WILL SATAN BE DESTROYED?
Over the years I've heard the ideas and arguments given,
that Satan the Devil will one day be given His punishment by
being destroyed.
The most recent idea to come my way is this: Satan in the
end of this age will be composed of a flesh body, so then Satan
would have his first death, then after 1,000 years of being put
in the abyss, he would be released for a short while (the end of
Revelation 20), and have a second death, when he is destroyed in
every way.
Weeelll now, of course anybody can say anything about
whatever in the Bible.
First, there is not ONE single Scripture that comes close to
saying Satan will one day have a physical body, so he can be put
to death. When the Devil is thrown into the fire where the
"beast" and "false prophet" had been thrown 1,000 years earlier,
it is at the END of the 1,000 years when Satan is thrown into
that fire, NOT at the beginning of the 1,000 years - see
Rev.19:20 and on into 20:10, which is at the end of the 1,000
year period.
A "spirit being" as all angels were at one time; Satan was
once the great "covering cherub" of Ezekiel 28 [other studies on
this Website show that truth], are not effected by physical fire.
The earth will be at the end of the 1,000 years and "white throne
judgment" burnt up with fire, a physical fire purging a physical
earth, from which a new earth will appear - Rev.22 and 2 Peter
3:9-13. Satan will see the end of physical sin and anything, that
he as a mighty spirit being could manipulate while such existed.
But, is there anything, any verse anywhere in the Bible that
says the Devil will be literally destroyed? If you can find it,
then send it to me!
Do we have any Scriptural verse that indicates Satan and all
evil "spirits" will live on after the new earth and heaven come
into being? Yes, we do!
Revelation 20:10 - the last phrase "tormented day and night
for ever and ever" - the words "ever and ever" in the Greek are
"ages of ages" AND it is the exact same words used in Rev.5:14 to
refer to the God that sits on the throne of heaven, see the
previous verses.
There is a verse - Jude 13 that could be giving us a preview
to Satan's and the demon's judgment. We cannot be dogmatic about the
explanation I've going to give. It is just a possible explanation.
Jude is talking about the false prophets, teachers, and he
likens them to a number of harsh realities that humans often have
to face, like clouds without water when you desperately need
rain.
In verse 6 Jude tells us about the "angels that kept not
their first estate - the angels of Rev.12:3-4,9 - that fell into
sin along with the "covering cherub" of Ezekiel 28, that was
beautiful and bright UNTIL iniquity was found in him. The fall of
these angels and their leader is the being and beings that we
know from the Bible as Satan the Devil and demons. These evil
beings are reserved in chains under darkness, until "the judgment
of the great day."
Now, back to verse 13. The false ministers are likened to
"wandering stars." A "star" in the Bible interpreting itself, can
stand for "angel" - see Rev.1:20.
Jude likens the false ministers to "wandering stars, to whom
is RESERVED THE BLACKNESS OF DARKNESS FOREVER!"
It's not the false ministers that will wander through the
blackness of darkness forever. It is the figurative "stars"!
Which could mean the evil angels that sinned.
It is very possible that Jude here was inspired to give us a
clue as to the judgment of the great day, when angels (created
beings) will be judged - see also 1 Cor.6:3, and the children of
God who will one day "judge" angels. It does not say how or why,
only that it will be a fact.
Could it be that Satan and the demons will have to wander
for the ages of ages, through the blackness of the universe,
never being able to influence any other living being, be it any
angels or the children of God?
Satan has got the whole people of earth thinking they have
an immortal soul, something that can never die, and goes on
thinking and acting in some form, upon physical death. The truth
of the matter is, that is NOT the case at all (see the studies
called "Death - Then What?"). Could it be that what Satan has
told countless millions down through the ages, that if you are
evil and do not repent, you will be in mental (some he has
believing physical torment as well in some hell fire) torment for
ever and ever; could it be that that is precisely what is going
to happen to Satan and the demons? I throw it out as a question.
We know there is coming a day of judgment for Satan and the
demons, so Jude and Paul told us, and that children of God would
have a part in judging angels (1 Cor.6:3).
It may well be that the final detailed judgment upon the
Devil and the demons is yet to be decided upon.
As for now, I see the weight of Scriptural evidence leans
heavily to the side of believing Satan and the demons will NOT be
destroyed!
........................
Keith Hunt (February 2010)
MORE TO LOOK AT AND DISCUSS
There are obviously many questions to hear and to answer on this
subject. One of my co-workers in the Gospel of the Lord has
raised interesting questions that I need to answer on the subject
of "Will Satan be Destroyed/"
Question
Jesus said that the fire that will destroy sinners is fire
prepared for the devil and his angels. If it did nothing to
destroy them, he wouldn't have bothered saying that.
