Will Satan the Devil Die?
Biblical Accounts of Satan’s Death
Satan the Dragon
Chapter 24 Preview: The envoy (apostle) Paul believed in “the King of Kings and Master of Masters Who ALONE has immortality”. Is Satan immortal as well? Elohim (God) said to Satan: “You were the seal of perfection” and “You were in Eden”. He then proclaimed, as if it were already accomplished: “I’ve thrown you to the ground” and “I destroyed you” and “I turned you into ashes on the earth” and “you’ve become a terror, and you’ll cease to exist forever. This chapter explains virtually everything that the Bible has to say about the topic.
Most of humanity believes in the doctrine of the immortality of souls. They believe that all of Father’s created beings, humans, Spirit Messengers (angels) and demons have an eternal consciousness. The truth is that The compensation for sin is death [did Satan sin?]; but the pardoning of sin by Yehovah results in eternal Life, thru our Master Yeshua the Messiah”. (Romans 6:23). Paul believed in “who alone has immortality, living in unapproachable light, who no one has ever seen or even can see. To Him be honor and dominion forever and ever”! (1 Timothy 6:16) Check out the exact meaning of “immortality” in Greek and English: it means “not die”! Yet billions believe that the devil is also immortal.
Let’s begin this study by examining a passage that presents a significant clue as to Satan’s fate. Prior to the Great Tribulation, will Satan know that his days are numbered?
Revelation 12:12 So the heavens should be joyful, and those of you who live there. Pity the earth and the sea, because the deceiver has come down to you filled with rage, knowing that HE HAS LITTLE TIME LEFT.”
Father intends to stop Satan, by slaying him, for “unless those days [of Satan’s reign] were shortened, no flesh would be saved”. Father’s purpose is to conquer the earth before we destroy ourselves. “(God) is no respecter of people” (or Satan), and “the wages of sin is death”.
Satan’s first death will last until the 1,000 years is over.
Revelation describes his stay in “the abyss” [abussos, “bottomless pit”].
Satan’s first death is similar to that of his beastly government and leader:
Revelation 17:8 The ravenous beast that you saw who was, and is not, is ‘destined’ to reascend before long from the bottomless pit and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth will be amazed (everyone whose names are not written in the small Book of Life that was written from the creation of the world), when they see the ravenous beast that was, and is not, and yet is to come [1].—Gabriel Bible
[1] This verse is a close paraphrase of the Weymouth. Weymouth seems to be the only translator who understood the context—that it doesnt contradict the other verses about the Book of Life. (Everyone’s name is in the Book of Life, unless or until it is ‘erased’.) The Weymouth was freshly translated from the Greek in the nineteenth century, without reference to previous versions. It wasn’t simply a revision of the Tyndale, as virtually every other Greek translation appears to be.
Up until now, Satan has been a very useful tool, helping Father to quickly and accurately separate the “wheat” (the harvest of humanity) from the “tares” (worthless weeds). Notice that the tares are burned BEFORE the wheat is gathered into “my barn”.
Matthew 13:30 They must both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I’ll tell the harvesters to gather the tares out first, and tie them in bundles to be burned, and then bring the wheat into my granary.’”
Once Father has carefully chosen His Kings and Priests to share the responsibilities in helping Him to govern the planet, the conversion process will change dramatically. The rest of humanity will be openly dealt with in a “hands on” manner and Father’s knowledge will fill the earth. Until the end of the “thousand years”, Satan’s “services” will not be required.
Isaiah 14:12-21 revealed some of the most enlightening information concerning Satan.
Verse 15: you will be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the PIT.
Is Satan made of tougher “stuff” than Yeshua is? How is it that the Father was able to convert His Son to mortal flesh and then allow Him to be killed by men? Logic would indicate that an all knowing Creator would never create a being, give him tremendous power, and make him of more permanent “stuff” than Himself! Will you ever be made of more permanent “stuff” than Yeshua?
Verses 16 and 19 indicate that Satan’s form will be changed, people will have difficulty comprehending that this is the being who “made the earth tremble”, (v.16) he won’t appear invincible then. Satan will be “cast out of his grave”, (v.19) he won’t have a decent burial. He, being converted to a fleshly body, will be subject to death, as was Yeshua. He will literally be “thrust through with a sword”. (This is his first death. There is a “second death”, by fire for the wicked (Revelation 20:11), and there is death by “fire” in store for Satan as well, as we’ll see.)
