Kingdom Manna (8)

Table of Contents (Scroll down to view all)

1. Terminology Matters: The Enemy

2. Terminology Matters: Clergy/Laity

3. Terminology Matters: Salvation

4. Terminology Matters: Take Care

5. Tithes & Offerings

6. Festivals, Celebrations & Holy Days

7. Hidden Ministry

Terminology Matters: The Enemy

By Lanny Swaim

But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment, for by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

Matthew 12:36-37

I have Quaker ancestry on both sides of my family, and recently I was invited by a cousin who is a Quaker to join her in speaking at a Quaker meeting, primarily about one of our Quaker ancestors.

At this meeting I met the pastor of that particular meeting, and he told me he grew up a Universalist. I asked him how a Universalist becomes a Quaker pastor. He said it was a long story and while he didn’t really answer my question, we did talk for a few minutes.

I learned he had also been involved in a Pentecostal church for a while. He said the thing that bothered him most about Pentecostals is that they seem more focused on “the enemy” than on God. He said they are always blaming the enemy for this or that, giving the impression that he (the enemy/the devil/Satan) is almost equal to God in his ability to come against God or against believers.

We didn’t really pursue that conversation any further, but I nodded my head in agreement with him.

While thinking about all this, I tried to find in scripture where the devil/Satan is referred to as the enemy. Peter calls him our adversary (see 1 Peter 5:8) but I couldn’t find anywhere in the Bible where he is actually called our enemy.

While adversary and enemy are similar in meaning, they are not exactly the same. An adversary is mostly a word used in legal actions. Satan is the accuser of the brethren. In Job we find him coming before God questioning Job’s loyalty to God.

The word devour in 1 Peter 5:8 actually means to drink or swallow. So as the accuser or adversary of the brethren, Satan attempts by legal argument to swallow up believers.

By using our authority based on The New Covenant and the finished work of Jesus at the time of the crucifixion, Satan is no match for us from a legal standpoint.

An enemy, on the other hand, is someone who is coming against someone else to literally destroy them, such as in a military battle. An enemy is not defeated in a legal battle, but instead in a war battle, where each side is trying to kill the other side.

The devil is not trying to kill us but is rather trying to defeat us legally, which he could do under The Old Covenant, but cannot do under The New Covenant, unless we see ourselves as still under The Old Covenant.

So to give Satan any credit as an enemy, is to see ourselves as still under The Old Covenant.

Terminology matters, and to call Satan our enemy is perhaps one of the greatest hindrances to us being overcomers and advancing The Kingdom of God/Heaven on/in earth as in Heaven.

There is a fairly well-known prophetic person I follow who has understanding of the transition taking place in the Church and in the world, and of the adversity many believers are experiencing due to that transition.

Like many prophetic voices speaking out at this time, he is still advising those dealing with this adversity to stand against “the enemy,” instead of teaching them to rest in and trust in the Lord to see them through the transition and the adversity caused by the transition, which is not an attack from “the enemy” but instead a process we must go through in order to overcome.

Struggling with this transition and the adversity it causes is due to a wrong mindset and wrong terminology. I often say, our greatest enemy is not the devil but the thing that sits on our shoulders (our head/mind).

We overcome our adversary by knowing who we are in Christ Jesus and who He is in us. As He is, so are we in this world (see 1 John 4:17). Our adversary is no match for Jesus, and he is no match for us.

One more thing: Many interpret John 10:10 to be about the devil.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy…

A thorough study of the verses preceding and following John 10:10 makes it clear that the thief in this verse is not the devil/Satan but the hireling, who Jesus is comparing to the Pharisees.

If it is the devil who comes to steal, kill and destroy then he could be considered an enemy. But those who come to steal, kill and destroy were in Jesus time the Pharisees and in today’s Church are the clergy, who go by various titles.

In our next teaching we will look at the clergy/laity system so you can better understand my statement about the clergy.

