Authored By :
Bill Kochman
Published On :
December 2, 1998
Last Updated :
September 25, 2012
NOTE: This article or series has not been updated recently. As such, it may possibly contain some outdated information, and/or ideas and beliefs which I no longer embrace, or which have changed to some degree.
Trampling On The Trail Of Satan! The Truth Of The Beast Of The Book Of Revelation Revealed?
For those of you who may still doubt this connection to modern-day Jerusalem, please read my other article. Let me leave you with a few questions concerning the queenly spiritual wife of the king of Tyrus, Satan himself: If John's book is a prophecy of the future, why would he write of a past event which had happened hundreds of years before he was ever born? It just doesn't make sense, does it? In addition, the prophesies of the Old Testament were written in Hebrew, while the prophecies of John were written hundreds of years later in Greek. Doesn't it seem a bit uncanny that both prophets would choose the same descriptive words to describe the destruction of the physical Babylon and the spiritual Babylon?
Well, one thing we do know is that these two are partners in crime; so it is only fitting that Tyrus, her kingly husband, should meet the same fate. As we were reading earlier, the king of Tyrus will also be consumed by fire and be left as ashes upon the ground. Let's take a look now at some confirmations to Ezekiel's prophecy concerning this. To begin with, consider these verses from the book of Malachi:
"For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts."
Malachi 4:1-3, KJV
Isn't this exactly what the Lord told Satan in the Garden of Eden, that the seed of Eve would bruise his head, that is that the righteous seed of the Lord would tread upon Satan's unrighteous seed; in fact, upon Satan himself? This is exactly what the above verses are talking about. Here are the verses from the book of Genesis:
"And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
Genesis 3:14-15, KJV
The Apostle Paul also clearly confirmed the crushing of Satan underfoot when he said:
"And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen."
Romans 16:20, KJV
Not only that, as with Babylon, the idea of being burned by fire will be fulfilled in both a literal and a spiritual sense. For example, in Paul's discussion regarding the Antichrist -- who may be the final incarnation of Satan on Earth -- he informs us that this vile being will be destroyed by the brightness of the Lord's Coming, as we see by these verses:
"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,"
2 Thessalonians 2:8-9, KJV
And do you know why this is so? These verses will make it perfectly clear:
"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God . . . For our God is a consuming fire."
Hebrews 10:31, 12:29, KJV
If you want a very graphical picture of what will happen to the wicked when they behold the brightness of the Lord's Coming, consider the following verse:
"And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth."
Zechariah 14:12, KJV
Clearly, the brilliance of an atomic bomb is nothing compared to the magnificent splendor and brightness of the Lord at His Coming! This is a topic which I discuss in such articles as "The Triumphant Touchdown of Jesus Christ" and "Who Hindered the Antichrist?".
So then, what happens when you burn something? It becomes ashes under your feet. We are told that one of these days, God is going to burn up all of the wicked. In fact, He is going to torment and punish the wicked with fire during the final years of this Earth. We are told that He is going to burn up a third of the trees and all green grass. He is also going to cast the Beast and the False Prophet into the lake burning with fire and brimstone. In the battle of Gog and Magog, the final battle between good and evil, He is going to destroy by fire the last remaining wicked human beings upon the Earth. Right after this He is going to cast Satan into the lake burning with fire and brimstone where the Beast and the False Prophet are. Following the Great White Throne Judgment, He is going to cast all of the incorrigibles into that same lake of fire. And ultimately, the entire Earth and atmospheric heavens will be engulfed in flames and burned up to make way for a New Heaven and a New Earth. When all of these things come to pass, the wicked will truly be ashes under our feet, including the King of Tyrus/Satan himself! Here are all the Scriptures to support these facts:
"And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone."
Revelation 19:20, KJV
"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."
Revelation 20:7-10, KJV
"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
Revelation 20:11-15, KJV
"The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up."
Revelation 8:7, KJV
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?"
2 Peter 3:10-12, KJV
"And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire."
Matthew 3:10, KJV
"Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Matthew 3:12, KJV
"As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
Matthew 13:40-42, KJV
"Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:"
Matthew 25:41, KJV
"If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned."
John 15:6, KJV
"And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;"
2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, KJV
"And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths."
Revelation 9:17-18, KJV
"And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed."
Revelation 11:5, KJV
"The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:"
Revelation 14:10, KJV
"And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire."
Revelation 16:8, KJV
"Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her."
Revelation 18:8, KJV
"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."