Finally he’s tossed into a pit. None of this seems to indicate that Satan is immortal! Earlier in the chapter there is an obviously dual prophecy—its later fulfillment is of far greater importance. The prophecy concerns the ancient King of Babylon, ruler of the nations, (v.6). Satan has always strongly influenced the actions of human leaders. Satan is the real ruler of the nations.
So Isaiah saw Satan die in the future.
As Luke said (4:5-7) When Satan tried to corrupt Yeshua, he took Him “up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world” and said “So if you’ll pay homage to me, everything will be Yours”.
Isaiah 14:3-4, 7-11 continues: 3 During this time, Yehovah will give you rest from your sorrow, from your trouble, and from the hard service that you were made to serve, 4 and you’ll take up this parable against the king of Babylon: “How the oppressor has ceased! The golden city has ceased!” ... 7 The whole earth is at rest, and quiet. They break out into shouts of joy. 8 Yes, the fir trees celebrate with you, with the cedars of Lebanon, saying, “Since you were humbled, no lumberjack has come up against us. 9 Sheol from beneath has moved for you to meet you at your coming. It stirs up the dead for you, including all the rulers of the earth. It has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 10 They will all ask you, “Have you also become as weak as we are? [mortal] Have you become like us?” 11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, along with the sound of your stringed instruments. Maggots are spread out like a bed beneath you, and worms are your covers.
At Satan’s first death he will become maggot food!
Finally, Ezekiel tells us that, as the city of Tyre, Satan will be exterminated:
Ezekiel 27:36 ... You have come to a terrible end, and you’ll cease to exist forever.’”
As the human prince of Tyre “will die the death of the slain” (Ezekiel 28:8) that is how Satan’s first death will be. These verses are as clear as any in the Bible. It is apparent that the human prince of Tyre was possessed by Satan himself, as he was “wiser than Daniel”—Satan incarnate! The historic death of this infamous being, who insisted that “I am a god” (v.2), exactly parallels Satan’s death when Father will again say: “You are a man [mortal] and not a god”! And as men killed him with a sword “in the midst of the seas” (v.8), so Father will kill Satan in “the seas”. This is the manner of Satan’s first death.
Ezekiel saw Satan die in the future.
The at least somewhat symbolic use of the word “seas” is an interesting study in itself. It is quite frequently associated with people being led by Satan in opposition to Father’s people. The first reference in this regard would be Exodus 14:20-28, concerning the destruction of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea. Revelation 21:1 describes the end of the “sea”. I associate this “sea” with the “flood” of Revelation 12:15-16. Other references concerning the “sea” are: Isaiah 23:11, Isaiah 57:20, Jeremiah 6:23, and Ezekiel 26:3,5,16-17.]
There are three chapters in the Bible that reveal most of what we know about Satan. Let’s start with Job 41 concerning Leviathan. Is this entire chapter describing an extinct creature or does Leviathan have the unique earmarks of Satan? Could there be more to this than a fire breathing fish tale? Leviathan certainly is invincible right now. You can’t “hook” or “snare” him (v.1), he is beyond “overcoming” (v.9), you can’t skin him (v.13), no “sword” has yet hurt him, nor “spear, dart or javelin (v.26), nor arrow” (v.28). Most revealingly, “He is KING over his proud children” (v.34).
Job never mentioned seeing Leviathan’s destiny. He didn’t see him die. What was to become of Leviathan, the “king” was left a mystery to Job. Perhaps it was a way of informing Job that without humility (that he aptly proved himself quite short on in the previous 40 chapters), his destiny too was being called into question.
So Job didn’t see what was to happens to Leviathan, the answer was hidden from him, but it shouldn’t be hidden from you:
Scripture reveals the “who, what, where, when, how and why” of Leviathan’s destiny. There are three other verses scattered thruout the Bible that briefly mention Leviathan, here a little, there a little. ALL of these references indicate that he will die! Psalms 74:14 clearly states WHO destroys Leviathan. “You [Father] broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces ....” This beast has multiple heads—parallel to the beast of Revelation. Another reference says: “There is that Leviathan”, and like the rest of Father’s creatures He sustains them, yet, “You take away their breath, they DIE and return to the dust”. (Psalms 104:26-29) Who is Leviathan?
The final reference in Isaiah puts the destiny question about “that twisted serpent”, Leviathan most succinctly:
Isaiah 27:1 During that time, Yehovah will pay Leviathan a visit, along with His fierce, large and very sharp sword, the fugitive Leviathan, that twisted serpent, and He’ll kill the dinosaur in the sea.
