Since His Rebellion Satan Has Not Been in the Presence of God the Father

In a recent article I wrote: "Since he first sinned Satan has NEVER had any direct contact with God the Father, because God the Father will simply not allow sin to exist in His presence." In response to this statement someone sent me the following question:

What about Job 1 where Satan was permitted to come before God's presence? And what about Revelation 12:10, where Satan accuses the brethren day and night before God?

Let's look at these questions.

IN THE BOOK OF JOB

In the Book of Job we find Satan appearing "before the LORD" in Job 1:6-12, and again in Job 2:1-7. Now later in that same Book of Job we also find the same "LORD" speaking to Job from chapter 38:1 onwards. In Job 42:7-8 we also find "the LORD" speaking to Eliphaz the Temanite. (The other times in the Bible, when God spoke to Abraham, to Moses, to the whole nation of Israel, etc. need not concern us here.)

But during His ministry Jesus Christ said very emphatically about God the Father: "YOU HAVE NEITHER HEARD HIS VOICE AT ANY TIME, nor seen His shape" (John 5:37). This statement by Jesus Christ makes clear that the God pictured in the Book of Job could not possibly have been God the Father, since Job and his friends did hear the voice of that God.

It should be clear to us that "the LORD" before whom Satan appeared in Job 1, and who then later spoke to Job and to his friends, was Jesus Christ! That's the only viable possibility.

Once we understand that "the LORD" in the Book of Job was Jesus Christ, then there are certain additional points we should notice.

For a start, Job 1:6 shows that all the righteous angels present themselves BEFORE JESUS CHRIST for certain occasions. It is at one of these specific occasions that Satan was commanded to be present somewhere in heaven (i.e. somewhere other than where the throne of God the Father is located! Perhaps this scene took place at "the mobile throne of Jesus Christ" which is described in chapters 1 and 10 of the Book of Ezekiel? Perhaps the reason for this "mobile throne" is to ensure that Satan never comes near wherever God the Father may happen to be?)

Here is the verse in question.

"Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them." (Job 1:6)

The Hebrew words translated as "came to present themselves" literally mean "came TO STAND BEFORE". So here we have a scene where all the holy angels STAND before a seated Jesus Christ, and at this occasion Satan also stands amongst the angels.

Thus there are occasions when the righteous angels gather before Jesus Christ, without God the Father being involved in the occasion. It should be clear that God the Father was simply not present at this occasion in the Book of Job. That raises the question: WHY would there possibly be occasions when there are gatherings in heaven and God the Father is clearly absent?

The absence of God the Father from this gathering in heaven is certainly not coincidental! God the Father was deliberately absent from this occasion! It is not as if Jesus Christ held this meeting behind the back of God the Father, or that God the Father was somehow "too busy" to attend this meeting. No, THE REASON why God the Father was absent at this occasion is precisely because Satan had been summoned to attend this meeting. That is one reason why God the Father stayed away from this meeting, because the Father will never allow Satan to be in His presence.

So the first thing we should clearly understand is this:

Whenever there is an occasion in heaven where Satan has been summoned to also appear before God, then such a meeting is ALWAYS conducted by Jesus Christ, and God the Father is NEVER PRESENT at such a meeting!

That is one of the major points that the Book of Job reveals to us!

Next, this was not intended to be a social gathering for the angels, or Satan would assuredly not have been present. The angels appeared before Jesus Christ for the purpose of giving account, or reporting back on their activities and responsibilities. We should recognize this purpose for this specific meeting, because that is precisely what Satan was required to do, he had to give account of his most recent activities.

It is the same type of scenario that Jesus Christ Himself presented in the parable of the pounds in Luke 19. When He returns, Christ commands all the servants involved to appear before Him to give account (see Luke 19:15). That's what we also have in Job chapters 1-2, His "servants" (in that case angels) reporting back to give account, and in that context Satan was required to appear amongst them.

When Jesus Christ asked Satan: "where do you come from and what have you been doing?" (the essence of Job 1:7), it implies that this same basic question was put to all the angels at that meeting: they were all reporting back to Jesus Christ on their activities. Here we are only told about Satan's report; the reports from the holy angels are not for us to know at this time.

