Where did Satan fall from? What was in Heaven?

“For He looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven the LORD viewed the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisioner, to release those appointed to death…So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.” Psalm 102:19-20, Psalm 63:2

“A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our Sanctuary.” Jeremiah 17:12

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!…For you have said in your heart: I will exalt my throne above the stars of God…” Isaiah 14:12, 13

“And it [the little horn] grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down of the host and of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. He even exalted himself as high as the Prince of the host; and by him the daily were taken away, and the place of His sanctuary was cast down. Because of transgression, an army was given over to oppose the daily; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did and prospered…And in the latter time of their kingdom when the transgressors have reached their fullness, a king shall arise, having fierce features, who understands sinister schemes. His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; he shall destroy fearfully, and shall prosper and thrive; he shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people. Through his cunning he shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule; and he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. He shall even rise against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hands…” Daniel 8:11-12, 23-25

“…He shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage…So he [the king of the north] shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily, and place the abomination of desolation. Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out…” Daniel 11:30-32

“Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple…And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a greaty, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born…And war broke out in heaven: Michael and His angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him…And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring[Seed], who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 11:19, 12:3-4, 7-9, 17

Through years of seeking to grapple with the Scriptures, learning from many other diligent Bible students, and ultimately asking God for answers to some of the deepest questions that arose in my life, this is my present summarized understanding of the story of God with His creation, both in heaven and on earth. What I write here is a personal summary of the Biblical Story. There is much more to explore in detail. Yet for those who want the bottom line up front, here it is —

I believe that the Creator will end all suffering by means of His Everlasting Temple — ushering in the New Heaven, the New Jerusalem, and the New Earth.

Here’s the summary—

As it is written, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” According to Scripture, in heaven there was a temple where God dwelt with His first creation—the angels. There was, in the process of time, a war in heaven about the nature and character of God and His government— a controversy over His Throne and Covenant — The Promise of His own Eternal Character. Rather than immediately silencing or stopping the rebellion, when God created the earth, He allowed the rebels to make camp and claims on earth, allowing for a contest to unfold.

Humanity was created with the same freedom to rebel as the angels, but He forewarned them about the two paths. Since all rebellion against God is the same and ends with the same destiny, He permitted the original rebels to test humanity to see where they would voluntarily place their loyalty in the conflict. As we know, humanity gave their allegiance to the angelic rebels. Yet, as with the original rebellion, God did not immediately destroy humanity but gave them a probation period to learn the truth about God's character, government, and purposes, and to come back to allegiance to him. Since the basis of the rebellion in heaven and earth was deception, God’s entire redemption process involves dispelling the lies and revealing the truth. As the history goes, there is now a war not only among God and fallen angels, but now between the Creator and human creatures who have willingly chosen to side with the fallen angels. Also, even though God gave humanity a conditional existence, life would not continue without His help in one way or another to help all humans discern the difference between right and wrong.

The next development of conflict started a third type of war, a worship war between conflicting belief systems led by the opposing angelic armies. The sides in this context is the difference between humans that have surrendered to God and those who hold the claims of the fallen angels. The first outbreak of this was manifested with Cain and Abel. So there is a 3-point conflict between the character of God, and the claims of the fallen angels, and the voluntary choices of human beings in the midst of that larger controversy.

As the history progressed, the Creator allowed conflict to a limit, but stepped in when humanity was about to destroy itself. This intervention is known as the global cataclysmic flood. After this, God goes about to establish a specific nation through a man named Abraham for the purpose of preserving His covenant promises, His truth and story, and His commandments, so that it could be read and understood by later generations who would also have to make the same final decision for their souls as with generations prior. This national establishment was a very risky business and endeavor because of the fallen condition of humanity in general, and of the presence of the fallen angels in particular. The national-religious system of Israel, which was a temporary organization, was God’s accommodation to work alongside the stubborn and violent free wills of a people who had their own problems. How could he preserve them, and His story from hostile nations and other “theocracies” that were led by the original fallen angels? What do you think happened? This is the messy situation that gave rise to the conflicts among the various nations during the time of Israel. Their National History is on worldwide display, but their history is not the only history of ancient kingdoms. Yet, since we have the Scriptures today, we can see strong evidence that the Creator God of heaven, earth, and Eden original, was able to be victorious in preserving that history, even though it was through a lot of pain on the human and ultimately the Divine level. There are also many indicators throughout the story that God made a clear distinction between the violent, possessed nature of humanity and His free worship system, even though there were attempts among fallen humans to mingle the two, both within Israel and especially outside Israel.

Finally however, the Creator, the Messenger of the Covenant, would Himself incarnate into humanity to expose Satan's lies once and for all, and to reveal the truth of God's character before Israel, the other nations, and eventually the entire world—even to the onlooking universe. This is the significance of the story of Jesus. This is why there is so much attention drawn toward Him today. And as with ages past, there has ever been war over this story. This is the very history we track time with today. This is also a significant part of the reason why there seems to be so much confusion over the history. There has been an intentional attempt on the part of the fallen angels to destroy and confuse the history so that people would not discern the truth clearly. Do you think that wars and conflicts are initiated by men alone or ultimately by the fallen angels in the largest sense? This is a question that every individual has to decide.

