A Scriptural Analysis of the History of Satan – Part 6 – Satan’s Story Beginning to End – In the Lake of Fire
And so now that we know what happened with Satan in Eden, let’s review our puzzle and the story of Satan that this puzzle explains:
In Eden, Satan, a shiny cherubim, was the “nachash”, the serpent. Perhaps like Satan later entered Judas to betray Jesus, in this case Satan somehow used the snake to speak to Eve through. (Also see Num 22:23-33 of an angel present and a talking donkey – so this is not unprecedented elsewhere in scripture.) We can know it was a literal snake, because the serpent was punished also, and made to literally go on its belly and eat dust. It seems that Satan, or the snake, had been present when God gave the singular command to Adam to not eat from the tree of life, and to hear God tell Eve she could eat from all the fruit trees. The cherubim Satan knew that Adam had lied to Eve, not conveyed God’s Words to her accurately (See Part 5).
Let’s keep in mind, God had given dominion over the animals to Eve, and to Adam, and so this snake was under her authority. This could relate into why or how it was that this was allowed to happen, in that Satan could use a snake under her dominion, only because there was some purpose to the action of the snake that might serve her. It’s hard to prove or explain that, but I think there’s something to it, as the snake was an animal under her authority. Unlike today, at that time the animals may have all been more like pets, and that could factor into why Eve trusted the snake even though it talked, because to date all her animals were more like friendly pets, which she had authority over, so she both owned and trusted them. And this seems to be the setup situation that Satan worked through, talking to her through her pet.
Working through the serpent, Satan deceived Eve not by lying to her, but with a sort of a double entendre, “You both will not die” and that is part of why he is called wise and crafty, and the Bible says Eve was deceived, beguiled, or thoroughly tricked, and does not say she was lied to. It seems Satan carefully chose words which were not fully lies, but still were tricky and misleading with a double meaning, perhaps so as to claim innocence as to any malicious intent. God is just, and it is possible that the woman would not have been held culpable if in fact Satan had clearly told her that “if either of you eat, that individual will not die”. Satan’s ability to deny malicious intent “oh, she just misunderstood me” OR “well, the man lied to her, I was just trying to see who she believed, you or the man, I didn’t lie to her, everything I said was technically true… she took it wrong …” etc. or something like that.
This could be why we see Satan, not yet being judged and condemned to fire, but rather next, at this time, being stationed as the ‘anointed cherub that coverath” to guard the tree of life, to prevent Adam from eating from the tree, making them immortal and sinful, which would have only made things worse.
God was not deceived in any way by Satan’s behavior, and prophesied against the serpent, and Satan, at this time in Genesis 3 – however how the words of that prophesy would be fulfilled were still not yet determined. Satan’s head would be bruised, and he would bruise another’s heel, but the meaning was still open, in free will, as to how this would play out. Satan had free will, and free choice, to continue as he was, or to change.
Why did Satan do this? Was it to clue Eve in on something? No. And God was not deceived. Jesus Christ gives the true reason in John:
Jhn 8:44 Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Satan did this in Eden because he was trying to murder Adam and Eve, that is what he was trying to do, and using his craftiness, that is what he effectively did – but did so in such a way as to present it as an accident, innocent, and lay the blame on others for their actions, that were in result of temptation, being tempted by Satan. Maybe you ask, did God create Satan to be evil? Is that why he was a murderer, from the beginning in Eden? No, Satan had free will to make choices. No one was made to be perfect but God – look at Adam and Eve – they made mistakes and poor choices, Adam lied about what God had said changing it, Eve believed Adam if though she’d heard differently from God, they both were imperfect even before the first sin was committed. Sin was to disobey God, but neither of them were perfect, even before they sinned – but their imperfections did not matter. Why? Because God is love, and love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Pet 4:8, Prov 10:12) God as love was covering their imperfections, through their relationship and love for eachother, which was God. Despite their imperfections, God as love was the bond that hold all things together, held these people together. And love is who Satan attacked.
