I am helping facilitate a Beth Moore study on Revelation in Sunday School class. She recently provided insight into Revelation 12:4,10 regarding the timing of when Satan and 1/3 of the stars were hurled to earth. Based on vs. 10, she mentions the possibility of this taking place at the time of Christ's death on the cross. I am not refuting this - I am nowhere near knowledgable enough to do so - but her insight sparked some questions and thoughts, and since ALL Scripture is for teaching, reproof, correction, & training - let's chase some spiritual rabbits.
It was known before the foundatins of the world that Jesus would be crucified (1 Peter 1:20) - so if Satan was "hurled" to earth at the cross - couldn't he have actually been cast down before the creative activity recorded in Genesis 1?
Genesis Chapter 1 - "In the beginning" - God is eternal; has no beginning - so was there a "beginning" to time? Was a divine decision made to create "time" as we know it? And why? (More on that in a bit...) In Genesis 1:2, we are told that "the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep..."; keep reading and you see that "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.". So God is there and so is darkness, but God is light (Revelation 21:23, John 8:12). So where did the darkness come from? In the 6 days of creation, each day records that "God saw that it was good", except for Day 2. Notes I found on Day 2 describe the "firmament" or "expanse" as the levels of our atmosphere - which I think makes sense if you look at Day 4, recorded in Genesis 1:14-19, when God created the sun, moon, and stars to "be lights in the firmament of the heavens.". But why doesn't it say that "God saw that it was good"? Ephesians 2:2, says there is a prince of the power of the air that works in the children of disobedience and those that walk according to the course of this world. So was this prince at work here? Already? In the creative activity of Day 2? Hmmmm.........
We know Satan was on earth as early as Genesis 3 when he entered the serpent in the garden to tempt Eve with the forbidden fruit. He was also present in Jesus' time on earth when he entered Judas (John 13:27) and the temptation of Christ in the wilderness (Matthew 4).
A 1/3 of the stars that were hurled to the earth at the time of Satan are belieed to be fallen angels, demons, or evil spirits (2 Peter 2:4, Jude 6, 1 Corinthians 6:3, John 5:22, Matthew 7:22, 25:41, Revelation 12:9, 20:10). There are many instances of demonic activity and possessions recorded in the New Testament at the time Jesus was on earth before the cross.
So what happened before "in the beginning"? If my thought process above were to be right, what caused Satan and 1/3 of the angels in heaven to be hurled to earth? We read in Isaiah 14 about Lucifer (Satan), which means "Day Star" or "Light-Bearer", and how he fell from heaven - we see the pride in his heart with the repeated "I will". Read also Ezekiel 28 that speaks of Satan's beauty and wisdom before the fall; he was an "anointed cherub".....what in heaven happened?
I don't know........I don't know if anyone can answer that this side of heaven, but I was thinking..........
I find it strange, again if my theory is correct (I am not at all saying it is - I am just thinking and trying to learn and understand.), that Satan was cast to earth prior to man ever being created, that God would still create us (Pretty quickly in the creative process - Day 6) and place us here with him - Satan, the prince of this world (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11). And knowing full well, He is going to crucify His Son on our behalf - to snatch us from the clutches of the evil one, into the palm of His hand, in which we can NEVER be plucked out (John 10:28).
Could it be, with what we have just read about Satan, that possibly some insight was given by God to His angelic beings that He wanted to create man in His image and dwell among them? Could the "Light-Bearer" then have had his first competitive thought? Did he see us as a threat to his covetous position in the presence of God? Again, I don't at all know, but I think of Job Chapter 1, where we read Satan came before the Lord and pretty much tells the Lord that Job only serves the Living God because of the blessings he has received and the hedge of protection God has placed around him and everything he has. In Job 1:12 and 2:6, we read God allows Satan to pretty much do whatever he wants to Job except kill him. Could it be a similar dialogue took place regarding mankind? Before creation? I believe God had a "perfect" will for us - no death, no disease, no sin, no sorrow, no pain - the Garden of Eden forever, where God walked with us in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8). Satan may have approached Him and suggested what we just saw in Job; therefore, the Tree of Good and Evil was planted with a commandment....and a consequence (Genesis 2:12).
Satan was hurled to earth - cast down - to rule as prince of this world.......man was created and became the object of his fury (Revelation 12:12).
