Violent End of the Wicked

Satan’s character remains unchanged. Rebellion bursts out again like a raging flood. He determines not to give up the last desperate struggle against the King of heaven. But of all the countless millions whom he has drawn into rebellion, none now follow him as leader. The same hatred of God that inspires Satan fills the wicked, but they see that their case is hopeless.GrH_a 53.3

Fire comes down from God out of heaven. The earth is broken up. Devouring flames burst from every yawning chasm. The very rocks are on fire. The elements melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are in it are burned up (2 Peter 3:10). The earth’s surface seems one molten mass—a vast, boiling lake of fire. “It is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion” (Isaiah 34:8).GrH_a 53.4

The wicked are punished “according to their deeds.” Satan is made to suffer not only for his own rebellion, but for all the sins that he has caused God’s people to commit. In the flames the wicked are finally destroyed, root and branch—Satan the root, his followers the branches. Evildoers have received the full penalty of the law; the demands of justice have been met. Satan’s work of ruin is ended forever. Now God’s creatures are forever delivered from his temptations.GrH_a 53.5

While the earth is wrapped in fire, the righteous are safe in the Holy City. To the wicked God is a consuming fire, but to His people He is a shield. (See Revelation 20:6; Psalm 84:11.)GrH_a 53.6