The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 660

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.
The prophet Isaiah, looking forward to the time of Satan’s overthrow,
exclaims: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken
the nations! ... Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: ... I will be like the Most
High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They
that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying,
Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof;
that opened not the house of his prisoners?” Isaiah 14:12-17.
For six thousand years, Satan’s work of rebellion has “made the earth
to tremble.” He had “made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the
cities thereof.” And he “opened not the house of his prisoners.” For
six thousand years his prison house has received God’s people, and he
would have held them captive forever; but Christ had broken his bonds
and set the prisoners free.

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