The
Captivity of Satan and His Angels
The
angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he
hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the
great day. Jude 6.
The earth looked like a desolate wilderness. Cities and villages, shaken down
by the earthquake, lay in heaps. Mountains had been moved out of their places,
leaving large caverns. Ragged rocks, thrown out by the sea, or torn out of
the earth itself, were scattered all over its surface. Large trees had been
uprooted and were strewn over the land. Here is to be the home of Satan with
his evil angels for a thousand years.
Here he
will be confined, to wander up and down over the broken surface of the earth
and see the effects of his rebellion against God's law. For a thousand years
he can enjoy the fruit of the curse which he has caused. Limited alone to
the earth, he will not have the privilege of ranging to other planets, to
tempt and annoy those who have not fallen. During this time, Satan suffers
extremely. Since his fall his evil traits have been in constant exercise.
But he is then to be deprived of his power, and left to reflect upon the part
which he has acted since his fall, and to look forward with trembling and
terror to the dreadful future, when he must suffer for all the evil that he
has done and be punished for all the sins that he has caused to be committed.
I heard
shouts of triumph from the angels and from the redeemed saints, which sounded
like ten thousand musical instruments, because they were to be no more annoyed
and tempted by Satan and because the inhabitants of other worlds were delivered
from his presence and his temptations.
To God's
people the captivity of Satan will bring gladness and rejoicing. Says the
prophet: "It shall come to pass in the day that Jehovah shall give thee
rest from thy sorrow, and from thy trouble, and from the hard service wherein
thou wast made to serve, that thou shalt take up this parable against the
king of Babylon [here representing Satan], and say, How hath the oppressor
ceased! . . . Jehovah hath broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of
the rulers; that smote the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke, that
ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that none restrained."
Verses 3-6, R.V.
