Before delving into the question of Satan’s fate it is instructive to review his history, his power, and his influence on the nations.

Satan’s Creation and Fall

Satan was originally created perfect in all his ways.  Ezekiel 28 explains this.  Verses 1-10 give a description of the prince of Tyre, a man.  Verses 11-18 give a description of Satan–who is referred to as the king of Tyre–explaining how he was created a perfect anointed cherub, but sinned.  The prince of Tyre and the king of Tyre (Satan) have certain similarities.  Indeed the prince of Tyre is a type of Satan.

Concerning the prince of Tyre:

• His heart was lifted up, that is he became proud, (Eze 28:2,5,6)
• He said he was a god, (Eze 28:2,9)
• He sinned through trading, (Eze 28:5)
• He was punished by God, (Eze 28:7-10)

Concerning Satan, the king of Tyre:

• His heart was lifted up, that is he became proud, (Eze 28:17)
• He said he would sit on God’s throne, (Isa 14:14)
• He sinned through trading, (Eze 28:16)
• He was punished by God, (Eze 28:17-18, Isa 14:15-16)

Let’s briefly look at Ezekiel 28.

Eze 28:1  The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,
Eze 28:2  “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Because your heart is lifted up, And you say, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of gods, In the midst of the seas,’ Yet you are a man, and not a god, Though you set your heart as the heart of a god

This prince of Tyre is clearly man.

Eze 28:3  (Behold, you are wiser than Daniel! There is no secret that can be hidden from you!
Eze 28:4  With your wisdom and your understanding You have gained riches for yourself, And gathered gold and silver into your treasuries;
Eze 28:5  By your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches, And your heart is lifted up because of your riches),”
Eze 28:6  ‘Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god,

This prince of Tyre, through his skill, became very wealthy through trading and consequently became conceited and proud and thought of himself as a god.

Eze 28:7  Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you, The most terrible of the nations; And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom, And defile your splendor.
Eze 28:8  They shall throw you down into the Pit, And you shall die the death of the slain In the midst of the seas.
Eze 28:9  “Will you still say before him who slays you, ‘I am a god‘? But you shall be a man, and not a god, In the hand of him who slays you.
Eze 28:10  You shall die the death of the uncircumcised By the hand of aliens; For I have spoken,” says the Lord GOD.’ “

This prince of Tyre was punished by God.  An enemy nation came against him and killed him.  The chapter then changes to talking about the king of Tyre.

Ezek 28:11 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Ezek 28:12  “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “You were the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 

This king of Tyre is clearly not a man.  No human can be described as “the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty”.

Ezek 28:13  You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes Was prepared for you on the day you were created. 
Ezek 28:14 “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. 
Ezek 28:15  You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. 

This king of Tyre was a cherub, a powerful spirit being (not a chubby-faced baby-like being).  He was created perfect and was in the presence of God.

Ezek 28:16  “By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones. 
Ezek 28:17  “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; …

This king of Tyre, through his skill, became filled with violence.  He became conceited and proud because of his beauty and sinned.  This king of Tyre was punished by God.  God destroyed him.  We will return to consider the meaning of destroy later.  The next two and a half verses are contentious.  Is Ezekiel still talking about the king of Tyre, or has he, mid-sentence, suddenly switched back to the prince of Tyre?  Whoever it is talking about will clearly be destroyed, turned to ashes, and cease to exist forever. 

Ezek 28:17  …I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you. 
Ezek 28:18  “You defiled your sanctuaries By the multitude of your iniquities, By the iniquity of your trading; 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.
Eze 28:19  All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever.”

Finally, in this review of Satan’s history we come to Isaiah 14:13-15 which describes Satan’s rebellion.  We will consider these verses and the surrounding ones in more detail later.

Isa 14:12  “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! 
Isa 14:13  For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 
Isa 14:14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ 
Isa 14:15  Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit. 

Satan’s Power and Influence

Satan has great power and influence over the affairs of mankind.  He is described as “the prince of the power of the air”.

Eph 2:2  in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

He is also “the god of this age” who has power to blind people’s minds so they cannot believe.

2Co 4:4  whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

Satan is so powerful that He deceives the whole world.

Rev 12:9  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.

Satan is described as roaring lion, a powerful predator.

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Restricted Roaming

It appears that the evil spirits are in prison and in chains.

1Pe 3:19  by whom also He [Jesus Christ] went and preached to the spirits in prison,
1Pe 3:20  who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

2Pe 2:4  For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;

Jud 1:6  And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;

And yet the evil spirits are allowed to go to and fro.

Job 1:7  And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”

And go out and influence people.

1Ki 22:19  Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left.
1Ki 22:20  And the LORD said, ‘Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner.
1Ki 22:21  Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will persuade him.’
1Ki 22:22  The LORD said to him, ‘In what way?’ So he said, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the LORD said, ‘You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.’

