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The Great Controversy
During this time his sufferings are intense. Since his fall his life of
unceasing 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.
To God’s people the captivity of Satan will bring gladness and
rejoicing. Says the prophet: “It shall come to pass in the day that
Jehovah shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy trouble, and
from the hard service wherein thou wast made to serve, that thou shalt
take up this parable against the king of Babylon [here representing
Satan], and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! ... Jehovah hath
broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers; that smote
the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke, that ruled the nations in
anger, with a persecution that none restrained.”
Verses 3-6
, R.V.
During the thousand years between the first and the second res-
urrection the judgment of the wicked takes place. The apostle Paul
points to this judgment as an event that follows the second advent.
“Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will
bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest
the counsels of the hearts.”
1 Corinthians 4:5
. Daniel declares that
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when the Ancient of Days came, “judgment was given to the saints of
the Most High.”
Daniel 7:22
. At this time the righteous reign as kings
and priests unto God. John in the Revelation says: “I saw thrones, and
they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them.” “They shall
be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand
years.”
Revelation 20:4, 6
. It is at this time that, as foretold by Paul,
“the saints shall judge the world.”
1 Corinthians 6:2
. 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 recorded against their names in
the book of death.
Satan also and evil angels are judged by Christ and His people.
Says Paul: “Know ye not that we shall judge angels?”
Verse 3
. And
Jude declares that “the angels which kept not their first estate, but