Answer
The questions still remains, why and what does the fire do to the
demons. Well, first, spirit beings cannot be hurt by physical
anything. Second, I see nothing anywhere in the Bible where God
says that will change. To assume it will, is just that, an
assumption only. I can correctly argue that the fire is to come
on this earth (the so-called "hell fire" - second death fire)
whereby Satan will see everything he's been part of - sin,
wickedness, iniquity, all come to an end with this fire. He will
know there will be no more physical humans he can manipulate,
deceive, entice to sin; there will be no more people that he and
his demons can possess, or influence in any way. That for him,
has to be one of the hardest contemplations and mental tortures
he could possibly ever have or be given; no more will he be able
to poison anything physical, and reproduce sin and rebellion
against the Almighty God.
Again what Jesus said, does not at all make it clear that Satan
will be destroyed.
It could well be a fire that is prepared for some very tormented
torture on the mind of Satan and the demons.
Q.
Furthermore, the bible also says that the spirits of sinful
humans, in addition to their bodies, will be destroyed. If the
fire with which we're aquainted destroys both bodies and spirits,
then anyone who burns to death has their spirit destroyed and can
never be resurrected. That's not true. But again, the bible does
say that in the second death, both body and spirit is destroyed.
The spiritual DNA info for those is gone forever. The fire that's
stronger than what spirit/fire angels are made of is something
that is especially prepared by God for the fallen angels, and of
course it will naturally burn away human spirits, too.
A.
Obviously the fire that is second-death hell fire will destroy
the physical body. The bible does not say this fire has any other
qualities, other than a fire that comes on the earth in many ways
even today. As the "spirit in man" is not physical, the physical
fire cannot burn up that spirit; it is God, who at that time of
the fire to destroy the un-repentant wicked, will also ordain
that their spirit is destroyed also; hence it is indeed over for
the un-repentant wicked, it is the death for eternity, of "body,
soul, and spirit" as Jesus said in the Gospels, "Fear Him who can
destroy both body and soul (spirit)." The physical body is
destroyed in physical fire, the soul or spirit is destroyed at
the same time, by the WILL of God, if He SAY THE WORD it is done!
Q.
I know it says "tormented forever and ever," and that's why I
used to think Satan could not be destroyed, but the Greek implies
that it could mean for a period of time, an age.
A.
The Greek word is "aion" and is #165 in Strong's Concordance. As
Strong and others give, the word by itself can have difference
meanings according to the context. It's easy to look the word up
in Strong's Con. and see in various passages of the NT how it is
used.
But in Revelation 20:10 we have the Greek as "aion of the aion."
I will give you what the "Analytical Greek Lexicon" says on this
word "aion" - "...a period of time of significant character;
life; a era; an age;: hence, a state of things marking an age or
era; the present order of nature. the natural condition of man;,
the world; 'o aion,' 'illimitable duration, ETERNITY; as also 'oi
aiones,' 'o aion ron aionon,' of 'aiones ron aionon' ...."
ETERNITY; as also 'oi aiones,' 'o aion ron aionon,' of 'aiones
ron aionon' ...."
I want you to note the latter "aiones (as) ron aionon" - this is
the exact Greek as used in book of Revelation.
Green's Greek/English Interlinear gives this exact Greek 13 TIMES
in the book of Revelation: they are Rev.1: 6; 4:9,10; 5:13,14;
7:12; 10:6; 11:15; 14:11; 15:7; 19:3; 20:10; 22:5.
Green translates this Greek phrase "aionas ron aionon" as "ages
of the ages" in EVERY SINGLE PLACE in the book of Revelation.
Let's look at them:
Rev.1:6 " God and His Father, to Him be glory and dominion for
'ever and ever.' - ages of the ages.
Rev.4:9 "And when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to
him that sat on the throne, who lives for 'ever and ever"' - ages
of the ages.
Rev.4:10 "...and worship Him that lives for 'ever and ever"' -
ages of the ages.
Rev.5:13 "...Blessing ... be to Him that sits on the throne and
unto the Lamb for 'ever and ever"' - ages of the ages.
Rev.5:14 "...twenty elders fell down and worshipped Him that
liveth for 'ever and ever"' - ages of the ages.
Rev.7:12 "...Blessing ... be unto our God for 'ever and ever"' -
ages of the ages.
Rev.10:6 "And sware by Him that lives for 'ever and ever"' - ages
of the ages.
Rev.11:15 "...of His Christ, and He shall reign for 'ever and
ever"' - ages of the ages.
Rev. 14:11 "And the smoke of their torment ascended up for 'ever
and ever"' - ages of the ages. Smoke molecules are physical, we
live in a physiacl universe, hence those molecules will continue
in some form within a physical universe forever. The physical
universe will be here forever, God has no plan to reverse the
"big bag."
Rev.15:7 "...wrath of God, who lives for 'ever and ever"' - ages
of the ages.
