10
Darkness Before Dawn
beings. The very work which he himself was doing he charged upon
those who remained true to God. And to sustain his charge of God’s
injustice toward him, he resorted to misrepresentation of the words
and acts of the Creator. It was his policy to perplex the angels with
subtle arguments concerning the purposes of God. Everything that
was simple he shrouded in mystery, and by artful perversion cast doubt
upon the plainest statements of Jehovah. His high position, in such
close connection with the divine administration, gave greater force
to his representations, and many were induced to unite with him in
rebellion against Heaven’s authority....
The Rebellion Continued On Earth
To the very close of the controversy in heaven the great usurper
continued to justify himself. When it was announced that with all
his sympathizers he must be expelled from the abodes of bliss, then
the rebel leader boldly avowed his contempt for the Creator’s law.
He reiterated his claim that angels needed no control, but should be
left to follow their own will, which would ever guide them right.
He denounced the divine statutes as a restriction of their liberty and
declared that it was his purpose to secure the abolition of law; that,
freed from this restraint, the hosts of heaven might enter upon a more
exalted, more glorious state of existence.
With one accord, Satan and his host threw the blame of their rebel-
lion wholly upon Christ, declaring that if they had not been reproved,
they would never have rebelled. Thus stubborn and defiant in their
disloyalty, seeking vainly to overthrow the government of God, yet
blasphemously claiming to be themselves the innocent victims of op-
pressive power, the archrebel and all his sympathizers were at last
banished from heaven.
The same spirit that prompted rebellion in heaven still inspires
rebellion on earth. Satan has continued with men the same policy
which he pursued with the angels. His spirit now reigns in the children
of disobedience. Like him they seek to break down the restraints of
the law of God and promise men liberty through transgression of its
precepts. Reproof of sin still arouses the spirit of hatred and resistance.
When God’s messages of warning are brought home to the conscience,
Satan leads men to justify themselves and to seek the sympathy of