The Accuser of Our Brethren Cast Down.
The twelfth chapter of Revelation relates to the past, the present, and the future. It brings to view the originator of sin, its effect in heaven and on the earth, and the final conflict with the remnant, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. It takes up the condition of the church, and its relation to those governments that most fully illustrate Satan and his work. The experience of the church during the twelve hundred and sixty years, in which time the “mystery of iniquity,” “the man of sin,” was fully developed, is here recorded. “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.” Rev. 12: 7–9. Here Satan is referred to. He was once the “day star,” or the one who received the greatest light and intelligence from God; and from the “day star” light extended to others. “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning (‘day star,’ margin)? how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.” Isa. 14: 12–14. The sin of Satan was jealousy because Christ, instead of himself, was consulted by God; and every11jealous feeling that has ever been in the mind of man is a direct instigation of Satan. He desired to be first in heaven. With him it was “rule or ruin.” This has been the character of his work ever since. The prophet Ezekiel said of him: “Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering. . . . Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. . . . I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.” Eze. 28: 12–16. The Saviour said to the Jews: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” John 8: 44. Satan is the author of all sin. He is the father of all evil. It originated with him; and when a lie is spoken, it simply reveals the author of the lie, who is the father of it. His sin originated in heaven; but he was cast out of heaven, and his angels were cast out with him. Another casting down of Satan took place at the death of Christ: “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants 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.” Rev. 12: 10–12. There were no brethren in heaven when he was cast out of the city of God, but it was at the gate of heaven that he accused our brethren day and night before the angels of God. After his second casting down, he could no longer await the angels as they came from the heavenly courts, and before them accuse Christ’s brethren of being clothed with the garments of blackness and the defilement of sin. From henceforth his work was restricted. Before all the universe he revealed himself as a murderer when he took the life of the Son of God. All his disguise was now torn away. His administration was laid open before the unfallen angels and before the heavenly universe. He had shed the blood of the sinless Son of God. From the beginning of this controversy, he had declared that the law of God could not be obeyed, that justice was inconsistent with mercy, and that it was impossible that he who had broken the law of God should be pardoned. In proof of this, he presented the fact that all men had sinned, and come short of the glory of God. But when Christ took upon himself our nature, and met Satan upon every point that humanity meets him, and overcame with strength which he had received from God, and not by his own infinite power, it was demonstrated that the law of God could be kept through the merits and strength of Christ; for Christ kept it for man. Heaven, therefore, and those that dwelt in it, rejoiced when Christ died; for it was then that the words, “It is finished,” rang through the unfallen worlds, with a shout of praise and glory because Christ had come off victor, and Satan had gained no advantage over him in his life among men. Another shout of praise and victory went through the worlds when he came forth from the tomb, a conqueror. Satan, the usurper of Adam’s dominion, had no more place at the council where he had gone to accuse Christ as being partial toward Job in placing a hedge about him. He had gone there as a representative of this world; but now the second casting down was from this council; and Christ, the last Adam, takes his place to plead in our behalf. Satan’s war becomes a war of spite, to wrest from Christ every soul possible, because of the hatred he has for the Son of God; for when Satan saw that he was cast out of this council, the last hope of permanently establishing his kingdom upon this earth was gone. His hatred toward Christ, as well as his determined work of destroying souls, has increased as his time is shortened, and will finally culminate in his attempt to exterminate the remnant. During the time, times, and half a time, or twelve hundred and sixty years of the reign of the papacy, the woman, or the church, was protected by the nations of the earth from the face of the serpent.