The Reasons for The Fall of Satan - Assignment Example

The fall of Satan TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Definition: 1 Satan 1 General description of Satan 2 Scriptural background 3 When did Satan fall? 5 Why did Satan fall? 8 The nature of Lucifer’s fall 13 Satan’s judgment 14 Conclusion 14 References 16 Thesis statement Although there are many people who doubt the existence and the fall of Satan, the passages in Isaiah 14:9-15 and Ezekiel 28:12-18 best describe and give us an understanding about the origin and initial fall of Lucifer from Heaven to earth and how God cast him down to the ground. In addition, the different opinions that many scholars raise about when Satan was created, when, why and how he fell leave no doubt that he is real and that he truly fell. Introduction Definition: Satan Satan is the Hebrew word that is derived from a root meaning to oppose, to be, or to act as an adversary1. In Christianity and some other religions, he is the enemy of God, the lord of evil and the tempter of human beings who rules Hell. Other names frequently given to Satan in Christian belief are devil, which means slanderer and Lucifer, referring to a fallen angel. The name Lucifer comes from the Hebrew word Heylal2. It depicts a lofty state. Its root means to show or to shine and to give light. Some Bible versions call him son of the morning star, the bright morning star, Day shining star among others. Lucifer was upon God’s holy mountain in the Garden of Eden where God created and placed the angels. God made Lucifer to be a filter or a screen through which God's glory would shine. He is said to have been the leader of the heavenly choir. However, he never got a chance to walk in what God made him to be. General description of Satan Satan is the chief adversary to God and Christ and the supreme Slanderer of God and man. He is the leader of the opposition in the divine government. Sin and rebellion originated with him. His function is to test and call in question, to thwart and to destroy every move of God in His administration of the universe. However, he is totally under God’s sovereign control and can only do what God allows. The Bible refers to two occasions when Satan is cast out of Heaven- once in pre-time or before creation of time where he fell from the immediate presence of God with his angels and once in the future just before Christ, the Prince of peace comes back to establish His wonderful rule in the earth3. Scriptural background The passage in Isaiah 14 talks about Belshazzar, the king of Babylon4. Babylonian kings, who were successively great enemies and oppressors of God’s people, were known by the name Lucifer, meaning light bearer. Lucifer was another name for the goddess Venus5. Whenever a new king took the throne, he took the ceremonial hands of Baal saying that Baal is ruling and he is his Ashtaroth. It was a marriage between King and deity for they would be one on the throne. Belshazzar took the sacred drinking vessels out of the treasury that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and drank from them. These vessels had been made for the Lord’s priest to use for a drink offering to the Lord. He thought that he was the Lord of all forgetting what had happened to his father Nebuchadnezzar. Belshazzar was known for Great oppression and cruelty, Great pride and haughtiness. He had so much wealth in his dominions and gave his people law, read their doom to them, and weakened the nations at his pleasure so that they could not make head against him. His armies were such vast and victorious that he made the earth to tremble; shook kingdoms and all his neighbors were afraid of him and submitted to him. However, God made him fall from that height of honor and power into an abyss of shame and misery. Daniel 5 explains how Darius, the Median king took and slain this king of Babylon. Belshazzar’s fall has been commonly alluded or typified to the fall of Satan who contemplated ascending into heaven and exalting himself above God but later fell and was cast down to the ground and leveled with it. The use of very exalted terms like anointed cherub, star of the morning and son of the dawn in Verse 12 confirms this. In the same way, Ezekiel describes the creation and judgment of a vile and vicious non-human creature. He laments and declares a curse on the evil idolatrous king of Tyre6. This king had a great conceit of himself, held an opinion of his own sufficiency and he looked upon all about him with contempt. Out of the abundance of the pride of his heart, he called himself a god. He thought that he was independent as God and unaccountable to anyone and that Tyre as a city had as necessary reliance upon him as the world has upon God who made it. He equaled his wisdom and strength to that of God and thought that his prerogatives were absolute and his word was as much a law as God’s word. He also expected his subjects to praise and admire him as a god. He was proud of his wisdom and his wealth. This wicked king had taken the traits of the devil and thus was addressed as though he were the devil himself. However, on reading