Season 3 Podcast 153 Milton's Paradise Lost Pt VIII Bk IV Satan, Gates of the Garden of Eden

Satan, Gates of The Garden of EdenJohn Milton was criticized for making such a fuss over Lucifer, who is seen by some as the main character of Paradise Lost, as the God of this world.  Except for the prophets Isaiah and John the Revelator, perhaps no one brings Satan more alive than John Milton. The excerpt I have chosen is from Book IV of Paradise Lost. Satan has escaped hell by bargaining with his daughter, Sin, the keeper of the gates of hell, and death the first begotten son of Satan. Satan travels through chaos and night to reach Eden. This excerpt reveals the thoughts in Satan’s mind as he is about to enter Eden.  O For that warning voice, which he who sawTh’ Apocalypse, heard cry in Heaven aloud,Then when the Dragon, put to second rout,Came furious down to be reveng’d on men,Wo to the Inhabitants on Earth! that now,While time was, our first Parents had been warnedThe coming of their secret foe, and scap’dHaply so scap’d his mortal snare; for nowSatan, now first inflam’d with rage, came down,The Tempter ere th’ Accuser of man-kind,To wreck on innocent frail man his lossOf that first Battel, and his flight to Hell:Milton quotes John the Revelator12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.13 And I beheld, and heard an aangel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, bWoe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound! (Revelation 8:12-13)John is speaking of the time just prior to the Second Coming of Christ.  Milton is speaking of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden just prior to Satan’s tempting Eve. John is speaking of the final three angels that bring the final plagues upon mankind before the Millennium. Milton is speaking of the entire human race who is confronted by the temptations of Satan. Satan and his angels are not “inhabiters of the earth.” They are spirits living on borrowed time. John is clear that just prior to the coming of Christ Satan has but a short time and they will be incarcerated a thousand years while man is able to live in peace governed by Christ. The two time periods are ironic because it is already known that just as Satan lost the war in heaven, he will lose the war on earth. Milton clearly understood that Satan was not a free agent, that he had no more authority than God permitted him to have, and that the only reason God allowed Satan to tempt man was to give man agency. To have agency, mankind must be enticed both by Satan and by Christ. In Milton’s Paradise Lost, Satan thinks he is hidden, but Milton makes is clear that his every move and every thought is monitored.Yet not rejoicing in his speed, though bold,Far off and fearless, nor with cause to boast,Begins his dire attempt, which nigh the birthNow rowling, boils in his tumultuous breast,And like a devilish Engine back recoilesUpon himself; horror and doubt distractHis troubl’d thoughts, and from the bottom stirThe Hell within him, for within him HellHe brings, and round about him, nor from HellOne step no more than from himself can flyBy change of place: