The “Satan is Still in Heaven” Flawed Presupposition

If one will check with a good English dictionary, one will find “presupposition” is defined to mean “to take for granted”, or “to suppose or assume beforehand”. The flawed premise that Satan is still presently in heaven is a typical “presupposition” and cannot be substantiated anywhere in Holy Writ! To definitively resolve this issue, it will be necessary to focus on both Yahweh’s domain and where Satan is dwelling at the present time. It seems like there is always someone, with their private interpretation of Holy Writ (usually their King James Bible, i.e., “government issue”), who think they have found some secret tenet that no one else knows about, and thus claim that they have found some private hidden truth only revealed to them. But 2 Peter 1:16-21 says:

“¹⁶ For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Master Yahshua Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. ¹⁷ For he received from Yahweh the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. ¹⁸ And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. ¹⁹ We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: ²⁰ Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. ²¹ For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of Yahweh spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

Considering this passage, we will approach this serious subject with fear and trembling! Of course, if one doesn’t believe in a literal Satan, that person has other serious problems requiring rectification which cannot be addressed in this essay. With this paper, we shall focus on the scant records of Satan that we do have; where he originated; where he is today; and the name and subtitles he is known by. It might be assumed that the place to start would be the Old Testament, but because many things were kept secret from the foundation of the world we will have to start with the New, at Matt. 13:34-39:

“³⁴ All these things spake Yahshua unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: ³⁵ That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. ³⁶ Then Yahshua sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.”

From this passage it should be quite apparent that there are things revealed in the New Testament that aren’t made entirely clear in the Old! The rule of first mention may work to our advantage some of the time, but if it is a truth not fully revealed until the New Testament, the rule of first mention works against us! That is the case with our subject at hand, so we will start at Rev. 12:1-9:

“¹ And there appeared a great wonder in heaven [in the constellation of Virgo]; a woman [i.e., Israel] clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: ² And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. ³ And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. ⁴ And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon [i.e., Herod the Edomite] stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. ⁵ And she brought forth a man child [i.e., Yahshua Christ], who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. ⁶ And the woman [i.e., Israel] fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days [i.e., 1260 prophetic years]. ⁷ And there was [i.e., past tense, thousands of years prior] war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, ⁸ And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. ⁹ And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

MOST LIKELY TIME OF THE BIRTH OF YAHSHUA CHRIST

The time of the birth of Yahshua is hidden in Scripture at Revelation 12:1-5. It speaks in these verses: “... clothed with the sun ... moon under her feet.” Quoting excerpts from The Birth Of Christ Recalculated, by Ernest L. Martin, pages 145-149: “... it could well be that John intended the Woman to represent a constellation that the two primary luminaries transverse. Recall that astronomical signs dominated the thinking of most people in the first century ... she could be in a symbolic way, a constellation located within the normal paths of the Sun and Moon. The only sign of a woman which exists along the ecliptic ... is that of Virgo the Virgin ... In the period of Christ’s birth, the Sun entered the head-position of the Woman about August 13, and exited from her feet about October 2. But the apostle John saw the scene when the Sun ‘clothes’ or ‘adorns’ the Woman ... located somewhere mid-bodied of the Woman ... This ‘clothing’ of the Woman by the Sun occurs for a 20-day period each year ... The position of the Moon in John’s vision could pinpoint the nativity to within a day – perhaps to an hour period or less. This may seem absurd, but it is entirely possible. The key is the Moon. The apostle said it was located ‘under her feet’ ... Since the feet of Virgo the Virgin represent the last 7 degrees of the constellation ... the Moon has to be positioned somewhere under that 7 degree ark. But the Moon also has to be in that exact location when the Sun is mid-bodied to Virgo. In the year 3 B.C., these two factors came to precise agreement for less than two hours, as observed from Palestine or Patmos, on September 11. The relationship began about 6:15 p.m. (sunset), and lasted until around 7:45 p.m. (moonset). This is the only day in the whole year that this could have taken place ... The apostle John said this heavenly relationship occurred at the time of Christ’s birth. And in 3 B.C. this exact combination of celestial factors happened just after sunset only on one day – on September 11th. It could not have occurred at any other time of the year! (Indeed, even one day before – on September 10 – the moon was still located above the feet of the Virgin, while one day beyond – on September 12 – the Moon had moved so far beyond the feet of the Virgin that it was positioned at least 25 diameters of the Moon to the East of her feet. Thus, only one day will do, and that time was just after sunset on September 11.” This particular day just happened to be Tishri 1, 3 B.C. or “the blowing of the trumpets”, a yearly Sabbath. It is only reasonable that Yahshua was born on such a day. Being born on this day would give 15 days for His cleansing time after birth before being presented openly at His first Feast of Tabernacles with a small remnant of His people. It is doubtful that Yahweh would have used the Feast of Tabernacles for an event of uncleanness. Among other things, I would point out that this narrative agrees precisely with Luke’s chronology of the life of Christ! This is not the only implication of Revelation 12:1-5. For a more comprehensive understanding of the timing of the birth of Christ, read my essay The Day The Word Became Flesh, which happened at conception, rather than at His birth.