WHAT will happen once Leviathan is removed?
After the demise of Leviathan in verse 1 we see that:
Isaiah 27:6 In days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will blossom and bud. They’ll fill the surface of the world with fruit.
WHERE does Leviathan die? “In the SEA”! Keep this location in mind. WHEN does Leviathan die? The timing for Leviathan’s death coincides with the Restoration of Israel, as the entire context of Isaiah 27 shows. Verse 1 was not randomly inserted. Father had a reason to put the final reference to Leviathan where He did!
Isaiah 27:13 Also during that day the great shofar will sound, and those who were dying in the land of Assyria and those who were banished to the land of Egypt will come and worship Yehovah on the kadosh [holy] Mountain in Jerusalem.
Actually ALL of Isaiah 26 is describing the same time period—the time when Leviathan is destroyed.
Isaiah 26:9 For when Your judgments are in the earth, the [surviving] inhabitants of the earth will learn righteousness.
This wonderful time will be preceded by the Great Tribulation; and again Satan knows that he will die soon.
The final reference to Leviathan indicates HOW Father will kill him:
Isaiah 27:1 During that time, Yehovah will pay Leviathan a visit, along with His fierce, large and very sharp sword, the fugitive Leviathan, that twisted serpent, and He’ll kill the dinosaur in the sea.
And WHY will he die? Father will stop Satan, BY SLAYING HIM WITH A SWORD, because, “If it weren’t for those days [of Satan’s reign] being terminated, no one would survive.”. “The second coming” is a rescue operation! Once Father has sifted out all of the people who are inclined to want to follow Satan’s way of life, He will be poised to rule the world:
1 Corinthians 15:24 Then the end of these events comes when He’ll have handed over the Kingdom to YHVH the Father, when every ruler and every government and every powerful force will have been overthrown.
We shouldn’t assume that Satan will be given preferential treatment in regard to eternal life:
Acts 10:34 Then Simon said, “The truth is, I now realize that YHVH doesnt discriminate between people.
Some people, noticing the connection between the end time human “Beast” and Leviathan, assume that Leviathan merely symbolizes a human army. Armies are often tools of Satan but notice the strict distinction between the end time “Beast” and his army:
Satan does get some “preferential treatment” when it comes to death! I surmise that Satan and one of his chief demons will possess the bodies of two deplorable people and pass themselves off as Father’s “Two Witnesses”.
Job described Leviathan as a seemingly invincible beast frolicking in the sea. Leviathan is a many headed beast (Psalms 74: 14) in the same sense as the beast of Revelation’s account.
Revelation 13:1 As I stood on the sand of the sea, I saw a ravenous beast [Aramaic: “a beast of the tooth”] coming up out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on his horns and blasphemous names on his heads.”
Compare this to the “sea beasts” of Daniel:
Daniel 7:2-3 Daniel said, “In my vision one night, I saw four spirits [or winds] from Heaven stirring up the ‘Mediterranean’ Sea. 3 Four huge wild animals came out of the sea, each different from the others.
Of course the term “beast” is illustrative of the savage nature of the kingdoms that are described by Daniel:
However, Daniel’s end time account also specifies that the beastly armies are led by a pompous speaking “horn” ruling over ten other horns. These horns are defined as kings:
Daniel 7:19-25 Then I wanted to know what the fourth wild beast represents, since it was different from from the rest of them, so very terrifying. It crushed and devoured its victims with iron teeth, and bronze claws before trampling what was left with its feet, 20 and about the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn that came up, and the three that fell before it, and even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke great things, who appeared to be more formidable than the others. 21 As I watched, this horn was waging war against the faithful, and overpowering them, 22 until the Ancient of Days [the Father] came and pronounced judgment in favor of the kadishea of the Highest One, and the specified time came for the faithful to take possession of the Kingdom. 23 Then he explained, “The fourth wild beast will be a fourth kingdom on earth, that will be different any other kingdom, and it will devour the whole earth, and tread it down, and break it in pieces. 24 As for the ten horns, ten kings will come out of this kingdom, then another will come after them. He’ll be different from the first ones, and he’ll put down three kings. 25 He’ll speak against the Highest One, and wear down by constant harassment the kadishea (saint) of the Highest One, and his [the Beast’s] intention will be to change the Appointed Times [or designated times] and the Torah (Law) [possibly human laws], and the kadishea will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time.
