Rev. Angus Stewart
Introduction
Revelation
20 is a battleground. It is a battleground for two different reasons.
First, it describes the largest and the most important battle in the history of
the world. You could call it the battle of all battles or the war to end all
wars, for with its conclusion the world, with all its fighting, ends. Second,
Revelation 20 is a battleground between the various views of the last
days. All the different schools of thought on eschatology have their own
distinctive interpretations of Revelation 20. In fact, the four main views
derive their names from Revelation 20: amillennialism, premillennialism,
postmillennialism, and premillennial dispensationalism. For Revelation
20 is the only passage in the Bible that speaks of a “thousand years,” and
it is from the Latin word for a thousand (mille) that we derive our English word
“millennium,” a key component in the names of the four main eschatological
schools.
I am not going to explain the positions of
these four systems of eschatology, for that would take us too far afield. Nor
am I going to critique the various schools of thought; that would be too much
for this article. Instead, I will here set out what I believe to be the right
view, the view of the mainline, historic Christian and Reformed faith, also
called amillennialism. I will simply explain the passage, going through it bit
by bit, and, here and there, I will make the occasional criticism of the other
millennial schools.[1]
So
what does Revelation 20 mean? In the first three verses we will look at
the binding of Satan. In verses 4-6, we will consider the reign of the saints.
Verses 7-10 deal with Satan’s little season, Gog and Magog and the final
battle. Then there is the judgment of Christ’s great white throne (11-15), but
this last section is beyond the scope of this article.
The Binding of Satan (vv. 1-3)
The
very first words of Revelation 20 are vital to its right interpretation.
This chapter does not begin with the word “Then,” as if we are dealing with a
temporal sequence. It does not start with “After that” either. It does not even
begin with “It shall come to pass.” It simply begins, “And I saw.” “And I saw”
tells us that here we are dealing with a vision. A vision is not history; a
vision is not even prophecy, as such; it is a special type of prophecy.
Visions
are characterised by symbols. By symbols, I am referring to such things as
symbolic numbers, symbolic colours, symbolic names, symbolic metals, symbolic
jewels, etc. Let us consider some visions or dreams, for in the Bible visions
and dreams are very similar. Both visions and dreams contain what the seer
“saw.” In Daniel 2, we have a giant statue of gold, silver, bronze, iron and
then iron and clay, which symbolize four great world empires. Daniel
7 presents the same reality, this time under the imagery of four beasts.
Daniel sees a lion and a bear and a leopard and then the fourth beast, dreadful
and exceedingly terrible. These creatures represent Babylon, Medo-Persia,
Greece and Rome. Revelation 13 begins, “And I saw,” and then comes the
beast with seven heads and ten horns and ten crowns, part lion, part bear, part
leopard. “And I saw,” tells us that we are dealing with a vision. The book of
Revelation, in general, consists of a sequence of visions.
The
main figure in Revelation 20:1-3 is
Satan. Satan is here described by four different names. Two of the names come
from animals and two are proper names. He is called, first, “the dragon” (v. 2).
Earlier, he was called a “great red dragon” (12:3). In Revelation 12, he has a
mighty tail, seven heads, ten horns and seven crowns. Does the devil really
have these numbers of heads and crowns and so on? No, it is a vision. The point
is that the devil is a powerful, ferocious and terrifying being. Not only is he
called “the dragon,” but he is also called “that old serpent” (20:2). In that
the serpent is called “old,” it refers to the serpent’s tempting Eve in the
beginning of the world in Genesis 3. Satan is, therefore, the enemy of God and
His people from ancient times. He is powerful like a dragon and he is subtle
like a serpent. Third, he is called “the Devil” (v. 2). As the devil, he
slanders and falsely accuses. The fourth title is “Satan” (v. 2), that is, the
opposer of God and His kingdom. Putting those four names together, the devil is
a powerful, subtle, slanderous opponent. He is all these things as a fallen
angel, an evil spirit, who uses all his might and all his craft against Jesus
Christ and His church. The saints hear God’s evaluation of Satan and believe
His assessment of him. We must watch against Satan’s attacks and look for all
our protection in the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth (Ps. 121)!
Revelation 20 also proclaims that
Satan is bound:
And I saw an
angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great
chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is
the Devil and Satan [the four names that we have just considered], and bound
him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up,
and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the
thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little
season (vv. 1-3).
