Lou: If you were to sense the presence of Satan, would it help to call on the angels? Would it help to recite the name of Jesus several times? What do you think of such approaches?

Graham: If you’re using the name for the purpose of “magic,” you should know that Jesus never went by that name. “Jesus” is an English pronunciation of the Greek Iesous. His actual name in Hebrew and Aramaic was Joshua (Yehoshuah or Yeshuah), and I’ve never heard anybody using “Joshua” to scare the Devil away. So I regret it very much when people use the name of Jesus as a good luck charm. I think it is an insult to Him and does us a lot of damage. But I hear it all the time. We’re always singing about those precious two syllables, “Je-sus,” and He never went by that name. What matters is the Person, not the name. If we could remember Him and call on Him, that would be the only way to go.

Lou: But you could use the name “Jesus” at that point.

Graham: Yes, because we know who we mean by it. If I’m thinking of the real Person when I say “Jesus,” even though that’s an English pronunciation of a Greek transliteration, He will understand that. But if I’m just using that name as a good luck charm, I might as well use garlic to scare off vampires and that sort of thing. I think it is diabolical to use His name as magic. Why would the Devil be scared of the name anyway? But if Jesus were there, the Devil certainly would flee. So I would want Him there by whatever name you might call Him.

Lou: But if the Devil could deceive a third of the angels, what chance do we have to resist him by ourselves?

Graham: Well, there were people in the Bible who did succeed in resisting him, like Job. Job even called to God for help and no help seemed to come. And yet he survived.

Lou: But things seemed to get worse when he called for help.

Graham: Things did get worse, that’s right. The more he called for help, the worse things got. He said, “God, I call and You never answer me” (based on Job 30:20). And yet Job did not let God down. I believe God wishes to bring us to the point where we can actually stand singly and alone, and the only restraint on the Devil is, “You may not take his life” (Job 2:6). The incredible thing is that Job survived. But did you notice Job bragging about it when it was all over? Oh no, he was humbled by it all, and he was hardly prepared when God said, in effect, “You did wonderfully, Job (Job 42:7-8)! When you felt you were doing so badly, here in heaven I was saying, ‘Now there’s a perfect man.’” But that was God speaking about Job, Job himself was not conceited (see Job 42:1-6).

Lou: You used the expression “to stand singly and alone.” You don’t mean standing without God, do you? Do you mean standing alone as far as the presence of others is concerned?

Graham: Satan was given a completely free hand with Job. Satan said: “Just let me get my hands on him, and he’ll curse You to Your face” (Job 2:5). So Satan eventually took everything away from Job. All Job had to help him, it appeared, were those theologians; and they were all wrong. They were miserable help (Job 16:2). Satan’s final effort to deceive may come most persuasively through caring theologians. So we must be alert. But Job was certainly protected to the extent that Satan could not kill him.

Lou: Yet he had to trust in the truth, and he was growing in his understanding of what that truth was, wasn’t he?

Graham: He was still learning and growing at the time of his suffering. At this point I can’t help but use Ellen White’s magnificent thoughts on what it means to be sealed. It is to be so settled into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, that one cannot be moved (Ellen G. White, Last Day Events, 219; Ellen G. White, Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, volume 4, 1161). As we have said, that is the work of the Spirit. It was the Spirit of Truth and his conversations with God that brought Job to a similar place. It was all God’s doing, but Job’s part was to always say “yes” to God. And if we can say “yes” to God long enough, the heavenly Physician can heal us and bring us to the place where Job was.

Lou: I was fascinated by your reference to ancient mystery religions that seem to have closely counterfeited the Christian faith. How popular were these?

Graham: The mystery religions were very popular throughout the New Testament era and for some time thereafter. They were so popular that some people joined several of them, just to be on the safe side, like the altar to the “Unknown God” in Athens. They counterfeited and confused the issues both before and after Jesus came. One of my teachers at the University of Chicago, Dr. Harold Rideout Willoughby, was a real expert on the mystery religions, so we heard a lot about them. He wrote a long Ph.D. dissertation on rebirth in paganism called “Pagan Regeneration.” Many of the ideas in the mystery religions are very close to the truth, and yet they are diabolically perverse. That’s why I came to the conclusion that the Devil really tried to counterfeit the first coming of Christ. But he failed with many back then, and he has learned from his failures. With his final, ultimate cunning, he will counterfeit the Second Coming as far as he can.