Satan's report was that he had been all over the earth, checking out every single human being (last part of verse 7). What Satan did NOT state in verse 7 was his purpose for "walking up and down" in the earth. That purpose was spelled out for us by the Apostle Peter in the statement "the devil as a roaring lion walks about, SEEKING WHOM HE MAY DEVOUR" (1 Peter 5:8). Note that Peter was able to make this statement because Peter understood the significance of Job 1:7.

Next, let's notice what this occasion really tells us about Satan. When Jesus Christ taunted Satan regarding Job, who really did fear God (see my article on the Book of Job), then Satan spontaneously accused Job of having a totally selfish motivation for his obedience to God.

Notice:

"Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?" (Job 1:9)

As the most righteous person on earth at that point in time, Job was certainly one of "the brethren". So here we have a glimpse of "the accuser of our brethren" (see Revelation 12:10) at work: Satan is falsely accusing Job without the slightest shred of evidence to support his accusations. Here Satan could offer nothing more than to impute to Job a wrong selfish motive! That is, I suspect, often the case with Satan's false accusations, that they are big on falsely imputing wrong motives to God's people.

As far as the angels being gathered and appearing before Jesus Christ are concerned, we have a similar scene in the days of king Ahab of Israel.

1 KINGS 22:19-22

Notice what the prophet Micaiah told Ahab.

"And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left." (1Ki 22:19)

This is another one of these meetings in heaven. Jesus Christ is pictured sitting on His throne and all the holy angels are standing before Him. One of the purposes for this meeting was to determine how best to get Ahab to go to a battle where Ahab was to die. Notice:

"And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner." (1Kings 22:20)

So here Jesus Christ shows Himself open to suggestions and advice from the angels who were standing before Him.

Once again there was just one evil spirit present, and that was Satan. In this context Satan is simply identified as "a lying spirit", and Christ told us that Satan is "the father of lies" (see John 8:44). Satan is the only demon who is commanded to appear before Jesus Christ on certain occasions. All the other demons are limited to being on this earth; they cannot rise up to heaven.

Notice what the father of lies told Jesus Christ here:

"And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so." (1 Kings 22:22)

The expression "I will be a lying spirit" identifies Satan! Lying is Satan's trademark.

Once again God the Father is clearly not present at this occasion that Micaiah saw. We should also keep in mind that NOBODY in Old Testament times ever had a vision of God the Father! Some of God's servants knew of the Father's existence (e.g. David), but none had visions that involved God the Father. As Christ said, "neither knows any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him" (Matthew 11:27). The only visions in the Bible that actually involve God the Father are all in the Book of Revelation. And it is "the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Revelation 1:1) that "reveals" God the Father, exactly as Jesus Christ had said in Matthew 11:27.

So here in this vision in 1 Kings 22 Satan also appears only in the presence of Jesus Christ, and NOT in the presence of God the Father. That was also the case back in Genesis 3, where Satan had been in Christ's presence in the garden.

Thus there is no passage of Scripture anywhere in the Old Testament that states or implies that after his rebellion Satan ever had access to God the Father. Rather, as Isaiah 14:15 states, Satan was brought down, or cast down, to "sheol", the grave, which for Satan pictures a place of restraint.

[COMMENT: Isaiah was here constrained by the limitations of the Hebrew language at that time. So he used the word "sheol" because there was no other Hebrew word he could have used here in reference to Satan. In the NT we see that Peter resorted to using a word from the pagan religious terminology of his day to refer to this same place that Isaiah could only refer to as "sheol". We'll examine 2 Peter 2:4 shortly.]

EZEKIEL 28:16

Now notice Ezekiel 28:16.

"By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire." (Ezekiel 28:16)

What did God mean when God said to Satan: "I will cast you as profane out of the mountain of God"? This statement holds a key as to why Satan would never again have access into the presence of God the Father. So note carefully:

The expression "as profane" here means "as common", in contrast to someone who is sanctified or holy.