from verse 12, we begin to understand that God is not only referring to the king of Tyre. It soon becomes clear that the passage is as well referring to Satan, the power behind that king. This creature had the seal of perfection- he was the epitome of perfection, was full of supernatural wisdom and knowledge and was perfection in beauty. The bible describes him to have been in Eden, the garden of God. Indubitably, he must have been an angel because he is recognized as the covering cherub, the anointed cherub who covers. He was likely the highest of all angels7. Every magnificent precious stone including gold, diamond, the beryl, topaz, the jasper, the emerald, the sapphire, the carbuncle, the onyx among others adorned him. These are similar to the things in Genesis 2:8-12 that describe Eden. He was on the holy mountain of God and walked up and down in the midst of fiery stones. This description perfectly fits the fiery environment around the throne of God, the blazing splendor of God's glorious throne as seen in Revelation 4. Satan was blameless in his ways from the day that God created him until iniquity was found in him. These two passages have double meanings, which are equally legitimate. Whereas they refer to the fall of earthly kings in their historical context, when one reads them from a theological context, they also speak of Satan’s fall8. When did Satan fall? In order to understand when Satan fell, it is important to understand when he was created. For example, if a person places the creation of Lucifer within the six-day week of creation, this is to mean that Satan's fall took place after Genesis chapters one and two while Adam and Eve were alive. Some people argue that the creation of the angels, Lucifer being one of them, did not happen within the six days of creation. This is because Genesis chapter one which describes in detail the six days of creation and what was created on each day including the earth, the sun and moon, the stars, the atmosphere, the dry land, the plants, and the animals does not say anything at all about the creation of the angels. Others argue that it may seem awkward to posit a creation of the angels prior to the creation of the universe. They say that their view more easily harmonizes with Job 38:7 that refer to the time when God laid the foundation of the earth and the angels were there as witnesses rejoicing at His work of creation. It is important to note that the bible does not precisely specify the time when Satan fell. Although it is certain that Satan had fallen before man fell as recorded in Genesis 3, it is not certain whether he fell before or after man's creation. A view that is held by the gap theorists holds that Satan's fall took place in the gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. This theory was developed in an attempt to harmonize the facts of Genesis chapter one with evolutionary theory and their so-called geological ages. According to these theorists, God originally created the heavens and the earth as indicated in Genesis 1:1, including angels. They add that He also created a race of pre-Adamic men or ape-men and animals like dinosaurs9. These theorists believe that there is a vast amount of time, even millions of years, in the so-called gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 during which many things happened such as Satan's fall into sin, the earth’s judgment, and extinction of dinosaurs. These theorists understand Genesis 1:1 as recounting the original creation, Genesis 1:2 as recounting conditions resulting from God’s judgment on the world, and Genesis 1:3 and what follows as describing a re-creation of the world. The other view holds that the fall of Satan took place prior to Genesis chapter one. This position assumes that both the creation of Lucifer and his fall took place prior to Genesis 1:1 and that his fall took place before the creation of Adam and Eve. There is also the idea that Satan fell sometime before Adam’s and Eve’s fall. This view originated with the Church Father Origen in the 2nd Century AD. He places the fall of Satan and his angels prior to the creation of the world. St. Augustine of Hippo from which it becomes the standard view in the Latin west repeats this same version of the story10. Another view holds that Satan's fall took place in the gap between Genesis chapter two and Genesis chapter three. Many fine creationists and Bible teachers hold this view. They hold to a recent earth that is, the age of the earth in terms of thousands, not millions of years, and they hold to a literal six-day creation week. One key reason as to why they believe that Satan's fall took place after Genesis chapter two and before Genesis three is because they suppose that the creation of Satan took place during the creation week specifically on the very first day of the creation week. They support their assumption with Exodus 20:11 arguing that the Creator made the heaven and the earth and all that is in them in six days. Since the angels, Lucifer included, are part of all that is in heaven, their conclusion is that the creation of Lucifer took place during the six