Is
this binding of Satan absolute and complete or is it relative and in part? To
express it a little differently, Can the devil, once he is bound, do absolutely
nothing because of his binding or is he only bound with respect to a particular
activity? Again, Is Satan’s binding absolute and complete so that he is bound
with respect to absolutely everything or is it a partial binding with respect
to something specified in the Word of God?
What
does Revelation 20 say? It tells us that Satan is bound “that he should
deceive the nations no more” (v. 3). Verse 8 informs us, more fully, that when
he is loosed (which is obviously the opposite of being bound), the devil “shall
go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog
and Magog, to gather them together to battle.” Their battle is against Christ’s
church, as we shall see more fully later. Thus the binding of Satan is God’s
restraint of him that stops him from uniting all the nations together to
destroy the church. This is what the passage says. The binding of Satan, as
explained in Revelation 20, is not absolute and complete; it is relative and in
part. Verses 3 and 8 specify that his binding concerns one particular thing,
for Satan’s binding means that he can not unite all the world in a full-scale
attack against God’s people. When, after his binding, he is loosed, he “shall
go out to deceive the nations which are on the four quarters of the earth, Gog
and Magog, to gather them together to battle” (v. 8). This is the thing he can
not do while he was bound. But when he is loosed, he unites all the nations
against the people of God.
The question is now: When does this binding
of Satan take place? Here we need to understand what things were like in the
days of the Old Testament. Hear Psalm 147:19-20:
He sheweth his
word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel [i.e., the Jews
received the revelation of God through the prophets in the Word]. He hath not
dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them.
Acts 14:16 makes the same point: God “in times
past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.” In other words, in Old
Testament days, all the nations were in the thick darkness of paganism and
idolatry (cf. Eph. 2:12). The
light of salvation shone only in that little tract of land in Palestine. That
is the way things were in Old Testament times.
Then, in Jesus Christ, God came into the
world in human flesh, and He atoned for the sins of the elect not only in
Israel but also in all nations. The church became catholic or universal, as
opposed to being only in Palestine with a few people (like Naaman) converted in
kingdoms round about. The gospel spread throughout the Middle East, Europe, and
North Africa and is now being disseminated throughout the whole world. But, of
course, Satan sought to crush the New Testament church. How would he do that?
By deceiving all the nations to unite together against Christ’s bride to
destroy her. This is where the binding of Satan comes in. Jesus Christ bound
Satan by His cross and resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit
(which is the application of the cross). Here, you understand, I am taking
Christ’s atoning death, burial, resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit as one complex of events.
Now we need to look at a few passages.
First, in Matthew 12:28-29,
Jesus says to the Pharisees,
But if I cast
out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or
else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except
he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
This passage declares (1) that Satan is
“cast out” by Christ—the same Greek word is used in Revelation
20:3 where Satan is cast
into the bottomless pit—and (2) that the kingdom of God is come in Christ and
this is proven by Jesus’ exorcising demons.
Second, in John 12:31, Christ declares, “Now is the judgment of
this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” Note: (1) this word
“cast out” is virtually the same word as that used in Revelation
20:3 where Satan is cast
out and (2) Satan is cast out “now.” The next verse goes on to speak of Christ
being lifted up on the cross and ascending into heaven. That is when Satan is
cast out.
Third, Colossians
2:15 states that Jesus
Christ “spoiled principalities and powers [including, centrally, Satan],” at
the cross.
Fourth, Hebrews 2:14 teaches us that Jesus came in flesh
and blood to die on the cross in order that “through death he might destroy him
that had the power of death, that is the devil.”
Fifth, I John 3:8 proclaims this good news: “The Son of
God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”
These five New Testament texts unitedly
declare that Satan was cast out and spoiled by Christ at His first coming by
His death, burial and resurrection. Of course! For if the death, burial and
resurrection of Christ, the “power of God” (I Cor. 1:24), does not bind Satan or cast him out,
then nothing in the universe could!
Someone might say, though, “This puts the
binding of Satan in the past,” for the cross and the events that I have
described are in the past. The answer to that is “Yes, that is exactly where I
am putting the binding of Satan: in the past.” You say, “What’s that doing in
the book of Revelation? Doesn’t Revelation 20 speak about things future
to us?” Undoubtedly, there are things in Revelation 20 that are future to
us, but some of the chapter refers to events which have already occurred.
