Probable existence of And since a lord and vicegerent was set over the animal kingdom of our world, through men in preadamite times. whose fall deterioration, disease and Satan seems to have been death obtained irresistible power over the first cause of sin and destruction. of the subject. Vastness every living creature, so we should naturally conclude that superior beings. inhabited and ruled that former world, and, like Adam, transgressed the laws of their Creator. But who were these ancient possessors of the lands now given to us? Whence came they, and whither have they gone? What fearful sin caused their own disappearance, and involved in one confused ruin their earth and its aerial surroundings? We have no records left to us the numerous remains in primeval rocks are only those of the lower forms of creation. Yet, as we peer hopelessly into the night, a faint and unsteady gleam seems to emanate from the Scriptures in our hand, a very different light from that which they pour upon other subjects, scarcely more than sufficient to make darkness visible, but enough to reveal the outline of a shadowy form seated on high above the desolation, and looking sullenly down upon his ruined realm. It is our own great enemy, the Prince of this World and of the Power of the Air. Let us, then, consider the scanty hints which the Bible seems to offer in regard to this great mystery. But we must tread lightly and rapidly over the bridge which we shall attempt to throw across the foaming torrent for we cannot be sure of its foundation: nay, in the darkness of the night there may also be serious defects in its construction. Yet the revelation to which we shall refer was given for our learning, and, like all Scripture, is profitable, even if we fail to grasp the secret contained in it, provided we handle it with reverence and fear.* For the contemplation of such a theme gives us some idea of the ineffable magnitude of the events, past and future, by which time is bounded, and of the countless millions of actors concerned in them it calls off our minds which are prone to dwell so complacently, and yet so irrationally, upon this present brief age and our still more insignificant selves: it strikes us with inconceivable awe: it makes us tremblingly anxious to be safe in the only refuge before the next great storm of God's wrath comes thundering over our doomed world: it urges us to fulfil our minute duty in the stupendous drama which the great Supreme is rapidly hastening to its close. tion. Now there are, perhaps, two sources from which we Sources of informa- may extract some information respecting the former condition of the earth. First, from any passage which seems to refer directly to it; and secondly, from the account given to us of "the times of restitution of all things," † the very name of which suggests that God's original purpose will not be frustrated by sin, but that everything will be restored even as it was before the earliest rebellion of the fallen angels. The titles "Prince of If, then, we glance at the few particulars of Satan's history which have been revealed to us, this World," and "God we cannot fail to observe that, besides of this Age." the actual power attributed to him, he manifestly holds the legitimate title of "Prince of this World"; or, in other words, that this dignity, together with the royal prerogatives which of right pertain to it, † Acts iii. 21. 2 Tim. iii. 16. was conferred upon him by God Himself.* For there is no other way of explaining the fact that the Lord Jesus not only spoke of the Adversary by this title,† but plainly recognised his delegated authority in that He did not dispute his claim to the present disposal of the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ‡ And it is only by recognising the legitimacy of that claim that we can understand a passage of Jude, in which the conduct of the archangel Michael towards Satan is adduced as an example of due respect for authority, even though it be in the hands of the wicked.§ The meaning of "World" is somewhat ambiguous : for while the signification of the Greek word may be confined to our earth and its inhabitants, it may also extend to the totality of the universe, and in the case. before us possibly does comprehend all the spheres of our solar system. At least if there be truth in the accounts given by astronomers of the ruined condition of the moon, which is described as an arid and lifeless wilderness," it would seem likely that Satan's power extends so far. And it may be also that the catastrophe in the sun, which was remedied on the Fourth Day, testifies to his connection with that glorious luminary. In one passage Paul, according to our version, styles him "the God of this World." || There, however, the Greek for "World" is a different word, and should be translated "Age." Satan is indeed the legitimate *Previously of course to his fall. Ezek. xxviii. 11-19, in the subsequent † John xiv. 30. See the exposition of part of this chapter. Jude 9. I! 2 Cor. iv. 4. Prince of this World; but it is only by abusing his power, and blinding the eyes of men, that he induces them to worship him as their god. At the close of the present age he will be deprived of his princedom; and, the basis of real power being thus removed, his impious superstructure will immediately fall to the ground. But, even at the risk of interrupting the argument, we cannot refrain from pausing for a moment to glance at the solemn warning contained in the title "God of this Age." There is indeed reason to believe that the Devil has received far more directly personal worship than those who are not accustomed to investigate such matters would imagine. But it is to something more general that Paul refers. His own words in another place will best explain his meaning ;-" Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey ? "* There are two laws set before us, that of God and that of Satan; and whose law we keep, his servants and worshippers we are. Profession, however vehement, goes for nothing in the other world. We may profess the worship of the Supreme God, we may be very sedulous in the outward part of it; but if at the same time we are obeying the law of Satan, his subjects we are reckoned to be, and to him our prayers and praises ascend. And the law of Satan is this;-That we seek all our pleasures in, and fix all our heartfelt hopes upon, this present age over which he presides; and that we use our best endeavours-by means of various sensuous and intellectual occupations and delights, and countless ways of killing time which he has provided-to keep our thoughts from ever wandering into that age to *Rom. vi. 16. come, which will see him a fettered captive instead of a prince and a god. The princedom of the Power of the Air. But he is also called "the Prince of the Power of the Air." "* This principality would seem to be the same as "the heavenly places" our version incorrectly translates "high places"† -which, as Paul tells us, swarm with the spiritual hosts of wickedness. It is by no means necessary to restrict it to the eighty or a hundred miles of atmosphere supposed to surround the earth: for if Satan's power extends to the sun, as we suggested above, and so to the whole of our solar system, the kingdom of the air would include the immense space in which the planets of our centre revolve; and in such a case it seems not unlikely that the throne of its prince may be situated in the photosphere of the sun. We should thus find a deep underlying significance in the fact that idolatry has always commenced with, and in no small degree consisted of, the worship of the Sun-god, whether he be called San, Shamas, Bel, Ra, Baal, Moloch, Milcom, Hadad, Adrammelech and Anamelech, Mithras, Apollo, Sheikh Shems, or by any other of his innumerable names.‡ There is, perhaps, something suggestive in the word used to describe this kingdom: for it means thick and Eph. ii. 2. * † Eph. vi. 12. May there not be great significance in the fact that the very name of Satan passes, through its Chaldaic form "Sheitan," into the Greek "Titan," which last word is used by Greek and Latin poets as a designation of the Sun-god? Indeed it would almost seem as if this connection were understood in the dark ages: for Didron, in his Christian Iconography, describes three Byzantine miniatures of the tenth century, in which Satan is depicted with a nimbus, or circular glory, the recognized sign of the Sun-god in Pagan times. As the Church became Paganized, the nimbus began to ap |