Why Doesn't God Kill Satan? Wouldn't That be Kind to Humanity?
Spiritual warfare made simple
Recently, a reader of the blog reached out to ask why God allowed Satan to live after his fall.
After all, if God did away with Satan, because he knew the influence Satan would have on the world, wouldn’t he have been showing mercy to humanity? Would Eve even have been tempted without Satan there? Why didn’t God get rid of Satan and his followers for their rebellion, like He did for humanity when He flooded the earth?
It’s a fantastic question.
The answer begins, as many things do, in Genesis 1:
Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth."
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:26-28 NET).
When we read these verses, we often focus on “the image of God,” and skip over the mentions of dominion. But in this conversation, they’re crucial.
In verse 28, God uses two words to emphasize the kinds of authority humanity will have to employ to rule the world, as God charges us to do.
“Rule” comes from the Hebrew word radah, which conveys the meaning of ruling over someone or something willing. If a nation likes their monarch, this is the word used. The monarch exerts their authority by governing well, and the people are happy to obey. Most often, the monarch does not fight those they govern.
“Subdue” comes from the Hebrew word kabash, which refers to bringing something into obedience. If people are killing, stealing, and rebelling, and the monarch needs to subdue them, kabash is the word used. The monarch exerts their authority by bringing the rebellious into submission.
God clearly tells humanity that they must wield both kinds of dominion in this world, even before sin entered the world.
This helps to explain the presence of the devil in the Garden of Eden.
Believers have long debated why God allowed the serpent to be present in Eden. Why would a good God allow His children to be led into sin? Why not keep the serpent out of Eden entirely?
The reason is simple: God let the serpent exist in Eden to give Adam and Eve something to practice kabash-ing.
Adam and Eve practiced a radah-style of dominion over the rest of the Garden. They could name the animals, savor the fruits, and work the land, all without fighting what they were governing.
But to practice kabash-style dominion, there needed to be something resisting them, something that they would have to subdue from rebellion into submission.
Thus, the serpent.
God set Adam and Eve up for success. He told them clearly that they would need to subdue parts of the created order. He gave them clear commands — not to eat of the one forbidden tree. God proved His goodness and trustworthiness to them by giving them everything good to enjoy, everything they could need. God designed a perfect Paradise to live in, giving them everything, holding nothing back. God gave Adam and Eve every reason to trust Him and obey Him.
When the serpent questioned what God had said, and insinuated that God was withholding from them, they should have responded, “Stop twisting God’s words! He is good to us. He told us to stay away from this tree. We are going to obey Him. Do not question His words again, serpent! We have every reason to trust God and no reason to trust you. Leave!”
God wanted Adam and Eve to kabash the serpent, exerting their dominion over him.
They failed to do so.
But we can succeed. We can learn from their failure and kabash the devil any time he dares to stick his neck out.
You have dominion.
Use it.
Let’s return now to the other questions asked at the start. Would Eve have even been tempted to sin without the serpent?
Yes. Certainly.
The serpent didn’t invent sin. The serpent didn’t introduce sin to the world.
God created Adam and Eve with the ability to wield dominion in this world. He entrusted the stewardship of the world to them.
That means that they had to be able to make their own decisions — even if God wouldn’t have approved of the decision.
If they could only make decisions God wanted them to make, they wouldn’t be exercising dominion. They’d be robots, carrying out their programming, with no ability to dissent or think or reason or analyze or create or wonder or love.
Dominion requires that Adam and Eve be the ones in charge. They have to be able to make the big choices. Sometimes, they’ll make the right choices.
Sometimes, they’ll make the wrong choices.
God designed us this way — not only Adam and Eve, but all humanity. Thus, I find it hard to believe that Adam and Eve would never sin, even without the serpent. From the first moment of their existence, they carried the ability to make their own choices. It’s inconceivable they would always carry this ability but never make a wrong choice!
Finally, let’s explore why God didn’t wipe out Satan and his demons, as He did with humanity and the Flood.
First, of course, God didn’t wipe out humanity in the Flood. God preserved humanity through Noah and his family. The eight on the boat committed evil less than the rest of humanity, yet they were by no means perfect. They still sinned. They still carried dominion, and with it, all the ability to make their own choices.
Second, God doesn’t want to remove all the challenges to humanity Himself. He wants us to learn dominion.
If God removed Satan and his demons, there’d be nothing for Adam and Eve to kabash.
This flips the script, a bit. Christians often think of demons as terrifying supernatural creatures, far more powerful than us, prowling around and causing untold evil.
We forget that God gave us dominion — not them.
This world is ours to rule, not demons. They are here for us to squash under our feet.
God has given us — God has given you — all the authority and power we need to send the demons packing. We can see this so clearly in the life of Jesus. Despite encountering demonized persons constantly, Jesus is never afraid of them. Jesus sends them running every time.
Jesus isn’t terrified of demons.
The demons are terrified of Jesus.
You might say that makes sense. Jesus is God! Of course they’re scared!
But remember, my friend, that Jesus’ Spirit dwells inside everyone who chooses to follow Him. The same Resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you. The same God who created the world created you to rule the world.
So rule it.
Send the demons packing.
Learn how to use your dominion.
If you want to read more on this topic, I wrote a book that digs deep into these matters of demons and spiritual warfare. You can find it in ebook, paperback, and hardcover format right here: Spiritual Warfare Made Simple.
This is an excellent question. God's ways are mysterious, that's for sure.