Day 237: Satan's end – Revelation 20 vs 1 - 10
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. 3 After that he must be released for a little while.
4-5 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 6 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
7-8 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9-10 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. Revelation 20:1-10 English standard Version
Will Satan plague the world forever? These verses tell us that the answer is no. They show that Satan's power has already been limited and he faces a final defeat. God's people will share in Christ's eternal victory. But Christians have differed on the details of this vision. Will Satan be locked up for a literal 1000 years sometime in the future – or is it a picture symbolizing a present reality? Only time will tell. But what does vs 2 tell us about what Satan had been doing in the world?
He was the arch-deceiver of the nations. He deceived Adam and Eve in Eden and continued to deceive the nations about God ever since. All the idols of mankind were, and are, manifestations of Satan's lies. Many Christians believe the picture of Satan 'being bound' refers to how he has not been able to prevent the gospel from going to every nation and opening people's eyes to the truth of God. Jesus said to his disciples “I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” (Matthew 16:18.) Then, in vs 4-5, John saw 'the souls' of believers who had been killed for following Christ and resisting Satan's threats. Their lives had been cruelly cut short. But what were they now doing?
They were sharing in Christ's victory. Unlike those who die without Christ, they experienced a resurrection of their soul and were reigning with their saviour and Lord. As we saw in Chapter 19, this will have greatly encouraged Christians in John's day who were facing hostility and brutal persecution. But what did vs 3 & vs 7-10 say will be Satan's final destiny?
It seems he will be released from the restraint he was under and, for a short time, will rush out with a vengeance to gather the nations for a final attack against God's people. Some Christians see it as a real war that will be fought in the Middle East. Others see it as symbolizing a time of greatly increased hatred towards Jesus Christ and Christians. And, as I said in Chapter 19, I can't help thinking we are now seeing something like this in the growing hostility towards Christianity and the message it proclaims. But what is the outcome of this final onslaught by Satan? (vs 9-10)
When it looks as if Christians must surely be crushed and blotted out from the earth – Christ will return and consign his enemies to eternal damnation. So the crucial truth from this chapter is – who are we following in this world - Jesus or Satan? There's no middle ground.