SATAN'S FINAL HISTORY AND DOOM

     Having studied Satan's past history, and his present workings, and how we can deal with him, let us now take a look at the Bible's account of his future. The Word of God does not leave us in ignorance about what is going to become of our arch enemy. The story of his doom is written large on the pages of Holy Writ.  

SATAN'S DOOM WAS ANNOUNCED SOON AFTER THE FALL OF MAN  

     After Eve had yielded to the temptation of the Serpent and the fall of man had become a fact, we find God announcing the final doom of Satan and the coming of earth's great Redeemer. Genesis 3:15: "And I will put enmity between thee (i.e. Satan) and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."  

     When Dr. Graham Scroggie of Edinburgh was speaking at a Keswick convention, he made the statement: "Modern critics tell us that Genesis is a myth and Revelation a mystery." He then asked: "I wonder who it was that inspired that theory?" A voice in the tent shouted out, "The devil!" Dr. Scroggie exclaimed: "Quite right, and I will tell you why the devil is so anxious to get rid of Genesis and Revelation; because in Genesis his sentence is declared and in Revelation it is executed."  

SATAN'S DOOM WAS SEALED AT THE CROSS  

     Although the doom of Satan was announced in the Genesis account, it was not actually sealed until the Lord Jesus died on Calvary's Cross. Hebrews 2:14: "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil."  

     A French general once said to a British general: "You won Waterloo, but it cost you a great deal." The British general replied: "Ah! but it cost you more, for it cost you a Napoleon." The victory of the cross was won over Satan but it was at the cost of the life of the Lord Jesus. Let us thank God for that victory, but may we never forget the cost!  

DURING THIS AGE SATAN CONTINUES TO WORK IN THE REALM OF THE HEAVENLIES ALTHOUGH HIS DOOM IS ALREADY SEALED  

     The devil's doom is most certainly sealed, but .nevertheless the Bible tells us that during this dispensation he will continue to work especially in the realm of the heavenlies. Ephesians 2:2 calls Satan "The Prince of the Power of the Air". In Ephesians 6:12 our enemies are described as being "spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places'. It is in this realm that the overcoming Christian must wage his warfare against these enemies which include Satan and all of his hosts.  

     That Satan is allowed to continue his work when his doom is already sealed need not seem strange. King Saul continued as King over Israel for some time after Samuel anointed David to be King. To-day the devil might well be called a "squatter". "Squatter" is a real estate term meaning "one who settles on land without a title to it." Satan is exactly that.  

AT THE END OF THIS AGE SATAN WILL BE CAST OUT OF THE HEAVENLIES AND WILL CONFINE HIS WORK TO THIS EARTH  

     Revelation 12:7-9 tells us just what will happen : to Satan as this dispensation begins to draw to an end. "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." Satan's access to heaven will be at an end. His wrath at being cast down to earth will cause him to work all the harder because he knows his end will be soon. Revelation 12:12: "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."  

DURING THE TRIBULATION PERIOD SATAN WILL PERSECUTE THE JEWS AND ALSO THE TRIBULATION SAINTS  

     Revelation 12:13 says: "And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child." The "woman who brought forth the man child" is none other than Israel as a people, for she it was who gave birth to the Messiah. Satan will do his best to get rid of all the Jews in the world.  

     The saints of that day will also be included among those Satan will persecute. Revelation 12:17: "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." The saints of those Tribulation days will have to suffer greatly and many of them will become martyrs at the hands of Satan's dictator.  

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MILLENNIUM, SATAN WILL BE BOUND IN THE BOTTOMLESS PIT  

     Earth cannot have the Golden Age as long as Satan is allowed to run rampant over the world. Revelation 20:1-3: "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, 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." Then it will be a world without the devil, for a thousand years! No wonder it will be earth's, Golden Age!  

AT THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM SATAN WILL BE LOOSED FOR A SEASON  

     Revelation 20.7-9 tells about the loosing of Satan and what happens: "And 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, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city, and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." Perhaps God allows all this to happen in order that the people of the millennium might have a chance to be tested which would not be possible if Satan were bound.  

THE LAKE OF FIRE SHALL BE SATAN'S PLACE OF ETERNAL PUNISHMENT  

     Revelation 20:10 gives us Satan's final doom: "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the Beast and the False Prophet "are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and for ever." Matthew 25:41 adds another thought concerning Satan's doom in relation to the doom of lost men. "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." This verse teaches that Hell was prepared, not .for men, but for Satan and his angels. Men who follow Satan instead of the Lord Jesus will go to the same place of punishment and as will the devil, but they will go there by virtue of their own choice, and despite the fact that Christ did everything possible to make salvation theirs.