And of course, there are many accounts in the four gospels of evil spirits possessing people. 

Perhaps the way to understand these Scriptures is that Satan and his angels are restricted in what they can do.  For example, Satan was not allowed to harm Job, but only his possessions.

Job 1:12  And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

Then later Satan was allowed to harm Job, but not to kill him.

Job 2:6  And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.”

The fate of Satan

We now come to the question of the fate of Satan.  There are Scriptures which talk of his destruction.  The issue is what does destruction mean?  Does it mean destruction of life, that is death, or does it mean destruction of lifestyle, that is having his power removed?  There are also other Scriptures which seem to indicate that he won’t die but will instead suffer in torment for eternity.  We will look at all these now.

The fate of Satan: destruction of life or of power?

We covered earlier the passage in Ezekiel 28 describing the creation of Satan, how he was created perfect but sinned.  God says his punishment is destruction.

Ezek 28:15  You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. 
Ezek 28:16  “By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed [abad] you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones.

Some translations have “I will destroy you”.  The English word “destroyed” is translated from the Hebrew word abad, which means destroy, perish, die, cause to vanish.  There is a strong case that this verse means that Satan will be destroyed.  But there is a possibility this verse simply means that God will cause Satan to vanish from the midst of the fiery stones.  In other words, his punishment is not destruction but being prohibited from walking on the fiery stones.  Some argue that this verse means that Satan is destroyed as a powerful cherub by having his power removed.

During Jesus Christ’s ministry on earth there were some demons whom He was casting out that asked Him, “Did You come to destroy us?”

Mark 1:23  Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out,
Mark 1:24  saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy [apollumi] us? I know who You are; the Holy One of God!”

Luke 4:33  Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice,
Luke 4:34  saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy [apollumi] us? I know who You are; the Holy One of God!”

The Greek word translated “destroy” is apollumi which means: to destroy fully, perish, die.  Here are a few examples of how apollumi is used.

Mat 2:13  Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy [apollumi] Him.”

Mat 12:14  Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy [apollumi]  Him [Jesus].

From the question the demons asked and from the meaning of the word apollumi we can conclude that the demons believe that Jesus can kill them, but not necessarily that Jesus will kill them.

The apostle Paul described Satan’s fate in the book of Romans.

Rom 16:20  And the God of peace will crush [suntribo] Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

Some translations have “bruise” rather than “crush”.  “Crush” is a translation of the Greek word suntribo.  According to Thayer’s Greek Definitions, suntribo means to break in pieces, to trample under foot, to crush, to tear one’s body and shatter one’s strength.  According to Strong, suntribo means to crush completely, to shatter, to break into pieces, to bruise.  Paul was probably referring to the prophecy in the book of Genesis about Satan.

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity Between you [Satan] and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

This verse in Genesis is speaking about Jesus Christ who came to earth as a human and triumphed over Satan.  Satan bruised the heel of Christ referring to His crucifixion, but yet to be fulfilled, Christ will bruise the head of Satan.  There is a strong case that Romans 16:20 means that Satan will be destroyed, that is, cease to exist.  However, some people believe it means that his power and strength will be completely broken.

The book of Hebrews also describes Satan’s fate.

Heb 2:14  Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy [katargeo] him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 
Heb 2:15  and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

The English word “destroy” is a translation of the Greek word katargeo, which means to render entirely useless, to abolish, to cease, to vanish away, or to put an end to.  Like Romans 16:20, there is a strong case that Hebrews 2:14 means that Satan will be destroyed, that is, cease to exist; however it could possibly mean that his power and strength will be completely broken.

The fate of Satan: eternal torment?

The demons asked Jesus if He had come to torment them before the appointed time.

Mat 8:29  And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

There is no mention in this verse of eternal torment.  The torment is referring to their future punishment, in whatever form it takes.

In speaking about the final judgment, where the Son of Man comes in His glory and separates the sheep from the goats, Jesus said that the fate of the goats was to be cast into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

Mat 25:41  “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:

Some seize on this verse and understand it to mean that the devil and his angels are tormented for ever and ever in fire.  However, that is not what this verse says.  It is the fire that is eternal, not the burning of the devil and his angels.  What is “eternal fire”.  Perhaps there is some type of fire in heaven that never goes out.  Or perhaps it means that it is fire that cannot be quenched, that it will keep burning until there is nothing left to burn.  This is similar language to Mark 9:43-50 which speaks of “their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched”.  See “What does ‘Their worm does not die’ mean?”.  In which case this is talking about the total destruction of the devil and his angels.

There is one last verse to consider.  After Satan is released from being in the abyss one thousand years, he is allowed to deceive the nations again and gather them together in battle.  After his defeat Satan is thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone.

Rev 20:10  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 [eis aion aion].