Revelation 21:8, KJV
So, as we can see, in the days and years ahead, the Lord is definitely going to be turning up the heat under the wicked. But that isn't for some time to come. What is important for now is that Satan is still around, and has been around for a very long time. Just as in other articles I have shown how the Lord has made cameo appearances in the Old Testament, Satan has likewise done the same. He was the Serpent of Eden in Genesis chapter three; he was the King of Tyrus in Ezekiel; he worked through Judas in the Gospels; and he spoke through Peter in the Gospels. We also know that he will physically manifest himself through the Antichrist or Beast possibly in the very near future as in shown in Daniel, Thessalonians, Revelation, and other places. But, these are by no means the only times his presence has been seen or felt on Earth, as I will show shortly. Incidentally, you can find additional prophecies concerning Tyrus in Isaiah chapter twenty-three.
In previous articles I have mentioned how Satan is the god of this world. This is confirmed by such verses as the following:
"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:"
Ephesians 2:2, KJV
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
Ephesians 6:12, KJV
"In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."
2 Corinthians 4:4, KJV
Whether we like to hear it or not, those are the facts! This world is Satan's realm! In fact, there are those like myself who suspect that he may possibly rule it from the sky and NOT from some fiery place within the Earth as many are erroneously led to believe! There appears to be some kind of a connection to the appearance of UFOs which have been on the rise for the past five decades! Notice that Satan is called "the prince of the power of the air" and that later in the very same Epistle, Paul refers to "the rulers of the darkness of this world" and "spiritual wickedness in high places". Remember, as I showed previously, this word "prince" is used to denote spiritual entities and not just physical earthly rulers. It is quite possible that Paul was referring to the heavens, the skies, the atmosphere around the Earth when he said "high places". If you are interested in my personal opinion of the alien and UFO phenomenon, please consider reading such articles as the in-depth series entitled "Nature of the Alien: ETs, Demons or a Government Plot?".
On the other hand, if Paul was not referring to the atmospheric heavens as being "high places", then he must have been referring to places of Earthly power such as the courts of kings, the palaces of sheiks, and the national capitols of presidents! This second possibility would fit in perfectly with the King of Tyrus prophecy. The main point to consider in all of this is that this world is Satan's, and it has been his for a very long time. In thinking about all of this, the Lord flashed through my mind Jesus' temptation following His forty days of fasting in the wilderness. This is something I have discussed in other articles as well. As we know, one of Satan's temptations to Christ was the following:
"Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me."
Matthew 4:8-9, KJV
Obviously, there is no way that Satan could have offered these things to Jesus unless they were his to begin with, right? Well, from what the Lord has been showing me, they not only belong to him, but he has been at the helm of each one of them either in a spiritual sense, or quite possibly, even physically through an act of incarnation or possession of the leaders of each of these empires! We have clearly seen him in the prince or the king of Tyrus. He also possessed or worked through Judas Iscariot. Please refer to my article "Are You Clean Every Whit?" for more details concerning this. In fact, before he controlled Judas, Satan even tried to take control of Peter since he obviously knew that Peter was Jesus' chosen leader of the First Disciples. This is made very clear in the Gospels as the following verses bear out:
"From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."
Matthew 16:21-23, KJV
This was clearly Satan speaking right through the body and mouth of Peter. Notice that the Lord didn't rebuke Peter; He rebuked Satan directly. Over in Luke, Jesus reveals the heavy spiritual battle which was being waged for control of Peter the night he betrayed the Lord:
"And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me."
Luke 22:31-34, KJV
Have you ever wondered exactly what Jesus meant when He said to Peter, "and when thou art converted"? It seems to me that Jesus was referring to the fact that while Peter was one of The Twelve, his faith in the Lord was not nearly as strong as it would be later after he received the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Before that time, we know from the Scriptures that Peter failed on several occasions. Close examination of his words and actions prove that he was a self-confident man full of pride often motivated my his own feelings and human understanding of things. He definitely was not the Spirit-filled leader he became later. It was because of these human weaknesses that Satan was able to attack Jesus through him. The main thing to remember is that Satan is never happy with being second in charge. He wants to be at the very top; and his pride and vanity will never allow him to settle for less. He will use anyone and anything he can to reach his goal!
In the article entitled "Leviathan: An Ancient Dragon of the Sea?", I discuss how Satan is also represented in the Bible by a great red dragon. Following are a few key verses for your consideration:
"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. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born."
Revelation 12:3-4, KJV
"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season."
