Blessings everyone,

I have noticed some mentioning of the personation of Christ by Satan. This is an event that is rarely spoken of anymore. At least, not as SDA's believe it.

It is important to remember when talking about these seven heads that the eighth is of the original seven. The eighth simply is one of the seven reining again.

So then, where does the personation of Christ fit in?

4SP 440.3; The wrath of Satan increases as his time grows short, and his work of deceit and destruction reaches its culmination in the time of trouble. God’s long-suffering has ended. The world has rejected his mercy, despised his love, and trampled upon his law. The wicked have passed the boundary of their probation, and the Lord withdraws his protection, and leaves them to the mercy of the leader they have chosen. (bold emphasis mine)

First of all, to be clear, Satan's personation of Christ takes place after the close of probation. As we continue in 4SP, we will see this.

4SP 442.1; As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will attempt to personate Christ. The church has long professed to look to the Saviour’s advent as the consummation of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it appear that Christ has come. In different parts of the earth, Satan will manifest himself among men as a majestic being of dazzling brightness, resembling the description of the Son of God given by John in the Revelation. (bold emphasis mine)

It seems Satan just shows up on the earth! There isn't any mention of how he gets here. He is just seen in many places on the earth.

4SP 443.1; But the people of God will not be misled. The teachings of this false Christ are not in accordance with the Scriptures. His blessing is pronounced upon the worshipers of the beast and his image,—the very class upon whom the Bible declares that God’s unmingled wrath shall be poured out.

We are to stand firm on the Word of God, the Bible. Our love for God and faith in His Word is our only safeguard.

TA 274.1; Satan sees that he is about to lose his case. He cannot sweep in the whole world. He makes one last desperate effort to overcome the faithful by deception. He does this in personating Christ. He clothes himself with the garments of royalty which have been accurately described in the vision of John. He has power to do this. (bold emphasis mine)

In the end, the beast power and the power of apostate protestantism won't be enough. Satan sees his is going to lose his case and Babylon won't be set up over all the world.

So, Satan personates Christ to finally get all the world wondering after the beast and bringing Babylon to world dominance. It is through spiritualism that Satan finally gets the kingdom he wants. While deceiving the world that he is Christ, he will proclaim to the world that the Sabbath has been changed to Sunday and that seventh day Sabbath keepers are all wrong.

But, in all this, we must remember that probation is closed so the Sanctuary service in Heaven has come to its end. With this being the case, Satan and his evil angels are being bound by the "fit man" Jesus and Satan and his angels are losing their power.

With the loss of spiritualism, apostate protestantism will turn on the beast and eat her flesh and burn her with fire. Babylon will have fallen for the last time.

But, what will that look like when Satan and his angels are bound to this earth and lose their power and majesty?

"Shall be" is future tense, right. So, in context, the plagues are future. They haven't started falling yet. Thus, the clear implication is Satan's personation of Christ begins before the out pouring of the plagues, before the close of probation. Which makes sense. Satan's personation of Christ is the ultimate test. This test must happen before probation closes, before Jesus ceases His mediation, before everyone makes their final, irrevocable decision for or against the Seal of God.

Excellent response MM,

I have wondered my self about this point. Yet, in 4SP and GC88 the mentioning of the personation of Christ by Satan is always after the close of probation. The context in both these cases from Sister White's writings sure sounds like Satan's ultimate deception is after the close of probation.

Blessings MM,

I wrote;

"But, what will that look like when Satan and his angels are bound to this earth and lose their power and majesty?"

Have you thought about this at all?

Also MM, the plagues may not fall until after Satan personates Christ's Second Coming? When do you believe the close of probation takes place?

There is time from the close of probation until the plagues fall.

Blessings MM,

Let me share this with you;

Then the Catholics bid the Protestants to go forward, and issue a decree that all who will not observe the first day of the week, instead of the seventh day, shall be slain. And the Catholics, whose numbers are large, will stand by the Protestants. The Catholics will give their power to the image of the beast. And the Protestants will work as their mother worked before them to destroy the saints. But before their decree bring or bear fruit, the saints will be delivered by the Voice of God. Then I saw that Jesus’ work in the sanctuary will soon be finished. And after His work there is finished, He will come to the door of the first apartment, and confess the sins of Israel upon the head of the Scape Goat. Then He will put on the garments of vengeance. Then the plagues will come upon the wicked, and they do not come till Jesus puts on that garment, and takes His place upon the great white cloud. Then while the plagues are falling, the Scape Goat is being led away. He makes a mighty struggle to escape, but he is held fast by the hand that leads him. If he should effect his escape, Israel would lose their lives. I saw that it would take time to lead away the Scape Goat into the land of forgetfulness after the sins were put on his head. {SpM 2.1} (bold emphasis mine)

According to this statement by Sister White, the plagues are already falling before Satan and his evil angels are bound to this earth. At this point, I believe probation has already closed.

What do you believe?

As I read it we have arrived at the time that was once future:

“The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn from the earth. Plagues and judgments are already falling upon the despisers of the grace of God. The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude. The agencies of evil are combining their forces, and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.” (9T 11)

"The plagues and judgments that are already falling upon the despisers of the grace of God will climax in the seven last plagues that fall “upon the men which had the mark of the beast and upon them which worshipped his image” (16:2; see v. 9 also). The seven last plagues will climax while the Mark of the Beast is being enforced. But because the frog spirits are sequenced in Revelation 16 after the sixth plague, they are not expected at this time. Yet as ancient Babylon had two kings when Cyrus dried up the Euphrates so that he could enter it, papal-Babylon now has two popes while ISIS is drying up the waters, people (17:15) that oppose its agenda along the Euphrates River basin in preparation for Christ’s Appearing." (America, the Obama Nation p. 20)

Sister White is clear that God's people will not be misled by the deception of Satan in personating the Second Coming of Jesus.

When does the devil impersonate the second coming of Jesus Christ?

Is it before or after the close of probation?

Before --

His impersonation extends over a period of time, since he will be on earth for awhile pretending to be Christ. Thus it will cover time both before and after the close of probation. But the initial part takes place BEFORE probation closes as it is the last and crowning deception to wean people away from the true SAVIOR. During this time the Sunday laws will be cranked up to an intense level.

God's people are to be warned of this deception --
It will be part of the sifting process that shakes people out of the truth.

Just because the "elect" don't fall for it, doesn't mean probation is closed, it only means those who thought they were part of the elect but who didn't firmly anchor themselves in Christ, will be sifted out.

Of course this extends on after probation and includes the death decree, yet the beginning of the impersonation takes place before probation closes.

Actually there are already apparitions appearing claiming to be Christ.