The Manger Child’s Dominion Cannot be Contained

The next object of this essay is to compare Yahweh’s domain to Satan’s present dwelling place, and his future demise. Inasmuch as Christ was Yahweh (The Father) in the flesh, He filled up a small area in a manger. But He cannot be bottled up into a small package to take up an infinitesimal space in a box called the Ark of the Covenant. As we saw at Rev. 12:1-9, Satan had four different appellations: “great dragon”, “old serpent”, “Devil”, and “Satan”. Now it is true that “Satan” can only be found nine times and “devil/s” thirty-two times; “dragon/s” sixteen times and “serpent” thirty times in the Old Testament. Of those eighty-seven words, not all will apply to Rev. 12:1-9, but many do! So don’t claim that there is no room for study on this subject in the Old Testament!

YAHWEH’S DOMAIN COMPARED TO SATAN’S DWELLING PLACE

In order to make this comparison, we will use the passages of Scripture that reveal Yahweh’s all-encompassing realm:

Isaiah 66:1-2: “¹ Thus saith Yahweh, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? ² For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith Yahweh: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.”

2 Chr. 6:18: “But will Elohim in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!”

Psa. 11:4: “Yahweh is in his holy temple, Yahweh’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.”

Matt. 23:21-22: “²¹ And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. ²² And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.” Do we thereby swear by Satan?

Acts 17:24: “²⁴ Elohim that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he being Sovereign of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; ²⁵ Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things ...”

Acts 7:47-50: “⁴⁷ But Solomon built him an house. ⁴⁸ Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, ⁴⁹ Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith Yahweh: or what is the place of my rest? ⁵⁰ Hath not my hand made all these things?”

2 Chr. 2:5-6: “5 And the house which I build is great: for great is our Elohim above all elohim. 6 But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?”

Psa. 139:7-16: “⁷ Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? ⁸ If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in sheol, behold, thou art there. ⁹ If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; ¹⁰ Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. ¹¹ If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. ¹² Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. ¹³ For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. ¹⁵ My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. ¹⁶ Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”

2 Cor. 12:1-4 (CNT): “¹ A need to boast is truly not beneficial, but I do come into visions and revelations of the Prince. ² Fourteen years ago I knew a man among the number of the Anointed, (whether in the body I know not, or outside of the body I know not: Yahweh knows,) such a man being carried off to the third region of heaven. ³ And I know such a man, (whether in the body or apart from the body I know not: Yahweh knows,) ⁴ that he had been carried off into that paradise, and he had heard unutterable sayings, which to speak with a man is not permitted.”

From all of these passages, we can see that Yahweh’s domain is omnipresent and includes the entire universe. However, Paul, at 2 Cor. 12:1-4, divides the heavens into three parts which we would designate today as: (1) the atmospheric heaven, (2) the starry heavens, including our own solar system, sun, moon and planets, and (3) the third heaven where Yahweh and His throne are. Not ten heavens as the 2nd book of Enoch would have us to believe! I prefer the 1st book of Enoch, but believe parts of it have been embellished. Our immediate atmosphere is an ocean of air consisting of nitrogen, oxygen, argon and other gases in lesser amounts that extends from the surface of the earth to a height of 50 miles. Scientists divide the atmosphere into five zones: (1) the troposphere, (2) the stratosphere, (3) the mesosphere, (4) the ionosphere, and (5) the exosphere. I am sure that the greater-learned Biblical student is already aware of the five zones of our atmosphere!

