Posted on 10/08/2008 5:47:57 PM PDT by DouglasKC
"Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time" (Revelation 12:12).
When we consider the whole picture, we can hold no doubt that this is Satan's world rather than God's. Paul even refers to our era as "this present evil age" (Galatians 1:4).
However, Satan will not always dominate planet earth. Bible prophecy reveals that an astounding series of events will shake our world as never before and usher in a new age—a 1,000-year era under the rule of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:10; Luke 21:31).
This good news of the coming Kingdom of God is at the heart of Christ's teaching: ". . . Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel'" (Mark 1:14-15).
The transition from Satan's domination of the earth to Jesus Christ's rule will be neither easy nor painless. The prophet Daniel describes it as "a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then" (Daniel 12:1, NIV). Christ stated that no human being would survive if God were not to intervene in world affairs and establish His Kingdom, ousting Satan from his dominance over humanity (Matthew 24:21-22).
Signs of the end of the age
As the end of Christ's earthly ministry drew near, the disciples asked Him: "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3). Jesus summarized the trends and events that would characterize that time. A quick review of the list reads remarkably like today's headlines.
Jesus responded: "Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many" (verses 4-5). (To see how this part of Christ's prophecy is being fulfilled, be sure to read "Satan: An Angel of Light?".)
Jesus continued: "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows" (verses 6-8).
He described other significant trends: persecution and hatred directed at God's true servants, increasing religious deception and the proclamation of the true gospel of the Kingdom of God to the world (verses 9-14).
The world, Christ said, would grow increasingly dangerous as His return nears. "It will be a time of great distress," He warned, "such as there has never been before since the beginning of the world, and will never be again. If that time of troubles were not cut short, no living thing could survive; but for the sake of God's chosen it will be cut short" (verse 21-22, REB).
Religious deception will continue to increase, He said, followed by dramatic heavenly signs (verses 23-29). These will be followed by a world-transforming event: "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (verse 30). ". . . When you see all these things," He tells us, "know that it is near—at the doors!" (verse 33).
Satan's role in the end time
Jesus' prophecy is an overview of end-time events. Many other prophecies, mostly in the book of Revelation, fill in various details.
Satan will not relinquish his kingdom without a fight. As the time of Christ's return draws near, we can read this sobering warning in Revelation 12:12: "Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows
that he has a short time." Many prophecies go on to detail a frenzy of destruction directed at God's people, at humanity as a whole, and at the returning Jesus Christ.
Satan's wrath is focused on God's people, symbolically represented by a woman in Revelation 12. "And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (verse 17).
Religious persecution will again rear its ugly head—at Satan's instigation (Revelation 2:10). "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake," warned Jesus. "And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another" (Matthew 24:9-10).
Mark preserves another chilling detail from Christ's prophecy about this promised persecution: "Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death" (Mark 13:12). Revelation 6:9-11 further describes this period of martyrdom.
Great religious deception coming
We read earlier that religious deception will increase as Christ's return draws near. Satan will have a direct hand in the rise of a great leader who will play a pivotal role in a massive end-time religious deception.
Writing of events preceding Christ's return, Paul tells us that "that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition" (2 Thessalonians 2:3). This man "opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God" (verse 4).
How could such a person claim to be God and convince others to believe him? Paul adds that "the coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing" (verses 9-10, NIV). These powerful miracles will convince many, but in reality they are the deceptive handiwork of Satan.
Regrettably, this man's deception will take in millions of people. In the cataclysm that will mark the end of this age, many will fall victim to a "powerful delusion" and "perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved" (verses 10-11, NIV).
In the end time, biblical ignorance will catch up with millions of people. When this charismatic, Christ-imitating leader emerges, millions apparently will accept him as God in the flesh. Because they will have "refused to love the truth" (verse 10, NIV), they easily will be deceived, taken in by this impostor in a satanic end-time religious revival.
This should be a sobering warning to all of us. If we do not love the truth, if our beliefs are not firmly grounded in the truth of God's Word and we do not have the strength of character to hold fast to them, we too could easily fall prey to this or other satanic deceptions. It has happened before, and both Jesus and Paul assure us it will happen again.
A satanic war against humanity
Although Satan's attitude of hatred, greed and resentment has led mankind into countless wars down through history, prophecy reveals that the devil will personally orchestrate one last great worldwide conflagration shortly before Christ returns.