Lou: You used the phrase “mystery religions.” Didn’t Paul himself speak of Christianity as “the mystery of godliness”? 1 Tim 3:16.

Graham: Yes. That’s right. I think he was using that language on purpose. It was not that God deliberately kept the truth a secret. Circumstances did not allow Him to reveal it all (see John 16:12). But one of the major differences between the mystery religions and Christianity was this: When you were initiated into one of the mysteries, you were sworn never to tell anybody. Whereas, the Christian “mystery” was to be told to everybody. So Paul loved calling Christianity a mystery and then telling everybody everything about it. So what we have in the New Testament is a “revealed mystery.” Paul’s hearers would understand that, and would be rather struck with the contrast. We have the most important information in the universe and, instead of keeping it to ourselves, we want to tell everybody. The followers of the mystery religions were not allowed to tell; it’s amazing that we know anything about them at all.

Lou: But was the Greek word that Paul used the same word?

Graham: Yes, musterion. The English word “mystery” comes from it.

Lou: As you talked about this matter of Satan’s final effort to deceive, I wondered if you expect that we are going to see direct devil worship before the end of time, the kinds of things we tend to associate with other places on earth?

Graham: I don’t think so, especially among the Christian nations. Satan wants to be worshiped, but not as the Devil; he wants to be worshiped as Christ. And so he masquerades as an angel of light at the End. He will be worshiped by humans (Revelation 13:8) the way he wanted to be worshiped by Jesus and the angels. His great moment in history will be when the cry goes forth, “Christ has come! Christ has come!” and the world prostrates itself before him; all except the few who will say, “No, you not only have a devil; you are the Devil.” And you can see why it would go hard for these few.

Lou: That ties in with what you said earlier. He really isn’t anxious to be identified as Satan, he really wants to masquerade as Christ.

Graham: That’s the deception. If he came with horns and a tail, that wouldn’t really fool anyone. Instead, he comes as a gracious redeemer, the great medical missionary. He heals the diseases of the people and even appears to raise the dead. Since people often use miracles to validate their beliefs, Satan will deceive many. He will lie to us the way that older prophet did in 1 Kings 13 (see verse 18). But the way he uses his authority and relies on miracles will warn the faithful.

Lou: When Peter admonishes us to resist Satan (1 Pet 5:8-9), how can one resist such a clever, intelligent, wily foe?

Graham: We can only resist him with the truth. We will have to be so settled into the truth that we cannot be moved.

Lou Venden: The title of this chapter, “Satan’s Final Effort to Deceive,” makes me think of the fact that Satan has been a deceiver all along. That’s just his nature. Are you aware of any evidence that we are into that final time of deception the Bible warns us about?

Graham Maxwell: That question is so significant that we will devote the whole of Chapter Nineteen to it (“How Soon Will the Conflict Be Over?”). Are we really in the last days? You and I have both had fathers who preached the nearness of the End. My father preached that for fifty-five years, and we’re still here. What’s the reason for the delay? Are we now in this final period of earth’s history?

Lou: Do you consider it an encouraging sign that our world is at least talking more about Satan than in the past? There is talk of “black magic” and there is even a Church of Satan. Does that mean the world in general is more aware of Satan’s existence and deceptions?

Graham: I think the fact that people talk about Satan so much should not be interpreted to mean that we are more alert or more ready for his deceptions. It all depends on what we are saying about him. This very surge of interest may all be part of his deception. He wants us to think of him in a way that he is not. Eventually he wants to come in the guise of Christ.

Lou: Here’s a question I’ve heard asked before: “Since Christ is not going to come until after Satan’s final effort to deceive, does Satan have some control over the timing of the End? In other words, if Satan were to work a little harder, and be a bit more successful, would that help to hasten the second coming of Jesus? What part does he play in the timing here?”

