah accepts the claims of Iblis and guarantees recompense to Iblis and his followers in the form of Hellfire. To test mankind and jinn alike, Allah allowed Iblis to roam the Earth to attempt to convert others away from his path.[18]He was sent to Earth along with Adam and Eve, after eventually luring them into eating the fruit from the forbidden tree.[19]
Other readings
Joseph Campbell (1972: pp. 148–149) illustrates an unorthodox Islamic reading of Lucifer’s fall from Heaven, which champions Lucifer’s eclipsing love for God:
One of the most amazing images of love that I know is in Persian – a mystical Persianrepresentation as Satan as the most loyal lover of God. You will have heard the old legend of how, when God created the angels, he commanded them to pay worship to no one but himself; but then, creating man, he commanded them to bow in reverence to this most noble of his works, and Lucifer refused – because, we are told, of his pride. However, according to this Muslim reading of his case, it was rather because he loved and adored God so deeply and intensely that he could not bring himself to bow before anything else, and because he refused to bow down to something inferior to him (since he was made of fire, and man from clay). And it was for that that he was flung into Hell, condemned to exist there for eternity, apart from his love.
This interpretation of the satanic rebellion described in the Quran is seen by some Sufi teachers such as Mansur Al-Hallaj (in his ‘Tawasin’) as a predestined scenario in which Iblis–Shaitan plays the role of tragic and jealous lover who, unable to perceive the Divine Image in Adam and capable only of seeing the exterior, disobeyed the divine mandate to bow down. His refusal (according to the Tawasin) was due to a misconceived idea of God’s uniqueness and because of his refusal to abandon himself to God in love. Hallaj criticized the staleness of Iblis’ adoration. Excerpts from Sufi texts expounding this interpretation have been included along with many other viewpoints on Shaitan (by no means all of them apologetic) in an important anthology of Sufi texts edited by Dr.Javad Nurbakhsh, head of the Nimatullahi Sufi Order.[20]
The Sufi teacher Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan taught that ‘Luciferian Light’ is Light that has become dislocated from the Divine Source and is thus associated with the seductive false light of the lower ego, which lures humankind into self-centered delusion.[21] Here Lucifer represents what the Sufis term the ‘Nafs’, the ego.
Use of the word "lucifer" in the Bible
The Vulgate (Latin) version of the Christian Bible used the word "lucifer" (with lower-case initial) twice to refer to the Morning Star: once in 2 Peter 1:19 to translate the Greek word Φωσφόρος (phōsphoros), a word, from φῶς (phōs) meaning "light" and φέρω (pherō̄) meaning "to carry", that has the same meaning of Light-Bringer that the Latin word has, and once in Isaiah 14:12 to translate the Hebrew word הילל (Hêlēl).[22] In the latter passage the title of "Morning Star" is given to the tyrannous Babylonian king, who the prophet says is destined to fall. This passage was later applied to the prince of the demons, and so the name "Lucifer" came to be used outside the Bible for the devil, and was popularized in works such as Dante Alighieri‘s Inferno and John Milton‘sParadise Lost, but for English speakers the greatest influence has been its use in the King James Version of Isa 14:12 to translate the Hebrew word הילל, which more modern English versions render as "Morning Star" or "Day Star". A similar passage in Ezekiel 28:11–19 regarding the "king of Tyre" was also applied to the devil, contributing to the traditional picture of the fallen angel.
The Vulgate translation uses "lucifer" (Morning Star) twice to translate words in the Book of Job that meant something different: once to represent the word "בקר"[23] (which instead means "morning") in Job 11:17, and once for the word "מזרות" (usually taken to mean "the constellations") in Job 38:32. The same Latin word appears also in the Vulgate version of Psalms 110:3, where the original has "שׁחר" (dawn, the same word as in Isaiah 14:12).
The Vulgate did not use the Latin word lucifer to represent the two references to the Morning Star in the Book of Revelation . In both cases the original Greek text uses a circumlocution instead of the single word "φωσφόρος", and a corresponding circumlocution is used in the Latin. Thus "stella matutina" is used for "ὁ ἀστὴρ ὁ πρωϊνός" inRevelation 2:28, which promises the Morning Star to those who persevere, and for "ὁ ἀστὴρ ὁ πρωϊνός" (or, according to some manuscripts, "ὁ ἀστὴρ ὁ ὀρθρινός") in Revelation 22:16, where Jesus calls himself "the bright morning star".
The English word "Lucifer" is used in none of these places (other than Isaiah 14:12), where the Latin translation uses the Latin word "lucifer" (i.e., morning star).
Outside the Bible, the Roman Rite liturgy’s Exultet chant in praise of the paschal candle refers to Christ as the Morning Star (in Latin, lucifer, with lower-case initial):
May the Morning Star which never sets
find this flame still burning:
Christ, that Morning Star,
who came back from the dead,
and shed his peaceful light on all mankind,
your Son, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Flammas eius lucifer matutinus inveniat:
ille, inquam, lucifer, qui nescit occasum,
Christus Filius tuus qui,
regressus ab inferis,
humano generi serenus illuxit,
et vivit et regnat in saecula saeculorum.
Astronomical significance
Because the planet Venus is an inferior planet, meaning that its orbit lies between the orbit of the Earth and theSun, it can never rise high in the sky at night as seen from Earth. It can be seen in the eastern morning sky for an hour or so before the Sun rises, and in the western evening sky for an hour or so after the Sun sets, but never during the dark of midnight.
It is the brightest object in the sky after the Sun and the Moon. As bright and as brilliant as it is, ancient people did not understand why they could not see it at midnight like the outer planets, or during midday, like the Sun and Moon. It outshines the planets Saturn and Jupiter, which do last all night, but it soon disappears. Canaanite mythology has a story of an unsuccessful attempt by Athtar, the Morning Star pictured as a god, to take over the throne of Baal.[24][25]
A 2nd-century sculpture of the moon goddess Selene accompanied by Hesperusand Phosphorus: the corresponding Latin names are Luna, Vesper and Lucifer.
"Lucifer" as Latin name for the Morning Star
In Latin, the word "Lucifer", meaning "Light-Bringer" (from lux, lucis, "light", and ferre, "to bear, bring"), is a name used for the Morning Star (the planet Venus in its dawn appearances).[26] The word is used in its astronomical sense both in prose[27] and poetry,[28] but most poets personify the star in a mythological context.[29]
The Taxil Hoax: Lucifer’s alleged connection with Freemasonry
Léo Taxil (1854–1907) claimed that Freemasonry is associated with worshipping Lucifer. In what is known as the Taxil hoax, he claimed that supposedly leading Freemason Albert Pike had addressed "The 23 Supreme Confederated Councils of the world" (an invention of Taxil), instructing them that Lucifer was God, and was in opposition to the evil god Adonai. Apologists of Freemasonry contend that, when Albert Pike and other Masonic scholars spoke about the "Luciferian path," or the "energies of Lucifer," they were referring to the Morning Star, the light bearer,[30] the search for light; the very antithesis of dark, satanic evil. Taxil promoted a book by Diana Vaughan (actually written by himself, as he later confessed publicly)[31] that purported to reveal a highly secret ruling body called the Palladium, which controlled the organization and had a Satanic agenda. As described by Freemasonry Disclosed in 1897:
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With frightening cynicism, the miserable person we shall not name here [Taxil] declared before an assembly especially convened for him that for twelve years he had prepared and carried out to the end the most sacrilegious of hoaxes. We have always been careful to publish special articles concerning Palladism and Diana Vaughan. We are now giving in this issue a complete list of these articles, which can now be considered as not having existed.[32]
Taxil’s work and Pike’s address continue to be quoted by anti-masonic groups.[33]
In Devil-Worship in France, Arthur Edward Waite compared Taxil’s work to what today we would call a tabloidstory, replete with logical and factual inconsistencies.
See also "Lucifer and Satan" at the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon website.
Occult beliefs
The Sigil of Lucifer ("Seal of Satan") amagical sigil[34] used occasionally as an emblem by Satanists
In the modern occultism of Dolores North (alias Madeline Montalban) (died 1982)[35]Lucifer’s identification as the Morning Star (Venus) equates him with Lumiel, whom she regarded as the Archangel of Light, and among Satanists he is seen as the "Torch of Baphomet" and Azazel.
In the Satanic Bible of 1969, Lucifer is acknowledged as one of the Four Crown Princes of Hell, particularly that of the East. Lord of the Air, Lucifer has been named "Bringer of Light, the Morning Star, Intellectualism, Enlightenment."
Author Michael W. Ford[36] has written on Lucifer as a "mask" of the Adversary, a motivator and illuminating force of the mind and subconscious.[37]
Gallery
Lucifer, by Alessandro Vellutello (1534), for Dante’s Inferno, canto 34
Lucifer, by William Blake, for Dante’s Inferno, canto 34
cover of 1887 edition ofMario Rapisardi‘s poemLucifero
Lucifer before the Lord, by Mihály Zichy (19th century)
Lucifer, the Fallen Angel, by James Donahue
Mayor Hall and Lucifer, by an unknown artist (1870)
The planet Venus, either as the Morning Star (in Latin, Lucifer) or as the Evening Star (in Latin, Hesperus)
See also
References
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^ Milton’s poem uses the name "Lucifer" only three times, as against 72 mentions of "Satan". The name used in this context is "Satan".
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^ Verses 29:4, 31:4 of the longer recension manuscript R
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^ "The Lucifer myth was transferred to
Satan in the pre-Christian century, as may be learned from Vita Adæ et Evæ (12) and Slavonic Enoch (xxix. 4, xxxi. 4)" –
article Lucifer
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^ "Verses 12–15 seem to be based on a
Phoenician model. At all events, they display several points of contact with the
Ras-Shamra poems: Daystar and Dawn were two divinities; the "mount of Assembly" was where the gods used to meet, like
Mount Olympus in
Greek mythology. The Fathers identified the fall of the Morning Star (Vulgate,
Lucifer) with that of the prince of the demons" (note in the
New Jerusalem Bible).
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^ The
Septuagint Greek translation of the phrase uses the same interpretation of "son of dawn": ὁ ἑωσφόρος ὁ πρωὶ ἀνατέλλων.
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^ Your heart is proud and you have said, "I am a god; I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas" … By your great wisdom in trade you have increased your wealth, and your heart has become proud in your wealth (verses 2 and 5)
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^ With an anointed
cherub as guardian I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked among the stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and the guardian cherub drove you out from among the stones of fire (verses 14–16).
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^ In the Greek translation of this passage the word used is Ἑωσφόρος – from ἔως, meaning dawn – which literally means Dawn-Bringer.
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^ Cicero wrote:
Stella Veneris, quae Φωσφόρος Graece, Latine dicitur Lucifer, cum antegreditur solem, cum subsequitur autem Hesperos (The star of Venus, called Φωσφόρος in
Greek and Lucifer in Latin when it precedes, Hesperos when it follows the sun –
De Natura Deorum 2, 20, 53.
Pliny the Elder:
Sidus appellatum Veneris … ante matutinum exoriens Luciferi nomen accipit … contra ab occasu refulgens nuncupatur Vesper (The star called Venus … when it rises in the morning is given the name Lucifer … but when it shines at sunset it is called Vesper)
Natural History 2, 36
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^ Virgil wrote:
Luciferi primo cum sidere frigida rura carpamus, dum mane novum, dum gramina canent (Let us hasten, when first the Morning Star appears, to the cool pastures, while the day is new, while the grass is dewy)
Georgics 3:324–325.