Now consider the principle that God presented to Moses in Leviticus 21. From verse 17 to verse 23 God explained to Moses that any priest who had any physical blemishes was not to go within the veil (i.e. this is what the high priest did once a year) or even come near to the altar. Notice verse 23.

"Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries: for I the LORD do sanctify them." (Leviticus 21:23)

The point is that God the Father is perfect and He will never allow any imperfections in His presence! The Father will never coexist with imperfections. As Jesus Christ said:

"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)

This approach is also illustrated in Ezekiel 22:26.

"Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them." (Ezekiel 22:26)

The point here is that, where the things of God are concerned, God always puts a difference between the profane and the holy. Now when God is so strict on this matter regarding physical things, then it should be abundantly obvious that God the Father will also ALWAYS prevent any PROFANE INDIVIDUAL from coming into His presence!

THERE IS NO WAY THAT GOD WOULD ALLOW ANY INDIVIDUAL WHOM GOD HIMSELF DESIGNATES AS "PROFANE" TO EVER COME INTO THE PRESENCE OF GOD THE FATHER!

Now the expression "out of My holy mountain" here refers to the area around the throne of God the Father. It was the Father's throne that Satan had coveted (Isaiah 14:13-14). It is with specifically Isaiah 14:13 in mind that God says in Ezekiel 28:16 "I will cast you out of the mountain of God".

This statement in Ezekiel 28:16 presents a finality! That's it! NEVER AGAIN would Satan be allowed to be in the presence of God the Father! And when God did cast Satan out, then Satan was thrown out like lightning (Luke 10:18). There was nothing half-hearted or ambiguous about the way God threw Satan out! Satan would NEVER come back!

We need to understand that it is impossible for Satan to ever again come near to the presence of God the Father. God doesn't throw someone out like lightning and then say: oh, by the way, I want you to come back here so I can talk to you. That is just not the way God will ever do things! The casting out in Ezekiel 28:16 represents a finality! Satan simply does not have the power or the ability to come near the Father's throne, any more than any of us human beings have such a power or ability.

So now let's look at the New Testament.

2 PETER 2:4

Let's look at this verse.

"For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;" (2 Peter 2:4)

The English expression "cast them down to hell" is a translation of the Greek verb "tartarosas", the aorist active participle of the Greek verb "tartaroo", which verb is only used here in the entire New Testament. This verb is formed from the Greek noun "tartaros" (never used in the NT) that in the pagan religion of Greece referred to the place of restraint (i.e. a prison) for the wicked dead.

So in order to try to convey the present condition of Satan and the demons, Peter borrowed a word from the pagan religions, a word that refers to people being completely restrained in draconian conditions while waiting for final sentencing. (Isaiah didn't have a word like this available to him, so he was limited to using the word "sheol" to refer to the same situation. Don't read too much into Satan going to "sheol".)

By saying that they are delivered "into chains of darkness" Peter was saying that they COULD NOT RISE UP AGAIN TO HEAVEN! That's what "chains" do ... they prevent these demons from just "flying off to heaven" whenever they might feel like doing so. They are tied down to this planet earth, i.e. until their final sentencing.

Jude made a similar point.

"And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." (Jude 1:6)

Jude's statement likewise makes clear that none of the demons can go to heaven to be around God. The "everlasting chains under darkness" prevent them from leaving this planet earth before "the judgment of the great day".

With their use of the expression "chains of darkness" both Peter and Jude make clear that the demons are permanently restrained from leaving this planet. Ever since they were cast down by God all their activities have been strictly limited to things on this earth!

To summarize thus far:

Everything we've seen so far shows that the demons who rebelled with Satan were also together with Satan thrown down to this earth! They are currently "in chains", which means that they are not free to just go wherever they might like to go. No, they are limited to being on this planet earth. The "chains" also indicate that the powers these demons used to have are now severely limited! Chains limit our powers very dramatically.

The same point is true for their leader Satan, with one exception: because Satan is the leader of all the demons, Jesus Christ at various times commands Satan to come up to somewhere in heaven to give account for his actions to Jesus Christ. At those occasions Satan spends all the time available to him to accuse God's people in one way or another. But apart from those occasions when his presence has been commanded by Jesus Christ, Satan is simply not able to leave this planet! To leave this planet at will is a power that God has withdrawn from Satan and from all the demons.

