Satan Loosed from His Prison

[Thompson, Darryl]

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Ellen G. White Estate, Devotional for November 25
Visit us at http://www.whiteestate.org
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Satan Loosed from His Prison

When the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his
prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four
quarters of the earth. Rev. 20:7, 8. 


At the close of the thousand years the second resurrection will take
place. Then the wicked will be raised from the dead and appear before
God for the execution of "the judgment written." Thus the revelator,
after describing the resurrection of the righteous, says: "The rest of
the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished."
Revelation 20:5. And Isaiah declares, concerning the wicked: "They shall
be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be
shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited."
Isaiah 24:22. 

Now Satan prepares for a last mighty struggle for the supremacy. While
deprived of his power and cut off from his work of deception, the prince
of evil was miserable and dejected; but as the wicked dead are raised
and he sees the vast multitudes upon his side, his hopes revive, and he
determines not to yield the great controversy. He will marshal all the
armies of the lost under his banner and through them endeavor to execute
his plans. The wicked are Satan's captives. In rejecting Christ they
have accepted the rule of the rebel leader. They are ready to receive
his suggestions and to do his bidding. Yet, true to his early cunning,
he does not acknowledge himself to be Satan. He claims to be the prince
who is the rightful owner of the world and whose inheritance has been
unlawfully wrested from him. He represents himself to his deluded
subjects as a redeemer, assuring them that his power has brought them
forth from their graves and that he is about to rescue them from the
most cruel tyranny. The presence of Christ having been removed, Satan
works wonders to support his claims. He makes the weak strong and
inspires all with his own spirit and energy. He proposes to lead them
against the camp of the saints and to take possession of the City of
God. With fiendish exultation he points to the unnumbered millions who
have been raised from the dead and declares that as their leader he is
well able to overthrow the city and regain his throne and his kingdom.

>From Maranatha - Page 337