In Revelation 9:1-12 we read about what appears to be an enormous military force symbolized by a cloud of locusts arising from a bottomless pit. Terrifying locustlike devices inflict people with pain like the stings of scorpions (verses 5, 10). The results sound strikingly similar to the effects of modern chemical and biological warfare.
Leading this wave of suffering as "king over them" is "the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon" (verse 11). These titles mean "destruction" and "destroyer," respectively. This being appears to be none other than Satan himself, whose character and reason for being are perfectly summed up by those titles (see "Truth and Life vs. Lies and Murder" ).
We then read of the rise of a massive military force 200 million strong (verse 16). An unimaginable carnage begins. A third of mankind—literally billions of people at earth's current population level—die in this great war (verses 15, 18), dwarfing all casualties in all previous wars. In this frenzy of destruction it appears that, if Satan can no longer maintain his control on humanity with the impending return of Christ, he will slaughter as many as he can. (To learn more about these prophetic events, request your free copies of the booklets "The Book of Revelation Unveiled", "The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy" and "You Can Understand Bible Prophecy".)
Satan's last stand
In Revelation 13 we find that Satan will be behind the rise of two "beasts." One will be an end-time coalition of nations led by a powerful human ruler who will "make war with the saints and . . . overcome them" (verses 1-7). The other will be the religious leader we read about earlier called "the false prophet" (verses 11-18; Revelation 19:20).
Demons—as spiritual emissaries of the dragon (Satan), the beast and the false prophet—"go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty," commonly but less than accurately called the Battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:13-16).
Unaware of events going on behind the scenes, these kings will be mere pawns in Satan's plan. Though their intent will be to fight each other, Satan's objective will be to use the world's armies to fight Christ at His return. Their armies will gather on a large plain at Megiddo about 55 miles north of Jerusalem. The final battle will take place at Jerusalem against the returning Jesus Christ (Zechariah 14:1-4, 12-15).
Revelation 19 describes Christ's triumphant return to earth: "I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.
"He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. 'He will rule them with an iron scepter.' He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS" (verses 11-16, NIV).
These verses show conclusively that all the armies of the earth will be proven to be nothing compared with the power of earth's coming King, Jesus the Messiah.
"And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse" (verses 19-21).
With his armies defeated, Satan's kingdom is dismantled and destroyed. But Satan and his demons must be stopped from continuing to deceive and manipulate mankind. To prevent this, in his vision John sees an angel who "seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations any more until the thousand years were ended" (Revelation 20:2-3, NIV).
Satan's rulership over the world in "this present evil age" (Galatians 1:4; 1 John 5:19) will then end for the next 1,000 years. The battle for the control of earth is over. In God's timetable, it is time for a new age to begin.
Well written. Thx for posting.
MM
bump for later
“When we consider the whole picture, we can hold no doubt that this is Satan’s world rather than God’s.”
Can’t be.
Satan controls only when GOD says so.So this is still GODS WORLD.Period
Red Herring. The Word says Satan has controlling interest for now.
No it doesn’t.Get it right.When the Church leaves,Satan has control.For awhile.He can’t control as long as there is one GOD fearing person on this Earth.
Lemme guess ... First Presbyterian Church?
Didn’t mention Israel once.
It was a short article and Israel wasn't really the focus. Did you find something objectionable?
When the church leaves?
What on earth are you talking about?
I think you're missing the point. God has given Satan dominion over the earth for a time:
Gal 1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
Joh 14:29 And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.
Joh 14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.
Biblically, Satan does have dominion. Christ will return to take his rightful place on the throne.
He can't control Christians, but the whole world order is not built around Christians.
Has that time been since Eden?
Thanks.
You don’t know?
At least since Eden:
Eze 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
Eze 28:14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
We know that Satan was already corrupted in Eden because of his actions.
You're welcome.
NAsbU Ephesians 2:2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach Adonai
I know,
we ain’t seen nothing yet.
God however, continues existence.
AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET.
==
INDEED.
Interesting... where do you get this from.
I'm not so sure I would with that. It depends on whether or not Satan was created before or after humans. Biblically it would seem that angels were created first.
Job 38:4 "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.
Job 38:5 Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
Job 38:6 To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone,
Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
If "morning stars" and "sons of God" represent angels then they were created at some point before God created the earth.
There is no evidence of "evil" in the universe outside of our human experience. Yet there is abundant evidence that the universe, given its structure, runs in consonance with what ultimately makes life possible within it.
