Revelation 20:7-10

At the very beginning, I have to ask you all to buckle up and hang on. In the space of just an interval between verses, we will be leaping forward about 1000 years to the end of that 1000-year kingdom of Christ. This doesn’t mean there will be any significant events in that time, but in terms of the thread we are following, this is our next stop.

This reveals aspects of the nature of truth and the transformation we must undergo as believers. However, all of these concepts are reflected in the text, so we will examine them as they appear.

Last time, we saw the stunning victory at the final battle of the war that really will end all wars. What’s coming this evening cannot truly be classed as a battle, though there will be a threat of one, and with all of the usual suspects, no less. I usually take a few moments to summarize what we covered last time, and I will do so here. Last time, we saw that great old serpent dragon known as “the Satan” in ancient Jewish literature was confined to the bottomless pit for the duration of Christ’s kingdom. We also saw that those who had been killed for their witness for Christ or His Word, assuming they were faithful to the end of their lives, were raised from the dead and reigned with Christ for the duration of His 1000-year kingdom.

Those of you about my age or younger will recognize the phrase, “Game Not Over.” Our consideration this evening is what happens at the END of that 1000-year Sabbath rest of sorts. There has been growth, there has been peace, and there has been prosperity under our King of kings and Lord of lords. And then that snake is set free to go right back to work. It is clear from his actions that he is trying to pick up right where he left off with the hatred and rebellion. That is our subject of study this evening.

I broke the text down this way:

KV9: The First Becomes The Last

9: And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.

7-8: The Release of the Evil Accuser

9: The Short-Lived Rebellion of Unbelief

10: Evil Will Have an End

What we see in our studies this evening is that sin is not so easily dealt with from our human perspective. That golden age of Jesus’ millennial kingdom may have suppressed the ability to sin, but sin is still present, is still as destructive, and as terrible as ever. There are still consequences for sin; most of humanity is about to discover that. With that as a setting of the stage, let’s get into the text.

KV9: The First Becomes The Last

9: And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.

My title this evening reflects the reality of all those who try to take the place of preeminence that they do not deserve. These will fall from the lofty heights they attempt to achieve in some way. For a wealthy person who has acquired their wealth without earning it, it will be lost in some way. For those who gain power in the wrong way, it will be lost, and likely in humiliating fashion. We know this will happen. For the last 50 years or so, “Hollyweird” has written every moment of their movies like this. The bad guys never get to win because there is justice in the universe. Who knows that better than we, whose Lord and Master is that universal justice personified? Yet it is not so today. Silly people do silly things, own silly notions, and elect silly people. For those of us who know our God, it should not matter one little bit. One day, our Lord will come, and everything will be set right. Those who have done wrong should worry about that. The Apostle Peter tells us (1 Pet. 1:3-7) that “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;” We suffer now, then, there will no longer be need. All will be set right.

Tonight’s study shows just such a time, though it is not the only time we, the redeemed, will see. Let’s look at the text and see.

7-8: The Release of the Evil Accuser

Yes, the great perpetrator is being released. He is going to be freed, and by his actions, he will not have changed. We see this today in our light-on-penalty prosecutors, I know, but this will not be like that. This will be 1000 years in solitary confinement, Beloved. Many hardened criminals will tell you that time in solitary confinement is the hardest time you can spend. It seems at least 10 times as long as it really is. Think about how long a year is. Measure it by how much activity we can fit into two-thirds of it (that’s the time we are awake, approximately). Now think of not being able to do anything for that time. Yikes. Now multiply that by 1000. It’s unimaginable to me. I can barely sit still for an hour! A thousand years? That’s a sentence. And he will have served it, and will be set free. Let’s see what happens when he is.

7: When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison,

This is what I mean. He will not be fooling anyone who knows, really knows, who he is. After 1000 years in a pit with no bottom (ἄβυσσον), he will be released. God knows what he is doing, even if nobody else does. We do, because He is telling us. After 1000 years, he is set free. I mean free. He will go and do as he pleases. It doesn’t take very long to see that this criminal is picking up right where he left off.

8: and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.

