When was Satan cast out of heaven? Did Jesus bind him at Calvary in order to release his captives and take his keys?

Question

Ezekiel 28:11 The word of the Lord came to me: 12 “Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “ ‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; .... 14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. 15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you... and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. 17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.

Isaiah 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! 13 You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. 14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” 15 But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.

John 12:31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. This is further affirmed by Jesus’s words in Luke 10:18 where Jesus said he saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

Hebrews 2:14 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.

Matthew 12:29 Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.

Ephesians 4:8 (ESV) Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men

Revelation 9:11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.

Revelation 12:7-12 NIV [7] Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. [8] But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. [9] The great dragon was hurled down---that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. [10] Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. [11] They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. [12] Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” …

Revelation 20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

Was Satan cast out of heaven in ages past? or

Jesus words in John 12 indicate his casting out may have been associated with Calvary. If so, was Satan cast out and bound at this time and placed in the pit during the church age to be released shortly before Jesus’s return? or

Is he to be bound and placed in the pit by Christ at his return?

Answer 1

The problem here is that past historical figures of the OT are understood by NT writers to refer to events in the spiritual world that are beyond time. The OT prophecies refer to the actual kings of Babylon and Trye/Sidon, but in the NT they are symbolic of Lucifer. As the OP indicates, the moment of Satan's fall is not completely clear. To the OP's list we may also add that some people believe it took place at the same moment that Adam and Eve fell, or even long before this as in Milton's story of Paradise Lost.

The Hebrew text of Isaiah does not speak literally of Satan, but of "Helal ben Shaḥar" ("the brilliant one, son of the morning"). It refers specifically to the historical king of Babylon who had severely oppressed God's people and destroyed Jerusalem's temple. God instructs the prophet and the people to sing a "taunt" when that king is overthrown and they are allowed to return from exile:

On the day when the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow and turmoil, from the hard service with which you served, 4 you will take up this taunt-song against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has come to an end! how the turmoil has ended!... The kings of the nations (gentiles) rise from their thrones. 10 All of them speak out and say to you, “You too have become weak like us, you are just like us! 11 Down to Sheol your pomp is brought, the sound of your harps. Maggots are the couch beneath you, worms your blanket.” 12 How you have fallen from the heavens, O Morning Star, son of the dawn! How you have been cut down to the earth, you who conquered nations!

A similar theme is taken up in Ezekiel's prophecy against the prince of Tyre. Tyre had been a close friend of Israel, beginning with King David, who made a famous treaty with King Hiram. Tyre was Israel's major trading partner, and Isaiah 23:8 says that its "merchants are princes, its traders are the earth’s honored men." The reason for Tyre's fall is hinted at in Ezekiel's verses 15-16:

Blameless were you in your ways from the day you were created, Until evil was found in you. 16 Your commerce was full of lawlessness, and you sinned.

Earlier, King Ethbaal concluded a treaty of marriage with Israel's King Ahab. This hopeful union went badly awry when Ethbaal's daughter Jezebel promoted Baal-worship in Samaria and persecuted the prophets of Yahweh. This apparently forms the background to Ezekiel's prophecy, although it is likely that Trye and Sidon also supported Syrian and Assyrian invasions of Israel that led to that nation's demise.

When Isaiah and Ezekiel wrote, the Bible did not yet teach of Satan's existence as God's enemy. This idea evolved especially during the intertestamental period, where various arch-demons, such as Azazel (Book of Enoch) and Asmodeus (Book of Tobit) were named. By the time of Jesus' advent that title Satan ("adversary") became the actual name of God's primary enemy, and later still the idea of his originally being named Lucifer became orthodox Christian teaching.

Conclusion: This is a complicated question because the Old Testament text does not have a concept of Satan as a fallen archangel. New Testament writers were inspired to interpret the OT text in various ways, leading to the OP's understandable confusion. In the end, the question is a matter of theological opinion.

Answer 2

Satan (the serpent) was cast out of heaven prior to Adam and Eve:

2 Corinthians 11:3

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Satan is not currently bound, as he is now the "god of this world":

2 Corinthians 4:4

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Satan will be bound for 1,000 years at Christ's second coming for Christ's millennial reign (when there is true peace on earth), "loosed" for a short period after (to gather his armies), and then swiftly defeated at Armageddon:

Revelation 20:1-10

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Answer 3

His original rebellion was sometime after the creation week in Genesis 1 but before Adam, and Eve sinned. One of the pseudepigrapha gives a time for this. I think it was in the years. Revelation 1-12 happened first century / 70 AD. Rev 12 summarizes the first century- the stars moon sun are the 12 tribes, and their parents in Genesis, and they are giving birth to the new covenant / Jesus. The heads/horns are all the different Herods- one tries to kill Jesus, one killed John the Baptist, one killed James, God killed one. There are websites with the list of them, and their mention in the bible. The woman flees to Egypt is Jesus, and parents going to Egypt to escape Herod the great. The war in heaven happened when Jesus said now is the time for the prince of this world to be cast down, and behold I see satan fall like lightning from heaven. It was either when he said it while alive walking around Palestine or when he died, and then rose from the dead I suppose. The war in Rev 12 fulfilled the prophecy from Daniel 12, and also one in 1 Enoch that said the watchers would be judged 77 generations from Adam which is what Jesus was so was first century AD. The second woman fleeing is the new covenant church fleeing Jerusalem in 70 AD - the flight to Pella. The water in a river they had to cross was high that time of year per a video I saw on youtube. She is given wings like an eagle just like in Exodus the Israelites came out of Egypt on eagles wings. The Christians fleeing Jerusalem would of been almost 100% Judean Christians that is they had been following the old covenant but then believed in Jesus when he came or they were almost all part of the remnant of OT people getting pre saved grace- the 144 000 in Rev 7. All spiritual Israel was saved by 70 AD. James 1 says "to the 12 tribes scattered abroad" fulfilling a lot of OT prophecies about all the tribes being reunited spiritually under one shepherd - Jesus.

In the OT when it is talking about the king of Tyre/Babylon spiritually it is about the devils originally rebellion in Genesis not about rev 12.

revelation 13-22 is still future so the 1000 year satan in the pit thing hasn't happened yet, may run concurrently with the 1000 year reign for christians killed during rev 13, and may just be one 24 hour earth day because

2 peter 3 8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing: that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Answer 4

You are on the right track. Satan (but not his minions)has been bound, although one wonders whether the events of recent days suggest that now he has been "loosed for a little season" (Rev 20:33). Christ does now hold "the keys of Death and Hades"(Rev 1:18).

As for the timing of Satan falling from heaven, this seems tied to Jesus' ministry, as you discovered: [Luk 10:17-18 ESV] The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

Ezekiel 28:11 is primarily poetic imagery about the king of Tyre, who claimed to be a god. Isaiah 14:12 is a characterization of the king of Babylon. The attitudes of these men are certainly evil, but making the passages out to be also historically literal, about a spiritual figure (Satan) is problematic.

Christ's return(Acts 1:10) on the last day(John 6:39,40,44,54,0) of this world includes judgement for Satan(Rev 20:10) and men(John 12:48)