Did you ever wonder...

[jesussaves]

He comes and goes, but I don't think he's been kicked out of the heavens yet and forced to remain here.

DON'T LET THE DEVIL DECEIVE YOU. DONT JUST LOOK AT ONE SCRIPTURE, READ EVERYTHING IN THE BIBLE ON THE SUBJECT. HERE ARE TWO VERY KEY SCRIPTURES FOR BELIEVERS TO STAND ON.

M't:4:1: Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

M't:4:2: And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

M't:4:3: And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

M't:4:4: But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

M't:4:5: Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

M't:4:6: And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

M't:4:7: Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

M't:4:8: Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

M't:4:9: And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

M't:4:10: Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

M't:4:11: Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

Eph:6:10: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Eph:6:11: Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Eph:6:12: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Eph:6:13: Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Eph:6:14: Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

Eph:6:15: And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Eph:6:16: Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Eph:6:17: And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Eph:6:18: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

[humbleseeker]

I am not worried about the stinkin devil, unfortunatley he has been here for along time. I am waiting for Jesus to come so we can finally kick that devil to were he belongs.

[other one]

He comes and goes, but I don't think he's been kicked out of the heavens yet and forced to remain here.

DON'T LET THE DEVIL DECEIVE YOU. DONT JUST LOOK AT ONE SCRIPTURE, READ EVERYTHING IN THE BIBLE ON THE SUBJECT. HERE ARE TWO VERY KEY SCRIPTURES FOR BELIEVERS TO STAND ON.

M't:4:1: Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

M't:4:2: And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

M't:4:3: And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

M't:4:4: But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

M't:4:5: Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

M't:4:6: And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

M't:4:7: Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

M't:4:8: Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

M't:4:9: And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

M't:4:10: Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

M't:4:11: Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

Eph:6:10: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Eph:6:11: Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Eph:6:12: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Eph:6:13: Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Eph:6:14: Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

Eph:6:15: And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Eph:6:16: Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Eph:6:17: And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Eph:6:18: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

I really kind of hate to get deep in this discussion for I don't really want to mess with your faith, but I do need to point out that Jesus didn't tell Satan that those kingdoms of the world were not to his to give. And John in the Revelation tells us that at the Seventh Trumpet those kingdoms of this world become Christs kingdoms...

Now we all know that the Father has given Jesus the power and authority to do whatever anywhere, but the Word tells us that he has not exercised this authority concerning the kingdoms of this world........ or else they would be the kingdoms of our Lord long before the Seventh trumpet.

[Bold Believer]

That's very interesting. Satan is being restrained? Like with a great chain? Hmmm. Interesting. Except for one or two little things. Since the church is in massive apostasy (II Thess 2), which is fairly obvious, and the man of sin (aka Magog) has been revealed and is on the march (again fairly obvious given the way Church is being attacked) and the way the nations are being deceived (Rev 20), I would have to say that we're further up the timeline than most Christians think we are.

What will happen 'when Satan comes again'?

1. The nations will be deceived

2. A vast army of godless people would array themselves against the Church

3. Humanity will become capable of miraculous things to the point that they will begin to think of themselves as god

4. Mankind will believe "the lie" (that they can be as god, knowing good and evil)

5. Homosexuality will become acceptable

6. The world will be filled with violence

If satan was not being restrained (see OneLights answer in the post above), do you really think we would be living the carefree, and unrestrained lives we live right now? And I use the words carefree and unrestrained with caution, and in a Christian context. If satan was let loose completely hell on earth would result. And although there are those who would say this is already the case, I venture to suggest that their impression of hell on earth and mine, differ somewhat.

I am well aware of Paul's comment on Satan restraint. It proves my point. In Paul's day, Satan had been restrained, yet the Roman Beast still persecuted Believers with the assistance of the False Prophet. Paul was executed under Nero. So Satan was restrained, but things like that were still going on. If you read Rev 20, you will see that the restraining is very specific.

He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. Rev 20:3

The word bound is deo which means to forbid, prohibit or declare to be illicit. The next verse tells exactly what he is forbidden from doing. Deceiving the nations until the thousand years is fulfilled. There is one other word which aids in the understanding of the binding here and that is the word sphragizo or seal. God has the angel MARK or BRAND Satan so that no matter what he does, it will be obvious to all that it is Satan doing it.. The contrast between the actions of God and the actions of the devil would be so obvious that it would be impossible for people to be deceived by Satan; if they followed Satan, it would be because they wanted to. Satan's character is exposed by the binding for all to see. Obviously this is metaphoric and not literal, but it isn't all that difficult to perceive.