The account ends with the “chief beast” having his “sovereignty” or “realm” (alternate translations of “dominion” removed forever. Satan will never again be sovereign over the world’s spiritual, political and economic realms again.
JUDGMENT DAY
Matthew 25 describes a first hand narrative by Yeshua about His return. “When the Son of Man comes” (v.31) there will be a Judgment Day. “Then he will say to those on his left hand, depart from Me you cursed, into the ‘ever’ [age] lasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels”. This judgment includes Satan, as well as the (human) beast and the false prophet (Revelation 19:20) and the immediate judgment of many other incorrigible men. (Isaiah 66:15-16, Matthew 13:30)
Some survivors of the Great Tribulation, when given “a new lease on life” will not be grateful. Isaiah spoke of a time when judgment was coming—after judgment had just come and peace was being established:
Isaiah 26:10-14 Yehovah, Your hand is lifted up to strike, but they don’t see it, but they’ll see Your zeal for the people and be ashamed. Indeed, fire will devour Your enemies. 12 Yehovah, You’ll establish peace for us, since you’ve already done everything else for us. 13 Yehovah our Elohim (God), other masters besides You have ruled over us, but we only acknowledge Your name. 14 They are dead, they won’t live again. Those departed spirits won’t arise. You have punished them and destroyed them, and deleted every memory of them.
Immediately after the “thousand years”, more tares will have accumulated in the latter harvest. Satan, fresh out of the pit, will personally “gather them together to battle” effectively, bundling them for Elohim to burn:
Revelation 20:7-10 When the thousand years are finished, Satan will be released from his prison, 8 and go out to seduce the nations in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, and gather them for battle. Their number is like grains of sand in the sea. 9 They rose up over the broad expanse of the earth, and then encircled the kadish assembly of the kadishea, the greatly loved city. And fire came down from YHVH out of the sky and consumed them. 10 The Accuser who seduced them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the ravenous beast and the false prophet were thrown. They’ll be tormented day and night for a period of time, an age.
Satan’s “Second Death”
This is Satan’s literal “second death”. As I understand it, even Satan’s fire will burn out in a period of time.
Who are “they”? Is someone else, mentioned in this context, going to be “tormented day and night for a period of time”? The added word “are”, used in many modern Bibles and in the KJV, would indicate that the beast and the false prophet of Revelation 19:20 and 2 Thessalonians 2:8, live in eternal flames. Using “were” is more appropriate in this verse. The tense of this thought must be determined by the context. “THEY will be tormented” but they will become ashes! If Satan is really to burn “forever” then “they”, that is, “the beast and the false prophet” will also! It also appears to say that humanity will suffer forever, however it is “the smoke” (the effect) of the fire that lasts forever. (Revelation 14:9-11) In light of all the rest of the Bible, this also must be taken to mean the effect of the burning is forever.
How long is the aion, or age, that the beast and the false prophet and Satan will be “tormented”? This is important to explain fully because the “forever” guys hang all of their hopes on this one verse! The literal wording in Greek is “to the ages of the ages”. Must that mean “for eternity”. It can be translated that way, but can another duration be specifically determined from the Bible? Examine some other places where John used this phrase to gain some insight. John used the phrase more than all of the other gospel writers put together.
Revelation 1:6 and has made us a Kingdom of priests for YHVH and His [YHVH’s] Father. To Them belongs praise and power, forever and ever. Aw-main’.
Revelation 22:5 There will be no more night, and they’ll have no need for the light of a candle, or of the light of the sun, because YHVH enlightens them, and They’ll reign forever and ever.
Revelation 20:6 Blessed and dedicated is anyone who has part in this first resurrection, over them the second death has no influence, but they’ll be priests of YHVH and of His Messiah, and they’ll reign with Them DURING THE THOUSAND YEARS.
Here is the key! Reigning “to the ages of the ages” simply means that We will rule over our human brothers and sisters as “Kings and Priests” with Yehovah and His Messiah for exactly a “THOUSAND YEARS”, and then something else will happen. This arrangement won’t last forever. “Forever” can simply mean an unspecified period of time. Context is necessary to determine the duration. At the end of Revelation, we are talking about a millennium.
“Forever and ever”, or “to the ages of the ages”, is about “DOMINION” and “KINGS” and “KINGDOMS” and “REIGNING” and “THRONES” for specifically “A THOUSAND YEARS”! It does mean something else for Satan and his Babylonian system tho: “And THEY will be tormented day and night ‘forever and ever’ or “to the ages of the ages”. “Forever” ends for Satan shortly after “the thousand years have expired”.