This is not unusual in the book of
Revelation. Revelation 5, for instance, speaks about Christ’s ascension and
reign. This is the chapter in which the Lamb takes the book. This vision
begins, “And I saw in the right hand …” (v. 1). Christ’s taking the book and
beginning to rule over all things actually occurred in the past—for John too,
because John penned Revelation in the AD 90s, according to most New Testament
scholars. Christ took the book and began to exercise God’s rule over the whole
universe in the AD 30s upon His ascension into heaven.
Revelation 12 is similar. It tells us what
John saw: “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven …” (v. 1). Here we see a
woman and a dragon and all sorts of wonderful signs. In this chapter we also
behold Christ’s birth, His ascension, and His reign (vv. 2, 4-5). These things
happened in the past from our perspective and they were in the past from John’s
perspective when he wrote this book.
The obvious objection to this is: How can
Satan be bound now when there is so much evil in the world? What about all the
iniquity that surrounds us? Satan tempts us; he goes around as a roaring lion
seeking those he may devour (I Pet. 5:8); he blinds the minds of those who believe not (II Cor. 4:4). He appears as an angel of light (11:14),
who uses false teachers and false doctrine to lead the church into apostasy. He
is called the “god of this world” (4:4). He stirs up ungodly rulers to
persecute the church. You can even see this in the book of Acts. So how can the
devil be bound?
Here I remind you of what I said at the
start of this article about the binding of Satan: the binding of Satan means
that he cannot unite all the nations together at one time to persecute the
church and wipe her out until the thousand years are ended (Rev. 20:3, 8). The binding of Satan does not mean that
he does not tempt or stir up persecution against the church. The binding of
Satan means that he does not unite all the nations from the four quarters of
the earth to destroy the church at one time. So far, this all-out assault upon
the people of God has not happened. Why not? Because Satan is bound, for Christ
bound him at His death and resurrection.
Revelation 20 was written, in part,
lest anyone would have doubts, that maybe all the nations will unite to wipe
out the church at some point prior to the Antichrist. What does the vision say?
Satan is bound; he is bound by a great chain; he is bound by a great chain by
an angel from heaven and cast into the bottomless pit. What a wonderful thing!
You
understand, of course, that these things are figurative. You can not bind Satan
with a chain; he is a spirit. The trap door, locked with a key, is likewise
part of the vision. The point is that Satan can not get out; he can not unite
all the nations against the church to wipe her out, until God wills to loose
him in the days of Antichrist.
This
teaches us something very important about the millennium, the thousand years of
Revelation 20. It teaches us when the millennium begins. It begins at
the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, which results in
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
This is the power that binds Satan. The
binding of Satan, then, occurs at the beginning of the millennium or thousand
years spoken of frequently in Revelation 20, the beginning of the New Testament
age.
This
also tells us something about the length of the millennium. One thousand nine
hundred and eighty years have now passed since Calvary and Pentecost. The
millennium, therefore, the thousand years of Revelation 20, is not and can not
be literal because some 1,980 years (which is more than 1,000 years) have
passed. Psalm 50:10 says
that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Who owns the cattle on the
thousand and first hill? God’s owning the cattle on a thousand hills means
that He owns all the cattle; that is the point.[2]
The
book of Revelation is filled with symbolic numbers, which is exactly what you
would expect, because it consists of visions. Six hundred and sixty six, the
number of the beast, does not mean that you will be able to identify the
Antichrist because he will have “666” tattooed on his forehead. The number,
666, the Bible says, is the number of man (Rev. 13:18). Antichrist is the epitome of man sinning
and coming short (666) of the covenant perfection of God (777). Seven is also
symbolic in Revelation: seven spirits of God, seven eyes, seven horns, seven
speaking thunders, seven heads of the beast, etc. In Revelation 14, we see the
one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed, which is twelve times twelve (the
number of the church) times a thousand.
In Revelation 20,
what, then, is the symbolism of the thousand years? The answer is very simple:
the number one thousand is ten cubed—ten times ten times ten. Ten in the Bible
is the number of completeness. There were ten plagues—the fullness of God’s
wrath upon Egypt. We have ten commandments—the fullness of God’s law, of all
God’s judgments. So, ten times ten times ten (which is a thousand) is the
complete and full New Testament age of the whole catholic church of Jesus Christ.
When does the
millennium end? Revelation 20 says that it ends when Satan is loosed. Then
you have Satan’s little season (v. 3) followed by the end of the world. Thus
the millennium finishes at the end of the world, minus Satan’s little season, a
tiny little sliver, immediately before the very end. Then comes the final
judgment in which Jesus Christ will judge the world on His great white throne (vv.
