The Creation and Fall of Satan

When was Satan and the angels created?

Satan was certainly in Heaven before his fall - so the first question is “When was Heaven created?”

Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

The Hebrew word for “heavens” used in Genesis 1:1 is a plural word. It means and/or refers to “heaven, heavens, sky, visible heaven, abode of stars, universe, atmosphere, and the abode of God.”

Nehemiah 9:6 - “You are the Lord, You alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host , the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary denotes that the “Heaven of Heavens” [Highest Heaven] is the “place where God dwells in biblical cosmology. It can also be understood as a description of the vastness of the universe.”

I think it important to note that the same plural Hebrew word [shamayim] is used in both the Genesis account and in this passage of Nehemiah.

So it would be appropriate to theorize that the “heaven of heavens” [The Abode of God] was created alongside the 1st and 2nd heavens which are inferred due to the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:2:

“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows.”

DAILY DOUBLE!!!

This is believed to make up the 1st Heaven.

What is the Atmosphere of Earth?

This constitutes the 2nd Heaven.

What is the extraterrestrial universe ?

Colossians 1:16 - For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

Tonight’s discussion suggests that “All Things” actually means….. “All things.” That when Moses, Nehemiah and Paul stated that “God created the Heavens and the Earth” that He in His eternal pre-existence created everything outside of Himself.

That when they said - “God made the heavens”…They highlighted the fact that Heavens are not infinite. Only God is!

The totality of God’s creative work took place in a literal 6 days. That is [6] 24 hour periods.

At the end of His Work, God looked over everything that He had made and declared it as “Very Good !”

Genesis 1:31 - And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

So if “everything ” that God had made was “Very Good” How could that have included Satan? Did that include Satan?

Circle One: YES -or- NO

Ezekiel 28:15 - You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you.

Satan was blameless in the beginning….Meaning He would have been included in The Lord’s complement of His created work.

The Bible does not tell us exactly when Satan and the Angels were created but a conversation between the Lord and Job might be a clue for us as Job questions God’s sovereignty over his life [Job 3] and cries out for an answer from the Lord as to why he suffers…[Job 31]

Job 38:4–7 - “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Job 38 tells us that a portion of God’s creative work was witnessed by a heavenly host.

The laying of the “Foundation of Earth” has to refer to one of two events. When we read the Creation Account we see that God created the Earth on Day 1 …but it was not until Day 3 that He separated the land from the water.

The “Morning Stars” of Job 38 most likely refer to angels. In fact, Satan Himself is coincidentally referred to as the Morning Star in Scripture.

Isaiah 14:12 [CSB]- Shining morning star [Lucifer], how you have fallen from the heavens! You destroyer of nations, you have been cut down to the ground.

If Satan, as an angel witnessed the laying of the foundation of the earth, then we can conclude that God had created Satan by Day 3 .

That’s all on the creation of Satan for now….Now let’s discuss his fall!

As we read last week it was Satan’s pride that caused his fall!

Proverbs 16:18 - Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall .

Satan’s pride caused Him to sin against the Lord and as a result was cast out of Heaven. This event could not have taken place prior to the sixth day and God’s proclamation that everything was “Very Good.”

It also unlikely that this would have taken place on the Seventh Day, it seems very unlikely that God would sanctify [make Holy] and set aside the Seventh Day as a Day of Rest while simultaneously dealing with Satan’s Rebellion.

Another factor is that God had commanded Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful and Multiply” in Gen 1:28 [on the 6th day]…This is important because had Adam and Eve waited very long to have sexual relations, then they would have been guilty of omissive sin, instead of the commissive sin of eating from the tree.

Delayed Obedience is disobedience!

It must not have been long after Day 7 that Satan tempted Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

But is there a range concerning when the Fall of Satan could have been?

Archbishop Ussher, 17th Century Scholar, placed the fall of Satan in line with The Day of Atonement for the Hebrew people. Even today, Yom Kipper, is celebrated on the 10th day of the 7th Month of the Hebrew Calendar.

The theory is that The Day of Atonement reflected back on the sin of Adam and Eve and the animal sacrifice that God made on their behalf. As a result, the generations of God’s people followed this pattern of sacrificing …on the 10th day.

If this is true…The Fall of Satan has to be placed between Days 8 through 10 .