Satan a Savior?
by
Robert Sessler
Click to go to our Home Page
SATAN A SAVIOR? The part that concerns me most in Malachi’s
vision is the statement that the "dreadful Judge will [then] judge the
people." Malachy
wanted us to believe that the Judge is Christ coming to rule this confused
planet. This is perhaps Satan's greatest delusion of all. This doctrine
is known as the "temporal millennium" or “the age to come."
In Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians,
he described Christ's visible coming and the resurrection of the righteous
with these words: "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are
alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord will by no means
precede them which are asleep [dead]. For the
Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel [Michael's voice, see Daniel 12:1]
and with the trumpet of God: and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we
who are alive and remain shall be CAUGHT UP together with them in the CLOUDS
to meet the Lord IN THE AIR, and so we shall always be with the Lord"
(1 Thessalonians. 4:15-17). This promise excited the Thessalonians who had
chosen not to WAIT. Anticipating Christ's coming in their day necessitated
that Paul write a second letter itemizing definite signs to precede His
advent: "Now I admonish you, brothers concerning
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together
[resurrection] to him, that you be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled,
neither by spirit [vision] nor by word [false teachers] nor by letter as from
us [misquoted Scripture], as that the day of
Christ [the resurrection] is at hand. LET NO MAN DECEIVE YOU BY ANY MEANS:
for that day SHALL NOT COME except [for two things:] there comes a falling
away first ['for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters,
proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without
natural affection [homosexuality], truce breakers, false accusers,
incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high
minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of
godliness, but denying the power thereof...'--(2 Timothy 3:2)]. And
[secondly,] THE MAN OF SIN [Lucifer] IS revealed, the son of perdition, who
opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped,
so that HE SITS IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD [in
Israel: Daniel 11:45] SHOWING HIMSELF THAT HE IS GOD.... WHOM THE LORD WILL
CONSUME WITH THE BREATH OF HIS MOUTH AND DESTROY WITH THE BRIGHTNESS OF HIS
COMING... [Satan comes] with all power, signs, and lying wonders" (2 Thessalonians
2:1-4, 8, 9). Although the papacy has claimed the
throne of Peter, and to be God's representative on earth, the ultimate
application of this prophecy identifies Satan himself. Before Jesus' rescue
mission, Satan must first impersonate God; let no man deceive you... (ibid.). The Bible is clear on this topic, "Woe to
the inhabiters of the
earth and of the sea! for
the devil is come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he
has but a short time" (Revelation 12; 12). And Satan will be killed at
Christ's coming when this world is destroyed; the Roman System has deluded
the Christian world into accepting a different conclusion. Nearly all major religions now
follow contradictions popularized by the Jesuit Priests Francisco Ribera
(1539-1591), Robert Bellarmine
(1542-1621), and almost three centuries later, Emmanuel Lacunza. To counter charges by Protestant
Reformers that the Pope was the biblical antichrist, it was first necessary
they suggest the theory that an atheistic antichrist would reign in the
distant future. This novelty was embellished to include, they suppose, the
Jews getting another chance to preach salvation and Christ's literal reign on
earth for 1,000 years; thus, they excused the prophecies concerning the total
destruction of earth. This illegitimate doctrine is, in fact, adopted by many
other religions and actually prepares them to accept Satan's advent when he
impersonates Christ. This concoction was taught in Catholic
universities during the Reformation and many Catholics now believe that
Christ will soon reign on earth. As you would expect, Reformers initially
did not subscribe to this Roman fable; so, to deceive unsuspecting
Protestants, Jesuit Lacunza
wrote using the fictitious name of Rabbi Ben Ezra. He even applied the 1290
and 1335 day prophecies that we studied in Chapter One to an imagined event
in the future--an error many duplicate today. Pretending to be a Jewish Rabbi
converted to Christianity, Lacunza's
fabrication met success and was accepted by unsuspecting Protestants. Edward
Irving, a preacher of the Scottish Church, translated it to English. Irving
later discovered the book was a Jesuit production but had already accepted
its teaching so fully that he formed a new pentecostal-type church, The Catholic Apostolic