Notice that the word “are” is in italics as the corresponding verb is not in the Greek text.  Some translations have “were”.  Notice also who will be “tormented day and night forever and ever”.  It is “they”, that is the beast and the false prophet.  The beast and the false prophet, both mortal humans, suffer the same fate as the devil.  So, if this verse is saying that the devil will live an eternal life in torment forever and ever, then so will the beast and the false prophet.  But humans do not have an immortal soul.  See “Do you have an immortal soul?”.  The fate of incorrigibly wicked men is eternal death.  See “What are the three hells?”, and “What are the two deaths?”  Therefore, this verse cannot mean that the devil will live an eternal life in torment forever and ever.

Then what does “tormented day and night forever and ever” mean?  It means their torment is forever and ever; their fate is forever and ever; there is no coming back from the lake of fire and brimstone.

Weighing it up

The belief that the devil will live in torment for eternity takes Rev 20:10 as the starting point.  But it must interpret, rather than take literally, the Scriptures clearly talking about the devil’s destruction and crushing (Ezek 28:16, Heb 2:14, Rom 16:20) as destruction of his power.  It must insist on a change of context mid-sentence from the king of Tyre back to the prince of Tyre in Ezek 28:17.  It must insist that the “wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23) does not apply to spirit beings.  And it leaves the unanswered question, why would God, who is love, and loves all His creation, torture one of His created beings forever and ever? 

The belief that the devil will be destroyed and cease to exist is far more straight forward.  It takes the Scriptures clearly talking about the devil’s destruction and crushing (Ezek 28:16, Heb 2:14, Rom 16:20) at face value.  There is no change of context mid-sentence in Ezek 28:17.  The wages of sin is death is consistent across all creation.  There is no unanswered question probing the love of God.  However, it does insist that “they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev 20:10) is interpreted to mean that their torment (fate) is forever and ever.

With no change of context mid-sentence in Ezek 28:17 we are then told more detail about Satan’s fate.

Ezek 28:17  “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you.
Ezek 28:18  “You defiled your sanctuaries By the multitude of your iniquities, By the iniquity of your trading; 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.
Ezek 28:19  All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you; You have become a horror, And shall be no more forever.”‘ “

Satan will be changed to flesh and become visible to the kings (leaders).  They will be astonished at what they see and watch Satan being turned to ashes.

Returning now to Isaiah 14 we can see that the king of Babylon is really a reference to Satan and that it is describing Satan’s fate.

Isa 14:3  It shall come to pass in the day the LORD gives you rest from your sorrow, and from your fear and the hard bondage in which you were made to serve,
Isa 14:4  that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say: “How the oppressor has ceased, The golden city ceased!
Isa 14:5  The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, The scepter of the rulers;
Isa 14:6  He who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke, He who ruled the nations in anger, Is persecuted and no one hinders.

“He who ruled the nations in anger” is Satan.  He is the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4) and the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2).  There is coming a time when he will be persecuted.

Isa 14:7  The whole earth is at rest and quiet; They break forth into singing.
Isa 14:8  Indeed the cypress trees rejoice over you, And the cedars of Lebanon, Saying, ‘Since you were cut down, No woodsman has come up against us.’

When Satan is finally stopped, the whole earth will be at rest.

Isa 14:9  “Hell from beneath is excited about you, To meet you at your coming; It stirs up the dead for you, All the chief ones of the earth; It has raised up from their thrones All the kings of the nations.
Isa 14:10  They all shall speak and say to you: ‘Have you also become as weak as we? Have you become like us?

God will resurrect the dead, and they shall see Satan, not as a powerful spirit being, but as a comparatively weak flesh and blood being.  The question, “Have you become like us?”, shows that Satan is changed to be like a human—flesh and blood.  Ezek 28:17-19 describes the same future event.

Isa 14:11  Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, And the sound of your stringed instruments; The maggot is spread under you, And worms cover you.’
Isa 14:12  “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!

This shows Satan’s fate, going from a powerful spirit being to a weak flesh and blood being.  “Lucifer” is a poor translation.  “Boaster” is a much better one.  See “Was Satan really called Lucifer?”.

Isa 14:13  For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;
Isa 14:14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’

Satan wanted to take God’s position and rule heaven and earth.

Isa 14:15  Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.

Sheol is the grave.  Satan will end up in the grave, end up dead.

Isa 14:16  “Those who see you will gaze at you, And consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms,
Isa 14:17  Who made the world as a wilderness And destroyed its cities, Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’

People will be amazed to see this once powerful spirit being who had so much influence on the nations, and caused so much damage, to be now a mere man.  Ezek 28:17-19 describes the same future event.  Perhaps “who did not open the house of his prisoners” refers to the bullying nature of Satan and how he treats his demons.

Conclusion

As we can see, understanding that Satan will be destroyed and cease to exist, not only is consistent with the Scriptures but ties so many of them together for a deeper understanding of Satan’s fate.