18 Ugly Names of Lucifer and How to fight them by a believer

18 Ugly Names of Lucifer and How to fight them by a believer

Disclaimer: The information in this article is based on material found in the book “Spiritual Weapons to Defeat the Enemy” by Rick Renner.

All church scholars, past and present, agree that we have an adversary who hates the gospel, detests the presence of the Church, and is working to discredit the message of Jesus Christ. Instead of hiding from this foe, we must look to the Scripture, to see what the Bible has to say about him. His entrance into the life of a believer is given primarily by way of negligence, as he slips through an uncommitted, unrenewed area of the mind and then begins to work against the mind and with the flesh of the saints.

There are many names, symbols and types for the devil throughout the Old and New Testaments. These names, symbols and types reveal different facets of the devil’s nature and operation. He is known as:

Abaddon (Revelation 9:11)
Accuser (Revelation 12:10)
Adversary (1 Peter 5:8)
Angel of Light (2 Corinthians 11:14)
Apollyon (Revelation 9:11)
Beelzebub (Matthew 10:25; 12:24)
Belial (2 Corinthians 6:15)
Devil (Ephesians 6:11; 1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 12:9)
Dragon (Revelation 12:9)
Evil One (Matthew 6:13)
Murderer (John 8:44)
Prince of this world (John 12:31)
Prince of demons (Matthew 9:34, RSV)
Prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2)
Roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8)
 Satan (Luke 10:18)
Serpent (Revelation 12:9)
Wicked One (Matthew 13:19,38; Ephesians 6:16; 1 John 2:13,14) 

These names, symbols and types of Satan can be divided into four categories:

(1) Satan’s Destructive Nature, (2) Satan’s Perverted Nature, (3) Satan’s Desire to Control, and (4) Satan, the Mind Manipulator.

1. Satan’s Destructive Nature

Of the eighteen names, symbols and types given above, two are devoted to Satan’s desire to destroy. The names Abaddon and Apollyon are used in Revelation 9:11 to describe the devil. The name Abaddon is the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek name Apollyon. Both of these names mean “destroyer.” In reference to Satan, Revelation 9:11 says, “And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.” Possessing his nature and operating on instructions given to them by Satan, demon spirits (whom Satan rules over as a king, according to Revelation 9:11), are sent forth with their master’s same destructive nature; they are sent forth to destroy.

2. Satan’s Perverted Nature 

Six titles from the previous list relate to the devil’s perverted nature. Those six are found in these names, symbols and types: Beelzebub, Belial, Dragon, Evil One, Murderer and Wicked One.

2.1. Beelzebub

The name Beelzebub was first used by the Philistines of the Old Testament to describe the god of Ekron. It literally meant, “lord of the flies“ (2 Kings 1:2-6). Originally, it was spelled Baalzebub. The Jews altered Baalzebub to Beelzebub, which added an even dimmer idea to this name of the devil. The name “Beelzebub” means, “lord of the dunghill,“ or “lord of the manure.“ Two powerful and important images of Satan are presented in these two names. First of all, he is presented as Baalzebub, the “lord of the flies.“ This is clearly a picture of Satan himself as the lord of demon spirits. Obviously, the Philistines looked upon demon spirits in the same way one would look upon flies. Secondly, he is presented as Beelzebub, the “lord of the dunghill.“ By adding this twist to this name of Satan, the Jews told us something very important about the devil. Both he and his evil spirits, like flies, are attracted to “dunghills“ or environments where rotting, stinking, carnality pervades. This is the environment where Satan thrives best.

2.2. Belial

The name Belial, which is of Greek origin, means “worthless.“ This name is always used in connection with filthiness and wickedness. Whenever it is used, either in the Old Testament or in the New Testament, it is used to depict extremely evil men. For example, 1 Samuel 2:12 tells us that Eli’s sons were “sons of Belial.“ Eli’s sons were fornicators and thieves, full of idolatry and rebellion. They obtained this horrid behavior from Satan, the one from whom the word Be

2.3. Dragon

The word dragon is used in Revelation 12:9 to depict the devil. It says, “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.“ In this verse, the terms dragon and serpent are used interchangeably in reference to Satan’s nature. By using these terms, the devil is shown as a poisonous, ready-to-strike-and-kill creature.