Satan seems to have wanted to murder Adam and Eve – why? He made a choice. When he saw that he had the wisdom and craftiness to upset the entire situation, that this was precariously balanced, and saw a possibility, had a plan, to disrupt the entire thing… he had the choice to have left it alone, or handle it some other way, but instead he chose to disrupt it. I think he never really cared about murdering them or not murdering them, but rather he wanted to get God’s attention by challenging Him. Murdering them didn’t matter, indifference, because he chose to try to relate to God by showing Him that he had the power, in selfishness, to destroy and upset what God had made. I think the only two who existed, in all of God’s creation, who mattered from his perspective, was God, and himself, and he wanted attention. But he made a choice, having intelligence and wisdom, to try to relate to God through challenging Him. Satan made a big mistake, imperfect, Satan made a wrong choice. It was a very large wrong choice, because his intelligence and craftiness enabled him to have the power to destroy big things, so being imperfect, when he made a mistake, it was a big one, that detrimentally impacted many people for years to come. And his intelligence and craftiness enabled him to do this in such as way as to get away with it enough under God’s rules of justice. God is love, and God made Satan also, and hard to believe as it may be, God loved Satan – so God was patient with Satan. He was a cherubim who made a big mistake, but in a way that might have just been trying to help, and he had not himself committed sin by disobeying God, nor lied, so hoping all things and showing love, God gave him time to repent. God was just in this, because to date Satan had not committed a crime for which he could be condemned. Satan had free will, and could have still chosen to repent. Apparently, it being obvious that Satan wanted God’s attention, and to have power, be important, etc., but having disrupted mankind and destroyed their ability to safely eat from the tree of life, without it harming them further. God seemed to decide to give Satan something important to do, even hinting of making up for the destruction he had perhaps accidentally caused in Eden, by anointing him as the Cherubim to guard the tree of life. Someone needed to do it now, and Satan had caused the situation and it somewhat shows God’s forgiveness of his mistake, accepting there was not ill will towards mankind or God intended, to choose to entrust Satan with the job. Satan couldn’t fix what had been broken, but he could be the one to keep it from getting any worse, and God seems to show both forgiveness, and fairness, justice, and love, in giving Satan this task to do. Yes, God knew eventually Satan would utterly rebel and knew his heart, but in justice, God treated Satan with love, in time with free will and choice, allowing Satan a way and time to repent and change.
So next in the story, Satan spent some 1600 years in Eden, guarding the tree, in a garden empty of Adam and Eve. But, if you are familiar with the Genesis 6 paradigm (which we haven’t covered here yet) it seems likely that Satan was not alone this entire time. The sons of God of Genesis 6 seem to be referred to in Eze 31 as other “trees” who were in the garden of God. It seems allowable that some of the sons of God, and even perhaps their wives, were in the garden from time to time at least, perhaps some living there or nearby in the time before the Flood. There’s not many details given on this that I am aware of, but this much I think can be reasonably assumed, that is Satan and the sons of God probably did interact, and Satan probably was familiar with Abaddon, who Ezekiel 31 describes to have had the largest nephilim family kingdom at this time. It would seem likely that all the people, and the sons of God, knew who Satan was, as he guarded the tree of life, and may have interacted with him. However, it seems between Job, Gen 3, and Eze 28, that Satan did not leave the garden of Eden and the tree he guarded for some 1600 years, did not leave up until the Flood came and destroyed the world. Which means he did not enter heaven during this time either, and it would make sense this was when he said in his heart that he would ascend into heaven, as seen in Isa 14.
Now that might seem an innocuous desire… but it does seem to express dissatisfaction with what God had stationed him there to do. That might or might not be enough to make sense of the statement… There may be more to this, as it seems like it was not long after Eden when the sons of God started to take wives, and Satan was there in Eden, able to talk to the sons of God. I won’t say more than the Bible says, but I will say that comparing “I will ascend into heaven” to the other statements in Isa 14, and the big events they reference to, bringing down the Divine Council, tempting Jesus to worship him… that it seems like there could be more to this. There may be a minor hint here that Satan had something to do with the events preceding the flood, in such a way that he had an agenda to leave Eden and ascend into heaven… but the Bible does not specify this, and instead says the sons of God took wives because they were fair, and God destroyed the world because men were evil. So we leave it at that. And these sons of God were imprisoned in the pit or Abyss, during the great flood, but Satan was not. As a cherubim, he is not recorded to have taken a wife or had nephilim kids. As a cherubim, he has 4 faces on his head of an ox, lion, eagle, and man, 4 wings, etc. etc. and as such his DNA would be incompatible to have kids with human women. And the Bible does not record Satan to have had any children, then or ever, likely because it is impossible. However, Eze 31, in prophetic terminology, does indicate that the Assyrian had many wives and children, and I believe this corresponds to the fallen angel Abaddon which is released from the Abyss in Revelation 9, which I believe corresponds to the Beast from the Sea or the Antichrist. It stands to reason that Satan knew Abaddon in the time before the Flood, or at least knew of Abaddon, who did seem to hold the concentrated power of a single great ruling kingdom in the time before the Flood. In Eze 31 it tells that God send the Flood in part to destroy Abaddon’s kingdom, as he was lifted up in pride.
