In Defense of the Faith

What about Satan in God’s Presence?

Question: Evil is supposedly not allowed in God’s presence because He is so holy. Yet Satan still appears before the throne of God, according to the book of Job. How can that be?

Response: Yes, Satan still appears before the throne of God (Job:1:6Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
See All...; 2:1) as the “accuser of our brethren” (Revelation:12:10And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
See All...). The day is yet future when “that old serpent called the Devil” will be cast out of heaven (Revelation:12:10And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
See All...).

Before his fall Satan had been given a position of power and authority, and he will retain some residue of that until the battle for the soul and destiny of man has been fought to its finish. The challenge that Satan has been presented to God can only be fully answered and Satan fully defeated by the redemption of mankind through the blood of Christ. Until that time, the relationship of God to evil is one of hatred and rejection, not of complete separation. For example, we know that God is “of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity” (Habakkuk:1:13Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?
See All...); yet He sees everything that happens in the earth and must know all evil or He could not be the judge thereof.

Evil was conceived in the heart of Satan even though he dwelt in the very presence of God. The Bible speaks of the “mystery of iniquity” (2 Thessalonians 27). That evil could originate in God’s presence and that it could begin on earth in the perfect environmental paradise of the Garden of Eden is indeed a mystery. And this mystery only deepens when we consider that sin involves rebellion against the infinite, almighty Creator of all. That both Satan and man would be so blinded by self as to embrace the impossible dream of defeating God is mystery indeed.

Satan’s continuing appearances before God’s throne do not implicate God in evil any more than the fact that creatures whom God created (and whose every thought, word, and deed He knows) have turned to evil by the billions. The day is coming, however, when God will create a new universe “wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter:3:13Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
See All...), and from that time on “there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth” (Revelation:21:27And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
See All...).