It’s a wonderful gift, free will that is; to be able to make
a choice regarding pretty much anything we want. If we want to go left we go left, or if we
choose to go right we go right. All of
creation has this luxury. All creation
that is, except for one, Satan.
We all know that we have free will because Jehovah has not
looked into our individual futures and predetermined our choices for us. But he has done so for Satan. When Jehovah prophesied at Gen 3:15, not only
did he provide the solution to the sin, but he also snatched from Satan the
most valuable gift that we as a creation have… free will.
At first, even though Satans course was now destined to end
in death, he still had free roam to pretty much do as he pleased. However, through the centuries, as new
prophecies began to be spoken by God, inch by inch Satans free will was getting
reduced.
Consider that before the prophetic books were written such
as Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, Satan may have had several other options he was
intending to use regarding his evil purpose.
However, once the prophecy is spoken by God and is locked into the
timeline, Satan now has no choice regarding that particular option. Regardless of whether he wanted it, or not,
the spoken word of God sealed that event into place. Satan no longer had free will, for whatever
choice he made would ultimately lead to the fulfillment of the prophecy spoken.
Looking at the scriptures in Ezekiel regarding Jehovah and
his judgment against Gog of Magog, we can see how prophecy does indeed tie
Satans hand, and regardless of his choices he must eventually fulfill the
prophecy concerning him. Ezekiel penned
this thousands of years ago, but we are reminded of how little choice Satan
truly has in the matter as it states at Ezekiel
38:3-4 “38 “Here I am against you, O Gog…. 4 And I
shall certainly turn you around and put hooks in your jaws and bring you forth
with all your military force.” Every
prophecy written is just that, a hook in Satans jaw that pulls him into the
desired direction, predestined by Jehovah, to follow.
As the years passed by, and Revelation was written, the
noose got even tighter when John penned all the prophecies to occur during the
end times. Regardless of his intentions
or choices, Satan was bound to fulfill every last one of the prophecies that
spoke about him. His free will was now
limited even more than before, because now his course was clearly set in
greater detail throughout the book of Revelation, all the way to his final
destruction.
So when we think about the coming events that are to befall
us in the future such as the great tribulation, the eighth king, and the beasts
that are part of it all, Satan is locked in regarding this path. Of course he knows this, but… I wonder if he
knew his final plan before Daniel , Revelation, and the other prophetic books
were written.
I imagine Satan sitting above his map of the world trying to
figure out what he was going to do in his diabolical scheme, until one day a
humble man Daniel writes some prophecies regarding the end times, and then
Satan says to himself “oh, so that’s what I’m gonna do, and how it’s gonna go
down.” The same goes for John when he
wrote Revelation. Or, perhaps Satan
knew exactly from the start his plan, having had millennia to think it up. Either way, I think a slug might have more
free will than Satan does at this point.
Prophecy provides Gods servants with key information regarding
events that are going to transpire in the future (Amos 3:7). Depending on ones own perspective, prophecy
can have a bad meaning or a good one.
Most people in the world have been trained to believe that Armageddon is
bad, and is the destruction of the world by volcanoes, or a meteor or some
other worldly contrived event. I’m sure
most here however can’t wait for Armageddon, for the wicked will be destroyed,
and a new world will begin…yay!
And that’s just it.
These events that Satan is now locked into producing for us(great trib,
8th king, beasts etc), are certain to happen. They will be real events. However, many will not view these events as
they were meant to be discerned. Satan
has already confused most of the world to not even believe in him. He has manipulated all of Christendom to
believe in a false God(trinity), and has created a worldwide false religious
system that doesn’t have anything to do with the true God, Jehovah.
So, we shouldn’t be surprised that, when these prophesied
events take place, most of the world won’t get the true sense of what is going
on. Most are spiritually blind
worshipping false gods, and even though these events were prophesied to occur, most
will not get the sense of it and repent (Rev 9:20, Rev 11:10, Rev 13:3, Rev
16:9-11, 16:21) Just as Pharaoh asked “Who
is Jehovah…”, and was unable to discern that God was behind the prophecies
spoken by Moses, so too the people of
the world who do not know Jehovah, and his purpose, will fail to see, or discern,
that the events that are occurring were predicted to occur(Ex 5:2).
Consider the current situation in Ukraine. Satan is maneuvering events in the world that
will eventually unfold into the great tribulation. In order for the great tribulation to occur,
certain events must emerge first in order to achieve the desired result. To break it down it’s as simple as A+B=C,
with C being the great tribulation.
Satan knows he needs a lot of ‘A’s and ‘B’s to achieve ‘C’, so the
events happening right now throughout the world are precursors to the
tribulation. Ask yourself, do the
Ukrainians who do not know Jehovah believe that Satan is behind this? Does the world believe that Satan is
responsible for the situation in Ukraine?
I personally have not heard any news reports yet that say “Satan is back
at it again, causing tumult in Ukraine”, have you?