Graham: That would be a terrible thing. It would be as if the text, “Work to hasten the coming of the day of God” (2 Pet 3:12), were really addressed to the adversary. I think as far as Satan is concerned, he would provoke the final events immediately, but the Lord knows we are not ready. And so in mercy He waits, as Peter also says (2 Pet 3:9). And that’s why the subject after this one will be, “God Waits for His Children to Grow Up.” If we would be as ready as Job was, God would allow these closing events to occur right away; but He’s our heavenly Father, so He waits.

Lou: So Satan does not have controlling power over the timing of the End. God and he are not partners in this.

Graham: Well, he is being restrained; that is the picture in Thessalonians (2 Thess 2:6-7) and elsewhere (Rev 7:1-3).

Lou: But that brings up another question: “If Satan’s deceptions are being restrained, that also implies that God is allowing, at least in some sense, for Satan to deceive. How does that serve God’s purposes in the Great Controversy?”

Graham: Good question. If God won the victory on Calvary, why not terminate everything right afterward? After all, look what has happened these last two thousand years and what is happening in the news most weeks. How does the delay speak eloquently to God’s purposes?
I would say there are things yet to be demonstrated—and not just about God and His government. Up to this point, Satan has never been given an entirely free hand to run things his way, to demonstrate what the universe would be like if he were in charge. So in the final period of earth’s history we are going to see this. We understand from Romans (1:18-28), Hosea (11:1-9), and the cross (Rom 4:25), that the seven angels pouring out the wrath of God means He is giving people up, handing them over. The Spirit ceases to restrain (Rev 7:1-3) and Satan will have a free hand. Just before the Second Coming, the whole universe, and even Satan’s own followers, will see how he would run things, if he could run them his own way. And all hell will break loose at that time.
I think it demonstrates something else also. I wouldn’t blame the angels for wondering if we rebels could really be as convinced of the truth as they are. They are all ready to see the seven last plagues and not interpret them as God’s vengeance. They are also prepared to see the wicked consumed and not be afraid of God. But they might wonder if we are. They might also wonder if the truth will be able to heal us to the point where we could pass through that awful time of trouble and not be led away from God. Would we think of Him as vengeful during the seven last plagues? Would we be ready to see the final destruction without being afraid?
The generation that will be alive to see the Lord come will also be able to speak eloquently of God’s power to heal, and the power of the truth to restore the damage done by sin. This last generation has the great privilege of bringing honor to God. God shows the universe through them that He can heal with the truth. He can restore sinners to the kind of trust the angels have. That is a high privilege. We’ll go deeper into that in the next chapter.

Another way Satan attempted to confuse the evidence was through the ancient “mystery religions.” Even before the earthly ministry of Jesus, Satan was at work to undermine and confuse the evidence by counterfeiting Christ’s first coming. In the mystery religions the central figure was a dying, rising savior who had been supernaturally born. He died a cruel and violent death, was exalted up to heaven, and there mediated supernatural help to his followers on earth. Later that savior would return, resurrect his followers and annihilate the forces of evil. These mystery religions even had the equivalent of the Lord’s Supper, baptism, washing in the blood, and many other things.

One of the main researchers in this field was a professor who taught at the University of Chicago just before I got there. His name was Shirley Jackson Case. He wrote a book entitled, The Origin of Christian Supernaturalism. He observed, “Of the Gentiles it might truly be said that there was no salvation without the shedding of blood.” And they were doing this even before Christ came. Let me share a quote or two:

Long before Christianity arose, there were many Gentile religions inviting those who felt the need of divine assistance for the inward man. The rites of the various mystery religions offered an especially good opportunity for the attainment of a new emotional experience, readily interpreted as an effective acquisition of fresh divine power. The stimulation of the senses by music and processionals, the play upon the feelings attending various acts in connection with the rites of initiation, the pledge to secrecy, solemnly imposed upon all the candidates, the wild orgies connected with some of the cults, all served to produce the desired emotional agitation. The necessity of presenting oneself voluntarily for membership as well as the purifications and the other preparatory acts only heightened the effect.
Everything that was done happened to one as an individual. This strong emphasis on the personal relations between the devotee and his god gave precisely the sense of divine interest which alone could produce in needy humanity feelings of solace and satisfaction. Initiation into the mysteries was likened to the experience of death itself. It filled one with terror, but issued in triumph. It was easy for the members of the mystery cults to believe that they were under the protection of divinities who had successfully engaged in a mighty cosmic struggle with the forces of evil and men spoke of being born again, born unto eternity. Shirley Jackson Case, The Origin of Christian Supernaturalism, 166-167.

