You stated that as of the beginning of the Great Tribulation Satan will no longer have access to God, but will be confined to Earth. I, and everybody I know, always thought that BEFORE creation the earth was in total chaos because Satan was cast down from Heaven with a third of the angels that followed him. And that he was ejected from heaven for good! We understood that God immediately got rid of him and his followers and they were all thrown to earth to do all the evil we have witnessed throughout history. Does that mean I and so many others have misunderstood this point?
I’m afraid so. Like many others, you’re confusing Satan’s rebellion (sometime before Adam) with his expulsion from Heaven (just before the Great Tribulation, Rev. 12:9). Many believe Satan’s rebellion caused the Earth to become an uninhabitable ruin sometime between the first two verses of Genesis but he wasn’t expelled from heaven at that time. Don’t take my word for this. Read Job 1:6-7 to confirm it.
One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.”
Satan’s expulsion from Heaven will take place on the threshold of the Great Tribulation. At that time he will be confined to Earth and will indwell the anti-Christ. He will stand in the Temple and claim to be God (2 Thes. 2:4) and the Great Tribulation will begin.