Basic HTML Version
Chapter 56—Satan’s Delusions
Satan commenced his deception in Eden. He said to Eve, “Ye
shall not surely die.” This was Satan’s first lesson upon the immor-
tality of the soul, and he has carried on this deception from that
time to the present, and will carry it on until the captivity of God’s
children shall be turned. I was pointed to Adam and Eve in Eden.
They partook of the forbidden tree, and then the flaming sword was
placed around the tree of life, and they were driven from the garden,
lest they should partake of the tree of life, and be immortal sinners.
The fruit of this tree was to perpetuate immortality. I heard an angel
ask, “Who of the family of Adam have passed that flaming sword
and have partaken of the tree of life?” I heard another angel answer,
“Not one of the family of Adam has passed that flaming sword and
partaken of that tree; therefore there is not an immortal sinner.” The
soul that sinneth, it shall die an everlasting death—a death from
which there will be no hope of a resurrection; and then the wrath of
God will be appeased.
It was a marvel to me that Satan could succeed so well in making
men believe that the words of God, “The soul that sinneth, it shall
die” (
Ezekiel 18:4
), mean that the soul that sinneth it shall not die,
but live eternally in misery. Said the angel, “Life is life, whether it
[389]
is in pain or happiness. Death is without pain, without joy, without
hatred.”
Satan told his angels to make a special effort to spread the lie first
repeated to Eve in Eden, “Ye shall not surely die.” And as the error
was received by the people, and they were led to believe that man
was immortal, Satan led them on to believe that the sinner would
live in eternal misery. Then the way was prepared for Satan to work
through his representatives and hold up God before the people as
a revengeful tyrant—one who plunges all those into hell who do
not please Him, and causes them ever to feel His wrath; and while
they suffer unutterable anguish, and writhe in the eternal flames, He
is represented as looking down upon them with satisfaction. Satan
300