Scripture
quotations are from the English Standard Version (ESV).
OUTLINE
OF REVELATION 20:7-10
I. Satan loosed
A.
When he is loosed: after 1000
years
B.
His activity when he is loosed
1. Deceive the nations
2. Gather them for battle
II. The battle
A. The position taken by the nations
1. On the plain of the earth
2. Around the camp of the saints and the beloved
city
B. The action taken against them
1. Fire falls from heaven
2. It consumes them
III. The fate of Satan
A. Thrown into the Lake of Fire (where Beast and
False Prophet are)
B. The torment of those in the Lake: tormented day and night forever and ever
1. THE
TRANSITIONAL INDICATOR: Verse 20:7 marks a transition from a narrative
of the triumphant saints to a return to the narrative concerning Satan that
broke off in verse 20:3. In that verse
we learn that Satan will be imprisoned in the Abyss for a thousand years so
that he cannot deceive the nations during that time. However, verses 20:7 and following are
prepared for by the notation in verse 20:3 that it is necessary for him to be
released for a little while. That
release and its consequences are described in 20:7-10. The transition to that description is marked
by the clause: “And when the thousand
years are ended…”
2. THE NECESSITY OF SATAN’S RELEASE: Verse 20:3 contains much information, which is summarized
below.
· The angel throws Satan into the Abyss
(“bottomless pit”).
· He seals the entrance to the Abyss.
· The purpose of this imprisonment is
to keep Satan from deceiving the nations.
· The length of the imprisonment is
1000 years.
· At the end of that time he “must” be
released for “a little while.”
In verse
20:7-8, that prediction of release is fulfilled. The consequence is that Satan goes to work
deceiving the nations. The wording in
verse 20:8 is: “and [he] will come out
to deceive the nations…”
Looking ahead, we know that the ultimate destiny of Satan is
to be thrown into the Lake of Fire. The
Beast and False Prophet had experienced that punishment at the close of the
Battle of Armageddon (19:20). But
Satan’s punishment is delayed until two time periods and their activities are
completed. These periods are the 1000
years and the “little while.” In the former,
the saints rule and reign with the Lord and Satan is sidelined in “the county
jail.” In the latter, Satan is out for a
little while during which he is deceiving the nations and gathering them for
battle, much as his minions accomplished in the run-up to Armageddon (16:13-16).
The challenge of interpretation is this: why is it necessary for Satan to be
released for a little while? The consequence
of his release is deception. In that
deception are revealed two things:
1. The nature of Satan
2. The vulnerability of the nations
The nature of Satan is to deceive.
In the Garden of Eden, Satan deceived Eve. (Genesis 3:13, I Timothy 2:14) Satan is characterized as “the deceiver of
the whole world.” (Revelation 12:9) Upon
his release from his imprisonment in the Abyss, he immediately goes to work at
his main occupation, deception.
The nations are vulnerable to deception.
The following is from the introduction to an article in Wikipedia on
“The Confidence Trick”: “A confidence
trick is an attempt to defraud a person
or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence
tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, and greed.” Notice that we
would judge three out the six traits that are listed (vanity, irresponsibility,
greed) to be sinful or leading to sin.
The other three traits we do not consider necessarily evil, yet they
make people vulnerable to be victims of deception. Thus, we may be deceived because of our own
evil tendencies. We also may be
victimized by deception. Thus, we see
two major components of our sinful condition:
we are both perpetrators and victims.
We see this in the cycle of abuse that continues over generations within
families. We see this in the people who pulled
under the spell of certain politicians who appeal to both the good and evil
natures of people.
The manifestation that results from Satan’s
release: The outcome of Satan’s release for “a little
while” is manifestation. Satan’s
nature and the vulnerability of the nations are manifested. It is a necessity for these to be made
manifest—that they “play themselves out.”
Once they are manifest, then God’s judgment is justified. Although God owes no one an apology nor
explanation, yet we find that God, throughout the history of creation, is
careful to justify his actions, both to the angelic hierarchy and
humankind.
For example, in the lengthy passage on
justification in Romans 3, Paul comments on God’s actions in providing
“propitiation by his [Christ’s] blood, to be received by faith.” Paul explains “This [provision by God] was to
show God’s righteousness…It was to show his righteousness at the present time,
so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
(Romans 3:25b-26) Note that Paul states
that God’s great act of justification was “to show” God’s righteousness—what
God is truly like. For God is righteous
(“just”) and the one who makes people righteous (“justifier”). All of this was to “show” God’s nature. The word that ESV translates “to show” is a
noun that can mean “evidence.” God’s act
of justification is evidence of his nature.
Or, we could say, his justification is the MANIFESTATION of his
nature. “The truth will out.” So, the truth of Satan and of the nations
will come out. Release Satan from his
prison and he will immediately manifest his deceitful nature and the nations
will fall for it. As my Dad said: “The devil immediately gets a following.”
3. THE RESULT OF
SATAN’S DECEPTION: Satan is quite
successful in his goal of gathering the nations together (I shall explore the
specifics of these “nations” later) for battle against the “camp of the saints
and the beloved city…” (verse 20:9) However, the outcome is not a success for the
“nations.” The nations are destroyed by
fire from heaven. Notice what this
episode reveals about the nature of Satan and his deception. Satan is good at getting people together for
a battle. He is not necessarily good at
winning the battle. He may give people
short-term victories, but, ultimately, the outcome is disastrous.
I knew a man who took a trip out to San
Francisco in 1968. It was one year after
the “Summer of Love.” He described the
scene as chaotic and dangerous. “Speed
freaks” (methamphetamine addicts) and heroin addicts dominated. People were carrying guns, and paranoia was
rife. What started as utopia had disintegrated
into dystopia.
In a sense, Satan’s goal in this case, as with
most of his projects, is not for the nations to win the battle. His goal is to gather the nations FOR
BATTLE. He did not care if they
won. He may lead people into grand
causes, crusades, huge business enterprises, powerful empires, or small-time
schemes. They all have a way of
eventually falling apart. The history of
the ancient middle east is the story of empire after empire dominating the
scene for a short time and then collapsing and giving way to another
empire. Satan’s deception is that these
great projects will last forever and provide humanity with all that is needed
for happiness and fulfillment. But they
are inspired by deception—that a particular god or man or nation is
all-powerful and all-wise. They are
built on a lie and cannot last.
As I am writing this, the United States is in
the early stage of reacting to the storming of the Capitol building, where the
two houses of the national legislature (Senate and House of Representatives)
meet. People who, I believe, were fed
false information resorted to mob violence in order to disrupt the process of
the certification by the Senate and House of the presidential election
results. They have been inspired by
rumors and conspiracy theories. Now
their brief display of raw physical power is over and the nation is trying to
pick up the pieces they left behind. The
sad thing is that there were some legitimate issues that they and their leaders
had been bringing before the nation.
However, the lies that they were being fed poisoned their cause. Satan is the father of lies. Sooner or later, he shows his hand, and
degeneration ensues.
4. THE FINAL END OF
SATAN
After the “nations” who have attacked the “camp of the saints
and the beloved city” are destroyed by fire, Satan himself meets his final
defeat. Throughout the book of
Revelation—indeed, throughout the Bible—Satan’s plans are frustrated and he is
limited in his activity, despite his considerable power. Revelation 12 reflects this pattern. The dragon cannot devour the child of the
woman. (12:4-5) The woman is given protection from the dragon
in the wilderness. (12:6) Michael and his angels defeat the dragon and his
angels. (12:7) This defeat is also ascribed to the
faithfulness of the saints. (12:11) On earth, the dragon cannot capture the woman
because of divine help. (12:13-16) This is not the end of Satan’s pursuit of the
righteous, but all of his efforts ultimately fail. So, finally, the last battle ends in the
defeat of the followers of Satan, and Satan himself meets his end.
He
is thrown into the Lake of Fire. There are four
“places” of judgment mentioned in the New Testament.
