Sympathy for Satan? Two things.
1. I was present (in spirit) in 1992 when the "battle in heaven" took place between Michael and Satan. I was not yet combined with Jesus at the time. The battle in heaven was not with any kind of weapons, but with words. It was a court hearing. Satan was on trial to decide if he deserved death or not. Ultimately, all of Satan's "excuses" or legal claims blaming God for this and that were considered no lo contendre except for one thing. That is, for however much Satan may have been frustrated or blamed God for his final condition, there was no legal or moral basis to drag anyone else into the conflict. Satan decided, thus, out of spite, to cold-bloodily kill off billions of innocent mankind. What was that? On what basis could there ever be an excuse to kill others because of your personal issues. Satan wanted to commit suicide as a political message. Fine. But what excuse did he have to kill off any innocent people? None. There is no legal precedent for that and so Satan was condemned to death on that one count. He was shown to be politically and philosophically dishonest. If he felt God's rule was unjust or inadequate or oppressive. Fine. But why become a serial killer?
You can have a political view and stand up for that view, but what possible excuse is there to kill off innocent people, clearly to do damage. That is, Satan was a sore loser. So he was condemned to death, not because of any of his other issues, including blaming God for his condition, but because he took the low road of vindictiveness and took the opportunity to murder innocent people. What did mankind having life to do with Satan's issues with God?
2. But on the other hand, just so we didn't have to hear all of Satan's legal arguments, even if he had some legitimate claims or complaints, God basicall decided to kill of everybody. Everybody in heaven and earth. That was based on his legal right to limit the lifespan of creatures he granted life to. Just like dogs and cats and rabbits and trees have a lifespan. They are born, grow up, have several generations of offspring then get old and die. It's still glorious, but temporary. So God basically said, "Okay, everybody has to die at least once, just as part of the natural process." That was not discriminatory. That is, EVERYBODY from Jesus Christ/Michael, his chief son and only-begotten son, down to the worst human criminal had to die and experience death. Simple. Only, once experiencing death, if God wanted to, he could bring back whomever he wanted in the resurrection. That had nothing to do with death. So since everybody had to die anyway, whether sinful or not, the legal issues to condemn God for anything just didn't matter. Satan could fight for his life in the court of heaven all he wanted to, it wouldn't matter, he would have to die just like every other angel, including Jesus Christ. Except, Jesus Christ and the faithful angels would be coming back after death and Satan wouldn't.
It's the perfect solution. Satan's tyranny would end and his big mouth would be silenced at the same time. That was worth it to the faithful angels and Jesus Christ to suffer a short-lived death if it meant getting rid of Satan.
So ultimately, based on #2, God is pleading "no contest" to any of Satan's issues. All the complaints Satan wants to air against God were scheduled to be heard 2 days after Satan's demise. Of course, Satan will lose all his arguments by default because he will be a "no show." Satan is pissed off because God played the ultimate ace in the hole, which was the right to kill everybody for no reason, just to underscore the fact that LIFE is a gift and not a right.
But really, what is "death"? The horror of death or non-existence increases in severity with its length or permanence. Death is a horror is it is permanent. But how much of a sting is it if you come back after 3 minutes? That's the power of DEATH. It's not whether you die or not, but how long you are dead.
So on this level, God is not condemning or invalidating Satan's issues at all. He is exercising his right to kill off anyone after a certain time and he does that indiscriminately to ALL, every angel, including Jesus Christ. So what has Satan got to complain about?
In the end, as well, Satan's murderous act to kill lots of good people was invalidated by Christ's ransom sacrifice.
That's why Christ has little tolerance for humans who think they have some concept of fault with God, after all he has done to save them. So it's is a lack of appreciation for life itself that many will suffer permanent death. Without life, what is there?