He immediately sets out to deceive the nations again. This tells us that there are nations on the earth during the kingdom. It will be like the United Nations of Earth, but for real, not just the avoid-real-work organization we have today that always seems to oppose what is good and pleasing to God, with a few notable exceptions.
Deceive is the Greek word πλανῆσαι, which means “lead astray,” and is in the aorist tense, active, and infinative, meaning it is a thing he is doing, not having been done to him. The word “nations” here is of some interest. It is the Greek word “ἔθνη,” a form of ἔθνος. We get our word “ethnic” from it. Here we are, 1000 years since he has been able to influence humanity, and he’s still singing the same old sad song. Division on ethnic lines. Melanin concentration, no doubt. Nationality. Superiority. All of it Hubris, and this time the fall will kill him. He’s just spent a thousand years in solitary confinement, and he’s still playing the old-time hits. And apparently, there will be a desire for the old songs. This will still be effective because the source of rebellion against God is not environmental or even really from Satan himself; it is from within the human heart itself.
There will be believers and unbelievers on the Earth at this time. Isaiah tells us of this time in 65:20, which says, “No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, Or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be thought accursed.” I know this is conjecture, but I get the impression that the Earth will be rapidly repopulated in this 1000-year period. There will still be a requirement to turn to Christ and be saved, and that means that sin is still present on the earth in the seed of man. Kids will have something like 100 years to recognize the goodness of God and accept it, and those who don’t will die young, at like 100 or so. Lifespans will be into the hundreds of years, all because sin will not be allowed to operate as it is allowed to work today, and death will simply be translation to glory or a final sleep until the last awakening, and I do not mean that in the sense of revival.
The four corners of the earth. This does not mean that the Earth is a cube or flat square, contrary to what some of our brethren believe. It can be translated as “four quadrants” of the earth, I’m told. It simply means the whole Earth. It isn’t clear to me, but there will have been geographical and topological changes on Earth. My own conjecture is that continental drift will be reversed, and the great supercontinent we call Pangea will be reconstituted. However, there is no biblical evidence to support this, and it’s just my imagination running wild a bit.
God and Magog. This has a bit of an ethnic flavour, but in reality is used here to represent all of the nations of the Earth that will join together under one banner to confront and throw down the “tyrant” Jesus. Yes, I know, we see this being done today in types and shadows. Sometimes, I wonder if it isn’t a dry run for what’s to come. Noah’s son Japheth had a son named Magog (Gen. 10:2). Ezekiel used the term Gog, of the land of Magog, as the leader against the forces of Israel in Ezekiel 38 and 39. This language is the same kind of usage, and under at least similar circumstances. It seems that this great confederation of nations from the north will come against the “beloved city,” my guess is Jerusalem, which this serpent dragon accuser angel will lead. Whether this is just a northern alliance or the direction from which the attack will come is somewhat debatable, but the majority consensus is that it is the latter. In either event, the number of attackers is described as sand on the seashore, so again, innumerable.

As the Puritan commentator, Matthew Henry, said in his commentary on this passage, “While this world lasts, Satan’s power in it will not be wholly destroyed, though it may be limited and lessened. No sooner is Satan let loose, than he again begins deceiving the nations, and stirring them up to make war with the saints and servants of God.” I was struck that he was singing the same old nonsense that all the enemies of God are singing today about intersectionality politics. Solomon was right; there is nothing new under the sun. A thousand years, and he pulls up the same old sad songs of ethnicity and division. For those living in that time, it will be like it is now, I’m guessing. People who buy into the nonsense will seem to have gone insane, and they will ultimately rise up and attack the saints of God because of their misdirected anger and hatred for God. This time, it will be over quickly. Let me say this: I stand with Matthew Henry when he says, “It would be well if the servants and ministers of Christ were as active and persevering in doing good, as his enemies in doing mischief.” This can be seen as a current and future practical application of the text. If they can be so active in spreading evil, we should be at least as active in doing good to those around us, at a minimum.