Before we investigate the starry heavens (or the 2nd heaven), let’s first consider Jer. 31:35-37:

“³⁵ Thus saith Yahweh, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; Yahweh of hosts is his name: ³⁶ If those ordinances depart from before me, saith Yahweh, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. ³⁷ Thus saith Yahweh; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith Yahweh.”

I would point out to the reader at this very time, July 5, 2012, that astronomers are testing out a new system to measure the universe, and they are of the opinion that there are many universes (not just galaxies or solar systems), but many other universes besides our own, with their own galaxies and solar systems. So, we can be quite safe in believing that the twelve tribes of Israel will not be “cast off” forever!

According to the Bible Works electronic digital program, the Hebrew definition for “heaven” here includes: “Meaning: 1) heaven, heavens, sky 1a) visible heavens, sky 1a1) as abode of the stars 1a2) as the visible universe, the sky, atmosphere, etc 1b) Heaven (as the abode of God).” The Strong’s number for “heaven” is 8064, and is used at Genesis 15:5 thusly: “And he brought him [Abraham] forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven⁸⁰⁶⁴, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.” It is obvious here that #8064 includes the starry heavens, which we should know more about.

From this we can see that in the Hebrew meaning of Genesis 1:1, the entire universe is included, with all of its many galaxies of which one is our own Milky Way. Some of these galaxies (in extragalactic space) beyond our own Milky Way are up to several billions of light years away. That means that when the astronomers look through their high-power telescopes and observe these distant galaxies, they are looking back in time several billions of years! Like the astronomers, when we read Genesis 1:1, we are also looking back in time several billions of years. We should also take note that Genesis 1:1 speaks of the heaven before it mentions the earth, indicating that the starry galaxies were created prior to the earth!

But before we get overly enthused about extra-galactic space, let’s take into consideration our own Milky Way. Bertrand L. Comparet, in his presentation, “The Bible Is Scientific” stated the following:

“Let’s not just stay on earth, nor even in the solar system. Let’s examine our entire galaxy, the multitude of stars which form the Milky Way. There are at least thirty billion stars in this one galaxy, which is shaped like a biconvex lens. Our own sun is one of the minor stars in this system, and its position is about 2/3rds of the way out toward one edge of the galaxy. We are some 30,000 light years away from the center of the galaxy.

“Since one light year is about 5,870,000,000,000 miles, our distance from the center of the galaxy, being 30,000 times farther, is more than one sextillion miles. In numerals it is 1,761 followed by 15 zeros. The entire galaxy, this vast lens-shaped mass of stars, rotates around its collective center of gravity, the whole galaxy making one rotation in about 200 million years.

“The center of gravity of the galaxy is marked by the star Alcyone, which is the brightest star in the constellation Pleiades. Considering that this is nearly two sextillion miles away from us, it wasn’t easy to get acquainted with it. Our knowledge on the subject came within the lifetime of men still alive [in the 1980s]. It is amazing, but in Job 38:31 Yahweh asks Job, ‘Canst thou bind the sweet influence of Pleiades?’ Yes, it is a sweet influence, for it keeps us on our course so we don’t wander aimlessly through space until we collide with some mighty solar system. It is also worth noting that the Hebrew word for Pleiades is ‘kee-maw’, which also means pivot or hinge. I guess we will have to admit that Yahweh is pretty much up-to-date after all.”

One must take into consideration that Comparet was probably working with older data during his lifetime than what we have now, especially since the development of the Hubble space telescope. From the 1980 Collier’s Encyclopedia, vol. 15, under the topic “Milky Way”, we have a slightly different appraisal on the amount of time that it takes for our solar system to make a complete cycle in our galaxy:

“... One obtains a good idea of the vastness of our galaxy when one considers that it takes our sun fully 250 million years to complete one single circuit around the galactic center. The innermost parts of our galaxy do not rotate like a solid wheel. The outer parts apparently move more slowly than the inner ones. Our solar system with its planet earth has probably made several hundred, if not thousands of such circuits.”

Other data found on the Internet states: “The Milky Way has a diameter of about 100,000 light-years. The solar system lies about 25,000 light-years from the center of the galaxy. There are about 100 billion stars in the Milky Way.” In other words, when we read Gen. 1:1, we are literally looking back in time 100,000 light years; just to comprehend how far it is to the opposite side of our own galaxy and the vastness of its creation.