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^ Ovid wrote:
… vigil nitido patefecit ab ortu
purpureas Aurora fores et plena rosarum
atria: diffugiunt stellae, quarum agmina cogit
Lucifer et caeli statione novissimus exit (Aurora, awake in the glowing east, opens wide her bright doors, and her rose-filled courts. The stars, whose ranks are shepherded by Lucifer the morning star, vanish, and he, last of all, leaves his station in the sky –
Metamorphoses 2.114–115;
A. S. Kline’s Version And
Lucan:
Lucifer a Casia prospexit rupe diemque
misit in Aegypton primo quoque sole calentem (The morning-star looked forth from Mount Casius and sent the daylight over Egypt, where even sunrise is hot)
Lucan, Pharsalia, 10:434–435;
English translation by J.D.Duff (Loeb Classical Library) And
Statius:
Et iam Mygdoniis elata cubilibus alto
impulerat caelo gelidas Aurora tenebras,
rorantes excussa comas multumque sequenti
sole rubens; illi roseus per nubila seras
aduertit flammas alienumque aethera tardo
Lucifer exit equo, donec pater igneus orbem
impleat atque ipsi radios uetet esse sorori (And now
Aurora rising from her
Mygdonian couch had driven the cold darkness on from high in the heavens, shaking out her dewy hair, her face blushing red at the pursuing sun – from him roseate Lucifer averts his fires lingering in the clouds and with reluctant horse leaves the heavens no longer his, until
the blazing father make full his orb and forbid even
his sister her beams)
Statius,Thebaid 2, 134–150;
Translated by A. L. Ritchie and J. B. Hall in collaboration with M. J. Edwards
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^ "Lucifer, the Son of the Morning! Is it
he who bears the Light, and with its splendors intolerable blinds feeble, sensual, or selfish Souls? Doubt it not!" (Albert Pike,
Morals and Dogma, p. 321). Much has been made of this quote (
Masonic information: Lucifer).
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^ Freemasonry Disclosed April 1897
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^ The Bible of the Adversary "Adversarial Doctrine" page 8 – Bible of the Adversary, Succubus Productions 2007).
Further reading
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Campbell, Joseph (1972).
Myths To Live By. A Condor Book: Souvenir Press (Educational & Academic) Ltd.
ISBN 0-285-64731-8
External links
"Lucifer" in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.
Categories: Abrahamic mythology | Biblical phrases | Christian terms | Angels in Christianity | Demons in Christianity | Fallen angels | Archangels | Fire gods | Hell | Individual angels | Latin religious phrases |Luciferianism | Satan | Satanism | Underworld gods | Wisdom gods
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucifer
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http://www.allaboutgod.com/story-of-lucifer.htm
Story of Lucifer – His Origin
To find the origin of Lucifer, we turn to the Old Testament. In the Hebrew, the name Lucifer is translated from the Hebrew word "helel," which means brightness. This designation, referring to Lucifer, is the rendering of the "morning star" or "star of the morning" or "bright star" which is presented in Isaiah. "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 on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon; I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High’" (Isaiah 14:12-14, NIV).
The context of this passage is a referral to the king of Babylon as presented in his pride, splendor and fall. However, it is to the power behind the evil Babylonian king that this is actually addressed. No mortal king would claim that his throne was above that of God or that he was like the Most High. The power behind the evil Babylonian king is Lucifer, Son of the Morning.
Story of Lucifer – His History
Lucifer is just another name for Satan, who as head of the evil world-system is the real, though invisible, power behind the successive rulers of Tyre, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and all of those evil rulers that we have seen come and go in the history of the world. This passage goes beyond human history and marks the beginning of sin in the universe and the very fall of Satan in the pristine, sinless spheres before the creation of man.
We also see this same motif in Ezekiel: "Moreover the word of the LORD came to me: Mortal, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, carnelian, chrysolite, and moonstone, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald; and worked in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. With an anointed cherub as guardian I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked among the stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and the guardian cherub drove you out from among the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you. By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade, you profaned your sanctuaries. So I brought out fire from within you; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you. All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever" (Ezekiel 28:11-19, NIV).
This passage seems to be addressed to the "king of Tyre." In reality, it goes beyond the king to the one who is behind the evil king of Tyre. This passage also has near and far prophecy about Lucifer/Satan because although his final end is already sure, it has not happened yet and it occurs after the final judgment (Revelation 20:7-10). In both the Isaiah passage and the Ezekiel passage, the representation is not of Lucifer/Satan as confined to his own person but his working in and the consummating of his plans through earthly kings and rulers who take to themselves divine honors and who, whether they actually know this or not, rule in the spirit and under the aims of Satan. "For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12, NIV). Satan is the principality behind the powers of this corrupt world system.
Notice the statement that is given in the passage in Ezekiel, "the anointed cherub." These statements could never apply to a human king but, they do apply to Lucifer/Satan who is behind the human king. This angel is the highest creature the LORD ever created. The LORD says of him, "You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty." Satan was the wisest creature God ever created. No other angel, no other being was created with the intelligence that God gave to this creature. God says that this creation is "perfect in beauty." Apart from the Holy Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit, this creature is today the highest being.
In verse Ezekiel 28:14 it says, "You were the anointed Cherub." This tells us we are not talking about a human king. The word cherub is singular for cherubim. The cherubim are symbolic of God’s Holy presence and His unapproachable majesty. These cherubim occupy a unique position. The "anointed cherub who covers" is the picture given to us in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve had been sent out and God had placed cherubim to guard the way of the tree of life. Also, when Moses made the mercy seat and placed it into the tabernacle’s Holy of Holies, God’s glory came and dwelt between the cherubim. They "covered" the mercy seat with their wings. So we now see that Satan was a cherub and his position was to guard the very throne of God. His position was that of protecting the holiness of God. Satan had the highest of all positions, a position which he despised and lost. We have here in Ezekiel a picture of the highest of God’s creatures, perfect in wisdom, beautiful beyond description, a musician and on top of all that, he was given this high, exalted position. But, this creation, with all of these wonderful attributes also had a free will. One day, God says to this marvelous creature, "Iniquity was found in you."
Story of Lucifer – His Status
What kind of iniquity was found of him? In the book of Ezekiel, God has let us stand with Him at the very beginning, to see the origin and the creation of Satan. But, why does God say this? What is this iniquity? We must look back to Isaiah 14:12, which tells us of Lucifer/Satan’s choice. "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon; I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High." Did you notice in this passage all of the "I wills. " He said he would exalt his throne above the stars of God. The word "stars" here does not refer to what we see in the night sky. It refers to the angels of God. In other words, "I will take over heaven, I will be God." That is Lucifer/Satan’s sin and that is the iniquity that was found in him. He does not want to be God’s servant. He does not want to do what he was created to do. He wants to be served and there are millions who have chosen to do just that; serve him. They have listened to his lies and chosen to follow him. Eve believed the lie that she would be like God. The reason Lucifer/Satan tempted her with that was because it is the very thing that he wants — to be God.
http://www.allaboutgod.com/story-of-lucifer.htm
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Lucifer’s Story
69
http://hubpages.com/hub/Lucifers-Story
BY SACREDSARRAH
The Mightest Angel
It was only a few days into THE Beginning that God realized that there was a necessity for a meeting of all of the angelic realm and a consensus reached if duality (one of His better creations) was going to succeed. He sent out a memo letting each of the cherubim, seraphim, thrones, powers, archangels and angels of all degrees know that a meeting was being called in THE BOARD ROOM and that a great decision was to be made.
The entire angelic realm showed up on the appointed day (of course, since they only know the Divine Will) and each angel was intently curious about what the question was going to be that could be SO important that God would call every single angel into this meeting. They were arranged by rank with the most important archangels seated nearest the throne of Almighty Source. Everyone was there – Uriel, Metatron, Gabriel, Ariel, Raphael, Michael, Lucifer, Samiel – all of the mighty names appeared in person to sit next to the throne of God as He called the meeting to order.
"We have before us a very grave decision. I am going to need the help of every angel of every rank. It seems that there is a piece of duality that has not been created and I am not going to create it Myself. It takes something and someone much more important to create this piece. It has to do with the planet Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy which is going to form in another several billion years. This planet is going to be the home of a particular creation that is going to experience duality for Me. And there is the rub. I AM ONE and I need to be dual to create the opposite so that the creation which will be called Man will be able to learn by contrast how to experience the Love that I AM." All of this God said and not an angel spoke a word. You could have heard a pin drop (if there were a pin TO drop) it was so silent.
God continued, "I am calling for a volunteer. I need one angel, most likely an archangel, to hold the opposite end of the energy vibration that is known as Love. I need an angel who is strong enough, bright enough and who loves Source enough that it can hold the opposite end of the energy spectrum which will be called Fear. This angel must be capable of enduring endless hardship, be hated by mankind as the most abominable entity imaginable, have horrible actions done in its name and be thought of as the ruler of a place mankind will create called Hell. All of this must this angel do out of love for mankind so that my second finest creation (angels being the first) may come to know what Love really is, experience a polar world and allow Source to truly experience ALL."
After this last part of the announcement, a loud shuffling of chairs was heard as many of the angels of all ranks and dominions left the Board Room Chamber. No one wanted to take the part that would be the opposite of Love for that would be like taking the part that would be the opposite of God. By the time silence was again "heard", there were very few angels left and only a handful of higher or archangels. Some of the cherubim and seraphim had also stayed though they were of no mind to take on this part in the Divine Play.
God sat looking at what was left of the "staff" and held the Divine Space for someone to come forward. And then a voice was heard. It was a mighty voice, one like the north wind when it blows through the tundras in Alaska through the wet, cold nights. It was the voice of Lucifer. "I will play this part with you, Oh Mighty One. My love for You and my love for your creations knows no bounds. I KNOW that I AM strong enough for you have made me that strong. I KNOW that I have enough love to hold the opposite energetic end of Love for you have created within me ever-enduring Love and I will not forget Who I AM for I AM You – as are all of your creations. I have the strength, the brightness, the might and the courage to hold the opposite end of Love with you, God, for all eternity if that is what is required."
God was SO pleased. His best, his brightest, his bravest archangel was going to take the job and hold the opposite end with and for Him. He had really created WELL! It looked like the Board Meeting could come to an end and God was about to adjourn the few remaining members when it became apparent that Lucifer had another few words to say – and these words were to Archangel Michael. "Michael, my brother," he said, "I have one reminder for you before we part. I am going to a place where you cannot go. I am going alone. We will meet many times upon the path before this Play is over. I ask that you remember that we are the same every time you see my face. I ask that every time you raise your sword at me in the name of Source, you remember I AM Source. If you will remember to do this, mankind will learn the lesson of contrast more gracefully and my job will be made easier. Will you agree to this?"
And Michael, as great an archangel as Lucifer himself, knelt on one knee before his Mighty, Courageous Brother and bowing his head, he said, "Yes, I will agree. Give me your blessing before we begin our roles in this Divine Drama." And, as Lucifer placed his hand upon Archangel Michael’s head, the horns of triumph could be heard blowing throughout the entire Universe for now God’s plan was complete and mankind would be born – born into duality, into a world of polarity, so that Source could experience what it is like to separate and then, once again, become One.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Lucifers-Story
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The Origin of the Lucifer Story
also known as
"How The Planet Venus Became The Devil"
By Elroy Willis — © 2005
http://www.elroysemporium.com/news/venus.html
If you ask the average person on the street who Lucifer is, at least here in the United States, many or maybe even most people will tell you some story about Lucifer being a disobedient angel who was cast out of heaven because he wanted to take over heaven or some supposed "throne of God."
