Conflict of the Ages 3.0

The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan (Version 3.0)

            Here is an “overview” of my Great Controversy understanding. It started out with one that was basically quite similar to the standard SDA view. However over the course of these now 13+ years of engaging in deeper, exegetical and scholarly studies of the Bible, also using the SOP, these findings have greatly deepened this GC understanding. So all of my Theological understandings, as found throughout this blog, contribute to this GC view.

            As seen, this GC view is presented topically-sequentially because such a presentation inherently involves one’s understanding of how the GC has developed, which is substantively distinct from a set of fundamental tenets/beliefs. Indeed, a “GC View” is the full application of one Theological, Doctrinal and Prophetic Beliefs and Understandings. So here is, more pointedly, “The Conflict of the Ages 3.0”. The account from Modern Bible Translation, i.e., as readily/surfacely readable from these translations is considered as version 1.0. EGW’s Works as found mainly in her 5 volume set, and also throughout her writings, which is based upon such Bible translations, but also add much inspired commentary is considered as version 2.0. This version, as most cursorily presented here, builds upon the contribution of GC 1.0 & 2.0 adding the contributions that can be done through scholarly studies, including original translations from the Bible where needed is being considered as 3.0. It indeed this version here is a to-be-developed, planned project to one day deepen the presentation of the Bible’s/SOP’s “GC” View/Themes through more indepth analysis derived from new and/or deeper exegetical work.

War in Heaven

            Lucifer secretly and inwardly became jealous of Jesus superior glory and then more fully/overtly/resolutely when God suddenly elevated Him to (his actually rightful position since He was also God) as next to Father. Lucifer then began to vexatiously wonder, looking at his great attributes and talents, how does Jesus just being God make him better than him. So he therefore began to seeking to impeach this “God” thing and began to spread his views around that they, created angels, really did not need to be under the authority of God. They were well capable of, effectively, being their own god, and thus living according to their own laws, according to what they felt was best for them. God here, with the future not being known as it does not exist, and thus not “known” by God as the Bible actually reveals, He could not set up a screen in Heaven and show everyone how bad Satan decision will be. It just had not happened yet. So that was not an option at all. The evil angels were surely not going to take God at his word here so, since this alternative way of doing things could not be permitted to co-exist in Heaven due to the confusion and even Universe damage and chaos, that it would cause, God, though fairly, permitted Satan to literally, physically fight to maintain this physical Universe Headquarter location/stronghold of Heaven. They lost and were forceful kicked out.

So therein, whether deliberate or not, (probably not), had come to be the Heavenly Beings’ “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil” for they here all had the tangible opportunity to trust the wisdom and judgement of God. This adverse development, stemming from that simple exalting event could also have been a precursor for the Tree of Good and Evil that God planted in Eden. He saw from this that Man should also be given this similar test of their faith and loyalty to God.

I believe that, like man, created heavenly beings are also mortal and thus, this casting out, no doubt causing a privation of the ‘“aroma”/atmosphere of Life’ meant that Satan’s Lifespan clock started to countdown them. So realizing (also) then that He had “little time” (Rev 12:12b) before he naturally die off (perhaps 10,000 year vs. Man’s 1000 years), he went right to work.

Expulsion

            Satan also probably felt cheated since he was outnumbered 2 to 1; and so for that reason, if he ever wanted to have a chance to completely dethrone God and sit in His place, he tried to gain a greater following by trying to recruit people from the other created worlds with this exact same foundational view. The ironic thing is that Satan knew that God had the power to instantly destroy him and any other rebellious person. However in actually a suicidal way, being so sure of his view that he would rather die than no live according to it, he affronted God head on also banking on the fact that he knew God would not destroy him, lest he be proven right. And if proven right, that would then really dethrone God since His way was really not the best. So in this case either God was “incompetent” as God or He actually knew of the weakness of His government all along and had been lying and hiding this from his created being, all to maintain his status and position as God. All as Satan believed and was charging.

Earth

            So Satan went all around the universe with His views and God fairly gave him an opportunity to present this view. Not that God was just being fair, but actually because God also had involved the Right of freedom in His Government. So Satan only convince the inhabitants of Earth of this view in Adam and Eve, indeed repeating the same view that God was hiding something from them and that because he wanted to arbitrarily rule over them. Satan did indeed lie to Eve because he knew that they would be barred from the tree of life if they ate the fruit. However He probably also knew that God would not actually kill them off instantly, just as he himself was not killed.

