The Fall of Satan

In the flow of Scripture, we sometimes find that the New Testament, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, will see a deeper significance in an Old Testament passage than perhaps even the Old Testament authors themselves realized. In such cases, we suspect that God inspired the Old Testament authors to word the text in a way that would jump out to the New Testament authors in certain clear ways.

Isaiah 14

Isaiah 14:12-15 is one such passage. Read on its own, the passage reads so much like the fall of Satan that we may not even notice the original context. In its original context, the passage clearly referred to the King of Babylon. At the beginning of the chapter, Isaiah 14:4 clearly indicates that the verses that follow are directed at the king of Babylon.

“How have you fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn?” (Isaiah 14:12) thus originally referred metaphorically to the coming fall of the king of Babylon. Such a powerful king, like Venus who appears right before the dawn, would spectacularly fall from power when the Persians would later defeat him. 

The kings of Babylon had such arrogance, thinking they could never be defeated. They thought of themselves as if they were gods high above the earth. But the Lord eventually brought them low to the ground. Like all other human beings, they would all eventually die and go to Sheol, the realm of the dead. And finally, in AD539, the Babylonian king would permanently be dethroned.

Jesus and more than one New Testament author would take this imagery in Isaiah 14 and apply it to the fall of Satan from power. In Luke 10:18, Jesus alludes to Isaiah when he says that he has seen Satan fall from the sky like lightning. The context there is his disciples returning from a mission. They are amazed that even the demons have to obey them. Jesus thus indicates to them that the arrival of the kingdom of God means that Satan is being dethroned. Satan’s rule over the earth was coming to an end.

Revelation 12:7-9 picks up this same imagery of Satan falling to the earth, another allusion to Isaiah 14. There is a war in heaven, and Satan is thrown down to the earth with his angels. Although Revelation may very well be thinking of a final battle, early Christians understood these passages also to allude to the original fall of Satan from heaven long before.

When the Old Testament was later translated into Latin, the word used for “morning star” was Lucifer, or “light-bearer.” Thus, Christians also came to refer to Satan by the name of Lucifer.

Ezekiel 28

We see a similar dynamic in Ezekiel 28. Ezekiel himself is clearly prophesying against the king of the city of Tyre (Ezek. 28:2, 12). His language and imagery is highly metaphorical, we might even say over the top. It may very well be that God was setting up this passage for the early church to see something more in the words than even Ezekiel himself did.

Ezekiel depicts the situation of the king of Tyre as if he were in the Garden of Eden (Ezek. 28:13). He is pictured perhaps as one of the guardian angels of the Garden. The mount of God and mention of fiery stones switches the image slightly, but we get a clear impression of an exalted figure that is so high that it is like he is on the level of gods.

Yet the later part of the passage can also easily be read in terms of the fall of Satan. He was blameless until he sinned (Ezek. 28:15). Then God expels him from heaven (Ezek. 28:16). God throws him to the earth (Ezek. 28:17). Thus part of the passage can be read in a “fuller sense” in relation to the fall of Satan even beyond what Ezekiel himself might have understood.

John Wesley

The early church began to put these pieces together. Satan is obviously part of the creation, since God created everything. Everything God created was good (Gen. 1:31), so Satan must have been created good (Ezek. 28:15). And he was an angel (2 Cor. 11:4). As an angel, he must have had a very high status, since he is powerful enough to war with archangels (Zech. 3:1-2; Jude 9; Rev. 12:7).

Like Adam, he must have had a choice. He made the wrong choice, a choice to rival God rather than serve him (Isa. 14:12). A Jewish writing around the time of Christ sees Satan in the Garden of Eden as jealous over God’s favor toward Adam and Eve (Life of Adam and Eve). So God kicks Satan out of heaven, out of the heavenly Garden of Eden like Adam and Eve were (Ezek. 28:13).

He is thrown down to the earthly realm, to the lowest sky (Luke 10:18; Rev. 12:9). He becomes the “Ruler of the Air” (Eph. 2:2). God allows him to wreak havoc on the earth and allows him authority here with his other angels (Matt. 4:8-9), who are now demons (Rev. 12:4). 

In his sermon, “Evil Angels,” John Wesley summed up the story of angels in this way.

Final Destiny

Revelation 20:10 gives a clear indication of the final destiny of Satan. This verse states, “And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur.” The lake of burning sulfur symbolizes the final and eternal judgment reserved for Satan. He will deceive and destroy no more.

Similarly, Matthew 25:41 speaks of the final judgment and tells of the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Jesus says, “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’” This statement is part of the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, where Jesus describes the eternal separation of the righteous from the unrighteous. The eternal fire indicates an ultimate separation from God and the final punishment for Satan and his fallen angels.

Finally, 2 Peter 2:4 offers insight into the judgment of the angels who sinned. Peter writes, “God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment.” Similarly, Jude 6 speaks of angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling. They are being kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains awaiting the final judgment.