I demonstrated in part #6 of Lies Masquerading As “The Truth”, A Critical Review Of The Book THE TWO CREATIONS, that if one will go outside during the dark of the moon and find a location away from the interference of city lights and observe the stars, some of the light coming from those far distant stars was generated long before the time of Adam. Actually, some of those distant stars can be observable with the naked eye. The Milky Way alone is 100,000 light-years in diameter, made up of billions of stars like our sun, and one can observe them as a cloud of light with the naked eye. Though one may not be able to see each individual star, nevertheless much of the cloud of light we see coming from the Milky Way is 133 times older than Adam. Where were you and I, or anyone else for that matter, 100,000 years ago?

We read from the website redorbit.com/news/space/:

“Astronomers have opened up the doors to a new ground-base telescope that will help give scientists a peek at the places that have never been explored. The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has released an image of a merging pair of galaxies as part of its grand opening. ALMA is the largest and most expensive radio observatory on Earth and was funded by several different space agencies. Radio observatories collect tiny waves given off by the clouds and help astronomers see the hidden galaxies that lie past them. The desert acts as a perfect location for this telescope because radio waves are too easily absorbed by moisture in the air.

“The telescope is about 16,400-feet above sea level in Chile’s northern Atacama Desert and it currently consists of 20 satellite dishes. Once it is officially completed in 2013, it will consist of 66 linked satellite dishes spread across about 10 miles of desert. ... With the telescopes combined into a single system by one of the world’s fastest, special-purpose supercomputers, and aimed at many more objects all across the sky, ALMA will reveal a Universe never before seen.” National Radio Astronomy Observatory said in a press release.

What National Radio Astronomy Observatory failed to tell us was what is expected to happen when they connect those “66 linked satellite dishes spread across about 10 miles of desert.” It seems quite obvious that using only two “linked satellite dishes” spaced some distance apart, both being synchronized on the same object, it would produce a three dimensional image of that object. What is important about obtaining a three dimensional effect is, they could measure the heavens more accurately than ever before! And if they can produce a three dimensional effect with just two satellite dishes, just imagine what they could do with sixty-six! Every time they find a new galaxy of stars, they find more galaxies beyond it, seemingly without end. Isn’t it simply amazing how accurate the Scriptures are? However, the starry heaven is only the second of the heavens Paul spoke of, and that brings us to “the third heaven”.

THE PHONY “SATAN IS STILL IN HEAVEN” PREMISE

The motivation for the development and advocacy of this flawed doctrine is for its support of the doctrine of “futurism”. Futurism was a false dogma hatched up by the Jesuit priests in the romish church in order to take the heat off of the pope. When it became quite evident to the Reformers that the pope fit the description of the prophecy concerning the beast in the book of Revelation, futurism was developed to apply that prophecy entirely after a so-called future rapture. Other Jesuits claimed that all prophecy was fulfilled by 70 A.D., and were called “preterists”. A proper interpretation for the book of Revelation must be based on history. What we have in Christian Israel Identity (C.I.I.) are a few people coming out of nominal churchianity dragging their excess baggage of Jesuit futurism with them! Hence, to them, the events in Revelation 12 are still in the future, so they wrongly conclude that Satan is still in Heaven! Should one examine Rev. 12:7-9, Christ, through John, spells out the true situation quite clearly:

“⁷ And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, ⁸ And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. ⁹ And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” [Do not confuse the “prince” of Eph. 2:2 with Prince Yahshua.]

Here we have a singular entity with the four labels of “dragon”, “serpent”, “Devil”, and “Satan” in the past tense “was”, “was”, “was”, was” and “were”! What is there about “... neither was their place found any more in heaven ...” that we don’t seem to understand? While Satan is singular above, his angels are plural. Also, once one studies the four labels of Satan, they will find there are many more allegorical labels for Satan in Scripture. In addition, Satan’s seed is a collective singular for many offspring. Though the rule of first mention isn’t always a perfect rule to go by, nevertheless, let’s go to the first time this singular-collective entity is mentioned, at Gen. 3:1-5:

“¹ Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which Yahweh Elohim had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath Elohim said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? ² And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: ³ But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, Elohim hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. ⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: ⁵ For [singular] Elohim⁴³⁰ doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as [plural] elohim⁴³⁰, knowing good and evil.”