But that is something Satan does not want mankind to know, that God has severely limited Satan's powers and abilities (pictured by "chains"). And so Satan has deceived "the whole world" into believing that Satan still has all the powers he used to have, somewhat like the aging, over-the-hill boxer who desperately tries to convince everybody that he is still "the greatest". Satan has deceived mankind into allowing Satan to bask in some of his former glory, by deceiving us into believing that he still has far more power than he in fact does have.

So now let's look at Revelation chapter 12.

REVELATION CHAPTER 12

This chapter presents A VISION of a woman in heaven (verse 1) "clothed with the sun". Now obviously, there is no woman in heaven; the language here is strictly symbolical.

Next, notice that this vision covers a vast span of time. Can you see that? Here is a brief overview of this chapter.

In verse 1 it refers to Old Testament Israel at 1500 B.C. or earlier (symbolism of sun, moon and 12 stars).

In verse 2 it refers to the time of the birth of Jesus Christ.

In verse 3 Satan is introduced into the picture.

In verse 4 it refers to the time of Satan's rebellion BEFORE the creation of Adam (i.e. "his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven"), and then in the same sentence it jumps to the time of Christ's birth as a human baby.

In verse 5 it jumps forward to Christ's resurrection and ascension into heaven.

In verse 6 it covers a 1260-year period in the Church's history.

In verse 7 it introduces "a war in heaven".

In verses 8-9 Satan and his demons are cast out of heaven.

In verse 10 we are told that "NOW is come salvation ...", and that Satan HAD accused God's people day and night.

In verse 11 we see Christians overcoming Satan by having access to forgiveness of sins by appeals to the blood of Christ.

In verse 12 Satan is ON THE EARTH, and he knows that he only has "A SHORT TIME".

In verse 13 we see Satan persecuting the Church of God at the end-time.

In verse 14 the Church flees from Satan's influence and is supernaturally protected for 3� years, at the time just before Christ's second coming.

In verse 15 Satan attempts to destroy the fleeing Church of God by military power.

In verse 16 God intervenes for His Church & destroys the human army sent by Satan.

In verse 17 Satan makes war on that remnant of the people who were associated with the Church of God, but who were not taken to the place of protection (i.e. the Laodiceans).

That's all there is to Revelation chapter 12. This chapter starts out with Old Testament Israel in the days of Jacob and his 12 sons, and it concludes with events just before the second coming of Christ, and for good measure it also includes a reference to Satan's rebellion before the creation of Adam.

Now in order to be able to neatly place this chapter into our prophecy charts we love to assume that all the statements in this chapter are presented in a strictly chronological sequence. That makes it so much easier to tie in with everything else we already know.

If this was the script for a Hollywood movie, I would now say something like: well, I've got news for you, baby! However, since this is not a Hollywood script I'll just say: as far as Revelation chapter 12 is concerned, forget about the whole chapter being a strictly chronological sequence, because that just isn't the case!

I know that many of you need a strictly chronological sequence so that you can hold fast to your ideas regarding what is prophesied to happen. But I'm afraid that I can't really help you here. And reading our own ideas INTO this chapter only compounds the deception Satan has palmed off on the whole world.

Are you ready to examine this chapter with open eyes?

Let's look again at the above brief outline for this chapter. Consider the following:

1) Verses 1-2 are chronological in that they deal with Israel and the birth of the Messiah.

2) Verse 3 introduces a completely new character into the story, an adversary, Satan. Therefore verse 3 GOES BACK to the time when Satan first became that adversary. That was the time when Satan led one third of the angels in rebellion against their Creator God. That was a time well before the time of verse 1.

3) So now our story has two distinct subjects. SUBJECT #1 = we can focus on Israel, which produced the Church, and then we can follow what happens to the Church. SUBJECT #2 = we can focus on Satan, who produced all the demons, and then we can follow what happens to Satan and those demons.