days of creation. They also quote Colossians 1:16, which say that God created all things that are in heaven and earth visible and invisible, whether thrones, dominions, principalities or powers. Here, the Bible includes angels in God's work of creation. They also point to Genesis 1:31, which say that God pronounced every thing that he had made as very good. Posing the question as to how God could refer to everything as very good and yet the universe contained an evil, fallen angel whom we now know as Satan, they answer that it is far more reasonable to think of Satan’s fall as occurring sometime after God gave this pronouncement. Their two major arguments therefore center around Genesis 1:31 and Exodus 20:11. The creationists use another argument based on Genesis 1:26 and 28. In these verses, God gives man rule and authority over the animals. They argue that if Satan had already fallen, then God giving men authority over animals, since Adam would then have Satan as an enemy working against him would compromise the total dominion of the world that God entrusted to Adam. However, this argument is weak, for all would concur that Satan is a fallen creature as Genesis chapter three begins. Adam still had dominion prior to man’s fall even though a fallen devil was present. Sin, not the presence of a fallen devil, affected Adam's total dominion. This view is therefore forced to conclude that both Satan’s and Adam’s fall were events that took place at about the same time in history, and that these two events were only separated by a very short period11. Why did Satan fall? Originally, Satan was perfect and God therefore is not at all responsible for his subsequent default. The source of sin or unrighteousness was inside him. The reason for his fall is his self-exaltation manifested in his sin of pride. His own splendor, beauty and perfection infatuated him. Then, internally filled with violence, he violently sought to usurp the place of God and sinned. In his heart, he contrived to ascend into heaven, exalt his throne higher above the stars of God, sit on the mount of the meeting-place of the gods, on the farthest sides of the north, go higher than the clouds and resemble the power of the Most High. His desire was to be God not His servant. This is what he tempted Adam and Eve with in the Garden of Eden12. This became the source of his downfall. God cast him as profane and hurled him down out of Heaven and since then he has been continually flying in the air above the abyss. Some commentators hold the view that the physical as well as spiritual extraordinary qualities, which God blessed Adam with, aroused the envy of the angels. Despite the angels' attempts to consume him with fire, God's protecting hand rested upon Adam and He established peace between him and the heavenly host. Lucifer was particularly jealous of Adam and his evil thoughts finally led to his fall. After endowing Adam with a soul, God commanded all the angels to come and pay reverence and homage to him. Lucifer, the greatest of the angels in heaven, refused to obey God, saying that he, created from the splendor of the Shekinah13, could not cast himself down before the puny, earthbound and material creature, which God made out of the dust of the ground. Yet God had paid inordinate attention to Adam, gave him work to do, and made a companion for him and ordered them to multiply their kind until they filled and subdued the whole earth. Lucifer vowed not to worship him who was lower and posterior to him saying that Adam ought to worship him because God created Adam after him14. Lucifer demanded a trial of wit with Adam to which God assented. He brought forth all the beasts, birds and reptiles that He had created before Lucifer and Adam and told Lucifer that if he would name them, God would command Adam to show honor unto him and he shall rest next to the Shekinah of God’s glory. If not and Adam called them by the names God had assigned to them, then Lucifer would be subject to Adam, and Adam would have a place in God’s garden and cultivate it. Lucifer attempted to assign names to the animals but failed with the first two that presented themselves, the cow and the ox. God also led the camel and the donkey before Lucifer with the same result. God then turned to Adam and questioned him regarding the names of the same animals, framing His questions wisely such that the first letter of the first word was the same as the first letter of the name of the animal. Hence, Adam divined the proper names and Lucifer was forced to acknowledge his superiority. Nevertheless, he broke out in wild protests that reached the heavens and together with his host of angels refused to give reverence to Adam. Henceforth, Lucifer decided to overthrow God. He planned to ascend to heaven, be like the Most High, and then make the rules. He gathered the angels and a great number of them came over to his side. He went to war with God. However, he could not supplant God who was too powerful for him and he lost15. Others are of the opinion that when God consulted Jesus, His Son, about creating man in their image, Lucifer, an honored angel