THE manifest purpose of Satan at all times has been to reproach Jehovah. God has permitted him to go so far and then no further. In his own good time the Lord God has rebuked the Devil, not for the benefit of that evil one but for the benefit of the people, that they might all not entirely forget that there exists the Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth.

At stated times Satan has organized world powers, and the predominant features of these disclose his method of organization against God. Egypt excelled in wealth and military power. Her rulers at times were exceedingly presumptuous. God administered severe rebuke to her presumptuous ruler, as hereinbefore stated. Assyria, another great nation, worshiped the devil gods and reproached Jehovah, and was a mighty political power. Babylon the Great, as the Scriptures seem to clearly point out, particularly magnifies the ecclesiastical elements of the Devil's organization. It will be observed that in all these world powers the ruling factors consisted of three elements; to wit, commercial, political and ecclesiastical. In each of these world powers either the commercial, political or ecclesiastical element was made specially prominent, and each one opposed Jehovah. With Egypt the commercial power was the greatest; with Assyria the political

power excelled; with Babylon the ecclesiastical element was to the fore.

God's prophet Daniel likens world powers to wild beasts, and by the same symbol the powers are known or designated in Revelation. There could be no more fitting symbol than "beast" for a world power, because the history of each shows that they have been beastly, cruel and oppressive; and each one has been used by the Devil to reproach Jehovah God. Of course all these world powers have had visible rulers, but their real ruler or god has been Satan the Devil. There has been but one nation on earth that could not properly be included in this category of beastly powers; to wit, the nation of Israel. It was organized by Jehovah for the benefit of the people to illustrate God's plan of action for all the peoples of the earth. Israel failed because of unfaithfulness to God, and then Satan became the god of the entire world. All of these world powers or governments have been instruments in the hands of the evil one and in some form have opposed the development of God's plan of salvation.

At times it might have seemed that the powers of evil had completely overwhelmed and defeated the God of righteousness. But not so. The Almighty has permitted Satan and his angels to pursue a course of wickedness without let or hindrance until such time as he sees it is good, and therefore necessary, to interfere and manifest his power, that the people might not entirely forget his name. In all these world powers the three elements mentioned, to wit, commercial, political and ecclesiastical, have appeared prominently. In these latter times the three elements, under the supervision of the Devil, have united in forming the most subtle and

wicked world power of all time. They operate under the title of Christendom, which is a fraudulent and blasphemous assumption that they constitute Christ's kingdom on earth.

Hypocrisy first made its appearance in the time of Enos, when the people called themselves by the name of the Lord; but it remained for the latter days, where we now are, to witness the greatest demonstration of hypocrisy that has ever been on earth. This parades under the title of Christendom, and by it Satan has deceived millions of people to believe that this fraudulent organization is the political expression of God's kingdom on earth.

Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon, each in turn, had their rebuke from Jehovah God. The Scriptures clearly indicate that Christendom, the most powerful and subtle of the Devil's organization, is destined to receive the most complete rebuke that has ever been administered to any power; and with its complete fall Satan shall be bound that he may deceive the nations no more. At different times throughout the ages God has administered rebukes to Satan's institutions; but these have merely foreshadowed the great, tremendous and overwhelming rebuke that shall shortly end Satan's rule on earth.

In this chapter the purpose is to call attention to the presumption and arrogance of one of Satan's representative and visible rulers, an ancient Assyrian king, and to the terrible rebuke which the Lord administered to him. This circumstance marks a progressive step in the unfolding of the divine plan, and enables the student to have a better appreciation of what to expect to transpire in the great and terrible day of God Almighty

which is impending and immediately about to fall. That we may have some intimation of God's expressed indignation against arrogance and presumptuousness, attention is here called to the rebuke that he administered to Sennacherib, the Assyrian king.

Hezekiah was then king of Israel, the chosen people of God. Prior to his reign the king of Assyria had besieged and taken Samaria, and had laid hold on and carried away many Israelites as captives. God permitted this to happen to the Israelites because they had forgotten him and had gone awhoring after the Devil and his gods Hezekiah "did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did. He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. He trusted the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following after him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not. . . Now, in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them." — 2 Kings 18: 3-7,13.