            Indeed God could have wiped them out and started all over, especially given that this was the only world to have fallen. Another choice of God would be to let man life as sinner perpetually while eating of the fruit. However he knew that living outside of his laws, though this then would not result in death in itself, would indeed still bring, suffering, pain sickness and even inflicted deaths. God probably also knew that the Fruit of Life was limited in that which it could do. As I said before it was a therapeutic fruit and not a curing one. So a perpetuated life of sin would still be a life that resulted in pre-mature deaths and that probably for all. Of course Satan was, like our culture today, really banking on man democratically forming their own acceptable form of government, according to their own law, not given any worship to God. So some of the last six commandment would probably be upheld. However like today, not for long. Even murder would be legalized as it is today with man then selfishly wanting more and more for themselves, no doubt even devising a system like capitalism to try to “legislate” the inherent greed, and to live according to such laws, no doubt resorting to abortion to keep their “forward positions” in that system. So life would not be much different than today, and even worst given the possibility of a longer life. I.e., the earth would long ago have been filled by such selfish men resulting in spurious capitalistic means being implemented a long time ago, and all that this entailed. The murder and violence manifestly in existence at the time of the flood would have been the unchageable norm, if nuclear weapons had not been developed already to try to lessen the “competition” of course probably ending in a nuclear holocaust where no one, even righteous people are able to survive.

So God presciently seeing all of this, saw best to bar access to the Tree of Life.

Abraham

            When God saw that the current state of things with scattered individuals (e.g, Job) and families of righteous people (e.g., Abraham’s forefathers) was not the best way in which a knowledge of Him can either be preserved or spread throughout the rest of the world living in sin, despite all being descendants of Adam, He decided to form Israel. However there was now a problem. So he looked through the earth and found the family of Abraham, which actually were partly pagan yet still faithful. In order to “justify” this choice Abraham was to be made to accede to that promise in a faith that would be counted as righteousness. Hence making him wait until he and Sarah were way too old to have children to fulfill the promise. When they passed this test, though difficultly, even barely given the Hagar fiasco, God could continue to work with them.

Pre-Israel

            Now there was another problem all along. There was no favorable land freely available to establish this new people. Also God knew that this people would, like Abraham be most faithful in order to obtain promises that they were inherently unworthy of. Given also the geo-political situation then, God would also need them to be faithful so that He could work the many needed miracles and blessings that were necessary to fully execute this national plan. So he decided to make them spend 400 years as sojourners and mistreated slaves so that this would/should serve as an everlasting object-lesson of what will happen to them if they were unfaithful and God could not protect them. That was all actually going to be natural consequence since they were known from Abraham days as an upstart family with national plans and since the Exodus as a people who had literally dispossessed many nations to take their land, and that a most favorable land in the then known world, which as also the center of the world then. So there enemies were naturally against them and felt ever threatened by them. So they no doubt were continually plotting on how to get rid of this threat of Israel who indeed had a mandate to increase their borders, gradually dispossessing heathen nations as their God commanded. Israel had an “inhabited world”, even global target painted on them from the very start.

National Israel

            Then with Israel free and being establish as a nation, God now much more fully shared many of the key religious teachings and practices that were necessary to temporarily provide their Righteous. So the Law and the Sanctuary was made more concrete and Israel was to safeguard the truth, and that really by fully incorporating them in their individual lives and collective society.

Priest and Judges

            God also knew, as part of the great national plans that He had for Israel, hinted in Deutoronomy,  they would need to be more civilly structured to meet those greater national challenges. If they were e.g. going to be as power as Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome became, having a dominion that would in righteousness extend to foreign countries but non-forcefully allow them to freely choose the Religious ways of God, they first had to be a solid religious community. Indeed that was explicitly stipulated in the National Promise made to Abraham (Gen 12:2, 3). So God had been first preoccupied with having them first properly understand and practice their religious economy before expanding these national plans. So the principles of Religion led by the Priest and Justice administered by Judges was being hammered out. The earlier they mastered these, the sooner God’s plans can advance. However Israel never fully got around to fulfilling these duties.

Monarchy

            Israel nonetheless started to clamour for a king “like the nations around them”. Though they spiritually were not ready, among the reason why God pre-maturely granted this wish, indeed choosing the best man available then as Saul was, though being from the non monarchial tribe of Benjamin, it was because the nations around Israel then were indeed growing from clan to “superpowers”. So Israel was increasingly being physically threatened by them as well as also losing national prestige amongst these nations, making them seem likely an easy target. Given Israel’s periodic, even customary unfaithfulness, God saw that if this could serve to increase their national pride, it, under a righteous leader could indeed lead them into paths of faithfulness and righteousness. It would also present a facade to the nations around them and prevent invasion attempts which, again, Israel may not always be in a righteous position where God can come to their rescue.

