Satan's Global Change Before God's Fiery Judgment

© 2016 JACK C. HERMES.

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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

ISBN: 978-1-5127-3185-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-3186-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-3184-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016902698

WestBow Press rev. date: 2/26/2016

Contents

Chapter 1   Creation of the Universe

Earth

Sin’s Intrusion

Chapter 2   New Earth

Early Civilization

Egyptian Enslavement

Call of Moses

Exodus

Entrance into Canaan

Chapter 3   Canaan divided

Time of the Judges

Samuel

Saul

David

Chapter 4  Nation Divided

Assimulation of Israel

Demise of Judah’s Territory

Chapter 5   Babylonian Captivity

Remnant Returns

Temple Rebuilt

Chapter 6   Conquests of Alexander the Great

Palistine Divided

Chapter 7   Coming of Jesus

Work of Jesus

Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

Chapter 8   Beginning of the Church

Chapter 9     Christianity Corrupted

Chapter 10     Rise of Islam

Chapter 11     Spiritual Darkness

Chapter 12     Satan Released

About the Author

Resources

All statistics, dates, discoveries, and events that are utilized in the text of this book have been gathered from writings and articles that have been placed on the Internet and are accessible to the general public. No direct quotes have been used – only general information.

Jennifer Rosenberg, Twentieth Century History Expert

Harvard University Library

20th Century Encyclopedia of Catholicism

John Christy, Decline of European Christianity

Kirsten Powers, Global Slaughter of Christians

New York Times

Piero Scaruffi, Wars of the Twentieth Century

USHistory.net

Industrial Revolution: E-encyclopedia>net

History of Christian Denominations

ChristianHistory.net

Simon Newman, Popes in the Middle Ages

Dr. Jack L. Arnold, Roman Catholic Church of the Middle Ages

Legacy of the Crusades

Christian Apologetics History: Islam

Joshua J. Mark, The Hellenistic World

Biblical Archaeology Review Magazine

and

NIV Study Bible, Copyright 1985 by Zondervan Corporation

CHAPTER 1

Creation of the Universe

O ur universe exists in a void composed of immeasurable space. It is an endless emptiness that has no beginning or ending, and it is without form or shape. It is from this emptiness that scientific theorists believe our universe came into being. Scripture, on the other hand, reveals that this infinity of space is God’s dwelling place, his spiritual realm, and it is within this realm that he created and placed our universe.

It becomes very perplexing for the human mind to comprehend infinity of space or fathom the eternity of God’s heavenly realm, but in the past fifty years, man has begun to reach out through rocketry and orbiting telescopes to study the complexity and immensity of our universe as it resides within this eternal void. As human eyes look upward on a clear, dark night, a vast number of stars can be seen as they spread from horizon to horizon. Some form a pattern, while others are gathered in clusters. The stars our human eyes can see are but a minute portion that helps to form our galaxy. Astronomers have discovered that our galaxy alone contains hundreds of millions of stars that are beyond discernment by human eyesight.

As of today, astronomers have found thirty other galaxies that exist within the universe, and most contain more stars than the galaxy in which we abide. The nearest star, as seen by the naked eye, is theorized to be 2.5 million light-years away from our earth. Light travels at 185,000 miles per second or 671 million miles per hour. If one multiplies that distance for one year and then multiplies that number by 2.5 million, our nearest star is at a fantastic distance from earth. That distance is but a fraction of the distance that separates our galaxy from others. Scientists have now theorized that 13.2 billion, not million, light-years separate our galaxy from others.

In light of these new discoveries, it’s difficult to imagine how the human mind can even begin to absorb the totality of our universe. Still, our vast universe had a beginning, and it’s destined to have an ending, but the void from which it had its birth will remain eternal. Both scientific theorists and the writings of Scripture acknowledge a birth and an ending of our universe, but their views are diametrically different when they describe our world’s beginning and its eventual termination. Scientists explain the birth of our universe through their big bang theory, while Scripture reveals the power of a Creator God.

Scientists believe they hold the answer to the birth of the universe, based on their postulates and conjectures, but their theorized conclusions far outweigh their factual findings. The beginning of the universe, as the majority of scientists accept it, is labeled the big bang theory. According to their timeline, this bang occurred 13.7 billion years ago. Nothing existed at that time, but out of nothing, a singularity suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It was infinitesimally small, hot, and dense. The entire speck of this singularity was 100 million degrees centigrade. Nothing existed within it, but suddenly, according to scientific theory, it erupted. In one millionth of a second, quarks came into being. Quarks are theorized to have an electrical charge magnitude of two-thirds of an electron and are thought to be the fundamental units of matter. These quarks, in the next millionth of a second, produced protons and electrons, and they, in turn, combined to form nuclei. With the electrons now orbiting the nuclei, the first atoms came into being. These atoms were helium and hydrogen.