That would seem consistent with Isaiah 45:7..."I form the light and create darkness: I make peace and create evil: I the Lord do all these things."
If intelligent life is ever discovered elsewhere, it would be very interesting to gauge its perceptions in terms of the Deity along these same lines.
I would say it's possible that there may have been earlier intelligent life than ours, constrained by the apparent ~15by age of the universe, of which this might - in part - refer. Though to my mind Satan and angels tend to undermine monotheism. I think of the universe as ultimately simple in this sesne, emergent though of God's seeming complexity in its construction.
Hmmm, Satan has been alive and well an in control on the late great planet earth for how long now? At least 6000 years (and counting). And Jesus gets to be in control for how long? Just 1000 years?
Something seems off in this theory.
If "morning stars" and "sons of God" represent angels then they were created at some point before God created the earth.
Why isn’t the passage simply speaking of actual stars and actual sons of God (i.e., elect human believers in Jehovah)?
Is there anything in the Bible that says God created angels before He created the heavens and earth in six days?
There's nothing "wrong" if scripture and God's plan are understood correctly.
Gal 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,
Gal 1:4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.
We live in a "present evil age". This was written after Jesus died on the cross. Paul considered the age he lived in to be evil.
Peter wrote:
1Pe 5:8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
There are of course other scriptures that I can share, but as I remember you believe that Christ returned in 70 AD (correct me if I'm wrong on the date) so I'm afraid that it won't do much good.
Many people also ascribe to the 7000 years of earth history theory. In this theory there are indeed 6000 years given to man and 1000 years given to Christ. This mirrors the 4th commandment:
Exo 20:9 "Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
Exo 20:10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.
Exo 20:11 "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
The sabbath represents the millenium.
And Christ WILL rule PHYSICALLY. It's quite clear that he's the Lord of Lords and the king of kings of Christians and those who know him worship him. But non-Christian deny his lordship and it's clear our physical nations deny it...big time. This will change.
Christ, on his return, will institute a violent overthrow of all world governments.
Well if you want to believe they're literal morning stars than I guess you would have to believe that literal morning stars can sing. And I guess you would have to wonder why only the "morning stars" sang. Also:
Isa 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
The word translated "Lucifer" is literally "morning star".
And as for "sons of God"...God is referring to a time before men were around. Look at the context of the preceding verses.
Is there anything in the Bible that says God created angels before He created the heavens and earth in six days?
I think the evidence in Job is pretty strong.
Job 38:4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
Job 38:5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
Job 38:6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
These are all indications that angels existed before the earth was created.
There's more if you want to read it at Did God Create the Devil?
Bibically God said creation was good. I see nothing about the incident in the garden where the power shifted. You won’t find anything in Hebrew writing that say otherwise. Only Greek writings stamped as “inspired” by 3rd century anti-semetic “fathers”.
[II Peter 3:4-7] And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
What was Peter speaking of here? Was it Noah's flood or was it the flood of the creation....[Genesis 1:2]?
There are two reasons we know this wasn't Noah's flood. First: Peter had finished speaking of Noah's time and it's judgment in [II Peter 2:5] And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.
Second: The Greek shows the word perished in verse (6) of [II Peter 3:] to be "APOLLUMI": Strong's # 622. apollumi (ap-ol'-loo-mee) to destroy fully (reflexively, to perish, or lose), literally or figuratively destroy, die, lose, mar, perish. The Earth was not totally destroyed during Noah's flood. Flesh was destroyed. On the other hand at creation....the prior world before...had been destroyed.
Who were the inhabitants of this first world....that were destroyed? [Jeremiah 4:23-27] I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger. For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. Peter said it best....the world that then was.....
Were these inhabitants the angels that left their first estate [Jude 6]? [Genesis 6:4] There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. In the KJV the words "Children" and "became" are in Italics.....meaning the translators added them to present their bias more clearly!
What does it say when you remove those words? There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came into the daughters of men, they were the same mighty men of old time....men of renown! They were fallen angels that had corrupted the world of Noah and they were the same men of "Old Time"!
Yes....we know that angels inhabited this earth long before mankind was put here. We just don't know how long.
I'm not sure what you're driving at old friend. Can you elaborate a bit?
I think Doug still might be in the GarnerTedArmstrong offshoot - but I dont know for sure.
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