The Fall of Satan”--where, what, when, and how--remains a mysterious
subject to most. There are thoughts that the Satan’s fall from Heaven
happened sometime before Earth’s creation or sometime during creation.
Now, there are many discussions whether The Bible even gives us the
actual story; but perhaps, when we line up three separate passages in
The Bible we will indeed find the story of “The Fall of Satan.”
Ezekiel 28:12-17
(12)
“Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to
him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "You had the seal of perfection, full of
wisdom and perfect in beauty.”
(13)
“You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your
covering: the ruby, the topaz and the diamond; the beryl, the onyx and
the jasper; the lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; and the
gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you. On the
day that you were created. They were prepared.”
(14)
“You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. You
were on the holy mountain of God; you walked in the midst of the stones
of fire.”
(15) “You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you.”
(16)
“By the abundance of your trade you were internally filled with
violence, and you sinned; therefore I have cast you as profane from the
mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the
midst of the stones of fire.”
(17)
“Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your
wisdom by reason of your splendor I cast you to the ground; I put you
before kings, that they may see you.”
Genesis 3:1-6
(1)
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the
LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said,
'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"
(2) The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
(3)
but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden,
God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will
die.'"
(4) The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die!
(5) "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
(6)
“When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a
delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise,
she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with
her, and he ate.”
Revelation 12:7-9
(7) “And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon and his angels waged war,”
(8) “And they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.”
(9)
“And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called
the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down
to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”
Now,
here’s the thought--I put the Scripture above in a certain order so
that you may notice a “time-line,” so to speak, of Satan‘s fall. Going
back to Ezekiel 28, which some apply to only the Trye nation
specifically; however, I believe, as many do, this passage is the very
story of the fall of Satan where God is speaking to Satan.
As
we read in Ezekiel, Satan was created with full wisdom and in perfect
beauty from the hands of God, and then placed in the Garden of Eden--(12),
(13) 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "You had the seal of perfection, full of
wisdom and perfect in beauty (13) “You were in Eden, the garden of God;
every precious stone was your covering…the workmanship of your settings
and sockets, was in you. On the day that you were created. They were
prepared.”
Satan was created for a reason, a purpose, and that purpose was to be the appointed “overseer” of the Garden--(14)
“You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there.
Satan was everything glorious when God created him; but like man, God
did not create any of His angels, including Satan (Lucifer), as perfect
beings--(15) “You were blameless in your ways from the day you were
created until unrighteousness was found in you.” (16) “By the
abundance of your trade you were internally filled with violence, you
sinned; therefore I have cast you as profane from the mountain of
God.”
Now, we have seen the first part of this story, which then continues several books back in Genesis.
Satan
was created special and given special attributes by God; but Satan was
not alone in the Garden, God created two other beings (Adam and Eve).
Adam and Eve were not created in the same beauty as Satan, but created
in the very image and likeness of God. They were not created with
perfect wisdom like Satan; however, Adam and Eve had a unique
relationship with God that Satan did not. Possibly, this puzzled
Satan, which brought him to think, “What makes Adam and Eve so special
that God would want such a relationship them; I am more beautiful, I
have more wisdom--why them, and not me?” Perhaps daily this thought
became an obsession to Satan, which soon started to rot a hole of
jealousy and bitterness within Satan; until one day, he seized an
opportunity to end this special relationship that God had with these
“worthless” humans.
No doubt, Satan knew the two trees in the
Garden, and He knew the result if Adam and Eve ate of the tree of
“Knowledge of Good and Evil.” Adam and Eve would not only be
disobeying God, but then they would know the full wisdom that he
(Satan) had; and because of their humanity, they would not be able to
handle it--the ultimate tear in their relationship with God.
Therefore, one day, he put his plan into action, tempted Eve, and
succeeded in destroying the relationship between God and man.
A sub-thought in all of this is that in Genesis 3:1 we read that the “serpent” was the most skillful and cunning beast of all the created beasts--“the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made,” however,
I do not think this is reference to all snakes, but rather only one
snake, “the serpent,” Satan’s form in the Garden. I have always
wondered why the conversation between Satan and Eve read so casual,
almost a friendly conversation between the two. Unless every beast in
the Garden could talk, wouldn’t you think Eve would be rather startled
by talking to a snake? Seems rather plausible that Eve’s lack of
concern, familiar talk, and ease of persuasion with Satan speak of past
conversations, trust in him, and recognizing him, as the “serpent,” Lucifer
Of
course, most of us are familiar of what then happened to Adam and Eve
because of their act of disobedience towards God. However, there is
nothing further mentioned about what happened to Satan after all of
this--Did he just disappear to his throne in hell? On the other hand,
did he continue to roam around until more “victims” came his way to
deceive? The answer to these questions, I believe, is “No, not at
all.” Satan did not retreat or stop after his victory over man; his
success only fueled his arrogance and bitterness towards God.
Therefore, Satan, the master of lies, convinces other fellow angels to
team up with him to wage war against God in Heaven, as the story
continues in Revelations chapter 12.
I do not believe that
Revelations 12 has anything to do with “end time” stuff, but everything
to do with the church body, Satan‘s fall, and the overcoming nature of
the salvation of Jesus Christ. Revelations 12 in verse 7 tells us of a
war waging on in heaven between the Arch Angel Michael and his army of
angels, and the “dragon” Satan (verse 9) and his army of angels.
Verses 8 and 9 in Revelation chapter 12 are the foundational pieces,
which bring this whole thought together--(8) “And they [Satan and his army] were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.”
Apparently, at one time, Satan and his army of angels had a place in
Heaven and were in good standings with God; however, Satan’s defiance
in waging this war resulted in--you guest it--his fall-- (9)
“And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called
the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down
to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”
Perhaps the story of “The Fall of Satan” is not so mysterious. What do you think?
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