2.4. Evil One

The next Biblical example of the devil is found in what is traditionally called “The Lord’s Prayer.“ Matthew 6:13 reads, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.“ The Greek language more accurately reads, “but deliver us from the Evil One.“ From this usage, we know that Jesus looked upon the devil as the “Evil One.“ No one was more familiar with Satan than Jesus, so it is important to see the way that Jesus referred to him.

2.5. Murderer

Jesus also told us Satan was a murderer. In John 8:44, Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your fathers ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning...“ This murderous nature of Satan is first seen in Genesis 4:8, when he inspired Cain to slay his brother, Abel. It was this murderous nature of Satan that inspired Herod to kill all the babies in Bethlehem-Ephrata. We can see his murderous nature in the death of millions of early Christian martyrs, and still today where injustice prevails across the earth. Murder is a part of his demented nature.

2.6. Wicked One

There is a third description of the devil that is given to us by Jesus. In two different parables of Matthew 13 Jesus refers to the devil as the wicked one. The Greek word poneros used here means “evil in effect and influence,” and can even be translated as vicious. This aspect of the devil is shown in his relentless attacks against the church, called fiery darts by Paul in Ephesians 6:16. The wicked effect of Satan is seen in the fact that everywhere he exerts his influence; sickness, poverty and spiritual death reign. It’s good to know that through Jesus we have already defeated this enemy of righteousness (1 John 2:13,14).

3. Satan’s Desire To Control 

Satan’s strong desire to control the spirit realm, the world, and every human government and human institution of the world is evidenced by the fact that the Bible calls him “the prince of this world,“ “the prince of demons,“ and “the prince of the power of the air.“

3.1. The Prince of this World

By calling him “the prince of this world,“ even Jesus recognized Satan’s temporal control over certain things in this earthly sphere. Remember that Satan himself personally offered Jesus the “kingdoms of this world“ during Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness. This “prince of the world” confronted Jesus during those forty days. Jesus spoke from personal experience when he referred to this temporal claim of Satan.

3.2. The Prince of Demons

In Matthew 9:34, Satan is also called “the prince of demons.“ The word “prince“ is taken from the Greek word archontas, and refers to “one who holds the first place“ or “one who holds the highest seat of power.“ The title “prince of demons“ reveals that Satan holds the highest-ranking seat among many diabolical spirits. The word “prince“ denotes that there is some kind of rank and organization to Satan’s kingdom.

3.3. Prince of the Power of the Air

The apostle Paul called Satan “the prince of the power of the air“ (Ephesians 2:2). Again, the word “prince“ is taken from the Greek word archontas, meaning “one who holds the highest seat of power.“ This is in complete agreement with Ephesians 6:12, which states that under Satan’s control there are varying degrees of spiritually wicked power. From the context of this verse, we know that under Satan’s command there are principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places.

4. Satan, the Mind Manipulator

Finally, we come to the last and largest category of the names, symbols and types of Satan in the Bible. There are six names, symbols and types of Satan that have to do with his ability to twist the truth, to lie to the mind, and to deceive. He is called the Adversary, Accuser, Angel of Light, Devil, Roaring Lion, and Satan.

4.1. Adversary

The name Adversary is extremely important when attempting to understand the devil’s mode of operation. It is taken from the Greek word antidikos, which is a compound of the Greek words anti and dikos. The word anti simply means “against.“ However, in older and more classical Greek, it was used to denote the mental condition of a man or woman who was “on the edge of insanity.“ This was a terribly dangerous person who would do someone great harm if they were not restrained. The second part of the word Adversary is taken from the Greek word dikos. Dikos is the root for the word “righteousness.“ It refers to “justice, rightness, fairness, and righteousness.“ When the two words are compounded together, they portray “one who is adamantly opposed to righteousness.“ Because the word anti carries the idea of hostility, this means the devil is one who is “hostile toward righteousness“ or “he is one who desires to destroy righteousness and obliterate it.“ We can see from this example that the devil is not just passively opposed to the presence of righteousness or righteous people, he is actively pursuing them and doing all within his power to wipe them out. In one way or another, the devil mentally tries to devour people with temptations of the present, or with memories from the past. He does all of this in order to assault our sense of righteousness, in the hopes that we will be left with no confidence before God, the devil or man. This is precisely why Peter said, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour“ (1 Peter 5:8).