Terminology Matters: Clergy/Laity

By Lanny Swaim

Matthew 12:36-37

I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

John 10:11-14

Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write… But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate (see also Revelation 2:15).

Revelation 2:1, 6

Who were the Nicolaitans Jesus spoke of twice in the letters to seven churches in Revelation?

In Greek, Nico means to conquer. Laitan has to do with the laity.

The deeds or doctrine of the Nicolaitans had to do with the clergy/laity system that had crept into the Church during the first century AD, and then became the foundation of The Roman Catholic Church in the fourth century.

The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century righted many of the wrongs of The Catholic Church but left intact the clergy/laity system, which is still very much alive in denominational and independent churches today.

Jesus said He hated that system. Not that He disliked it, or had some issues with it, but that He literally hated it. Strong language.

While I believe there are some clergy who have good intentions and genuinely love the so called laity, the whole system is wrong and therefore subject to abuse causing much damage to the laity, greatly hindering the spread of and even the understanding of the Gospel.

In my experience, even pastors (clergy) who have the best interest of their congregation at heart, see those in their congregation as their people, in some manner taking possession of them, when in reality they are the Lord’s people, and in no way, shape or form belong to the pastor.

In situations where the clergy is salaried by the church organization, they begin to see the people not only as their people but as their livelihood, which can lead to manipulation concerning tithes and offerings.

Pastor is one of the five-fold giftings mentioned in Ephesians 4:11 in the KJV of the Bible. The New Testament actually uses five different terms for the same function. The modern day church has made these terms to mean different functions or offices, but a thorough study of scripture reveals they are all the same. Those five terms are pastor, elder, bishop, shepherd and overseer. In our modern English, overseer is probably the best representation of this function.

Beginning with The Roman Catholic Church, other terminology came into existence as well; father, priest, pope, reverend, rector and perhaps others.

As a result, today most Christians have little if any understanding of the real function of an overseer, or any of the other five-fold giftings for that matter. Even those who see the need for apostles and prophets don’t really understand that they are functions or services to the Church, not positions of prominence or offices, and certainly not titles to put in front of someone’s name.

So in The New Testament Church there is no clergy or laity. We are all ministers with different anointings and functions, which are services to build up the entire Body of Christ.

The clergy/laity system (the practice of the Nicolaitans) is perhaps one of if not the most damaging aspect of the modern day church.

This has to be addressed and done away with in order to have a new reformation of the Church, which our Lord Jesus is going to have.

This is why more and more, a remnant of believers who are seeing The Kingdom of God/Heaven clearer than ever before, just cannot do church the way it has been done for centuries.

Actually, it isn’t about doing church at all. It is about gathering together as the Church, as the Lord reveals how to actually do that.

I am encouraged that more and more are seeing this. There was a time when very few were seeing it. But glory to God, that is changing as we enter the greatest spiritual awakening the world has ever known, which will be sustained by a new reformation of the Church.

Surely we were born for such a time as this!

Terminology Matters: Salvation

By Lanny Swaim

Matthew 12:36-37

If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

Romans 10:9-11

The Greek word for the English verb save is sozo. Sozo has to do with temporal deliverance from danger, lack, suffering, etc.

A good example of salvation (being saved) in The Old Testament is the deliverance of the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt. Their salvation had nothing to do with an afterlife, which the Hebrew people were not focused on, but instead was about their existence on Earth.

Modern Christianity has made the verb saved or the noun salvation a spiritual word, having to do with the afterlife instead of the here and now; a misuse of the word.

Often believers equate salvation with being born again (born from above). But Jesus told Nicodemus that a person must be born again to see the Kingdom of God (see John 3:3). Seeing the Kingdom has nothing to do with going to Heaven someday but instead is about seeing and understanding the Kingdom as it manifests on Earth.

In Luke 17:20-21 Jesus said that the Kingdom doesn’t come with observation but that it is within you (speaking to the Pharisees). But the Kingdom of God was not within the Pharisees. Within is a wrong translation. It should read among you.