Revelation 19:3-4 Again they shouted, “Hallelujah! Her smoke ascends forever and ever.” 4 The twenty-four Elders fell down, and the four living Beings, and worshiped YHVH who was seated on the throne, saying, “Aw-main! Hallelujah”!
The stinking smoke will also end!
King David also spoke about “forever and ever” in the same terms:
Psalm 145:1-4,10-15,20-21 I’ll exalt you, my Elohim, the King. I’ll praise Your name forever and ever. 2 Every day I’ll praise You. I’ll extol Your name forever and ever. 3 Great is Yehovah, and greatly to be praised! His greatness is unsearchable. 4 One generation will commend Your works to another, and will announce the powerful things You’ve done. ... 10 Everything that You have made will thank You, Yehovah. Your kadishea will praise You. 11 They’ll speak of the splendor of Your Kingdom, and talk about Your power, 12 to reveal to the human sons His mighty acts, the splendor of the majesty of His Kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an Everlasting Kingdom. Your dominion endures thruout every generation. Yehovah is faithful in all His words, and loving in everything He does. [Clarke’s Commentary] 14 Yehovah supports everyone who falls, and raises up all those who are bent over under burdens. 1515 The eyes of all look to You. You give them their food in due time. ... 20 Yehovah preserves everyone who loves Him, but He’ll destroy all the wicked. 21 I will speak the praises of Yehovah 'aloud'. And every creature will bless His kadosh name forever and ever.
Notice that all of the references to “forever and ever” are tied directly to “generations” of humans, the 1,000 year “kingdom” and even providing “food”. Who believes that “ALL FLESH shall bless His kadosh name ‘forever and ever’”
Then Elohim is forever finished with Satan. Satan’s second death is vividly portrayed in Ezekiel.
Satan himself is claiming to be Elohim and sitting on His very throne:
Ezekiel 28:2 “Human son, tell the leader of Tyre, ‘The Sovereign Yehovah says, “You are so 'conceited'. You’ve said, ‘I am el, and I occupy the throne of elohim amid the seas.’ But you are man, not Elohim, tho you 'pretend' to be Elohim”.
Most Bibles translate the above verse inconsistently. The first reference to el they say is “a god” and the second they translate as “God”. The subject did not make a radical change in mid sentence. Satan incarnate—will not claim to be “a god”, he will claim to be “God”!
Ezekiel told of the time when Satan will be converted into human form and will sit “in the seat of Elohim” still claiming “I am God”, as if it had already happened. Notice that this time, Satan’s death is caused by “spontaneous combustion” and his ashes will be scattered upon the earth!
Ezekiel 28:11-19 The Word of Yehovah came to me, and said, 12 Human son, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and tell him, “The Sovereign Yehovah says, “You seal up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of Elohim, every precious stone adorned you, ruby, topaz, emerald, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and beryl. Gold work of tambourines and of pipes was in you. In the day that you were created they were prepared. 14 You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I set you, so that you were on the kadosh mountain of Elohim, you’ve walked up and down in the middle of the stones of fire. 15 You were perfect in your ways from the day so that you were created, until you were found to be violently unjust. 16 Due to your profuse merchandising, you were filled inside with violence, and you sinned, so I threw you out of Elohim’s mountain like something profane, and I will [imperfect ‘tense’] destroy you, overshadowing cherub, amid the stones of fire. 17 Your thoughts became arrogant because of your beauty, you became corrupt because of your splendor, so I’ve threw you to the ground and made a spectacle of you before kings. 18 By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your traffic, you’ve profaned your kadosh places, so have I brought about a fire from within you, it has devoured you, and I’ve turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of everyone who sees you. 19 Everyone who knows you among the people will be astonished at you, you’ve become a terror, and you’ll cease to exist forever.
Revelation also mentions Satan’s second death—his death by fire, as we’ll soon see.
A friend of mine, Regina Wilson, after reading my rough draft of this chapter began an effort to persuade her church’s doctrinal committee to consider all of the evidence that Satan and the demons will be destroyed. She cited the following verses as a part of the evidence, in letter form, on 1/25/00.
Mark 1:23-25 In their synagogue there was a man with an unclean spirit who began shouting, 24 “What do you want with us Yeshua of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? We know who You are—the devout One of YHVH.” 25 Yeshua scolded him by saying, “Muzzle your mouth and come out of him.”
The demons are also to die and they know it!
