Satan commenced his deception in Eden. He said to Eve, “Ye shall not surely die.”Genesis 3:4. This was Satan’s first lesson upon the immortality of the soul, and he has carried on this deception from that time to the present, and will carry it on until the captivity of God’s children shall be turned. I was pointed to Adam and Eve in Eden. They partook of the forbidden tree, and then the flaming sword was placed around the tree of life, and they were driven from the garden, lest they should partake of the tree of life, and be immortal sinners. The fruit of this tree was to perpetuate immortality. I heard an angel ask, “Who of the family of Adam have passed that flaming sword, and have partaken of the tree of life?” I heard another angel answer, “Not one of the family of Adam has passed that flaming sword, and partaken of that tree; therefore there is not an immortal sinner.” The soul that sinneth, it shall die an everlasting death—a death from which there will be no hope of resurrection; and then the wrath of God will be appeased.
(EW 218.1)
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It was a marvel to me that Satan could succeed so well in making men believe that the words of God, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die,”(Ezekiel 18:4, 20) mean that the soul that sinneth it shall not die, but live eternally in misery. Said the angel, “Life is life, whether it is in pain or happiness. Death is without pain, without joy, without hatred.”
(EW 218.2)
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Satan told his angels to make a special effort to spread the lie first repeated to Eve in Eden, “Ye shall not surely die.”Genesis 3:4. And as the error was received by the people, and they were led to believe that man was immortal, Satan led them on to believe that the sinner would live in eternal misery. Then the way was prepared for Satan to work through his representatives and hold up God before the people as a revengeful tyrant—one who plunges all those into hell who do not please Him, and causes them ever to feel His wrath; and while they suffer unutterable anguish, and writhe in the eternal flames, He is represented as looking down upon them with satisfaction. Satan knew that if this error should be received, God would be hated by many, instead of being loved and adored; and that many would be led to believe that the threatenings of God’s Word would not be literally fulfilled, for it would be against His character of benevolence and love to plunge into eternal torments the beings whom He had created.
(EW 218.3)
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