The Pharisees were looking for a messiah to set up a political kingdom, and eventually the Gospel did change politics leading to the downfall of The Roman Empire. But initially the Kingdom had to be established spiritually in a people, who lived out their lives among others who were impacted by the Kingdom being manifested in and among a born again company (Christians).

I dare say that many Christians today who have experienced being born again are not seeing the Kingdom, or at least not seeing it very clear. Being able to see the Kingdom comes with maturity. Just like a baby is not born mature, Christians are not born again mature. The process of maturity is what enables us to see the Kingdom and understand it.

So it is with salvation.

In Romans 10:9 (above) the apostle Paul didn’t say that if you confess Jesus and believe that God raised Him from the dead you are saved. He said, “You shall be saved.”

Salvation only comes with maturity, and maturity is a process.

Salvation has nothing to do with an afterlife, but instead is about maturing in this life, enabling us to be useful in advancing the Kingdom of God/Heaven on Earth and in the world’s systems.

To say that when you were initially born again you got saved, just simply isn’t true.

It supports the idea that salvation has to do with being saved from Hell and going to Heaven, which it does not.

Salvation has everything to do with this life and nothing to do with an afterlife.

We have made the Gospel all about an afterlife, when actually it is about changing the world.

Again, terminology matters, and to misunderstand what salvation or being saved is changes the way the entire Bible reads and our whole approach to preaching the Gospel.

There is so much we’ve had wrong that we must get right, in order for the awakening that has begun to last and not be a fleeting revival like those of the past. That’s why terminology is an important part of the new reformation of the Church, which will sustain the awakening.

Terminology Matters: Take Care

By Lanny Swaim

Matthew 12:36-37

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Philippians 4:6

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

1 Peter 6-7

How often does someone say to you, “Take care,” or “Be careful?” Perhaps it is something you say to others.

Our society in The United States equates care with love, but care and love are two entirely different things.

The most literal definition of care is worry, anxiety, mental anguish, etc.

So when someone says, “Take care” or “Be careful (full of care),” they are telling you to entertain worry, anxiety, mental anguish, etc. All these things are extremely stressful, and even the medical profession will tell you that stress is a killer.

So when someone tells me to take care or be careful, I want to say, “No thank you.”

Usually I simply speak a blessing to them, such as, “Have a good day.” I’m sure they don’t realize they have just spoken a curse to me, which I don’t accept. I know they mean well so I don’t confront them, but I do believe there needs to be teaching on the importance of using right terminology, which is why I have written this and other articles on terminology.

Words matter and words carry power. God spoke the cosmos into existence with words. If our desire is to advance the Kingdom, our conversation should line up with that mission.

Tithes & Offerings

By Lanny Swaim

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

2 Corinthians 9:7

Nowhere is tithing taught in The New Testament, and yet, it is taught in many church meetings as well as by ministries independent of church organizations.

Pastors often teach that a tithe (10%) of your income belongs to the local church you attend, and ministers of various independent ministry organizations teach that a tithe of your income belongs wherever you are being fed spiritually. Isn’t it interesting that what these leaders teach benefits the organization they are dependent on for a salary? While some of these pastors and ministers may actually believe what they are teaching and may mean well, in reality this is nothing more than manipulation, because it just cannot be found in The New Testament.

As a young Christian, wanting to do the right thing but having questions about tithing, I asked the Lord, “How much of the money in my wallet belongs to you?”

Very quickly He answered me and said, “All of it.”

We are in covenant with God. Therefore, everything we have and everything we are belongs to Him. By the same token, everything He has and everything He is now belongs to us.

You can’t give God something that is already His. Some believers use the term, pay your tithes. It’s ludicrous to think you can pay God anything.

Should we be givers? Absolutely. But we should give whatever we purpose in our hearts to give according to 2 Corinthians 9:7 (above), and I should add, as we are led by the Spirit to give.