Interestingly, the Bible doesn’t really say that, at least with regards to some actual Lucifer character being anything other than a shining planet or morning star that everyone can see with their own eyes if they know when and where to look.
The story involves a supposed "War in Heaven," which many people seem to believe in or take seriously, despite them not being able to point to some actual "Heaven" where the war is taking place, or took place, or even to some "Hell," where the supposed Lucifer character is currently chained up, after he was supposedly defeated by Jesus on the cross, or after Jesus was said to rise from the dead.
According to most Christians, Lucifer is still alive and well, which makes sense, since everyone can actually see the planet Venus/Lucifer shining in the sky.
Mom and Pop believe or believed that Lucifer was a fallen angel, and that Jesus defeated him by pretending to be dead for three days, and so does the local preacher, so why should anyone question the story or idea?
Well, there are plenty of reasons, actually, if you’re the least bit inquisitive and curious about the origin of the story or fable.
If you do a Bible search, you’ll find out that the word Lucifer is only found in the following passage, and interestingly enough, isn’t found in the vast majority of Bible translations, but just a few, such as the KJV and the NKJV, which are both newcomers as far as Bible translations go.
Isaiah 14:12 (KJV)
"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!"
Isaiah 14:12 (NKJV)
"How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!"
Earlier versions of the Bible don’t use the word Lucifer, but use "morning star" or "star of dawn" or something close to that instead.
Isaiah 14:12 (NIV)
"How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn!"
Isaiah 14:12 (NASB)
"How you have fallen from heaven, star of the morning, son of the dawn!"
Isaiah 14:12 (NLT)
"How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning!"
Isaiah 14:12 (RSV)
"How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!"
Isaiah 14:12 (YLT)
"How hast thou fallen from the heavens, O shining one, son of the dawn!"
The original Hebrew, or what seems to be the earliest rendition of the story that I’ve come across, translates to "O Helel, son of Shahar."
Shahar was an ancient Persian god of the dawn, and Helel was his son, the morning star which we now call Venus. Shahar had a twin brother named Shalem, which was associated with dusk and perhaps with the evening appearance of Venus in several ancient legends. According to several dictionaries I’ve looked at, Jerusalem means "House of Shalem," which has ties to the worship of Shalem/Venus as a god or goddess and bringer of light.
Queen of Heaven
Below is a Bible verse which talks about people worshipping the planet Venus as the "Queen of Heaven." They were apparently quite happy and prosperous, and were unhappy that some priests were trying to get them to give up their Queen of Heaven beliefs.
Jeremiah 44:17 (NIV)
"We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm."
Some scholars say that the above is talking about worship of the moon and the goddess Artemis/Diana, who was worshipped by the Greeks and Romans and called the "Queen of Heaven" as well.
And there are others who claim that it’s referring to Venus, Asherah, Ashtoreth, Ishtar, or Isis, all of which seem to be some shiny star or planet in the sky or up in heaven.
The idea of "Go in peace" or "Peace be with you" originated from stories of Venus and the sun as well, since the two are always close together, going into the supposed underworld at night, and wishing them a safe journey through the imagined underworld of darkness. "Shalem" eventually turned into "Shalom" over time.
If the above verse about the Queen of Heaven is talking about the moon instead of the planet Venus, the same sentiments apply to it as well, since both the moon and Venus were considered fertility goddesses. I personally think it refers to the planet Venus, but others disagree, and think it refers to the moon. Others think it refers to the star Sirius, which was also a fertility goddess which became visible in the sky right before the Nile river in Egypt flooded each year.
Regardless, it seems to refer to some actual shiny heavenly object that everyone can see with their own eyes if they know when and where to look in the sky.
At certain times, Venus can be visible in the morning, yet not visible in the evening, or in a different position than it was in the morning, so many ancient cultures had two different names for Venus. One for the morning appearance, or morning star, and a different name for the evening appearance, or evening star. To the ancients, the planets were mystical sources of light, which moved around differently than actual stars, so they made up stories about them, gave them names, deified them even, and invented elaborate stories about them, such as the one about Venus being "cast out of the high heavens" because of some imagined battle in heaven which never really happened in reality.
Back to the Bible, looking at the rest of the Isaiah 14 verse, you can see how the imagery of Venus not being able to rise up to the heights of the clouds and among the "stars of God" comes into play through the poetry/taunt.
Isaiah 14:13-15 (KJV)
"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. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."
Personifying the planet Venus as a god or goddess or fallen angel, stories were made up to explain why it couldn’t rise up into the "high heavens" where the sun and moon and outer planets appear in the sky. "Most High" was a description or title used to refer to the planet Zeus/Jupiter by several different ancient societies. Some societies also called Saturn the "Most High" as well, because it was considered the outermost planet at the time.
It’s been suggested in several books and articles I’ve read that the name of God to many of the northern tribes of Israel was "El" and that it means "most EL-evated" or "most high," and that in fact such a title belonged to the planet Saturn at that time.
Journey Into The Underworld
According to many ancient mythologies, when the Sun and the Moon and the different planets disappear at night, or during different times of the year, they are supposed to travel into some mythical underworld of darkness, or into some grave where demons and evil spirits exist, which want to stop the Sun and the other immortal "Heavenly Objects" from rising up into the sky again the next day.
Such myths are based on actual observations of the heavenly objects, but the conclusions and stories which attempt to explain the causes are for the most part completely wrong, and quite superstitious at the core or center of the beliefs.
Venus, or the "Queen of Heaven," in all her forms/names, ends up victorious, and rises once again in the morning after disappearing for different periods of time throughout the year or during the day. Much of the poetry and stories written about Venus and its travels through the sky and into some pretended underworld are quite imaginative and filled with all kinds of imagery, which tends to hide the fact that the stories and songs and poetry are actually talking about a shiny planet and its movements and appearances in the sky.
Over time, and because of repeated mistranslations and intentional embellishments, a shiny planet and bringer of light has somehow turned into some evil devil character who lives in the dark.
The word Lucifer actually means "light-bringer," or "light-bearer," and so to call or consider the planet Venus as some "prince of darkness" like so many Christians seem to consider it, is completely backwards and wrong-headed.
If the ancient people knew the earth was a planet, and that the sun and planets don’t actually go into some "underworld" or "grave" at night, then they never would have invented stories about the sun or the planets dying or being cast out of the high heavens, or being reborn when they reappear. They did the best they could to try to explain things, but they got quite a few things wrong, especially the parts about the planets and stars being actual "living beings" up in the sky.
Even though the myths surrounding the movements of the heavenly objects and their imaginary journey into some make-believe underworld are just fiction, the actual observations of those objects themselves serve a useful purpose in measuring the passage of time, and the changing of the seasons, and in the prediction of the arrival of floods and tides and so on.
Back to the Bible
Looking back to the Bible, and at the beginning of Isaiah 14, you can see that this passage is a taunt against the king of Babylon. The stories and myths about Venus or Lucifer being "cast out of heaven" are compared to the downfall of the king of Babylon.
Isaiah 14:3-4 (KJV)
"On the day the LORD gives you relief from suffering and turmoil and cruel bondage, you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has come to an end! How his fury has ended!"
The taunt basically says "You will be cut down to the ground just like the planet Venus, which is only visible near the horizon and goes into the grave every night, and can never rise high in the sky. The king of Babylon is defeated, just like Venus or Lucifer was supposedly defeated or "cast out of heaven" and left to roam low, to and fro, near the earth or horizon.
The writer of Revelation, whoever it was, claims that Jesus actually referred to himself as the "Morning Star," which presents a problem with the idea of Satan being some fallen angel named Lucifer or fallen "Morning Star," when Jesus is said to have also referred to himself as the "Morning Star."
Rev 22:16 (NIV)
"I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star."
Jesus calls himself the "Morning Star," just like Venus was a Morning Star and a goddess of love to the Romans, and Jesus is supposed to express the idea of unconditional love, just like Venus and many of its other ancient personifications expressed ideas of love and beauty and youth and brightness.
The "fallen angel" part of the Lucifer story is handed down and passed on out of ignorance for the most part. Some people actually believe it, and tell it to other people. The Mormons went a little crazy with the story, and got caught with their pants down, so to speak.
From:
http://www.lds-mormon.com/lucifer.shtml
"So why is Lucifer a far bigger problem to Mormons? Mormons claim that an ancient record (the Book of Mormon) was written beginning in about 600 BC, and the author in 600 BC supposedly copied Isaiah in Isaiah’s original words. When Joseph Smith pretended to translate the supposed ‘ancient record’, he included the Lucifer verse in the Book of Mormon. Obviously he wasn’t copying what Isaiah actually wrote. He was copying the King James Version of the Bible. Another book of LDS scripture, the Doctrine & Covenants, furthers this problem in 76:26 when it affirms the false Christian doctrine that "Lucifer" means Satan. This incorrect doctrine also spread into a third set of Mormon scriptures, the Pearl of Great Price, which describes a war in heaven based, in part, on Joseph Smith’s incorrect interpretation of the word "Lucifer" which only appears in Isaiah."
Conclusions
The bottom line or conclusion is that Lucifer isn’t actually some fallen angel, but merely a Latin name used to refer to the planet Venus, which can’t be seen high in the sky, and so was considered a "fallen angel" by some of the ancient myth-makers and storytellers.
Additionally, there isn’t and never was some actual war going on in some invisible heaven that nobody can actually see. The war was just made up by ancient storytellers attempting to explain the things they saw going on up in the actual night sky, and sometimes the day sky, during events such as eclipses.
If the church you go to teaches that Lucifer is really some fallen angel who was cast out of the high heavens in some act caused by his pride or defiance of some invisible god, then you should print this out and give it to your pastor or preacher or church leader, and teach them something they don’t already know.
http://www.elroysemporium.com/news/venus.html
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http://www.lds-mormon.com/lucifer.shtml
The word "Lucifer" in Isaiah 14:12 presents a minor problem to mainstream Christianity. It becomes a much larger problem to Bible literalists, and becomes a huge obstacle for the claims of Mormonism. John J. Robinson in A Pilgrim’s Path, pp. 47-48 explains:
"Lucifer makes his appearance in the fourteenth chapter of the Old Testament book of Isaiah, at the twelfth verse, and nowhere else: "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!"
The first problem is that Lucifer is a Latin name. So how did it find its way into a Hebrew manuscript, written before there was a Roman language? To find the answer, I consulted a scholar at the library of the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. What Hebrew name, I asked, was Satan given in this chapter of Isaiah, which describes the angel who fell to become the ruler of hell?
The answer was a surprise. I had to sit back into a cotton bean bag chair and take a moment before continuing. In the original Hebrew text, the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah is not about a fallen angel, but about a fallen Babylonian king, who during his lifetime had persecuted the children of Israel. It contains no mention of Satan, either by name or reference. The Hebrew scholar could only speculate that some early Christian scribes, writing in the Latin tongue used by the Church, had decided for themselves that they wanted the story to be about a fallen angel, a creature not even mentioned in the original Hebrew text, and to whom they gave the name "Lucifer."