Rev.19:3 "...And her smoke rose up for 'ever and every"' - ages
of the ages. Again physical smoke molecules being a part of
physical universe will continue as long as the physical universe
continues, which is forever. God has no plans to reverse the "big
bag."
Rev.20:10 "And the Devil .. was cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone .... and shall be tormented day and night for 'ever and
ever"' - ages of the ages. It happens to be the same fire the
beast and false were thrown 1,000 years earlier - see the
context.
The word for "torment" here is NOT the word for "destroy."
'Destroy' is #622 in Strong's Con. 'Torment' is #928 - a
different word, that does NOT mean "cease to exist."
Rev.22:5 "...and they shall reign for 'ever and ever"' - ages of
the ages.
NOW, not only do we need to look to individual words within a
context, but we need to look within a context of a book
sometimes. Every single place in the book of Revelation where the
Greek phrase "ever and ever" (ages of the ages) is used, there is
not ONE place where we need to understand it any differently that
"eternity" - ages of the ages without end. Every single place in
the book of Revelation where the Greek "ages of the ages" is used
we need not differ in understanding it; every single passage
means "eternal" from the ages to the ages - forever. I see no
"rule" anywhere in NT Greek, the "context of word" or anything in
the book of Revelation to tell me that when I come to chapter
20:10 I am to understand "ages of the ages" to mean anything LESS
than what it means in all other passages of the book of
Revelation.
Now, I submit that this is the logic of it and most resonable way
to understand the Greek phrase "ages of the ages" - in
Revelation, as noted also by the Analytical Greek Lexicon, that
says the phrase means "eternal."
With that simple truth in hand. With that light on the subject,
we go forward to answer the other "questionable questions" that
may, at first glance seem to say Satan will be destroyed
eventually.
Q.
If indeed, though, they are tormented forever (maybe so; it's
definitely my desire to find out for sure which it is), then they
are tormented in that fire ... not wandering around the universe
as you said they may. I mean, that is major contradiction. What
would be the point of preparing a fire for the devil and his
angels. That fire is prepared for them to do something ...
certainly not for a waste to just toss him in and it does
nothing, and then he can jump right back out and go wandering
around, ykwim?
A.
The fire is physical - spirit is not effected by physical fire,
unless God changes things, and He's not told us He's going to do
that. Physical fire will natutally burn out when there is no
other physical thing to burn on. So we move with as it is now -
physical fire has no effect on spirit. The works of evil one day
shall come to an end - all sin of physical humans will be burnt
up - they, un-repentant sinners will be destroyed in the second
death - the so-called "hell fire" - Satan will be in that fire,
and he will see everything he's worked so hard at, dying and
taken away from him. That has to be the greatest punishment
anyone can give out to him - no more to have anything outside of
himself and the demons to twist, to help bring in sin, to
influence with wickedness and rebellion against God Almighty.
The final eternal punishment for Satan and the demons, may still
have to be fully decided. Jude says there is a day coming to him
for judgment -Jude 6. I only mention Jude 13 as a "possible"
judgment. I cannot be dogmatic about Jude 13. At this time, it is
only one possible understanding. It may refer to false ministers
being like "dead stars" that are not good for nothing, flying
around the universe, or astroids that are usless and fly around
the universe smashing into whatever, just causing trouble, and no
good in them at all.
Q.
And once again, Jesus plainly said that God can destroy man's
spirits, too, not just their bodies. If God can destroy the
spirit in man and surely the mind in angels ... why not their
spirit bodies, too? They were not made with the intention of
dying, unlike physical-bodies creatures, but that doesn't mean he
can't prepare a fire that does that.
A.
Yes of course, God can do anything He likes, when He likes and
how He likes. There is no question about that. It is not a
question of what can God do, it is what has God so far given us
in Scripture on this subject. All we are doing right now is
trying to see what the Scriptures say on the subject, to get an
idea of what it is right now, which when that judgment day comes
for Satan and the demons, MAY change - again Jude 6.
Q.
Maybe the fire can only keep him bound in such a way that he
can't leave, because his body's atoms cannot break away from
being fused with the atoms of the fire. At this point, I don't
know for sure how it is, but the fire is put there to do
something. It is prepared FOR the devil and his angels, and God
isn't going to make it FOR them for it to do nothing, not
allowing them to roam the universe.
A.
I've given you a very good reason for the physical fire at the
end of everything, and just before the new heavens and new earth
come into being. It is prepared to destroy sin, and destroy
anything that Satan can try and get to sin. He and the demons
ain't going to be very happy at all, you talk about "torture" for
them - that has got to be the ultimate torture for their minds.
Q.
And what of no more sorrows because of the former things passing
away? That can't be true when there's the most evil creature NOT
passed away but rather roaming around.
A.