Church, and his followers were nicknamed "Irvingites." Scottish Protestants later
added the theory that the coming resurrection was like a thief in the night
and invisible to the wicked; hence, the "secret rapture" theory was
born. Therefore, the millennium of peace on earth, invented by the
Abomination of Desolation, was embraced by Protestants and contaminated with
the rapture fable. This malignant cancer has now metastasized and putrefies
unsuspecting Christians who believe it doctrinally sound--the truth is
literally Left Behind. Adolph Hitler said, "tell a lie, tell it
often enough and the people will believe it." To subscribe to these
popular fabrications requires one to overlook the scriptural warnings of the
total destruction of earth. Perhaps my language of warning appears strong in
condemnation, but this doctrine is Satan's greatest masterpiece and “will
deceive the very elect, were that possible.” And the Daniel 12 code helps us
understand the fallacy of these dangerous positions because they were created
by the Abomination of Desolation, and constitute ingredients in the wine of
Babylon (confusion) "that made all the earth drunken: the nations have
drunken of her wine" (Revelation 14:8). Truly, there is a resurrection of the just, but it
is no secret because "every eye shall see Him." Jesus only comes as
a "thief in the night" to those who did not prepare (Revelation
1:7). A computer search of the "New Testament" shows two prominent
occurrences of thief in the night and it is NO SECRET when "sudden
destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a woman with child; and they
shall not escape" (2 Thessalonians 5:2, 3). "But the
day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens
shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent
heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up"
(2 Peter 3:10). Obviously, the date of Christ's coming is the secret,
but the event is no secret and He will not reign on earth at this time
because our world is demolished (dissolved, Ibid., verse 11); then, as you
have learned, it remains in this destroyed condition for 1,000 years. OUR WORLD IS DESTROYED Christ will certainly reign forever on earth,
but 1,000 years from now--the Bible is precise--at Christ's SECOND coming
there will be no utopia here, NO MILLENNIUM OF PEACE ON EARTH. This is a Satanic delusion. We will be rescued from the holocaust on
earth at the great harvest of mankind, and are going to heaven to those
mansions He has prepared for the redeemed (John 14:1-4). And in Isaiah we
read, "They are all gathered together and come to you.... Who are these
that fly as a cloud, as a dove to their nest?" (Isaiah 60: 1-8). The saints
will ascend to Heaven and this present earth will be totally destroyed during
the millennium. Many prognosticators of the so called
"age-to-come theory"--a coming millennium of peace and safety--feel
that the scriptural translations of earth's demise are erroneous. For the
benefit of those who do not trust their Protestant or Catholic Bibles, they
should study Isaiah 24 from several different translations, including the
English translation of the Holy Scriptures produced by the Jewish Publication
Society of America. That Bible is a non-Gentile translation, and almost
verbatim with the King James Bible which is quoted here: (17) "Terror, and the
pit, and the trap, are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth. (18) And it shall
come to pass, that he who flees from the noise of the fear shall fall into
the pit; and he that comes up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in
the trap: for the windows on high are opened, and the foundations of the
earth do shake. (19) The earth is utterly broken, the earth is clean
dissolved, the earth is
moved exceedingly. (20) The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and
will be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof will be heavy
upon it; and it shall fall, and NOT RISE AGAIN. (21) And it shall come to
pass in that day, that the Lord will punish the host of the high heaven on
high [e. g., Lucifer and his fallen
angels]. And the kings of the earth upon the earth
[including the Roman System]. (22) And
they will be gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the dungeon, and
shall be shut up in the prison [the grave], and after many days [1,000 years,
see Revelation 20:1-3] they will be punished. (23) THEN the moon will be
confounded, and the sun ashamed; for the Lord of hosts will [then] reign [on
this newly re-created earth] in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His
ancients gloriously." Isaiah 24:17-23 This current world will "NOT RISE AGAIN"
(verse 20) and will be TOTALLY RE-CREATED after the seventh millennium
(remember the 8010 in our previous study: "Blessed is he who WAITS, and
comes to the 1335 days"--8010, e.g., the 80th century and 10%
redeemed--Daniel 12: 12; and "All these things shall be finished, verse