Hebrews 2:14-15 Since the children all shared a flesh and blood existence, He also, in the same way, shared in these very things, so that by His death, He could [ultimately] destroy the one who possessed the power of death, namely Satan, 15 and liberate those who were slaves all of their lives, because of their fear of death.
Yeshua died in order to “destroy” Satan! Did you ever wonder why Yeshua had to give His life instead of saving the world in some less painful manner? Here is the simplified answer that Elohim has revealed! There may be a story behind this scripture that is awaiting us. I think perhaps Satan “had” obtained or been entrusted with a special “power”, more specifically “kratos”: meaning “great dominion”. Somehow “through death”, Yeshua deprived him of that “power of death”, freeing us of the “fear of death”. Yeshua became our Passover Lamb and Satan’s executioner!)
Strong’s concordance translates the “destroy” used in the above two verses as, “to destroy fully, destroy, die, lose, mar, perish”.
“Destroy” seems like a clear enough word in the Greek, but Regina’s “Church” ) representative attempted to use a Protestant dictionary to weasel out of the clear Biblical understanding. Rather than argue Greek, Regina responded; “you chose to use Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, 1985, translation of “apollumi” as “The idea is not extinction but ruin, loss, not of being, but of well being.” She added, “Yet, I think you would agree, this same this same word ‘apollumi’ when used in all of these [following verses] really does mean to ‘utterly destroy’”.
Here are the other scriptures she quoted using “apollumi” in her follow up response.
Matthew 2:13 After they left, a Messenger of YHVH appeared to Joseph in a dream, and said, “Get up and take the Child and His mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, because Herod is going to search for the Child in order to destroy Him.
Matthew 10:28 They replied, “He’ll utterly destroy them and lease the vineyard to other sharecroppers who will give him his share of the harvest.”
Matthew 21:41 They replied, “He’ll utterly destroy them and lease the vineyard to other sharecroppers who will give him his share of the harvest.”
Matthew 27:20 But the high priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to demand Bar Abas and destroy Yeshua.
Luke 13:3 I say no; yet all of you will perish [apollumi] as well, unless you amend your ways.
John 3:16 YHVH loved the world so much that He gave His unique Son, so that whoever continues believing [present, active] [4] in Him would not be destroyed, but have eternal Life.
[4] None of the Aramaic to English translations I’ve seen, and virtually none of the Greek versions are willing to state this eternal Life concept accurately. One trip down the sawdust trail isn’t sufficient. As a Christian or a Nazarene, you must believe, and act accordingly—UNTIL death—to enter the Everlasting Kingdom. Only some quite literal versions have been willing to state this truth, such as Young’s or the Concordant.
Faced with sheer logic, the church rep chose to agree to disagree.
There is another word derived from apollumi that is worth noting:
Revelation 17:8 The Wild Beast which you have seen was, and is not, and yet is destined to re-ascend, before long, out of the bottomless pit and go his way into perdition. [utter destruction]. And the inhabitants of the earth will be filled with amazement—all whose names are not in the Book of Life, having been recorded there ever since the creation of the world—when they see the Wild Beast: because he was, and is not, and yet is to come.
Apoleia means “the destruction of damnation [judgment]”.
Another friend, in a paper on Azazel, used a lexicon rather than check the usage of “abad” in other Hebrew contexts in an effort to conclude that Satan will not die.
Quoting:
“In Ezekiel 28:16 we read about Satan:
16 Due to your profuse merchandising, you were filled inside with violence, and you have been sinning, so I’m throwing you out of Elohim’s mountain like something profane, and I’ll [imperfect ‘tense’] destroy you, overshadowing cherub, amid the stones of fire.The words “I’ll destroy you” are a translation of the Hebrew verb “abad”.
Abad is defined as follows:
Gesenius’ places a great deal of emphasis on an exception to the rule. While “abad” can occasionally have other applications, such as lost sheep etc. A simple search of all the places where abad is used shows that the overwhelming majority of uses of the word simply have to do with “utter destruction”.
Here is an example from the Hebrew word “abad” being used exactly as “apollumi” is in the Greek.
Psalm 21:7-12 The king trusts in Yehovah. Thru the loving kindness of the Highest One, he’ll not be moved. 8 Your hand will find all of Your enemies. Your right hand will find those who hate you. 9 You’ll make them as a fiery furnace in the time of Your anger. Yehovah will swallow them up in His wrath. The fire will devour them. 10 You’ll destroy their descendants from the earth, their posterity from among the children of men. 11 They intended evil against You [as does Satan]. They plotted evil against You that can’t succeed. 12 You’ll put them to flight, when You aim arrows from Your drawn bows at their faces.