4) The reason the second subject (i.e. Satan and the demons) was introduced into the story is because the two subjects interact, and they have to deal with each other. Their "interaction" goes back all the way to the birth of Jesus Christ.

5) Now consider reading this chapter as follows:

A) SUBJECT #1 (the Church) is discussed in verses 1-2 and 2nd part verse 4 -6.

B) SUBJECT #2 (Satan and the demons) is discussed in verses 3 - 1st part 4 and 7-9.

C) BOTH SUBJECTS SHOWN INTERACTING are discussed in verses 10-17.

This is where the "strictly chronological sequence" falls short. Looking at each subject in this chapter individually, it would look as follows:

SUBJECT #1

"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days." (Revelation 12:1-2, 2nd part v4-6)

SUBJECT #2

"And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: And there was (i.e. had been) war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (Revelation 12:3- 1st part v4, 7-9)

In both passages above I have highlighted the phrases that continue the previous thought after the couple of verses that need to be skipped in both cases. Can you see how smoothly the text flows in this arrangement? And I haven't really changed anything, other than omitting a couple of verses in both discussions. Both passages flow smoothly and the picture becomes a lot clearer.

The sequence in verses 10-17 remains unchanged, so there is no need for me to paste those verses into this article.

Now let's focus on "Subject #2", i.e. Satan and the demons. This will put "the war in heaven" from verse 7 into a clearer perspective.

Verse 3 introduces Satan as simply "appearing" in the picture. He is an adversary. Verse 4 tells us WHY Satan is an adversary; it is because Satan was directly responsible for casting one third of the angels "TO THE EARTH"! Verses 7-9 then tell us HOW IT CAME ABOUT that one third of the angels were cast to the earth.

We need to understand that verses 7-9 speak about THE EXACT SAME TIME as the first part of verse 4, the time when a third of the angels were cast to the earth.

Verse 4 tells us WHY Satan became an adversary to God, and verses 7-9 tell us HOW they were thrown down. These two aspects about Satan and his demons are separated by two verses that speak about the Church. If the first part of verse 4 was immediately followed by verses 7-9, as I have presented it above, then this would be obvious! But the interjection of verses 5-6 has given us a completely different focus, and that was enough to hide the real meaning from us. That's "here a little and there a little", right? That's how God sometimes "seals" certain passages from human understanding, by adding certain details that can easily confuse the issue for us.

When Satan "drew the third part of the stars of heaven", then THAT EVENT resulted in A WAR IN HEAVEN! Can we understand this? And in THAT WAR, when Satan ORIGINALLY REBELLED, it was a case of the archangel Michael and the righteous angels fighting against Satan and against those angels who had become demons by following Satan.

The first part of verse 4 and then verse 7 speak about the exact same event!

Verse 8 then presents THE OUTCOME OF THAT WAR. The outcome was that Satan and his demons were defeated! Satan lost! This verse is not speaking about some future "war in heaven"; it is speaking about the war that resulted from Satan's original rebellion, the time when he persuaded a third of all the angels to follow him.

Verse 9 speaks about THE CONSEQUENCE OF THAT WAR, the war that took place before the creation of Adam. Satan and his demons were cast out of heaven onto this planet earth! And they have been here ever since, except for Satan at various times being commanded to appear before Jesus Christ in heaven. But none of the demons have been back to heaven since they were cast down.

And neither Satan nor the demons will EVER, prior to their final judgment, go up to heaven again, except that Satan will appear before Jesus Christ whenever his presence is commanded by Christ.

THERE WILL NOT BE ANY FUTURE WAR IN HEAVEN!

The only yet future wars that remain will take place on this earth. The one war that did take place in heaven was final. God won and Satan lost! And that war will never be repeated!

The deception inherent in getting people to believe that there is another war in heaven coming implies that God somehow couldn't achieve a final victory against Satan the first time around! We need to understand that Almighty God never ever has to repeat a battle in order to win! God always wins every direct confrontation the first time around!

With God the FIRST victory over Satan was ALSO the FINAL victory over Satan. There is never a comeback for Satan. The battles in heaven are over for good! There was one war in heaven, with enormous collateral damage, and there will never be another war in heaven. That's because that war was between spirit beings, and spirit beings don't fight the same wars against one another over and over. They fought each other one time and that is it ... Satan lost!

