When is Satan cast out of heaven?
A specific date is not given, but the next verses give us a hint:
And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.
– Revelation 12:13-14
When he sees he is thrown down to the earth (verse 13), Satan persecutes the woman who gave birth to the male child. Israel flees to the wilderness from Satan and his Anti-Christ figurehead and is nourished by God for the final three and one-half years (1260 days).
A “time” in the Bible is equal to one year. “A time, and times, and half a time” refers to three and one-half years. Satan is forever cast out of heaven midway into the seven-year Tribulation. This time cannot be attributed to any other moment in history. The context of the rest of Revelation and the other Scriptures won’t allow any other interpretation.
But wasn’t Satan thrown out before the creation of Adam and Eve?
Genesis tells us God relegated Satan to the dust of the earth after his corruption of Adam and Eve in Eden. He lost his first estate, but he still has limited access to heaven.
Wait. The devil doesn’t live in hell? What is he doing in heaven?
Many people don’t realize Satan doesn’t live in hell, as evidenced by the book of Job in the Old Testament and this section of Revelation 12 (See also Zechariah 3:1). He doesn’t live in heaven either. He’s a man without a country, relegated to the lowly position of God’s unwilling servant until his own day of reckoning in the final judgment.
How can he possibly be considered God’s servant?
God uses the devil to reveal both evil and the righteousness in the hearts of humanity. The human soul best relinquishes its fruit upon the threshing floor of trial.
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.”
– Job 1:6-7
This scene is repeated in Job 2:1-2. According to the Scriptures, Satan constantly hurls accusations against believers before God.
“Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.”
– Revelation 12:10
What does Satan do with his time on Earth when he is not busy accusing believers before God?
He’s roaming the earth looking for any weakness in a believer that he might exploit. He’s inflicting all the damage he can in a hellish scorched-earth policy to torment God’s people and cause God pain.
He knows how much God loves humans. He doesn’t understand it, but he knows how to use it to inflict pain upon the Kingdom.
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
– 1 Peter 5:8
At the mid-point of the tribulation, this door between heaven and earth shuts in Satan’s face. I believe Jesus’s statement in Luke 10:18 was forward facing:
And He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning.”
Satan falls every time a person finds Jesus; every time a believer finds victory in the midst of trial; every time a prayer is answered; every time he is reminded of his estate squirming in the dust, head crushed.
A day is coming when he will be completely vanquished to Earth.
For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.
– Revelation 12:12
A short time indeed. He will have 1260 days until he is locked up for a millenium. After Christ has ruled Earth for one thousand years, Satan will be released from his cell. He will lead another brief rebellion against God. This will be quickly squashed, and Satan will meet his final fate in the lake of fire.
This weekly series follows the story line of the Christian thriller Blood Falls. Each episode occurs in chronological order, giving context, perspective, and Biblical foundation for the novel. Discover the true stories and incredible facts behind the book! See the entire series here: https://cmaddict.com/tag/behind-blood-falls/
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