Satan? When Did He Fall and Where is He Now?

    The entire issue concerning Satan’s status throughout the Bible presents a unique conundrum for many Christians and Bile scholars as well. It does not appear that any one person has been able to identify and place Satan’s journey throughout history in any chronological order, a problem that confuses, upsets and overturns various doctrines found among eschatologists.

    Satan was created as a holy angel. Isaiah 14:12 possibly gives Satan’s pre-fall name as Lucifer. Ezekiel 28:12-14describes Satan as having been created a cherubim, apparently the highest created angel. He became arrogant in his beauty and status and decided he wanted to sit on a throne above that of God (Isaiah 14:13-14;Ezekiel 28:15;1 Timothy 3:6). Satan’s pride led to his fall. Notice the many “I will” statements in Isaiah 14:12-15. Because of his sin, God permanently removed Satan from his exalted position and role.
    Satan became the ruler of this world and the prince of the power of the air (John 12:31;2 Corinthians 4:4;Ephesians 2:2). He is an accuser (Revelation 12:10), a tempter (Matthew 4:3;1 Thessalonians 3:5), and a deceiver (Genesis 3;2 Corinthians 4:4;Revelation 20:3). His very name means “adversary” or “one who opposes.” Another of his titles, the devil, means “slanderer.”
    Even though he was cast out of heaven, he still seeks to elevate his throne above God. He tries to counterfeit (and his succeeded in some things) everything that God does, hoping to gain the worship of the world and encourage opposition to God's kingdom. Satan is the ultimate source behind every false cult and world religion. Satan will do anything and everything in his power to oppose God and those who follow God. However, Satan’s destiny is sealed—an eternity in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10).

    One of the first times mentioned (or inferences) of diabolical forces are made  in the Bible is found in the Genesis account in Chapter 3, where  Adam and Eve were tempted by the snake(identified by most people as being Satan) to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of God and evil.

    In Chapter 6, we see “the sons of God” cohabiting with the daughters of men and begetting the so-called Nephilim, who became giants and men of renown. Many eschatologists and Bible theorists believe these “Sons of Gods” are diabolical angelic beings who left their former estate in Heaven and co-mingled with the human race and thereby created a human hybrid (Nephilim), whose spirits (after they died supposedly) have been bound to earth to roam as spiritual entities that we today call demons. One question begs to be asked: Should these “sons of God” who left their former habitations in Heaven be identified as the one third of the angels that left Heaven along with Satan when he rebelled against God?

    As we read in the Book of Job, it appears that Satan had access to God at that time (which no one has been able to confirm the exact date) where” ⁶ One day the angels  came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan  also came with them. ⁷ The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” ⁸ Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

    The next place in the Bible where we see an inference being made to Satan (or the devil), where he is commonly referred to as a 'fallen' angel - meaning, he is an angel who rebelled and sinned against God is in Ezekiel 28:14-18. Supposedly, angels, including Satan, have free-will (just like we do) and they chose to disobey God. Supposedly One-third of the other Angels also followed Satan and were cast out of heaven, although, we do not see how many angels actually left Heaven with Satan until Revelation 12:4, which does not necessarily identify actual angels but calls them “stars” as inferred by many theorists as well.

    In the book of Ezekiel 28:14-18, we see a group of scripture that many theorists believe is not only describing the entity they call Satan, but an actually story from his beginning to his demise. 

You were anointed as a guardian cherub,
for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God;
you walked among the fiery stones.

You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created
till wickedness was found in you.

Through your widespread trade
you were filled with violence,
and you sinned.
So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God,
and I expelled you, O guardian cherub,
from among the fiery stones.

Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth;
I made a spectacle of you before kings.

By your many sins and dishonest trade
you have desecrated your sanctuaries.
So I made a fire come out from you,
and it consumed you,
and I reduced you to ashes on the ground
in the sight of all who were watching.

    Revelation, Chapter 12 provides us with a convoluted narrative that thousands of theorists throughout history have tried to explain away, including how many angels comprise Satan’s diabolical army, along with futurists’ explanation as to what happens in the period known as the “end times.”:

³ And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. ⁴ His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. ⁵ She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, ⁶ and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.

Satan Thrown Down to Earth

⁷ Now war arose in heaven, Michael and ^his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, ⁸ but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. ⁹ And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him,

10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.

11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. 12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short, (Revelation 12:3-12)”

We see another conundrumatic scenario concerning the status of (fallen) angels in Jude 1:6 where, “… the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.”

 If Satan is to be considered an “angel” should we view him as being among these entities we see held in the same captivity as are these above? Should we therefore see where Satan has been thrown down in Revelation 12:3-9 and Jude 1:6 as being the same occasion? If so, when does this occur? At Calvary or yet some time in the future immediately before Christ returns? The above scripture (Jude 1:6) is stated immediately after we see the following remarks in verse 5:” “Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe, (Jude 1:5).” Should we picture that this angelic incarceration happened right after the “Exodus?”

We see Satan in many other scripture throughout the Bible (where he is aggravating Christ and His ministry as well as tempting Him to bow before him) but no other scripture to pinpoint Satan’s journey (in or out of Heaven) in any chronological fashion, other than the final scenario where we see in Revelation 20:10, where the serpent, the devil, Satan, is seen being felled by fire from above, and then thrown into the Lake of Fire.

Many theorists see Satan being bound for “a thousand years” beginning at the cross, which is where the devil was defeated and could no longer rule over mankind as he did before Christ paid the price for the sins of mankind. Many see Satan being bound for 1000 literal years beginning on the day when Christ returns to earth to set up a literal one thousand year millennium period, then is let loose for a short period of time after the 1000 years, then destroys him right before he amasses the armies of Gog and Magog to attack Jesus’ temporary headquarters at the City of Jerusalem, inside the country of the state of Israel, where (supposedly) Jesus has supervised the Jewish kingdom for one thousand years.

    Therefore the question begs to be asked, when was Satan kicked out of or fell from Heaven? Did this happen at the beginning of time when He came to earth and cohabitated with human women, as we read in Genesis 6:1-2? Or was it during the days of Isaiah, as we see in Isaiah 14:12? Was it when Christ defeated Satan when He paid the price for sin at the cross, or immediately before Calvary when He told the disciples He saw Satan fall falling from heaven as we read in Luke 10:17-19?  Will this happen when Christ returns (during The Rapture or seven years after) to rule on earth for 1000 years? More importantly, where is Satan at right now? Is he still in Heaven accusing God’s children, held prisoner in the abyss for 1000 literal years (called the Millennium), or is he currently roaming around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour? 

    If we cannot accurately answer these questions, we have to assume Satan has unlimited access to some form of a shuttle bus that takes him back and forth to Heaven (while still bound in the abyss for 1000) years), or, our eschatological polemics have no exegetical authority whatsoever. 

    Most Premillennial Dispensationalists present various chronological scenarios in their ‘futurists’ dogma, while many others, such as Preterist (a person who believes that the  prophecies in the Apocalypse have already been  fulfilled) who maintains that since Jesus has already returned (in 70 AD),then Satan has already been sent to the Lake of Fire and his current status is moot!

What say ye?

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