The Urantia Book
PAPER 53
THE LUCIFER REBELLION
Presented by Manovandet Melchizedek, onetime attached to the
receivership of Urantia.
53:0.1 LUCIFER was a brilliant primary
Lanonandek Son of Nebadon. He had experienced service in many
systems, had been a high counselor of his group, and was
distinguished for wisdom, sagacity, and efficiency. Lucifer was
number 37 of his order, and when commissioned by the
Melchizedeks, he was designated as one of the one hundred most
able and brilliant personalities in more than seven hundred
thousand of his kind. From such a magnificent beginning, through
evil and error, he embraced sin and now is numbered as one of
three System Sovereigns in Nebadon who have succumbed to the
urge of self and surrendered to the sophistry of spurious
personal liberty -- rejection of universe allegiance and
disregard of fraternal obligations, blindness to cosmic
relationships.
53:0.2 In the universe of Nebadon, the domain
of Christ Michael, there are ten thousand systems of inhabited
worlds. In all the history of Lanonandek Sons, in all their work
throughout these thousands of systems and at the universe
headquarters, only three System Sovereigns have ever been found
in contempt of the government of the Creator Son.
1. THE LEADERS OF REBELLION
53:1.1 Lucifer was not an ascendant being; he
was a created Son of the local universe, and of him it was said:
"You were perfect in all your ways from the day you were created
till unrighteousness was found in you." Many times had he been
in counsel with the Most Highs of Edentia. And Lucifer reigned
"upon the holy mountain of God," the administrative mount of
Jerusem, for he was the chief executive of a great system of 607
inhabited worlds.
53:1.2 Lucifer was a magnificent being, a
brilliant personality; he stood next to the Most High Fathers of
the constellations in the direct line of universe authority.
Notwithstanding Lucifer's transgression, subordinate
intelligences refrained from showing him disrespect and disdain
prior to Michael's bestowal on Urantia. Even the archangel of
Michael, at the time of Moses' resurrection, "did not bring
against him an accusing judgment but simply said, `the Judge
rebuke you.'" Judgment in such matters belongs to the Ancients
of Days, the rulers of the superuniverse.
53:1.3 Lucifer is now the fallen and deposed
Sovereign of Satania. Self-contemplation is most disastrous,
even to the exalted personalities of the celestial world. Of
Lucifer it was said: "Your heart was lifted up because of your
beauty; you corrupted your wisdom because of your brightness."
Your olden prophet saw his sad estate when he wrote: "How are
you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How are
you cast down, you who dared to confuse the worlds!"
53:1.4 Very little was heard of Lucifer on
Urantia owing to the fact that he assigned his first lieutenant,
Satan, to advocate his cause on your planet. Satan was a member
of the same primary group of Lanonandeks but had never
functioned as a System Sovereign; he entered fully into the
Lucifer insurrection. The "devil" is none other than Caligastia,
the deposed Planetary Prince of Urantia and a Son of the
secondary order of Lanonandeks. At the time Michael was on
Urantia in the flesh, Lucifer, Satan, and Caligastia were
leagued together to effect the miscarriage of his bestowal
mission. But they signally failed.
53:1.5 Abaddon was the chief of the staff of
Caligastia. He followed his master into rebellion and has ever
since acted as chief executive of the Urantia rebels. Beelzebub
was the leader of the disloyal midway creatures who allied
themselves with the forces of the traitorous Caligastia.
53:1.6 The dragon eventually became the
symbolic representation of all these evil personages. Upon the
triumph of Michael, "Gabriel came down from Salvington and bound
the dragon (all the rebel leaders) for an age." Of the Jerusem
seraphic rebels it is written: "And the angels who kept not
their first estate but left their own habitation, he has
reserved in sure chains of darkness to the judgment of the great
day."
2. THE CAUSES OF REBELLION
53:2.1 Lucifer and his first assistant, Satan,
had reigned on Jerusem for more than five hundred thousand years
when in their hearts they began to array themselves against the
Universal Father and his then vicegerent Son, Michael.