1) HADES, which
has the following uses:
a) A place or
position of humiliation and weakness: Matthew
11:23, Luke 10:15,
b) Power or source
of evil: Matthew 16:18
c) A place where
people go after they die, including a place of torment: Luke 16:23
d) A place where
people go after die, not necessarily resulting in torment: Acts 2:27
2) GEHENNA, which
has the following uses:
a) Place of
judgmental torment: Matthew 5:22 (angry
and insulting), 5:29 (better to go without a body part than destroyed in Gehenna)
(along with Matthew 5:30, Mark 9:43, 9:45, 9:47), Matthew 10:28 (place where
God destroys soul and body) (along with Luke 12:5)
a) Parent of the
sinful: Matthew 23:15
b) Source or
origin of evil: James 3:6
2) ABYSS, which
has the following uses:
a) A place where
demons fear to go: Luke 8:31
b) A place where
the dead go: Romans 10:7
c) A source of
smoke that can bring darkness: Revelation
9:1 & 2
d) Also the source
of tormenting locusts who are led by the destroying angel of the abyss: Revelation 9:11
e) The abyss is
the source of the Beast: Revelation 11:7
& 17:8
3) LAKE OF FIRE,
which is mentioned in the following:
a) Revelation
19.20: “and the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet…These two
were thrown into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.”
b) Revelation 20.10,
14, 15 lake of fire
c) Revelation 21.8
“But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the
sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in
the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
The Lake of Fire is defined in the following
ways:
1. It burns with
sulfur (a minimum of 392 degrees Fahrenheit).
2. It is where the
Beast and the False Prophet will be.
3. To be thrown
into it is to suffer the second death.
4. It is the
“portion” (destiny) of all sorts of sinners.
Thus,
the Lake of Fire is a terrible destination.
It is the place where Satan winds up.
All of his schemes and deceptions and ambitions finally bring him to
this terrible end. He is never mentioned
again in Scripture. The final note is
that “they” (the Beast, False Prophet, and the devil) will be “tormented day
and night forever and ever.”
5. WHAT OR WHO ARE
THE “NATIONS” AND GOG AND MAGOG?
Verses 20:7-8 describe Satan’s deception of the
“nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather
them for battle…” This is an echo of
Ezekiel 38-39, which also includes references to Gog and Magog. That latter passage is similar to Revelation
20:7ff, but with some differences. In
the Ezekiel passage, Ezekiel is told to prophesy “Gog, of the land of Magog”
and other mysterious persons and nations.
Ezekiel says to them that God is going to draw them, along with
countries such as Persia and Egypt, to Israel, which is described as “the land
that is restored from war.” Although they
will come prepared for war, God, “in [his] jealousy,” will rain down “hailstones,
fire and sulfur…” and give this huge army to the birds and beasts to be
devoured. In a lengthy cleansing
process, Israel will collect the weapons for firewood and bury the dead for
seven months. Then, Israel will “know
that I am the Lord God” and the nations will understand that God “hid” his face
from Israel temporarily to deal with their transgressions. Notice that Ezekiel 38-39 is echoed in both
our present passage of Revelation 20:7-10 as well as in Revelation 19:11-21.
Dwight Pentecost, a Dispensationalist,
rejects the idea that Revelation 20:7-10 and Ezekiel 38-39 are describing the
same event. He includes the following
reasons (Pentecost, 349-350) (and my responses):
· Ezekiel says a
“northern coalition” attacks, but Revelation says all nations are
involved. However, many nations
are indicated in Ezekiel.
· Ezekiel does
not mention Satan, but Satan is always implied to be the instigator of such
behavior.
· He considers
that the chapters following Ezekiel 38-39 are descriptions of the Millennium. Since chapters 38-39 are placed before, he
concludes that the events are before the Millennium. However, strict chronology would not
necessarily be found in a book of prophecy.
Moreover, Ladd (see below) believes the chapters following are of the eternal
state, not the Millennium. Also, note
that Ezekiel 37 could be descriptive of the Millennium, and this would
mean chapters 38-39 describe events after the Millennium.
· He believes
that Revelation 20:7-10 describe the armies as being devoured by fire, whereas
the Ezekiel describes the disposing of bodies.
However, Ezekiel 38:22b speaks of “fire and sulfur.” Moreover, the word for “consumed” is used
figuratively in several places in the New Testament. (See, for example, Mark 12:40, Luke 15:30,
John 2:17, II Corinthians 11:20). Moreover,
fire can destroy without total consuming an article.
· Revelation 20
is followed by the new heaven and new earth; Pentecost cannot conceive that the
prolonged cleansing of 7 months would not corrupt the new heaven and earth; but
the time line of Rev. 20-21 is not detailed enough to allow this objection.
