When Was Satan Cast To The Earth?

“I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” (Luke 10:18)

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weaken the nations!” (Isaiah 14:12)

“So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Revelation 12:9)

Jesus said to his disciples that He personally saw Satan fall as if it were a flash of lighting from heaven. He said this to them to let them know that Satan was a defeated and fallen foe of which He(Christ) was given authority to place Satan and his demons under his disciple's subjection.

“Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20)

He said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” Did He say this prophetically or did He say this because He was present at the time of the event sometime in the past? He said this because He was present at the time of the event. Not only was He present, but He was the one that cast him out. When did this happen?

“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.” (Revelation 12:7-8) (In this context, “The Holy City” is referred to as “Heaven”.)

This study will reveal the proper sequence of events when Satan was evicted from heaven and when he was cast to this Earth. This can be accomplished with the aid of EGW’s SOP writings. According to the SOP, the rebellion in heaven occurred before the Genesis 1 creation account.

God the Father summoned all the heavenly hosts to declare to everyone the true position of His Son. EGW said:

“The Son of God had wrought the Father's will in the creation of all the hosts of heaven; and to Him, as well as to God, their homage and allegiance were due. Christ was still to exercise divine power, in the creation of the earth and its inhabitants. But in all this He would not seek power or exaltation for Himself contrary to God's plan, but would exalt the Father's glory and execute His purposes of beneficence and love.” PP pg 36

In other words, this creation event has not yet taken place. EGW said:

“The plan of salvation had been laid before the creation of the earth, for Christ is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” EP pg 31

The rebellion took place before the creation of the earth:

“Especially was His Son to work in union with Himself [God the Father] in the anticipated creation of the earth and every living thing that should exist upon the earth…Lucifer was envious and jealous of Jesus Christ…Christ had been taken into the special counsel of God in regard to His plans, while Lucifer was unacquainted with them.” SR pg 13-14

Lucifer was cast out of heaven (The Holy City). But he was still roaming the universe unable to enter the city gates.

“God knew that such determined rebellion would not remain inactive. Satan would invent means to annoy the heavenly angels and show contempt for His authority. As he could not gain admission within the gates of heaven, he would wait just at the entrance, to taunt the angels and seek contention with them as they went in and out.” SR pg 27

Satan sought to tempt other worlds and have them join his rebellion.

“Satan was greatly loved by the heavenly beings, and his influence over them was strong. Some course must be pursued to uproot him from their affections. God’s government included not only the inhabitants of heaven, but of all the created worlds; and Satan thought that if he could carry the intelligences of heaven with him in rebellion, he could also carry with him the other worlds.” RH March 9, 1886

After Christ’s death on the cross, Satan no longer had access to heavenly places.

"I heard shouts of triumph from the angels and from the redeemed saints which sounded like ten thousand musical instruments, because they were to be no more annoyed and tempted by Satan and because the inhabitants of other worlds were delivered from his presence and his temptations." SR pg 416

Regarding Isaiah 14:12 and Revelation 12:9

These two verses imply that Satan was cast out of heaven directly to this earth. But we must understand that the context of these two verses are “Macro” views of historical events. In other words, Isaiah 14:12 speaks of Satan’s fall from his exalted position, down to his lowest position. Revelation 12:9 speaks of Satan’s fall from heaven to this earth. Not only does it say that he was “Cast Out” of the Holy City, it also says that he was “Cast Down” to this earth. (See verse 10) These are two separate events.

When he was “Cast Out” of heaven (The Holy City), this earth was an empty watery abyss. The six-day creation has not yet taken place. Satan was busy tempting other worlds and being a nuisance to the angels. After the 6-day creation event, Satan made it a priority to cause Adam and Eve to rebel. This planet was just one of the millions of worlds he has tried to seduce. When he succeeded in causing Adam and Eve to fall, he then became king(ruler) of this planet. But even then he had access to heavenly realms by virtue of the fact that he now became the “Legal” representative of this planet. This is the reason he was allowed to attend the heavenly counsels according to Job 1:6, Job 2:1, and 1 Kings 22:21-22. But Satan was not only “Cast Out” of heaven, but he was also “Cast Down” to this earth. This event occurred at Christ’s death on the cross. When Christ died on the cross, Christ took back the crown Satan stole from Adam. After Christ’s sacrifice, Satan was no longer man’s representative and therefore had no more legal right to attend heavenly counsels on man’s behalf. Christ is now our representative. When Satan attended the heavenly counsels, he consistently stood as an accuser of men focusing only on their failures. This is why Revelation 12:10 says:

“Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.” (Revelation 12:10)

So although we can say that Satan was thrown down from heaven straight to Earth, this view is accurate only from a “Big Picture” perspective of the Great Controversy. But we must understand that this “Big Picture” view consists of many smaller events.

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