Why Lucifer? In Roman astronomy, Lucifer was the name given to the morning star (the star we now know by another Roman name, Venus). The morning star appears in the heavens just before dawn, heralding the rising sun. The name derives from the Latin term lucem ferre, bringer, or bearer, of light." In the Hebrew text the expression used to describe the Babylonian king before his death is Helal, son of Shahar, which can best be translated as "Day star, son of the Dawn." The name evokes the golden glitter of a proud king’s dress and court (much as his personal splendor earned for King Louis XIV of France the appellation, "The Sun King").
The scholars authorized by … King James I to translate the Bible into current English did not use the original Hebrew texts, but used versions translated … largely by St. Jerome in the fourth century. Jerome had mistranslated the Hebraic metaphor, "Day star, son of the Dawn," as "Lucifer," and over the centuries a metamorphosis took place. Lucifer the morning star became a disobedient angel, cast out of heaven to rule eternally in hell. Theologians, writers, and poets interwove the myth with the doctrine of the Fall, and in Christian tradition Lucifer is now the same as Satan, the Devil, and — ironically — the Prince of Darkness.
So "Lucifer" is nothing more than an ancient Latin name for the morning star, the bringer of light. That can be confusing for Christians who identify Christ himself as the morning star, a term used as a central theme in many Christian sermons. Jesus refers to himself as the morning star in Revelation 22:16: "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star."
And so there are those who do not read beyond the King James version of the Bible, who say ‘Lucifer is Satan: so says the Word of God’…."
Henry Neufeld (a Christian who comments on Biblical sticky issues) went on to say,
"this passage is often related to Satan, and a similar thought is expressed in Luke 10:18 by Jesus, that was not its first meaning. It’s primary meaning is given in Isaiah 14:4 which says that when Israel is restored they will "take up this taunt against the king of Babylon . . ." Verse 12 is a part of this taunt song. This passage refers first to the fall of that earthly king…
How does the confusion in translating this verse arise? The Hebrew of this passage reads: "heleyl, ben shachar" which can be literally translated "shining one, son of dawn." This phrase means, again literally, the planet Venus when it appears as a morning star. In the Septuagint, a 3rd century BC translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek, it is translated as "heosphoros" which also means Venus as a morning star.
How did the translation "lucifer" arise? This word comes from Jerome’s Latin Vulgate. Was Jerome in error? Not at all. In Latin at the time, "lucifer" actually meant Venus as a morning star. Isaiah is using this metaphor for a bright light, though not the greatest light to illustrate the apparent power of the Babylonian king which then faded."
Therefore, Lucifer wasn’t equated with Satan until after Jerome. Jerome wasn’t in error. Later Christians (and Mormons) were in equating "Lucifer" with "Satan".
So why is this a problem to Christians? Christians now generally believe that Satan (or the Devil or Lucifer who they equate with Satan) is a being who has always existed (or who was created at or near the "beginning"). Therefore, they also think that the ‘prophets’ of the Old Testament believed in this creature. The Isaiah scripture is used as proof (and has been used as such for hundreds of years now). As Elaine Pagels explains though, the concept of Satan has evolved over the years and the early Bible writers didn’t believe in or teach such a doctrine.
The irony for those who believe that "Lucifer" refers to Satan is that the same title (‘morning star’ or ‘light-bearer’) is used to refer to Jesus, in 2 Peter 1:19, where the Greek text has exactly the same term: ‘phos-phoros’ ‘light-bearer.’ This is also the term used for Jesus in Revelation 22:16.
So why is Lucifer a far bigger problem to Mormons? Mormons claim that an ancient record (the Book of Mormon) was written beginning in about 600 BC, and the author in 600 BC supposedly copied Isaiah in Isaiah’s original words. When Joseph Smith pretended to translate the supposed ‘ancient record’, he included the Lucifer verse in the Book of Mormon. Obviously he wasn’t copying what Isaiah actually wrote.He was copying the King James Version of the Bible. Another book of LDS scripture, the Doctrine & Covenants, furthers this problem in 76:26 when it affirms the false Christian doctrine that "Lucifer" means Satan. This incorrect doctrine also spread into a third set of Mormon scriptures, the Pearl of Great Price, which describes a war in heaven based, in part, on Joseph Smith’s incorrect interpretation of the word "Lucifer" which only appears in Isaiah.
The author of The Polytheism Of The Bible And The Mystery Of Lucifer, F.T. DeAngelis, comments on this page as follows
"It seems minor, but – the actual term used in the Greek Septuagint version of Isaiah 14:12 (given that there is no ONE way of accurately transliterating) is Eo(u)s phoros, morning star/DAWN god of light. Eos or Eous phoros [not Heos (as your website claims) or phos phorus (as a Christian website I visited shows)] – although there is a Greek term and English… phosphoro(u)s. Your [site] is pretty accurate.
The actual name, "Lucifer," goes back to the Greeks, before the Romans. Socrates and Plato talk about this "god of light"; surprisingly, not in the context of Eos (god of Dawn), but — as a morning star — juxtaposed with the sun (Helios) and Hermes. This information can be found in Plato’sTimaeus (38e) and in Edith Hamilton’s Mythology."
On a lighter note, Arthur Clarke, in his fictional book 2061 correctly uses the word "Lucifer". He uses it as a name for a new sun in the solar system which is correct since the new sun is a second ‘morning star’ of ‘original’ ‘light-bearing’ substance–not some evil being of religious mythology.
David Grinspoon comments on the historical aspects of the word as follows: "The origin of the Judeo-Christian Devil as an angel fallen from heaven into the depths of hell is mirrored in the descent of Venus from shining morning star to the darkness below. This underworld demon, still feared today by people in many parts of the world, is also called Lucifer, which was originally a Latin name for Venus as a morning star." (Venus Revealed p. 17) Actually, Grinspoon should just refer to the "Christian Devil" since the Jews never believed in such a creature and still don’t to this day.
http://www.lds-mormon.com/lucifer.shtml
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The Story of Redemption http://www.preparingforeternity.com/sr/sr01.htm
Chapter 1
The Fall of Lucifer
LUCIFER in heaven, before his rebellion, was a high and exalted angel, next in honor to God’s dear Son. His countenance, like those of the other angels, was mild and expressive of happiness. His forehead was high and broad, showing a powerful intellect. His form was perfect; his bearing noble and majestic. A special light beamed in his countenance and shone around him brighter and more beautiful than around the other angels; yet Christ, God’s dear Son, had the pre-eminence over all the angelic host. He was one with the Father before the angels were created. Lucifer was envious of Christ, and gradually assumed command which devolved on Christ alone.
The great Creator assembled the heavenly host, that He might in the presence of all the angels confer special honor upon His Son. The Son was seated on the throne with the Father, and the heavenly throng of holy angels was gathered around them. The Father then made known that it was ordained by Himself that Christ, His Son, should be equal with Himself; so that wherever was the presence of His Son, it was as His own presence. The word of the Son was to be obeyed as readily as the word of the Father. His Son He had invested with authority to command the heavenly host. Especially was His Son to work in union with Himself in the anticipated creation of the
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earth and every living thing that should exist upon the earth. His Son would carry out His will and His purposes but would do nothing of Himself alone. The Father’s will would be fulfilled in Him.
Lucifer was envious and jealous of Jesus Christ. Yet when all the angels bowed to Jesus to acknowledge His supremacy and high authority and rightful rule, he bowed with them; but his heart was filled with envy and hatred. Christ had been taken into the special counsel of God in regard to His plans, while Lucifer was unacquainted with them. He did not understand, neither was he permitted to know, the purposes of God. But Christ was acknowledged sovereign of heaven, His power and authority to be the same as that of God Himself. Lucifer thought that he was himself a favorite in heaven among the angels. He had been highly exalted, but this did not call forth from him gratitude and praise to his Creator. He aspired to the height of God Himself. He gloried in his loftiness. He knew that he was honored by the angels. He had a special mission to execute. He had been near the great Creator, and the ceaseless beams of glorious light enshrouding the eternal God had shone especially upon him. He thought how angels had obeyed his command with pleasurable alacrity. Were not his garments light and beautiful? Why should Christ thus be honored before himself?
He left the immediate presence of the Father, dissatisfied and filled with envy against Jesus Christ. Concealing his real purposes, he assembled the angelic host. He introduced his subject, which was himself. As one aggrieved, he related the preference God had given Jesus to the neglect of himself. He told them that henceforth all the sweet liberty the angels had enjoyed was at an end. For had not a ruler been appointed
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over them, to whom they from henceforth must yield servile honor? He stated to them that he had called them together to assure them that he no longer would submit to this invasion of his rights and theirs; that never would he again bow down to Christ; that he would take the honor upon himself which should have been conferred upon him, and would be the commander of all who would submit to follow him and obey his voice.
There was contention among the angels. Lucifer and his sympathizers were striving to reform the government of God. They were discontented and unhappy because they could not look into His unsearchable wisdom and ascertain His purposes in exalting His Son, and endowing Him with such unlimited power and command. They rebelled against the authority of the Son.
Angels that were loyal and true sought to reconcile this mighty, rebellious angel to the will of his Creator. They justified the act of God in conferring honor upon Christ, and with forcible reasoning sought to convince Lucifer that no less honor was his now than before the Father had proclaimed the honor which He had conferred upon His Son. They clearly set forth that Christ was the Son of God, existing with Him before the angels were created; and that He had ever stood at the right hand of God, and His mild, loving authority had not heretofore been questioned; and that He had given no commands but what it was joy for the heavenly host to execute. They urged that Christ’s receiving special honor from the Father, in the presence of the angels, did not detract from the honor that Lucifer had heretofore received. The angels wept. They anxiously sought to move him to renounce his wicked design and yield submission to their
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Creator; for all had heretofore been peace and harmony, and what could occasion this dissenting, rebellious voice?
Lucifer refused to listen. And then he turned from the loyal and true angels, denouncing them as slaves. These angels, true to God, stood in amazement as they saw that Lucifer was successful in his effort to incite rebellion. He promised them a new and better government than they then had, in which all would be freedom. Great numbers signified their purpose to accept him as their leader and chief commander. As he saw his advances were met with success, he flattered himself that he should yet have all the angels on his side, and that he would be equal with God Himself, and his voice of authority would be heard in commanding the entire host of heaven. Again the loyal angels warned him, and assured him what must be the consequences if he persisted; that He who could create the angels could by His power overturn all their authority and in some signal manner punish their audacity and terrible rebellion. To think that an angel should resist the law of God which was as sacred as Himself! They warned the rebellious to close their ears to Lucifer’s deceptive reasonings, and advised him and all who had been affected by him to go to God and confess their wrong for even admitting a thought of questioning His authority.
Many of Lucifer’s sympathizers were inclined to heed the counsel of the loyal angels and repent of their dissatisfaction and be again received to the confidence of the Father and His dear Son. The mighty revolter then declared that he was acquainted with God’s law, and if he should submit to servile obedience, his honor would be taken from him. No more would he be intrusted with his exalted mission. He told them that
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himself and they also had now gone too far to go back, and he would brave the consequences, for to bow in servile worship to the Son of God he never would; that God would not forgive, and now they must assert their liberty and gain by force the position and authority which was not willingly accorded to them. [THUS IT WAS THAT LUCIFER, "THE LIGHT-BEARER," THE SHARER OF GOD’S GLORY, THE ATTENDANT OF HIS THRONE, BY TRANSGRESSION BECAME SATAN, "THE ADVERSARY." —PATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS, P. 40.]
