What Is the Fate of Satan?

Have you ever wondered what will become of Satan the Devil? The one who deceives the whole world (Rev. 12:9), who accuses God's people continually (Rev. 12:10)? Will God destroy him outright, or confine him to eternal torture in the lake of fire? Will there be any place for him after God creates the new heavens and new earth?

Rev. 20:10 seems to indicate that Satan will live forever in the lake of fire: "The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." Is this it? Or is there more to the story?

Mat. 25:41 tells us that "everlasting fire" has been prepared for the devil and his angels. Similarly, a few verses later, in v. 46, Jesus warned the wicked of everlasting punishment.

Yet we're told that the unrepentant wicked will not be tortured forever, but will in fact be destroyed forever: "'For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,' says the LORD of hosts, 'that will leave them neither root nor branch. You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this,' says the LORD of hosts" (Mal. 4:1, 3). So the lake of fire mentioned in Revelation will burn the wicked to ash.

2 Thes. 1:9 confirms this, telling us that the wicked "shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power."

This, then, is the everlasting punishment Jesus warned us about. It's punishment that's irreversible and everlasting in its effect, with no more possibility of repentance. It's everlasting destruction!

This still doesn't yet tell us about the fate of Satan, though. After all, he's a spirit being, and no fire we've ever seen has any effect on spirit beings. In fact, some even go so far as to say that God cannot kill spirit beings, even though He created them and even though no verse anywhere in the Bible says He can't! Honestly, it seems silly to say that God can't destroy something He Himself created.

Let's continue.

In Ezek. 28:14-15, God speaks of Satan, "You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you."

The passage goes on to talk about Satan's beauty, wisdom, and splendor before he sinned and rebelled against God. Then, God pronounces His judgment: "Therefore I brought fire from your midst; it devoured you, and I turned you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who saw you. All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you; you have become a horror, and shall be no more forever" (Ezek. 28:18-19).

This tells us that Satan will be burned up and turned to ashes on the earth in the sight of all, that his destruction will astonish everyone, and that he will be no more forever! His fate will be the same as that of all other wicked: eternal destruction.

How can this be reconciled to Rev. 20:10 and the account of Satan being tormented forever and ever?

Hold on to that thought for now, and let's look at some additional Scriptures. Let's turn to Isa. 14:15-17, which elaborates a little more on the astonishment of humanity at seeing Satan's judgment: "Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit. Those who see you will gaze at you, and consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities, who did not open the house of his prisoners?’"

Again, God pronounces His judgment on Satan: "You are cast out of your grave like an abominable branch, like the garment of those who are slain, thrust through with a sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a corpse trodden underfoot" (Isa. 14:19). The next verse adds that Satan will not be permitted a burial.

Heb. 2:14 tells us that Jesus Christ will destroy the devil, and Rom. 16:20 tells us that God will crush Satan under our feet.  The word for "crush" is suntribo (Strong's #4937), which means, "break, break in pieces, to crush." This has two interesting parallels. The first is Mal. 4:1 & 3, which told us that the wicked will be ashes under the soles of the righteous, as will Satan himself, according to Ezek. 28:18. The second interesting parallel is the prophecy in Gen. 3:15 that Jesus Christ (the seed of the woman) would one day crush the serpent Satan's head.

We see a couple more interesting passages alluding to Satan's fate in Isa. 27 and Job 41, albeit in type. In Job 41, God spoke at length about a fire-breathing sea serpent or dragon called the leviathan. I don't dispute that the leviathan once existed, just as serpents still do, but both serpents and dragons represent Satan. Tellingly, we're told in Job 41:34 that the leviathan is "king over all the children of pride." That's Satan! Pride was his original sin (Ezek. 28:17). 

Understanding that Satan is a leviathan (serpent or dragon) helps us to make sense of Isa. 27:1, where we read, "In that day the LORD with His severe sword, great and strong, will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; and He will slay the reptile that is in the sea." Were this passage speaking of a sea creature, it would make no sense. But no, it seems to be telling us that God will slay Satan!

In light of all these Scripture showing that Satan will be destroyed, that he will be burned to ashes in the lake of fire and be no more forever, let's return to Rev. 20:10. When it says that he "will be tormented day and night forever and ever," what does that mean? "Forever and ever" is a double use of the Greek word aion (Strong's #165). Although it can mean "forever," it more properly means, "age, life, a lifetime, breathe, blow, that which causes life, vital force."

If the phrase should be taken as "age to age," it has a defined ending: the end of the age. If it means "lifetime," again, it has a defined ending. Either way, Satan will not go on existing for all eternity. His existence, his life, will come to an end.

Indeed, shortly thereafter, everything physical will be destroyed. We're told in 2 Pet. 3:7, "But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men."

Peter continued, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells" (2 Pet. 3:10-13).

At the end of the second resurrection and the great white throne judgment in Rev. 20:11-15, God will not only burn up the wicked, but everything that remains physical — the earth, the heavens, everything! All of it will be burned up and destroyed.

In their place, God will create a new heavens and a new earth, just as Peter wrote. Rev. 21:5 tells us that God will "make all things new." We're further told that "there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away" (Rev. 21:4).

In this perfect world, without pain or suffering, there simply won't be any place for Satan or any form of wickedness. Satan, his followers, and all wickedness will be long gone — a distant memory! They will be ashes upon an earth that no longer exists.