The point is that the worlds perspective of things, during
the final unfolding of prophetic events, is going to be very different from
what the chosen will be preaching. The
world events that occur will not be viewed by the world to be prophetic
events. God will only open the eyes of
those who truly want to serve him, and allow them to discern the times they are
in. Some Egyptians, after having been eye-witnesses
of the plagues, chose to leave with Gods chosen people after Pharaoh finally
relented because they could see that the true God was indeed with the
Israelites. I find it hard to believe
after everything they saw that the entire nation didn’t grab the Pharaoh by his
little pony tail and throw him into the Nile.
Why didn’t they? Because they looked
to him as if he was a god, just like the world looks to their gods of today. They feared man over God, and they were
spiritually blind as they looked to the counterfeit Gods of their nation.
As mentioned above, prophecy is how Jehovah provides his servants
with the information they need before something happens. Jesus warned us ahead of time to not be
mislead, as many would come in his name saying they were him (Mt 24:4-6) He warned us of the wars, and plagues, and
food shortages that were to come. He
warned us that Satan would use powerful signs and portents, to mislead if
possible even the chosen ones. Obviously,
Jesus knew how real of a threat Satan would be during these end times and
therefore warned us ahead of time to be ready.
When we look at 1914 and see the effects of not heeding Jesus and
Pauls advice to not be misled (MT 24:4, 2Thes 2:1-3), and all the misunderstood
prophecies that the society has been established on based on that year, we see how clever and powerful Satan really is. Both, Jesus and Paul warned us, but Satan was
obviously thinking way ahead in order to provide the bible students with events
that seemed plausible it was the end. Interestingly,
Jesus' warning about being misled was directly followed by hearing of wars, and
reports of wars, and yet the bible students didn’t pay heed.
Satan can only have only so many counterfeit events though, before
the real prophetic event occurs. This
alone should prove that the world events, that are spoken to occur in Daniel
and Revelation, are not counterfeit. You
can’t have a counterfeit without an original to copy. The bible students
however did not have anything to compare the counterfeit with, and therefore
were deceived into believing it was the true event. Powerful works indeed, since WW1 and the
Spanish flu were a perfect look alike to what the bible students regarded as
real prophetic events. We can expect
that the unfolding of the real prophetic events will be much grander in nature.
Jesus used the illustration of a woman giving birth by
comparing it to signs that would come upon the earth as a beginning of birth
pangs. Warning us ahead of time not to
be misled by the false christs, and the wars and reports of wars, can easily be associated
with the false labor pains that women often feel prior to the real labor pains experienced
with birth. As true labor nears, it is
quite common for women to feel Braxton-Hicks pains. These rhythmic pains often fool the women
into thinking they are in labor.
Essentially they are counterfeit labor pains that do not end with the
birth of a baby. We could associate WW1
and the Spanish flu to this illustration, and perhaps understand how the bible
students of the day were deceived into believing the end had begun.
We were given these prophesies not only as a warning, but
also so that those who know Jehovah will be able to teach those who want to
know Jehovah. Consider the power and influence
these scriptures exude over us today before all these events have even taken place;
now consider how powerful the message will be once they begin to occur. The prophecies are mile markers in time, and
will give credibility to the chosen ones who will be imparting understanding to
many (Dan 11:33). What an endorsement
when you can prove that these scriptures, which were written thousands of years
ago, are now coming true, and those who truly want to know Jehovah will SEE it
as truth.
Jesus warned his apostles that Jerusalem would be surrounded,
and then destroyed. Those who were not
spiritually awake did not discern the time when it came. The account says at Luke 19:41-42
“. . .And when he got nearby, he viewed the city and wept over it, 42 saying:
“If you, even you, had discerned in this day the things having to do with
peace—but now they have been hid from your eyes.”
Satan has very little time left, and as the end approaches,
his ability to use his free will is being strangled ever more sure. We have been warned of what the future holds
for us in our struggles to maintain our grip on the hope, and faith, contained
within the scriptures. As the noose
tightens around Satan, we have the privilege of proving him wrong (Pr 27:3),
and teaching others about the choice they will be able to make regarding
Jehovahs kingdom, and to teach them to use the greatest gift that Jehovah has
given us, our free will to choose Gods Kingdom over Satans.
Jesus used an illustration to help the apostles understand
how to properly view the world events of the end times. I would like to
conclude with the illustration Jesus spoke as it seems fitting regarding the
material in this discussion. So I pray
that our eyes are opened, and to understand that not all fulfillment of
prophecy must have a spiritual meaning in nature, but rather that some will be a physical
unfolding of events that are meant to be seen.
Luke 21:29-33 “. . .With that he
spoke an illustration to them: “Note the fig tree and all the other trees: 30 When
they are already in the bud, by observing it YOU know for yourselves that now
the summer is near. 31 In this way YOU also, when YOU
see these things occurring, know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly
I say to YOU, This generation will by no means pass away until all things
occur. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words
will by no means pass away.”
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