The loyal angels hastened speedily to the Son of God and acquainted Him with what was taking place among the angels. They found the Father in conference with His beloved Son, to determine the means by which, for the best good of the loyal angels, the assumed authority of Satan could be forever put down. The great God could at once have hurled this archdeceiver from heaven; but this was not His purpose. He would give the rebellious an equal chance to measure strength and might with His own Son and His loyal angels. In this battle every angel would choose his own side and be manifested to all. It would not have been safe to suffer any who united with Satan in his rebellion to continue to occupy heaven. They had learned the lesson of genuine rebellion against the unchangeable law of God, and this is incurable. If God had exercised His power to punish this chief rebel, disaffected angels would not have been manifested; hence, God took another course, for He would manifest distinctly to all the heavenly host His justice and His judgment.
War in Heaven
It was the highest crime to rebel against the government of God. All heaven seemed in commotion. The angels were marshaled in companies, each division with a higher commanding angel at its head. Satan
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was warring against the law of God, because ambitious to exalt himself and unwilling to submit to the authority of God’s Son, heaven’s great commander.
All the heavenly host were summoned to appear before the Father, to have each case determined. Satan unblushingly made known his dissatisfaction that Christ should be preferred before Him. He stood up proudly and urged that he should be equal with God and should be taken into conference with the Father and understand His purposes. God informed Satan, that to His Son alone He would reveal His secret purposes, and He required all the family in heaven, even Satan, to yield Him implicit, unquestioned obedience; but that he (Satan) had proved himself unworthy of a place in heaven. Then Satan exultingly pointed to his sympathizers, comprising nearly one half of all the angels, and exclaimed, "These are with me! Will you expel these also, and make such a void in heaven?" He then declared that he was prepared to resist the authority of Christ and to defend his place in heaven by force of might, strength against strength.
Good angels wept to hear the words of Satan and his exulting boasts. God declared that the rebellious should remain in heaven no longer. Their high and happy state had been held upon condition of obedience to the law which God had given to govern the high order of intelligences. But no provision had been made to save those who should venture to transgress His law. Satan grew bold in his rebellion, and expressed his contempt of the Creator’s law. This Satan could not bear. He claimed that angels needed no law but should be left free to follow their own will, which would ever guide them right; that law was a restriction of their liberty; and that to abolish law
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was one great object of his standing as he did. The condition of the angels, he thought, needed improvement. Not so the mind of God, who had made laws and exalted them equal to Himself. The happiness of the angelic host consisted in their perfect obedience to law. Each had his special work assigned him, and until Satan rebelled, there had been perfect order and harmonious action in heaven.
Then there was war in heaven. The Son of God, the Prince of heaven, and His loyal angels engaged in conflict with the archrebel and those who united with him. The Son of God and true, loyal angels prevailed; and Satan and his sympathizers were expelled from heaven. All the heavenly host acknowledged and adored the God of justice. Not a taint of rebellion was left in heaven. All was again peaceful and harmonious as before. Angels in heaven mourned the fate of those who had been their companions in happiness and bliss. Their loss was felt in heaven.
The Father consulted His Son in regard to at once carrying out their purpose to make man to inhabit the earth. He would place man upon probation to test his loyalty before he could be rendered eternally secure. If he endured the test wherewith God saw fit to prove him, he should eventually be equal with the angels. He was to have the favor of God, and he was to converse with angels, and they with him. He did not see fit to place them beyond the power of disobedience.
http://www.preparingforeternity.com/sr/sr01.htm
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Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub, the Devil…known by many names, he was the once-favorite angel who fell from grace. Cast out from Heaven, he became mankind’s tormentor, vowing to destroy the creation of his former master.
From the Biblical tale of his fall to the incredible stories of those who believe they have crossed his path, join BIOGRAPHY® for a chilling journey through the long and legendary history of Satan. Scholars, historical experts, and theologians examine classic paintings, academic texts, and modern movies for an unprecedented look at the many ways Satan has been portrayed throughout the centuries. The bonus documentary Hell: The Devil’s Domain completes this sinister portrait, peering into the darkest depths of the devil’s fiery realm.
For Those wanting to know where the first part of this story originates then here is a link to the book of Adam and Eve which gives a much more detailed account into the fall and sometime after
http://carm.org/apologetics/lost-books/books-adam-and-eve
I believe this book to be inspired, but each one must deicide for themselves
The Books of Adam and Eve
From VITA ADAE ET EVAE and Apocalypse of MOSES
From The Apocrypha and Pseudeipgrapha of the Old Testament by R. H. Charles, vol. II , Oxford Press
1:1 When they were driven out from paradise, they made themselves a booth, and spent seven days mourning and lamenting in great grief.
2:1 But after seven days, they began to be hungry and started to look for victual to eat, and they 2 found it not. Then Eve said to Adam: ‘My lord, I am hungry. Go, look for (something) for us to eat. Perchance the Lord God will look back and pity us and recall us to the place, in which we were before.’
3:1 And Adam arose and walked seven days over all that land, and found no victual such as they 2 used to have in paradise. And Eve said to Adam: "Wilt thou slay me? that I may die, and perchance God the Lord will bring thee into paradise, for on my account hast thou been driven thence 3 Adam answered: ‘Forbear, Eve, from such words, that peradventure God bring not some other curse upon us. How is it possible that I should stretch forth my hand against my own flesh? Nay, let us arise and look for something for us to live on, that we fail not.’
4:1 And they walked about and searched for nine days, and they found none such as they were used to have in paradise, but found only animals 2 food. And Adam said to Eve: ‘This hath the Lord provided for animals and brutes to eat; 3 but we used to have angels’ food. But it is just and right that we lament before the sight of God who made us. Let us repent with a great penitence: perchance the Lord will be gracious to us and will pity us and will give us a share of something for our living.’
v. 1 And Eve said to Adam: ‘What is penitence? Tell me, what sort of penitence am I to do? Let us not put too great a labour on ourselves, ‘which we cannot endure, so that the Lord will 2 not hearken to our prayers: and will turn away, His countenance from us, because we have not, 3 fulfilled what we promised. My lord, how much penitence hast thou thought (to do) for I have brought trouble and anguish upon thee?’
vi. 1 And Adam said to Eve: ‘Thou canst not do so much as I, but do only so much as thou hast strength for. For I will spend forty days fasting, but do thou arise and go to the river Tigris and lift up a stone and stand on it in the water up to thy neck in the deep of the river. And let no speech proceed out of thy mouth, since we are unworthy to address the Lord, for our lips are unclean from the unlawful and forbidden tree. 2 And do thou stand in the water of the river thirty-seven days. But I will spend forty days in the water of Jordan, perchance the Lord God will take pity upon us.’
vii. 1 And Eve walked to the river Tigris and did 2 as Adam had told her. Likewise, Adam walked to the river Jordan and stood on a stone up to his neck in water.
viii. 1 And Adam said: "I tell thee, water of Jordan, grieve with me, and assemble to me all swimming (creatures), which are in thee, and let them surround 2 me and mourn in company with me. Not, for themselves let them lament, but for me; for it is not they that have sinned, but I.’ 3 Forthwith, all living things came and surrounded him, and, from that hour, the water of Jordan stood (still) and its current was stayed.’
ix. 1 And eighteen days passed by; then Satan was wroth and transformed himself into the brightness of angels, and went away to the river 2 Tigris to Eve, and found her weeping, and the devil himself pretended to grieve with her, and he began to weep and said to her: ‘Come out of the river and lament no more. Cease now from sorrow and moans. Why art thou anxious 3 and thy husband Adam? The Lord God hath heard your groaning and hath accepted your penitence, and all we angels have entreated on your behalf and made supplication to the Lord; 4 and he hath sent me to bring you out of the water and give you the nourishment which you had in paradise, and for which you are crying 5 out. Now come out of the water and I will conduct you to the place where your victual hath been made ready.’
x. 1 But Eve heard and believed and went out of the water of the river, and her flesh was (trembling) 2 like grass, from the chill of the water. And when she had gone out, she fell on the earth and the devil raised her up and led her to Adam. 3 But when Adam had seen her and the devil with her, he wept and cried aloud and said: ‘O Eve, Eve, where is the labour of thy penitence? 4 How hast thou been again ensnared by our adversary, by whose means we have been estranged from our abode in paradise and spiritual joy?’
xi. 1 And when she heard this, Eve understood that (it was) the devil (who) had persuaded her to go out of the river; and she fell on her face on the earth and her sorrow and groaning and wailing 2 was redoubled. And she cried out and said: Woe unto thee, thou devil. Why dost thou attack us for no cause? What hast thou to do with us? What have we done to thee? for thou pursuest us with craft? Or why doth thy malice 3 assail us? Have we taken away thy glory and caused thee to be without honour? Why dost thou harry us, thou enemy (and persecute us) to the death in wickedness and envy?’
xii. 1 And with a heavy sigh, the devil spake: ‘O Adam! all my hostility, envy, and sorrow is for thee, since it is for thee that I have been expelled from my glory, which I possessed in the heavens 2 in the midst of the angels and for thee was I cast out in the earth.’ Adam answered, ‘What dost 3 thou tell me? What have I done to thee or what is my fault against thee? Seeing that thou hast received no harm or injury from us, why dost thou pursue us?’
xiii. 1 The devil replied, ‘Adam, what dost thou tell me? It is for thy sake that I have been hurled 2 from that place. When thou wast formed, I was hurled out of the presence of God and banished from the company of the angels. When God blew into thee the breath of life and thy face and likeness was made in the image of God, Michael also brought thee and made (us) worship thee in the sight of God; and God the Lord spake: Here is Adam. I have made thee in our image and likeness.’
xiv. 1 And Michael went out and called all the angels saying: Worship the image of God as the Lord God hath commanded.’ 2 And Michael himself worshipped first; then he called me and said: ‘Worship the image of God 3 the Lord.’ And I answered, ‘I have no (need) to worship Adam.’ And since Michael kept urging me to worship, I said to him, ‘Why dost thou urge me? I will not worship an inferior and younger being (than I). I am his senior in the Creation, before he was made was I already made. It is his duty to worship me.’
xv. 1, 2 When the angels, who were under me, heard this, they refused to worship him. And Michael saith, ‘Worship the image of God, but if thou wilt not worship him, the Lord God will be wrath 3 with thee.’ And I said, ‘If He be wrath with me, I will set my seat above the stars of heaven and will be like the Highest.’
xvi. 1 And God the Lord was wrath with me and banished me and my angels from our glory; and on 2 thy account were we expelled from our abodes into this world and hurled on the earth. And 3 straightway we were overcome with grief, since we had been spoiled of so great glory. And we 4 were grieved when we saw thee in such joy and luxury. And with guile I cheated thy wife and caused thee to be expelled through her (doing) from thy joy and luxury, as I have been driven out of my glory.’
xvii. 1 When Adam heard the devil say this, he cried out and wept and spake: ‘O Lord my God, my life is in thy hands. Banish this Adversary far from me, who seeketh to destroy my soul, and give 2, 3 me his glory which he himself hath lost.’ And at that moment, the devil vanished before him. But Adam endured in his penance, standing for forty days (on end) in the water of Jordan.
xviii. 1 And Eve said to Adam: ‘Live thou, my Lord, to thee life is granted, since thou hast committed neither the first nor the second error. But I have erred and been led astray for I have not kept the commandment of God; and now banish me from the light of thy life and I will go to the sunsetting, 2 and there will I be, until I die.’ And she began to walk towards the western parts and to mourn 3 and to weep bitterly and groan aloud. And she made there a booth, while she had in her womb offspring of three months old.