But when the worldwide flood happened, Satan apparently got relieved of his duties of guarding the tree of life, as Eden seems to have been lost. At this point, it was a time of starting over for the world, and it could have been a time of starting over for Satan. We know that he traveled the world prior to Job, walking up and down the earth and back and forth in it. Satan probably saw Babel, and Nimrod trying to make the people all of one kingdom when God had told them to disperse. And when God divided the people and scattered them, so they would be many nations, the sons of God which remained, who had not taken human wives, had not left their first estate to do so, who still seem to have been good at this time, were entrusted by God with responsibility and power over the nations. The nations were divided according to the number of the sons of God, and the Divine Council was formed about 2200-2000 BC.
Satan seems to have traveled the earth, until around 1900-1700 BC when he is seen meeting with the Divine Council in the book of Job. It may have been around this time that Satan said in his heart, quote “ I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and sit on the mount of the assembly in the heights of the north” or in other words, that Satan had a plan to exalt his throne above the Divine Council sons of God, who assembled in the third heaven. Much like in Eden, Satan seemed to look for a way to hack the system God had put in place and find its weaknesses.
In Eden there were imperfections between Adam and Eve, inaccurate statements, but in free will, God was the bond of love holding them together inside of their precariously balanced system, covering these imperfections. And so it was God as love, in the invisible space between them, whom Satan attacked in exposing the weakness of these imperfections, bringing down the house of cards, deceiving Eve to tempt Adam into sin.
In the case of Job, Satan also seemed to look for weaknesses or imperfections in the system, bringing into question God’s justice and His relationship with Job. The story of Job is not so much about God’s love for Job, but is a story about Job’s love for God. Job was a righteous man who feared God, but ultimately the fear Job had for God was of losing his relationship with God, much as like a child to a father, or friend to a friends, the same from Job to God. Job protested his innocence to his friends, even with much accusation and ridicule from them, but the truth was Job knew God, trusted God, and had a relationship of love with God. Job didn’t know why this was happening to him, but he did know God and loved God, and despite his circumstances, would not betray that love and relationship with God. Job’s fear of God was not about losing his family, wealth, or his health, but about losing his relationship of love with God. And that is the same fear of God we read of elsewhere in the Bible, ultimately it is not about being punished by God, thought that is bad, but about losing relationship with God, which is far beyond worse.
Everyone betrayed Job, his friends, his wife, tempted him to go against the truth of what he knew, his innocence, and the truth that God was good and loving and just, and betray God… but Job in being righteous and a man of integrity, who loved God, knew God, and trusted Him, he was loyal to God, having great faith, and still would not betray God. The story is truly of Job’s love for God, and that is what was tested, and Job passed the test. God knew Job would pass the test, and so allowed Satan to test Job, knowing Job loved God so much that their relationship would not be destroyed or harmed from the test.
But Satan and the Divine Council, not being God and omnipotent, not being love themselves, for God is love, were just outsiders watching this. Satan questioned God’s kindness towards Job, and Job’s righteous love for God, and the only way to prove God was correct and right, was for them to see what Job would do if tested. Satan challenged God, and Job proved Satan wrong. But apparently somehow, it seems some of the Divine Council did not get it, and witnessing this between God, Satan, and Job, started a corrupting influence on some of them in the Divine Council, tempting them into sin.
By Psalm 82, around 1000 BC, some 700-900 years later, we see God rebuking the Divine Council for not practicing justice, for not defending the weak, needy and afflicted against the wicked, and God pronounces judgment that the sons of God will die like men. Many people are confused on God’s justice when they read Job, and it seems Satan’s actions and God allowing this, also confused some of the members of the Divine Council.
It may be that prior to Job, the Divine Council had been practicing justice, but after seeing Satan’s attack on Job, it set a bad example for them. They seem to have seen for the first time, with Job, how much power they had over the nations, over people, to work justice or to not, to test people or to not, without God taking action to stop it. In other words, I think prior to Job they did not realize just how much power God had given them to do with what they wanted, by their free will, and they also got confused about God’s justice at the same time. They did not seem to understand there was a relationship of love between God and Job, God was that love, and God alone knows men’s hearts, and knew Job’s heart. But the Divine council did not know Job’s heart, nor Satan’s, nor God’s.
