Why did Satan fall? With this question, I do not ask when or why God actually expelled Satan or his rebellious comrades from heaven. We can tackle that question at some other time, perhaps. I wonder why Satan rebelled against God in the first place. If God created Satan upright in a perfect creation, how could Satan have fallen from righteousness? Theologians have struggled with this question for quite some time. John Piper said, “For as many years as I can remember, I have said that this is among the mysteries in my theology for which I do not have an adequate answer.” Let’s explore the question and see where we can get.

Why Did Human Beings Fall?

We might begin by asking why human beings fell from righteousness. We find the answer in Genesis: Satan, through the serpent, deceived Eve and through her tempted Adam, and they fell. The serpent did not deceive Adam, but Adam nonetheless fell. Through temptation more than deception. The Scriptures mark out Adam, and seemingly him alone, as the source of human sin and death. Note, for example, Paul’s declaration in Romans 5:12: “through one man [i.e., Adam] sin entered into the world, and death through sin.” Knowing disobedience then, seems required for the attribution of sin. What law did Satan knowingly disobey? Or was it that his heart turned from serving God and God’s plan? But how?

Test vs. Temptation

I think it helpful at this point to distinguish a temptation from a test. Because both can result in sin. We know from James that “God does not tempt anyone” (Jms. 1:13). But we also know that God does test or try His children (Gen. 22:1; Ex. 15:25; 16:4; 20:20; Deut. 8:2, 16; 13:3; Jdgs. 2:22; 3:1, 4; 2 Chron. 32:31; Jn. 6:6, etc.).

By looking at the various examples of “testing” in the Old and New Testament, we see that God tests His children both through commands and circumstances. We can see the first “test through command” with Adam. Without the command not to eat of the tree in the middle of the garden of Eden, Adam never would have had any opportunity to sin. As Paul says, “But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law, sin is dead” (Rom. 7:8). So the Law operates as a test from God, and also—from the perspective of sin “taking an opportunity”—as a temptation.

Sometimes, however, God tests His people through His providence. He alters their circumstances, and their reaction to these altered circumstances reveals what’s really going on inside them. We see tests of circumstance in the providence of the manna and wandering in the wilderness (as made clear in Deut. 8:2, 16). We see it also with Job. No new command tested Job, but only a change in circumstance. And what God used as a test, to reveal Job’s faithfulness, Satan intended as a temptation, to expose Job as a mercenary fraud. So a test through providence too, like a Law, can turn into a temptation.

Though we don’t often consider the close relationship of testing and temptation, Scriptural language makes this connection hard to avoid. In the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, the word translated “test” (e.g., when God “tests” Abraham in Gen. 22) is the same Greek word (πειράζω, peirazō) translated “tempt” in other places, including in James 1:13! Scripture calls Satan ὁ πειράζων (ho peirazōn), which could be translated either “The Tester” or “The Tempter” (Matt. 4:3; 1 Thess. 3:5). We say Satan tempts, rather than tests, only because he intends for us to sin. But the word in Greek would remain the same regardless of the intention. And the reality of the situation remains the same. What God intends as a test to reveal truth, Satan intends as a temptation to provoke sin. The difference between a test and temptation lies with the intention of the “tester” and the outcome of the tested. Sin on either side turns a test into a temptation.

Satan’s Test

This connection between test and temptation proves vital to our understanding of Satan’s fall. God did not test Satan with a law, as He tested Adam. God tested Satan with a change in circumstances. And this test proved a temptation to Satan that he would not resist. You might ask, “What change of circumstance?” In a nutshell: by creating Adam, and in His own image and likeness, God displaced Satan from his former place as pinnacle of creation.

In my previous article in this series, “When Were Angels Created?,” I made the case that God created all of the angels—including Satan and his fallen host—on the fourth day of creation when He made the “host of heaven.” That means that, when God created Satan and the other angels, He had not yet made any other creatures. Angels were truly the first-born creatures of God. This means angels watched (and probably sang and rejoiced—Job 38:7) on the fifth day then, when God filled the deep of the oceans with all the fish and swarming creatures, and when He filled the sky with birds. And they saw too when God filled the land with all the living creatures at the beginning (the evening) of the sixth day.

