Satan's Second Death

Satan’s Second Death

Do You Know ... “Who ALONE Has Immortality”

Chapter 14 Preview: The Apostle Paul believed in “the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Who ALONE has immortality”. Is Satan immortal as well? 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 cast you to the ground” and “I destroyed you” and “I turned you into ashes upon the earth” and “you have become a horror and shall be no more forever”. This chapter explains virtually every scripture relevant to the topic.

Most of humanity believes in the doctrine of the immortality of souls. They believe that all of God’s created beings, human, angelic and demonic have an eternal consciousness. The truth is that “The wages of sin is death; [did Satan sin?] but the GIFT of God is ETERNAL LIFE through Jesus Christ our Lord”. (Romans 6:23). The Apostle Paul believed in “the King of kings and Lord of lords who ALONE has immortality” ! (1Timothy 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 scripture 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 Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that HE HAS A SHORT TIME.

God intends to stop Satan, by slaying him, for “unless those days [of Satan’s reign] were shortened, no flesh would be saved”. God’s purpose is to conquer the earth before we destroy ourselves. “God is no respecter of” [i.e. Satan,] “the wages of sin is death”.

Satan’s first death will last until the 1000 years is over.

Revelation 20:1-3 describes his stay in “the bottomless PIT”.

Satan’s first death is similar to that of his beastly government and leader: “The beast that you saw was, AND IS NOT, [the Beast was presently dead!] WILL ASCEND OUT OF THE BOTTOMLESS PIT and go to perdition .... The beast that was, and is not, is HIMSELF .... going to perdition.”

Up until now, Satan has been a very useful tool, helping God 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 First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to BURN them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”

Once God has carefully chosen His Kings and Priests to share the responsibilities in helping God 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 the knowledge of God 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, [the grave] to the lowest depths of the PIT.

Is Satan made of tougher “stuff” than Jesus 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 God 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 Jesus?

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 wont appear invincible then. Satan will be “cast out of his grave” , (v.19) he wont have a decent burial. He, being converted to a fleshly body, will be subject to death, as was Jesus. He will literally be “thrust through with a sword”. (This is his first death. There is a “second death” , by fire for wicked men (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.

As Luke said (4:5-7)When Satan tried to corrupt Christ, he took Him “up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world” and said “if You will worship me all will be Yours”.

Isaiah 14:3-11 continues: It shall come to pass when the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow and fear and the hard bondage (v.3) .... How the oppressor has ceased .... HE who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he who ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted and no one hinders. The whole world is at rest and quiet .... Hell from beneath is excited about YOU, to meet YOU at your coming…All the [surviving] kings of the nations ... shall all speak and say to you: ‘Have you also become as weak as we? [mortal] Have you become like us’? Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, and the sound of your stringed instruments; the maggot is spread over YOU, and worms cover YOU.

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 ... will become a horror and be no more forever.

As the human prince of Tyre “will die the death of the slain” (Ezekiel 28:8) so shall be the first death of Satan. 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 God 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 God will kill Satan, in “the seas” * This is the manner of Satan’s first death.

[* 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 God’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 cant “hook” or “snare” him (v.1), he is beyond “overcoming” (v.9), you cant 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 all the children of pride” (v.34). And what is Leviathans fate? Scripture reveals the “who, what, where, when, how and why” of it. 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 [God] 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 Gods creatures He sustains them, yet, “You take away their breath, they DIE and return to the dust”. (Psalms 104:26-29) Who is Leviathan? Isaiah 27:1, the final reference, defines Leviathan as “that twisted serpent”. “In that day the Lord with His severe sword, great and strong, will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; and He will slay the ‘reptile’ [Literally: “dragon or sea serpent”] in the sea ....”

WHAT will happen when Leviathan is removed?

After the demise of Leviathan in verse 1 we see that:

Isaiah 27:6 Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face 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. God had a reason to put the final reference to Leviathan where He did!

Isaiah 27:13 So it shall be in that day: The GREAT TRUMPET will be blown ... and [they] shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem.

Actually ALL of Isaiah 26 is also 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. Again, Satan knows that he will soon die. So:

Revelation 12:12 Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that HE HAS A SHORT TIME.