53:2.2 There were no peculiar or special
conditions in the system of Satania which suggested or favored
rebellion. It is our belief that the idea took origin and form
in Lucifer's mind, and that he might have instigated such a
rebellion no matter where he might have been stationed. Lucifer
first announced his plans to Satan, but it required several
months to corrupt the mind of his able and brilliant associate.
However, when once converted to the rebel theories, he became a
bold and earnest advocate of "self-assertion and liberty."
53:2.3 No one ever suggested rebellion to
Lucifer. The idea of self-assertion in opposition to the will of
Michael and to the plans of the Universal Father, as they are
represented in Michael, had its origin in his own mind. His
relations with the Creator Son had been intimate and always
cordial. At no time prior to the exaltation of his own mind did
Lucifer openly express dissatisfaction about the universe
administration. Notwithstanding his silence, for more than one
hundred years of standard time the Union of Days on Salvington
had been reflectivating to Uversa that all was not at peace in
Lucifer's mind. This information was also communicated to the
Creator Son and the Constellation Fathers of Norlatiadek.
53:2.4 Throughout this period Lucifer became
increasingly critical of the entire plan of universe
administration but always professed wholehearted loyalty to the
Supreme Rulers. His first outspoken disloyalty was manifested on
the occasion of a visit of Gabriel to Jerusem just a few days
before the open proclamation of the Lucifer Declaration of
Liberty. Gabriel was so profoundly impressed with the certainty
of the impending outbreak that he went direct to Edentia to
confer with the Constellation Fathers regarding the measures to
be employed in case of open rebellion.
53:2.5 It is very difficult to point out the
exact cause or causes which finally culminated in the Lucifer
rebellion. We are certain of only one thing, and that is:
Whatever these first beginnings were, they had their origin in
Lucifer's mind. There must have been a pride of self that
nourished itself to the point of self-deception, so that Lucifer
for a time really persuaded himself that his contemplation of
rebellion was actually for the good of the system, if not of the
universe. By the time his plans had developed to the point of
disillusionment, no doubt he had gone too far for his original
and mischief-making pride to permit him to stop. At some point
in this experience he became insincere, and evil evolved into
deliberate and willful sin. That this happened is proved by the
subsequent conduct of this brilliant executive. He was long
offered opportunity for repentance, but only some of his
subordinates ever accepted the proffered mercy. The Faithful of
Days of Edentia, on the request of the Constellation Fathers, in
person presented the plan of Michael for the saving of these
flagrant rebels, but always was the mercy of the Creator Son
rejected and rejected with increasing contempt and disdain.
3. THE LUCIFER MANIFESTO
53:3.1 Whatever the early origins of trouble
in the hearts of Lucifer and Satan, the final outbreak took form
as the Lucifer Declaration of Liberty. The cause of the rebels
was stated under three heads:
53:3.2 1. The reality of the Universal
Father. Lucifer charged that the Universal Father did not
really exist, that physical gravity and space-energy were
inherent in the universe, and that the Father was a myth
invented by the Paradise Sons to enable them to maintain the
rule of the universes in the Father's name. He denied that
personality was a gift of the Universal Father. He even
intimated that the finaliters were in collusion with the
Paradise Sons to foist fraud upon all creation since they never
brought back a very clear-cut idea of the Father's actual
personality as it is discernible on Paradise. He traded on
reverence as ignorance. The charge was sweeping, terrible, and
blasphemous. It was this veiled attack upon the finaliters that
no doubt influenced the ascendant citizens then on Jerusem to
stand firm and remain steadfast in resistance to all the rebel's
proposals.
53:3.3 2. The universe government of the
Creator Son -- Michael. Lucifer contended that the local
systems should be autonomous. He protested against the right of
Michael, the Creator Son, to assume sovereignty of Nebadon in
the name of a hypothetical Paradise Father and require all
personalities to acknowledge allegiance to this unseen Father.
He asserted that the whole plan of worship was a clever scheme
to aggrandize the Paradise Sons. He was willing to acknowledge
Michael as his Creator-father but not as his God and rightful
ruler.
