​Dave Hunt

Dave Hunt

Question: In your September newsletter you

stated, “Before man was created, Satan had

already rebelled and taken countless angels

with him.” In October you state, “A rebellion

led by Lucifer eons ago had taken place….” It

almost sounds like you hold to some form of

the “gap theory.” The Bible tells us that

“from the beginning of the creation God made

them male and female” (Mk 10:6). Creation

had a beginning, and “in six days the Lord

made heaven and earth…” (Ex 20:11). I

believe it is quite clear that the angels were

created as well in those six days. God

summed it up saying, “Thus the heavens and

the earth were finished, and all the host of

them” (Gn 2:1). This “host” certainly could

include the angels (Neh 9:6, Ps

103:20-21[20], 1 Kgs 22:19, 2 Chr 18:18, Lk

2:13). God said the serpent was “made” just

as the beast of the field (Gn 3:1) and was

“perfect in thy ways from the day thou wast

created” (Ezk 28:15). Where is the scriptural

evidence that Satan rebelled “before man was

created …eons ago” as you have stated? In

the beginning of the creation, after the sixth

day God said “everything” that He had made

was “very good” (Gn 1:31). Or are you

implying a special creation of the angels at a

different time and place before “the beginning

of the creation”?

Response: Thank you for your question. You

have clearly put much thought and study into

it in the spirit of a Berean. However, I think

you make some incorrect assumptions.

First of all, the statement, “the serpent was

more subtil than any beast of the field which

the Lord God had made” (Gn 3:1), does not

include Satan as a “beast of the field.” It

includes the physical serpent in the garden

through which Satan spoke. While he is

called “that old serpent,” he is not a literal,

physical snake that was created with the

other creatures. When Satan came into

existence cannot be derived from this

passage.

Secondly, you seem to assume that the

creation of “the heaven and the earth” (Gn

1:1) includes what Stephen described as “I

see the heavens opened, and the Son of man

standing on the right hand of

God” (Acts:7:56) and what Paul called “the

third heaven” (2 Cor:12:2) where God dwells.

The words “heaven” and “heavens” are used

both for the physical heavens related to earth

and which are part of the physical universe

(the atmosphere surrounding earth, and the

space containing stars) as well as for heaven,

the “Father’s house,” which has neither

physical nor spatial relationship to earth.

Surely the “place” where God dwells, which is

neither physical nor part of the physical

universe, must have always existed and was

never created, certainly not at the time of

Genesis:1:1. This is also where angels dwell.

I think it is clear that the creation described

in Genesis refers only to the physical

universe. The heaven or heavens described

there are part of the universe. Thus “host” of

heaven in Genesis:2:1 refers to the stars, not

to angels. In the many other places in

Scripture it is also clear from the context

when “heaven/heavens” refers to the physical

realm and when it refers to God’s presence;

and when “host” refers to stars and when it

refers to angels. You seem to assume,

however, that “host of heaven” always means

angels, which is clearly not the case; for

example: “as the host of heaven cannot be

numbered” (Jer:33:22).

Therefore, the statements, “And God saw

every thing that he had made, and behold, it

was very good” (Gn 1:31), and “Thus the

heavens and the earth were finished, and all

the host of them” (2:1), as well as “from the

beginning of the creation God made them

male and female” (Mk 10:6), refer to the

physical universe which had a beginning, not

to the dwelling of God and angels nor to

angels themselves.

We have no biblical reason to believe that

angels were created simultaneously with the

physical universe and man. When were they

created? We are not told. I can’t take the

space to cite the many scriptures in both Old

and New Testaments which show such a

close association of angels with God that it

would seem odd indeed if they did not exist

until the physical universe was created. You

can look up these scriptures, as I know you

will. Surely the positions of power which

angels manifest in the book of Revelation

seem to be of a more permanent nature than

to have originated with the creation of the

universe and man. One function of angels is

to praise God and to surround His throne. It

hardly seems reasonable that there would

have been no angels to worship and serve

God before the physical universe (of which

they are not a part) was made.

There even seems to be a hint that man’s

creation came about as a result of Satan’s

rebellion. Surely man plays the key role in the

final defeat of Satan. We see this in the part

played by Job in the controversy between

God and Satan. Paul tells us that we “wrestle

…against spiritual wickedness in high places

[i.e. heaven?]” (Eph:6:12). Man, who

overcomes Satan “by the blood of the Lamb,

and by the word of their testimony” (Rv

12:11) even seems to be involved in the final

ouster of Satan: “there was war in heaven:

Michael and his angels fought against the

dragon…. And the great dragon was cast out,

that old serpent, called the Devil, and

Satan…” (12:7-9).

If angels were created before the physical

universe, how long before would it have

been? God has existed forever. Therefore, I

think it reasonable that angels have been in

His presence for “eons” of time by earth’s

reckoning, and also that Satan probably

rebelled long before man was created. At

least such a statement is neither unbiblical

nor unreasonable.