If, and it is only an if, there is some truth to Jude 13 applying
to demons - their punishment to wander for eternity in the
blackness of darkness, then they will be far far way from God's
home with us on the new earth (Rev.21,22). I can be dogmatic
about one thing, Satan and the demons will not be anywhere near
the throne of God on the new earth. Satan and the demons will
have no power on us for sure, no power at all, they will be gone,
one way or the other, I can assure you, they will not be anywhere
close to us.
Q.
I don't believe the Satan-in-flesh-body stuff, but as far as I
can tell he is destroyed. If he is not, then he can continue to
wage war for eternity, and there would never be peace. If the
fire that is prepared for him does nothing to him, then he'd be
no different then as he is now and would just continue to be
a'bother to all the good.
A.
Ah, my friend, you are just forgetting the POWER of the Almighty.
God could speak right now and say, "Satan, be dead, be uncreated"
and within a split second Satan would not exist. IT IS just that
simple for our Father to do. When God has finished His plan for
mankind, when the new earth of Rev.21 is here, be assured Satan
and the demons will have no power over anything. They've probably
had BILLIONS of years ("probably" I said) in SIN and blasting
this universe around, and just trying to undo every good thing
the Father has done. He's allowed it, for He's always been in
charge. But one day, the day of judgment for those fallen angels,
as Jude 6 gives us, will come to pass, and Satan and the demons
will be powerless.
Q.
Help me out here. Can you answer these things?
Q.
Okay. I hope you read the other email. Also, you talked in that
article as if Jude was talking about angels being the "wandering
stars" in Jude 13, but it's talking about false teachers. Peter
says the same things in 2 Peter chapter 2. He also talks about
the angels and then compares false prophets (men) to them, saying
that the mist of darkness is reserved for them. There are already
angels bound in chains "reserved in darkness" until the judgement
.... when they will be thrown in the lake of fire prepared for
them. The point, though, is both Peter and Jude are simply
comparing false teachers TO the angels who are already reserved
in darkness. He's saying that the false teachers are like
wandering stars (stars that leave their place and shine brightly
and then go out in darkness) to whom the mist of darkness is
reserved forever. It is not saying that angels might be wandering
around in darkness throughout the universe after the new heaven
and earth. It's talking about the false teachers, so to mean what
you're explaining for it to mean, that would mean the false
teachers are wandering the universe forever ... and we know
that's not the case. They are destroyed in the fire that is
prepared for the angels, right along with the
angels ... and yes, there will be darkness, b/c they will be
destroyed and no longer exist as what they were before. The
energy will go on to exist, but their makeup will be destroyed.
A.
I have no real problem with your understanding of Jude 13, as you
give above. It certainly could be understood the way you give it.
I'm just giving another side, using "stars" as a Bible
interpretation as given in Revelation 1. Now the false teachers
are "brute beasts" but not literally, they are "clouds without
water," but not literally, they are "trees with no fruit," but
not literally, they are "raging waves of the sea," but not
literally. Jude uses "analogy" - certain things that do literally
exist, but it's still just a "type" he uses to get a point
across. So, yes, he could be using "wandering stars" like
meteors, or space junk rocks that streaks across the sky or even
sometimes hits this planet earth. Such bring nothing but nothing
with them, they often do bring harm, if such hit a city on the
earth. That is another reasonable explanation that Jude may have
had in mind. Yet, as Revelation does use "stars" are representing
"angels" (I guess good or bad ones) then it may be possible there
is a deeper meaning here, as all false ministers are really the
tools of Satan and the demons, doing more dirty work on earth
through them.
I'm not wanting to be dogmatic on how to understand Jude 13. We
certainly know Jude 6 is going to happen, that verse is pretty
clear in what it states.
What I think we cannot get around is the CONTEXT within the book
of Revelation concerning Rev. 20:10.
It is not what God CAN DO, it is what He has willed to do.
Certainly God can destroy Satan and the demons. And if God
created the angels to never die, then Satan once being
the covering cherub and the demons being angels that sinned (we
both know all the passages telling us those facts), then if God
had willed that angels would live forever, never die, then
Revelation 20:10 makes complete sense. If angels were never created
to live for ever, then we would have an exception with Satan in
Rev.20:10, or one might argue he will continue to live for
"ages of the ages" some very long time, and he and the demons would
still have to face some kind of judgent day, with a punishment that
would be from "ages of the ages". So we could go around in circles
on this, for as the phrase is used in Revelation "ages of the ages"
means a very very long time, as I see it, if you don't like the
word "eternal." So he's going to get some long long judgment punishment
on his day of judgmnent, before he's destroyed, IF he will be destroyed
at all.
Your take on "darkness" per se, as for life, has now been fully
proved wrong, well on this earth it has, for now they have
discovered life at the bottom of the deepest oceans, 3 and 4
miles down, where not one drop of light can be found, just utter,
utter blackness.
I'll answer your other questions from your recent email, shortly.