Elohim didn’t mince any words.
“Destroy” used here clearly means that they will die. Look up all of the other places that “abad” is used, there is virtually never any ambiguity in the understanding that it simply concerns death!
My friend drew another conclusion in the same paper concerning Leviticus 16:20-28 that I question. I’ll summarize his perspective: Leviticus has an account of two goats: one “for the Lord” and the other “for the scapegoat” or the Azazel goat. The scapegoat, supposedly representing Satan, is set free “into the wilderness” where he is to this day. The other, representing Yeshua, is killed “for a sin offering”.
He concluded that because the scapegoat is not killed here, that Satan would never be killed. However, if this chapter were about eternal destiny, then Satan would be living forever and Yeshua would be left dead forever! It will be just the opposite in the end. Eternal destiny is obviously not the purpose of Leviticus 16! In fact neither of these sheep represent Satan, but that is another story.
Satan’s Fall
When exactly did Satan fall from Heaven and take a third of the angels with him? Yeshua made a very short reference to it:
Luke 10:18 He told them, “I saw Satan fall like a lightning flash from the sky.”
The context has to do with casting out demons. He seemed to be saying “You were surprised to see a demon temporarily inconvenienced” (after all, they have a way of returning after they have been cast out: Luke 11:24-26), “but I saw Satan himself falling right out of the sky.”
Here is a question to consider. Can we assume that Satan falling from the sky is the same event that Peter spoke of in reference to the time of the flood? Here is all Peter had to say about it:
2 Peter 2:4 If YHVH wasn’t lenient with the angels who sinned, but imprisoned [‘tartarooed’ [2]] them in chains of darkness reserved for a painful judgment,
[2] Tartaroo is actually a Greek verb! That’s about the only accurate thing to be found in a lexicon, since verbs simply aren’t nouns! So I ‘doubly verbalized’ tartaroo into ‘tartarooed’, to make a point. These angels will burn during the Judgment (Deuteronomy 32:22-24), but they aren’t burning now. The Aramaic brings out the fact that they are in “Sheol” (1 Peter 3:19)! Revelation 9:14 says they are in the Euphrates river, while verse 11 calls their place of restraint ‘the abyss’! An abyss is usually a very cold and wet place.
Peter was of course speaking about the nephilim mentioned in Genesis 6:1-4 who were incarcerated and are apparently to be released later (Revelation 9:14-15) to 'raise hell'.
If you think that Satan has been in a place of restraint since then it’s time to wake up.
Another name for Satan is Morning Star (not really Lucifer! This is the being who I intend to show is yet to be seen falling from the sky. Yeshua saw this falling star the same way that John saw it, as he described in Revelation:
Revelation 9:1-2 The fifth Messenger blew his shofar, and I saw a shooting star in the sky fall to earth. He [the star] was given the key to the bottomless abyss. 2 He opened the bottomless pit and smoke came out of the pit, like smoke from a blast furnace. The smoke from the pit darkened the sun and the air.
Dont be confused by the past tense that the book of Revelation is written in. He wrote in the past tense as an eye-witness account of what he actually saw. And whether you believe he saw a vision, or believe that he actually “time traveled” into the future and reported what he saw, he still told the whole account as if it had already happened.
So far we have only seen snippets of angels in restraint. But here is the only place where angels getting their wings clipped takes place, and the context puts it squarely into the future. Not to say that these angels hadn’t already defected, the point is that Revelation 12 is a prophecy, not a history lesson. This little chapter provides all of the context relevant to timing necessary.
Revelation 12:1-12 An ‘amazing’ sign was seen in the sky: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 Being pregnant, she cried out from birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 Another sign appeared in the sky, a huge fiery dragon [Greek: drakon] that had seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems were on his head. 4 His tail ‘swept’ away A THIRD OF THE STARS [angels, Revelation 9:1] in the sky and cast them to the ground. The dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that as soon as she had given birth, he would devour her Son. [2] 5 She gave birth to a Son who is to rule all nations with a scepter of iron. Her Child was quickly taken up to Yehovah and to His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where YHVH had prepared a place for her, so that They could nourish her for 1,260 days. [The Great Tribulation: Revelation 13, especially v.5] 7 Then there was war in the sky, Michael and his Messengers fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels waged war, 8 but they were ‘defeated’, and they could no longer inhabit the sky [3]. 9 The huge dragon was thrown down, the ancient dragon who is called the Deceiver and the Adversary, who seduces the entire inhabited world—he was thrown to earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 I heard a ‘loud’ voice from the sky say, “Now there is eternal Life, and power, and the Kingdom of our Aloha [God], and the dominion of His Messiah, because the Accuser of our Friends who accused them day and night before our Aloha has been thrown down. 11 They overcame him by of the blood of the Lamb and because of their spoken testimony. They didn’t love their lives ‘so much that they wouldn’t risk’ death. 12 So the heavens should be joyful, and those of you who live there. Pity the earth and the sea, because the deceiver has been cast down to you filled with rage, knowing that he has little time left.”
