Satan and His Last Kingdom

Satan, as a name, is so fascinating. It has such telling meanings to it. First off, in the Greek, Septuagint, Satan means diablos, which means slanderer, or someone who makes false statements for the purpose of damaging someone else’s reputation. I think that most certainly in the War in Heaven he sought to slander our Savior by suggesting that Christ would not be successful in performing the Atonement. That He would not be capable of saving us, despite all of our sins and our wickedness. That Christ himself would be overcome, or that Christ would not perfectly keep His covenants. But I also think, and this is something that I’ve seen and I’ve come to realize in the last year, I also think that Satan slandered us. I think that he was telling us not only that we couldn’t make it, and that we wouldn’t be good enough, regardless of whether or not Christ did what He said He would, but I see Satan telling us that we were selfish, and uncharitable, and evil to choose a plan where we knew not all of our brothers and sisters would return. And I think that there are many of our good-hearted brothers and sisters who fell for that. Who said, “You’re right. I am being selfish. I’m not thinking about everyone else if I were to choose the Savior.” Even though his plan was always a lie, and our Savior felt that our agency was worth dying for, knowing that even when we would use our agency wrong, that it would be worth it. That’s a new idea, something that I’ve felt in the last year. And one other meaning of the word Satan is accuser. Certainly he accuses us. He accuses us falsely, and we are apt to believe him at times. That we are guilty of sins we have not committed, or wrong intentions that we don’t truly have. He used that tactic premortally, and he certainly uses it now. All this being said, we know that we overcame in Heaven. And the war moved to a new battleground, where the players are the same. And their priorities are the same. And the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. 

Satan is the greatest imitator, the master deceiver, the arch-counterfeiter and the greatest forger ever in the history of the world. He comes into our lives as the thief in the night. His disguise is so perfect that it is hard to recognize him or his methods.

James E. Faust

Moving to the last days, and Satan and his kingdom today, and what his kingdom is going to become. We know, and it is true, that Satan is the god of this world. And acknowledging that is not meant to discourage you, or frighten you, but rather to provide clarity. Because when we realize that, we realize that we just cannot trust what appears to be reality to the world. He is still spinning lies, as he always has. And they are compelling. James E. Faust has a quote that I love. He says, “Satan is the greatest imitator, the master deceiver, the arch-counterfeiter and the greatest forger ever in the history of the world. He comes into our lives as a thief in the night. His disguise is so perfect that it is hard to recognize him or his methods.” And he says, “One of the major techniques of the devil is to cause human beings to think they are following God’s ways when in reality they are deceived by the devil to follow other paths.” That’s how good Satan is at his job. And if we fail to see the world through this lens, we’re really giving him a hand up. Satan thrives through invisibility. We learn this in the scriptures. He loves to convince people that he doesn’t even exist. But, if we choose to both acknowledge that he exists and strive to see him and to recognize his methods and to perceive his lies we weaken him every time we choose to do that. 

I want to talk a little bit about the number 666, because it’s something that we hear about in the book of Revelation, something that we hear about in modern days as well. But, there’s still a lot left to be understood as well. We recognize that this is a symbol of Satan. But why? I want to start with the symbolism of seven. This is pretty well known. The number seven is symbolic of perfection, of wholeness, of being complete. There were seven creative periods when Elohim, Jehovah, and Michael created the world. There are seven days in a week. And there are 7.000 years of Earth-life. We, being at the very beginning of the last thousand years or so right now. The final thousand years being the Millennium. So that’s the symbolism of seven. And then you have the symbolism of eight. Eight being one whole step above perfection. Eight is a symbol of the Savior. It’s a symbol of the Atonement, of resurrection, and of redemption, 888 specifically. And 777 being perfect as can be, and Christ being a whole level above perfection. I just love that symbolism. That touches my heart to think that that is the God that I worship. That that is the Savior I follow. A whole degree above perfection. And then you have the counter of six, being a whole step below perfection. And this is the symbol of the adversary, 666. Meaning, that Satan is as imperfect as Christ is perfect. He is as evil as Christ is righteous. And he is as weak as Christ is strong. That tells us a lot about him when you just consider that symbolism. 

Okay, so let’s talk about Satan’s kingdom in the last days. We know that Satan has risen up kingdoms in the past. In the temple, when you go through the endowment ceremony it even talks about Satan saying that armies and navies, and false priests who oppress, and tyrants who destroy and reign with blood and horror on this Earth. And he has done that in the past. And he will do it again. In Revelation, chapter 13, there’s a brief history of Satan’s rule throughout the length of humanity. And it talks about four specific kingdoms that he rose up. The first being what we suggest to be Babylon. Then there’s the Medo-Persian Empire, and the Greek Empire. And finally, we have described the final empire that will arise. And I just want to go through some of the characteristics of this, and I hope that it will allow you to maybe see things differently, and maybe look at things a little differently, again as we’re trying to perceive Satan and what it is he might be doing in the world right now. So this final empire that will be risen up by the adversary. First off, it is said that it will have power over many nations, which I think is so interesting because typically we think of countries as independent entities. And yet, this empire will constitute some sort of combination, some sort of collusion, some sort of confederacy of (what I would say) independent countries as we currently know them. So that’s the first thing. 