in heaven who wished to be consulted concerning the formation of man and was not, was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred for Jesus. He desired to receive the highest honors next to God. Ambitious to exalt himself, and unwilling to submit to the authority of Jesus, Lucifer committed the highest sin of rebelling against God’s order and will. Some angels sympathized with him in his rebellion while others strongly contended for God’s honor and wisdom in giving His Son authority16. There arose contention among them. Lucifer and his sympathizers strived to reform God’s government wishing to look into His unsearchable wisdom, and ascertain His aim in exalting Jesus and bestowing Him with such unlimited power and command. They rebelled against Christ’s authority. God summoned the entire heavenly host to appear before Him to have each case decided and it was decided that Lucifer with all the angels who had joined him in the rebellion should be expelled from heaven. This brought war among the Angels who were submissive to Christ and those who were not. The good and true angels triumphed and drove Lucifer and his followers from heaven. Despite his attempts to repent, God could not reinstate Satan. He could not place heaven in jeopardy. Should God receive Satan back, all heaven would be marred, for he is the originator of sin and rebellion. The seeds of rebellion were still within him. In his rebellion, he had no occasion for his course and he had hopelessly ruined himself and his host of angels. On realizing that there was no possibility of going back to heaven, He began to manifest his malice and hatred. With his angels, he laid a plan to work against God's government. When God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the holy angels often visited them and could give them instructions concerning their employment. They also taught them concerning Satan’s rebellion and fall where they cautioned them not to separate from each other lest they be brought in contact with this fallen foe who purposed to do them harm, and it was therefore necessary for them to be guarded. The angels also advised Adam and Eve to follow closely God’s directions for they were only safe in perfect obedience. Satan however schemed to destroy them by making them disobey God and forfeit His favor. That way, he could exercise his power upon them. He made Eve err by wandering from her husband and easily tricked her. He succeeded by leading them to pry into God’s unsearchable plans- the very sin of which he had been guilty of. Mormonism on the other hand teaches that Jesus, Lucifer and man were all brothers. According to Mormonism, each brother presented a plan to win the ability to offer salvation. Lucifer wanted his plan to be used, but was rejected and thrown out of heaven. They claim that Jesus came forth with a better plan, which was accepted. However, Biblical Christians criticize them saying that they use Lucifer’s doctrine that one can become like God but Jesus never taught that men could become gods because there is only one true God. After his fall, Satan was immediately consigned to eternal misery- a subjection to God of a kind that he had never imagined. He is now incapable of repentance, which is a gift from God to humans. Since that moment, there has never been in him a single good impulse. He is irredeemably malevolent. The angelic hierarchy that Satan’s fall affected was the principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places described in Eph 6:12. That moment also dates the enmity between man and Satan since it was for man that God expelled Satan from his glory casting him out in the earth. He retreated to his mountain and regrouped with an intention of defiling, opposing and attempting to destroy God's work of creation in every possible way. Disguised as a serpent, Satan crept into the Garden of Eden, to the Tree at the center, whose fruit God had forbidden and managed to trick Eve into eating the forbidden fruit thus sinning against God. By so doing, Satan became the prince of this world and thus brought Adam and Eve under his domination. God has allowed him to continue this way for a period but will ultimately confine him to Hell for eternity as stated in Revelation 20 verse 10. The nature of Lucifer’s fall Lucifer's fall was not geographical. After his fall, he still had access to God’s throne in heaven as seen in Job 1:6. The term falling from heaven is a near Eastern way of saying that someone has suffered defeat. It means losing one’s role or power. When Jesus said that he saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven in Luke 10:18, he was referring to Satan’s defeat. People have severally taken these words of Jesus as evidence of the original fall of Satan from innocence17. However, Jesus’ reference is ambiguous and could have other meanings. To begin with, Jesus could have been emphatically referring to the exorcisms the seventy-two disciples performed. The second possibility is that Jesus could be referring to the future event of Satan’s final defeat as described in Revelation 12:9. Lastly, the comment could be an