Where the wars are not yet over is on the human level. On the human level there are wars over and over and over. New generations come along and new human beings are involved in those wars ... the human beings who fought in the previous wars are dead, but a new generation takes their place and so there are new wars.

By contrast, in a war between spirit beings no one dies, because the spirit beings happen to be immortal. And so ONE war is all that God was willing to put up with from Satan. On the spirit level there are no new warriors, no new fighters, no new rabble-rousers, no new "weapons", no new powers, no new abilities for the warriors, no new issues to fight over, no new conditions or circumstances. And since spirit beings are immortal, THEREFORE the only way that God could enforce His victory over Satan was by TAKING AWAY CERTAIN POWERS AND ABILITIES FROM SATAN!

Can we understand this?

GOD TOOK SOME POWERS AWAY FROM SATAN

Unless God actually took away some of Satan's previous powers and abilities, there would be nothing to prevent Satan from just taking off to some other part of the universe on his own. And Satan cannot really be "chained" literally. He cannot really be "locked up". Such descriptions are only analogous.

The only way that Satan is "chained" and the only way that Satan can be kept "in tartaros" is by God taking away some of Satan's powers and abilities. That is really the only way "to chain down spirit beings". NOW at this time Satan can no longer rise in rebellion against God because he simply does not have some of the powers and abilities he used to have before he rebelled against God.

We need to understand two distinct things about God creating spirit beings. The first point is that God created immortal beings whose existence is independent of their physical circumstances. All spirit beings have certain "qualities" (e.g. they are not composed of, or dependent on physical matter, etc.). But in addition to creating spirit beings with "certain qualities", God also gives created spirit beings CERTAIN POWERS AND ABILITIES! Those powers and abilities are NOT automatic, and they are not the same for every spirit being! God has more powers at His disposal than any other spirit being. The righteous angels have more powers than the demons. And I suspect that within each classification of spirit beings there are also differences in powers and abilities.

Thus:

There is a vast multitude of holy angels, but some are more powerful than others. And there is also a vast multitude of demons, but all of them have less power than Satan. The differences in powers available to these different spirit beings are due to things that God has specifically given to these spirit beings, on top of creating them as spirit beings.

We need to understand that none of these powers are innate in these created spirit beings! These powers were specifically bestowed upon the created spirit beings by God, and any and all of these powers can also again be taken away by God from these created spirit beings! There is a distinction between the attributes of a spirit being on the one hand, and the powers and abilities bestowed upon that spirit being on the other hand. Certain powers are NOT automatic to the state of being a spirit being; they have been specifically bestowed upon that spirit being by God as a gift.

Satan does not want us to understand that God can take all of his powers away from him, and still leave Satan his existence as a spirit being.

So the question is:

Can we grasp that taking away from Satan certain powers that he used to have is really the only way that Satan can be "chained"? Because if we can really grasp this point, then it should be clear WHY there can never be another war in heaven. Do you know why?

The only way there could possibly be another war in heaven with Satan rising up once more against God would be IF GOD WOULD FIRST GIVE BACK TO SATAN ALL THE POWERS GOD HAS TAKEN AWAY FROM HIM.

In his present condition Satan is simply INCAPABLE of rising in rebellion against God. He doesn't have the ability to do so, not even remotely! There is a far greater chance of the moon being just a big ball of yellow cheese than there is of God EVER giving back to Satan ALL the powers that God had previously bestowed upon Satan (i.e. before his rebellion).

Now at the start of the millennium God will take away from Satan and the demons ADDITIONAL POWERS AND ABILITIES! That will have the effect of shutting Satan up in prison-like circumstances. Even without guards constantly watching over him, Satan will simply not have the ability to escape from those conditions. What has been taken from him will ensure that he can't "get out" to influence any human beings. Specifically, for those 1000 years Satan will NOT be "the prince of the power of the air".