So, the story of Jesus’ first advent ends with his death and resurrection. The next chapter involves the spreading of this story over the course of nearly 2000 years. After previous millennia of human experience, expansion, cultural and religious development, the gospel would be now taken into various parts of the world. But the fallen angels had another trick up their sleeve. They would now repeat and initiate the same operation as at the very beginning, but this time within the church of Jesus directly. So the Cain and Abel story was repeated in the church, brother against brother, and thus the long history of the dark age persecution. The governmental power that originally put Jesus to death at the leading and instigation of the fallen angels, was now becoming united to some in the church. Just like in the Cain story, Abel was killed; so then, followers of Jesus who did not want to unite with the power that crucified Jesus, ultimately were themselves cast out, persecuted, and martyred. And so, the history began again. Yet God did not stop working with both groups, those cast out and those who united with Rome. However, as the prophecies of Daniel indicated, God would only allow this situation for a certain time, times, and half a time period. Afterward, He would begin a movement to start gathering His people from all over the world back to the story which He preserved, even amidst the apostasies, rebellion, and messy stories of both the Jewish and Gentile church. The key to unity was the revelation of the Heavenly Temple, the central subject of the original war.

This is where Satan was cast out from at the start of the war in heaven, and that is where Jesus is now. During the dark ages the light surrounding the Heavenly Temple was obscured, and the truth of it was “cast down to the ground.” This was also the case during Israel’s history as well. However during the time of Israel, the earthly tabernacle was still preserved as an illustration of the Heavenly Temple in order to help prepare the way for the Messiah who would come into His temple at that first advent. But after the time, times, and half a time, revealed to Daniel, there would be a global movement of individuals to restore the truth of the Heavenly Temple to the entire world. This is described in the revelation of Jesus Christ; some know it as the Everlasting Gospel of the Three Angel’s Messages. The Heavenly Temple worship system is what allows us, empowers us, and frees us to access Jesus wherever we are, whenever we need to.

Since the Heavenly Temple was set up by God before the earth was ever created, it is not touchable or disturbed by human hands. The fallen angels who were cast out from there know about it, and their work in this world is described as “blaspheming the Tabernacle”. What that simply means is they are continually working to set up an earthly counterfeit which blinds men's eyes to the True Tabernacle, the Heavenly City and Temple which God had set up before there was even an earth. It is to that True and Original Temple that we direct our worship and prayers. It is from that Temple in heaven that we receive the Holy Spirit, the messages of the Everlasting Gospel, and instruction on the keeping of God's Commandments while in this world by faith with patience.

The Heavenly Sanctuary or Temple worship system is what prepares us for the Second Advent of Jesus to enter with Him into the new Jerusalem, His Father’s House, which is being prepared for those who are earnestly looking for Him, and love His appearing. The Everlasting Gospel of the Three Angel’s Messages reveal the truth about the Three Personal Advents of Christ, the Three Heavens of the Heavenly temple, The present Source of New Birth, sometimes called “resurrection”, and the Two literal Future Resurrections, and the Three Everlasting judgments. The present moment, known by some as “Present Truth”, is part of the judgment hour of the Heavenly Temple so that everyone who wants to learn more about it, and the God who sits enthroned there with Jesus can do so, and make a final decision before He returns. When Jesus comes back, there will not be another opportunity. The Second Advent will come after the Seven Last Plagues are fulfilled and those counted worthy will be brought into the new Jerusalem by Jesus for the 1000 years period. After that millennial judgment, then will come the final executive judgment which ends with the final destruction of Satan, his angels, and of all humans, that devastatingly, believed Satan’s version of the great controversy question regarding the character of God.

God will end all suffering and pain, just like Jesus did when He was here in person. For some, suffering will end with being part of the first resurrection, being given a new body, living in the eternal heavenly city, the new Jerusalem, eating from the tree of life, drinking from the water of life, building homes and planting gardens and eating from them, exploring the universe and visiting other worlds, planets, and ancient civilizations, and ultimately and best of all, enjoying personal face to face fellowship with God our Father and Jesus Christ His Son forever with the redeemed of all ages. For others, their suffering will end in the one time lake of fire event. Thus, God will be justified as the healer and life giver Who also ends all suffering and pain, and Who destroys death itself.