I want to be a blessing to others, but there are many ways to bless others. Finances is only one way.

Some teach that tithing was instituted before the law, and therefore, while we are not under the law to tithe, we should tithe anyway. To support this view they use the story of Abraham tithing to Melchisedec from the spoils of a battle he had fought and won.

But this was a one-time thing that Abraham did, and it doesn’t institute anything. To teach that because Abraham tithed out of the spoils of battle we should tithe 10% of our income, is pure manipulation.

Tithing is an Old Testament legal matter, and as Gentile believers we were never under the law anyway.

When pastors attempt to coerce believers to give to a local church organization, they are asking them to give to a system that is unscriptural, born out of religious tradition and not ordained by God.

Imagine if all the money that goes to keeping up church property and paying salaries to leadership that is not scriptural either, was given to missions and to the poor, how much more the Gospel of the Kingdom would be advanced.

When Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis to the church house door in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517, he was pointing out 95 things The Roman Catholic Church taught that were unscriptural. What I have attempted to do with these Kingdom Manna teachings is point out a few things that the modern church, for the most part, is doing that are also unscriptural.

There are things we have to get right if there is going to be a new reformation of the Church. The Protestant Reformation of around 500 years ago only took the Church so far. If the Church is going to be completed/perfected, we have to get it 100% right.

Jesus is going to present the Church to Himself a glorious Church, without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing, holy and without blemish (see Ephesians 5:27).

So get it right we will. He is going to see to it. And it will happen during this seventh day (millennium) of/since creation, which is the third day of the Church.

Amen (so be it).

Festivals, Celebrations & Holy Days

By Lanny Swaim

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Colossians 2:16-17

One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

Romans 14:5

And it came to pass, that he [Jesus] went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

Mark 2:23-24, 27-28

I have received of the Lord that which I also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew thee Lord’s death till he come.

1 Corinthians 11:-26

Keeping the Sabbath is one of The Ten Commandments, but under the laws of Moses there are numerous other Sabbaths as well. In addition to and included in Sabbaths are The Feasts of God, the three main feasts or festivals being Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, with seven total feasts.

While the Hebrew people in The Old Testament were commanded to observe these holy days, in The New Testament we find the fulfillment of these holy days, which were prophetic and actually rehearsals of things to come; the meaning of shadows in Colossians 2:17 (above).

We are now entering into the seventh day (millennium/see 2 Peter 3:8), which is the Sabbath that all the Sabbaths of the law point the way to. It is the Sabbath rest that the writer of Hebrews prophesied about (see Hebrews 4:9).

Jesus was the first prophetic fulfillment of The Feasts of God, being born during Tabernacles and crucified on Passover, with the Holy Spirit coming on Pentecost. During the past 2000 years (The Church Age) we have to a degree experienced the second prophetic fulfillment of Passover and Pentecost, and as we enter into this seventh day of/since creation, which is the third day of the Church (The Kingdom Age), we are beginning to experience Tabernacles.

There is an entire book on this subject on this website, which can be read free of charge.

Since we are actually living the fulfillment of the holy days the Hebrew people were commanded to observe in The Old Testament, there is really no need to observe or celebrate them in The New Testament Church. Paul informs us that if we choose to continue to observe them it’s okay to do so, but we are not commanded to keep them.

Personally, as I am becoming more and more aware of the reality that we are living out the fulfilment of the holy days, I have no desire to rehearse what is now happening.

However, there is one ceremonial observance The New Testament Church should keep. We often refer to it as communion. The significance of communion, or The Lord’s Supper as it is also called, is that is supersedes and makes unnecessary the observance of all the holy days celebrated under The Old Covenant (Testament).

So, to remember the Lord’s death is to realize that The Old Testament holy days have been and continue to be fulfilled, and that the observance of those days were only types and shadows, or rehearsals of our present experience.