Then, when the 1000 years of the millennium are expired, God will for a very short time give back to Satan those powers that God had taken from Satan and the demons at the start of the millennium. With the return of those powers and abilities Satan can then go out and once again influence human beings as "the prince of the power of the air".

But the main powers that Satan had possessed before his rebellion against God, and which were taken from him by God at the time Satan was "cast out into the earth", the powers that had enabled Satan to make war against God in the first place, THOSE POWERS WILL NEVER AGAIN BE RESTORED TO SATAN! God has permanently taken those powers away from Satan!

And that means that Satan is simply not capable of ever again waging war in heaven against God.

Now let's continue in Revelation chapter 12.

BACK TO REVELATION 12

Verse 9 reads:

"And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (Revelation 12:9)

The Greek verb "ballo" is used three times in this verse ("was cast out" and "were cast out"), and in all three cases it is used in the aorist tense. This tense does not exist in English because this tense doesn't really focus on WHEN this action took place, even though in most cases it is rendered into English as the simple past tense. The point is: Revelation 12:9 does not at all focus on when this "casting out" actually occurred. The focus in Greek is on what happened, without regard to when this happened.

By repeatedly using the aorist tense in this verse there is a very powerful emphasis on the FACT that this casting out did occur. Other Scriptures (Luke 10:18; etc.) show us that this casting out actually occurred a long time ago!

Revelation 12:9 speaks about the time before the creation of Adam when Satan was cast out of heaven for his rebellion against God. And once Satan had been "cast out of heaven", then he "deceived the whole world". Now it is a fact that Satan has been deceiving the whole world ever since the time of Adam and Eve. We understand this, don't we?

So when the deception of "the whole inhabited earth" (the meaning of the Greek text) started with Adam and Eve, it follows that the casting out must have preceded the creation of Adam and Eve. Can you follow? Verse 9 tells us about something that Satan has been doing since Adam's time, but this "something" (i.e. deceiving human beings) only started after he was "cast out of heaven". So he must have been cast out before God created Adam.

That brings us to verse 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." (Revelation 12:10)

From this verse onwards the two subjects of this chapter (i.e. God's people and Satan) are shown interacting.

Let's consider this statement "NOW is come salvation". What do you mean ... "now"? This is NOT speaking about the time period of a couple of years before the second coming of Christ, because salvation came with the ministry of Jesus Christ almost 2000 years ago! As Paul said to the Romans: "through their fall SALVATION IS COME unto the Gentiles" (Romans 11:11). And in 2 Corinthians 6:2 Paul stated: "NOW is a day of salvation".

Thus the statement in Revelation 12:10 applies to the time of Christ's ministry and onwards. The reason that is here given for why salvation is NOW come, is that "the accuser of our brethren is cast down". It is then pointed out that this accuser "accused them before our God day and night".

So the question is: what do you mean ... he accused them "day and night"? Now obviously, Satan could not possibly have been before God CONTINUOUSLY "day and night". Satan can only be in one place at one time. If Satan is walking to and fro on the earth, then he cannot at the same time also be standing before God. He can only do the one or the other at any given time.

Thus the expression "day and night" is used as a figure of speech, to convey the enormous extent of Satan's accusations. Also keep in mind that there is no night in the presence of God. We saw in the Book of Job and also in 1 Kings 22 that Satan does at times have access to Jesus Christ. In both cases that access was in the context of all the other angels also being present. Don't ever get the idea that Satan somehow has "a private audience with Jesus Christ" for bringing all these accusations. And don't get the idea that Jesus Christ has nothing better to do than to listen all day long ("day and night") to Satan's false accusations. Jesus Christ has no affinity for Satan whatsoever.

Satan's access to Jesus Christ is NOT "on demand"; if that were the case then Satan would surely hog all of Christ's time. Satan's access to Jesus Christ is only by command; i.e. when his presence has been commanded by Jesus Christ. The rest of the time Satan is restricted to "walking to and fro" on this earth, seeking whom he may devour. And even when his presence has been commanded, and he uses all the time then available to him to accuse "our brethren", there always comes a time when Jesus Christ has just put up with enough of Satan's devious accusations, and Jesus Christ issues the command "get thee hence Satan", as He did in Matthew 4:10.

