Satan Will Prevail For a Season

“I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” Daniel 7:21-27 KJV

“And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear.” Revelation 13:7-9 KJV

We need to understand that through the antichrist Satan will be given a short period of time (it seems to be about three and a half years from Daniel – although the Hebrew calendar was different than ours) to war against the saints and win. We need to be prepared to have Satan win for a short time. We love the victories and taking the land, but God is going to allow a time for us to lose. It will seem like God has failed us, it will seem like He has forsaken us, for how could He let us be beaten down like this? It won’t be easy to hold fast.

But oh, the beautiful promise in Daniel (and later in Revelation as well), for God shall rule in our favor and everything will be turned around! Instead of being the losers, we wind up the winners and we will be given the kingdom to rule and reign with Christ! Of course to do so we must overcome. Do not let that word out of your memory; it is very, very important for the next few years, however many we have left.

So be prepared to lose for a while. Be prepared to die for your Savior if need be. God has promised that these things will happen, to just brush them off as someone else’s problem (usually tribulation saints) is foolish. That is a hard word, yet in Matthew 25 Jesus said that 5 of the virgins who were waiting for the bridegroom (are sinners doing that?) were foolish. Why were they foolish? They did not bring oil in extra vessels, although they had oil to begin with – for their lamps went out (verse 8). They were not prepared to go for a long time, only a short time.

If you are prepared and are raptured before all that anyway (won’t be happening), what have you lost? It is wise to be prepared to endure to the end. It is wise to be ready to die if necessary, for many have gone before us and many more will go. If you only prepare yourself to be raptured out of here, you won’t be well prepared to be martyred if necessary, you won’t be well prepared to stand through the tribulation. If it’s wise to be prepared, what is it if you are not prepared? Jesus’ words speak for themselves.

Make no mistake about it, Satan is going to have some time to win, and it is going to be very ugly for us. But God is going to rule against him and for the saints! May you endure and be part of that number; it’s not worth your soul to be unprepared.

Woe to the pre-trib teachers, for you are creating foolish virgins and calling it good doctrine.