Let’s not forget, that Satan’s plan here was not to tempt Job – but rather to exalt his throne above that of the Divine Council. It may seem like there was no purpose to these questions asked about Job, or Satan’s attacks on Job, but the truth is that Satan’s real plan of attack was to exalt himself above the Divine Council. They were the target of these actions by Satan, which seemed to attack their relationship with God. Prior it seems the Divine Council was obedient to God and followed His rules of justice as were plain. But afterwards, they didn’t seem to understand God in this exception to normalcy, and learned they had the power to play god themselves, not just follow God’s standards. It’s like a parent who tells a child – never suck on a wound – but then a snake bites, and the parent sucks out the poison, and the child does not understand it, that this is the rare exception – and then thinks their parent is a hypocrite. (Sorry I couldn’t think of a better example). The fact is that however much power they had, to be gods, they were still not God, and God alone could do some things justly and righteously, which they could not do. Much like God can get angry and is always righteous, man’s wrath does not work the righteousness of God. Made in his image, we can feel and act on something, which imperfect, we always act amiss with. So we can understand what God’s anger is, but we cannot hold and act upon it righteously, but need to resist, analogously, playing God in acting upon our anger. When God acts in anger He is always righteous, when we act in anger, we are always not. In the same way, the Divine Council could learn to understand having power and authority over nations and people’s, like God has, but they could not make any decision and do anything with that power and have it be righteous, despite an appearance of an exception, because they were not God, and God alone had the wisdom to make decisions that were righteous, even appearing to those outside is as an exception. They were like God, but they were not God. And it is this weakness in the Divine Council, and their relationship with God, that Satan seemed to try to expose and exploit. This story was not just about Satan testing Job, but about Satan tempting the Divine Council, find a loophole, hacking the system, to find a weakness and a way to tempt the Divine Council. But of course, it seems unlikely they saw this clearly at the time.
Much like in Eden with Adam and Eve, the Divine Council had been obeying God, and everything was fine… up until Satan exposed a weakness in the system, upset the apple cart, tempting them to fall into sin, and break the relationship between them and God. But also like in Eden, in choosing to be unjust and sin, the Divine Council made their own choices, and were responsible for their actions, which God judged to warrant death. Much like there was a good reason Adam could not eat from the tree, which was unknown to him, there was a good reason why the Divine Council needed to obey God’s rules of justice, and could not themselves play gods making decisions that might appear otherwise, for God alone has the wisdom to do such while still being Just, omnipotent, knowing the hearts of all, and Himself being love, which they were not God, nor omnipotent, nor love. They also would die for their actions of sin, and unlike men these were angels of greater knowledge, wisdom, and of great power – to not administer justice when it came to helpless people was a terrible crime against God and those people.
Another piece of this puzzle is the statement in Revelation 12:10 “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” In Job we see Satan making such an accusation against Job. In Zec 3 we see “And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: [is] not this a brand plucked out of the fire?”
What Revelation 12 would seem to indicate is that Job was only the beginning of Satan’s accusations, and far from an isolated incident. Job marked the beginning of a long pattern of Satan accusing people. This is also where David taking a census, provoked by Satan, seems to fit in. Much like Job, David also was tested. It seems that Satan spent from the time of Job (1900-1700BC up through the time of David, on into the time of Zechariah, right up through till the time of Jesus Christ’s ascension – often standing before the Lord and making accusation against people, similar to how he had with Job. Same as there was justice in testing the man Job, to show the angels what God alone knew, which was the man’s heart, it was fair to test other men as well, as it’s the same principle, and so it continued on and on and on. Satan seemed to have a negative affect of the members of the Divine Council towards corrupting their sense of administering justice, in doing all this. After the pronouncement that the Divine Council members will die like men (1000 BC), it seems they gave their kingdoms over to Satan, somehow, perhaps for this reason.
Around 700 BC in Isaiah we see Satan has become the king of Babylon, taking the seat of the Divine council member who ruled previously – and judgment is pronounced that Satan will be locked in the Abyss. Apparently undeterred by this judgment, Satan collects another nation under him around 570-590BC, and as the king of Tyrus Ezekiel pronounces judgment that Satan will be destroyed by fire.