The final reference to Leviathan indicates HOW God will kill him:

Isaiah 27:1 In that day the LORD with His severe sword, great and strong, will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; and He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.

And WHY will he die? God will stop Satan, BY SLAYING HIM WITH A SWORD, for “unless those days [of Satan’s reign] were shortened, no flesh [at least Israelite flesh] would be saved”. Once God 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 comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power.

We ought not assume that Satan will be given preferential treatment in regard to eternal life:

Acts 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.

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 God’s “Two Witnesses”.

Job described Leviathan as an 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 ... And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads ...”

Compare this to the “sea beasts” of Daniel:

Daniel 7:2 “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. 3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other.

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 wished to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured, broke in pieces, and trampled the residue with its feet; 20 “and the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows. 21 “I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the Saints (off site), and prevailing against them, 22 “until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the Saints of the Most High, and the time came for the Saints to possess the kingdom. 23 “Thus he said: ‘The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces. 24 The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; he shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings. 25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the Saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the Saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time. 26 ‘But the court shall be seated, and they shall take away his [the Beast’s] ‘dominion’, to consume and destroy it forever.

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 and political and economic realms again.

JUDGMENT DAY

Matthew 25 describes a first hand narrative by Jesus 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 26:10- 14 “Let grace be shown to the wicked, yet he will not learn righteousness. In the land of uprightness [In the Kingdom of God] he will deal unjustly ... yes the fire of Your enemies shall devour them” Further, “You will establish peace for us ... masters [Satan’s servants] besides You have had dominion over us ... they are dead, THEY WILL NOT LIVE, they are deceased, they WILL NOT RISE [in a resurrection]. Therefore you have punished and destroyed them and made all their memory [consciousness] to perish.”

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 God to burn:

Revelation 20:7-10 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the ‘camp’ [Literally: “battle encampment”] of the Saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet [were].

This is Satan’s literal “second death”. Continuing: And THEY will be tormented day and night forever* and ever.

Who are “they”? Is someone else, mentioned in this context, going to be “tormented” “forever”? The added word “are” , used in the NKJV and KJV, would indicate that the beast and the false prophet, of Revelation 19:20 and 2 Thessalonians 2:8, lived 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 scripture, this also must be taken to mean the effect of the burning is forever.

* How long is the “forever and ever” 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” Can another duration be specifically determined from scripture? 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 Kings and Priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and DOMINION ‘forever and ever’. Amen.

Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He SHALL REIGN ‘forever and ever’!

Revelation 22:5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And THEY [WE!] SHALL REIGN ‘forever and ever’.

Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they [WE] shall be Priests of God and of Christ, and SHALL REIGN with Him A 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 the Lord and His Christ for exactly a “THOUSAND YEARS”, and then something else will happen. This arrangement will not last forever. “Forever” can simply mean an unspecified period of time. Context is necessary to determine the duration. In this instance it is 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 said, ‘Alleluia! Her smoke rises up ‘forever and ever’! And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, ‘Amen! Alleluia!’

The stinking smoke will also end!

King David also spoke about “forever and ever” in the same terms:

Psalm 145:1-21 “I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name ‘forever and ever’. 2 Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name ‘forever and ever’. 3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable. 4 One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts. …10 All Your works shall praise You, O Lord, and Your Saints shall bless You. 11 They shall speak of the glory of Your Kingdom, and talk of Your power, 12 to make known to the ‘sons of men’ [humanity] His mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of His Kingdom. 13 Your Kingdom is an ‘everlasting’ [same Hebrew word as “forever”] Kingdom, and Your Dominion endures throughout all generations. 14 The Lord upholds all who fall, and raises up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look expectantly to You, and You give them their food in due season…20 The Lord preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy. 21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, and ALL FLESH shall bless His holy name ‘forever and ever’.

Notice that all of the references to “forever and ever” are tied directly to “generations” of humans, the 1000 year “kingdom” and even providing “food”. Who believes that “ALL FLESH shall bless His holy name ‘forever and ever’”

Then God is forever finished with Satan. Satan’s second death is vividly portrayed in Ezekiel.

