17 And I, Lehi, according to the things which I have read, must needs suppose that an angel of God, according to that which is written, had fallen from heaven; wherefore, he became a devil, having sought that which was evil before God.
Lehi uses a couple of words or expressions in this verse that
I find interesting in this discussion. The first is the reference to “an angel
of God.” Isaiah calls this angel of God “Lucifer, son of the morning,” which
writing Lehi obviously had on the brass plates (see Isaiah 14: 12 (12–15)).
What a name of promise! In the morning we have a fresh start with nothing but
potential ahead of us. Such was Lucifer, “who was in authority in the presence
of God” (D&C 76: 25). He was respected and loved by the Father so that he
had enough authority to bring forward a different plan of salvation in opposition
to God’s own, which gave us Jesus Christ as our Savior. So yes, he was an angel
of God, and not always considered a devil.
Which brings me to the second term I find interesting, “a devil,” as opposed to “the devil.” According to my dictionary
(Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 1997) the term “devil” traces its
roots back to a Greek word, diaballein,
which means to slander, to literally, “throw across.” Slander is a specific
kind of lie intended to damage another person’s character or reputation. We
don’t know the details of the War in Heaven, but we know Lucifer sought to
usurp God’s glory and position through means that he could not deliver, as
discussed in earlier entries. So being one in authority before God, Lucifer had
influence and became The Devil,
Satan, who leads all the other devils. Thus Lucifer fell from his position of
authority and was cast out of Father’s presence for rebellion.
- 2 Nephi 9:8
- D&C 29: 36–38
- D&C 76: 25–27
- Moses 4: 3 (3–4)
- Abraham 3: 28 (27–28)
