Biblical Numerology: NUMBER THREE – Part XXIV
WHAT IS THE TRUE INTERPRETATION OF REVELATION 16: 12-16? (The Threefold Union in the Battle of Armageddon (Continued)
French poet Charles Baudelaire once said that “the greatest trick the devil pulled was fooling the world into believing that he doesn’t exist.” Ellen G. White revealed back in 1884 that this deception is indeed one of the most successful agencies and heresies of the great deceiver: “Another subtle and mischievous error is the fast-spreading belief that Satan has no existence as personal being; that the name is used in Scripture merely to represent men’s evil thoughts and desires.” (Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, p. 348).
Again: “The position that it is of no consequence what men believe is one of Satan’s most successful deceptions. He knows that the truth, received in the love of it, sanctifies the soul of the receiver [John 17:17]; therefore he is constantly seeking to substitute false theories, fables, another gospel [1 Tim. 1: 4; 4: 7; 2 Tim. 4: 4; Titus 1: 14; 2 Pet. 1: 16; 2 Cor. 11: 4]. . . .The discord and division which exist among the churches of Christendom are in a great measure due to the prevailing custom of wresting [twisting] the Scriptures to support a favorite theory. Instead of carefully studying God’s word with humility of heart to obtain a knowledge of His will, many seek only to discover something odd or original. . . . Whenever the study of the Scriptures is entered upon without a prayerful, humble, teachable spirit, the plainest as well as the most difficult passages will be wrested from their true meaning . . . The word of God is plain to all who study it with a prayerful heart. “Light [of truth] is sown for the righteous.’ Psalm 97: 11. And no church can advance in holiness unless its members are earnestly seeking for truth as for hid treasure [Prov. 2: 4; Matt. 13: 44].”- Ibid, Maranatha, p. 132.