Where did the idea of 1/3rd of heaven turning against God come from?

I was just wondering where the story of 1/3rd of heaven waging war against God, with Satan as the leader came from... to my knowledge it isn't mentioned one time in the holy bible, so where did it come from?

It is my understanding that the story comes from Revelations. But I believe the version most people are familiar with is in Milton's story of Paradise Lost. At least that's were I first heard the story.

Your question definitely has my interest. Anyone know for sure?



B

Paradise Lost - Milton



[edit on 10/31/04 by Bleys]

Revelation 12:3-4

"And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth..."

Satan representing the red dragon and the stars representing other angelic beings drawn away from their assigned posts.

Jude 6

"And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgement of the great day."

2 Peter 2:4

"For God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell (or Tartarus -A prison only for the gods in Greek mythology), and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgement."

Nothing there that really refers to any war between 1/3 of heaven and God.

"And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth..."

I've read a few interpretations of this one:

1. A third of the earth will be covered in cloud/smoke/dust so that the stars will be blotted out in those regions affected.

2. The entire globe will be covered in cloud/smoke/dust, enough to reduce sunlight and visible stars by a third, both during the day and during the night.

3. The falling stars are missiles coming down to earth, only the afterburn of which is visible against a night sky, thus making them look like falling stars.

"And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgement of the great day."

Popular interpretation says these are the host of angels which rebelled with Lucifer and that they were cast out with him. They became demons and devils.They are no longer part of heaven nor angels.

"For God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell (or Tartarus -A prison only for the gods in Greek mythology), and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgement."

Again, these were angels that were cast out of heaven in the past.


Edit: BBCode

[edit on 2004/10/31 by wecomeinpeace]

What kind of weapons was the war fought with....? Just curious.

Check out the "Book of Enoch"!

BTW - the "Fall of Lucifer" story is a Metaphor. It is the same as the
"Original Sin" in which Adam & Eve were Cast out of the Garden of Eden. Yes is was a "Serpent" that made the Suggestion that Eve eat of the
"Tree of Knowledge". Apparently God does not Like Dis-Obedience or to take No for an Answer.

Whether it's a metaphor or not is a moot point. The point is that the angels which were cast out and are not angels and not part of heaven, and therefore there could not be 1/3 of heaven having a war with the rest.

King James Version
Revelation 12:9
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Isiah 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!

Luke 10:18
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

Originally posted by wecomeinpeace
Whether it's a metaphor or not is a moot point. The point is that the angels which were cast out and are not angels and not part of heaven, and therefore there could not be 1/3 of heaven having a war with the rest.

Well, I guess you are wrong.

In the Book of Revelation, a star is a metaphor for an angel.

"The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven lampstands which thou sawest are the seven churches." (Rev 1:20)

That means that the 1/3 of the stars are angels.

You have to let the Bible interpret itself! "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation." (2Peter 1:20)

two questions. is satan an angel ???? Jesus Christ the Messiah (which means king of the jews AND king of ALL creation) said that when he comes he will separate the goats from the sheep and he will say to the goats "DEPART FROM ME you that are Cursed to the FIRE prepared (meaning especially created for ) the DEVIL AND HIS ANGELS" please note the seperate context of "devil" and angels. satan is not just an angel he must be something higher if he has his "own" angels (those that chose him over God and still to this day war against every man and God) its pretty hard to find out the truth about a thing that is called the FATHER OF LIES and pure evil. the devil is only mentioned a few times in the bible, the main point seems to be that he wants us to worship him instead of God and that in the end his doom cometh and does not wait, he will have no rest or peace and will suffer eternal torment, basically because he seriously messed with God and God doesnt take prisoners!

another important question is WHEN not WHAT. WHEN did satan fall? has it happened? Jesus said he beheld satan fall from heaven like lightning BUT was he speaking of something that had happened or something that he had FORESEEN being the only holy son of God. Genesis speak of the serpent being cursed but not of satan falling. later in the bible like in zecharia we read about satan even being in heaven in a court accusing people before God. thats basically what the devil is, the ACCUSER.. any and every mistake you make he will be the advocate trying to condemn you to hell (even though he himself has never as of yet tasted the fire) whereas JESUS is the great advocate for his people, so Jesus is also like a lawyer in the courts in heaven standing in the place for those who the devil wants to condemn.

also intersting to read about is the time before the flood, angels laid with women producing giants, so there was some form of fall of angelic hosts at that time aswell.

the most important realisation is that God truely is the LORD and there is none before him, God has USED satan from the very beginning for HIS purposes. it is GODS WILL that reigns over all creation NOT the devils. the way i see it is satan turned from God in a way that he would never repent or turn back to God, satan has had power that was GIVEN TO HIM FROM GOD and this power he still holds, HOWEVER God sits above satan and USES satan ..yes even the evil one...to fullfill his plans and objectives. satan has 7000 yrs of judgement hanging over him ..and it will hit when he least expects it. thats what God has done...he has let it ride.....let it continue.....let his anger come to its fullest before he wipes satan and sin from the universe once and for all.

those that make it in the end of the end...who escape the fire are those who have a TESTIMONY of what God through Jesus has done for them...so they could literally stand in a courtroom and speak of how Jesus died for them on the cross and saved them and how he delievered them many times in their lives....but people who are willing to do that ( SAINTS ) do NOT fear death...thats a major point... that a person must be willing to LOSE his life
and not LOVE HIS OR HER LIFE TO THE DEATH!

FINALLY!!! sure the devil took 1/3 of the angels......but they werent THE ANGELS you should fear. is it not written that immediatly after those days the SON OF MAN will come in the clouds with great POWER and AUTHORITY with HIS MIGHTY ANGELS???? "behold a KING *jesus* shall RULE in RIGHTEOUSNESS and princes *jesus's angels/saints* shall RULE in JUDGEMENT!"

Quote: "DEPART FROM ME you that are Cursed to the FIRE prepared (meaning especially created for ) the DEVIL AND HIS ANGELS".

And just what passage is this from in the Bible Exactly? Yeah I thought so!
Also - Please refrain from inserting your "Meaning" into the Bible.
People are allowed to interpret Scripture as they wish!!!

OK, For the LAST Time -> LUCIFER is NOT SATAN - different Mythologies - different References. What do you MORONS not understand about a Latin "Mis-Translation"?!!!!

Lucifer is the Bright Morning Star = Venus.
He is the Seraphim ANGELos (= Messenger from Heaven) Helel/Azazel!!!

He stands for FREE WILL!!! Do you honestly believe that being a "Christian" merely means to be a
ZOMBIE SLAVE SHEEP with no Mind of your own? Well then - I would rather be the GOAT!!!


[edit on 31-10-2004 by Seraphim_Serpente]