4.2. A Roaring Lion

And this leads us to the next title of Satan. Peter says he is like “a roaring lion.“ What awesome command the roar of a lion draws from the heart of man. In this case, the roar is more fearsome than his bite. Colossians 2:15 victoriously declares, “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.“ By means of the cross and the resurrection, Jesus Christ stripped these demonic powers bare of the authority they once possessed, and His victory over them was so thorough that he “made a shew of them openly,“ bringing them down in complete humiliation and total defeat. However, this has not stopped the devil from trying to sound dreadful. It is his continuous harassment of our thoughts, his insinuations about failure, his presentation of unrealistic fears to our souls, and his constant onslaught against our minds that are intended to beat believers down into defeat.

This constant “roaring” in the soul is the devil’s attempt to wear us out, wear us down, and swallow us up in self-pity. Notice that the object of the adversary is to “seek those whom he may devour.“ The word “seek“ implies that not everyone will fall prey to these tactics. He is seeking those whom he may devour; he is looking for those who are weak in faith, ignorant of the Word of God, who are isolated from other believers, and are unwilling to stand in the face of his constant, harassing allegations. These are the ones that this “roaring lion“ is seeking after, and his object is to “devour them.“ The word “devour“ comes from the Greek word katapino, and literally means, “to swallow up completely.“ Angel of Light And, of course, Satan is called an “angel of light.“ In 2 Corinthians, Paul, dealing with the problem of false prophets, false teachers, false apostles and deceivers who were trying to worm their way into the Corinthian Church, says, “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light“ (2 Corinthians 11:14). This is another picture of this master mind-manipulator; Satan disguises himself to be something that he really is not! Again, this kind of attack normally comes against the mind. This is a vivid portrayal of Satan’s deceptive power to twist one’s thinking.

4.3. The Devil

And, of course, Satan is also called “the devil.“ As a matter of fact, the New Testament refers to him as such over forty times. The name “devil“ is taken from the Greek word diabolos. It is a compound of the words dia and balos. Dia means “through“ and carries with it the idea of “penetration.“ The word balos is taken from the word ballo, which means “I throw,“ as in throwing a ball or a rock. When the two words are compounded, they depict the act of repeatedly throwing a ball or rock against something until it penetrates that barrier, and breaks through to the other side. Therefore, in the name “devil“ you do not only have the proper name of this archenemy, but also his mode of operation. His name means that he is “one who continually strikes, strikes and strikes again - beating against the walls of our minds over and over, and over and over again - until finally, he breaks through and penetrates“ the mind.

 4.4. Satan

And last, this enemy of both God and man is called Satan, which is taken from the Hebrew word shatana, and means “to hate and to accuse.“ It is used more than fifty times in the Old and New Testament, and often it also carries with it the ideas of “slander and false accusation.“

A Prerequisite to Spiritual Warfare 

It was because of this archenemy that Paul wrote to the Ephesian Church and urged them to “put on the whole armor of God“ (Ephesians 6:11). However, before he told them to “put on the whole armor of God,“ he told them “to put away lying“ (4:25); ”to speak truth with our neighbor“ (4:25). He commanded them, “be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath“ (4:26); “neither give place to the devil“ (4:27); “let him that stole steal no more“ (4:28). He further urged them to “let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth“ (4:29); “grieve not the Holy Spirit“ (4:30); “let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice“ (4:31).

We must not forget that a consecrated life is a prerequisite to real spiritual warfare. If there are areas of our lives that are left unattended, uncommitted and unsurrendered, then we have left gaping loopholes through which Satan may continue to exert his hellish schemes in our lives. Screaming, yelling, screeching, stomping, shouting, and dancing will not accomplish one single thing if we have (deliberately, or simply by negligence) allowed our thoughts to go unchecked. Our lack of commitment to God’s Word and the secret places of our lives that have never been fully surrendered to Jesus Christ will stop us dead in our tracks when it comes to dealing with the devil’s attacks. On the other hand, a holy and surrendered man, who has carefully guarded his mind and has equipped himself with the whole armor of God, is then ready to be mightily used by God to fulfill His will on the earth.