Time will tell

The devil has but a short time and God’s Character will be vindicated

1.     Ezekiel 28:12-19

2.     Isaiah 14:12-15

3.     Ellen white quotes: Patriarchs and Prophets/story of redemption

4.     Revelation 12

5.     Ephesians 6:12

6.     Revelation 20:2

7.     Revelation 20:7-10

In Isaiah 14:12-15 a celestial being is cast to the ground after attempting to make himself like God. John uses the same Greek expression found in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, suggesting that he may have had that passage in mind. The Scripture further indicates that even after Satan was cast out of heaven, he still had limited access, and that his primary function was to accuse the servants of God (Job 1:6; Zech. 3:1). But in Revelation 12:7-12 we are informed that even that limited access came to an end at the cross.

John uses the language and imagery of the primeval war in heaven between Christ and Lucifer to describe their battle at the cross. His purpose is to demonstrate that Christ has always defeated the evil forces, that we also can overcome the dragon through the blood of the Lamb, and that the dragon now has a limited time of activity before he is finally destroyed.
Although the primary reference of the passage is to the conflict on the cross, by describing it in terms of the original war in heaven John provides significant information about the origin of the great controversy.

The Church of the Dark Ages :By the sixth century, the bishops of Rome held power over most of the Christian churches. This strong leadership was known as the papacy, with the pope as the head. In 538 the papal power became supreme and ruled for a period of 1260 years, as was predicted by Daniel and John in their prophetic books. This period of papal supremacy ended in 1798, when the pope of Rome was taken prisoner. By means of secular authority the church forced the followers of Jesus to choose either to accept the false doctrines and pagan ceremonies of Catholicism or to suffer imprisonment and perhaps death by the sword or by burning at the stake. This long period of history has been called the Dark Ages. As one historian stated, “The noon of the papacy was the midnight of the world.” (J. A. Wylie, quoted in GC 60).

“Amid the gloom that settled upon the earth during the long period of papal supremacy, the light of truth could not be wholly extinguished. In every age there were witnesses for God– men who

cherished faith in Christ as the only mediator between God and man, who held the Bible as the only rule of life, and who hallowed the true Sabbath. How much the world owes to these men, posterity will never know. They were branded as heretics, their motives impugned, their characters maligned, their writings suppressed, misrepresented or mutilated. Yet they stood firm, and from age to age maintained their faith in its purity, as a sacred heritage for the generations to come” (GC 61).