Revelation 20:1-3, KJV
One thing I pointed out in the series entitled "Leviathan: An Ancient Dragon of the Sea?" is that Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, the very first world empire, was also referred to as a dragon. When I wrote that article, I was assuming it was just a figure of speech. However, I now see that I should have taken it for what it really meant: Satan either possessed or was physically manifested through Pharaoh as well! Surprisingly, the prophecies concerning Pharaoh, the dragon of Egypt, come right after the prophecies against Tyrus in chapters twenty-nine through thirty-two. In the following verses we make the connection between the Egyptian dragon, and the dragon Satan in the book of Revelation:
"Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself."
Ezekiel 29:3, KJV
"Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers."
Ezekiel 32:2, KJV
[Note: in the second verse, the translators' notes in two different Bibles state that the word "whale" has an alternate translation of "dragon" or "sea serpent". These are the same things I reveal in the aforementioned series.]
If you read these chapters in their entirety, you will see that this judgment against Egypt will be carried out by Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, which we will get to in a minute. Here is a key verse though to support this:
"Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army."
Ezekiel 29:19, KJV
The above verse comes right after the one I shared earlier in which it was explained that when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Tyrus, he received no wages for his army because the people of Tyrus had moved most of their riches out of danger to the island-city. This was not to be the case with Egypt. She would feel the full wrath of Babylon! What is most important here though is what we find in chapter thirty-one. Just as in the destruction of Tyrus, we find some very cryptic language which points to whom the prophecy is really directed. In this chapter the Lord through the mouth of Ezekiel is comparing Egypt with Assyria. Assyria is the empire which came after the Egyptian Empire and preceded the Babylonian empire as per the image of Daniel chapter two. In a very mysterious parable, notice how Assyria is described as a beautiful cedar of Lebanon. You will immediately see the connection to the description of Satan in the prophecy against Tyrus:
"The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty. I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him."
Ezekiel 31:8-9, KJV
Here again we see mention of the Garden of God, the Garden of Eden! We also are told how beautiful and fair this "tree" was, just as the prince and king of Tyrus were described. Obviously, these 'trees' are actually referring to spiritual beings, and Satan was counted as one of the fairest and most beautiful creations of the Lord, so much so that he was envied by the other sons of God! Just as we saw with the prince and king of Tyrus, as well as with the vile son of perdition -- the Antichrist -- in 2 Thessalonians chapter two, Satan, personified by the Assyrian, is lifted up in his pride against Heaven. Consider these verses:
"Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height; I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness."
Ezekiel 31:10-11, KJV
In the prophecy against Tyrus, we saw that the Lord was speaking simultaneously to the actual human ruler of Tyrus, as well as to Satan who used the physical man as his vehicle. In the above verses we see the very same thing happening. It was King Nebuchadnezzar who would become the next great empire after Egypt and Assyria. After comparing Pharaoh king of Egypt to the Assyrian, in the final verse of the chapter we read:
"To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD."
Ezekiel 31:18, KJV
So here again, we see that the Lord isn't just prophesying against the human Pharaoh, but also against Satan himself who manifests his power through Pharaoh. When you have time, you may want to read all four chapters to get a better understanding of these things. However, there is one verse in chapter thirty which I want to point out to you. In verse twenty four we read the following:
"And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand: but I will break Pharaoh's arms, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man."
Ezekiel 30:24, KJV
It might interest you to know that quite a few years ago, I discovered that there is only one other place in the entire Bible where we find the phrase "deadly wound" or "deadly wounded"; and that is in Revelation chapter thirteen which describes the final empire of the Beast! We are told that one of his seven heads has a deadly wound which is healed, as we see by this verse:
"And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast."
Revelation 13:3, KJV
Since I became aware of this connection, I have always had a strong feeling that it is very significant. It is now, many years later, while writing this article, that the Lord has finally clarified things for me.
Thus, piece by piece, verse by verse, you can see how the Lord has been showing me the trail of Satan down through history. This is something I have never even thought about before. It is certainly not something I anticipated when I began this article. This is just another one of those uncanny revelations the Lord seems to enjoy giving to me. So far we have seen Satan appear at the following places in chronological order: Heaven, Eden, Egypt, Assyria, Persia and Greece. As you may recall from the "The Kings of the North and the South" article, I explain that the world empires described in the imagery of Daniel chapter two were Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. This is because Egypt and Assyria had already passed as world empires at the time of Daniel's prophecies. So what about Babylon? Can a direct link be made to Satan? Most definitely, and we find it in a chapter which is widely known to discuss the very fall of Satan! Beginning in Isaiah chapter thirteen we read of the Lord's prophecy against Babylon. In verse seventeen we are told that the tool of judgment against the Babylonians will be the Medes, the first half of the empire of Medo-Persia which followed Babylon in history as well as in Daniel's image:
"Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it."
Isaiah 13:17, KJV
Please go to part three for the continuation of this series.
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