Luke 10:18-20New International Version (NIV) 18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Isaiah 14:12-15New International Version (NIV) 12 How you have fallen from heaven o morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! 13 You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.[a] 14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” 15 But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.
Here we see two accounts of the fall of Satan. One, from Luke, was Jesus’ first hand account of witnessing Satan being thrown from heaven. The other, the prophet Isaiah describes why Satan was cast out of heaven. In the book of Revelation, we find that one-third of the angels in heaven went with him. Where did they go?
Almost everyone knows the story of Adam and Eve, and the role of the serpent. In part I, we read the account in Genesis 3, where God punished the serpent by putting enmity between his seed, and the seed of man. But why would Satan tempt mankind? What was the purpose for causing man’s fall from grace? Was it just Satan’s way of “sticking it” to God for casting him out, or was it something deeper?
Our answer can be found by asking, why did God create man? The angels were created perfect in every way. Their duty was to worship God, and carry out their assigned tasks. They had supernatural powers, they were beautiful, they were servants, but they were still created beings. One particular created being, believed that he was the equal of his Creator. That one created being was who Isaiah described. Satan.
As proof of God’s perfection and glory, man was created to prove a point to the angels in general, and Satan in particular. God wanted them to know, that man, who was created vastly inferior to the angels, could be reverent, loyal servants, who worshipped God unconditionally. Satan’s temptation of man was to prove that no, man was not better than the angels, that men were weak and prideful creatures as well. Men were the type of inferior beings that would worship a supernatural angel such as Satan. Satan finally had a chance for followers.
The apostle Paul tells us however that in spite of man’s frailness, in spite of his mortality, man would take hierarchy over angels: 1 Corinthians 6:3New International Version (NIV)3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
So there we stand. The first wave of fallen angels are upon the earth. They are tempting what God created in his image, something that the angels were not, and they are determined to increase their following. They have been judged in Genesis 3, as man’s seed will crush the serpents head, and Satan knows what this means. Further action must be taken on Satan’s part to prevent this from happening.
Part III, we will begin to look at the next wave of fallen angels, where they fit into mythology and the ancient cultures, as well as the rise of the Nephilim.
Troy P Zehnder 