53:3.4 Most bitterly did he attack the right
of the Ancients of Days -- "foreign potentates" -- to interfere
in the affairs of the local systems and universes. These rulers
he denounced as tyrants and usurpers. He exhorted his followers
to believe that none of these rulers could do aught to interfere
with the operation of complete home rule if men and angels only
had the courage to assert themselves and boldly claim their
rights.
53:3.5 He contended that the executioners of
the Ancients of Days could be debarred from functioning in the
local systems if the native beings would only assert their
independence. He maintained that immortality was inherent in the
system personalities, that resurrection was natural and
automatic, and that all beings would live eternally except for
the arbitrary and unjust acts of the executioners of the
Ancients of Days.
53:3.6 3. The attack upon the universal
plan of ascendant mortal training. Lucifer maintained that
far too much time and energy were expended upon the scheme of so
thoroughly training ascending mortals in the principles of
universe administration, principles which he alleged were
unethical and unsound. He protested against the agelong program
for preparing the mortals of space for some unknown destiny and
pointed to the presence of the finaliter corps on Jerusem as
proof that these mortals had spent ages of preparation for some
destiny of pure fiction. With derision he pointed out that the
finaliters had encountered a destiny no more glorious than to be
returned to humble spheres similar to those of their origin. He
intimated that they had been debauched by overmuch discipline
and prolonged training, and that they were in reality traitors
to their mortal fellows since they were now co-operating with
the scheme of enslaving all creation to the fictions of a
mythical eternal destiny for ascending mortals. He advocated
that ascenders should enjoy the liberty of individual
self-determination. He challenged and condemned the entire plan
of mortal ascension as sponsored by the Paradise Sons of God and
supported by the Infinite Spirit.
53:3.7 And it was with such a Declaration of
Liberty that Lucifer launched his orgy of darkness and death.
4. OUTBREAK OF THE REBELLION
53:4.1 The Lucifer manifesto was issued at the
annual conclave of Satania on the sea of glass, in the presence
of the assembled hosts of Jerusem, on the last day of the year,
about two hundred thousand years ago, Urantia time. Satan
proclaimed that worship could be accorded the universal forces
-- physical, intellectual, and spiritual -- but that allegiance
could be acknowledged only to the actual and present ruler,
Lucifer, the "friend of men and angels" and the "God of
liberty."
53:4.2 Self-assertion was the battle cry of
the Lucifer rebellion. One of his chief arguments was that, if
self-government was good and right for the Melchizedeks and
other groups, it was equally good for all orders of
intelligence. He was bold and persistent in the advocacy of the
"equality of mind" and "the brotherhood of intelligence." He
maintained that all government should be limited to the local
planets and their voluntary confederation into the local
systems. All other supervision he disallowed. He promised the
Planetary Princes that they should rule the worlds as supreme
executives. He denounced the location of legislative activities
on the constellation headquarters and the conduct of judicial
affairs on the universe capital. He contended that all these
functions of government should be concentrated on the system
capitals and proceeded to set up his own legislative assembly
and organized his own tribunals under the jurisdiction of Satan.
And he directed that the princes on the apostate worlds do the
same.
53:4.3 The entire administrative cabinet of
Lucifer went over in a body and were sworn in publicly as the
officers of the administration of the new head of "the liberated
worlds and systems."
53:4.4 While there had been two previous
rebellions in Nebadon, they were in distant constellations.
Lucifer held that these insurrections were unsuccessful because
the majority of the intelligences failed to follow their
leaders. He contended that "majorities rule," that "mind is
infallible." The freedom allowed him by the universe rulers
apparently sustained many of his nefarious contentions. He
defied all his superiors; yet they apparently took no note of
his doings. He was given a free hand to prosecute his seductive
plan without let or hindrance.
53:4.5 All the merciful delays of justice
Lucifer pointed to as evidence of the inability of the
government of the Paradise Sons to stop the rebellion. He would
openly defy and arrogantly challenge Michael, Immanuel, and the
Ancients of Days and then point to the fact that no action
ensued as positive evidence of the impotency of the universe and
the superuniverse governments.
