Satan

Bible Study Guides – God’s Kingdom Challenged

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October 2, 2016 – October 8, 2016

Key Text

“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15).

Study Help: Patriarchs and Prophets, 33–43.

Introduction

“By the facts unfolded in the progress of the great controversy, God will demonstrate the principles of His rules of government, which have been falsified by Satan and by all whom he has deceived.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 79.

1 THE EVERLASTING THRONE

  • From the descriptions of the position and power of the Son of God, what can we learn about God’s government? Psalm 45:6; Hebrews 1:1–3.

Note: “Not by its own inherent energy does the earth produce its bounties, and year by year continue its motion around the sun. An unseen hand guides the planets in their circuit of the heavens.” Education, 99.

  • What do we know about the law which forms the basis of this kingdom? Psalm 19:7; Matthew 22:37–40.

Note: “The law of God is an expression of His very nature; it is an embodiment of the great principle of love, and hence is the foundation of His government in heaven and earth.” Steps to Christ, 60.

“The law of love being the foundation of the government of God, the happiness of all created beings depended upon their perfect accord with its great principles of righteousness. God desires from all His creatures the service of love—homage that springs from an intelligent appreciation of His character.” The Great Controversy, 493.

2 A RIVAL KINGDOM

  • Through the figure of the king of Tyre, how does the Bible describe the fall of Lucifer? Ezekiel 28:11–15.

Note: “Sin originated with him who, next to Christ, had been most honored of God and who stood highest in power and glory among the inhabitants of heaven. Before his fall, Lucifer was first of the covering cherubs, holy and undefiled.” The Great Controversy, 493, 494.

  • How did Lucifer, now called Satan, challenge God’s government? Isaiah 14:12–14.

Note: “Leaving his place in the immediate presence of the Father, Lucifer went forth to diffuse the spirit of discontent among the angels. He worked with mysterious secrecy, and for a time concealed his real purpose under an appearance of reverence for God. He began to insinuate doubts concerning the laws that governed heavenly beings, intimating that though laws might be necessary for the inhabitants of the worlds, angels, being more exalted, needed no such restraint, for their own wisdom was a sufficient guide. They were not beings that could bring dishonor to God; all their thoughts were holy.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 37.

  • What did this challenge result in? Revelation 12:7–9; Luke 10:18.
  • Having been cast into the earth, what position did Satan assume? Job 1:7; John 14:30.

Note: “Satan’s dominion was that wrested from Adam, but Adam was the vicegerent of the Creator. His was not an independent rule. The earth is God’s, and He has committed all things to His Son. Adam was to reign subject to Christ. When Adam betrayed his sovereignty into Satan’s hands, Christ still remained the rightful King. … Satan can exercise his usurped authority only as God permits.” The Desire of Ages, 129, 130.

3 THE CONTROVERSY ON EARTH

  • What was the original position in which human beings were placed? Psalm 8:4–6.
  • Through the serpent, how did Satan seek to draw Adam and Eve into the controversy? Genesis 3:1, 4, 5.

Note: “By partaking of this tree [in the midst of the garden], he [the serpent] declared, they would attain to a more exalted sphere of existence and enter a broader field of knowledge. He himself had eaten of the forbidden fruit, and as a result had acquired the power of speech. And he insinuated that the Lord jealously desired to withhold it from them, lest they should be exalted to equality with Himself. It was because of its wonderful properties, imparting wisdom and power, that He had prohibited them from tasting or even touching it. The tempter intimated that the divine warning was not to be actually fulfilled; it was designed merely to intimidate them. How could it be possible for them to die? Had they not eaten of the tree of life? God had been seeking to prevent them from reaching a nobler development and finding greater happiness.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 54.

  • Through Satan’s temptations, what happened to the human race? Romans 6:16; 5:12.
  • How was humanity’s dominion lost on the earth? Genesis 3:24; 9:2.

Note: “Under the curse of sin all nature was to witness to man of the character and results of rebellion against God. When God made man He made him ruler over the earth and all living creatures. So long as Adam remained loyal to Heaven, all nature was in subjection to him. But when he rebelled against the divine law, the inferior creatures were in rebellion against his rule. Thus the Lord, in His great mercy, would show men the sacredness of His law, and lead them, by their own experience, to see the danger of setting it aside, even in the slightest degree.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 59, 60.