7). Chapter four of Jeremiah records a view of
earth after Armageddon, during the seventh millennium, when this planet is
reduced to the similar "without form and void" condition existing
before creation week (see Genesis 1:2). "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
[disappeared]. 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
[before] His fierce anger" (Jeremiah 4:23-26). The
Bible is quite clear, the only millennium of peace is not on this planet, but
will be among the glories of paradise in heaven. SATAN'S FIRST DEATH Another thought that conflicts with popular
theology, and that is essential to properly understand God's dealing with
sin, is the fact that God is the only one with the inherent propensity to live
forever. As recorded by Paul: "The King of kings, and Lord of lords, who
ONLY HAS IMMORTALITY, dwelling in the light which no man can approach
unto..." (1 Timothy 6:
15, 16). If God is the only immortal being, what happens to the devil? Well,
he is mortal AND DIES like the rest of the wicked in the soon coming battle
of Armageddon, except for one small difference which we will now discover as
Isaiah 14 describes Lucifer's plight: (verse 15) "Yet you
[Lucifer] shall be brought down to Sheol
[the grave], to the lowest depths of the pit. (18) All the kings of the
nations, all of them sleep [have died] in glory, everyone in his own house
[tomb]; but you are CAST OUT OF YOUR GRAVE like an abominable branch. (20)
YOU WILL NOT BE JOINED WITH THEM IN BURIAL...." Lucifer is resurrected, and will not be
allowed to remain in the grave for the 1,000 years of earth's devastation. It
is odd that although we profess to believe the Bible, and it tells that the
Lord "shall destroy [Lucifer, sitting in the temple of God] with the
brightness of his coming" (2 Thessalonians. 2:4, 8), that we are
reluctant to say that Satan will be killed in the near future? Let us read about Satan's "perdition", the
only "purgatory" you will find in the Bible: "Then I saw
an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a
great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who
is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years: and he cast him
into the bottomless pit [Greek: abbuso--this
ruined earth], and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should
deceive the nations no more TILL THE THOUSAND YEARS WERE FINISHED. But after
these things he must be released for a little while.... but the rest of the
[wicked] dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished"
(Revelation 20: 1, 2, 5). Again, this is our 80th century (8010), 1,000 years
in the future. SECOND DEATH OF THE WICKED AND LUCIFER This far we have established that Satan has
used the Roman System to fulfill his purposes--they are both ultimately
destroyed. And after the soon-approaching destruction of earth, Lucifer is
raised from the grave to wander the ashes of this desolate planet for a
thousand years, knowing that he will face judgment when Christ returns with
the Holy City. When we speak of the Roman System, we are really speaking of
Lucifer because he is responsible for all evil. So, let us terminate this
discourse on the Roman System by discussing Lucifer's fate after 7,000 years
of his ignoble attempt to rule earth. For brevity, we will only use a few verses to
document his demise. The first is in Revelation 20, verses seven and eight
which reads: "Now when THE THOUSAND YEARS ARE EXPIRED, Satan will be
released for a little while from his prison and will go out to deceive the
nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog* and Magog*,
to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sands of the
sea." At this point, the wicked "nations" are resurrected to
life. Satan's "purgatory" is over; he is no longer bound by
isolation, and has the same people who were previously gullible to his
deceptions to delude for one final attack. Continuing with verse nine:
"They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp
of the saints and the beloved city [the New Jerusalem from Heaven (Revelation
21:1-27)]. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured THEM"
(Lucifer and the resurrected wicked). Please notice that the word
"THEM" is plural, meaning they are ALL consumed by fire--this is
the "second death" (Revelation 2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8). This battle is again described by Zechariah and is
what we today might call "spontaneous human combustion." This is
the fate of the wicked: "And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord
will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away as they stand upon their
feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongues
shall consume away in their mouths" (Ibid. 14:12). The final application
of these verses is when Lucifer and the wicked are NOT alive throughout
eternity; that is, when all is finished and they are eliminated FOREVER. There is another text found in Ezekiel 28 that also