The age in which we live is now filled with deception. Confusion reigns (confusion comes from whom?), evil abounds, Christianity is in disrepute, man thinks that HE is God and all religions are considered poppycock and outmoded and ridiculous...just what Paul warns about later on in the II Thessalonians 2 dissertation. The godless believe THE LIE. Not a lie, but THE LIE. What is THE LIE?

Gen 3:5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Satan has not changed. When it comes down to brass tacks, he drags out the one lie that has worked best for him, the one lie with which he has poisoned the human race, the one lie that appeals most to us...YOU CAN BE LIKE GOD!

So now, Satan is UNRESTRAINED to go and deceive the nations (unbelievers) and he's doing it, and as he does, he's building them into a giant army (Magog, composed of the man of sin who exalts himself above every god or so-called object of worship) called forth to battle against...US! The Church. The very repository of truth on the earth. Those holders of treasure in earthen vessels. The Holy City set on a hill. The Church is in apostasy with heresy abounding and Satan is out deceiving at the same time. If Satan is deceiving, and he is, then the idea of hell on earth is out the window. Why would Satan want people to believe hell on earth is good? He doesn't. He wants them to believe they can set up a Paradise like that of God because 'hey dude...you're like God.' If things were hell-like, Satan wouldn't be fooling anyone.

[lekh l'kha]

Question... Well, more of a kind of off-topic issue really. Someone said homosexuality will be acceptable when satan comes. When you stop and think for a moment, this doesn't seem to make sense. Why is satan associated with a form of love (something that occurs in every culture, be the christian or not, as well as in nature) and god s against it. Is the unimportant fact that two people of the same gender can have more than friendly feelings for each other really that bothersome to the supreme ruler of the universe?

There is a difference between love, and lust, Ditchens. To God, sexual immorality is sex between any two individuals who are not married to one another as man and wife, and sex is given by God not only for the sake of procreation, but also because the family unit of a married man and women with a chiild is an expression of the Trinity, because man was created in the image of God.

Any sexual expression that falls outside of what God created sex for, is not love, but lust - and Jesus said that if any man looks at a woman who is not his wife to lust after her, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Men can love one another - but the moment they feel the desire or need to express that love sexually, it is symptomatic of the fact that they are lusting for one another's bodies - just as any man can sense lust for the body of a woman he has no intention of marrying and raising a family with.

Jesus, the One we follow, said, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning "made them male and female", and said, For this cause a man shall leave father and mother and shall cling to his wife, and the two of them shall be one flesh? Therefore they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." (Mat.19:4-6).

Just because man has moved so far away from the will of God and the original design of God for sexual expression and its purpose, doesn't mean that God must change or lower His standards to suit man.

Lekh

[lekh l'kha]

"The woman" of Revelation 12 whom Satan makes war against is the woman who brought the Messiah into the world (Israel); and "the rest of her seed who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" are just who that verse describes.

This isn't something that happens once-for-all-time in history, for God said, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." (Gen 3:15).

This is something that began in Eden and culminates at the end of the age. "42 months" and "a time, times and a half a time" of the woman's sojourn in the wilderness can be both symbolic of the time between 66-70 A.D and the return of Christ, as well as referring to the final three and a half years of this age.

42 "months" is very symbolic, because God called David's throne "like the moon, the faithful witness of the sun" because it reflects the light of the sun (the Word of God) into the world, and 42 "months" = 42 generations. Matthew lists 42 generations in His Messianic genealogy from Abraham to Jesus (a period of very close to 2,000 solar years), and 42 sons of Israel died when they mocked Elisha for saying that Elijah had been taken into heaven.

When Jesus had died and risen again, the accuser of the brethren had no more Law by which to accuse the brethren because "they overcame him by the b lood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony", and so he was cast out, and went to make war against Israel and "the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ".

To say that the passage applies ONLY to the FINAL generation, is to mock not only the terrible persecution of the early Christians at the hands of Nero and the like, and the suffering of Israel at the hand of Titus and later Roman authorities, but also to mock the cross, because Satan was "cast down" when the Law, which was his only tool by which he could accuse the brethren, was satisfied by the death of Jesus on the cross, His resurrection dealing the final death-blow which crushed Satan's head.

The Revelation transcends time and the passage applies to the entire age, culminating in the literal three and a half years of the end of the age.

Lekh