xix. 1 And when the time of her bearing approached, she began to be distressed with pains, and she 2 cried aloud to the Lord and said: ‘Pity me, O Lord, assist me.’ And she was not heard and the mercy of God did not encircle her. And she said to herself: ‘Who shall tell my lord Adam? I implore you, ye luminaries of heaven, what time ye return to the east, bear a message to my lord Adam.’
xx. 1 But in that hour, Adam said: ‘The complaint of Eve hath come to me. Perchance, once more hath the serpent fought with her.’ 2 And he went and found her in great distress. And Eve said: ‘From the moment I saw thee, my lord, my grief-laden soul was refreshed. And now entreat the Lord God on my behalf to 3 hearken unto thee and look upon me and free me from my awful pains.’ And Adam entreated the Lord for Eve.
xxi. 1 And behold, there came twelve angels and two ‘virtues’, standing on the right and on the left 2 of Eve; and Michael was standing on the right; and he stroked her on the face as far as to the breast and said to Eve: ‘Blessed art thou, Eve, for Adam’s sake. Since his prayers and intercessions are great, I have been sent that thou mayst receive our help. Rise up now, and 3 prepare thee to bear. And she bore a son and he was shining; and at once the babe rose up and ran and bore a blade of grass in his hands, and gave it to his mother, and his name was called Cain.
xxii. 1 And Adam carried Eve and the boy and led 2 them to the East. And the Lord God sent divers seeds by Michael the archangel and gave to Adam and showed him how to work and till the ground, that they might have fruit by which they and all their generations might live. 3 For thereafter Eve conceived and bare a son, whose name was Abel; and Cain and Abel used to stay together. 4 And Eve said to Adam: ‘My lord, while I slept, I saw a vision, as it were the blood of our son Abel in the hand of Cain, who was gulping it down in his mouth. Therefore I have sorrow.’ 5 And Adam said, ‘Alas if Cain slew Abel. Yet let us separate them from each other mutually, and let us make for each of them separate dwellings.’
xxiii. 1 And they made Cain an husbandman, (but) Abel they made a shepherd; in order that in this wise they might be mutually separated. 2 And thereafter, Cain slew Abel, but Adam was then one hundred and thirty years old, but Abel was slain when he was one hundred and twenty two years. 3 And thereafter Adam knew his wife and he begat a son and called his name Seth.
xxiv. 1 And Adam said to Eve, ‘Behold, I have begotten a son, in place of Abel, whom Cain slew. 2 And after Adam had begotten Seth, he lived eight hundred years and begat thirty sons and thirty daughters; in all sixty-three children. And they were increased over the face of the earth in their nations.
xxv. 1 And Adam said to Seth, ‘Hear, my son Seth, that I may relate to thee what I heard and 2 saw after your mother and I had been driven out of paradise. When we were at prayer, there 3 came to me Michael the archangel, a messenger of God. And I saw a chariot like the wind and its wheels were fiery and I was caught up into the Paradise of righteousness, and I saw the Lord sitting and his face was flaming fire that could not be endured. And many thousands of angels were on the right and the left of that chariot.
xxvi. 1 When I saw this, I was confounded, and terror seized me and I bowed myself down before 2 God with my face to the earth. And God said to me, ‘Behold thou diest, since thou hast transgressed the commandment of God, for thou didst hearken rather to the voice of thy wife, whom I gave into thy power, that thou mightst hold her to thy will. Yet thou didst listen to her and didst pass by My words.’
xxvii. 1 And when I heard these words of God, I fell prone on the earth and worshipped the Lord and said, ‘My Lord, All powerful and merciful God, Holy and Righteous One, let not the name that is mindful of Thy majesty be blotted out, but convert my soul, for I die and my 2 breath will go out of my mouth. Cast me not out from Thy presence, (me) whom Thou didst form of the clay of the earth. Do not banish from Thy favour him whom Thou didst nourish.’ 3 And lo! a word concerning thee came upon me and the Lord said to me, ‘Since thy days were fashioned, thou hast been created with a love of knowledge; therefore there shall not be taken from thy seed for ever the (right) to serve Me.’
xxviii. 1 And when I heard these words, I threw myself on the earth and adored the Lord God and said, ‘Thou art the eternal and supreme God; and all creatures give thee honour and praise. 2 ‘Thou art the true Light gleaming above all light(s), the Living Life, infinite mighty Power. To Thee, the spiritual powers give honour and praise. Thou workest on the race of men the abundance of Thy mercy.’ 3 After I had worshipped the Lord, straightway Michael, God’s archangel, seized my hand and 4 cast me out of the paradise of ‘ vision’ and of God’s command. And Michael held a rod in his hand, and he touched the waters, which were round about paradise, and they froze hard.
xxix. 1 And I went across, and Michael the archangel went across with me, and he led me back to 2 the place whence he had caught me up. Hearken, my son Seth, even to the rest of the secrets [and sacraments] that shall be, which were revealed to me, when I had eaten of the tree of the 3 knowledge, and knew and perceived what will come to pass in this age; [what God intends to do 4 to his creation of the race of men. The Lord will appear in a flame of fire (and) from the mouth of His majesty He will give commandments and statutes [from His mouth will proceed a two-edged sword] and they will sanctify Him in the house of the habitation of His majesty. 5 And He will show them the marvellous place of His majesty. And then they will build a house to the Lord their God in the land which He shall prepare for them and there they will transgress His statutes and their sanctuary will be burnt up and their land will be deserted and they 6 themselves will be dispersed; because they have kindled the wrath of God. And once more He will cause them to come back from their dispersion; and again they will build the house of God; 7 and in the last time the house of God will be exalted greater than of old. And once more iniquity will exceed righteousness. And thereafter God will dwell with men on earth [in visible form]; and then, righteousness will begin to shine. And the house of God will be honoured in the age and their enemies will no more be able to hurt the men, who are believing in God; and God will stir up for Himself a faithful people, whom He shall save for eternity, and the impious shall be punished 8 by God their king, the men who refused to love His law. Heaven and earth, nights and days, and all creatures shall obey Him, and not overstep His commandment. Men shall not change their 9 works, but they shall be changed from forsaking the law of the Lord. Therefore the Lord shall repel from Himself the wicked, and the just shall shine like the sun, in the sight of God. And 10 in that time, shall men be purified by water from their sins. But those who are unwilling to be purified by water shall be condemned. And happy shall the man be, who hath ruled his soul, when the Judgement shall come to pass and the greatness of God be seen among men and their deeds be inquired into by God the just judge.
xxx. 1 After Adam was nine hundred and thirty years old, since he knew that his days were coming to an end, he said: ‘Let all my sons assemble themselves to me, that I may bless them before I die, and speak with them.’ 2 And they were assembled in three parts, before his sight, in the house of prayer, where they used 3 to worship the Lord God. And they asked him (saying): ‘What concerns thee, Father, that thou shouldst assemble us, and why dost thou lie on 4 thy bed? ‘Then Adam answered and said: My sons, I am sick and in pain.’ And all his sons said to him: ‘What does it mean, father, this illness and pain?’
xxxi. 1 Then said Seth his son: ‘O (my) lord, perchance thou hast longed after the fruit of paradise, which thou wast wont to eat, and therefore thou liest in sadness? Tell me and I will go to the nearest gates of paradise and put dust on my head and throw myself down on the earth before the gates of paradise and lament and make entreaty to God with loud lamentation; perchance he will hearken to me and send his angel to bring me the fruit, for which thou hast longed.’ 2 Adam answered and said: ‘No, my son, I do not long (for this), but I feel weakness and great 3 pain in my body.’ Seth answered, ‘What is pain, my lord father? I am ignorant; but hide it not from us, but tell us (about it).’
xxxii. 1 And Adam answered and said: ‘Hear me, my sons. When God made us, me and your mother, and placed us in paradise and gave us every tree bearing fruit to eat, he laid a prohibition on us concerning the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which is in the midst of paradise; (saying) 2 ‘Do not eat of it.’ But God gave a part of paradise to me and (a part) to your mother: the trees of the eastern part and the north, which is over against Aquilo he gave to me, and to your mother he gave the part of the south and the western part.
xxxiii. 1 (Moreover) God the Lord gave us two angels 2 to guard us. The hour came when the angels had ascended to worship in the sight of God; forthwith the adversary [the devil] found an opportunity while the angels were absent and the devil led your mother astray to eat of the 3 unlawful and forbidden tree. And she did eat and gave to me.
xxxiv. 1 And immediately, the Lord God was wrath with us, and the Lord said to me: ‘In that thou hast left behind my commandment and hast not kept my word,’ which I confirmed to thee; behold, I will bring upon thy body, seventy blows; with divers griefs, shalt thou be tormented, beginning at thy head and thine eyes and thine ears down to thy nails on thy toes, and in every 2 separate limb. These hath God appointed for chastisement. All these things hath the Lord sent to me and to all our race.’
xxxv. 1 Thus spake Adam to his sons, and he was seized with violent pains, and he cried out with a loud voice, ‘What shall I do? I am in distress. So cruel are the pains with which I am 2 beset.’ And when Eve had seen him weeping, she also began to weep herself and said: ‘O Lord my God, hand over to me his pain, for it is I who sinned.’ 3 And Eve said to Adam: ‘My lord, give me a part of thy pains, for this hath come to thee from fault of mine.’
xxxvi. 1 And Adam said to Eve: ‘Rise up and go with my son Seth to the neighborhood of paradise, and put dust on your heads and throw yourselves on the ground and lament in the sight of 2 God. Perchance He will have pity (upon you) and send His angel across to the tree of His mercy, whence floweth the oil of life, and will give you a drop of it, to anoint me with it, that I may have rest from these pains, by which I am being consumed.’
xxxvii. 1 Then Seth and his mother went off to wards the gates of paradise. And while they were walking, lo! suddenly there came a beast 2 [a serpent] and attacked and bit Seth. And as soon as Eve saw it, she wept and said: ‘Alas, wretched woman that I am. I am accursed since I have not kept the commandment of God 3 And Eve said to the serpent in a loud voice: Accursed beast! how (is it that) thou hast not feared to let thyself loose against the image of God, but hast dared to fight with it?’
xxxviii. 1 The beast answered in the language of men: ‘Is it not against you, Eve, that our malice (is directed)? Are not ye the objects of our rage? 2 Tell me, Eve, how was thy mouth opened to eat of the fruit? But now if I shall begin to reprove thee thou canst not bear it.’
xxxix. 1 Then said Seth to the beast: ‘God the Lord revile thee. Be silent, be dumb, shut thy mouth, accursed enemy of Truth, confounder and destroyer. Avaunt from the image of God till the day when the Lord God shall order thee to be 2 brought to the ordeal.’ And the beast said to Seth: ‘See, I leave the presence of the image of God, as thou hast said.’ Forthwith he left Seth, wounded by his teeth.
xl. 1 But Seth and his mother walked to the regions of paradise for the oil of mercy to anoint the sick Adam: and they arrived at the gates of paradise, (and) they took dust from the earth and placed it on their heads, and bowed themselves with their faces to the earth and began to lament and 2 make loud moaning, imploring the Lord God to pity Adam in his pains and to send His angel to give them the oil from the ‘tree of His mercy ‘.