affirmation that Satan is defeated once and for all with the successful ministry of Jesus, especially in light of the seventy-two disciples. Satan’s fall was in three phases. In his first fall, he loses his Archangel status as the Cherub angel; in his second fall, he loses his authority and access back and forth into the heavens for in the Old Testament he could enter the heavenly court to accuse saints before God. However, when Jesus died on the cross he was forever cast out never to accuse New Testament saints before God as indicated in John 12:31 and Revelation 12:10. In his third fall, Satan looses his actuality or his existence as seen in the same Revelation 12:10 where he is thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone. Satan’s judgment God has judged Satan and will further judge him for his sins. At least six judgments are associated with him. One, he was barred from his original privileged position in Heaven. There is also the judgment for his temptation of Adam and Eve stated in Genesis 3 verses 14-15. At the cross of Calvary, Jesus in John 12:31 says that it is time for the prince of this world to be driven out. Revelation 12:13 also says that Satan will be barred from Heaven during the tribulation period. In addition, God will confine Satan to the abyss during the millennium as stated in Revelation 20 verse 2. Lastly, at the conclusion of the millennium, God will cast Satan into the lake of fire for all eternity as seen in Revelation 20:1018. Conclusion The fact that Satan fell and became an enemy to God and His work does not suggest that Satan is not answerable to God, or that the work of Satan is not ultimately for God. This is because God is the creator of all things and all His creation including Satan and evil is for good. Satan is God’s but God is purely holy and good and does not tempt. Satan tempts but he does not do so outside of the will of God. He is always in subordination to God. Satan’s fall is of great significance. It had something to do with man who was created a little lower than the angels were but was intended to be crowned with glory and honor, exalted over the angels. God allowed man’s sin so that He might destroy evil ultimately and that He could show grace to sinners19. God could never display these things if evil did not exist. The fall is associated with the coming of salvation through the atoning death of Christ as seen in the symbolic language of the book of Revelation. Christ brought the redemption of man on the cross. In addition, Satan's forceful eviction from Heaven is a chief cause of the Great Tribulation. By casting Satan to the world, God, within the framework of his sovereign purpose, gave to him opportunity to exploit every avenue of his power until the end of man's history on earth. Satan and all his demons will do that until the very end of the millennial kingdom, the thousand-year kingdom, when God will destroy the whole universe. References Anderson Gary A. “The Fall of Satan in the Thought of St. Ephrem and John Milton.” Available from http://syrcom.cua.edu/hugoye/vol3no1/HV3N1Anderson.html. Internet; accessed 31 March 2009. Ginzberg Louis. “Legends of the Jews.” Available from http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/lginzberg/bl-lginzberg-legends-1-2f.htm. Internet; accessed 30 March 2009. Got Questions Ministries. 2009. “Is Lucifer Satan? Does the fall of Lucifer describe Satan?” Available from http://www.gotquestions.org/Lucifer-Satan.html. Internet; accessed 31 March 2009. Hancock Kenneth Wayne. 2009. “Immortality Road: The Fall of Satan’s Kingdom.” Available from http://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2009/03/21/the-fall-of-satans-kingdom-the-one-world-government-as-seen-in-psalm-2/. Internet; accessed 29 March 2009. Krista. 2004. “Satan.” Available from http://www.deliriumsrealm.com/delirium/articleview.asp?Post=327. Internet; accessed 31 March 2009. MacArthur John F. Jr. 2000. “The Fall of Satan.” Available from http://www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/90-237.htm. Internet; accessed 29 March 2009. Meyers Jeff. 2007. “The Fall of Satan.” Available from http://jeffreyjmeyers.blogspot.com/2007/07/fall-of-satan.html. Internet; accessed 30 March 2009. Robinson Jenna. 2009. “The Fall of Lucifer Part 1.” Available from http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art42517.asp. Internet; accessed 29 March 2009. The Middletown Bible Church. “The Fall Of Satan: When Did This Take Place?” Available from http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/doctrine/satanfal.htm. Internet; accessed 31 March 2009. United Church of God. 2008. “The Fall of Satan's Kingdom.” Available from http://www.ucg.org/booklets/RD/fallofsatan.htm. Internet; accessed 28 March 2009. Webber Bill. “Angel FAQs: The Fall of Satan.” Available from http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/Angels/2006/09/Angel-Faqs-The-Fall-Of-Satan.aspx. Internet; accessed 28 March 2009. White Ellen G. 1974. “The Story of Redemption.” Available from http://www.preparingforeternity.com/sr/srcontents.htm. Internet; accessed 1 April 2009. Read More