Note that, up to the point right before the creation of Adam, God had given none of the terrestrial creatures—fish, birds, or land animals—any dominion. Satan and the other angels may have rightly assumed that they still held pre-eminence as “rulers” over all creation even into the middle of the sixth day. Everything seemed to point to this pre-eminence. Angels had the status of first-born creatures. They had reason and moral responsibility and already had some governing authority in the heavens. God had given them, after all, to “rule” over the heavenly lights.

As the other new creatures rolled out, nothing in those creatures would have given any of the angels pause concerning their own status. Angels certainly had more going for them than blank-eyed fish. Or squawking birds. Or even the more sensible but still not morally responsible land creatures. All wonderful inventions in their way, all the angels would have agreed. But none to challenge the clear authority and priority of the angels over creation.

On top of this, Satan may even have been first-born among the angels—the morning star. So, for the first couple of days, he would have enjoyed the status, perhaps exclusively, of “pinnacle of all creation.” Until that fateful sixth day, when God created Adam in His own likeness and image, and then designated Adam as ruler of creation. At that moment, everything changed for Satan.

Pause with me in this for a moment. If God had never created humankind, Satan would have continued to be the first creature of all creation. It is possible that Satan would have remained in that status, upright and content, if only God had not tested him with a change of status. Clearly, Satan did not handle his status change very well.

Did Satan Want God’s Place?

Some theologians say that Satan fell because he wanted to take God’s place as ruler in heaven—that he challenged God for supremacy. Obviously, the Scriptures mention a war in heaven (e.g., Rev. 12:7), and clearly that war occurred between God with His angels and Satan with his angels. But we cannot necessarily deduce from that exactly why Satan found himself at odds with God in heaven. Many who believe that Satan challenged God for supremacy of the universe point to Isaiah 14 as a proof-text, so let’s talk about that. 

Somewhat parallel passages, Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28:11f give us a picture of Satan’s fall as embodied in the fall of the kings of Babylon and Tyre. Many theologians claim that these prophecies apply more than likely, and perhaps exclusively, to real human people, actual kings. These same theologians would caution us not to apply these texts one-to-one to Satan or his angels. But the heightened cosmic language in both texts indicates that either the fall of these earthly kings resembles the fall of their spiritual father, Satan, or that these nations actually had a ruler king among the fallen angels—the “false gods.” These could refer potentially even to Satan, who apparently did once rule over the kingdoms of this world (Matt. 4:8–9; Jn. 12:31). Some analog for this can be found in the angel in Daniel mentioning a delay caused by the “Prince” and “kings of Persia,” clearly angelic beings (Dan. 10:13). Perhaps Isaiah and Ezekiel spoke of the “kings” of Babylon and Tyre in similar ways.

Either way, the language in Isaiah 14 can help us understand the fall of the heavenly hosts, particularly Satan, as many commentators have pointed out. Most particularly for our purposes, Isaiah says of the king of Babylon, either like Satan or Satan himself—

But you said in your heart, 
“I will ascend to heaven; 
I will raise my throne above the stars of God, 
and I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the recesses of the north.
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.” (Isa. 14:13–14)

Let’s grant that this points to the heart of why Satan fell. Many have said this text indicates, clearly, then, that Satan wanted to take God’s place. It says it right there, right? Satan wanted to make himself the Most High. I do hate to be a stickler, but that’s not what the text says exactly. It says he thought to make himself like the Most High. This may seem trivial, but let’s chase it.

Who is Like God?

The word translated “like” in Isaiah 14:14 is not the more common single-letter prepositional prefix (כְּ, kuh) often translated “like” or “as” or “according to.” Instead, in this context, Isaiah utilizes the verb form meaning “to liken” (דמה, damah). And, in this case the verb is reflexive. In other words, you could translate it, “I will liken myself to the Most High.” Of importance, the noun form of this Hebrew verb, commonly translated “likeness,” appears in Genesis 1:26 and 5:1, in reference to the creation of Adam. God created Adam in His own image, in the “likeness” (דְּמוּת, d’mūth) of God. So another way to translate the text in Isaiah 14 to heighten this linguistic connection: “I will make myself in the likeness of the Most High.” What God had made Adam, Satan tried to make himself. Namely, he wanted to achieve through conquest “the likeness of God.” In other words, Satan didn’t want to be God. Satan wanted to be Adam.

