Controversy Ended
553
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
endeavor 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 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.
[664]
In that vast throng are multitudes of the long-lived race that existed
before the Flood; men of lofty stature and giant intellect, who, yielding
to the control of fallen angels, devoted all their skill and knowledge to
the exaltation of themselves; men whose wonderful works of art led
the world to idolize their genius, but whose cruelty and evil inventions,
defiling the earth and defacing the image of God, caused Him to blot
them from the face of His creation. There are kings and generals
who conquered nations, valiant men who never lost a battle, proud,
ambitious warriors whose approach made kingdoms tremble. In death
these experienced no change. As they come up from the grave, they
resume the current of their thoughts just where it ceased. They are
actuated by the same desire to conquer that ruled them when they fell.
Satan consults with his angels, and then with these kings and
conquerors and mighty men. They look upon the strength and numbers
on their side, and declare that the army within the city is small in
comparison with theirs, and that it can be overcome. They lay their
plans to take possession of the riches and glory of the New Jerusalem.
All immediately begin to prepare for battle. Skillful artisans construct