4 HOPE IN A COMING KING

  • Describe the promise embedded in the curse upon the serpent. Genesis 3:15.

Note: “This sentence, uttered in the hearing of our first parents, was to them a promise. While it foretold war between man and Satan, it declared that the power of the great adversary would finally be broken. Adam and Eve stood as criminals before the righteous Judge, awaiting the sentence which transgression had incurred; but before they heard of the life of toil and sorrow which must be their portion, or of the decree that they must return to dust, they listened to words that could not fail to give them hope. Though they must suffer from the power of their mighty foe, they could look forward to final victory.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 65, 66.

  • How was this promise to be fulfilled? John 12:31, 32; I Timothy 3:16.

Note: “The plan for our redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam. It was a revelation of ‘the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal’ (Romans 16:25, RV). It was an unfolding of the principles that from eternal ages have been the foundation of God’s throne. From the beginning, God and Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan, and of the fall of man through the deceptive power of the apostate. God did not ordain that sin should exist, but He foresaw its existence, and made provision to meet the terrible emergency. So great was His love for the world, that He covenanted to give His only-begotten Son, ‘that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life’ (John 3:16).” The Desire of Ages, 22.

  • In what royal language did the prophets describe the character of the coming Messiah? Genesis 49:10; Isaiah 9:6, 7.

Note: “This hope of redemption [of humans and their forfeited dominion] through the advent of the Son of God as Saviour and King, has never become extinct in the hearts of men. From the beginning there have been some whose faith has reached out beyond the shadows of the present to the realities of the future.” Prophets and Kings, 682.

5 TWO CLASSES DEVELOPED

  • Comparing the following verses, describe the two classes of people that developed within the human race. Romans 8:14; I John 3:1; Romans 1:21, 22; Ephesians 2:1–3.

Note: “As men increased, the distinction between the two classes [of worshipers] became more marked. There was an open profession of loyalty to God on the part of one, as there was of contempt and disobedience on the part of the other.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 80.

  • How does the experience of Cain and Abel illustrate the state of humanity? Hebrews 11:4; I John 3:12.

Note: “Cain and Abel represent two classes that will exist in the world till the close of time. One class avail themselves of the appointed sacrifice for sin; the other venture to depend upon their own merits; theirs is a sacrifice without the virtue of divine mediation, and thus it is not able to bring man into favor with God. It is only through the merits of Jesus that our transgressions can be pardoned. … There is no other provision made whereby they can be released from the thralldom of sin.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 72, 73.

  • What choice is presented to each child of Adam today? Romans 6:16.

PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS

1 How do we know that the law of God has existed from eternity?

2 How did Lucifer challenge the very foundation of God’s government?

3 How is humanity today still being deceived by the serpent’s lies?

4 What was the hope which animated the faith of the believers in ancient times?

5 Identify the modern equivalents of Cain and Abel.

Copyright © 2015 Reformation Herald Publishing Association, 5240 Hollins Road, Roanoke, Virginia. Reprinted by permission.

The Dragon Pursues the Woman

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Satanic agencies confederated with evil men in leading the people to believe Christ the chief of sinners, and to make Him the object of detestation. Those who mocked Christ as He hung upon the cross were imbued with the spirit of the first great rebel. He filled them with vile and loathsome speeches. He inspired their taunts. But by all this he gained nothing.

“Could one sin have been found in Christ, had He in one particular yielded to Satan to escape the terrible torture, the enemy of God and man would have triumphed. Christ bowed His head and died, but He held fast His faith and His submission to God. ‘And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night’ (Revelation 12:10).

“Satan saw that his disguise was torn away. His administration was laid open before the unfallen angels and before the heavenly universe. He had revealed himself as a murderer. By shedding the blood of the Son of God, he had uprooted himself from the sympathies of the heavenly beings. Henceforth his work was restricted. Whatever attitude he might assume, he could no longer await the angels as they came from the heavenly courts, and before them accuse Christ’s brethren of being clothed with the garments of blackness and the defilement of sin. The last link of sympathy between Satan and the heavenly world was broken.” The Desire of Ages, 760, 761.

“When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child.” “The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days”—“a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach” (Revelation 12:13, 6, 14).