From this it should be crystal clear that this “serpent” at Gen. 3:1-5 is the same singular entity called “Satan” at Rev. 12:7-9! In some cases, “the rule of first mention” works, and in other cases it doesn’t. It’s just a matter of knowing when to use it, and when to avoid it! What should be even more evident is the fact that Satan (i.e., the serpent) was cast out of heaven before Yahweh created Adam and Eve, and there’s not a single passage of Scripture that confirms he was ever able to reenter heaven! There are some passages where it may seem that he could reenter heaven, but they have to be twisted out-of-context to make it so! One important passage to confirm that Satan is no longer in heaven is Luke 10:18: “And he [Christ] said unto them, I beheld²³³⁴ Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”

To comprehend the Greek word #2334 above, it is important to understand the English translations of “behold” which include: behold -est -eth -ing; beheld, and can be rendered from the Greek words found at Strong’s numbers 333, 816, 991, 1492, 1689, 1896, 2029, 2300, 2334, 2396, 2400, 2657, 2734 & 3708. Secondly, In the case of Luke 10:18, the Greek word #2334 also must fall into a class that contains what is termed a “participle / participial”! Another rendering, among others, is the word “saw”. Greek #2334, with the participle / participial added narrows our selection of verses down considerably of, which I will quote two:

Mark 15:47: “And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld ²³³⁴ where he was laid.”

Mark 16:4: “And when they looked, they saw²³³⁴ that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.”

It should now be obvious that Luke 10:18; Mark 15:47 & Mark 16:4 are all in the past tense, which would mean Yahshua Christ bore false witness if Satan were still in heaven at Luke 10:18!

Actually, “behold” and “beheld” are listed as two different words in some dictionaries. In my New Webster’s World Dictionary, Second College Edition, p 128, “beheld” is defined thus: “be-held (bi held^/) pl. & pp. of behold.” The abbreviation “pp.” stands for “past participle, so Christ was talking about a past event! Another passage that proves Satan is no longer in Heaven is Eph. 2:2, which reads: “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience ...” [cf. Jn. 14:30]

Another passage that places Greek #2334 in the past tense is Heb. 7:4: “Now consider²³³⁴ how great this man [Melchisedec, king of Salem] was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.” [This is another example of a “past participle”.]

Nearly every Bible commentary that interprets Luke 10:18, will cite verse 17, where the seventy returned with their report of preaching the gospel of the Kingdom; healing the sick, and (one other thing not beforehand specified) casting out devils. They errantly claim that Christ had a mental vision of the seventy casting out devils, and conclude that is how Christ saw “Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” However, the “devils” at verse 17 are plural, while the “Satan” with the Greek article at verse 18 is singular. The Pharisees admitted as much when they accused Christ of casting out devils “through the prince of the devils”, Matt. 9:34, (c.f. “Beelzebub, the prince of the devils”, Matt. 12:24). Yahshua retorted to the Pharisees at Matt. 12:27: “And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.” Here it is admitted by Christ Himself that there is a father-son relationship in the family of Satan. The Pharisees really didn’t invent the term Beelzebub, for Strong’s has the Greek #954 for it, and it is from the Chaldee #1176 in Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary. When one arrives at #1176, it is pronounced Baal Z^ebûwb, derived from the Hebrew words #’s 1168 & 2070.

If we really want to understand the context of Luke 10:18, we must go back in time before the roman catholic jesuit priests promoted the doctrine of futurism, as when checking with most commentaries, they defend the faulty premise of a future millennium with a passion. It is true, the Bible does speak of a millennium, but it is past history. To get an idea what the Christians of the first three centuries believed, I will quote from The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. VI, “The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes”:

“... And to whom, then, did the Lord Jesus address Himself, when in these terms He taught men to pray: ‘When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven;’ and again, ‘Pray to your Father which is in secret?’ But it was of Satan that He spoke when He said, that He ‘beheld him as lightning fall from heaven;’ so that no one dare say that He taught us to pray to him [i.e., Satan]. And surely Jesus did not come down from heaven with the purpose of bringing men together, and reconciling them to Satan; but, on the contrary ...”

To settle the question we need to ask, do we really want to pray Yahshua’s model prayer, “... Thy kingdom come, Thy willl be done in earth as it is in heaven ...”, if Satan is still in Heaven? To pray thusly would approve of, and invite more of Satan’s malignant evil among us!