Where in the bible does it say Satan was an angel in the beginning?

Answer 1

In Isaiah 14:12-15 & Ezekiel 28:12-15 Satan was an angel, he was then called Lucifer, and he was then a proud archangel who tried to replace God in a coup but failed, so he and his followers were "kicked out" of heaven. Isa 14:12-15, Eze 28:12-15.

Isaiah 14

12 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!

13 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:

14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit

Ezekiel 28

12 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.

13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

14 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.

15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

Answer 2

The Bible does not explicitly say that Satan was an archangel, but it does say he may have been a cherub, and in Isaiah 14:12-15 there is a direct reference to his status.

Another answer:

Much is not said about Satan... but certain biblical evidence implies that he was given "high ranking" among the angels of God in the beginning; a high position of power and authority within God's Government that he perverted, corrupted and betrayed God.

"I ordained and anointed you as THE MIGHTY ANGELIC GUARDIAN. You had access to the Holy Mountain of God [inter-governmental authority] and walked among the stones of fire. You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day EVIL WAS FOUND IN YOU. Your great wealth [position of authority] filled you with violence, AND YOU SINNED. So I banished you from the Mountain of God. I expelled you, O Mighty Guardian, from your place among the stones of fire... So I threw you to the earth and exposed you to the curious gaze of kings..." (Ezek.28:14-17 NLT New Living Translation)

The [KJV] says of verse 14: "Thou art THE ANOINTED CHERUB [{ker'-oob}, angel] THAT COVERETH; and I have set thee so...".

And in verse 16: "...I will destroy thee, O COVERING CHERUB...".

To get a glimpse of what a "covering cherub" does within God's Government; further biblical evidence points to the gold-plated Ark of the Covenant that God commanded the Israelites to construct -- specifically, ITS LID.

Upon the lid was formed, and sat, the Mercy Seat... which represented the THRONE upon which the FATHER IN HEAVEN sits and rules the universe.

"...thou shalt make a Mercy Seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof." (Ex.25:17 KJV)

[NLT]: "Then make the Ark's cover - the Place of Atonement - out of pure gold...".

[LVB - Living Bible]: "And make a lid of pure gold, 3 and 3/4 feet long and 2 and 1/4 feet wide. This is the Place of Mercy for your sins."

And on either side of "God's Throne" [Mercy Seat] upon the Ark's lid... STANDING AT THE VERY THRONE OF GOD... God commanded: "And thou shalt make TWO CHERUBIMS of gold... in the two ends of the Mercy Seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end... and the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, COVERING THE MERCY SEAT with their wings, and their faces shall look to one another; toward the Mercy Seat shall the faces of the cherubims be." (verses 18-20)

This is strong biblical evidence that these TWO COVERING CHERUBS were powerful ARCHANGELS... trusted and anointed by God to protect His throne from [potential enemies, perhaps?]... who knows what.

And we have already read in Ezekiel, that Lucifer [Satan] was ONE OF THOSE TWO COVERING CHERUBS. And it was he who treacherously betrayed that vaunted position at the top of God's Government.

Was the other archangel "Michael?"

Further evidence tells us that the archangel Michael has an army of angels at his command. An army which, long ago, fought against another angelic army commanded by Satan, the Dragon:

"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the Dragon; and the Dragon fought and his angels." (Rev.12:7 KJV)

[NLT]: "Then there was war in heaven. Michael and the angels under his command fought the Dragon and his angels."

Is it reasonable to assume if the named "archangel" in the Bible, Michael [see Dan.12:1; New Living Translation], has command of an army of angels... that the Dragon, whose wings once covered God's throne, and who also has command of angels, is also an archangel?

It's not stated definitively in the Bible... but the evidence is there. As mentioned at the start... the Bible doesn't provide a lot of details regarding Satan's previous role in God's Government. Only that he betrayed his Creator sometime in the beginning. The details seem to be a matter of discussion for another day:

"...a wooden chest called the Ark of the Covenant, which was covered with gold on all sides... The glorious cherubim were above the Ark. Their wings were stretched out over the Ark's cover, the Place of Atonement. But WE CANNOT EXPLAIN ALL OF THESE THINGS NOW." (Heb.9:4-5 NLT)

The Bible doesn't say it outright... but biblical evidence "strongly suggests" that Satan was once a trusted guardian archangel who attended to his duties in God's Government at the very throne of God.

Answer 3

It appears from Isaiah 6:2 that seraphim were thought of as creatures of fire (seraph means 'burn'), with six wings. Nowhere in the Bible is Satan called a seraph.

Answer 4

The bible says he can appear as an angel. He wasn't an angel.