53:4.6 Gabriel was personally present
throughout all these disloyal proceedings and only announced
that he would, in due time, speak for Michael, and that all
beings would be left free and unmolested in their choice; that
the "government of the Sons for the Father desired only that
loyalty and devotion which was voluntary, wholehearted, and
sophistry-proof."
53:4.7 Lucifer was permitted fully to
establish and thoroughly to organize his rebel government before
Gabriel made any effort to contest the right of secession or to
counterwork the rebel propaganda. But the Constellation Fathers
immediately confined the action of these disloyal personalities
to the system of Satania. Nevertheless, this period of delay was
a time of great trial and testing to the loyal beings of all
Satania. All was chaotic for a few years, and there was great
confusion on the mansion worlds.
5. NATURE OF THE CONFLICT
53:5.1 Upon the outbreak of the Satania
rebellion, Michael took counsel of his Paradise brother,
Immanuel. Following this momentous conference, Michael announced
that he would pursue the same policy which had characterized his
dealings with similar upheavals in the past, an attitude of
noninterference.
53:5.2 At the time of this rebellion and the
two which preceded it there was no absolute and personal
sovereign authority in the universe of Nebadon. Michael ruled by
divine right, as vicegerent of the Universal Father, but not yet
in his own personal right. He had not completed his bestowal
career; he had not yet been vested with "all power in heaven and
on earth."
53:5.3 From the outbreak of rebellion to the
day of his enthronement as sovereign ruler of Nebadon, Michael
never interfered with the rebel forces of Lucifer; they were
allowed to run a free course for almost two hundred thousand
years of Urantia time. Christ Michael now has ample power and
authority to deal promptly, even summarily, with such outbreaks
of disloyalty, but we doubt that this sovereign authority would
lead him to act differently if another such upheaval should
occur.
53:5.4 Since Michael elected to remain aloof
from the actual warfare of the Lucifer rebellion, Gabriel called
his personal staff together on Edentia and, in counsel with the
Most Highs, elected to assume command of the loyal hosts of
Satania. Michael remained on Salvington while Gabriel proceeded
to Jerusem, and establishing himself on the sphere dedicated to
the Father -- the same Universal Father whose personality
Lucifer and Satan had questioned -- in the presence of the
forgathered hosts of loyal personalities, he displayed the
banner of Michael, the material emblem of the Trinity government
of all creation, the three azure blue concentric circles on a
white background.
53:5.5 The Lucifer emblem was a banner of
white with one red circle, in the center of which a black solid
circle appeared.
53:5.6 "There was war in heaven; Michael's
commander and his angels fought against the dragon (Lucifer,
Satan, and the apostate princes); and the dragon and his
rebellious angels fought but prevailed not." This "war in
heaven" was not a physical battle as such a conflict might be
conceived on Urantia. In the early days of the struggle Lucifer
held forth continuously in the planetary amphitheater. Gabriel
conducted an unceasing exposure of the rebel sophistries from
his headquarters taken up near at hand. The various
personalities present on the sphere who were in doubt as to
their attitude would journey back and forth between these
discussions until they arrived at a final decision.
53:5.7 But this war in heaven was very
terrible and very real. While displaying none of the barbarities
so characteristic of physical warfare on the immature worlds,
this conflict was far more deadly; material life is in jeopardy
in material combat, but the war in heaven was fought in terms of
life eternal.
6. A LOYAL SERAPHIC COMMANDER
53:6.1 There were many noble and inspiring
acts of devotion and loyalty which were performed by numerous
personalities during the interim between the outbreak of
hostilities and the arrival of the new system ruler and his
staff. But the most thrilling of all these daring feats of
devotion was the courageous conduct of Manotia, the second in
command of the Satania headquarters' seraphim.
53:6.2 At the outbreak of rebellion on Jerusem
the head of the seraphic hosts joined the Lucifer cause. This no
doubt explains why such a large number of the fourth order, the
system administrator seraphim, went astray. The seraphic leader
was spiritually blinded by the brilliant personality of Lucifer;
his charming ways fascinated the lower orders of celestial
beings. They simply could not comprehend that it was possible
for such a dazzling personality to go wrong.
