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THE EDENIC FALL OF LUCIFER "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." (Gen. 3:1-5) I want to spend some time today dealing with one question that many folks have about this issue. It is assumed by gap theorists that Lucifer fell in the supposed "gap" before Genesis 1:2 and that his fall caused the the earth to become without form and void. Well, if there is no gap (and there isn't), then when exactly did Lucifer fall and become Satan the adversary? I'd like to give a few reasons today for why I believe Lucifer fell in the garden of Eden when he led man into sin. Eden was not only the fall of man; it was also the fall of Lucifer, the first time of many in which he would fill the hearts of men and bring about much suffering and death. Lucifer was originally a spirit being, called "the anointed cherub that covereth" in Ezekiel 28:14 and called "Lucifer" (light bearer, to shine) in Isaiah 14:12. Apparently, his original position was that of some sort of guardian over the thrown of God in heaven. But then he chose to appear on earth in the form of a serpent and lead man into sin, thus becoming Satan (the adversary), the "god of this world" (II Cor. 4:4), until he is defeated once and for all by Jesus Christ. Taking the scripture at face value, it appears that his act of rebellion was his actions in Eden and nothing else. Here are some points to consider, the last of which will be quite practical and very important, so please bear with me . . . I. LUCIFER ISN'T MENTIONED BEFORE EDEN Satan first appears on the pages of scripture in Genesis 3:1, not before. Considering the law of first mention, this fact should carry significant weight with any serious student of scripture. II. LUCIFER WAS CREATED ON A "DAY" Ezekiel 28:13 and 28:15 say that the anointed cherub (Lucifer) was created in and on a day, yet there are no days in or before the supposed "gap" between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. The first day is completed at Genesis 1:5; then the rest of the creative days unfold throughout the chapter. Lucifer was created on one of the six days of Genesis 1, not before then. After all, Exodus 20:11 says, "For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is . . ." "ALL that in them is" would include Lucifer and the angels. They were created within the six day period, not before the days began; therefore they could not have fallen before the days began. III. LUCIFER SINNED AFTER "STARS" WERE CREATED Lucifer says in Isaiah 14:13, "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God," yet the stars were not created until the fourth day (Gen. 1:14-19). Lucifer could not have sinned before then, since there were no stars before then. Some gap theorists claim that stars existed before the fourth day and that Genesis 1:16 is the RE-creation of stars, but there's no scripture that says this. IV. THE BIBLE RECORD IS THAT SATAN SINNED IN EDEN, NOT BEFORE EDEN Paul said in II Corinthians 11:3 that the serpent beguiled Eve, not anyone before Eve, and Ezekiel 28 places the devil's sin in Eden, not before Eden (28:13). Jesus said that Satan was "a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth" (John 8:44), yet the first record of Satan murdering and lying is Genesis 3, in Eden, when he lied to Eve and killed man spiritually. Even Revelation 12's summary comments on Satan is that he is "that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world" (Rev. 12:9). The deceiving serpent does his first work in Eden, not before Eden. The Bible never speaks of Satan sinning before Eden. He sinned in Genesis 3, and the angels sinned in Genesis 6 when they left their first estate for the daughters of men. V. SATAN WORKS THROUGH PEOPLE, AND PEOPLE DID NOT EXIST BEFORE ADAM AND EVE In Job 1, when God asked Satan, "Whence comest thou?" Satan answered, "From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it." (Job 1:6) Satan had not come from some far away galaxy where no people lived. By choice, he had been spending his time and energies working among people. I Peter 5:8 says that he walks about as a roaring lion, seeking to devour people. Revelation 12:10 labels him "the accuser of our brethren." Paul said that "Satan hindered us" (I Ths. 2:18). Satan's focus is on the plan and work of God in and through people, not anything else, so when God placed two people in Eden to begin his plan, Satan made his appearance, committed his sin, and fell. The very texts where so many begin their conjectures regarding the pre-Adamite, pre-human gap theory (Ezk. 28 and Isa. 14) both deal with Satan being addressed through PEOPLE, the king of Tyrus and the king of Babylon, respectively. The notion of Satan existing and functioning as the arch-adversary before men were created is foreign to the word of God. That comes from the various writings of men, even from Milton's Paradise Lost, dating back to 1667, but it cannot be found in scripture. The word "Satan" occurs 49 times in the Bible, and not a single occurrence depicts him doing anything before man is created. Satan works in and among people, and that's why his first appearance in the Bible is found in Genesis 3 where people are placed in a garden to fulfill the plan of God, and the final mention of him is Revelation 20:10, where he is called "the devil that deceived them." Deceived WHO? PEOPLE! From his first mention to his last, Satan is involved with people, and there were no people before Adam and Eve, so Satan's fall was in EDEN where the people were, not before Eden. VI. SATAN COUNTERFEITS GOD THROUGH PEOPLE Lucifer said in Isaiah 14:14, "I will be like the most High." There is