9: The Short-Lived Rebellion of Unbelief

This innumerable company will be led to come to the plains around the “beloved city,” and I think for several reasons that this is Jerusalem, the seat of Christ’s earthly government. There is an apocryphal reference to this being Jerusalem in Ecclesiasticus 24:11, which reads, “Thus in the beloved city he gave me a resting place, and in Jerusalem was my domain.” The reference appears to be Messianic and is also apocryphal. I don’t think this is the most excellent reference to the camp of the saints. I mention it here because it appears in Jaimeson, Faucett, and Brown as a kind of proof text.

The reason for my title is this: Any who would attack God or His people at this point may be considered unbelievers, and this lack of faith in Christ is the root of all rebellion against God and His people. Let’s see what happens.

9: And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
“They.” Who are they? “They” are the unbelievers that we spoke of earlier. This should shock no one. The unbelievers attack the believers. This has been the case since the beginning. Cain, the unbeliever, murdered his own brother Abel, the believer, because of his own pride and lack of self-control. “Beloved city,” I suspect, is Jerusalem, but may be a way of referring to God’s collective people as well. In either case, they will surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city.
The literal translation of “broad plain” is “breadth” of the earth. Whatever is being said, the meaning we are to take from this is that the army is massive. It would have to be to surround the entirety of Jerusalem, or any other major earthly city.
And as much as there would have been a fearful and massive build-up to this moment, it will be just as quickly over. Fire will come down from heaven and consume them all. Again, Matthew Henry’s words are perfect here: “God will fight this last and decisive battle for his people, that the victory may be complete, and the glory be to himself.” Gone will be the manhunts of tomorrow, where saints will be hunted because they love the Lord Jesus and want to serve Him. Gone will be the verbal attacks of today, where unbelievers ridicule those of us who will at least try (sometimes pitifully) to stand for Christ with all of our logic and ability, only to be seen as fools. At least we are HIS fools, and we preach no real folly. We preach the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We preach Christ, and Him crucified for all of our sins, with the expectation that some will believe too.
The way I see this happening is that the saints will see the approaching army. They will begin the charge, and some elder will pray. God will answer, and before they can go five yards, it is all over, and that army is ash. No manhunts or mockings. Just answers to the earnest prayer of His people. And Justice. Without an adjective like “social” or “climate” or whatever other nonsense. Then…peace. The Shalom of God. Eirene, giving place to the worship of the purified and protected hearts of the saints.

There are several things we can infer from this. One of these is that there is still a separation during the Millennium of Earth and Heaven, and apparently of physical and transformed humanity. That may explain the apostasy right near the end as well. It will still be true that for those who believe in Christ, no explanation or proof is necessary. For those who do and will not believe, no explanation or proof will ever suffice. Even the Millennial kingdom of Christ is but a foreshadowing of the eternal kingdom, where all such separations will be ended. New Jerusalem shall descend from Heaven from God. What that means is unknown to me, but I’m certain it will be spectacular. How blessed was John to have seen its descent?

All the things we struggle with now, largely because of various violations of the Ten Commandments owing to sin, will be dealt with by the King and His servants. Climate will be a non-issue (much like it is now, if you ask me, with my biology degree). Ethnicity that gives rise to racism will have no place, because your evaluation will really be based on the content of your character. The insanity of sexual identity will not exist because everyone will know the truth. Political strife will no longer be allowed to exist, not because one-King rule will be imposed on the planet, but because everyone will agree that His rule is the best for everyone, at least right until Satan is released. Even the animals will be at peace. Children will be well-behaved. The world, for 1000 years, will be at peace, the very peace of God. Everything we fight over now will simply become a non-issue. We will all have enough. We will all be fed. We will all be able to pursue our goals without any expense to others. Health will be good for all. Sickness of any kind will be rare indeed. People will call each other neighbour…and mean it. You won’t have to lock your doors. It will be a true utopia.

The Millennial kingdom will also be a time of renewed grace. People will still have to declare their belief in Christ for salvation, which, as you will recall, is a gift of His grace. Perhaps the believers on earth at that time will share Christ with people. In a place where the influence of Satan is suppressed, the only impediment to the gospel is the inherited sinful nature of man. It would be the only impediment to the transfigured church, that is, the only thing preventing the salvation of all living souls at that time. As such, the Earth shall end. As the previous age ended with the manifestation of true Church in visible glory, so will this age end with the great separation of the wicked and the justified, that is, those in Christ. What happens next is as poetic as it is unbelievable in the rhetorical sense.