[2] This is apparently dual in meaning. It refers to the whole house of Israel being reborn as a nation—not just Judah. Isaiah 66:7 mentions her Son Yeshua being born, while verse 8 refers to the rebirth of Israel: “As soon as Zion had labor pains, she gave birth to her children!”. Israel is the “woman clothed with the sun...moon...stars” Genesis 37:9-10). [3] Satan presently rules over the lower atmosphere. He is still “the prince and power of the lower atmosphere”, Ephestians 2:2.
The Dragon Cast Down
Revelation 12: (Resuming) When the dragon saw that he had been cast to the ground, he persecuted the woman who had given birth to the Son. 14 The woman was given the two wings of a large eagle so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place of habitation, where she would be nourished for a time, times and half a time, from the ‘presence’ of the serpent. 15 The dragon spewed water from his mouth like a river toward the woman, so that he could sweep her away by the flood. 16 But the ground helped the woman. The ground opened its mouth and swallowed the flood that the dragon spewed from his mouth. 17 The dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went away to make war with the rest of her offspring, those who obey the Commandments of YHVH [TORAH] AND have THE TESTIMONY OF YESHUA.
So when Yehovah finally “grounds” Satan and his angels, he is going to be very angry and take out his wrath on the kadishea (saints).
Earth, The Proving Ground
Making sons of His Messengers (angels) was never a part of Elohim’s plan, and the existence of mortal man is no proof that the angels (or demons) are immortal. Men will die and angels will die!
Hebrews 1:5 To which of the spirit messengers did YHVH (Yehovah) ever say, “You are My SON, today I have become your Father”, or, “I’ll be his Father and he will be My Son?”
Elohim is quite capable using the earth as a “proving ground” for men and angels “whether or not” His master plan for them and for the universe is understood during the test! After the coming worldwide conflict, Elohim will just sift out the wicked and continued working with the rest!
How did Christianity come up with the idea of the Serpent, Satan, being immortal—certainly not from the Bible. A likely source is The Egyptian Book of the Dead. The Early Egyptians believed that Sata was immortal—so long as he was reborn daily. I will quote just one small part from this ancient religious text:
“I am the serpent Sata whose years are infinite. I lie down dead. I am born daily. I am the serpent Sa-en-ta, the dweller in the uttermost parts of the earth. I lie down in death. I am born, I become new, I renew my youth every day”.
Could it only be the strangest of coincidences that Sata the serpent, when fitted with an “n” is Satan the serpent?
Satan’s first trick is to get you to believe that he doesnt even exist: Out of sight—out of mind.
If that fails, then he wants you to believe that he will always exist! Sin a little because “resistance is futile”.
Why would anyone want Satan to be around forever? When I was a small child I asked my grandfather, a protestant minister, if he was sure about hell and burning forever. He was sure, but I remained unconvinced. The idea of eternal misery appears no more logical, for an Elohim of love, to me now than it did when I was a child. The only reason one could really “worship” such a vengeful “God” would be to avoid that punishment. In my teen years, I learned that Elohim was too merciful to permit man to suffer that way. Why should Satan be any different? Sure, he has brought untold misery to mankind, but Elohim caused us to occupy the same planet! I am distressed when one of my chickens is suffering, but Elohim watches over even the sparrows. Furthermore, Elohim detests unclean things. Why would He cleanse everything else, eliminating even the memory of the names of the wicked, but leave such an abominable thing out in the back forty? I won’t bury trash on my property, even when it is far more expedient than hauling it away, because I’d simply know that it is here!
If Elohim were to leave it up to you: life in the lake of fire for Satan or capital punishment, which would you choose? Which fate would be more merciful? Is Elohim less merciful than you? What motivates people to want to leave Satan in misery forever? Does the Bible back up that claim?
Part 2 is about Satan’s Second Death