53:6.3 Not long since, in describing the
experiences associated with the onset of the Lucifer rebellion,
Manotia said: "But my most exhilarating moment was the thrilling
adventure connected with the Lucifer rebellion when, as second
seraphic commander, I refused to participate in the projected
insult to Michael; and the powerful rebels sought my destruction
by means of the liaison forces they had arranged. There was a
tremendous upheaval on Jerusem, but not a single loyal seraphim
was harmed.
53:6.4 "Upon the default of my immediate
superior it devolved upon me to assume command of the angelic
hosts of Jerusem as the titular director of the confused
seraphic affairs of the system. I was morally upheld by the
Melchizedeks, ably assisted by a majority of the Material Sons,
deserted by a tremendous group of my own order, but
magnificently supported by the ascendant mortals on Jerusem.
53:6.5 "Having been automatically thrown out
of the constellation circuits by the secession of Lucifer, we
were dependent on the loyalty of our intelligence corps, who
forwarded calls for help to Edentia from the near-by system of
Rantulia; and we found that the kingdom of order, the intellect
of loyalty, and the spirit of truth were inherently triumphant
over rebellion, self-assertion, and so-called personal liberty;
we were able to carry on until the arrival of the new System
Sovereign, the worthy successor of Lucifer. And immediately
thereafter I was assigned to the corps of the Melchizedek
receivership of Urantia, assuming jurisdiction over the loyal
seraphic orders on the world of the traitorous Caligastia, who
had proclaimed his sphere a member of the newly projected system
of `liberated worlds and emancipated personalities' proposed in
the infamous Declaration of Liberty issued by Lucifer in his
call to the `liberty-loving, free-thinking, and forward-looking
intelligences of the misruled and maladministered worlds of
Satania.'"
53:6.6 This angel is still in service on
Urantia, functioning as associate chief of seraphim.
7. HISTORY OF THE REBELLION
53:7.1 The Lucifer rebellion was system wide.
Thirty-seven seceding Planetary Princes swung their world
administrations largely to the side of the archrebel. Only on
Panoptia did the Planetary Prince fail to carry his people with
him. On this world, under the guidance of the Melchizedeks, the
people rallied to the support of Michael. Ellanora, a young
woman of that mortal realm, grasped the leadership of the human
races, and not a single soul on that strife-torn world enlisted
under the Lucifer banner. And ever since have these loyal
Panoptians served on the seventh Jerusem transition world as the
caretakers and builders on the Father's sphere and its
surrounding seven detention worlds. The Panoptians not only act
as the literal custodians of these worlds, but they also execute
the personal orders of Michael for the embellishment of these
spheres for some future and unknown use. They do this work as
they tarry en route to Edentia.
53:7.2 Throughout this period Caligastia was
advocating the cause of Lucifer on Urantia. The Melchizedeks
ably opposed the apostate Planetary Prince, but the sophistries
of unbridled liberty and the delusions of self-assertion had
every opportunity for deceiving the primitive peoples of a young
and undeveloped world.
53:7.3 All secession propaganda had to be
carried on by personal effort because the broadcast service and
all other avenues of interplanetary communication were suspended
by the action of the system circuit supervisors. Upon the actual
outbreak of the insurrection the entire system of Satania was
isolated in both the constellation and the universe circuits.
During this time all incoming and outgoing messages were
dispatched by seraphic agents and Solitary Messengers. The
circuits to the fallen worlds were also cut off, so that Lucifer
could not utilize this avenue for the furtherance of his
nefarious scheme. And these circuits will not be restored so
long as the archrebel lives within the confines of Satania.
53:7.4 This was a Lanonandek rebellion. The
higher orders of local universe sonship did not join the Lucifer
secession, although a few of the Life Carriers stationed on the
rebel planets were somewhat influenced by the rebellion of the
disloyal princes. None of the Trinitized Sons went astray. The
Melchizedeks, archangels, and the Brilliant Evening Stars were
all loyal to Michael and, with Gabriel, valiantly contended for
the Father's will and the Son's rule.