Does all of that sound familiar to you? Before Jesus came, Satan was already working to distract people from the revelation about God that was coming in Christ. I believe we will see brilliant counterfeits of Christ’s second coming as well. Popular and apparently spiritual movements are using the wonders of technology to distribute “every wind of doctrine” (Eph 4:14, ESV) all over the globe. Even the most important beliefs and teachings of Christianity are being bent to support Satan’s position against our God. Even faith, the subject of sin, the atonement, the cross, law, judgment, Christ’s intercession, the destruction of the wicked, all God’s emergency measures, are being twisted just enough to obscure the real truth about God.

Do you feel ready for this? Have we oversimplified? Are we in danger of being overconfident? Are we interpreting these truths in such a way that we are leaving ourselves vulnerable and leading the people we win to be vulnerable with us? That is why, in the very next chapter, we are going to talk about why “God Waits for His Children to Grow Up.” You can trust our God to wait for that to happen.

Other saints are in danger of underestimating Satan’s ability to deceive and confuse. I have heard many say, “There is no way I could be deceived when Satan comes as Christ in the last days. I have two or three things carefully stored away by which I will test him when he comes.” But I doubt that the Devil will make it that easy on us. History offers many examples that warn against such overconfidence. For example, when Jesus suffered, died, and rose again, Satan knew that the great weight of evidence was against him. Therefore, he worked very hard to destroy or hide the evidence. One of his most diabolical successes, right from the beginning, was in leading some to believe that Jesus did not really come in the flesh. He did not really suffer and He did not really die. He only seemed to do those things. The group of people who believed that were known as the Docetists. They taught that Jesus did not have a physical body, that He did not really die and rise. He was more like a ghost than a person. This was an effective way by which Satan sought, right from the start, to destroy the evidence Christ provided of what God is really like. This idea was widespread in John’s later years:

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God (1 John 4:1-2, NIV).

We know historically that people were going around saying Jesus had not really come in the flesh. John wrote a whole Gospel to show that Jesus, a real, embodied human being, was also fully God and came to reveal what the Father is truly like. If Satan can get people to believe that Jesus was not both human and divine, the clarity of His revelation of God’s character is lost.

Just as God in many and various ways has sought to reveal the truth to us (Heb 1:1), so in many and various ways Satan has sought to keep us from seeing this truth. He has tried to deceive us into turning against this truth, even as we are claiming to believe it. One of his most successful deceptions has been leading God’s people into a grateful satisfaction. They come to feel that the Lord has blessed them with so much light that they really don’t need to pursue it anymore. It can even seem an act of gratitude to God to stop learning and growing. God has favored them with so much truth that they become conservative and discourage further investigation. Revelation 3 has a most serious message for such falsely secure saints:

I know what you have done; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were either one or the other! But because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my mouth! You say, “I am rich and well off; I have all I need.” But you do not know how miserable and pitiful you are! You are poor, naked, and blind (Rev 3:15-17, GNB).

The Greek word for “miserable” above means to be worn out from hard work. The Laodiceans are worn out from trying to please the Lord. At the same time they are satisfied with their efforts and what they believe they have from God. But this combination of hard work and spiritual self-satisfaction does not make God angry, it makes Him sick. The word translated “spit” above is where we get the English word “emetic.” That’s why some versions say, “I am going to vomit you out of My mouth.”

At first, Saul (later Paul) shared the same picture of God. His evangelistic methods showed that he, too, had been deceived. He saw nothing wrong in using force or fear to win converts to the kind of God he worshiped. And he was not alone in this. Jesus had very serious words for hard working evangelists and soul-winners who portray a false picture of God. What a devastating thing it will be for evangelists to find out later that this is what they have been doing:

When the Judgment Day comes, many will say to me, “Lord, Lord! In your name we spoke God’s message, by your name we drove out many demons and performed many miracles!” Then I will say to them, “I never knew you” (Matt 7:22-23, GNB).

