Satan is Bound

[Thompson, Darryl]

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Ellen G. White Estate, Devotional for October 26
Visit us at http://www.whiteestate.org
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Satan is Bound

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the
bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the
dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a
thousand years. Rev. 20:1, 2. 


The revelator foretells the banishment of Satan and the condition of
chaos and desolation to which the earth is to be reduced, and he
declares that this condition will exist for a thousand years. After
presenting the scenes of the Lord's second coming and the destruction of
the wicked, the prophecy continues: "I saw an angel come down from
heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his
hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the
Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the
bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should
deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be
fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season." Revelation
20:1-3. 

That the expression "bottomless pit" represents the earth in a state of
confusion and darkness is evident from other scriptures. Concerning the
condition of the earth "in the beginning," the Bible record says that it
"was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the
deep." Genesis 1:2. Prophecy teaches that it will be brought back,
partially at least, to this condition. Looking forward to the great day
of God, the prophet Jeremiah declares: "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." Jeremiah
4:23-26. 

Here is to be the home of Satan with his evil angels for a thousand
years. Limited to the earth, he will not have access to other worlds to
tempt and annoy those who have never fallen. It is in this sense that he
is bound: there are none remaining, upon whom he can exercise his power.
He is wholly cut off from the work of deception and ruin which for so
many centuries has been his sole delight.

>From Maranatha - Page 307