Satan’s Second Counterattack

Before Jesus went back to heaven after His crucifixion, He promised the disciples that He would send them the Holy Spirit to give them power to preach the Word of God around the world. But there was a problem—they only spoke one language. However, Christ promised if they were to wait in Jerusalem and pray with unity, they were all going to receive the promised gift.

The Bible says when they were all gathered together praying in an upper room on the day of Pentecost, sound of a rushing mighty wind filled the whole house where they were sitting, fire appeared over their heads, and they all began to speak in other languages as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance. Now equipped with a gift to be able to speak in other languages, the disciples went forth to spread the message of a risen Christ, our high priest who intercedes for the salvation of men in the heavenly sanctuary.

Satan was seeing many people all over the world convert to Christianity and learn about Jesus. Satan saw his hold upon the earth loosening as a gospel message of reconciliation with God spread. Hundreds of years before Christ’s birth, the Prophet Daniel foresaw this entire conflict and how Satan would counter the newly formed spiritual Israel. Daniel saw how four kingdoms would rise up from among the multitudes in successive order. Under the fourth Kingdom, Rome, the Jewish temple itself would be broken into pieces as well as the Jewish nation with the Jews being dispersed into many nations.

Satan would try to use Rome to stifle the fire that was burning in Christians’ hearts to spread the gospel. He would place Christians in coliseums to be killed for sport. Under cruel emperors like Nero, massive efforts were made by Rome to destroy spiritual Israel and the heavenly temple in ways different from those he had used upon literal Israel and the earthly temple.

Satan was seeing that even though he would persecute the Christians, the movement was growing faster than he ever anticipated. Now it was time for Satan to devise a masterful plan to get Christians to give up the truth of scripture.

As the Kingdom of Rome fell, a new kind of Rome rose—a spiritual Rome that was a conglomerate between the church and government. For 1,260 years, Satan would dilute the Word of God to the point that the truth of scripture would be nonexistent. This power described in Daniel Chapter 7 would attack the heavenly sanctuary like never before. Spiritual Rome would attack the altar of sacrifice in the heavenly sanctuary by teaching the sacrifice of Christ was not sufficient for the forgiveness of sins.

Then Satan would use this church power to attack the laver in the heavenly sanctuary. He sullied God’s character by teaching that He would destroy infants in hell if they weren’t baptized at birth. During this time, the common person was forbidden to possess or read the Word of God. This was a direct attack on this table of showbread in the sanctuary. The little horn, which is how Daniel Chapter 7 describes spiritual Rome, also taught that God did not like the prayers of the average person and that only the priest could offer up prayers on their behalf. By this, Satan was trying to do away with the altar of incense.

Christ put His church into the world to be a light in the darkness, but this church system, in the name of God, further falsified His character to the world and persecuted anyone who would not bow down to authority. This plunged the world into utter darkness, trying to put out the candlesticks of the heavenly sanctuary. The mercy seat was attacked by this church system by telling the world to call their priests Father. This is a direct attack on the mercy seat of God as the Father of the universe.

This church system also claimed power over the very law of God itself. They attacked the very heart and foundation of the sanctuary. They attacked the Ark of the Covenant. This church system would change the law of God to allow the worship of Saints and the breaking of God’s Sabbath day.

Imagine the total darkness that the world was plunged into for 1,260 years. All of this began in the year 538 AD and would reign the world in darkness until 1798. Spiritual Rome had cast down every article of truth and had prospered based on the darkness, superstitions, and ignorance of the people who were kept from reading the Bible for themselves.

It appeared that Satan had succeeded in his mission, but there was one more time prophecy revealed in the book of Daniel—one that details God’s final counter against this 1,000-year assault on truth.

Pastor Anthony Nix

Anthony serves as the Pastor For Anderson Seventh-day Adventist Church in Anderson, IN. A charismatic communicator with a message that motivates discipleships to Jesus, Anthony teaches on a variety of topics, emphasizing God’s unfailing love and His desire to be in relationship with His creation. He is a graduate of Southern Adventist University. Anthony and his wife Nayeli have three beautiful and loving children.