The Fall of Satan

A Devotional Series from Genesis

Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)

3/13 Reading Portions: Exodus 24; John 3; Job 42; 2 Corinthians 12

Genesis 3:1

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.

WHEN

The serpent, הַנָּחָשׁ (han-na-CHASH) in Hebrew, is essentially Satan (Rev 12:9). Whether this was an animal that was possessed of Satan or the embodiment of Satan on earth, we will not ponder. Commentaries that posit one or the other are opinionated conjectures at best. Scripture does not lead us to one conclusion or another, which leads me to believe that YHVH God wants our attention placed squarely upon Christ and His gospel.

So, when did Satan fall? As considered in our devotional thought from Genesis 1:2, Satan could not have rebelled against God’s authority during a pre-Adamic period. Adam was not standing upon millions of years of dead things on the day he became a living soul (Rom 5:12; 1 Cor 15:22).

Satan’s fall could not have occurred before the sixth day of creation. We are given a glimpse of this here:

¹²“Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: “You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. ¹³You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. ¹⁴You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. ¹⁵You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. ¹⁶In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. ¹⁷Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you. ¹⁸By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries; so I brought fire out from your midst; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you. ¹⁹All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever.” Ezekiel 28:12-19

While this prophecy was about Tyre’s king, most of the elements contained herein could not possibly be about him. He was not literally the signet of perfection (Ezek 28:12); and most certainly, Tyre’s king was not literally in Eden, the garden of God (Ezek 28:13), since the garden wasn’t planted until the sixth day, after Adam was created and received the “breaths of lives” to become a living soul (as considered in Gen 2:7 and Gen 2:8).

Although this is my opinion, the Scriptural proof would seem to line up with this. Satan fell on the eighth day. Satan, disguised as a messenger of light (Isa 14:12), called Lucifer (KJV) or Day Star (ESV), came in pride (Isa 14:12-19; Ezek 28:17) and deception (Gen 3:1-5; Rev 12:9) to foil YHVH God’s plans. Why not many years later? It is certain that you and I, as fallen descendants of the first man and woman, redeemed by the precious blood of Messiah Jesus, grow in one degree of glory to another, by God’s grace and in His glorious, providential design (Rom 8:28-39; 2 Cor 3:18). Even as mentioned in our devotional thought yesterday, my wife and I have grown in grace together the past thirty-five years, and we are stronger in Christ by our union and communion with Him and with one another. Therefore, we are less susceptible to being duped by Satan as we abide in Christ (John 15:1-5). Adam and his wife were created perfect, having fellowship with God and one another. If more time had passed as they grew in God’s grace, would they have been so easily conned? I don’t think so. Nevertheless, we’ve already read an earlier prophetic foreshadow of man’s fall—the second day of creation, whereas it was the one day of the six-day creation record when Elohiym God did not say that it was good (Gen 1:6-8). The eighth day was a new beginning, when sin entered and redemption through Christ was the only way to salvation (for salvation in Christ was not necessary until then).

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

And Adam and Eve’s first full day out of the garden was on the ninth day.