Satan himself is claiming to be God and sitting on His very throne:

Ezekiel 28:2 ... son of [Adam], tell the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord [Yehovah’]: Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, I am ‘a’ god, son of [Adam] tell the prince of Tyre, thus says the Lord [Yehovah’]: Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, I am ‘a’ god , I sit in the seat of God , in the midst of the seas; yet you are man, and not God, though you did set your heart as the heart of God ... WEB

Most Bibles translate the above verse inconsistently. The first they say is “a god” and the second they translate as “God”. The subject did not make a radical change in mid sentense. 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 God” still claiming “I am God”. 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 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me saying, Son of man take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, thus says the Lord God ‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. You were the anointed cherub who covers. I established you. You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned. Therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, that they might gaze at you. You defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your trading. Therefore I brought FIRE from your midst, it devoured you. And I turned you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who saw you. [No feast for the maggots this time.] All who knew you among the nations are astonished at you. You have become a horror and shall be no more forever’.

Revelation also mentions Satan’s second death—his death by fire:

Revelation 20:7 “Now when the thousand years have expired…10 “The devil who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet [were]”.

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 scriptures as a part of the evidence, in letter form, on Jan.25, 2000.

Mark 1:23-25 Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 saying, ‘Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to DESTROY us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!’ 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be quiet, and come out of him!

The demons are also to die and they know it!

Hebrews 2: 14-15 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that THROUGH DEATH He might DESTROY him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Jesus died in order to “destroy” Satan!!! Did you ever wonder why Jesus had to sacrifice His life instead of saving the world in some less painful manner? Here is the simplified answer that God 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”, Jesus deprived him of that “power of death”, freeing us of the “fear of death”. Jesus 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” (off site) 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] Scriptures really does mean to ‘utterly destroy’”.

Here are the other scriptures she quoted using “apollumi” in her follow up response.

Matthew 2:13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, ‘Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to ‘destroy’ [apollumi] Him.

Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to ‘destroy’ [apollumi] both soul and body in hell.

Matthew 21:41 They said to Him, ‘He will ‘destroy’ [apollumi] those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.

Matthew 27:20 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and ‘destroy’ [apollumi] Jesus.

Luke 13:3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise ‘perish’” [apollumi].

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not ‘perish’ [apollumi] but have everlasting life.

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 beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to ‘perdition’ [Apoleia].

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:

“By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire”.

This is not the best translation. The words “I will 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 Strong’s word #6 is used shows that the overwhelming majority of uses of the word simply have to do with “utter destruction”.

This illustrates a much more realistic definition:

Here is an example from the Hebrew word “abad” being used exactly as “apollumi” is in the Greek.

Psalms 21:7-12 For the king trusts in the Lord, and through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved. 8 Your hand will find all Your enemies; Your right hand will find those who hate You. 9 You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger; the Lord shall swallow them up in His wrath, and the fire shall devour them. 10 Their offspring You shall ‘destroy’ [abad] from the earth, and their descendants from among the sons of men. 11 For they intended evil against You; [as does Satan] they devised a plot which they are not able to perform [as did Satan]! 12 Therefore You will make them turn their back; You will make ready Your arrows on Your string toward their faces.

God didnt 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 Jesus, is killed “for a sin offering”.

He concluded that because the scapegoat is not killed here, therefore Satan would never be killed. However, if this chapter were about eternal destiny, then Satan would be living forever and Christ 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.

Earth, The Proving Ground

Making sons of the angels was never a part of God’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 For to which of the angels did He EVER say: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You’? And again: ‘I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son?

God 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! As when Satan rebelled, God just sifted out the wicked and continued working with the rest!

How did traditional 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 for 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 a God of love, to me now than it did when I was a child. The only reason I would “worship” such a vengeful God would be to avoid that punishment. In my teen years, I learned that God 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 God caused us to occupy the same planet! I am distressed when one of my chickens is suffering, but God watches over even the sparrows. Furthermore, God 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 wont 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 God 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 God less merciful than you? What motivates people to want to leave Satan in misery forever? Is there really scripture to back up that claim?

Some scriptures are from the “New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.” “Bible text from the New King James Version® is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 372 14-1000.”