Who was this woman (church) that Satan pursued into the wilderness for 1,260 years? Soon after Jesus opened His public ministry He “went up on a mountainside and called to Him those He wanted, and they came to Him. He appointed twelve”—designating them apostles—“that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach” (Mark 3:13, 14). “The first step was now to be taken in the organization of the church that after Christ’s departure was to be His representative on earth.” Ibid., 291.

At the close of His ministry on earth, Jesus gave His life on the cross. Through His shed blood, He gained authority to “rule all the nations with an iron scepter” (Revelation 12:5). With this authority, Jesus commissioned His disciples saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:18–20).

Soon after He gave them their commission, He “was snatched up to God and to His throne” (Revelation 12:5). While the disciples were watching, “He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight” (Acts 1:9).

This newly organized apostolic church grew very rapidly baptizing 3,000 in one day, this rapid growth raised the need for more workers to be appointed for the church. So the apostles said to the church members, “Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word (Acts 6:3, 4).

“The appointment of the seven to take the oversight of special lines of work, proved a great blessing to the church. These officers gave careful consideration to individual needs as well as to the general financial interests of the church, and by their prudent management and their godly example they were an important aid to their fellow officers in binding together the various interests of the church into a united whole.

“That this step was in the order of God, is revealed in the immediate results for good that were seen. ‘The word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.’ ” The Acts of the Apostles, 89, 90.

Satan, knowing that Jesus had gained the victory over him by His death on the cross, and seeing the rapid growth of the church, became alarmed that he was losing control over the people of this earth. In desperation, “he pursued the woman [the true church] who had given birth to the male child” (Revelation 12:13).

Very early in the development of the Christian church, Satan began his attack on the purity and character of the woman (this true church) who was standing on the moon, clothed with the sun of righteousness. Jesus Himself warned the disciples to be on the alert, for deceivers and false prophets would enter the church. He said, “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:10–13).

The extent and seriousness of the apostasy is witnessed by the fact that all the New Testament writers speak of this problem.

Paul counseled the Thessalonians saying, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3, 10). [Emphasis supplied.]

To the Galatians, he writes, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:6, 7).

Paul discusses the subject in both of his letters to Timothy. In his second letter to Timothy, he warns, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away” (2 Timothy 3:1–5 NKJV)!

Peter indicates that many will become involved in this apostasy. “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words” (2 Peter 2:1–3 NKJV).

Luke, who traveled with Paul much of the time, tells of Paul’s instruction to the Ephesian church. “For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears” (Acts 20:29–31 NKJV).

Jude very graphically describes these apostate leaders. “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 3, 4 NKJV). “They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever” (Jude 12, 13).

The apostle John refers to this great apostasy as the spirit of the Antichrist. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world” (I John 4:1–3 NKJV). [Emphasis added.]

There are many more texts that could be cited by these writers, which give evidence of Satan’s ruthless attack on that early apostolic church. His pursuit of the woman continued for centuries until only a remnant of faithful believers was left.

There is another very graphic description of Satan’s war against this young Christian church. It is found in Revelation 6.

“I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, ‘Come!’ I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

“When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, ‘Come!’ Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.

“When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, ‘Come!’ I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!’

“When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, ‘Come!’ I looked and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth” (Revelation 6:1–8).

Because the first horse is white, there are some who believe that the first seal is a depiction of the Christian church going forth to conquer the world for Christ. There are at least three reasons why this cannot be a correct interpretation of these verses. When the weight of evidence is considered, it will be seen that these four seals reveal Satan’s attack on the apostolic church during which time he turned it into the “synagogue of Satan” (Revelation 2:9; 3:9).

  1. There are two things that are common to the first four seals. They are the riders and the horses. The item that changes in each seal is the color of the horse. It should be noted that the color does not include the rider. There is no evidence to support the view that the rider represents two different beings, such as Christ in the first seal and Satan in other seals. The rider is simply unidentified in the first three seals, but he is finally identified in the fourth seal.
  2. The fact that the rider is unidentified is a second reason that he does not represent Christ. Christ never works in secret. He always identifies Himself. He wants everyone to know Who He is so they can come to Him with their sins and have them washed away with His blood. He says, “I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in synagogues, and in the temple, where all the Jews come together; and I spoke nothing in secret” (John 18:20 NASB).
  3. A third reason that these riders do not represent Christ is that they are bent on conquest by force. They are all riding horses, which in scripture represent conquest and war. The first rider is carrying a bow, a weapon of war, and is bent on conquest by force. The second rider held a large sword and took peace from the earth and caused men to slay each other. The third rider had a pair of scales (balances) in his hand. The fourth rider named Death, with Hades following him, was given power to kill by sword, famine, and plague.