10: Evil Will Have an End

As amazing as this sounds to us, it is true. That end is in this verse. Let’s get right to it.

10: And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

I have heard several people attempt to attribute names of human beings to this verse. Some have said Joe Biden was the deceiving devil. Some say Trump. That’s a disservice to the Word. It can only be one individual, and it is Lucifer, formerly the first created being, the head worship gatherer, the first of all officers in the heavenly army. Yeah, that guy. They took him and threw him into the burning lake of sulphur (brimstone).
What we can see from this is that, unlike his last confinement, from which he apparently did not learn or reform, this will be a permanent solution. Notice that Lucifer is being thrown into the flames as a convict, stripped of honour and power. People have this unbiblical idea that Lucifer is god’s equal and opposite. He is not, and he loses for the last time here. He is no longer the great red dragon, the serpent of old. He is now officially confutatis maledictus, that is, condemned and cursed, to flammae doloris in aeternum, that is, the flames of woe for eternity. Evil has met its end forever.
We talked about this when we looked at their capture, but here is some important information. One thousand years before this time, the two humans known as the Antichrist or Beast, possibly a Human/Nephilim hybrid, and his false prophet, a full human who may or may not have been possessed by demons, that is, the violent evil spirits of Nephilim disembodied by the flood, were deposited. The text states that these two individuals are still here and continue to suffer. So confined, he will never be a threat to anyone, ever again.
So much for the idea of “annihilation of the damned.” Eternity for those humans who are damned is eternal, conscious suffering in a burning lake of sulphur forever, utterly separate from the love of God. Nobody can truly be separated from the presence of God; He is omnipresent, after all. This is meant to appeal to the interests of men in that it lessens the severity of the penalty that sin leads all people to without Christ. Annihilation may be defined as “the wicked being utterly obliterated and consumed through God’s judgment. Their ‘torment’ is knowing that they will never come to life again; they will be dead ‘forever and ever.’ This view is based on the fact that much of the biblical imagery of hell—a consuming fire, destruction, and perishing—may imply eternal death.” The text does not say this, nor does it imply this. These men are still here and being tormented 1000 years later.
Another view is that this lake of burning sulphur (and its implication of the fires of hell) may be symbolic of a certain kind of horror that would be an appropriate punishment. The exact nature of this lake of fire is unknown, but certainly it is not a place one would desire to go. This is a little less clear. Some have posited that it is God’s love that causes the pain for the wicked. There is some poetic justice in that idea. The very thing that gives the people of God such joy will also be the very thing that torments the damned for eternity. Some feel that they are simply descriptive of what is actually happening in front of John, which is the easiest to present, if I’m being thoughtful. The devil is at last in the hell that God created for him. However, he does not rule it with his devils and demons; he is confined there and stripped of all his power and identity. That is, I think a part of this damnation. And no one will remember his name.
This brings me to a point I need to put into words. Beloved, when we wish death on someone who has caused us or a loved one harm, this is what we are wishing for. I cannot think that is proper for a Christian. As Jesus said to James and John, when they were not received by Samaritans because they were travelling toward Jerusalem (Luke 9:54-56), and the two offered to call down fire from heaven on them, “But He turned and rebuked them, [and said, ‘You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.’] And they went on to another village.” Yes, I am aware that Luke 9:56 is a disputed text in the manuscripts. I think He said it to them. Hatred and vengeance have no place in the Christian. Instead of wishing for people to die and go to hell, should we not instead pray that they would be delivered from such an eternal fate? Yes, some will go to that fate, but it should NOT be because of our lack of trying. I repeat Matthew Henry on this passage: “It would be well if the servants and ministers of Christ were as active and persevering in doing good, as his enemies in doing mischief.” To do such a thing would make us no better than the evil we say we hate and work against.
Day and night. I find this interesting. Time will still exist. For the redeemed and heavenly beings in the text, it will simply have no more meaning, for reasons we will see in upcoming studies. In a sense, it is figurative for “without intermission.” It will be this way, and it will now always be this way. I think it will be the same for those in the lake of fire. They will now be there, they will suffer torment consciously, and it will now always be that way for them. There is a great deal more that I could say, but it would merely be theorizing what eternity will be like. We will say more about this in the next study. That word for “tormented” is the Greek βασανισθήσονται, which is the future, passive, indicative 3rd-person, plural verb “to batter,” which, in English, would be said, “they will be battered.” As a former martial artist, that evokes a pretty specific picture in my mind. I don’t necessarily think there have to be angels doing that; the environment itself can have that effect. The same word was used in the gospels for a bunch of guys in a boat that was “being battered” by the wind and waves. Whatever is happening, it is from this point, happening forever, to whoever is subjected to it. Welcome to the eternal living death.