G. E. Ladd (269-270) understands the latter part of Ezekiel to have
“the same basic structure” as Revelation 20-22:
· Ezekiel
36-37: “[describes the] salvation of
Israel…restored to their land and blessed with the messianic salvation
(36:24-29)
· “The kingdom is
disturbed by an eschatological war, led by Gog from Magog (chapters 38-39)...
· After the
“divine victory” there is an “eternal new order” (described by Ezekiel “in
terms of a rebuilt temple…”) (this corresponds with Revelation 21-22)
Swete (264-265)
does not try to fit Revelation 20:7-10 to Ezekiel 38-39. He, as with many, ignores any possibility of supernatural
prophecy and seeks a rational explanation:
“But whatever Gog and Magog may have meant to Ezekiel, St John’s phrase
[Gog and Magog] has no definite geographical associations; it comes in all
probability not directly from Ezekiel, but from Jewish apocalyptic sources in
which it had assumed a new connotation.
In Rabbinical writings Gog and Magog appear as the enemies of the
Messiah…” …Christian interpreters of the
fourth and following centuries…” [had various views of Gog and Magog, such as: Roman Empire, the Goths, the Huns]. Augustine believed they represent all the
far-distant nations. “This great
uprising of the nations will, [Augustine] adds, be the final protest of the
world against the church.”
Rist (521-522): “This episode of Gog and Magog is based upon
a popular saga that makes its earliest known appearance in a strange prophecy
in Ezek. 38-39. According to it, God
will entice Gog of the land of Magog to attack and plunder the seemingly
defenseless Israelites…But God in his wrath against these heathen people will
destroy them with hailstones, fire, and brimstone…This prediction, frequently
with Gog of Magog changed to Gog and Magog…was soon adapted to messianic and
apocalyptic expectations [in other writings]…” “Evidently this account of Gog
and Magog [in Revelation 20:7-10] is a retelling of the story of the earlier
battle [in Revelation 19:11-21], which also showed some dependence upon the
prophecy in Ezekiel.”
Morris (238-239) “…Gog and Magog seems to signify all
people…Magog appears to be the land from which Gog came…In later Judaism Gog
and Magog were thought of as two leaders…they often symbolize the forces of
evil. For John the combination is
another way of referring to the hosts of the wicked. He has in mind the last great attack of evil
on the things of God.”
Conclusion: Probably, the observations of the scholars—that
“Gog and Magog” in Revelation 20:8 is used as a generalized designation for
evil “nations”—is accurate. Keep in mind
that the term “nations” in the Old Testament generally refers to all other
people groups than Israel and that they were considered outside the covenant relationship
with God and, generally, evil. The
expression “Gog and Magog” in later Judaism probably carried this same kind of
connotation of evil. At the same time,
it probably also is used in Revelation to refer to Ezekiel 38-39, to that
confederation of enemy nations that Ezekiel predicted would make an attack on
the people of God at the end of the Millennium.
I mentioned earlier, in discussing the
necessity of Satan’s release (as stated in 20:3), that Satan’s release would necessitate
his deceptive and evil activity, which is displayed in his instigation of the
attack by the nations of the world.
Moreover, this attack also reveals the inherent evil in the hearts of
people. Even though the Millennium will
entail a thousand years of peace, prosperity, and righteousness, there will be
people in the world who are vulnerable to the deception of Satan. This reveals that they have not been
regenerated by salvation. This fact opens a new question that needs to
be considered in another post: What is
the nature and meaning of the Millennium?
REFERENCES
Crossway.
The Holy Bible. English Standard Version. Wheaton, Il: Crossway by Good News Publishers, 2001.
Ladd,
George Eldon. A Commentary on the
Revelation of John. Grand
Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publ. Co.,
1972.
Morris,
Leon. The Revelation of St. John. The
Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, vol. 12.
Gen. ed. R. V. G. Tasker. Grand
Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., 1980.
Pentecost,
J. Dwight. Things to Come A Study in Biblical
Eschatology. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publ. House, 1958.
Rist,
Martin. “The Revelation of St. John the
Divine” in The Interpreter’s Bible. vol. 12. Nolan B. Harmon, Ed. Nashville:
Abingdon Press, 1957.
Swete,
Henry Barclay. The Apocalypse of St
John. London: MacMillan and Co., 1906.
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