53:7.5 No beings of Paradise origin were
involved in disloyalty. Together with the Solitary Messengers
they took up headquarters on the world of the Spirit and
remained under the leadership of the Faithful of Days of
Edentia. None of the conciliators apostatized, nor did a single
one of the Celestial Recorders go astray. But a heavy toll was
taken of the Morontia Companions and the Mansion World Teachers.
53:7.6 Of the supreme order of seraphim, not
an angel was lost, but a considerable group of the next order,
the superior, were deceived and ensnared. Likewise a few of the
third or supervisor order of angels were misled. But the
terrible breakdown came in the fourth group, the administrator
angels, those seraphim who are normally assigned to the duties
of the system capitals. Manotia saved almost two thirds of them,
but slightly over one third followed their chief into the rebel
ranks. One third of all the Jerusem cherubim attached to the
administrator angels were lost with their disloyal seraphim.
53:7.7 Of the planetary angelic helpers, those
assigned to the Material Sons, about one third were deceived,
and almost ten per cent of the transition ministers were
ensnared. In symbol John saw this when he wrote of the great red
dragon, saying: "And his tail drew a third part of the stars of
heaven and cast them down in darkness."
53:7.8 The greatest loss occurred in the
angelic ranks, but most of the lower orders of intelligence were
involved in disloyalty. Of the 681,227 Material Sons lost in
Satania, ninety-five per cent were casualties of the Lucifer
rebellion. Large numbers of midway creatures were lost on those
individual planets whose Planetary Princes joined the Lucifer
cause.
53:7.9 In many respects this rebellion was the
most widespread and disastrous of all such occurrences in
Nebadon. More personalities were involved in this insurrection
than in both of the others. And it is to their everlasting
dishonor that the emissaries of Lucifer and Satan spared not the
infant-training schools on the finaliter cultural planet but
rather sought to corrupt these developing minds in mercy
salvaged from the evolutionary worlds.
53:7.10 The ascending mortals were vulnerable,
but they withstood the sophistries of rebellion better than the
lower spirits. While many on the lower mansion worlds, those who
had not attained final fusion with their Adjusters, fell, it is
recorded to the glory of the wisdom of the ascension scheme that
not a single member of the Satania ascendant citizenship
resident on Jerusem participated in the Lucifer rebellion.
53:7.11 Hour by hour and day by day the
broadcast stations of all Nebadon were thronged by the anxious
watchers of every imaginable class of celestial intelligence,
who intently perused the bulletins of the Satania rebellion and
rejoiced as the reports continuously narrated the unswerving
loyalty of the ascending mortals who, under their Melchizedek
leadership, successfully withstood the combined and protracted
efforts of all the subtle evil forces which so swiftly gathered
around the banners of secession and sin.
53:7.12 It was over two years of system time
from the beginning of the "war in heaven" until the installation
of Lucifer's successor. But at last the new Sovereign came,
landing on the sea of glass with his staff. I was among the
reserves mobilized on Edentia by Gabriel, and I well remember
the first message of Lanaforge to the Constellation Father of
Norlatiadek. It read: "Not a single Jerusem citizen was lost.
Every ascendant mortal survived the fiery trial and emerged from
the crucial test triumphant and altogether victorious." And on
to Salvington, Uversa, and Paradise went this message of
assurance that the survival experience of mortal ascension is
the greatest security against rebellion and the surest safeguard
against sin. This noble Jerusem band of faithful mortals
numbered just 187,432,811.
53:7.13 With the arrival of Lanaforge the
archrebels were dethroned and shorn of all governing powers,
though they were permitted freely to go about Jerusem, the
morontia spheres, and even to the individual inhabited worlds.
They continued their deceptive and seductive efforts to confuse
and mislead the minds of men and angels. But as concerned their
work on the administrative mount of Jerusem, "their place was
found no more."
53:7.14 While Lucifer was deprived of all
administrative authority in Satania, there then existed no local
universe power nor tribunal which could detain or destroy this
wicked rebel; at that time Michael was not a sovereign ruler.
The Ancients of Days sustained the Constellation Fathers in
their seizure of the system government, but they have never
handed down any subsequent decisions in the many appeals still
pending with regard to the present status and future disposition
of Lucifer, Satan, and their associates.