11-15). Acts 24:15 teaches
that there will be one resurrection, both of the just and the unjust, who are
raised from the dead for the purpose of the final judgement.
Let us put all this
together. The millennium begins with Christ’s first coming, Calvary and
Pentecost. It ends with His second coming, and then we have the final judgment.
Thus the millennium is the New Testament age, the period from the first to the
second advent of Christ (here, for simplification, I am setting aside the tiny
little sliver at the very end before Christ returns when Satan is loosed). This
period, between the first and second comings of Christ, is pictured as a
thousand years in the vision of Revelation 20 for a specific purpose. It
emphasises the completeness and fullness of the New Testament age.
This
is how the New Testament age is complete and full: all the elect are saved from
all nations. These are the days predicted by the prophets as the fulfilment of
their hopes until finally the eternal state is ushered in. This is the era in
which Jesus Christ personally rules from His throne in heaven over all things.
This is the age in which the Spirit of Jesus Christ works in all the world and
in which the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church of Christ is gathered.
So, the millennium covers the same period as the “last days” (another biblical
phrase), the period from the first coming to the second coming of Christ. These
days are called the “last days” because nothing comes after them but the
eternal state. There is no intermediate period or halfway house between the
millennium or last days and the eternal state.
Now
we can see why Satan is bound at the very beginning of the millennium and why
he is not loosed until the very end of the thousand years. For, to speak
hypothetically, if all the nations were allowed to unite against the church,
say, some fifty years prior to Christ’s return, then all the elect could not be
gathered. Then all the one, holy, catholic, apostolic church could not be
saved. What then about the predictions of the prophets? What about the rule of
Jesus Christ from His throne?
Thus
the message of the millennium is a message of comfort. It is comfort, first of
all, because it proclaims that Jesus Christ is Lord and that He is Lord even of
Satan—not in the sense that the old serpent worships Him as his Saviour, but
that He rules over the devil. He binds Satan and He looses Satan. “Satan,”
Christ says, in effect, “I am going to see to it that you do not unite and
destroy My church. I am going to bind you. And when I please, and when you
fulfil My purpose, then I’ll loose you.” Satan just does what he is
allowed to do, to serve the sovereign purpose of Jesus Christ. Second, this is
also our comfort: Satan is defeated. Satan is bound now so he can not unite all
the nations against the church, and then Satan will be loosed for a little
while for one all-out assault on the church. Then, Revelation 20 says, he
will be cast into the lake of fire forever and ever (v. 10). All this means,
therefore, that all the church will be saved.
Since
the millennium teaches us that, no matter how fierce the persecution, the whole
church will not be attacked by all the nations together until Satan’s little
season, the millennium is the period of missions for the church in which the
gospel is sent out to all the world. The millennium, therefore, means victory
for the church. This victory is not the victory of earthly peace or
power or prosperity, as if the church were just another kingdom of this world.
The millennium is a period of victory as a period of spiritual peace,
power and prosperity. Christ’s word that His kingdom is “not of this world” (John 18:36)
does not mean that His kingdom is somehow inferior to all the other
kingdoms of this world. No, when He says that His kingdom is not of this world,
He means it is a far better kingdom, a far richer kingdom—rich
with the blessings of peace and fellowship with the true and living God. Unlike
every other kingdom, this one is everlasting and indestructible. All its
meek citizens will inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5).
The Reign of the Saints (vv. 4-6)
The saints who reign in Revelation
20:4-6 are described,
first, as disembodied souls, that is, they are believers who are physically
dead, but who are alive in their souls. Verse 4 begins, “And I saw” (just to
remind us that this is still a vision) “thrones, and they sat upon them, and
judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded
for the witness of Jesus.” The passage says “souls,” but someone could object
that sometimes this means simply “people.” True. The Bible tells us, for
instance, that seventy souls came to Egypt (Gen. 46:26-27), and this does not mean seventy
disembodied spirits; it means seventy people (in body and soul). But
here we are told in Revelation 20:4 that these are souls who have been beheaded,
and so they have died physically. They are disembodied souls.
