Morning Star

Someone from my Sunday School wanted to know about the term “morning star” in Scripture. Here is what my study has shown me thus far. The phrase shows up four times in the NIV. Isaiah 14:12 uses the term:
ISA 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven,
O morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!

This is traditionally taught to represent Satan’s fall from heaven before creation. Traditionally, this is taken and paired with Luke 10:18, “He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”

However, if you read the Isaiah passage in context (try reading 14:3-14:24), you will clearly see that this passage is about megalomaniacal king of Babylon. There is nothing there to make you think Isaiah is referring to anybody else. The stuff about falling from heaven is something you might say about someone who thought they were a god, who thought they were immortal.

And I don’t think it is fair to tie it to the Luke passage. If you take that passage in context, Jesus is not saying, “Once upon a time Satan lived in heaven with God, but sinned and got kicked out.” All he is saying is that Satan’s authority is cracking or has cracked, now that even Christ’s followers can dismiss demons.

The other three uses of Morning Star are in the NT (2 Peter 2:28, Rev. 2:28, 22:16) and refer to Jesus (with the possible exception of Rev. 2:28, which may refer to some blessing the church receives in eternity that is not Jesus himself). I should note that the Greek term for morning star in Peter and Rev. are not the same. This breaks down the idea that “Morning Star” is an important theme throughout Scripture.

In summary, the king of Babylon may have thought of himself as the Morning Star, but it is Jesus whose light breaks up the darkness of night to introduce a new day.

I hope this answers your questions.