53:7.15 Thus were these archrebels allowed to
roam the entire system to seek further penetration for their
doctrines of discontent and self-assertion. But in almost two
hundred thousand Urantia years they have been unable to deceive
another world. No Satania worlds have been lost since the fall
of the thirty-seven, not even those younger worlds peopled since
that day of rebellion.
8. THE SON OF MAN ON URANTIA
53:8.1 Lucifer and Satan freely roamed the
Satania system until the completion of the bestowal mission of
Michael on Urantia. They were last on your world together during
the time of their combined assault upon the Son of Man.
53:8.2 Formerly, when the Planetary Princes,
the "Sons of God," were periodically assembled, "Satan came
also," claiming that he represented all of the isolated worlds
of the fallen Planetary Princes. But he has not been accorded
such liberty on Jerusem since Michael's terminal bestowal.
Subsequent to their effort to corrupt Michael when in the
bestowal flesh, all sympathy for Lucifer and Satan has perished
throughout all Satania, that is, outside the isolated worlds of
sin.
53:8.3 The bestowal of Michael terminated the
Lucifer rebellion in all Satania aside from the planets of the
apostate Planetary Princes. And this was the significance of
Jesus' personal experience, just before his death in the flesh,
when he one day exclaimed to his disciples, "And I beheld Satan
fall as lightning from heaven." He had come with Lucifer to
Urantia for the last crucial struggle.
53:8.4 The Son of Man was confident of
success, and he knew that his triumph on your world would
forever settle the status of his agelong enemies, not only in
Satania but also in the other two systems where sin had entered.
There was survival for mortals and security for angels when your
Master, in reply to the Lucifer proposals, calmly and with
divine assurance replied, "Get you behind me, Satan." That was,
in principle, the real end of the Lucifer rebellion. True, the
Uversa tribunals have not yet rendered the executive decision
regarding the appeal of Gabriel praying for the destruction of
the rebels, but such a decree will, no doubt, be forthcoming in
the fullness of time since the first step in the hearing of this
case has already been taken.
53:8.5 Caligastia was recognized by the Son of
Man as the technical Prince of Urantia up to near the time of
his death. Said Jesus: "Now is the judgment of this world; now
shall the prince of this world be cast down." And then still
nearer the completion of his lifework he announced, "The prince
of this world is judged." And it is this same dethroned and
discredited Prince who was once termed "God of Urantia."
53:8.6 The last act of Michael before leaving
Urantia was to offer mercy to Caligastia and Daligastia, but
they spurned his tender proffer. Caligastia, your apostate
Planetary Prince, is still free on Urantia to prosecute his
nefarious designs, but he has absolutely no power to enter the
minds of men, neither can he draw near to their souls to tempt
or corrupt them unless they really desire to be cursed with his
wicked presence.
53:8.7 Before the bestowal of Michael these
rulers of darkness sought to maintain their authority on
Urantia, and they persistently withstood the minor and
subordinate celestial personalities. But since the day of
Pentecost this traitorous Caligastia and his equally
contemptible associate, Daligastia, are servile before the
divine majesty of the Paradise Thought Adjusters and the
protective Spirit of Truth, the spirit of Michael, which has
been poured out upon all flesh.
53:8.8 But even so, no fallen spirit ever did
have the power to invade the minds or to harass the souls of the
children of God. Neither Satan nor Caligastia could ever touch
or approach the faith sons of God; faith is an effective armor
against sin and iniquity. It is true: "He who is born of God
keeps himself, and the wicked one touches him not."
53:8.9 In general, when weak and dissolute
mortals are supposed to be under the influence of devils and
demons, they are merely being dominated by their own inherent
and debased tendencies, being led away by their own natural
propensities. The devil has been given a great deal of credit
for evil which does not belong to him. Caligastia has been
comparatively impotent since the cross of Christ.