These four riders have the same objective—to rule by force. To rule by force is foreign to the government of heaven. The government of heaven is ruled by love. God loved the world so much that He gave His Son to redeem it. By self-sacrificing love, Jesus gained the victory over Satan when He gave His life on the cross. These riders are performing just the opposite to the principles of heaven.

In the fourth seal, Death is personified to represent Satan, the originator or cause of death in this world. Hades is personified to represent all the forces of evil; that is, all of the fallen angels. It could also include all the other followers of Satan.

When Satan began his attack on the young Christian church, it had a pure message of truth, represented by the color of the first horse. The central message of the church was Jesus, the Lamb of God, Who gave His life for the sins of the world. They told how He ascended to heaven to open the holy place of the sanctuary to begin His work as our advocate and high priest to receive and remove the confessed sins of His people on earth. Satan was so successful in obliterating this doctrine that by A.D. 1844 no one on the earth knew that there was a sanctuary in heaven. …

The apostolic church did not long remain in this pure state of truth. As we cited above, all the writers of the New Testament were concerned about the false prophets, the deceivers, and the errors that were creeping into the church. This phenomenon is represented by the red color of the second horse, red being a symbol of sin (Isaiah 1:18).

The third horse is colored black. In the Bible, black represents a condition in which there is an absence of light—the light of truth. At the time of the third seal, the church had drifted so far into sin that God could find no light of truth left in it. And like Belshazzar of ancient Babylon, there comes a time when God will weigh our characters in the balances of the sanctuary. If the one weighed is found wanting, God casts him or her aside. That is what happened to the apostolic church.

During the time of the third seal (Revelation 6:5)—the third horse—the light of truth was turned into error, but “the archdeceiver had not completed his work. He was resolved to gather the Christian world under his banner and to exercise his power through his vicegerent, the proud pontiff who claimed to be the representative of Christ. Through half-converted pagans, ambitious prelates, and world-loving churchmen he accomplished his purpose.” The Great Controversy, 53.

In the time of the fourth seal (Revelation 6:7, 8), we see Death (Satan) and Hades (fallen angels) in charge of the church. Professing to be Christian, this once-pure church had come under the leadership of Satan.

They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth (Revelation 6:8).

“In the sixth century the papacy had become firmly established. Its seat of power was fixed in the imperial city, and the bishop of Rome was declared to be the head over the entire church. Paganism had given place to the papacy. The dragon had given to the beast ‘his power, and his seat, and great authority’ (Revelation 13:2). And now began the 1,260 years of papal oppression foretold in the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation. (See Daniel 7:25; Revelation 13:5–7.) … Christians were forced to choose either to yield their integrity and accept the papal ceremonies and worship, or to wear away their lives in dungeons or suffer death by the rack, the fagot, or the headsman’s ax. Now were fulfilled the words of Jesus: ‘Ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake’ (Luke 21:16, 17). Persecution opened upon the faithful with greater fury than ever before, and the world became a vast battlefield. For hundreds of years the church of Christ found refuge in seclusion and obscurity. Thus says the prophet: ‘The woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and three-score days’ (Revelation 12:6).” The Great Controversy, 54, 55.

This power is represented as “a little horn” (Daniel 7:8, 25) who thought “to change the set times and the laws.” It was during this time that the papacy changed the day of worship from the seventh day Sabbath to Sunday—the first day of the week—in fulfillment of the prophecy of Daniel 7:25. John was also shown this same power represented as a beast coming up out of the sea. (See Revelation 13:1–10.) The characteristics of this beast are the same as those of the little horn in Daniel 7:8, 25. The 1,260-year period in Daniel 7:25 and Revelation 12:6, 14 is the same as the forty-two months in Revelation 13:5. The papacy is also represented as a stern-faced king in Daniel 8:23. …

High Priest & Coming King, by Maurice Hoppe, 48–56.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New International Version.)

