The Bible refers to Satan as being an angel of light in 2 Corinthians 11:14-15. And in my Nelson’s Student Bible Dictionary it refers to Lucifer as Morning Star and I believe Jesus has been referred to as the Day Star. This is all a bit confusing. First are there Angels of Light that are Angels of God and are good and still exist? and second, is Satan also the Morning Star and is Jesus the Day Star?
In 2 Cor. 11:14 Paul said that Satan is transformed into an angel of light, not that he actually is one. The Greek word for transformed means to change oneself into someone, or to assume someone’s appearance. Some English translations use the word “masquerade” there to show that Satan is pretending to be someone he isn’t.
The phrase “angel of light” only appears in 2 Cor. 11:14 which means the Bible doesn’t use that phrase to describe any other angel.
Lucifer is a Latin word that means light bearer. It comes from the Latin translation of Isaiah 14:12 where Satan is called Heylel ben Shakar in Hebrew. Heylel is from a root word that means to shine in the sense of foolish boasting or making a show of oneself. Ben means son and shakar means dawn. So Heylel ben Shakar means shining one, son of the dawn.
Some English translations substitute Morning Star for Lucifer in Isaiah 14:12, while others use Day Star. In my opinion, both are incorrect because the focus of the passage is the one we call Satan.
What’s more, in the Greek text of 2 Peter 1:19 Peter called Jesus the Phosphoros, which can be translated either Day Star or Morning Star. And Jesus actually called Himself the Morning Star.
Therefore Morning Star and Day Star are both intended to be used in reference to Jesus, not Satan. It’s confusing because of the way the Hebrew has been translated, but hopefully this clears things up a little.
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star” (Rev. 22:16)