 — Written By Amir A. Davis

Below are the Scriptural references for the teachings, ideas, principles, and thoughts alluded to in the writing above:

Creator of All — Genesis 1:1; Acts 17:24; Revelation 4:11; Revelation 10:5-6; Revelation 14:7

New Heaven, Earth, Jerusalem, and Creation — Revelation 21:1-4; Galatians 6:15; II Corinthians 5:17

The Original/True Sanctuary/Temple in Heaven — Exodus 15:17; Hebrews 8:1-2; Acts 7:48-50; Exodus 25:8-9; Daniel 8:14

Heavenly Home / City — John 14:1-4, 23; Revelation 3:12; Revelation 21:22

Angelic Rebellion — Ezekiel 28:11-19; Isaiah 14:12-21; Exodus 25:18-20; Job 38:7; Revelation 12:7; Jude 1:6; Matthew 4:1-10; Daniel 10:13; John 8:43-44; Job 4:12-19; Isaiah 8:19-20; I Samuel 28:3-20; Leviticus 19:31

Human Rebellion — Genesis 3-4, Genesis 6, Genesis 11

Angelic Assistance — Exodus 14:19; Exodus 23:20; I Kings 19:1-8; Daniel 6:21-22; Daniel 10; John 1:51; Matthew 18:10-11; Revelation 4:6-7; Matthew 4:11

God/Creator of Violence? — Exodus 32:7-10; Acts 7:51-52; I Chronicles 22:8, I Chronicles 28:3; Deuteronomy 22:8; Isaiah 1:15; Isaiah 59:3; Isaiah 33:15; Proverbs 6:16-17; Ezekiel 23:37-45

Author of Confusion? — I Corinthians 14:26-33; 1 Timothy 4:13, 16; Revelation 1:3; Nehemiah 8:8; I Corinthians 14:19; Daniel 8:16-18; Daniel 9:13, 22-25; Daniel 10:11-12, 14; Daniel 11:33-35; Daniel 12:10; Matthew 24:15, Mark 13:14

Universal Angelic Gathering — John 10:16; Matthew 24:31; Revelation 7:1-4; Matthew 13:41; Romans 11:19-36; Romans 15:12; I Thessalonians 2:1-2

Great Tribulation — Matthew 24:21-22; Daniel 7:25; Daniel 12:7; Revelation 12:14; Revelation 12:6; Revelation 11:2-3; Matthew 24:15; Luke 21:20; Daniel 11:32-39; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4; Jude 1:14-16; Revelation 13:5-8; Revelation 6:9-10; Genesis 4:9-12; Matthew 23:34-36; Revelation 18:24; John 16:2-3; Acts 20:29-30; Jude 1:4; I John 3:10-17; Revelation 2:20-23; I John 2:15-19; I John 4:1-3; Matthew 24:23-25; Revelation 16:13-14; Revelation 7:13-15

Third Heaven — II Corinthians 12:2-3; Revelation 2:7; Revelation 14:9, 19; Revelation 22:14

Present and Future Advents, Resurrections, and Judgements; End of Sin, Suffering, Satan, and Death

Advents: Deuteronomy 18:15; Isaiah 7:14; Daniel 9:26-27; Daniel 11:22; Malachi 3:1; Mark 1:15; Luke 13:32; John 2:19; I Corinthians 15:4; John 6:62; Acts 1:11; I Thessalonians 4:16; Matthew 24:30; Revelation 1:7; Revelation 6:16; Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:19-20; Zechariah 14:4; Revelation 20:9-11
Resurrections and Judgments: I Peter 1:23; John 3:3; John 5:24-25; Hebrews 4:12; John 8:58; Hebrews 6:2, 3; Daniel 8:14; Leviticus 16; Leviticus 19:30; Leviticus 23:23-32; Revelation 14:6-7; Revelation 22:12-13; Revelation 2:24-28; Daniel 12:2-3; I Corinthians 15:50-55; Revelation 10:5-7; Revelation 11:15-19; Exodus 20:1-17;
End of Sin, Suffering, Satan, and Death: Revelation 19:11-16; Revelation 6:15-17; Revelation 20:4-15; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 14:12; Zechariah 14:4; Romans 16:20; Genesis 3:15; Matthew 10:28; Matthew 25:41; Isaiah 14:12-21; Ezekiel 28:14-19; Revelation 20:10; Malachi 4:1; I Corinthians 15:26; Revelation 21:4-5

Eternal Life — Revelation 21:7, 22-27; Revelation 22:14-17; Ezekiel 37:26-28; Ezekiel 20:12, 20; Isaiah 66:22-24; John 14:15; John 12:50; Exodus 20:1-17; Revelation 14:6-7; Revelation 2:7, 17; John 21:12; Isaiah 65:17-25; Matthew 5:45; Matthew 18:3; Matthew 19:14
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To get even more in-depth insight into this subject of a Cosmic War or Controversy, I refer readers to a book which has drastically altered my worldview called “The Great Controversy” by Ellen G. White. This book was given to me some years ago and I have never seen the world the same again.

Moses writes,

“In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth.” Gen 1:1

So, having a glimpse of the story from Heaven’s Big Picture perspective
we see that it was the very first choice of Adam and Eve
against God in co-operation with Satan
which passed death on to each of us.

So what is the apparent loving invitation of the Everlasting Temple which promises a remedy?

Since we all experience death that we did not choose and still are presented with a life full of choices, what are those choices that we can make in the context of this cosmic spiritual warfare?

I understand it to simply be “The Choice Voice”