What hope had Lucifer that he could defeat the Messiah? It was his only hope, for mortality is the realm of temptation—a sphere where the past is wiped from the soul's tablets; the future is vague and man must act now through the great impulse of his primeval career, aided or repelled, with the impulses from the two unseen worlds. The Shiloh could not hope to be as powerful on earth with limited power and intelligence—limited as compared to his limitless vision while championing his cause in heaven. Even then, Satan, son of the morning, withstood Jehovah and Elohim, drawing away one-third of the hosts of heaven. What might not be his success in a hand-to-hand conflict with Jehovah now confined in mortality? Lucifer had reason for hope. Had he not deceived our first parents, sent most of their children out into an empty world, hating God; had he not once plunged all the human race, except eight souls, into deadening sin until God cleansed the earth with the deluge? Even then Lucifer toyed with the survivors in the hour of temptation. We see Noah lying drunk with the wine of his own vineyard, and we see Ham festering with sensual morbidity. Should the tempter not have been assured, since the past numbered untold victims of his power? The patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel were brought low through temptation. Moses was shut out of the Promised Land because pride had swept him from his feet. We hear David crying for forgiveness; we see Solomon following the allurements of vanity; we hear Lehi complaining against his God. These were God's prophets, leaders of Israel, and men after his own heart.