In other words, Jesus is saying, “We were never friends. You never really knew the kind of person I am. By the way you represented the truth to people, you actually supported Satan’s charges against Me and My Father.”

Naturally, those who remain loyal to God are the special target of Satan’s final effort to deceive. Revelation 12, the chapter that first mentions the war in heaven, describes God’s loyal ones as being the special objects of Satan’s wrath (12:12). He goes to make war on those called the Remnant, the ones left over. Those who are the object of Satan’s special wrath are: “All those who obey God’s commandments and are faithful to the truth revealed by Jesus” (Rev 12:17, GNB). They do not accept Satan’s lies.

If we count ourselves among God’s loyal people, we would do well to notice Satan’s successes through the centuries in deceiving the saints. He doesn’t normally tempt saints into the gross indulgences, the things which most saints would never think of doing. Rather, Satan has used insidious methods to turn saints against our heavenly Father, even while they professed to be God’s chosen people. We remember his original success among the brilliant angels in heaven. How is it possible Satan could deceive them right in the very presence of the Father? Yet he did.

We gain some insight into Satan’s deceptions as we consider how he worked against God’s chosen people in the Old Testament. After the discipline of Babylon and the great revival and reformation that took place under Ezra and Nehemiah, God’s Old Testament people never worshiped idols again. Oh, how they read their Bibles, paid their tithe, watched their diet, and were so very careful not to be contaminated by association with unbelievers! Oh, how they waited for the coming of their Messiah! You could say, in principle, they were all eager “adventists.”

Yet, when the Messiah came to live among them, they denounced His picture of the Father as heretical and unbiblical. They even said the Son of God had a devil to be talking about His Father that way: “The Jews answered Him, ‘Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?’” John 8:48, NIV. Imagine them saying that the Lord had a demon for describing God the way He did! When they said that the Lord had a devil, they seemed so devout. They were eager to be known as God’s true people, even working hard to win others to the truth. Recall Jesus’ own words as He commented on the worldwide evangelistic efforts of His people in those days:

How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You sail the seas and cross whole countries to win one convert; and when you succeed, you make him twice as deserving of going to hell as you yourselves are. . . ! You give to God one tenth even of the seasoning herbs, such as mint, dill, and cumin, but you neglect to obey the really important teachings of the Law, such as justice and mercy and honesty. . . . Blind guides! You strain a fly out of your drink, but swallow a camel (Matt 23:15, 23-24, GNB)!

They would win that convert to the Sabbath and all those other things. Yet their convert might at the same time be a son of hell, as other versions say. They had accepted Satan’s picture of God and completely overlooked what God really wanted from them.

In saying this I am not being disrespectful to Jewish people. Keep in mind, when I refer to the Jews, that Jesus was a Jew. Paul was a Jew. The apostles were Jews. The prophets of the Old Testament were Jews. Where would we be but for the Jews? Jews have always sought to be God’s obedient saints. I am simply pointing out that their failings then were similar to ours now. Notice how their passion to obey God caused a serious problem for them on crucifixion Friday:

Early in the morning Jesus was taken from Caiaphas’ house to the governor’s palace. The Jewish authorities did not go inside the palace, for they wanted to keep themselves ritually clean, in order to be able to eat the Passover meal (John 18:28, GNB).

Think of what the Passover represented. The Jews rightly and devoutly wanted to partake of the Passover. But the crucifixion threatened to interrupt their plans. Since the day of the crucifixion was not just a Passover, but a Passover Friday, there was one additional problem that faced them:

Now it was the day of Preparation [Friday], and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down (John 19:31, NIV).

After the bodies were taken down, they hurried home to keep the Sabbath holy. This is perhaps the most insane thing in the history of the universe. Having nailed their Saviour to the cross, they ran home to keep the Sabbath holy in honor of the very One they had just crucified. They had watched the way Jesus behaved as He suffered. They heard Him say, “I forgive you.” They heard Him say to John, “Please look after My mother.” They heard Him forgiving the thief. Jesus had behaved precisely as the Old Testament prophets had said He would. But they were so deceived by Satan’s lies that they were totally unmoved by this. Instead they asserted that Jesus was the One who had accepted Satan’s lies about God.