The thing is, as I've observed by the way everything is going down, that those who are glad to reject God or condemn him or have sympathy for Satan have long ago been condemned themselves. It's one of those things that we can't explain. It's like a couple who have each decided to break up with the other but soon the focus is on who broke up with whom? Somehow that seems to matter. You'd think if one found out the other was unhappy then they'd feel better this was best for both. But who left whom first? It's like a woman who finds out her husband has cheated on her and she decides she wants a divorce and she's planning this big scene to throw the husband out of the house and tells him to pack his bags and when she gets there, she finds out he has long been packed up and gone and is on a cruise withi his new love. She didn't get a chance to say her peace and curse him out or get any kind of closure. He was already gone. Thus the satisfaction of leaving him is lost. She realizes she got dumped and not the other way around.
At one point Satan likely realizes he was never part of God's big plan in the first place. It's like sewing. In order to sew something you need so much thread. You have so much thread to pull together the garment. But you need some extra thread in the beginning to go through the machine in order to apply that thread. But in the end, after the garment is finished, all the extra thread is no longer needed and is thrown away. So that thread served it's purpose. It was needed to complete the garment but not be a part of it.
So it was all part of the BIG PLAN from the beginning. FREE MORAL AGENCY by its nature presumes some will make a choice not to serve God. It's like an airline that figures some people will cancel their flight, a certain percentage. So they overbook the flight so that it will still be full, anticipating a certain percentage will be no shows. So God did the same thing when he introduced free moral agency. He had to plan that some would not accept the offer of life and so he created more angels than he needed so in the end, after some rebel, he still has the right amount he intended.
So feel all the sympathy for Satan you wish. He is not unjustly being put to death because God puts everybody to death, good or bad, human or angel. Thus God cannot be accused of being "evil" or "unjust." It's only about his right to extend the gift of life to whom he wishes.
This way, God has the best of both worlds. He gets rid of Satan permanently, which is in the best interest of the good people in the world, AND, he doesn't have to listen to a single word Satan has to say in complaint since it won't make one bit of difference is he's right or wrong, justified or unjustified, if he's not alive. So you feel sympathy for Satan? Fine. God is claiming "no contest" to all that is claimed against him. But it will never get heard in court because Satan won't be alive to bring up these charges. Anyone who wants to have their case heard has to schedule court time after they've died.
So for those who want to blame God? Go ahead. Because likely he has long ago rejected YOU. Those who want to arrogantly say, "no thank-you" to God and the gift of life, will proudly plan to turn in their ticket to life and choose to die with their honor, only they will find they were never issued a life ticket in the first place. They can't find it. The envelope was empty from the beginning.
That's why Gehenna is represented as such a place of eternal torment. Those in it die without the satisfaction that they rejected God before he rejected them. Those who reject God are among those God didn't like in the first place. Those who join Satan were those whom God would have killed off anyway, so Satan gains very little or nothing at all.
WHO IS GOD? Who God is has to be based on the final result and thus the final goal. The final chapter are righteous people living in peace and happiness on the earth and in heaven. That's who God is. Getting there has been painful and expensive, but in the end, it will be worth it?
Think living forever on the earth will be boring? If you're materialistic it might be. But if you love people, it will be so much fun. Imagine say 4 billion people on the planet who are granted everlasting life? Before you can get bored to death, you'd want to meet everybody on the planet first, right? Alsol, you'd love to live in every house on the planet just once to experience what life is like in different places on the globe. So let's say, everybody is like the angels and are androgynous. No male or female. No new babies needed. Everyone is in an open "marriage" with each other, so you can have sex with anyone and everybody else. So let's say every other year you are assigned to live with a different person as a partner in some new place on the planet? On your alternative year, you can do whatever you wished to do. That process in the first cycle would take 8 billion years! That's how long it would take to fall in love with and have sex with everybody else on the planet. 8 billion years! So who has time to be bored? Life in the new order will make "The Happy Hooker" seem like a prison sentence. :>
Anyway, I've made a new pact with myself to keep my posts short, 200 words or less.
OOOPS!
LS