The next thing, the empire will oppose and blaspheme God. When I think about this, I think about religious freedom, and how I don’t think that this will be allotted in this final empire. If there is a religion of some sort it will be a religion of secularism. It will be a worship of worldliness. It will not even necessarily be Satanic in that they worship Satan outright, because again, Satan thrives on invisibility. I think that he’s not going to come out and say, “We worship the Devil.” But instead they are going to worship what Satan wants them to worship, and they will mock anyone who does differently. And they will persecute, and they will cause great tribulations to those who refuse to oppose and blaspheme the True God of Heaven and Earth. 

Next, it says that it will be as a predator over its prey. The imagery there is so interesting. I always think of a lion. I feel like that’s the top predator that you can think of, land animal at least. And how does a lion behave with their prey? You know they’re subtle, and crafty, and they’re quick to capture and devour their prey. And they consume them completely. There’s not anything left, and it’s bloody, and it’s messy. That’s kind of the imagery that comes to mind for me. And I think that that is what we can expect of this empire and how they will behave against those that they have power over. 

The next one, the empire will be worshiped. Not just by the leadership that will exist, or by the higher ups, the elites, but also by the people they subject. And I see this when we study the Battle of Armageddon, being the last, final battle during which Christ will appear, and stand on the Mount of Olives and split the mountain, that the Jews in Jerusalem may escape. That battle will be waged an army of two-hundred million. And you have to be careful with numbers in the scripture, because most of them are very symbolic in nature, rather than literal. But this is a number that I take pretty literally. It doesn’t really follow the pattern of some of the more symbolic numbers. I think it’s got to be one of the biggest quantified numbers in scripture. Two-hundred million is how many will be representing this empire of Satan in the fight against Jerusalem in that final battle. And they will have the mark of the beast, (which we will talk about here in a moment) and they will fight for this empire, this entity that is run by the devil. So when they say it’s going to be worshiped, it’s going to be worshiped by lay people, by the little guys. Upon whose backs this very empire will be built. It’s so interesting, and it’s so telling, and it’s so sad to consider that there will people who are completely and totally oppressed, and who will love their oppressor. Very Stockholm Syndrome-y over here. But yes, it will overpower many, including some saints, because again, Satan is the great counterfeiter. 

There will be an Anti-Christ. A person who appears to be like Christ, but is not. I love this quote, I think it’s so important to remember, he [Larry E. Lawrence] said, “Remember, counterfeits are not the same as opposites. The opposite of white is black, but a counterfeit for white might be off-white or gray. Counterfeits bear a resemblance to the real thing in order to deceive unsuspecting people. They are a twisted version of something good, and just like counterfeit money, they are worthless.” That is what Satan is going to be presenting in this empire, a counterfeit Kingdom of God. It appears that this is a good thing on the surface, but it is truly a twisted version that will be worthless, and that really will encompass evil. The same of that Anti-Christ. The anti-Christ personage, (which I am sure we will talk about more as we go along, because there’s a lot to be said of him, and his relationship with Gog of Magog and all of that) will be associated with this empire. And he will perform “miracles” that will deceive. In the scriptures it talks about him calling down fire from heaven, and that will be perceived as a literal miracle that will deceive many people. So he’s going to be associated with this. 

We talked briefly, just a minute ago, about how the people will have the mark of the beast. This is a mark that is said to be set in their hand, or on their forehead. It’s a symbol of subjugation, of fidelity, of complete adherence to the state of having been compelled completely by the Devil and by this entity. The word mark  in Greek is charagma, which means stamp or etching, an engraving or impression, similar to a brand. Perhaps the most interesting is this word charagma denotes a mark left by a snake bite. What an appropriate word, and what an appropriate symbol for those who will have been bitten by the snake. It’s because of this that personally, I believe that the mark of the beast will be more spiritual and more figurative than an actual physical mark. I recognize that it could be both. There are a lot of people in the last year who have suggested that we are seeing more and more “marks of the beast”. Personally, I think that there is more to be desired before it truly aligns with what is being spoken about here in Revelation. But that’s just my personal opinion. Either way, we know that this will be the signature of the people who fall under this Satanic empire. And then of course, all things will come to a head. Like I said previously, this Kingdom will gather against Israel, and against Jerusalem specifically. That is when Christ will appear to deliver the Jews, some of his original covenant people, despite the fact that many have forgotten Him, or failed to believe that He is who He is. He will come to them, He will rescue them, and that’s when you have those beautiful scriptures about how the Jews will come to Him to thank Him for saving them, and they will say, “What are these marks in your hands, these prints in your feet?” And He will say, “I am He who came unto thee, and was wounded in the house of my friends.” And they will realize that He is the Christ. And what a moment of mixed emotions that will be.