Jesus describes the Divine Council as “the devil and his angels” in Mat 25:41. It seems that after the judgment they would die like men, they side with Satan, and choose to give him their power over the nations, but exactly how this went down is not clear, just that it did. But around 50 years later, in the time of Daniel, we see that Gabriel, a holy angel serving God, is prevented for 3 weeks from reaching Daniel with a message, by the prince of Persia. Gabriel says no one sides with but Michael, Daniel’s prince likely meaning as prince of Israel. And so by this time there seems to be major problems and a clear division taking place on Earth between God’s angels, and angels of the Divine Council. Around the same time, in Zech 3, in a scene with the angel of the Lord and the Lord present, and others, Satan seems to be depicted standing around God’s throne, and is rebuked by the Lord. So by this time, it seems that the dragon has swept down, or is sweeping down, a third of the stars, or angels, with his tail, down to earth, or corrupting a third of the total of God’s angels. But Satan himself still seems to be allowed in heaven at times, even rebuked by the Lord. He may be allowed there, despite rebuke, because he has received a couple seats at least, or more seats, on the Divine Council, and is there in place of the original sons of God who held those positions.
Then by 30 AD Satan is called the “prince of this world” by Jesus, and seems to have received all of the nations from the Divine Council. He tempts Jesus Christ to worship him in exchange for offering to give Jesus all this power over the nations that Satan received from the Divine Council members, and Jesus Christ refuses him and resists the temptation. Isa 14 says that Satan said in his heart, “I will be like the most High” and that seems to refer to this desire to receive worship, even trying to tempt the fullness of the Godhead bodily, to worship him, but Jesus Christ rebuked him. Satan then worked in Judas to have Jesus crucified, and after the resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven.
It should be noted in receiving all these nations from the Divine Council, that Satan has created a monarchy on earth out of the originally many and divided positions of the sons of God of the Divine Council, who would assemble as a group each with their own nation. Satan in this is much like Abaddon seemed to have a single powerful kingdom on Earth before the Flood, and God dealt with the Assyrian’s pride by destroying this kingdom with the Flood. Satan is much like Nimrod who tried to have a single kingdom with Babel over the people, and God dealt with this by dividing the tongues and separating the nations, and forming the Divine Council. In this case, Satan has done the thing God has not wished – created a false monarchy of power- and God destroys that monarchy by sending Jesus Christ, who in His sinless life and resurrection, overcomes Satan, and then in triumph and victory, ascends into heaven to the right hand of God, being given by God authority over, higher and above, that of the Divine Council. God replaced a false monarch, Satan, with the true monarch, Jesus Christ.
“Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.” 1 Pet 3:22
“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what [is] the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set [him] at his own right hand in the heavenly [places], Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all [things] under his feet, and gave him [to be] the head over all [things] to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” Eph 1:17-23
After Jesus Christ ascended, there was a war in heaven, Michael and God’s angels won, and Satan and his angels lost, and were kicked out of heaven, down to the Earth, and barred from heaven. Since then Satan and the fallen angels of the Divine Council have made war against Jesus Christ’s body, Christians here on earth, but Jesus Christ has already won the victory and Christians can have, claim and share in, Jesus’ victory over the enemy in the name and authority of Jesus Christ. Praise God our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ Our Lord!
And the battle wages on, here on Earth, Satan and his fallen angels of the Divine Council, and the demons, departed spirits of the dead nephilim, against Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, His Body the Church, Christians, and the Holy angels of God who serve Jesus Christ. But there is victory in Jesus Christ, and as we join His Body, are born-again, we are given life from death, and translated out of Satan’s kingdom of darkness and lies, into the Lord Jesus Christ’s glorious kingdom of light and truth.
“Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, [even] the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all [things] he might have the preeminence.” Col 1:12-18
“But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.” Mat 12:28
“And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:21
And now Satan stands by the sea, waiting for the Antichrist, the Beast from the Sea, to arise. In the meantime, Satan prepares the world for Abaddon’s arrival with a deception, lying signs and wonders, which will help them to be deceived by and receive the Antichrist when he comes. When Abaddon arrives, released from the Abyss or bottomless pit, Satan will hand over his authority to Abaddon, from one fallen angel to another, and Abaddon will set up his a one world kingdom, persecuting the remaining saints and Jews unto death, until Jesus Christ returns, throwing Abaddon and the false prophet into the lake of fire, and imprisoning Satan in the Abyss or bottomless pit for 1000 years, during God’s rest, while Jesus Christ will reign on this Earth as King.