We'll come back to Revelation 12:10 later. But for now let's continue with verse 11.

"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." (Revelation 12:11)

These statements surely apply to all Christians, from the time of the martyr Stephen onwards (see Acts 7:59-60). These statements apply to all true Christians over the past 2000 years, including, but certainly not limited to, the Christians in this end age. This verse is speaking about all true Christians.

Here is the next verse.

"Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." (Revelation 12:12)

Now we are getting towards the end of the story for Satan's activities. Perhaps this is a reference to Satan having had access to Jesus Christ FOR THE LAST TIME? Perhaps Jesus Christ told Satan something along the lines of what Pharaoh said to Moses in Exodus 10:28? To paraphrase this verse and applying it to Satan, it might go like this:

"Get you hence, Satan, take heed to yourself, SEE MY FACE NO MORE, for in that day that you see My face your fate is sealed!"

Somewhere along the line Jesus Christ must undoubtedly give Satan this kind of message. Satan will surely know when he has had his last direct contact with Jesus Christ before Satan is "chained" in the "bottomless pit" (Revelation 20:1-2). That would drive home to Satan that "he has but a short time".

Here is verse 13.

"And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child." (Revelation 12:13)

"The woman that brought forth the man child" is Old Testament Israel, from which came the Messiah, Jesus Christ. After Christ's ministry the symbolism for "the woman" switched from Old Testament Israel to the New Testament Church of God. Satan's persecution of the Church has also been ongoing for the past 2000 years, though it will no doubt escalate just before Christ's second coming.

Here is verse 14.

"And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." (Revelation 12:14)

Now the Church flees and is protected by God for the last 3� years before Christ's second coming. And that leads into the rest of the story.

Coming back to verse 10:

Since Satan is going to spend the bulk of his time walking to and fro on this earth looking for people to influence, it follows that he simply does not have time to literally be before Jesus Christ "day and night" in order to accuse God's people. So consider the following possibility:

PERHAPS Satan accuses God's people "BEFORE our God" without Satan himself actually being there in person all the time? Perhaps Satan's accusations come "before God" in the same way that "the prayers of the saints" come up before God (Revelation 8:4), and in the same way that the prayers and alms of Cornelius came up before God (Acts 10:4)?

When our prayers come up before God, we don't have to be there before God in person (which is impossible for us to do anyway). So likewise, when Satan's accusations come up before God, why does Satan have to be there in person every time? Why shouldn't prayers and accusations follow the same route in reaching God? Or to be more precise: the route for the prayers is to God the Father, and that route was made possible for us by Jesus Christ; we approach the Father "in the name of Jesus Christ". The route for Satan's accusations only goes as far as Jesus Christ (as it did in Job 1-2), and those accusations don't ever reach God the Father!

Can you understand this?

False accusations NEVER reach God the Father! They only get as far as Jesus Christ, where they are dealt with and dismissed. That's what God does with false accusations .. . He dismisses them! So yes, those accusations come "before our God", but in this case "our God" is Jesus Christ. As Thomas said after Christ's resurrection: "my Lord and MY GOD" (John 20:28).

There is simply no way that Satan can get through to God the Father. Satan is "profane" and therefore he himself and nothing from him will ever get through to God the Father.

IN CONCLUSION

Satan had been an "anointed cherub" at the very throne of God the Father (Ezekiel 28:14). When he rebelled and sinned, Satan became "profane" and he was thrust out of heaven, and cast onto this earth. Since that time Satan has never again had any direct contact with God the Father.

Note the principle in Isaiah 59:2.

"But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." (Isaiah 59:2)

This applies to Satan just as much as it does to human beings. The point is that we human beings have access to forgiveness upon genuine repentance, and so we have access to a way to achieve contact with God the Father. But Satan cannot repent; he cannot change the way his mind works, he cannot change his way of thinking. And so Satan will never again have any access to God the Father. And he hasn't had such access to God the Father for at least since the time of Adam's creation.

All of Satan's dealings with God since the creation of Adam and Eve have been only with Jesus Christ, and not with the Father.

Frank W. Nelte