            Interestingly enough, I do not see that when Saul was selected from Benjamin, that David was ever in the picture, nor anyone from the tribe of Judah, if Saul and his descendants had all being faithful. God had selected him because his hand was forced. And since, manifestly, no one in the tribe of Judah was better than Saul, David wound not even be born until about the 10^th year of Saul’s reign and Saul also would be a good king until ca. his 27^th year when the incidents in 1 Sam 14:24ff took place, God had indeed made a best possible choice then in Saul, with the righteous Jonathan probably next in line to be king. However Saul catastrophically failed God and David from Judah was chosen in his place however it was not long in David’s line that Israel showed that they were not ready to be headed by a monarchy as they could not live according to God’s religious and judicial ways. In fact they increasingly became pagan and secular through this kingly power. No doubt just as God had feared since he new that giving them this great civil authority which was still to be under His laws was like, in today’s terms, a parent giving in to the insistent demands of a 10 year old child and letting him have the keys to the car, and morever permitting him to go drive on the highway as he “always desired”. A crash, even/probably a fatal one was almost inevitable, even putting the lives of other drives at risk.

Captivity

            In an attempt to prevent this fatal crash, and for the overall benefit of both Israel and other Gentile nations, God decided to ‘take this insistent kid’ to a bumper car ride and letting him see what this unprepared highway driving was all about. So throughout the mainly unfaithful Monarchy times, Israel suffered many domestic and foreign calamities and defeats. Yet that still did not make them correct their ways except for a Davidic Remnant. So consequently came the Assyrian captivity of the 10+ Northern tribes of Israel in ca. 723 B.C. and then the defeat of the ca. 2 tribes if the Southern kingdom of Judah starting in ca. 606 B.C.

Restoration

            With hopefully their lesson learned in this utter judgement, which also had most tangible resaons since the land of Israel had agriculturally become depleted of its nutrients because the Sabbatical law for fallow lands was ignored during all of these past years, meaning that they would probably die of starvation since the nations around them surely would not feed them, nor did they have sufficient domestic wealth to buy found from other nations, a Remnant of Judah was returned to the land. They were however to follow the instructions for this restoration, in which the temple needed to be rebuilt and the religious services established, as God had revealed to Ezekiel in now plans that He himself had designed for a Sanctuary that was no longer to be in a tent structure. Even David’s initiative in this regard had not been God time or plan since, as God probably knew, Israel, still not yet properly practising and understanding their religious economy. would come to make an idol out of this structurally grandiose Temple complex. So, ironically enough, and case in point to this temple idolization, when God now gave them, through Ezekiel this Great Temple plans, they still rejected them, preferring to follow their own ideas and ways. God just could not win with them. He really was not the Lord of their Life.

Messiah

            With such an entrenched history of faithlessness, selfishness and self-worship, it is no surprise that Israel was never able to make themselves ready to accept the Messiah. Indeed God had presciently seen all along that the “Messiah Test” would come to verify if God’s people had learned all of the lessons that they should have learned under the OT religious and judicial economy. If they had proven to be both a society that loved, was faithful and obeyed their God and also was just and loving to others around them, then they would be ready to move into the Greater National plans that God had for them. Then could they be elevated to the position of a superpower that God desired for them, surpassing the influence, power and prestige of Rome and also the knowledge and cultural impartation that Greece was still exerting to long ago replaced by Rome in this global hegemony position.

The Cross

            Interestingly enough Jesus had to die to pay the death penalty for the sins of the world, however, if Israel had proven faithful when He came, they would not have been the ones responsible for his death. In an alternative scenario/history, they, as a faithful and righteous people, they would have fully accepted Jesus, believed all that he taught, lived righteously amongst themselves and understood how Christ teaching of righteousness was to rightly, honorifically supercede the Old Covenant and the Law of Moses. Jesus surely would also have ascended to the throne of David and begun to rule in Jerusalem. However he would have come the real test. The ruling Roman Empire, no doubt being informed of the developments and pushed by the devil to fear this, would have surely waged war against Jerusalem. And like He did in the actual history, Jesus knowing he had to die for the sins of the world would have allowed himself to be captured, with Jerusalem then probably suffering a stunning defeat as God would have let this happen to make this death possible. And just like the disciples, who probably are representative of the best that a relatively righteous Israel would be like at that time, they all would have rejected Jesus and say that he was a false prophet. With their national pride hurt on top of probably having suffered a stinging and utterly destructive defeat, it is very unlikely that God would have caused a resurrected Christ to appear to this now Christ hating nation, just as Christ only appeared to His disciples, especially as this group of Israel, which would have included the Scribes, Priests and Pharisees, and other leader, would had had much more light than Christ’s disciples had had. So their rejection would have been against much greater light, with especially their long desire wish of a Messianic King having had been fulfilled before their eyes.