Maurice Hoppe is Director of the Steps to Life training programs and a member of the Steps to Life Board. The Training Program for Ministers and Church Leaders is a correspondence course that prepares individuals to serve as pastors or Bible workers. Preparing for the Final Conflict is a correspondence course for the laity. Both of these courses teach present truth that will be an anchor for the soul during the storm of opposition and persecution just ahead. He and his wife also have a correspondence course offered through Revelation Ministry. He can be contacted at: mauricehoppe@stepstolife.org.

Editorial – The Devil’s Fatal Sophistry

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Sophistry is deceptively subtle reasoning or argumentation, an argument correct in form or appearance but actually invalid and used to deceive. Something fatal is something that will cause death and is therefore deadly. The devil has a fatal sophistry which is believed today by millions of Christians. If you accept this belief, you will lose your soul and suffer eternal death.

“Through defects in the character, Satan works to gain control of the whole mind, and he knows that if these defects are cherished, he will succeed. Therefore he is constantly seeking to deceive the followers of Christ with his fatal sophistry that it is impossible for them to overcome.” The Great Controversy, 489.

(See Hebrews 5:9, Revelation 21:5-7, and Romans 8:13.)

“There are thousands upon thousands, millions upon millions, who are now making their decision for eternal life or eternal death. The man who is wholly absorbed in his counting room, the man who finds pleasure at the gaming table, the man who loves to indulge perverted appetite, the amusement lover, the frequenters of the theater and the ballroom, put eternity out of their reckoning. The whole burden of their life is: What shall we eat? what shall we drink? and wherewithal shall we be clothed? They are not in the procession that is moving heavenward. They are led by the great apostate, and with him will be destroyed.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 406, 407.

“Each one is required to understand the conditions upon which eternal life depends. We must know what saith the Lord, that we may be able to live ‘by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord’ (Matthew 4:4). … We cannot afford to trust to the ministers, to follow idle traditions, to subject our souls to human authority, but we must know for ourselves what God has said. We are to be laborers together with God, and we must know, we must be determined to know, what are the conditions upon which we may become heirs of salvation. If we neglect this important duty, we shall die in our sins.” The Medical Missionary, May 1, 1892.

“Let us not lose sight of the fact that we are probationers here, on test and trial, and that everything is at stake, to be lost or won. Individually we are daily deciding our own destiny either for eternal life or eternal death. If we would have eternal life, we must cooperate with God, and thus reach the Bible standard, conforming our characters to the character of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Youth’s Instructor, September 7, 1893.

Keys to the Storehouse – Satan, Job and You

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Our Lord allowed Satan the opportunity to test Job. Read again the first and second chapters of Job so that you may refresh your mind with what happened to Job, because each of us will be tested, as Job was by Satan, as allowed by the Searcher of hearts. Are you ready for the test?

“Of Job, the patriarch of Uz, the testimony of the Searcher of hearts was, ‘There is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil.’

“Against this man, Satan brought scornful charge: ‘Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast Thou not made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? … Put forth Thine hand now, and touch all that he hath;’ ‘touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse Thee to Thy face.’

“The Lord said unto Satan, ‘All that he hath is in thy power.’ ‘Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.’

“Thus permitted, Satan swept away all that Job possessed—flocks and herds, menservants and maidens, sons and daughters; and he ‘smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown’ (Job 1:8–12; 2:5–7).” Education, 155.

Think of Job’s experience as you read the following end time prophecy:

“As Satan accuses the people of God on account of their sins, the Lord permits him to try them to the uttermost. Their confidence in God, their faith and firmness, will be severely tested. As they review the past, their hopes sink; for in their whole lives they can see little good. They are fully conscious of their weakness and unworthiness. Satan endeavors to terrify them with the thought that their cases are hopeless, that the stain of their defilement will never be washed away. He hopes so to destroy their faith that they will yield to his temptations and turn from their allegiance to God.” The Great Controversy, 618.

Do not think that you or any other professed Christian will escape the testing time. No.

  • Satan will accuse us
  • Our Lord will permit Satan to try us to the uttermost
  • Our confidence in God and our faith and firmness will be severely tested

Oh my brothers and sisters, now is the time to build up our faith in Jesus as our Saviour and Redeemer. The testing time coming for each of us will “require a faith that can endure weariness, delay, and hunger—a faith that will not faint though severely tried.” Conflict and Courage, 369.

