History of Satan - future
Very soon Satan will be released from the spirit world. He will appear on earth in a glorious, physical body. Then Satan will be called the beast. He will pretend to be God and he will have the appearance of God.
The beast is the name for Satan when he comes visibly to the earth claiming that he is God. His demons will come with him and they will appear to be angels from heaven.
How long will be beast be on earth? Satan will be given 3 ½ years as the visible god of this world. During this time he will try to convince every person on earth to worship him. Do not be deceived. He is not God and you should not worship him.
Who will worship the beast?
As close as I can figure, it's actually 1009. I know this because people are acting like it's the Middle Ages, Geoffrey Chaucer just joined the NYT as a new columnist, and Pat Robertson is four-square against Halloween candy.