The Gospel

            If on the other hand they had remained faithful through this attack and Messiah killing by the Romans, this would have certainly granted them the righteous right to witness the resurrection and triumph of Christ, as with the faithful disciples. Jesus would probably still have returned to heaven to prepared the New Jerusalem, and this faithful Israel, who may have also, at Christ’s instruction, not put up any resistance to the Romans and let Him be captured and put to death, would not, as Christians continued the Messianic Gospel Work of Christ, going to all nations as a national contingents vs. a lone missionaries.

The Potential End

            Really the end of this GC would have begun to occur at this point with Israel. With Dan 11 finding its possible, uninterrupted/continuous, literal fulfillment. However, with the victory for sin having been won on the cross and with God now having all of the piece in place to wrap up this message for the superiority of His Law and Righteousness as being modelled by Israel, Satan now even more seeing that his time is much shorter (2^nd fulfillment of Rev 12:12), would have, even by God permission, in fairness, begun to work supernatural works to keep heathen people under his control. So Israel’s efforts would have been met by a even stronger opposition and the need for them to remain faithful, with the temptations included with such national wealth and prestige pulling at them. It would have been a formidable battle to try to end this GC then, as it could be.

“End Time” Prophecies

            As God says about prophecy, they are all conditional and whether promises of Good or evil, they equally be removed as “circumstances on the ground” change  (Jer 18:1-8). In the OT we find many prophecies of Israel’s demise and rejection of Christ, however there is just about as much and probably much more promises of future greatness. Because of the path that Israel chose, the came to fulfill the prophecies of judgement and doom.

70 AD

            And indeed because of this, Promises about the history of the Church were fulfilled as time was prolonged beyond 70 A.D. when, then, the Christian Church proved to be not ready for Christ’s Return as the Apostles,  Paul and even Jesus had (literally) preached and expected. The shortcomings persisting in the Church are seen throughout the Pastoral letters in the NT and their end development are seen in the Letter to the Seven Churches which covered a literal Church period of ca. 60-95 A.D. (I.e., around the time when they were established until John was given these typologically pertinent Revelations on Patmos.

Church History

            So a new History of God’s New Israel, as prophesied based on a failure of the Literal Israel, developed. And indeed, as revealed in EGW Great Controversy book, with Satan becoming more directly involved in misleading the Church, as allowed by God, probably in the direct light of the fact that the Gospel had made salvation much more simple and easier to obtain.

Remnant (1840's to 1908)

            Then came a second restoration attempt, which most are familiar with the details here. God’s faithful Judah then could have caused the effectuation of the Second Coming in that EGW generation. However they repeatedly and increasingly proved unfaithful and that in great light. So that Second Coming was delayed and time was prolonged.

Remnant (1908 to 1996)

            Unfortunately, Satan seeing that he has just barely made it out of this possible end, now virtually quadrupled his efforts and may of the false teachings that exist in our world today began to take root and be widespread then, ‘blooming’ into not only our entrenched views world of today were various people believe whatever various things that is best for them, but this is also, under a religious covering the matching state of affairs in both the global Christian Church of over 2.2 billion adherents and also in a similarly sectarianly entrenched was in the SDA Church.

Eschatological Remnant (1996ff)

            Typologically speaking, as with the Jews in the Time of Christ, and the Millerites coming out of the reform work following the Church’s “Babylonian Captivity”, the SDA Church had the chance to effectuate the Second Coming already, as literally prophesied by EGW, had they had been faithful. (I.e., literal Sunday Law and all). How as I understand it, based on the Theological/Biblical possibility of eschatological fulfillment of Bible prophecies, there has, since ca. 1996 which was really a zenith in what the Church could have been had it continued on an upward path rather than returning to preferred but detrimental sectarian ways. And so there has come an eschatological wave of Bible prophecies, particularly in Dan 10-12 and Rev. 4:1ff and through which the many unfulfilled and postponed prophecy in the OT for a Triumphant Zion, will find their fulfillment

The Second Coming

            Despite the implementation of this eschatological wave however long it will either last or it will take to Truly Fulfill Christ’s Gospel Mission, the utter end, involving Christ’s literal return will occur. Whether Bible SOP prophecies are literally fulfilled then or just spiritually fulfilled under this eschatological wave is yet to be seen, however it can be understood that if this final consummation is to involve a testing of God’s people on purely religious grounds (as currently expected by the SDA Church) then these fulfillments will be literal. However if they are to pit a restored national Israel vs. the World, (as under this eschatological wave), then they will be fulfilled spiritually.

