Bible Study Seattle

What does Satan see? He’s had access to heaven for a long time:

“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.  The Lord said to Satan, “Whence have you come?” Satan answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” Job 1:6-7

Eventually Satan will be kicked out of heaven:

“Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.  And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” Revelation 12:7-9

First, Satan’s expulsion will be temporary:

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain.  And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years were ended. After that he must be loosed for a little while.” Revelation 20:1-3

Finally, Satan will have a last battle that he will lose:

“And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be loosed from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, that is, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.  And they marched up over the broad earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city; but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Revelation 20:7-10

One of the first things Jesus needs to do at his second coming will be binding Satan:

“But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.  Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.” Matthew 12:28-29

This will probably take 500+ years. Satan will meet his first (temporary) end at the Day of Atonement. But what about now? Can we discern anything from our time (circa 2023) that shows what Satan is up to?

One thrust is the desire by many powerful people to reduce population, particularly since the French Revolution. Why the mad dash to promote abortion, confuse gender, promote immorality, and weaken the family? Could it be that Satan sees the harvest? Could he be seeing the promotion of saints to heaven? Might he have a clue that this is something that will lead to his demise?

One of the first things that happens at Christ’s return is a bumper crop of believers. This coincides with a massive rise in world population. Since 1800, world population has exploded from 1 billion to 8 billion and climbing. In the story of Joseph we read of a period of great wheat harvests:

“Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dream is one. The seven lean and gaunt cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine. It is as I told Pharaoh, God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt,” Genesis 41:25-28

Satan is currently seeing this bumper crop of faithful people and he’s desperate to stop it.