The fact that Jesus told us to partake of Communion or The Lord’s Supper as often as we will, indicates the continual and eternal reality of His sacrifice on the cross, which far outweighs keeping specific days or periods of time.

One more thing: After the Roman Emperor Constantine made it legal to be a Christian in The Roman Empire, he called The Council of Nicea in AD 325, in an effort to doctrinally unify The Catholic Church.

Constantine was anti-Semitic, and considered The Feasts of God to be Jewish feasts, so he outlawed the observance of the feasts, Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, replacing them with Easter, Lent and Christmas.

I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t celebrate these man-made holidays, but you should at least understand that they originated out of anti-Semitism. They also incorporate certain pagan practices.

Just something to think about.

The important thing is not whether or not we celebrate certain holy days (holidays), but that we realize the prophetic significance of the Sabbaths and festivals (feasts) of the law. Without that understanding, we will misinterpret much of the Bible.

Hidden Ministry

By Lanny Swaim

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operation, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

James 5:16

As we have studied in previous Kingdom Manna teachings, there is no clergy/laity system in The New Testament Church. We are all ministers with various anointings.

It’s important that we recognize what our giftings are and exactly what it is we are anointed to do. We also must be led of the Spirit as to how and when we are to operate in those giftings.

While some functions in The New Testament Church are more visible, such as what is often referred to as the five-fold ministry (see Ephesians 4:11), the less visible functions are of no less importance.

Even some of the functions of the five-fold are not what we see them doing, but rather what is done in secret or perhaps one on one instead of addressing a group.

As an apostle, I have realized that much of what I do is prayerful intercession during the night. I also spend quite a bit of time on the phone or meeting in person with individuals.

Much of my ministry is more visible, but the visible ministry is of no more importance that the hidden ministry.

There are perhaps many in The Body of Christ whose ministry is entirely hidden for the most part, but you should never consider your ministry to be of less importance than the more visible ministries.

Winston Churchill had a gift to encourage the people of England during the bleak days of WWII. In 1942 he addressed a conference of coal mine operators and miners in Westminster’s Central Hall. His speech that day didn’t seem to be exceptional until he reached the end of it. He said, “We shall not fail, and then someday, when children ask, ‘What did you do to win this inheritance for us, and to make our name so respected among men?’ One will say. ‘I was a fighter pilot’; another will say: ‘I was in the Submarine Service’ ; another: ‘I marched with the Eight Army’ ; a fourth will say: ‘None of you could have lived without the convoys and the Merchant Seamen’ ; and you in turn will say, with equal pride and with equal right: ‘We cut the coal.’”

The miners who provided coal for the war effort were just as important as those who fought on the front lines.

So it is with The Body of Christ.

No one is of less importance than another, and it takes us all to advance The Kingdom of God. We all have different spiritual gifts and we all have various functions in society.

The one who intercedes, the one who gives finances, is every bit as important as the one on the stage, TV screen or Internet.

And while many are not that well known, the Lord sees and rewards according to our obedience and faithfulness.

Several years ago I was at a Full Gospel Business Men’s weekend in South Carolina. I was the worship leader for all the services that weekend. As a worship leader, I was known in certain circles such as Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship, but I was unknown nationally or internationally as were some worship leaders.

The meetings took place at a 4-H camp that was closed down for the winter, and usually we slept two men to a room. However, this year there was evidently an odd number of men attending, and I had a room to myself.

On Friday night before going to bed, the Lord spoke to me and told me to get up at 6:30 the following morning. I assumed He probably wanted me to spend some time praying before breakfast. I started to set my clock for 6:30 when I heard Him say, “Don’t set a clock. I’ll get you up.” So I didn’t set my clock and went to bed.

The door to my room wouldn’t lock, so just in case someone maybe came into my room by mistake, I sat a chair in front of the door.

I was awakened at 6:30 the next morning to the sound of footsteps coming into my room, but the door hadn’t opened and the chair hadn’t moved.