xli. 1 But when they had been praying and imploring for many hours, behold, the angel Michael appeared 2 to them and said: ‘I have been sent to you from the Lord — I am set by God over the 3 bodies of men — I tell thee, Seth, (thou) man of God, weep not nor pray and entreat on account of the oil of the tree of mercy to anoint thy father Adam for the pains of his body.
xlii. 1 ‘For I tell thee that in no wise wilt thou be able to receive thereof save in the last days.’ 2 [When five thousand five hundred years have been fulfilled, then will come upon earth the most beloved king Christ, the son of God, to revive the body of Adam and with him to revive 3 the bodies of the dead. He Himself, the Son of God, when He comes will be baptized in the river of Jordan, and when He hath come out of the water of Jordan, then He will anoint from the 4 oil of mercy all that believe in Him. And the oil of mercy shall be for generation to generation for those who are ready to be born again of 5 water and the Holy Spirit to life eternal. Then the most beloved Son of God, Christ, descending on earth shall lead thy father Adam to Paradise to the tree of mercy.]
xliii. 1 ‘But do thou, Seth, go to thy father Adam, since the time of his life is fulfilled. Six days hence, his soul shall go off his body and when it shall have gone out, thou shalt see great marvels in the heaven and in the earth and the 2 luminaries of heaven. With these words, straight-way Michael departed from Seth. 3 And Eve and Seth returned bearing with them herbs of fragrance, i.e. nard and crocus and calamus and cinnamon.
xliv. 1 And when Seth and his mother had reached Adam, they told him, how the beast [the serpent] 2 bit Seth. And Adam said to Eve: ‘What hast thou done? A great plague hast thou brought upon us, transgression and sin for all our generations: and this which thou hast done, tell thy 3 children after my death, [for those who arise from us shall toil and fail but they shall be 4 wanting and curse us (and) say, All evils have our parents brought upon us, who were at the 5 beginning].’ When Eve heard these words, she began to weep and moan.
(from Apocalypse of Moses)
xv. 1 Then saith Eve to them: ‘Hear all my children and children’s children and I will relate to you 2 how the enemy deceived us. It befell that we were guarding paradise, each of us the portion 3 allotted to us from God. Now I guarded in my lot, the west and the south. But the devil went to Adam’s lot, where the male creatures were. [For God divided the creatures; all the males he gave
to your father and all the females he gave to me.]
xvi. 1 And the devil spake to the serpent saying, "Rise up, come to me and I will tell thee a word 2 whereby thou mayst have profit." And he arose and came to him. And the devil saith to him: 3 "I hear that thou art wiser than all the beasts, and I have come to counsel thee. Why dost thou eat of Adam’s tares and not of paradise? Rise up and we will cause him to be cast out of paradise, even 4 as we were cast out through him." The serpent saith to him, "I fear lest the Lord be wroth with 5 me." The devil saith to him: "Fear not, only be my vessel and I will speak through thy mouth words to deceive him."
xvii. 1 And instantly he hung himself from the wall of paradise, and when the angels ascended to 2 worship God, then Satan appeared in the form of an angel and sang hymns like the angels. And I bent over the wall and saw him, like an angel. But he saith to me: "Art thou Eve?" And I said 3 to him, "I am." "What art thou doing in paradise?" And I said to him, "God set us to guard and 4 to eat of it." The devil answered through the mouth of the serpent: "Ye do well but ye do not eat 5 of every plant." And I said: "Yea, we eat of all, save one only, which is in the midst of paradise, concerning which, God charged us not to eat of it: for, He said to us, on the day on which ye eat of it, ye shall die the death."
xviii. 1 Then the serpent saith to me, "May God live! but I am grieved on your account, for I would not have you ignorant. But arise, (come) hither, hearken to me and eat and mind the value of that tree." 2, 3 But I said to him, "I fear lest God be wroth with me as he told us." And he saith to me: "Fear not, for as soon as thou eatest of it, ye too shall be as God, in that ye shall know good and evil. 4 But God perceived this that ye would be like Him, so he envied you and said, Ye shall not eat of 5, 6 it. Nay, do thou give heed to the plant and thou wilt see its great glory." Yet I feared to take of the fruit. And he saith to me: "Come hither, and I will give it thee. Follow me."
xix. 1 And I opened to him and he walked a little way, then turned and said to me: "I have changed my 2 mind and I will not give thee to eat until thou swear to me to give also to thy husband." (And) I said, "What sort of oath shall I swear to thee? Yet what I know, I say to thee: By the throne of the 3 Master, and by the Cherubim and the Tree of Life, I will give also to my husband to eat." And when he had received the oath from me, he went and poured upon the fruit the poison of his wickedness, which is lust, the root and beginning of every sin, and he bent the branch on the earth and I took of the fruit and I ate.
xx. 1 And in that very hour my eyes were opened, and forthwith I knew that I was bare of the righteousness 2 with which I had been clothed (upon), and I wept and said to him: "Why hast thou 3 done this to me in that thou hast deprived me of the glory with which I was clothed? "But I wept also about the oath, which I had sworn. But he descended from the tree and vanished. 4 And I began to seek, in my nakedness, in my part for leaves to hide my shame, but I found none, for, as soon as I had eaten, the leaves showered down from all the trees in my part, except the fig 5 tree only. But I took leaves from it and made for myself a girdle and it was from the very same plant of which I had eaten.
xxi. 1 And I cried out in that very hour, "Adam, Adam, where art thou? Rise up, come to me and 2 I will show thee a great secret." But when your father came, I spake to him words of transgression 3 [which have brought us down from our great glory]. For, when he came, I opened my mouth and the devil was speaking, and I began to exhort him and said, "Come hither, my lord Adam, hearken to me and eat of the fruit of the tree of which God told us not to eat of it, and thou shalt be as 4 a God." And your father answered and said, "I fear lest God be wroth with me." And I said to 5 him, "Fear not, for as soon as thou hast eaten thou shalt know good and evil." And speedily I persuaded him, and he ate and straightway his eyes were opened and he too knew his nakedness. 6 And to me he saith, ‘O wicked woman! what have I done to thee that thou hast deprived me of the glory of God?"
xxii. 1 And in that same hour, we heard the archangel Michael blowing with his trumpet and calling to 2 the angels and saying: "Thus saith the Lord, Come with me to paradise and hear the judgement with which I shall judge Adam." 3 And when God appeared in paradise, mounted on the chariot of his cherubim with the angels proceeding before him and singing hymns of praises, all the plants of paradise, both of your father’s lot 4 and mine, broke out into flowers. And the throne of God was fixed where the Tree of Life was.
xxiii. 1 And God called Adam saying, "Adam, where art thou? Can the house be hidden from the presence 2 of its builder?" Then your father answered; "It is not because we think not to be found by thee, Lord, that we hide, but I was afraid, because I am naked, and I was ashamed before thy might, 3 (my) Master." God saith to him, "Who showed thee that thou art naked, unless thou hast forsaken my 4 commandment, which I delivered thee to keep (it)." Then Adam called to mind the word which I spake to him, (saying) "I will make thee secure before God;" and he turned and said to me: "Why 5 hast thou done this?" And I said, "The serpent deceived me."
xxiv. 1 God saith to Adam: "Since thou hast disregarded my commandment and hast hearkened to thy wife, cursed is the earth in thy labours. 2 Thou shalt work it and it shall not give its strength: thorns and thistles shall spring up for thee, and in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread. [Thou shalt be in manifold toils; thou shalt be crushed by bitterness, but of sweetness shalt thou not taste.] 3 Weary shalt thou be and shalt not rest; by heat shalt thou be tired, by cold shalt thou be straitened: abundantly shalt thou busy thyself, but thou shalt not be rich; and thou shalt grow fat, but come to no end. 4 The beasts, over whom thou didst rule, shall rise up in rebellion against thee, for thou hast not kept my commandment."
xxv. 1 And the Lord turned to me and said: ‘" Since thou hast hearkened to the serpent and turned 2 a deaf ear to my commandment, thou shalt be in throes of travail and intolerable agonies; thou shalt bear children in much trembling and in one hour thou shalt come to the birth, and lose thy 3 life, from thy sore trouble and anguish. But thou shalt confess and say: ‘Lord, Lord, save me, and 4 I will turn no more to the sin of the flesh.’ And on this account, from thine own words I will judge thee, by reason of the enmity which the enemy has planted in thee."
xxvi. 1 But he turned to the serpent [in great wrath] and said: "Since thou hast done this, and become a thankless vessel until thou hast deceived the innocent hearts, accursed art thou among all beasts. 2 Thou shalt be deprived of the victual of which thou didst eat and shalt feed on dust all the days of 3 thy life; on thy breast and thy belly shalt thou walk and be robbed of hands and feet. There shall not be left thee ear nor wing, nor one limb of all that with which thou didst ensnare them in 4 thy malice and causedst them to be cast out of paradise; and I will put enmity between thee and his seed; he shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel until the day of Judgement."
xxvii. 1, 2 Thus he spake and bade the angels have us cast out of paradise: and as we were being driven out amid our loud lamentations, your father Adam besought the angels and said: "Leave me a little (space) that I may entreat the Lord that he have compassion on me and pity me, for I only 3 have sinned." And they left off driving him and Adam cried aloud and wept saying: "Pardon me, 4 O Lord, my deed." Then the Lord saith to the angels, "Why have ye ceased from driving Adam from paradise? Why do ye not cast him out? Is it I who have done wrong? Or is my judgement 5 badly judged?" Then the angels fell down on the ground and worshipped the Lord saying," Thou art just, O Lord, and thou judgest righteous judgement."
xxviii. 1 But the Lord turned to Adam and said: "I will not suffer thee henceforward to be in paradise." 2 And Adam answered and said, "Grant me, O Lord, of the Tree of Life that I may eat of it, before 3 I be cast out." Then the Lord spake to Adam, "Thou shalt not take of it now, for I have commanded the cherubim with the flaming sword that turneth (every way) to guard it from thee that 4 thou taste not of it; but thou hast the war which the adversary hath put into thee; yet when thou art gone out of paradise, if thou shouldst keep thyself from all evil, as one about to die, when again the Resurrection hath come to pass, I will raise thee up and then there shall be given to thee the Tree of Life."
xxix. 1, 2 Thus spake the Lord and ordered us to be cast out of paradise. But your father Adam wept before the angels opposite paradise and the angels say to him: "What wouldst thou have us to do, 3 Adam?" And your father saith to them, "Behold, ye cast me out. I pray you, allow me to take away fragrant herbs from paradise, so that I may offer an offering to God after I have gone out 4 of paradise that he hear me." And the angels approached God and said: ‘"JAEL, Eternal King, command, my Lord, that there be given to Adam incense of sweet odour from paradise and seeds 5 for his food." And God bade Adam go in and take sweet spices and fragrant herbs from paradise 6 and seeds for his food. And the angels let him go and he took four kinds: crocus and nard and calamus and cinnamon and the other seeds for his food: and, after taking these, he went out of 7 paradise. And we were on the earth.
xxx. 1 Now then, my children, I have shown you the way in which we were deceived; and do ye guard yourselves from transgressing against the good.’
xxxi. 1 And when Eve had said this in the midst of her sons, while Adam was lying ill and bound to die 2 after a single day from the sickness which had fastened upon him, she saith to him: ‘How is it that 3 thou diest and I live or how long have I to live after thou art dead? Tell me.’ And Adam saith to her: ‘Reck not of this, for thou tarriest not after me, but even both of us are to die together. And she shall lie in my place. But when I die, anoint me and let no man touch me till the 4 angel of the Lord shall speak somewhat concerning me. For God will not forget me, but will seek His own creature; and now arise rather and pray to God till I give up my spirit into His hands who gave it me. For we know not how we are to meet our Maker, whether He be wroth with us, or be merciful and intend to pity and receive us.’