Are you ready? This is the game of eternal life. Satan wants to win the game against you and cause you to lose eternal life, eternal happiness because he has lost the battle. Don’t let him! Stand for God now no matter what earthly comforts you may lose. Now is the day of preparation. Job lost all, but God restored much more than he had lost. Will you let go of this world and stand for God at the loss of all earthly things?

Heavenly Father, Give me the strength now to do what is right, no matter what the cost. I want You to be able to say of me as you said about Job: “There is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil.” This is the desire of my heart. You have promised: “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (Psalm 37:4). I claim that promise. I choose eternal life with You rather than eternal death with the devil. Help me Lord! Amen.

Sin and Satan – Why Permitted

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God is good. God is merciful. God is all-powerful. “God is love” (1 John 4:16). God knows the end from the beginning. And yet in this world, comprising a part of the universe which He created and controls, and in which His power is unlimited and absolute, sin, suffering, and death have borne sway for nearly six thousand years.

Why does God permit sin and its author, Satan, to exist? This cry has for thousands of years gone up from the lips of a multitude of sufferers. It is a question that to many minds is a source of great perplexity. God has the power to destroy sin and all its attendant evils. Yet He permits it. Some have asserted that because God permits sin He is therefore responsible for it. Where lies the answer?

In the establishment of the great government of God, every intelligent being is a free moral agent, with full power to obey or disobey. God could force obedience, but that would not develop a symmetrical character. On the other hand, forced obedience could only foster rebellion.

Hence angels, as well as all other created beings, were placed upon probation. Willing, glad obedience to the demands of a just Creator would give them a sound, perfect character. It would fit them for eternal life, with all the joys that heaven could bestow. Pride, love of self, and all other sin, if cherished, would develop a character out of harmony with heaven. Such a character God cannot tolerate, and the fiat has gone forth, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20).

Some glad day the test of character will be complete throughout all the creation of God. Then the faithful and true, with a life record which has stood the test of trial and temptation, will be forever free from the wiles of sin and Satan.

A Reason for Sin

On this subject Dr. Charles Beecher has made some very sensible remarks. He says:

“If such was the original condition of the universe, the question arises, How could sin possibly enter? Some minds have felt the difficulty on this point so strongly that they have rejected the Bible account of the matter, and denied the existence of any such sinless state of the universe.

“But the answer to the question is simple. Sin is, in its own nature, anomalous, and therefore mysterious; it is, in its own nature, an unaccountable thing; for, the moment that we admit that it is properly accounted for, i.e., the moment we have assigned a good and sufficient cause for it, that moment it ceases to be a sin. A good and sufficient cause is a good and sufficient excuse; and that which has a good and sufficient excuse is not sin.

“To account for sin, therefore, is to defend it; and to defend it is to certify that it does not exist. Therefore the objection that it is inconceivable and unaccountable that sin should enter into such a perfect universe, amounts to nothing but saying that sin is exceedingly sinful, inexcusable, and destitute of the least defense or justification.

“Sin is a violation of all law, a departure from all original nature, a thing essentially lawless, anomalous, and mysterious. We can identify the fact of its existence, we can describe the manner, we can discover the occasion, but the cause, the good and sufficient cause, God Himself and the judgment seat will demonstrate cannot be shown, for it does not exist.” Redeemer and Redeemed, 82, 83.

The origin of sin cannot be explained. No excuse can be given for its existence. “Sin is an intruder, for whose presence no reason can be given. It is mysterious, unaccountable; to excuse it, is to defend it. Could excuse for it be found, or cause be shown for its existence, it would cease to be sin.” Yet of one thing we may be sure; a careful study of the Scriptures will show abundant evidence that God is in no way responsible for the entrance of sin.

But while no reason or excuse for sin can be given, its history may be easily traced. About the time of the creation of this earth, Lucifer, one of the most powerful and beautiful of all the heavenly host, allowed pride and rebellion to come into his heart. He was not satisfied with the high position which he held, but aspired to a place by the side of Jehovah, upon His throne. He said, “I will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:14).

Because such a demand could not be granted, Lucifer openly rebelled against the government of God, and led millions of heavenly angels into rebellion with him. Then there was war in heaven, as a result of which Lucifer, or Satan, and his rebel host were “cast out into the earth” (Revelation 12:9).

