Hi to all...
This is my first post in this forum... I'm Portuguese so sorry for my English that might not always be the best, if something is not clear just ask.
Well, about this topic... I must say that I agree with Carlos, because nowhere in the Bible is written that the Devil was ever good.... what it does say DIRECTLY is that he was bad since the beginning.
This tradition of the rebellion of Devil is mostly grounded on Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14 but for it to be right one have to ignore almost all the chapter in order to "FIT" this passages in that theory that Jesus himself talks against.
About Ezekiel...
First of all, it's talking to the king of Tyrus not the Devil and it's for the FUTURE like any normal prophecy, not the PAST...
Second...
It says that he became corrupted because of the greatness of his traffick .... IN HEAVEN??
Third...
It says that God will reduce him to ashes... was the Devil reduced to ashes after his "rebellion"? Didn't he appeared many times on hearth in the Old Testament (and new) and even between the children of GOD in Job's book?
"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."
Ezekiel 28:18-19
Fourth and last...
This prophecy about the King of Tyre ends with his total annihilation... was the Devil totally annihilated after he "rebelled"?
"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. {a terror: Heb. terrors}"
Ezekiel 28:19
Now there's the argument some might say "he was in Eden"... well, so did the Pharaoh:
"And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third {month}, in the first {day} of the month, {that} the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness?
Behold, the Assyrian {was} a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs. {with fair branches: Heb. fair of branches}
The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field. {made...: or, nourished him} {set...: or, brought him up} {little rivers: or, conduits}
Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth. {when...: or, when it sent them forth}
All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.
Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters.
The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty.
I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that {were} in the garden of God, envied him.
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;"
Ez 31:1-10
The truth is, this prophecys, just like many others are for the end of times, not the beginning ... prophecys are for the future, not the past ... in these case they're talking about the Antichrist and their appearance to the world when he sits in the holy place appearing a saint and a protector angel until he be exposed and then totally annihilated by the day of the LORD.
About Isaiah...
...it talks about the day of the LORD again... and again it's the future not the past... because it says :
And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,
That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! {proverb: or, taunting speech} {golden...: or, exactress of gold}
Isa 14:3-4
This is what we are going to say about the Antichrist in the day that Jesus annihilates him ... when the oppressor ceases ... not what happened before... this is what well say in the day of the LORD when the Devil will be annihilated by the splendor of the appearing of our Lord.
"The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, {and} the sceptre of the rulers.
He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, {and} none hindereth. {a continual...: Heb. a stroke without removing}
The whole earth is at rest, {and} is quiet: they break forth into singing.
Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, {and} the cedars of Lebanon, {saying}, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us.
Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet {thee} at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, {even} all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. {Hell: or, The grave} {chief...: Heb. leaders, or, great goats}"
Isaiah 14:5-9
Then it says the LORD broke him... That happened in his rebellion? What was he doing in the desert with Jesus then?
It also says he ruled nations... IN HEAVEN?
Then it says the the Whole Earth is at rest... the Earth became at rest after his rebellion? Or according to tradition that's when he came and perverted hearth also?
How is that expelling from Heaven on to Earth makes Earth at rest?... simple, this expel was no from heaven but from Earth to Hell.
Then we see he meets Hell... well, if after rebellion he gone to Hell what was he doing in Eden?
"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:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High."
Isaiah 14:13-14
Again, if this is his expelling FROM heaven why was he craving to ASCEND to heaven? Wasn't he already there???
And just like before, at the beginning of the chapter we see that we will say this when he as ceased... and again it's about the Antichrist in the end of times, not Devil at the beginnig.
So, not Isaiah nor Ezekiel say the Devil was ever good and then rebelled ... however Jesus says he was always wicked and never good.
"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do: he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."
John 8:44
And so does John...
"He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."
1John 3:8
So, they both say the Devil was never good, and nowhere in the Bible we see the opposite .. if believe the Devil had ever been good I would be despising the word of GOD to listen to human traditions.