WE can not answer repeatedly in the same volume questions upon the same scripture. The name and address must accompany question. It is well always to enclose stamp for reply.
4254—WHEN WAS SATAN CAST OUT OF HEAVEN?
By Editor
I read in your paper recently that he was not cast out until the resurrection of Jesus. Did God retain him in heaven all those four thousand years? A. S.
The Scriptures would seem to make it clear that there are several successive castings down of Satan. In the opening utterances of the divine Book, we find him in the Garden of Eden, transforming himself into the appearance of a serpent; and no doubt the serpent of that time was much more beautiful and charming than anything seen among creatures of that class to-day, for we immediately read of the curse that was pronounced upon the serpent because Satan had chosen that form through which to work.
When man was created, God gave him dominion over the whole earth. He was the head of this world. But when he sinned, he yielded the dominion to Satan, the deceiver; and so we find that when the tempter came to Christ, he claimed dominion over the kingdoms of the world, offering this dominion to Christ if the Master would only fall down and worship him. Matt. 4:8, 9. The Lord recognized him as the prince of this world, in several passages in the Gospel of John—not that he was a rightful prince, but he had usurped dominion here, and the Master was controverting it. The whole plan of salvation is for the purpose of rescuing individuals from the thraldom of Satan's snares, and restoring to them the lost dominion. As the Lord was approaching His death on the cross, He said, "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out." John 12:31. This scripture would convey the thought that while Satan had already been cast out of heaven, and had invaded this earth with his fallen angels, yet there was a further casting down to be done through the cross of Christ.
Previous to the time of the cross, it would seem that Satan was permitted to attend the councils of heaven. Job 1:6 and 2:1 speak of the "sons of God" coming together, and Satan appearing among them. The sons of God must have been the Adams of all the inhabited worlds; for in the genealogy of Joseph, the husband of Mary, as given in the third chapter of Luke, we find his record traced back to Seth, "which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God." Adam here has the distinction of being called the "son of God." That is, the father of the human family was the direct creation of the great Creator Himself. And since Satan overthrew Adam by leading him into sin, and since he claimed to be the prince, or the ruler, of this world, and since, when the sons of God came together, as recorded in Job, he came among them, it would appear that his effrontery caused him to persist in attending the councils of heaven, to represent the earth, over which he had usurped dominion. This course was permitted because if Satan had been entirely debarred from such privileges, or had been destroyed when he first started his career of sin, the intelligences of God's universe, who could not foresee the great harvest that sin would produce, therefore could not have understood the justice of the divine procedure. But after his awful work in seeking to destroy Christ when He came here as a man among men, and in the cruelties and tortures through which he caused the Master to pass from Gethsemane to the cross, the whole universe could see the real character of Satan, and hence he had another casting down. We understand that he is now debarred from attending the great councils of the Adams of the universe as he evidently did during the old dispensation. A further casting down awaits him, as is shown in the twentieth chapter of Revelation, when an angel is commissioned to confine him to this earth; and when that time comes, he is to remain here a prisoner until his final destruction.
So we conclude that the casting down of Satan embraces at least three distinct steps: first, when he with his angels was cast out in the beginning; second, when he had a further casting down by being exposed in his true character to the universe through the sufferings and crucifixion of Christ; and third, when he is chained to this earth at the second coming of Christ. And final disposition is made of him when he meets his doom in the lake of fire, as recorded in Revelation 20.
Those who have access to the two books "Patriarchs and Prophets" and "Desire of Ages," will find in them some helpful suggestions in the study of this subject. In "Desire of Ages," matter found on pages 490, 761, and 764 will be particularly pertinent.
