and in verse 7, when divested of political insignia, of
the pagan hierarchy. But now, as the beast, another symbol of Roman civil
rule, has been cast into "the lake of fire and brimstone," and the
"remnant" are "slain with the sword" (19:21), there are no analogous
powers remaining on earth for him to be a representative of, and
consequently he is here represented as a symbol of himself.

Of his identity there can be no question: He is "that Old Serpent," who,
being "more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had
made" (Gen. 3:1), "beguiled Eve through his subtlety," 2 Cor. 11:3. He is
also the Devil, by whom our Saviour was tempted in the wilderness, (Matt.
4:1-12); and the Satan, whose working is "with all power and signs and
lying wonders," 2 Thess. 2:9. He is our adversary the devil, who, "as a
roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour," (1 Pet. 5:8); and
against whom we are to guard continually, "lest Satan should get an
advantage of us," 2 Cor. 2:11.

Coeval with the fall, the promise was given that his head should in due
time be bruised, and he is not ignorant of his doom; for when the legion
saw the Saviour about to dispossess them of the two men among the tombs,
they recognized him as "the Son of God," and cried, "Art thou come hither
to torment us before _the time_?" (Matt. 8:29); "and they besought him,
that he would not command them to go out into the _deep_,"--the _pit_, or
_abyss_, Luke 8:31. The epoch when he should be there confined, is also
shown by Isaiah to be when "the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the
inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity," when "the earth also shall
disclose her blood, and no more cover her slain," Isa. 26:21. For "in that
day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish
leviathan [the dragon], the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked
serpent," _Ib._ 27:1. This synchronizes with the slaying of the remnant
with the sword, when Satan is bound and cast into the _abyss_, to continue
there a thousand years.

His being bound and confined must symbolize his dejection to a position
where he can have no possible influence over the nations during the time
he is bound. It can be no _partial_ restraint, as some theologians hold;
for that is contrary to the conditions of the symbolic representation. His
restraint is full, complete, and entire. Consequently his influence, for
the time being, will have entirely ceased. The pe