Over time, my own ideas of crime and punishment have undergone some reformation, as well as my soul. I used to think it monstrous to kill a murderer for their crime, knowing that it would not change what had happened. I used to believe that education was the answer to many of these problems; a little fairness in the system and an equal footing would take care of the rest, for the most part. I have, over years of thought and prayer, come to see all of that as complete and utter hogwash.

Tonight’s study defines the very concept of the only appropriate adjective that should go along with the word “Justice.” Here’s the pairing for you: divine justice. And only if it is YHVH as the divine. There are things here at first glance that may be troubling to some. Lucifer has no chance of redemption, for example. Some think this is unjust. I do not, and here is why. Lucifer was not created as a baby who grew into his power and knowledge like humanity does. He was created with all his own power and knowledge as it is. He would have known what pride was, and he would have known the dangers of entertaining it. He did anyway. He would have known the price of rebellion against the living creator God. He did it anyway. He would have known the price for corrupting humanity the way he did. He did it GLEEFULLY. Why? He thought that He was the first and best, and he should be in charge instead of God, even though he knew the truth. He rejected that truth in full knowledge of the consequences and the suffering of others it would cause. And he did it anyway, because he thought that the benefits to himself outweighed the sufferings of others. He murdered a good portion of humanity with that thinking, and damned them to the same flames of woe that he will now inhabit forever, to suffer the same fate as they will, whosoever will not come to Christ in humility with faith and in repentance. God has decided that fate is fitting for the angel who would be a god. He will not ever rule below…or anywhere else. He may not even be recognizable, though that is some conjecture on my part. The scary part for me is that there is still a lot of room in that burning sulphur lake.

We can escape that eternal destiny if we will admit to ourselves and to God that we are broken by humanity’s leap into managing our own affairs without Him. If we will confess that we are sinners and have violated God’s holy standard, and ask His forgiveness, we will find that He will grant it as we turn to Him as our Lord and Master, committing to no longer live for our own pleasures, but instead, for His. If we will do that, He will save us. He is inviting the very action. He says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” (Rev. 3:20) We will no longer be alone, we will no longer be without resources, and we will no longer be without companionship at the very least. He spoke those words to John and told him to write them down so that we would someday read them or hear them. Today is that day. Isaiah knew it when he wrote, “Thus says the LORD, ‘In a favorable time I have answered You, And in a day of salvation I have helped You;’“(Isa. 49:8a) Paul quoted Isaiah when he wrote, “for He says, ‘AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.’ Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is ‘THE DAY OF SALVATION…’” as he directed all of those who read or heard him speak to turn from sin and to Christ and be saved (2 Cor. 6:2). All I will say here is that if you are wondering what to do, turn to Christ and ask His forgiveness for your sins. Commit to not doing that anymore. Confess Him (with your mouth, that is, out loud, even if you are alone in your room) as your Lord, the one you follow, who is in charge, and He will save you. Personally. Drop us an email and let us know what happened. Pa*******@**********on.com. You do have a choice. If you chose the other option, you have seen the consequence, and you will not enjoy the next study.

That’s what I saw in the text this time.

Next time, we will be studying Revelation 20:11-15. Who can end a universe in five verses? Be sure to tune in next time to find out.