describes Lucifer's death. This verse is not quoted by Bible expositors who
advocate the doctrine of a continuous punishing in Hell or Purgatory for
those who have sinned against God. Beginning with verse 12, Ezekiel describes
Lucifer's beauty and perfection, his pride and loss of glory, and then says:
"Therefore have I brought FIRE from the MIDST OF YOU [internal
combustion], it has DEVOURED YOU, and I have TURNED YOU TO ASHES upon the
earth in the sight of all them that behold you. All they that know you among
the peoples will be appalled at you. You are now a terror, AND YOU WILL NEVER
BE ANY MORE" (verses 18 and 19). Heaven has sentenced the wicked to
everlasting destruction. Any portion that is not consumed by the incinerating
fire will be, like the infamous Herod, consumed by scavenging worms--nothing
can quench, terminate, or save the condemned wicked before they cease to
exist: "And they shall be an abhorrence to all humanity"; and the
saints will "look upon the carcasses [corpses] of the [dead] men that
have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die [prematurely],
neither shall their fire be [wantonly] quenched; and they shall be an
abhorring unto all flesh” (See Isaiah 66: 24; Mark 9: 45, 46; Acts 12:23). Hell fire is much hotter than most people think. To
turn "you to ashes", crematories exceed 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit
(538 c.). That means the temperature of Hell is more intense--it rapidly
destroys the wicked and Lucifer--they are "devoured" to nothing.
Not existing forever is an eternal punishment, not an eternal punishing;
there is a difference, you know. The concept of eternal death for the wicked may be
new to you. It is discussed a little more here because it is essential that
you understand this as we study God's elimination of the sin problem from His
universe and the complete restoration of earth to its original state. THE FATHER OF LIES Let me again direct your attention to
Revelation 20 where it describes the destruction of the wicked AFTER 1,000
years. Previously I marked Gog
and Magog with asterisks
(*). Most Bible teachers apply these verses to Communist or Arab countries
that, they say, will attack Israel while the saints are supposedly raptured to heaven for seven
years, but this scripture has another application. First, you should recall
that Satan himself attempts to rule from the Holy Land before he is killed in
Armageddon. Just how long this charlatan can deceive the inhabitants of earth
is a subject of debate; most theorize either three and one-half, or seven
years. He falsely promises eternal life for those upon which the seven last
plagues of Revelation 16 will fall, including the seventh plague of death in
Armageddon. Scripture is plain on one point, Satan knows that his time is
short, and makes war with the remnant people "who keep the commandments
of God" (Revelation 12:17). While these plagues are falling, God's people are
not mysteriously "raptured"
to heaven because words of encouragement are spoken to them in Revelation.
After six plagues, and immediately before the last plague of Armageddon,
Jesus encourages the saints to endure a little longer: "Behold I come as
a thief, Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk
naked, and they see his shame"--take note, Jesus does not "come as
a thief" before the plagues like popular theories suggest (Revelation.
16: 15). And, "Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who
keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus" (Ibid. 14:12).
Since Satan's war is against those who keep God's Ten Commandments, it is
apparent that some will not comply with Satan's attempt to change God's
Sabbath to his counterfeit day, Sunday. This false Sabbath has been so effectively
substituted by the Roman System and will now be verified personally from
Lucifer's mouth. When the deceived finally realize the Saints are the ones
shielded by God to be translated without experiencing death, and this
majestic-looking creature professing to be God is really the Devil who
deceived them, it is too late. Their only recourse is to attempt his
destruction. Realizing that they have lost eternal life because of Lucifer's
lying, their frustration is turned against him. "I will bring strangers
upon you, the terrible of the nations: and they will draw their swords
against the beauty of your wisdom, and they will defile your brightness. They
will bring you down to the pit [grave], and you will die.... You will die the
deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it,
says the Lord God" (Ezekiel 28:7-10). This is the first application of Gog and Magog--the military assaults against Israel
(Armageddon) trigger uncontrollable events that kill Lucifer and destroy the
earth. At this time Christ harvests the earth of His faithful saints,
"and... [we] will
dwell in the house of the LORD for ever" (Psalms 23:6).
