The Bible does not say specifically why Satan will attempt a second coup, but it does give us several hints and indications which we might want to consider.
Prior to the physical creation, God brought into being the spirit world of angels. After God had created the physical universe and the earth, an archangel named Lucifer was placed over one third of the angels here on earth to beautify it. This was long before man was created with the ultimate potential to become a full-fledged member of the God Family. Nothing is said in the Bible that Lucifer or any of the angels had that same potential which would later be given to man.
According to Ezekiel 28:12-16 and Isaiah 14:12-15, Lucifer was perfect as far as his creation was concerned. However, Lucifer made wrong choices–he allowed pride to enter his mind. This pride corrupted his thinking, just like a virus can corrupt a computer. This corruption led him to believe that his abilities were greater than God’s; that he was not rewarded properly by God in accordance with his talents and achievements; and that the way of competition and get was superior to God’s way of give and love and concern for others. He managed to influence the angels under his control to participate in his first rebellion (Revelation 12:4). In resenting God’s government, he did the unthinkable and attempted to overthrow God and take over the rule over the entire universe. Of course, Lucifer, whose name was changed to Satan (meaning enemy or adversary), lost this battle, and he and his angels (now known as demons) were thrown back to this earth where they still rule today.
When God created Adam and Eve, Satan was there to deceive Eve, and he has been deceiving mankind ever since. In fact, Satan has deceived the whole world. He tried to deceive and tempt Christ, but failed. Christ, in defeating Satan, qualified to rule this earth in the near future.
Evidence for the fact that Satan was and is ruling this earth is given at the temptation of Christ, when Satan offered the kingdoms of this world to Him, if He would fall down and worship Satan. All these kingdoms were in and under Satan’s power, and he was able to give them away. Christ never corrected him on that claim, but Christ never fell for Satan’s offer and remained sinless (Matthew 4:8-10). Today, Satan and his demons are still ruling this earth, and they will continue to do so until Jesus Christ–the second Adam–returns to take over all rule. Those whom God has called out of this world must reject Satan’s offer–exactly as Christ did–so they can also qualify to rule under Christ at His return.
It does not seem to make a lot of sense, then, at first sight, as to why Satan would attempt for the second time to overthrow God and to become the supreme ruler of the universe, seeing that his first attempt failed so miserably. Still, the Bible says that he will try again (Revelation 12: 7-9).
What one has to bear in mind is that Satan does not think straight. We might want to consider some humans who keep making the same foolish mistakes and who do not seem to learn from the errors they make. Satan is unwilling and therefore incapable of learning from his mistakes. His mind has been corrupted beyond any hope of change. He does not want to repent and submit to the government of God; therefore, he cannot repent.
This is very similar to “the dog in the manger” syndrome. A vicious dog which does not, of course, eat the straw in the manger, will prevent other animals from eating it. We may have experienced or seen a similar phenomenon in an uncooperative and selfish child who has a toy and doesn’t want to share it with a friend. Rather than following our insistence to share it, he might rather want to destroy it, so the other child cannot play with it. Satan is of the same mindset. He would rather see humankind destroyed completely than turning over his rule to Jesus Christ and those who will rule with and under Him (Revelation 5:10; 20:4, 6).
It is also interesting to consider the behavior of some rats. If a strong animal chases rats into a corner and there is no escape route for them, they will actually turn on each other or on the animal which is chasing them.
The same can be said regarding Satan. Although it is clearly prophesied in Revelation 12 that his second attempt to overthrow God will fail, that fact doesn’t seem to register in his corrupted and twisted mind. Even though Satan knows the Bible, perhaps he does not believe the Bible, thinking he is more powerful than God and what God says, so he can try that second coup and still win. We could see a parallel in certain people today, who know what the Bible says but think they don’t need to obey God and can go about life in a different way.
It is also possible that Satan will launch his second coup because he just does not care. Even though he understands that the Bible predicts that he will lose, he is the destroyer and murderer, and his whole goal in life is to destroy and to kill and to bring pain and suffering to others. The Bible reveals that his demons behave that way too–on one occasion at the time of Christ, a demon tried to kill his human “host”–which would lead to his having to lose the body he possessed and looking in despair for another body–but he just did not care, as he was set on destroying his “host” (Mark 9:17-22). His urge to destroy was too powerful and could not allow him to make a “reasonable” decision–even for himself. There is also another example when Christ allowed demons whom He cast out of men to possess a herd of swine–with the result that the swine threw themselves over the cliff and were killed (Mark 5:11-13).
Satan, the prince of the rulers of darkness, cannot control his urge to destroy and fight God all the way–and so he is trying again to knock God off His throne–even though he knows that God’s Word says that he will fail–rather than wanting to voluntarily transfer to Christ and man his rule over this earth.
We know that the whole world will soon enter the terrible and unprecedented time of the Great Tribulation. That time is also referred to as “Satan’s wrath.” This world will come to the brink of total annihilation, which will be caused by Satan and his demons. If God would not intervene by sending Jesus Christ just at the right time, no flesh would be saved alive (Matthew 24:22). No human or animal flesh would survive. So we see the mindset of Satan exposed here: He would rather see all mankind perish than turn his office and position over to Christ at His return. His demons will participate in that last coup, as they know that their positions will be given to Christ’s disciples who have qualified in this life to rule in the coming Kingdom of God.
Satan and his demons hate God’s Church. They will persecute it in the future (compare Revelation 12:13). Satan is described as a roaring wild lion walking around to see whom he can devour (1 Peter 5:8). Being compared to a vicious animal–like a poisonous untamable snake–he cannot control himself. He and his demons will try, whenever they can, to destroy God’s people. Paul warns us not to be indifferent about this fact, and he tells us in Ephesians 6:11-12: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the RULERS of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
To summarize, Satan and his demons will attempt another coup against God because they know or at least consider the possibility that their reign of terror will end in the near future. Filled with wrath and a desire to destroy, and thinking perhaps that they still can avert the certainty of their fate and not having learned anything from their previous failed attempt, they will try again and be defeated once more.
Lead Writers: Rene Messier and Norbert Link
