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Desolation of the Earth
319
the city of God, and the earth is emptied of its inhabitants. “Be-
hold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and
turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
“The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for the Lord
hath spoken this word.” “Because they have transgressed the laws,
changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore
hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are
desolate; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned.” [
Isaiah
24:1, 3, 5, 6
.]
The whole earth appears like a desolate wilderness. The ruins
of cities and villages destroyed by the earthquake, uprooted trees,
ragged rocks thrown out by the sea or torn out of the earth itself, are
scattered over its surface, while vast caverns mark the spot where
the mountains have been rent from their foundations. Here is to be
[475]
the home of Satan with his evil angels for a thousand years. Here he
will be confined, to wander up and down over the broken surface of
the earth, and see the effects of his rebellion against the law of God.
For a thousand years he can enjoy the fruit of the curse which he
has caused. Limited alone to the earth, he will not have the privilege
of ranging to other planets, to tempt and annoy those who have not
fallen. During this time, Satan suffers extremely. Since his fall his
life of intense activity has banished reflection; but he is now deprived
of his power, and left to contemplate the part which he has acted
since first he rebelled against the government of Heaven, and to look
forward with trembling and terror to the dreadful future, when he
must suffer for all the evil that he has done, and be punished for the
sins that he has caused to be committed.
Shouts of triumph ascend from the angels and the redeemed
saints, that they are to be no more annoyed and tempted by Satan, and
that the inhabitants of other worlds are delivered from his presence
and temptations.
During the thousand years between the first and the second
resurrection, the Judgment of the wicked dead takes place. The
righteous reign as kings and priests unto God; and in union with
Christ they judge the wicked, comparing their acts with the statute
book, the Bible, and deciding every case according to the deeds done
in the body. Then the portion which the wicked must suffer is meted
out, according to their works; and it is written against their names in