9. PRESENT STATUS OF THE REBELLION
53:9.1 Early in the days of the Lucifer
rebellion, salvation was offered all rebels by Michael. To all
who would show proof of sincere repentance, he offered, upon his
attainment of complete universe sovereignty, forgiveness and
reinstatement in some form of universe service. None of the
leaders accepted this merciful proffer. But thousands of the
angels and the lower orders of celestial beings, including
hundreds of the Material Sons and Daughters, accepted the mercy
proclaimed by the Panoptians and were given rehabilitation at
the time of Jesus' resurrection nineteen hundred years ago.
These beings have since been transferred to the Father's world
of Jerusem, where they must be held, technically, until the
Uversa courts hand down a decision in the matter of Gabriel vs.
Lucifer. But no one doubts that, when the annihilation verdict
is issued, these repentant and salvaged personalities will be
exempted from the decree of extinction. These probationary souls
now labor with the Panoptians in the work of caring for the
Father's world.
53:9.2 The archdeceiver has never been on
Urantia since the days when he sought to turn back Michael from
the purpose to complete the bestowal and to establish himself
finally and securely as the unqualified ruler of Nebadon. Upon
Michael's becoming the settled head of the universe of Nebadon,
Lucifer was taken into custody by the agents of the Uversa
Ancients of Days and has since been a prisoner on satellite
number one of the Father's group of the transition spheres of
Jerusem. And here the rulers of other worlds and systems behold
the end of the unfaithful Sovereign of Satania. Paul knew of the
status of these rebellious leaders following Michael's bestowal,
for he wrote of Caligastia's chiefs as "spiritual hosts of
wickedness in the heavenly places."
53:9.3 Michael, upon assuming the supreme
sovereignty of Nebadon, petitioned the Ancients of Days for
authority to intern all personalities concerned in the Lucifer
rebellion pending the rulings of the superuniverse tribunals in
the case of Gabriel vs. Lucifer, placed on the records of the
Uversa supreme court almost two hundred thousand years ago, as
you reckon time. Concerning the system capital group, the
Ancients of Days granted the Michael petition with but a single
exception: Satan was allowed to make periodic visits to the
apostate princes on the fallen worlds until another Son of God
should be accepted by such apostate worlds, or until such time
as the courts of Uversa should begin the adjudication of the
case of Gabriel vs. Lucifer.
53:9.4 Satan could come to Urantia because you
had no Son of standing in residence -- neither Planetary Prince
nor Material Son. Machiventa Melchizedek has since been
proclaimed vicegerent Planetary Prince of Urantia, and the
opening of the case of Gabriel vs. Lucifer has signalized the
inauguration of temporary planetary regimes on all the isolated
worlds. It is true that Satan did periodically visit Caligastia
and others of the fallen princes right up to the time of the
presentation of these revelations, when there occurred the first
hearing of Gabriel's plea for the annihilation of the
archrebels. Satan is now unqualifiedly detained on the Jerusem
prison worlds.
53:9.5 Since Michael's final bestowal no one
in all Satania has desired to go to the prison worlds to
minister to the interned rebels. And no more beings have been
won to the deceiver's cause. For nineteen hundred years the
status has been unchanged.
53:9.6 We do not look for a removal of the
present Satania restrictions until the Ancients of Days make
final disposition of the archrebels. The system circuits will
not be reinstated so long as Lucifer lives. Meantime, he is
wholly inactive.
53:9.7 The rebellion has ended on Jerusem. It
ends on the fallen worlds as fast as divine Sons arrive. We
believe that all rebels who will ever accept mercy have done so.
We await the flashing broadcast that will deprive these traitors
of personality existence. We anticipate the verdict of Uversa
will be announced by the executionary broadcast which will
effect the annihilation of these interned rebels. Then will you
look for their places, but they shall not be found. "And they
who know you among the worlds will be astonished at you; you
have been a terror, but never shall you be any more." And thus
shall all of these unworthy traitors "become as though they had
not been." All await the Uversa decree.
53:9.8 But for ages the seven prison worlds of
spiritual darkness in Satania have constituted a solemn warning
to all Nebadon, eloquently and effectively proclaiming the great
truth "that the way of the transgressor is hard"; "that within
every sin is concealed the seed of its own destruction"; that
"the wages of sin is death."
53:9.9
Presented by Manovandet Melchizedek, onetime attached to the
receivership of Urantia.