Not Created Evil

“Because Satan harbored evil thoughts, was tempted, and fell, it does not follow that God created him with an evil inclination. The Bible contradicts such an idea, for the Lord says of him, ‘Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee’ (Ezekiel 28:15).

“All intelligent creatures, capable of reasoning concerning right and wrong, are free moral agents. It is impossible that God should confer a moral character on any of His creatures. He creates them perfect, endows them with full capacities to do His will, to walk in the way of righteousness, but He cannot so compel them to do right as to destroy their power of choice; for to deprive them of choice would be to destroy the moral quality of their actions. Deprived of choice, they would be mere passive machines, and machines cannot develop character. All acknowledge the force of this reasoning as applying to men, but it is equally applicable to angels and all created intelligences.” Ministration of Angels, 67, 68.

The wisdom of God in allowing the rebellion of Satan to develop is well set forth in the following quotation:

“Even when he was cast out of heaven, Infinite Wisdom did not destroy Satan. Since only the service of love can be acceptable to God, the allegiance of His creatures must rest upon a conviction of His justice and benevolence. The inhabitants of heaven and of other worlds, being unprepared to comprehend the nature or consequences of sin, could not then have seen the justice of God in the destruction of Satan.  Had he been immediately blotted out of existence, some would have served God from fear rather than from love. The influence of the deceiver would not have been fully destroyed, nor would the spirit of rebellion have been utterly eradicated. For the good of the entire universe through ceaseless ages, he must more fully develop his principles, that his charges against the divine government might be seen in their true light by all created beings, and that the justice and mercy of God and the immutability of His law might be forever placed beyond all question.

“Satan’s rebellion was to be a lesson to the universe through all coming ages—a perpetual testimony to the nature of sin and its terrible results. The working out of Satan’s rule, its effects upon both men and angels, would show what must be the fruit of setting aside the divine authority. It would testify that with the existence of God’s government is bound up the well-being of all the creatures He has made. Thus the history of this terrible experiment of rebellion was to be a perpetual safeguard to all holy beings, to prevent them from being deceived as to the nature of transgression, to save them from committing sin, and suffering its penalty.

“He that ruleth in the heavens is the One who sees the end from the beginning—the One before whom the mysteries of the past and the future are alike outspread, and who, beyond the woe and darkness and ruin that sin has wrought, beholds the accomplishment of His own purposes of love and blessing. Though ‘clouds and darkness are round about Him, righteousness and judgment are the foundation of His throne’ (Psalm 97:2 R.V.). And this the inhabitants of the universe, both loyal and disloyal, will one day understand, ‘His work is perfect; for all His ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He’ (Deuteronomy 32:4).” Patriarchs and Prophets, 42, 43.

When Satan and his angels were cast out of heaven, their probation had ended, their doom was sealed. Their privileges had been so great and their rebellion so stubborn and wicked that they could never again be reinstated or trusted. They had passed the limit of divine forbearance.

But with man in his sin the case was different. His opportunities had not been so great. He was led into sin through the temptations of one of the most powerful and subtle beings, recently fallen from the very presence of God Himself. Infinite love and compassion opened a way by which man could have another opportunity to perfect a character which would reinstate him in the position which he had lost through sin. But how different the conditions! He had failed when sinless and under the direct dominion and government of God. He must now win back, while dwelling in the dominions governed by Satan, encompassed by all his evil and temptations, that which he had lost. Were it not that help divine was provided, the holy angels appointed to his aid, the condition of man would be hopeless.

“In the banishment of Satan from heaven, God declared His justice, and maintained the honor of His throne. But when man had sinned through yielding to the deceptions of this apostate spirit, God gave an evidence of His love by yielding up His only begotten Son to die for the fallen race. In the atonement the character of God is revealed. The mighty argument of the cross demonstrates to the whole universe that the course of sin which Lucifer had chosen was in no wise chargeable upon the government of God.

“In the contest between Christ and Satan, during the Saviour’s earthly ministry, the character of the great deceiver was unmasked. Nothing could so effectually have uprooted Satan from the affections of the heavenly angels and the whole loyal universe as did his cruel warfare upon the world’s Redeemer. The daring blasphemy of his demand that Christ should pay him homage, his presumptuous boldness in bearing Him to the mountain’s summit and the pinnacle of the temple, that malicious intent betrayed in urging Him to cast Himself down from the dizzy height, the unsleeping malice that haunted Him from place to place, inspiring the heart of priests and people to reject His love, and at the last to cry, ‘Crucify Him! crucify Him!’—all this excited the amazement and indignation of the universe.