The name Sennacherib means "Moon-god", and is a symbol of sin. This king first directed his efforts to the crushing of the enemies of Assyria, and then he turned his attention to Samaria and later to Hezekiah

king of Judah. Sennacherib attacked the fenced cities of Judah and took them. Then Hezekiah removed the silver and gold from the temple and from the king's house and gave them to Sennacherib, evidently for the purpose of appeasing his wrath and stopping his march on Jerusalem. Surely in this he showed lack of faith in God; but thereafter the Lord forgave him. Sennacherib determined to take Jerusalem; but before beginning the assault he sent messengers up to Jerusalem to deliver a message to King Hezekiah, for the evident purpose of destroying Hezekiah's confidence in God. He believed that he could break down Hezekiah's faith and confidence in Jehovah and that he would cease his rebellion and give his allegiance to the king of Assyria, and then Assyria would control all of Palestine.

The messengers of Sennacherib appeared before the walls of Jerusalem and boasted of the great power of their king, and reproached the Almighty God. When Hezekiah heard the insolent message from the Assyrian king he was greatly troubled. He rent his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth, and then he went into the house of the Lord. He called a messenger and sent him to Isaiah the prophet of God with a message that "this day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. It may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left." — 2 Kings 19: 3,4.

The Prophet Isaiah had confidence in God. He trusted him implicitly, and the Lord directed him what

to do. And then he sent King Hezekiah this message: "Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land." — 3 Kings 19: 6, 7.

King Hezekiah, being strengthened in faith because of the message received from God's prophet, sent away he messengers of Sennacherib. Then Sennacherib wrote an insolent letter to King Hezekiah and sent his messengers with it unto the king of Judah. In this letter he said: "Let not thy God in whom thou trust deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed: as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar?  —2 Kings 19:10-12.

Hezekiah received the letter and read it, and then he went up into the house of the Lord and spread the letter before the Lord. In his extremity he laid the whole burden before the Lord and called upon him for needed help. No one has ever thus called upon the Lord without receiving some reward for his faith. "And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said 0 Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, Lord,

thine eyes, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God. Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, 0 Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only." — 2 Kings 19: 15-19.

Only the Devil could prompt such a contemptuous, and insolent letter as that sent by the Assyrian king to Hezekiah. Up to that time there had never been such expressed insolence against Jehovah God. The Devil is the author of all such presumptuousness, arrogance and insolence. The time had come for the Lord Jehovah to rebuke this arrogance, in order that the people might know and keep in mind that he is the great Jehovah. The Lord there directed Isaiah to prophesy against Sennacherib thus:

"Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel. By thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said, With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the forest of his Cannel. . . . But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in

thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou earnest. . . . Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. For I will defend this city to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake." — 2 Kings 19: 22, 23, 27, 28, 32-34.

Now, because of the faith of Hezekiah in Jehovah God, and because of his refusal to render obedience to the Devil and his representatives, the Lord God gave him assurance that this cruel and presumptuous invader should not prevail; and Hezekiah relied upon the Lord.

There must have been much suppressed excitement in the holy city that night. Before its walls was now encamped a mighty army of warriors under the leadership of a general who had never before known defeat. Inside of the walls the old men of Israel would be looking as best they could to the protection of their wives and little ones; while the younger and more vigorous ones would keep watch on the walls, armed and ready for an attack. With trembling and fear the inhabitants of the city would wait for what might come before the dawn of another day. It was a night of great suspense. Some would have faith in Hezekiah and God's prophet Isaiah, and would believe that the Lord would hear theft prayers and would speak to the people through the prophets, and would protect them; while many others would be without faith.

