the
world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that _opened not
the house of his prisoners_?"(1146)

For six thousand years, Satan's work of rebellion has "made the earth to
tremble." He has "made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities
thereof." And "he opened not the house of his prisoners." For six thousand
years his prison-house has received God's people, and he would have held
them captive forever, but Christ has broken his bonds, and set the
prisoners free.

Even the wicked are now placed beyond the power of Satan; and alone with
his evil angels he remains to realize the effect of the curse which sin
has brought. "The kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory,
every one in his own house [the grave]. But thou art cast out of thy grave
like an abominable branch.... Thou shalt not be joined with them in
burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people."(1147)

For a thousand years, Satan will wander to and fro in the desolate earth,
to behold the results of his rebellion against the law of God. During this
time his sufferings are intense. Since his fall, his life of unceasing
activity has banished reflection; but he is now deprived of his power, and
left to contemplate the part which he has acted since first he rebelled
against the government of heaven, and to look forward with trembling and
terror to the dreadful future, when he must suffer for all the evil that
he has done, and be punished for the sins that he has caused to be
committed.

To God's people, the captivity of Satan will bring gladness and rejoicing.
Says the prophet: "It shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall
give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy trouble, and from the hard
service wherein thou wast made to serve, that thou shalt take up this
proverb against the king of Babylon [here representing Satan], and say,
How hath the oppressor ceased!... The Lord hath broken the staff of the
wicked, the scepter of the rulers; that smote the peoples in wrath with a
continual stroke, that ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that
none restrained."(1148)

During the thousand years between the first and the second resurrection,
the judgment of the wicked takes place. The apostle Paul points to this
judgment as an event that follows the second advent. "Judge nothing before
the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden
things of darkness, and will make man