“It was Satan that prompted the world’s rejection of Christ. The prince of evil exerted all his power and cunning to destroy Jesus; for he saw that the Saviour’s mercy and love, His compassion and pitying tenderness, were representing to the world the character of God. Satan contested every claim put forth by the Son of God and employed men as his agents to fill the Saviour’s life with suffering and sorrow.

“The sophistry and falsehood by which he had sought to hinder the work of Jesus, the hatred manifested through the children of disobedience, his cruel accusations against Him whose life was one of unexampled goodness, all sprang from deep-seated revenge. The pent-up fires of envy and malice, hatred and revenge, burst forth on Calvary against the Son of God, while all heaven gazed upon the scene in silent horror. …

“Now the guilt of Satan stood forth without excuse. He had revealed his true character as a liar and a murderer. It was seen that the very same spirit with which he ruled the children of men, who were under his power, he would have manifested had he been permitted to control the inhabitants of heaven. He had claimed that the transgression of God’s law would bring liberty and exaltation; but it was seen to result in bondage and degradation.

“Satan’s lying charges against the divine character and government appeared in their true light. He had accused God of seeking merely the exaltation of Himself in requiring submission and obedience from His creatures, and had declared that, while the Creator exacted self-denial from all others, He Himself practiced no self-denial, and made no sacrifice. Now it was seen that for the salvation of a fallen and sinful race, the Ruler of the universe had made the greatest sacrifice which love could make; for ‘God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself’ (2 Corinthians 5:19). It was seen, also, that while Lucifer had opened the door for the entrance of sin, by his desire for honor and supremacy, Christ had, in order to destroy sin, humbled Himself and become obedient unto death (Philippians 2:8) …” The Great Controversy, 502.

In the final outcome “the whole universe will have become witnesses to the nature and results of sin. And its utter extermination, which in the beginning would have brought fear to angels and dishonor to God, will now vindicate His love and establish His honor before a universe of beings who delight to do His will, and in whose heart is His law. Never will evil again be manifest. Says the word of God: ‘Affliction shall not rise up the second time’ (Nahum 1:9). The law of God, which Satan has reproached as the yoke of bondage, will be honored as the law of liberty. A tested and proved creation will never again be turned from allegiance to Him whose character has been fully manifested before them as fathomless love and infinite wisdom.” Ibid., 504.

Justice Vindicated

“When God promised the land to Abraham and to his seed, He said that he could not then inherit it, because ‘the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full (Genesis 15:16). The Lord would give them an opportunity to fill up the cup of their iniquity. This proves the long-suffering of God. And no sin was ever so great but that it found sympathy somewhere.

“Satan so wrought upon the sympathies of the angels that legions of them denied the justice of God, and took their stand by his side. Had the Lord then destroyed him, it is highly probable that myriads more in the universe might have doubted the wisdom or justice of the action. Perhaps they could not yet realize the enormity of his guilt.

“But at the final judgment, when every cup is full, and Satan has fully convinced every creature that he is the only personification of malignity and all that is evil and hateful, all will approve the justice of God in his destruction. And no doubt Satan himself, seeing the issue of many generations of rebellion, and the causeless ruin he has wrought, will realize that God is just, and that he was altogether wrong in his pride and ambition, and, above all, in instigating the murder of the meek and lowly Son of God.

“When Satan sees the city of God descend from heaven, and the hosts of angels with whom he once worshiped in blessed union, and the glorious Son of God, their loved Commander, at their head, and the millions of glorified ones from this world, purchased by His blood, even he himself will be compelled to acknowledge the utter failure of his ambitious plan, the goodness of Jesus in dying for His creatures, and the wisdom and justice of God the Father in exalting His Son over such a vicious spirit as he has proved himself to be. We verily believe that this will be the case, and that in this will be found the fulfilment of the words of inspiration: ‘That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father’ (Philippians 2:10, 11).” Ministration of Angels, 67–71.

Past, Present, and Future, James Edson White, 110–119.