The Lord God pulled the curtains of night about the

walls of the holy city, and it lay wrapped in darkness, No one would dare go outside of the walls of the city that night. In the morning with the first grey streaks of light coming over the eastern horizon, the watchmen on the walls and in the towers would be straining their eyes, expecting with the coming of another day to see the enemy in battle array moving against the city. But to their great amazement and surprise, as they looked they saw no one stirring. There seemed to be no life in the camp of the enemy. With the light of day fully come the sentinels discovered what had transpired. While the Israelites had waited breathlessly for the assault of the enemy the Lord had stretched out his right hand against the enemy, and now there lay prone in the dust the lifeless bodies of 185,000 of Sennacherib's bravest warriors.

The brief record of the Lord concerning what happened that night is stated in the Scriptures thus: "And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead." — 2 Kings 19: 35-37.

Thus the Lord had expressed his indignation against this great presumption and arrogance, and had given the people another reason to believe that Jehovah is God and that there is none beside him.

For many centuries the Almighty God tenderly led the children of Israel. All the way Satan the enemy tried to interrupt them and turn them away from God. At times Israel would fall away to the Devil and bow to the devil religion and his representatives. The Lord would withdraw his favor from them and permit them to be punished by their enemies. But when they were sorely distressed, and when they repented and cried unto the Lord God for help, he manifested his mercy and loving kindness toward them and brought them back unto himself. Many times the Lord sent his holy prophets to warn the Israelites of the disaster that would follow their going away after the Devil and his representatives. To offset these warnings, and to deceive the people and oppose God, the Devil would send false prophets who would hypocritically appear before the people in the name of the Lord, claiming to represent Jehovah God and prophesying lies to the people. (Jeremiah 27:14) Thus is disclosed the policy of Satan, which we can easily trace down to the present time, namely, to have his representatives assume to be the representatives of Jehovah repeatedly refusing to obey the Lord God; and because of the gross wickedness of the rulers of that people, God determined to remove his protection from that nation. Before doing so however he sent Jeremiah his prophet to warn them against the impending disaster, that they might repent and turn again to him. Satan the enemy at the same time sent amongst the people false prophets, who prophesied contrary to Jeremiah. Then again the Lord God, that his power might be demonstrated to the end that the people might remember and continue to know that he is the only true and living God, thus expressed his

disapproval of this wicked prophet: "Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah, the Lord hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. So Hananiah the prophet died the same year, in the seventh month."  —Jeremiah 28:15-17.

But Satan continued to send his false prophets in the name of the Lord to mislead the people. Even so it is at this very day. Many preachers who claim to be preaching in the name of the Lord try to keep the people in ignorance of the true God and the unfolding of his great plan of salvation.

Zedekiah was the last king of Israel. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord. Satan the Devil used him to reproach Jehovah God. He became disobedient and arrogant and presumptuous before the Lord. Then the Lord God, for the good of the people and that they might remember him as their true friend and benefactor, uttered this decree against Zedekiah: "Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand. And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, thus saith the Lord God, Remove the diadem, and take off the crown; this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until he come whose

right it is; and I will give it him." — Ezekiel 21:24-27.

It was in the year 606 B. C. that this decree was enforced and that the people of Israel fell to their enemies and were carried away as captives to Babylon, where they were required to serve that nation for seventy years. Even though afterwards a remnant of Israel was brought back into her own land, never again did that people have a king. In the above prophecy God again made promise of the coming of him whose right it is to be the ruler of the peoples of earth and who of necessity must, in God's due time, be the Deliverer and the instrument in the hands of Jehovah for the blessing of the peoples of the earth.

Satan knew that with many of the Jews their religion was the chief thing with them. He knew therefore that in order to deceive them he must send men amongst them who claim to represent God. When it is so clearly shown by the Scriptures that Satan fraudulently did this thing in the Jewish Age, may we not with stronger reasoning expect just such a fraudulent scheme to be practised upon the peoples of the earth during the Christian era — Satan sending amongst them men who claim to represent the Lord and to preach in his name but who, in truth and in fact, are the representatives of the Devil? This is exactly what subsequent facts herein set forth prove. As the Lord promised the Jews at the time of their overthrow that a deliverer shall come, this promise likewise applies to Christians and to all who shall ultimately turn to the Lord.