It was insane of the adversary to begin this war over his desire to be worshiped as God. It is equally insane for him to continue this war, now that he knows that he has lost. But continue he does, in a mad desire to bring down as many as he can with him. And since no one in the wider universe is willing to listen to his charges any more, he concentrates his destructive efforts on us here on this planet. Only on earth can he find individuals willing to listen, he even finds many who agree with him. That explains the warning of Revelation 12:

Be glad, you heavens, and all you that live there! But how terrible for the earth and the sea! For the Devil has come down to you, and he is filled with rage, because he knows that he has only a little time left (Rev 12:12, GNB).

We are at the center of Satan’s deceptive activity because earth is where we live. Hence Peter offers a similar warning in 1 Peter 5:8-9, GNB: “Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the Devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Be firm in your faith and resist him. . . .”

The apostle John warns that Satan’s final efforts to deceive will apparently be rewarded with complete success. For the whole world is described as worshiping him, the very thing he’s wanted all along:

The beast [Satan working through agents on earth], was allowed to make proud claims which were insulting to God. . . . It was allowed to fight against God’s people and to defeat them. . . . All people living on earth will worship it, except those whose names were written before the creation of the world in the book of the living. . . . This calls for endurance and faith on the part of God’s people [emphases supplied]. Rev 13:5, 7, 8, 10, GNB.

These words in Revelation 13 remind us of Revelation 14:12: “Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” [emphases supplied]. Rev 14:12, RSV. So that appeal is made more than once. The closing up of the Great Controversy and Satan’s final effort to deceive call for endurance and faith on the part of God’s people.

How easily Jesus could have used His power to blot out His tormentors at the cross. And He knew, moreover, that if He used His power, the people would be pleased. They would follow Him, but for the wrong reason. The people were looking for a Messiah that would use His power to conquer their enemies and set up an earthly kingdom where they could rule over the world. What a temptation it must have been for Christ to demonstrate His power and His majesty, to come down off the cross and blot out the Roman soldiers, to see all the people fall at His feet and worship Him. If He had done that, a cry would have gone throughout Judea and the countries beyond. “The Messiah has come! The Messiah has come!” How rewarding that might have seemed for at least a moment.

Satan had done his best to break down Jesus’ trust in His Father and in His mission to reveal the truth about God. But the things that God desires the most; love, trust, peace and freedom; are not produced by shows of power or force. They are not produced by terrifying people until they fall on their faces in fear. So Satan watched in frustrated fury as Jesus, instead of becoming angry, said to His tormentors: “I forgive you” (Luke 23:34). Satan watched Jesus saying to John, “Please look after My mother” (John 19:25-27). Satan watched Jesus say to the repentant thief, “I would be pleased to remember you when I come into My kingdom” (based on Luke 23:42-43).

Jesus’ behavior at the cross completely refuted Satan’s charges that God is arbitrary, exacting, vengeful, unforgiving, and severe. All the other questions that had been raised about God’s character and government had also been clearly answered, not with claims, but in very costly and painful demonstration (see “Three Questions Regarding the Character of God” in Chapter Eight). The angels in the universe got the message. They have been celebrating ever since. How do you think Satan feels when he hears lyrics like the following?

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. . . . You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power. . . . Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear [reverence], you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed (Rev 4:8, 11; 15:3-4, NIV).

The object of this praise is God’s own righteousness. That is the crucial issue in the cosmic view that the great controversy theme provides. In the narrower view, we are more preoccupied with what God has done for you and me. But if that were the primary focus, and it is an important one (Rev 5:9-10), they would not be singing about God’s righteousness. God has been accused of being unrighteous and unworthy of the trust and worship of His children throughout the universe. That is also the theme of Romans 3:25-26. Jesus died to demonstrate the righteousness and the trustworthiness of our God. Even before the victory on the cross, as Jesus watched the disciples gradually learning the truth about His Father, He could say that He “saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18, RSV).