Lucifer the Fire-Bringer

Prometheus was a sort of folk hero in Greek Myth, the patron of man. He is known for trying to thwart the all powerful Zeus on behalf of mankind. There are of course, more than one version of the story and many ways to interpret those stories. My intent is not a discourse on Greek Classics, but rather a far more important theme: Fire.

While Prometheus did several things to aid man to the detriment of Zeus, it is his theft of fire for which he is best known. However, the theft came at the tail end of a series of events wherein Prometheus tried to usurp Zeus as the God of man.

It was Prometheus who first gave man fire, which could be summed up by a Greek as gnosis, sophia, and techne, when he saw that they lacked "good" qualities like claws, fur, wings etc.

When Zeus instituted a sacrificial meal, to be a settling of accounts between mortals and immortals, Prometheus attempted to undermine Zeus.

Knowing that whatever happened at this, the first settlement, would set president for all future settlements, Prometheus tried to trick Zeus into accepting a worthless sacrifice so that man would have an easy time. Zeus was not fooled by Prometheus's deception, having already decided that man could keep and eat the meat, and he went along with it. However, Prometheus's attempted usurpation greatly angered Zeus and he hid fire from man.

Prometheus then stole fire from the sun and gave it to mankind, imbuing them with knowledge. It was in response to this act that caused Zeus to banish Prometheus and "punish" man by sending Pandora, the first woman. With her came a box, containing all the evils in the world, that was bound to be opened sooner or later. When it was opened they came out, hunger, sickness, war, sorrow etc., leaving only one thing trapped inside by the time it was closed. Later, when Pandora opened it a second time Hope came into the world.

Arguably, Prometheus's rebellion was totally unnecessary because he simply played into Zeus's hand. Zeus was not opposed to giving man fire, indeed, if he took it once he could have taken it twice. The most valuable gift mankind received was not the fire the Prometheus stole, but the hope that came to man through a woman. If Prometheus had his way, man would have been alone in a warm but hopeless world.

With the story of Prometheus in mind, we see the sad tale of Lucifer, Son of the Morning, a bit more clearly. Here we have a lesser being, Lucifer, trying first to replace God the Father, then undermine him and finally replace him as the God of Man.

When God revealed his plan to send his spirit children to earth to test and progress them on their path to godhood, it was revealed that not all would make it. Lucifer, a Son of the Morning, boldly declared that he had a much better plan. If he were in charge he could guarantee 100% success, all would ascend and be perfected. He came up with a "better" plan, and felt he was entitled to take the place of God because clearly he was superior to God.

At this point I am going to leave Greek myth and deal with the Devil. I think it is important to ponder on what Lucifer was thinking. It is clear, from his final demand "give me thine honor" that he was a lesser being than God. For if they were equals then why did he need the "honor" of a god to proceed? Surely then he knew that a coup was risky.

What then is the "honor" of Godhood? Scripture tells us that the glory of God is intelligence. It would seem then that the Honor of God is the secrets of the universe, that enable one to be all powerful and all knowing. It was this that Lucifer most desired, the ultimate power. He knew that there was risk in God's plan because souls would be placed on Earth to be truly tested and not all would be found worthy. To assure his ascension, he took the populist rout and tried to dethrone God by making wild promises to the assembly of angels. This use of force to acquire power when patience and worthiness was required, but lacking, is very reminiscent of the fellow-craftsmen who killed Hiram Abiff in trying to obtain the Master's Word.

Then there came the voice of another, saying, "Father, thy will be done and the glory be thine forever." The two paths were very, very different, one required only the dissemination of knowledge, the other demanded a high degree of spiritual development and personal sacrifice. Where the difference is most pronounced though is between the role of the "Savior" of each plan. For Lucifer, he would get great personal gain with almost no work. For Jesus, it would exact an unimaginable toll at Golgotha.

This sparked the war in heaven, with a full third of the spirits putting their trust in Lucifer to exalt them. However, the expulsion of Lucifer and his followers was the beginning, not the end, of the war. When Adam and Eve were sent to earth they forgot all that they knew in the old world, becoming innocent. In this state they walked and talked with God on a regular basis. Seeing that fire had been taken from man by God, Lucifer saw a second chance to usurp and become ruler of man by breaking their connection with God and assuming the role of their teacher and savior.

We see this clearly from the manner in which Lucifer convinced the Serpent, previously a guardian for Eve, to convince Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit. The Lie, the Great, but appealing, Lie is that knowledge and power make one a god and it is through the acquisition of power, not faith through obedience that exalts.

It was only as a result of the necessary fall of Adam and Eve that Christ and the Atonement could come into the world. Prior to the Fall Adam and Eve could not have children, the central element of God's Plan of Salvation. In their innocent state in the Garden of Eden they would have remained forever, indeed, we have no idea how long they were in the garden before the fall, it could have been a day, it could have been 10,000,000 years, we don't know.

What we do know is that it was after and in consequence of the fall that the law of sacrifice was given as a reminder that the "seed of the woman" (Christ) would eventually crush the head of the serpent Lucifer.

The final question: Is what Lucifer did, in bringing about the Fall wrong, given that the work of God was enabled to go forth because of it? Yes, because of why he did it. It was done to frustrate the work of God, bringing about the eternal life and immortality of man, by breaking their connection with God and damning their souls to enhance his own power and standing. Just because God salvaged things doesn't make it ok.

In the final analysis then, the fault of Satan is that he is blinded by his own mad grab for power, seeking it to the detriment of all others and everything else in the universe, it is his single minded, all consuming quest for Fire.