"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."
Rev. 20:7, 8.
"At the close of the thousand years the second resurrection will take place. Then the wicked will
be raised from the dead and appear before God for the execution of "the judgment written." Thus
the revelator, after describing the resurrection of the righteous, says: "The rest of the dead lived
not again until the thousand years were finished."
Revelation 20:5. And Isaiah declares,
concerning the wicked: "They shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and
shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited."
Isaiah 24:22.
337.1
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Now Satan prepares for a last mighty struggle for the supremacy. While deprived of his power
and cut off from his work of deception, the prince of evil was miserable and dejected; but as the
wicked dead are raised and he sees the vast multitudes upon his side, his hopes revive, and he
determines not to yield the great controversy. He will marshal all the armies of the lost under his
banner and through them endeavour to execute his plans. The wicked are Satan's captives. In
rejecting Christ they have accepted the rule of the rebel leader. They are ready to receive his
suggestions and to do his bidding. Yet, true to his early cunning, he does not acknowledge
himself to be Satan. He claims to be the prince who is the rightful owner of the world and whose
235
inheritance has been unlawfully wrested from him. He represents himself to his deluded subjects
as a redeemer, assuring them that his power has brought them forth from their graves and that he
is about to rescue them from the most cruel tyranny. The presence of Christ having been
removed, Satan works wonders to support his claims. He makes the weak strong and inspires all
with his own spirit and energy. He proposes to lead them against the camp of the saints and to
take possession of the City of God. With fiendish exultation he points to the unnumbered
millions who have been raised from the dead and declares that as their leader he is well able to
overthrow the city and regain his throne and his kingdom."
337.2
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