When Did Satan Fall

I believe Satan possibly fell from heaven AFTER the creation of the heaven and the earth! Does that sound different from what you have learned? The understanding of this view from scripture will help you answer many questions. Why do some churches believe in "election" to salvation? Why did God create us knowing that many would go to hell and suffer? What does predestination mean? Many more questions and false theories such as the "gap theory" can be answered by this Bible acknowledgment of Satan’s fall. There is an assumption that Lucifer fell many ages ago. Are we putting Biblical ideas into an evolutionary framework like many sinners do the dinosaur? The Bible does not put an exact date on when Lucifer lost his position, but many scriptures give ideas to ponder.
When God created the heaven and the earth, everything was good! The heaven (air or atmosphere) around the earth, of which Satan became the "prince of the power of the air," was called good. "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." (Genesis 1:31). "Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience." (Ephesians 2:2). If Satan had already been cast down to rule the air, this verse could not have been stated. Everything God had made was good. I believe that the creation of man, who began to receive fellowship with God, made Lucifer jealous. This may have been the event that enticed Lucifer to rebel against God.

Lucifer was in the Garden of Eden. God called him beautiful when he was there. "Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire." (Ezekiel 28:13-14). Notice in the surrounding verses that he was the special covering cherub. Compare this to jeweled descriptions of God’s presence and surroundings in other scriptures. A later verse says: "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." (Ezekiel 28:15). (The King of Tyrus could not have been in Eden. This is a dualistic prophecy against a king by comparing him to Lucifer or Satan is being called the King of Tyrus. Tyrus: a rock )

When the earth was founded, ALL of the sons of God (angels) shouted for joy! "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (Job 38:4-7). Lucifer was present to rejoice at creation!

In a passage that probably has a dual meaning and purpose, God tells Nebuchadnezzer that he is like Lucifer in his desires and designs and will suffer as he in the latter’s fall. "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 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." (Isaiah 14:12-13). While some use these verses to show the pre-adamic race that Lucifer weakened, it instead shows Lucifer’s (Satan’s) desire to exalt his throne above the stars of God. If these stars are the lights in the sky, they were created on the 4th day. If the stars are God’s people (Israel), that is a moot point since Nebuchadnezzer had already done this by conquering that nation and taking many as slaves. If the stars are angels, then Lucifer wanted to be as God above an angel status or role; and Nebuchadnezzer could never attain that since men were created lower than the angels. Lucifer was apparently above all the angels already, so why would he try to get above the other angels (stars of God) that he already controlled? This word "star" means: literal – a star (as round or as shining); figurative-a prince. (Satan is called a prince in John 12: 31, "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.") Of course, Nebuchadnezzer did not fall from heaven.

Satan was not a murderer BEFORE the beginning, but from the beginning. "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning." (John 8:44). What beginning? Satan’s beginning? Did he work with God for eons as a sinful angel? No! He was a murderer FROM the beginning of OUR existence. "In the beginning…" His change of heart and action took place at our beginning. Scripture uses the term "beginning" as the start of the earth.

Sin entered the world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. There was no death in the world until sin. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (Romans 5:12). A pre-adamic race or a formerly "cast down to earth" devil would eliminate the use of this verse. This earth was created perfect with no sin on the earth or in the heaven (immediate atmosphere). There was no death! Yet Satan is called the prince of the power of the air and thereby affects us to the point of being the "god of this world."

If God planned this world and knew man would fall, then He would have planned a Savior BEFORE the foundation (beginning) of the world. "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (Revelation 13:8). God planned a Savior FROM, not before, the foundation. At the beginning, it is possible that Satan’s jealousy, and tempting of Eve, caused him to fall from his position and God then immediately planned a Savior. The prior verse is often misquoted with a "before" instead of the "from." This Savior was already planned to fellowship with us. (Predestination and election) "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." (Ephesians 1:4). Then sin caused man to have blame, but lambs, and then The Lamb, has given us back to Him.

If Lucifer fell earlier (in a prior humanity; "gap theory"), why did God not put him away forever as He does in the Book of Revelation? Is God so mean that He would create man knowing the devil was out and about and that millions would go to hell? Many sinners are disturbed by a God that planned so much horror. If Satan fell after creation, then sinners can know God planned only good for them and Satan is the problem, not God!

Hopefully, you can see that this answers many doctrinal questions and misconceptions about God. We were ALL predestined to serve God, but Satan ruined it for many since Eden. We were ALL elected to be God’s children and serve His Son, but the fall of man diverted God’s plan for a while. (though He made plans for those who had a heart for Him) "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will." (Ephesians 1:5). To know we would sin would be to create us predestined to sin. Anything that He knows has to happen. If Lucifer fell AFTER creation, then the doctrines of predestination and election are even more understandable. Many hyper-Calvinists struggle with these doctrines because most feel that Lucifer fell in ages past BEFORE the earth and heaven were created. This possible understanding of Lucifer’s fall allows "whosoever will…" to coincide with election very easily. Otherwise, much confusion results. I cannot conceive God making a plan knowing it would fail. He only knows what He wants to know. Just as He can forget my sin, He could create earth with all great intentions and plans. SATAN WAS THE MESS-MAKER. It seems odd that God would create us knowing sin would develop. But maybe God only knows what He wants to know. Does He remember your sin? Not if your sin is washed away by faith in His Son and the power of His blood to cleanse! So God could have possibly created the heaven and the earth with full intention of having us as His children (predestined) by the fellowship of His only begotten Son. Even now, all have been elected to be His, by virtue of His breath (spirit) in us. Many refuse and God uses them to accomplish His plans (such as Pharoah was raised up for Him). There is no need for a gap theory to prove time for dinosaurs (large reptiles) or to provide a space for Satan to fall. "In the beginning…" means just that. We don’t even know that angels were created very long before the beginning. Why have we assumed millions of years for angels? Maybe angels have been around for most of eternity. Why did it take so long for Satan to reveal his true nature? The creation of man for God to love and receive love from must have been the catalyst to cause Lucifer to take self-willed action to mess up God’s plan. If Satan fell before the beginning, then it is easy to see why sinners think God is playing some type of game with mankind. God did not plan death of any type, because He planned "the green herb" and fruits for man to eat. Meat was allowed after the flood. God’s plan was good. He has won the victory over Satan and you can win with Christ! THINK ON THESE THINGS!