As we see from Revelation 12, Michael led the angels of God against Satan and his fallen angels when they rebelled. Michael’s name, as I have known from youth, means, “Who is like God?” It does not mean “One who is like God.” It is literally a question in Hebrew. And, it would seem, this very question leads God’s armies to battle against Satan, as a challenge and a taunt. Who is like God? On one hand, we would answer, “No one. No one is like God. And certainly no one can defy Him!” It seems like a rhetorical question in that sense. But, on the other hand, the question is far from rhetorical. And we could answer, and accurately, “Humans. Humans are like God. And Satan, you never will be.” And both answers directly challenge Satan and his fallen angels.

The End of the Sixth Day

So play C.S. Lewis with me for a minute and put yourself in the devil’s shoes. Up to the middle of the sixth day, you’ve enjoyed your view from the top. You’re the most important of the most important. There’s no falseness in this, no fantasy or lie. You truly are, at that point and in reality, the greatest creature in the cosmos under God. And you feel great about it. God’s done the right thing by you. These fish are beautiful and abundant, but they’re obviously beneath you. The birds are wondrous and ingenious creations, surely. But they’re not your superiors. Evening settles in as the sixth day begins, and God just keeps outdoing Himself with every new earth-bound clay-creature. Some of them seem even to have some sense of awareness, rudimentary language, the use of tools. These land animals are amazing! But still, you feel quite secure in your position on top. Until suddenly, everything changes.

As the light of the sixth day reaches its zenith, God moves toward the conclusion of His creation. He forms Adam from the dust of the ground. He makes this one in His very likeness, like a child of God. You didn’t even know that was possible. And then God gives this Adam dominion over the earth, over all living creatures, even all things (Psalm 8:5–6). If you’re Satan, how do you feel right now?

This is a test, is it not? Will you accept your new position? Will you serve Adam? God had not revealed the true calling of the angels until this moment. But now God has made clear that the glory and purpose of the angels is to serve God by serving humankind as ministering spirits (Heb. 1:14). Do you feel passed over, discarded, dismissed? Jealous? Bitter? Maybe you could have been happy serving under God as His right-hand creature. But to be demoted under this dirt-man? This terrestrial meatwad? Really? No. No! You cannot abide this change.

And, in that root of bitterness, a terrible plan emerges. What if you could, in one stroke, hurt or even destroy these would-be lords of earth, prove them less than you, expose God’s blunder, and exercise delicious dominion over these purported superiors? The twisted joy. It’s all you can think about now.

Conclusion

So Satan fell from bitter jealousy over his lost position as pinnacle of creation. And this bitter jealousy festered into murderous envy of Adam, his presumed replacement. Satan could not abide being first runner-up in the magistrate-of-the-cosmos competition. So he decided to knock the winner off the pedestal. God tested Satan in the creation of Adam, giving Satan and the angels a hard choice. They could either submit to God’s plan by submitting to serve humankind. Or they could rebel. Satan failed the test. He made the wrong choice.

Michael, on the other hand, did not. And we should not pass over the beautiful and most-humble service the righteous angels have provided to humankind. Terrifying and majestic as they are, they believed and trusted God concerning humankind. They waited through the centuries as humankind perverted and debauched itself under the thumb of their fallen enemy. Time and again. People of God or no. Corrupt. Weak. Failed and Failing. And yet these faithful angels served and waited still to see when God’s plan would ever come to fruition. Millennia and millennia.

Then, imagine! To an applause of thunder, this lightning-eyed Man, this grave-conqueror with feet of burnished bronze, this one who burst the cords of death and shut the mouths of the adversary forever, this Jesus, Son of Man and Son of God, walks in to the throne room of God having defeated Satan and death and all the powers of evil. And with no advantages! Poor, despised, rejected, crucified, and forsaken of God. But faithful. And they all cry out, “Worthy is the Lamb!” And in that moment, they felt, I’m sure, such wondrous relief and satisfaction that they had believed God and waited. Because surely and truly, this Man, this Last Adam, is the King of the Universe.  

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Next up in the Questions in Genesis series, we’ll consider the related question of why the Serpent joined forces with Satan, and what exactly is the Seed of the Serpent.