xxxii. 1, 2 And Eve rose up and went outside and fell on the ground and began to say: ‘I have sinned, O God, I have sinned, O God of All, I have sinned against Thee. I have sinned against the elect angels. I have sinned against the Cherubim. I have sinned against Thy fearful and unshakable Throne. I have sinned before Thee and all sin hath begin through my doing in the creation.’ 3 Even thus prayed Eve on her knees; (and) behold, the angel of humanity came to her, and raised 4 her up and said: ‘Rise up, Eve, (from thy penitence), for behold, Adam thy husband hath gone out of his body. Rise up and behold his spirit borne aloft to his Maker.’
xxxiii. 1 And Eve rose up and wiped off her tears with her hand, and the angel saith to her, ‘Lift up thy 2 self from the earth.’ And she gazed steadfastly into heaven, and beheld a chariot of light, borne by four bright eagles, (and) it were impossible for any man born of woman to tell the glory of them or 3 behold their face — and angels going before the chariot– and when they came to the place where 4 your father Adam was, the chariot halted and the Seraphim. And I beheld golden censers, between your father and the chariot, and all the angels with censers and frankincense came in haste to the 5 incense-offering and blew upon it and the smoke of the incense veiled the firmaments. And the angels fell down and worshipped God, crying aloud and saying, ‘JAEL, Holy One, have pardon, for he is Thy image, and the work of Thy holy hands.’
xxxiv. 1 And I Eve beheld two great and fearful wonders standing in the presence of God and I wept for 2 fear, and I cried aloud to my son Seth and said, ‘Rise up, Seth, from the body of thy father Adam, and come to me, and thou shalt see a spectacle which no man’s eye hath yet beheld.’
xxxv. 1 Then Seth arose and came to his mother and to her he saith: ‘What is thy trouble? Why 2 weepest thou?’ (And) she saith to him , ‘Look up and see with thine eyes the seven heavens opened, and see how the soul of thy father lies on its face and all the holy angels are praying on his behalf and saying: "Pardon him, Father 3 of All, for he is Thine image." Pray, my child Seth, what shall this mean? And will he one day be delivered into the hands of the Invisible 4 Father, even our God? But who are the two negroes who stand by at the prayers for thy father Adam?’
xxxvi. 1 And Seth telleth his mother, that they are the sun and moon and themselves fall down and 2 pray on behalf of my father Adam. Eve saith to him: ‘And where is their light and why have 3 they taken on such a black appearance?’ And Seth answereth her, ‘The light hath not left them, but they cannot shine before the Light of the Universe, the Father of Light; and on this account their light hath been hidden from them.’
xxxvii. 1 Now while Seth was saying this to his mother, lo, an angel blew the trumpet, and there stood up all the angels (and they were) lying on their faces, and they cried aloud in an awful voice and 2 said: ‘Blessed (be) the glory of the Lord from the works of His making, for He hath pitied 3 Adam the creature of His hands.’ But when the angels had said these words, lo, there came one of the seraphim with six wings and snatched up Adam and carried him off to the Acherusian lake, and washed him thrice, in the presence of God.
xxxix. 1 And God saith to him: ‘Adam, what hast thou done? If thou hadst kept my commandment, there would now be no rejoicing among those who are bringing thee down to this place. 2 Yet, I tell thee that I will turn their joy to grief and thy grief will I turn to joy, and I will transform thee to thy former glory, and set thee on 3 the throne of thy deceiver. But he shall be cast into this place to see thee sitting above him, then he shall be condemned and they that heard him, and he shall be grieved sore when he seeth thee sitting on his honourable throne.’
xxxvii. 4 And he stayed there three hours, lying down, and thereafter the Father of all, sitting on his holy throne stretched out his hand, and took Adam and handed him over to the archangel 5 Michael saying: ‘Lift him up into Paradise unto the third Heaven, and leave him there until that fearful day of my reckoning, which I will make in 6 the world.’ Then Michael took Adam and left him where God told him.
xxxviii. 1 But after all this, the archangel asked concerning 2 the laying out of the remains. And God commanded that all the angels should assemble in His presence, each in his order, and all the angels assembled, some having censers in their 3 hands, and others trumpets. And lo! the ‘Lord of Hosts’ came on and four winds drew Him and cherubim mounted on the winds and the angels from heaven escorting Him and they came on 4 the earth, where was the body of Adam. And they came to paradise and all the leaves of paradise were stirred so that all men begotten of Adam slept from the fragrance save Seth alone, because he was born ‘according to the appointment 5 of God’. Then Adam’s body lay there in paradise on the earth and Seth grieved exceedingly over him.
xl. 1 Then God spake to the archangel(s) Michael, 2 (Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael): ‘Go away to Paradise in the third heaven, and strew linen clothes and cover the body of Adam and bring oil of the ‘oil of fragrance’ and pour it over him. And they acted thus did the three great angels and they prepared him for burial. 3 And God said: ‘Let the body of Abel also be brought.’ And they brought other linen clothes 4 and prepared his (body) also. For he was unburied since the day when Cain his brother slew him; for wicked Cain took great pains to conceal (him) but could not, for the earth would not receive him for the body sprang up from the earth and a voice went out of the earth saying: ‘I will not 5 receive a companion body, till the earth which was taken and fashioned in me cometh to me.’ At that time, the angels took it and placed it on 6 a rock, till Adam his father was buried. And both were buried, according to the commandment of God, in the spot where God found the dust, and He caused the place to be dug for two. 7 And God sent seven angels to paradise and they brought many fragrant spices and placed them in the earth, and they took the two bodies and placed them in the spot which they had digged and builded.
xli.1 And God called and said, ‘Adam, Adam.’ And the body answered from the earth and said: ‘Here 2 am I, Lord.’ And God saith to him: ‘I told thee (that) earth thou art and to earth shalt thou 3 return. Again I promise to thee the Resurrection; I will raise thee up in the Resurrection with every man, who is of thy seed.’
Vita Adae et Evae
xlix. 1 Six days after, Adam died; and Eve perceived that she would die, (so) she assembled all her sons 2 and daughters, Seth with thirty brothers and thirty sisters, and Eve said to all: ‘Hear me, my children, and I will tell you what the archangel Michael said to us when I and your father transgressed the command of God. 3 On account of your transgression, Our Lord will bring upon your race the anger of his judgement, first by water, the second time by fire; by these two, will the Lord judge the whole human race.
l. 1 But hearken unto me, my children. Make ye then tables of stone and others of clay, and write 2 on them, all my life and your father’s (all) that ye have heard and seen from us. If by water the Lord judge our race, the tables of clay will be dissolved and the tables of stone will remain; but if by fire, the tables of stone will be broken up and the tables of clay will be baked (hard).’
Apocalypse of Moses
xlii.1 After these words, God made a seal and sealed the tomb, that no one might do anything to him for six days till his rib should return to him. 2 Then the Lord and his angels went to their place. 3 And Eve also, when the six days were fulfilled, fell asleep. But while she was living, she wept bitterly about Adam’s falling on sleep, for she knew not where he was laid. For when the Lord came to paradise to bury Adam she was asleep, and her sons too, except Seth, till He bade Adam be prepared for buria ; and no man knew on 4 earth, except her son Seth. And Eve prayed (in the hour of her death) that she might be buried in the place where her husband Adam was. And 5 after she had finished her prayer, she saith: ‘Lord, Master, God of all rule, estrange not me thy handmaid from the body of Adam, for from his 6 members didst thou make me. But deem me worthy, even me unworthy that I am and a sinner, to enter into his tabernacle, even as I was with him in paradise, both without separation from 7 each other; just as in our transgression, we were (both) led astray and transgressed thy command, 8 but were not separated. Even so, Lord, do not separate us now.’ But after she had prayed, she gazed heaven wards and groaned aloud and smote her breast and said: ‘God of All, receive my spirit,’ and straightway she delivered up her spirit to God.
xliii.1 And Michael came and taught Seth how to prepare Eve for burial. And there came three angels and they buried her (body) where Adam’s 2 body was and Abel’s. And thereafter Michael spake to Seth and saith: ‘Lay out in this wise every man that dieth till the day of the Resurrection.’ 3 And after giving him this rule; he saith to him: ‘Mourn not beyond six days, but on the seventh day, rest and rejoice on it, because on that very day; God rejoiceth (yea) and we angels (too) with the righteous soul, who hath 4 passed away from the earth.’ Even thus spake the angel, and ascended into heaven, glorifying (God) and saying: ‘Allelujah.’ 5 [Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, in the glory of God the Father, for to Him it is meet to give glory, honour, and worship, with the eternal life-giving spirit now and always and for ever. Amen.] [Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts. To whom be glory and power for ever and for ever. Amen .] [Then the archangel Joel glorified God; saying, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, heaven and earth are full of thy glory.’]
http://carm.org/apologetics/lost-books/books-adam-and-eve
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One of the key symbols of the New World Order is the eye. Jesus said in Matthew 6:22, “The light of the body is the eye…” It is through the eye that light, or in a spiritual sense, KNOWLEDGE, enters the body. There are 33 different degrees in the Masonic order. Each new level entitles the participant to acquire additional occult KNOWLEDGE. The eye is symbolic of KNOWLEDGE kept secret from the public; hence the eye is viewed as peering through a peep hole, spying on the society which they victimize; yet society cannot see what the predatory elite occultists are doing and planning for the world.
Many members of this evil gang are members of The Council On Foreign Relations. Navy officer and prolific author, 
I preach a lot against CCM singers, because they are deceivers. No one wonders what Marilyn Manson is about. We all know that he rips up Bibles, hates God and is a fool. However, sinister ecumenical ministers and apostate so-called Christian singers claim to love God and want to reach people with A MESSAGE of love and unity; BUT the sad truth is that they are 
When you look up at the Great Pyramid, it’s apex seems to be missing. It is flap topped and not pointed like a pyramid should be. Usually, when a pyramid was constructed, the top part, or capstone (also called top-stone), was the last thing to be placed on it. It was considered the most important part of the pyramid and was made of special stone or even gold. The capstone was usually highly decorated.
“We shall unleash the Nihilists (People who reject all morality and religious belief) and the Atheists and we shall provoke a formidable social cataclysm which, in all its horror will show clearly to the nations the effect of absolute atheism, the origin of savagery and of the most bloody turmoil. Then everywhere, the citizens, forced to defend themselves against the world minority of revolutionaries, will exterminate those destroyers of civilization, and the multitude, disillusioned with Christianity, whose deistic spirits will form direction and leadership, anxious for an ideal, but without knowledge where to render its adoration, will receive the pure light through the universal manifestation of the pure doctrine of Lucifer, brought finally out into public view, a manifestation which will result from a general reactionary movement which will follow the destruction of Christianity and atheism, both conquered and exterminated at the same time.” …
Bailey changed the name to Lucis Trust, because Lucifer Trust revealed the true nature of the New Age Movement too clearly. (Constance Cumbey, 
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The reaction of establishment politicians and their corporate media mouthpieces to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s comments about 9/11 is akin to that of a guilty child caught with his hand in the cookie jar and chocolate smeared all over his face.
ZoSo's TRUTHTALK13 