Immediately, I knew this person coming into my room was Jesus.

I was lying on my side, facing the wall. Why I didn’t turn over and look at Him I have no idea, but I didn’t.

He sat down on my bed with His back to mine. He then leaned into my back and I pushed back, leaning into His. We did that a second time and then a third. Why, I don’t know.

Then He started to speak. He was talking in a language I couldn’t understand. His words had a very kind quality to them but also great authority. He went on for a period of time until I became frustrated that I couldn’t understand Him.

With a bit of an attitude I interrupted Him and said, “Lord, what are you saying? I can’t understand you.”

He stopped and gently said, “You’ve promoted me.”

I asked, “Lord, how have I promoted you?”

Suddenly He was gone.

Then I heard that still small voice inside that I have come to recognize as His. He said, “Now I’m going to promote you.” And He has, and continues to.

I realized that every time I lead praise and worship I promote Him. As my ministry has grown to include other giftings, they all promote Him, just as whatever ministries He has you operating in promote Him as well. And if you remain faithful to your calling(s), He will promote you.

Does that mean you’ll become famous? Maybe, maybe not. Whether you do become famous or not is unimportant. What is important is that you operate in your giftings in obedience to Him, and He will promote you as is necessary for success in whatever He has called and anointed you to do.

Who Satan is Not

By Lanny Swaim

I have Quaker ancestry on both sides of my family. Recently I attended a Quaker meeting and before the meeting, I met the pastor for the first time. As we were briefly getting acquainted, he told me he had grown up a Universalist. I asked him how a Universalist becomes a Quaker pastor. He didn’t really answer my question but then told me that between being a Universalist and a Quaker, for a while he had been involved in a Pentecostal church. He then told me that the reason he left the Pentecostal church was because they focused on and talked about the devil more than God. I nodded in agreement with him but the meeting was about to start and our conversation ended there.

We give the devil too much credit. Jesus either defeated him at the time of the crucifixion or He did not.

Some scripture is misinterpreted or mistranslated to mean Satan or the devil when in fact it is not about him at all. While the entire Bible is true, not all of it can be taken literally. Much of it is written as allegory (a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one), as metaphor (a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable), or as a parable (much of Jesus’ teaching was in parables).

Also some scripture has been mistranslated, changed or added to.

Matthew 17:21 is a good example of this. In the two verses preceding verse 21 the disciples came to Jesus because they were unable to cast a demon out of someone, asking Him why they were unsuccessful. In verse 20 He told them they were unable to cast the demon out because of their unbelief. Then in verse 21 the KJV says:

Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

However, verse 21 is not in the oldest manuscripts. Somewhere along the way, it was added.

Casting out demons does not require prayer and fasting, it only requires belief.

We can’t just read the Bible, we must study the Bible.

Satan is not Lucifer or the Anointed Cherub:

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

Isaiah 14:12-15

That thou [Israel] shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon…

Isaiah 14:4 (emphasis added)

Isaiah 14:4 sets the stage for the rest of the chapter, especially 14:12-15.

Verse 4 makes it clear that this chapter is about the king of Babylon, who at that time was Nebuchadnezzar. It is not about Satan, as has been taught by many people for many years.

Lucifer in verse twelve is translated from the Hebrew for light-bringer or shining one. The translators of the Latin Vulgate made up the proper name Lucifer and the King James translators didn’t change it. Other translations ran with it as well.

This is the only place in the Bible that the proper name, Lucifer, appears. It was never Satan’s name, but instead a made up name.

People who believe Satan was once an angel named Lucifer tend to believe he was also at one time an angel in Heaven, and base that belief on Ezekiel 28:14-15:

Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

Verse 13 describes him as being in Eden, and verse 12 tells us who this person was.

Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. (emphasis added)

There are several reasons why this portion of scripture cannot be about Satan.