Millenium

            The period of the Millenium will literally be a time for God’s judgements to be reviewed by the redeemed. The punishment of the wicked then will also be set. It is then also that the righteous will more fully and concretely see how righteous God’s ways have been, not only for their own lives but for the lives of many others before and around them. It will then be agreed by all that sin must be eradicated from the universe and thus will the wicked have their fate and punishment sealed. I do not expect that this in depth review of God’s judgement over these thousands of year of this great conflict will turn up anything that anyone thinks should be changed. Yet the sincere possibility of this, as made manifest, as popularly stated by those who are surprisingly there and those who are not, including even oneself for many who had not passed through the final test as the translated ones. Indeed those who will be translated will, while alive have to die a Christ passion type of agonizing psychological death, including to self, that when they would have made it through, will know that they have been faithful to the end and thus will anxiously and confidently await the appearing Christ in the clouds.

New Heaven and New Earth

            In short, the New Heaven and the New Earth will be Eden Restored and God’s redeemed now knowing with the most concrete certainty that God’s was are absolutely the best and that He knows what He is doing and has the best in mind for us, will in faith accept the plan that God always had for His Created Beings. With then Satan having been lastly destroyed in the Lake of Fire, and no one in the universe desire to follow in his footsteps. God will, due to it mootness, removing this vacated voting booth of the Tree of Knowledge of Evil from all created worlds.

Eternity

            The statement of Christ’s of ‘not marrying or being given in marriage’ (Matt 22:30 & Luke 20:34-35) can arguably be understood as being only limited to the time/“age” when the redeemed will physically be in Heaven during the Millenium. However it can be possible, as acceptable, that when that “reached age” is over, and the redeemed are returned to this recreated Earth. The 1000 years will also serve to fully heal of all the harm that sin has caused not leaving a trace of it to take root in any generation. So Man on this Earth will again have the mandate to “fill it abundantly.” The lessons of this GC will also be available for all to study/read in the annals of Heaven. Surely life will continue as normal in other worlds so why not amongst those who will have been redeemed from this world and by then been fully cleanse of sin. Just as children born in other world following the end of this GC will not have a concurrent knowledge of the GC and yet still be faithful, so can it be with the children of the Redeemed of Earth. So that statement of Christ may have only been for the “age” when we will be like the angels in Heaven, indeed being the only created Beings living in Heaven, while this Earth is, by physical necessity “resting” and recuperating for 1000 years, until/so that its building block elements can be ready for God’s recreation.

Given that God’s Created Beings will truly and always be free moral agents and given that the Future is not known, there is in such granted Freedom the possibility that a person can choose to challenge the authority of God again in the future. However if that ever occurred, with now the concrete proof of 6000+ year of the Great Controversy at hand and with every issue involved in it having been fully resolved, such a challenging person will, to the approval of all, be summarily blotted out. It is in this way that the exegetically applicable, full statement in Nah 1:9, which typologically speaks of God’s everlasting victory for His People, will be fulfilled as it (fully) says: “Whatever you devise against the LORD, He will make a complete end of it. Distress [and not merely sin] will not rise up twice.” So “sin” may freely take root in someone, but its “distressing effect will not again be allowed to flourish and that through the full approval of everyone else. That is not a “reality” and “proof” that God had to, transparently, even knowingly, immediately execute such a sin quarantining judgement. In Rev 21:4 it is said that ‘there will be no death in the New Jerusalem (= New Earth), however, there may be something exegetically pivotal in the fact that the verb “to be” is in the middle voice. This makes that statement (as well as the next one) literally say: ‘Death of itself will not be.’ That still leaves open the possibility for a passive death, as in the execution of a judgement (or even an active death = a form of suicide). With the Theological realities that Man will always be fully free and also that the Future is unknown, an attempt to challenge God’s Wisdom and Authority is possible, highly unlikely, but possible. That is why (a) this GC has been going on for so long and to its full extent, especially as this needs to be the case when time has been prolonged due to the unreadiness/unfaithfulness of a generation that could have ended it and (b) why the investigative aspect of the judgement is so painstakingly thorough both the make sure we are capable of being so trusted and to assure the rest of Heavenly beings that we can be trusted. God will not brainwash anyone who is redeemed and though the sinful effects of sin may be wiped away from our memories, our characters, particularly for those who are translated, will be what we have cultivated it to be. So no one with a character that is not inline with Christ’s will be trusted into the Heavenly realms.