no record of him saying anything before Eden. Yet, in Genesis 3, in Eden, he said to Eve something very similar to his words from Isaiah 14:14: "ye shall be as gods" (Gen. 3:5). It is assumed that Lucifer's desire to be like God unfolded in some sort of rebellion before the time of Adam and Eve, but the Bible never says this. In fact, it never says that there was a rebellion at all. It merely says that Lucifer had this unholy ambition IN HIS HEART (Isa. 14:13). Also, in Ezekiel 28:9, we find similar language regarding the king of Tyrus: "Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee." Satan's desire to be like God was played out through people, not independently of people. The first outer action taken by Satan in the Bible is in Genesis 3 with a person, Eve, in the garden, not before Eden. Then, when the action is taken, the words are very similar to the words of Isaiah 14:14 and Ezekiel 28:9, both of which are from passages dealing with people, namely the king of Babylon and the king of Tyrus (Isa. 14:4; Ezk. 28:12). Paul said that Satan appears as an "angel of light," but he explains that in the context of Satan doing this through people: "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works." (II Cor. 11:13-15) He works through people, not separate from people, even in his most subtle work of attempting to be like God. He is transformed as an angel of light in his work of deceiving people, nothing else. In the great tribulation, when Satan will be sitting "as God" in the temple of God and "shewing himself that he is God" (II Ths. 2:4), he will be a man (Rev. 13:18) in the temple at Jerusalem. Satan rebelled against Jesus Christ the first time by entering a man (John 13:27), and he will do the same the second time when the "MAN of sin" becomes the "SON of perdition." (II Ths. 2:3-7) Satan's rebellion is always through people, yet there were no people before Eden, so Satan's fall was IN Eden. VII. SATAN IS THE AUTHOR OF CONFUSION AND PRIDE Being a deceiver, being the present "god of this world" (II Cor. 4:4), and being the author of confusion, why wouldn't Satan want to distract you and confuse you with his past rather than have you be ever-vigilant about his present workings? I think the devil is sometimes glorified with some of the bazaar teachings that flow from some of our pulpits. He is a murderer, a thief, and a liar, and God has already reserved his place in the lake of fire. He is a defeated foe whose days are numbered. That's the record of scripture. Yet, by privately interpreting two brief portions of scripture, some of the brethren delight in telling us that there was a time in a land far away when the wise, beautiful and glorious Lucifer RULED over God's creation, even over all the angels. We are told that he wreaked such havoc in the universe that the whole thing had to be drowned-out by a massive flood that would make Noah's flood look like a spring shower. This supposedly plunged the universe into darkness and forced God Almighty to have to RE-create everything, yet Satan would get to remain in his position as "god of this world," even after universal judgment and the RE-creation! WOW! Question: How does that glorify God? How is God glorified when proud Satan is receiving so much attention and power? Have we not all heard unsaved people glory in their wicked past? They glory in their shame and are proud of the sins. Where do they get that? Is it not the devil in their hearts, "the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2)? And do they not often exaggerate and even lie about their "glory days"? Where do they get it? They get it from the devil, the father of lies, because he lies about his own glory days. He has never been like God, nor will he ever be. He WANTS to be like God, so he spreads all this puffed-up propaganda around, and many ear-tickling Christians assist him in the effort. Our Bible says that he's a liar, a thief and a murderer, and it says that he's a defeated foe. That's what we KNOW about the devil, so that's what we should speak, and nothing more, lest we feed his pride and give to him the glory that he seeks. If "it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret" (Eph. 5:12; referring to evil people), then why isn't it a shame to speak endless conjecture about how powerful and glorious Lucifer might have been before his dramatic rebellion in the distant past? I fear that the devil takes far more pleasure in the gap theory than the Lord. If I am wrong and Lucifer fell before Eden, then there is no clear record of such in the scriptures, which would mean that God doesn't want us to know the details of his fall. Creating ear-tickling confusion about him with stretched scriptures and guesswork only brings the attention to him that he seeks; therefore we should either accept the Eden account as his fall or leave the matter alone. The simple fact is that Satan is such a loser that he couldn't take on God face to face. He had to slither his way into the garden and then do his work trough the weaker vessel of a woman while using cowardly deception instead of boldness, strength and truth. He is obsessed with the ideas of ruling, power and glory (Luke 4:6; II Ths. 2:4; Rev. 13:4; Isa. 14:13-14), but his days are numbered as his place in the lake of fire grows hotter continually (Rev. 20:10). Frankly, we should probably say very little about the devil, but what we do say should always glorify God and not ever give Satan a reason to smile. Like man, Lucifer fell in the Garden of Eden, but unlike man, he's an eternal enemy of God who will never repent and be redeemed. He deserves none of the conjectured vainglory that so many give to him.