As these gases were spewed outwardly, gravity suddenly came into being, forming stars. The eruption of the singularity also caused a percentage of the atoms to collide, producing particles of matter, and as they cooled, they gave matter mass. Thus the totality of our universe came into being, creating both stars and matter; but this wasn’t sufficient to establish order and stability. The eruption, according to scientific theory, also produced gravity, light, time, and electromagnetism. The singularity that appeared out of a void from nowhere had suddenly produced them all.

Scripture, on the other hand, attributes the birth of the universe to a supreme Creator, an eternal, supernatural Spirit who also created an angelic hierarchy that surrounds and serves him. These angel spirits were given an eternal existence and endowed with the ability of choice. It was the knowledge of good and evil, so they could, by their own individual choosing, freely serve their Creator God with honor and respect. God structured this angelic hierarchy with three archangels plus hosts of other angels to serve him in assigned roles. Scripture reveals the number of angels to be thousands times thousands times thousands, an astronomical number. When the God of creation brought the universe into being, these heavenly spiritual creatures were all present to witness the forming of the universe. This is recorded in Scripture’s book of Job.

Job 38:4–7 says, Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

The angels watched as God created the universe. It unfolded before their very eyes, coming into existence within their heavenly realm, which was devoid of form or matter. Only primeval darkness existed, but God placed light into that darkness with fixed galaxies of blazing stars. As astronomers study the universe today, they stand in awe of its immensity. It appears to have no finality.

Earth

The span of the universe is now known to be incalculable, but within this amazing creation, our unique solar system stands out as being its rarest anomaly. It is the only solar system that supports life. Among its eight orbiting planets, Earth is the only one that supports that life. This diminutive sphere, a mere speck in the universe, is the only orb that contains water and oxygen. These elements are the dire necessities to help form the building blocks for life. Earth’s orbit is 92,956,050 miles from the sun, providing the proper temperatures for warmth and growth. It rotates once each day and orbits the sun in 365 days to provide seasons for planting, growing, and harvesting. Seventy percent of its surface is covered with water to an average depth of two and a half miles. The atmosphere surrounding it contains 78 percent nitrogen and 21 percent oxygen. All the above factors contribute to support a vast variety of life. These life-forms span a spectrum that covers the highest form of life to the lowest single-celled bacteria, and all live in a perfectly balanced ecological environment that is self-sustaining. The variety of life forms Earth sustains baffle scientists.

Over the years, many theories have been offered concerning the origin of life. They have varied from germs arriving from outer space in cosmic dust to a spaceship sent out by a distant civilization. The prevailing hypothesis among scientists today is that life possibly began in a tide pool, hot spring, or hydrothermal vent. They feel that energy may have initiated chemical reactions in one of these waters to bring forth life. They have placed a timeline on this event that occurred some 4.5 billion years ago. Evolution then took place through mutation and adaptation, developing the variety of life forms that now inhabit Earth. Somewhere in the evolutionary process, there was a time when life could reproduce only its own kind, but male and female genders came into being as a necessity for replication. This transformation remains an enigma to scientists.

Scripture, on the other hand, unfolds God’s orderly creation of life on Earth. It records that God separated the atmosphere forming above Earth from the space forming throughout the universe. He then gathered the waters under the atmosphere into one place. Out of these waters, he commanded dry ground to appear, and on the surface of this, he directed all varieties of vegetation to come into being, with the capability of reproducing seeds according to their own kind. To feed and nurture them through photosynthesis, he set a sun and moon in the earth’s heavens to regulate the twenty-four-hour time period into hours that determined day from night.

With vegetation covering the dry ground and the waters contained, God commanded the waters to teem with giant creatures and every living and moving thing reproducing after its own kind. And in the air above, he brought every winged bird into being, replicating after its own kind. On the dry surface, he produced domestic and feral creatures to inhabit its span and crawling creatures to move along the ground. All creatures would replicate themselves. Through God’s command, all varieties of vegetation and species of creatures appeared instantly and fully mature. No wonder the angel spirits watched in awe as God orchestrated the different stages for the creation