SATAN IN HEAVEN?


“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the Dragon; and the Dragon and his angels fought,” Revelation 12:7

The question is often asked of the possibility of darkness in the presence of light. The reason for this question is not far-fetched. Whatever is good, pure, holy is attributed to God while evil, filthiness and unrighteousness belong to Satan.

The tenth verse of that chapter buttresses the fact that the accuser accuses the brethren before God day and night (this can either be a physical appearance or his voice and we can conclude both to still achieve the same aim).

A quick back flips to the book of Job further paints a clearer picture. ‘Now, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them’. This has been a debate for years. Some claim that it was prior to his fall – if that would hold true, then he should not be addressed as the accuser of the brethren. The two scriptural quotations clearly present him as Satan. That would take us further into knowing who the sons of God were.

The ‘sons of God’ is a phrase that also appeared in the sixth chapter of Genesis, but with different points of reference. Here, its meaning is clearly that of celestial beings or angels God created as his servants. Satan is among them. He appears as the ‘Adversary’ to disturb God’s kingdom by causing trouble.

It is also important to note here that Satan was and is originally a creation of God. We could conclude that he was once a member of that great Assembly of God’s servants before iniquity was found in him.

More so, we need to understand that he was not lowered to the earthly realm. I submit that the so many paintings we have of Satan might not hold true. No place in scriptures do we find a backing for most of those paintings and pictures.

As stated in an earlier article, (see my article on the ‘bottomless pit’), God uses all his creation to achieve his purpose; Satan inclusive. The account of Job clearly affirms this truth – he can do nothing without divine permission and when God gives permission to Satan, he sets definite limits on his power.

James writes thus, ‘Let no one say, when he is tempted, I am tempted by God; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone’. What about Abraham? He was tested by God. And if we would debate that further, claiming both words have the same root, then I would say, he was not tempted by evil.

The account of Job clearly depicts God’s confidence in the character of a man. He himself drew Satan’s attention to Job. Adam was given the same trust in the Garden of Eden and he blew it.

The life of Job paints a clear picture of absolute trust and confidence in God regardless of whether we enjoy earthly bounties or not. God’s testimony prevailed on the long run and Satan was put to shame.

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