Much like God gave Jesus Christ all authority and power, Satan counterfeits this action, giving Abaddon all his authority and power, that the people will worship Abaddon and Satan also. Because Abaddon and the false prophet have the power, use the power Satan gave Abaddon, to lead the people into worshipping Satan, they are held responsible for their actions. They do what Satan wants, but Satan does not himself do it. But again, God will replace a false monarch, Abaddon, with the true monarch, Jesus Christ, and then imprison Satan. After 1000 years, when Satan is released from the bottomless pit, it seems that there is no one left for Satan to tempt into doing what he wants, and so Satan openly himself deceives the people, and then with them attacks Jesus Christ’s kingdom and people. The people are destroyed by fire from Heaven, and then Satan is cast into the lake of fire, which is followed shortly after by the second resurrection and the White Throne Judgment.
Now let’s look in more detail at Satan’s ending, comparing Eze 28 and Rev 20.
Eze 28:18-19 therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never [shalt] thou [be] any more.
Rev 20: 10-15 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
The first thing to note here is that Eze 28 says that never shalt Satan be any more, which correspond to Rev 20 saying the lake of fire is the second death. What is the lake of fire? I am not going to prove it all out in this study, I hope to do a video on that at a later, but my studies have shown it is the remains of Mystery Babylon, Jerusalem in the endtimes, which becomes the lake of fire after the Beast and his armies destroy it. It seems to be a lake of lava, located on earth, during the millennial reign, where the old Jerusalem used to be. And this of course is a place on the earth. And what that should mean, when we get to the time at the end of Revelation 20 in which the “first heaven and first earth were passed away”, this means that the lake of fire, located on the first earth, passes away too.
I happen to be an annihilationist, and I do think that all people cast into the lake of fire will experience the second death, and cease to be. The bodies of those cast into the lake of fire at the beginning of the millennial reign do seem to remain to be seen by those passing by, but even those I believe are bodies, not souls in conscious torment. I think the second death mean people thrown in the lake of fire will cease to be, and I also think that Satan will eventually cease to be, when the first earth and heaven pass away, here in Rev 20. God is going to do away with it all, “Behold, I make all things new”.
But first, before that, Satan is tormented for ever and ever, or unto ages of ages. What does this mean? I think the passage is self-contained in the meaning, ie, the event between when Satan is thrown into the lake of fire, and when the first earth and heaven pass away, is the White Throne Judgment. I don’t know if you have considered how long the White Throne Judgment lasts, but let’s just look at the current population of the Earth, not even accounting for all people who have ever lived. If it took 1 minute to judge each person on Earth now, it would take 15,000 years to judge everyone living on the earth today. Some would argue that everyone is judged all at once, and that the process is quick, and time may work in flexible ways at that time. But I think the White Throne Judgment, at least for Satan, will last a very long time. Somehow, Satan is tormented for ages and ages, and this would seem to be during the time of the White Throne judgment.
What that would mean, is that Satan’s judgment seems to be he is there being tormented as each person is judged, and thrown into the lake of Fire with him. And while I believe people die more quickly, and cease to be, and do not believe in eternal conscious torment, it seems that Satan remains there for the entire process. So if it takes 15,000 years, Satan will experience all 15,000 years of that, and live to see the result of the destruction he caused in every individual life, before he ceases to be.
But for every person today, who has not turned to God to save them in Jesus Christ, the last thing it seems they might see, being thrown down into a lake of fire, before being consumed in flames and pain, is the cherubim Satan being tormented in flames. How quickly they cease to be, I do not know, whether some may take longer to be destroyed than others, it may be they are tormented for a length of time in proportion to their crimes, I do not know. But I believe in God’s mercy, and because God is love, and just, that they will experience the second death, and cease to be, and these souls will burn in pain into nonexistence.
But eventually, the lake of fire will pass away, as the first heaven and first earth will pass away, because the lake of fire is located on the first earth. It seems that Satan will cease to be at that time, and the fallen angels with him, as well as anyone else in the lake of fire. It will all be done away with. And then there will be a new heavens and a new earth, and God’s eternal kingdom, and the City of the New Jerusalem, where there will be no more pain, crying, or suffering, for those old things will have passed away too, forever.
Paradox Brown
This was thee let me emphasis on that for a second, best teaching I have read in my entire life. Not as tho I dont have a relationship with God no no but I recently just was given a chance to be ready for my start on God’s purpose for me and im a Sunday School teacher. I forwarded this link to my contacts. Your a gift from God to me for have found this site out of not even searching for this. God Bless Always Ms. Ortiz