The prophecy is historically accurate and applies to events that happened in Ezekiel’s time.
The prophecy is addressed to the king of Tyrus (Tyre), not to Satan.
The king of Tyre is referred to as the anointed cherub who covers. Satan is never referred to anywhere in the Bible as a cherub.
There is no evidence in the Bible that Satan ever tried to become like God or exalt his throne above God’s throne.
Even further back in the 28th chapter of Ezekiel in verse 2, we are clearly told that this chapter is about the king of Tyre and not about Satan.

Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God. (emphasis added)

Satan is not the thief:

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy…

John 10:10 (emphasis added)

A thorough study of the verses preceding and following John 10:10 makes it clear that the thief in this verse is not the devil/Satan but the hireling, who Jesus is comparing to the Pharisees.

I’m not saying that all the clergy teaches a false gospel, but many do, emphasizing The Old Covenant rather than The New Covenant.

Satan is not our enemy:

Nowhere in scripture is the devil/Satan referred to as the enemy. Peter calls him our adversary (see 1 Peter 5:8) but I’ve searched and can’t find anywhere in the Bible where he is actually called our enemy.

…your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour…

1 Peter 5:8 (emphasis added)

While adversary and enemy are similar in meaning, they are not exactly the same. Adversary is primarily a legal term. Satan is the accuser (adversary) of the brethren (see Revelation 12:10). In Job we find him coming before God questioning Job’s loyalty to God.

The word devour in 1 Peter 5:8 actually means to drink or swallow. So as the accuser or adversary of the brethren, Satan attempts by legal argument to swallow up believers.

By using our authority based on The New Covenant and the finished work of Jesus at the time of the crucifixion, Satan is no match for us from a legal standpoint.

An enemy, on the other hand, is someone who is coming against someone else to literally destroy or kill them, such as in a military battle. An enemy is not defeated in a legal battle, but instead in a war battle, where each side is trying to kill the other side.

The devil is not trying to kill us outright even though John 8:44 calls him a murderer, but is rather trying to defeat us legally, which he could do under The Old Covenant, but cannot do under The New Covenant, unless we see ourselves as still under The Old Covenant. So the only way he can kill us is to deceive us, as he did Eve.

So to give Satan any credit as an enemy, is to see ourselves as still under The Old Covenant.

Terminology matters, and to call Satan our enemy is perhaps one of the greatest hindrances to us being overcomers and advancing The Kingdom of God/Heaven on/in earth as in Heaven.

Satan is not the god of the earth:

The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

Psalm 24:1

2 Corinthians 4:4 speaks of the god of this world, speaking of the evil world system, not the earth itself.

The world system will eventually line up with God’s ownership of the earth.

Where did Satan come from:

Satan was never an angel in Heaven named Lucifer, and therefore was never cast out of Heaven. When Jesus said in Luke 10:18 that He saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven, He was simply referring to the fact that the disciples had overcome him by using the authority Jesus had invested in them.

God created Satan to be the devil.

Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.

Isaiah 54:16

No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is on me, saith the LORD.

Isaiah 54:17

I form light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Isaiah 45:7

Without Satan and evil to come against us, there would be nothing to overcome. When we overcome, the process of overcoming does a work in us making us like God in character, which cannot be created but must be developed.

Satan and evil are God’s instrument to mature us. God created Satan to be the waster that destroys that which is not of Him, not the individuals who operate in that which is not of Him.

Satan is God’s agent, kept on a short leash, to mature/perfect/complete us for such a time as this!

Smith Wigglesworth was a great healing evangelist in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. One of my favorite stories about him is that one night he was awakened to find Satan himself standing in the corner of his bedroom. Wigglesworth said, “Oh, it’s only you.” He then turned over and went back to sleep.

I’ve spent much of my life as a Christian fighting Satan, not realizing he has no authority over me, and therefore is no threat to me.

Again, he is either defeated or not. And I can assure you, he is defeated.

Because he is defeated, we are not fighting for victory, we are reigning with Jesus from the position of victory.

Amen.