A comment in another thread got me to thinking. Just when did Satan fall from God's grace? Most people think it was before creation, during the creation week, or shortly after that week. But I would beg to differ that it could not have been in any of those periods. Here is my thoughts for what they are worth.
God knew that Adam and Eve would fall from His grace, and that the serpent would be the instigator. But He knew it would happen before the event actually occurred. That is because He is omniscient, knowing everything about everything. He did not cause the fall, neither did He do anything to prevent it from happening. Adam and Eve's free will and poor choices were the blame. He could have easily prevented it from happening, but He did not. Why not? Because that would not have served His holy purpose (Romans 8:28).
Did Satan have anything to do with that situation? Truthfully, we do not know. It was the "serpent" who was directly involved, and it was the serpent that God cursed. Satan was not mentioned by name at all in the biblical account. We assume it was Satan posing as a serpent, but the Bible does not confirm our assumption
What do we know about Satan? He is of course mentioned prominently in the Book of Job where he moves freely between heaven and earth and appears to be serving God as His official "tempter" and "accuser." But Satan after the fall was limited only to earth, and could not return to heaven. Therefore the only logical conclusion we can reach was that Satan, at the time Job was written, was still in God's good graces.
And we know that he tempted David to "number" Israel, which was done and which angered God. But did God curse Satan for causing David to sin? We do not know because the Bible is silent on that subject. All we can logically assume is that Satan was still acting as God's "tempter" of humans.
Was Satan in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve? He may have been. He might even have been posing as a serpent at the time. But if he was, and if he was not also specifically cursed by God, then the only assumption we can logically make is that he was there serving God as "tempter" of humans, just like we read about in Job.
Here is a trivia question. When is "the devil" (as in a specific entity as "the" devil) first mentioned in Scripture? It is in Matthew 4:1. The entire Old Testament is completely silent on "the" devil, but does mention "devils" (plural) in Lev. 17:7, Deut. 32:17, 2nd Chron. 11:15, and Plms 106:37.
Here is another trivia question. Where can you find the first reference to any person casting out "devils" or demons? That would be Jesus as described in Matthew and the other Gospels. There is not one mention anywhere in the Old Testament of anyone casting out any devils, demons or evil spirits. There is one mention of God using an "evil" spirit to serve His purpose, but nobody did any casting out of any such demonic entities anywhere in that Testament.
Someone might mention the Old Testament records of prophets mentioning the fall of Satan (not Lucifer [Isaiah 14:12], who was the King of Babylon and thought he was as powerful and great as God). The mention of Satan and his fall in Ezekiel 28 are the words of a Prophet of God, and talk about the future event, not some past event. Therefore the only logical conclusion anyone can come to is that the fall of Satan had not yet occurred when the Prophet Ezekiel spoke his prophecy from God.
So, when did Satan fall. The only possible logical conclusion that can be reached is that his fall occurred sometime after Ezekiel spoke the prophecy and Matthew 4. My own conclusion, which is also not based on Scripture but is at least logical, is that Satan fell sometime during the period of time between the two Testaments. And the why of the timing of the fall is also based on logic. Our all-knowing God would be sending His Christ to earth to begin a new Covenant with men after the first Covenant was so severely aborgated by Israel. Satan acting as "the" devil would serve God's purpose for humans making spiritual choices between Him and evil.
So, what is your opinion?
Rank Stranger
God knew that Adam and Eve would fall from His grace, and that the serpent would be the instigator. But He knew it would happen before the event actually occurred. That is because He is omniscient, knowing everything about everything. He did not cause the fall, neither did He do anything to prevent it from happening. Adam and Eve's free will and poor choices were the blame. He could have easily prevented it from happening, but He did not. Why not? Because that would not have served His holy purpose (Romans 8:28).
Did Satan have anything to do with that situation? Truthfully, we do not know. It was the "serpent" who was directly involved, and it was the serpent that God cursed. Satan was not mentioned by name at all in the biblical account. We assume it was Satan posing as a serpent, but the Bible does not confirm our assumption
What do we know about Satan? He is of course mentioned prominently in the Book of Job where he moves freely between heaven and earth and appears to be serving God as His official "tempter" and "accuser." But Satan after the fall was limited only to earth, and could not return to heaven. Therefore the only logical conclusion we can reach was that Satan, at the time Job was written, was still in God's good graces.
And we know that he tempted David to "number" Israel, which was done and which angered God. But did God curse Satan for causing David to sin? We do not know because the Bible is silent on that subject. All we can logically assume is that Satan was still acting as God's "tempter" of humans.
Was Satan in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve? He may have been. He might even have been posing as a serpent at the time. But if he was, and if he was not also specifically cursed by God, then the only assumption we can logically make is that he was there serving God as "tempter" of humans, just like we read about in Job.
Here is a trivia question. When is "the devil" (as in a specific entity as "the" devil) first mentioned in Scripture? It is in Matthew 4:1. The entire Old Testament is completely silent on "the" devil, but does mention "devils" (plural) in Lev. 17:7, Deut. 32:17, 2nd Chron. 11:15, and Plms 106:37.
Here is another trivia question. Where can you find the first reference to any person casting out "devils" or demons? That would be Jesus as described in Matthew and the other Gospels. There is not one mention anywhere in the Old Testament of anyone casting out any devils, demons or evil spirits. There is one mention of God using an "evil" spirit to serve His purpose, but nobody did any casting out of any such demonic entities anywhere in that Testament.
Someone might mention the Old Testament records of prophets mentioning the fall of Satan (not Lucifer [Isaiah 14:12], who was the King of Babylon and thought he was as powerful and great as God). The mention of Satan and his fall in Ezekiel 28 are the words of a Prophet of God, and talk about the future event, not some past event. Therefore the only logical conclusion anyone can come to is that the fall of Satan had not yet occurred when the Prophet Ezekiel spoke his prophecy from God.
So, when did Satan fall. The only possible logical conclusion that can be reached is that his fall occurred sometime after Ezekiel spoke the prophecy and Matthew 4. My own conclusion, which is also not based on Scripture but is at least logical, is that Satan fell sometime during the period of time between the two Testaments. And the why of the timing of the fall is also based on logic. Our all-knowing God would be sending His Christ to earth to begin a new Covenant with men after the first Covenant was so severely aborgated by Israel. Satan acting as "the" devil would serve God's purpose for humans making spiritual choices between Him and evil.
So, what is your opinion?
Rank Stranger
