Satan in Heaven?
In the beginning of the Book of Job, we get a brief description of the protagonist. Then the scene jumps to Heaven, where God asks the ‘sons of God’ to present themselves.
Firstly, who are these ‘sons of God’ in the Old Testament? This is a heavenly title and means the head angels or the arch-angels. It is likely they were presenting themselves to obtain instructions from Him.
If Satan was cast down from Heaven, how could he be allowed back in?
This is a question which Church theologians have been discussing for centuries.
One current view is that at this time in Biblical history, ‘The Satan’ was an official position amongst the ‘sons of God’. His role was to find people on Earth to accuse of sinful practices and report back to God. After all, ‘The Satan’ means the accuser.
It was only in the New Testament that the Devil and Satan were combined into one persona.
The other way of looking at this is to say that Satan and the Devil have always been one and the same.
If this is the case, it could be God allowed the Devil to enter Heaven for His own purposes.
In my previous post, I suggested God’s plan was to deepen His relationship with Job. By talking with and tricking the Devil, he caused him to focus on Job, which brought about God’s will.
I have heard other theories too about how this could have happened.
But what I find interesting about the two solutions I detail above, is they represent two ways of reading the Bible. We can read it as a progressive revelation of God throughout the history of the Scriptures. Or we can look at the Bible as one complete narrative.
I personally believe both can be correct at the same time. We do get this element of progressive revelation in the Bible, but we also find Biblical truths consistent across the text.
Jesus is physically revealed in the Gospels (progressive revelation), but it is clear that He is also present and acting as the Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament.
The Bible is both progressively revealing God’s plan for salvation and at the same time offers the gift of salvation from Genesis onwards.
Gen 15 v 6
Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
Romans 4 v 3
What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Having said all of this, we can’t be 100% sure why Satan was allowed into Heaven. It is one of those Biblical mysteries along with the identification and history of Cain’s wife.
Like Job, we need to trust God and His plans. After all, His ways are not our ways.