Thoughts on Genesis 3 Part 2

A second question that is worth discussing in relation to Genesis 3 is, "When did Satan fall?"

Jesus said, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven" (Luke 10:18). But the question still remains when did this happen?

Many sincere Christians answer this by suggesting that Satan fell at some point long before the time that Genesis 3 speaks of.  In this view, Satan's fall happened independently of, and a long time prior to, the events of Genesis 3.

I wonder, though, if this really can be correct.  This is because, at the end of Genesis 1, "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good" (Genesis 1:31).  When God said this man had already been created and so it seems unlikely that Satan could have fallen before man's creation.  Otherwise, God's definition of 'very good' seems unusual.

On top of this, Eden is described as being a beautiful garden planted by the Lord himself (Genesis 2:8).  The idea is that Adam and Eve are given the most perfect place to live.  It seems odd to imagine that within this paradise God had allowed a really evil being to remain.

Instead, I think it is better to believe that Satan's decision to tempt Eve was his fall.  Of course, he did fall slightly before Adam and Eve because Genesis 3 shows that his intent in initiating the conversation with Eve was evil.  But his fall was not an event independent of and many years prior to Genesis 3.  Rather his temptation of Eve was his fall.

This also explains why the Bible contains no record of a fall outside of Genesis 3.  Scripture elsewhere does mention Satan's fall but only as a fact of it having happened.  Outside of Genesis it never says what happened.  Thus Luke 10:18 (quoted above), Ezekiel 28:12-18, Isaiah 14:12-14, and Revelation 12:2-3 do mention Satan's fall, but they do not say what happened only that it did happen.

And so Genesis 3 remains the only record in Scripture of how evil entered into God's creation.  Satan fell by tempting the human race to evil and bringing death into the world.  As a result God banished him from heaven.  Humanity fell by heeding the voice of Satan and rebelling against God.

But praise be to God that, at Christmas time, we celebrate that his light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it!  Amen.

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