During the second destruction of Gog and Magog the scene repeats on a much larger scale
after the seventh millennium, 1,000 years in the future, when Christ comes
with His redeemed in the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, to re-create planet
earth. "For thus says the LORD that created the heavens; God himself
that formed the earth and made it; he has established it, he created it not
in vain, HE FORMED IT TO BE INHABITED, I [am] the LORD; and [there is] none
else" (Isaiah 45:18). All the resurrected militants (as many as the
sands of the seashore--Revelation 20:8) who lived throughout history are now
destroyed FOREVER. This is the final destruction of the wicked and Lucifer.
It takes place AFTER he roams this devastated planet alone for 1,000 years.
Then he mobilizes the RESURRECTED WICKED to battle against the Holy city that
descends to earth (Revelation 21:1-5). Gog,
Magog and other nations
attack Israel "after many days" (8010, and see Ezekiel 38:8). The
description of this confrontation leaves no doubt that everyone attacking
Israel is destroyed. Let us peruse a few sentences: "Surely in that
day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, so that the fish
of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the
beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men
who are on the face of the earth shall shake AT MY PRESENCE. The mountains
shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall
to the ground... And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and
bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops and on the many peoples who
are with him flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone"
(Ezekiel 38:19, 20, 22). The next chapter describes a clean-up campaign where
the bones of the wicked are buried to eliminate all evidence of sin from this
planet, and the Israel of God is restored in Canaan with the New Jerusalem
FOREVER. The Lord says: "And I will not hide My
face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of
Israel, says the Lord God" (Ezekiel 39; 29). LET US PUT IT ALL TOGETHER Now, my friends, you have learned the
significant points about the Abomination of Desolation. Satan used the Roman
System to persecute God's people at the time of Christ, and then forced
religious dogma throughout medieval history. This persecution has now
diminished temporarily to allow the Bible to be freely presented to the
entire world as Jesus accurately predicted: "And this gospel of the
kingdom shall be preached in all the
world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come"
(Matthew 24:14). After the Abomination of Desolation meets
judgments under the fifth plague, and immediately before Christ comes,
Lucifer will be here in person impersonating Jesus, and then he is briefly
destroyed in Armageddon. After this, Lucifer is resurrected and forced to
wander alone through the ashes of this destroyed planet for 1,000 years. As
God rested from His works on the seventh day, Lucifer rests from his works
during the seventh millennium. He contemplates the results of his rebellion
against Heaven. He cannot say, like God, "It was very good"
(Genesis 1: 31). And he awaits the second resurrection of the wicked. These
he marshals to attack the Holy City that descends from heaven. At the
beginning of the eighth millennium (80th century from the Edenic fall, and 1,000 years in the future), this
final act of violence is met with the second death of Lucifer and the wicked. The controversy between good and evil will be
over and sin and sinners are eradicated from God's universe: "The wages
of sin is [eternal] death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). DANIEL 12 IS IMPORTANT FOR TODAY Thank you for struggling through this chapter.
Undoubtedly some of these thoughts are new to you. They will become clearer
as we repeat them in context in other chapters. We hope the information has helped you understand
more clearly about the conflict between good and evil, and exactly why Christianity
has insulted God's name. And why so many atrocities, like the
"inquisition", were committed in the name of God. Be vigilant Bible students, my friends, the
wise shall understand. Remember, we have a tempter who does not
sleep. All his power is exerted to wrest us from the hands of God
through his inducements to sin and unbelief. Some people doubt his existence,
saying he is a mythological aberration, but those blind to his devices are
his easiest prey. Our God is faithful and able to preserve us
according to His divine plan. Remember His promise to the saints:
"Blessed are those who do His commandments that they may have the right
to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city"
(Revelation 22:14). And remember this important fact: God's special
warning in Daniel 12 IS FOR TODAY, as the Abomination of Desolation will soon
change its tactics from charm to force in an attempt to control humanity;
this will be covered in the next chapter. |