The second point is that these saints are
in heaven and not on earth. Where else would those saints be who have
died physically and live in their souls? If you look at Revelation
6:9-11, you will see the souls
of the saints presented as being under the altar in heaven. We are told
in Revelation 20:4 that
these souls, who have been beheaded, sit on thrones, and thrones are always heavenly
in the book of Revelation. Take a concordance and check it out. Moreover, we
read of these souls that they are reigning with Christ, and He (in His
body) is in heaven.
Third,
these disembodied souls in heaven are not only those who have been literally
beheaded; they are all the believers in heaven. In the book of Revelation, all
the saints are presented as martyrs. We are martyrs, since we are hated by the
world because we belong to Jesus Christ. The world hates Him and therefore it
hates us. We are martyrs, too, because all saints are persecuted by this world.
By definition, you cannot be a saint in this fallen world without being
persecuted. Persecution comes in different forms and in varying degrees, but
all saints are hated and are persecuted. Romans 8:36 declares, “As it is written, For thy
sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for
the slaughter.” Paul does not mean just himself; he means all
Christians, all those who are elect and called. “For thy sake we are killed all
the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter” is a quotation from Psalm 44:22. It is always this way (both in Old and
New Testament days) with God’s beloved people. All Christians fit the
characteristics of Revelation 20:4. All persevere in holiness in a godless world. Though the
degree of our persecution varies, in principle, all Christians are slain—because
hatred, as the Bible teaches (cf. Matt. 5:22; I John 3:15), is principally murder; and the world hates
God’s children.
As
describing the disembodied souls of saints in heaven, Revelation
20:4-6 speaks of the intermediate
state of the righteous. “Intermediate” means the period in the middle. It
is the period in between what we currently experience on
earth and the eternal state. When we die, we enter the intermediate state in
our souls with Christ in heaven. After that is the eternal state that
begins with the bodily resurrection. Thus Revelation
20:4-6 speaks of the
intermediate state (between our present life and the eternal state).
It teaches us where we are going to be when
we die and what it is going to be like. The life of the people of God after
death is a life of reigning as kings. We read of “thrones” (v. 4), which means
we are kings, and as kings on thrones we exercise dominion and rule over heaven
and earth in union with Jesus Christ, the Lord of all. That life is also one in
which we offer sacrifices of praise to God as priests, for verse 6 calls us
“priests of God and of Christ.” This is a most exalted priesthood enjoyed by
the saints, a greater priesthood even than that exercised by Aaron or Jehoiada
in the Old Testament. It will also be a life of adjudicating as judges. In the
future, we, who are judged unworthy by the world, will judge the world. This
rich life as kings and priests and judges is a life with Jesus Christ and in
His presence. Thus, verse 6 says, “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the
first resurrection.” This is the state of all the dead
who die in Christ, including many people whom we have known. This is where they
are today, and this is the life that we personally shall enjoy with Jesus
Christ at our death, unless He returns first.
Revelation
20:5 states, “This is the first resurrection.” This first
resurrection is not the bodily resurrection, because John tells us that
he saw the souls of them that were beheaded. It is not regeneration
either, for although regeneration is spoken of in the Bible as a resurrection,
these souls are in heaven and not on earth. The first resurrection is
the intermediate state of those who die in Jesus Christ, it is their being
raised to heavenly glory. Thus verse 4 describes the state of the righteous
dead in heaven, and the first part of verse 5 excludes unbelievers from this
blessedness: “the rest of the dead lived not” (there is no Greek equivalent for
the word “again” in the AV) “until the thousand years were finished”—they do
not have a part in that glorious life in heaven. Then it says, “This is the
first resurrection.” Verse 6 continues, “Blessed and holy is he that hath part
in the first resurrection.”
If the first
resurrection is the resurrection of the soul of the believer into heaven
at death, what is the second resurrection? The second resurrection is the
resurrection of the body of the believer at the return of Jesus Christ.
Thus the first resurrection concerns the soul of the believer; the second
resurrection concerns his body. The first resurrection occurs at death; the
second resurrection occurs at the return of Jesus Christ. So what is
resurrected at the first resurrection? The soul. What is resurrected at the
second resurrection? The body. When does it take place? The first resurrection
occurs at death; the second resurrection at the second coming of Christ. Our
first resurrection at death and our second resurrection at Christ’s return
together effect the perfect transformation of the believer, both soul and body
when we shall perfectly bear the image of Jesus Christ.
After
looking at the first and, by implication, the second resurrection with respect
to believers, we need to consider “the second death” (vv. 6, 14) and, by
implication, the first death. What does Revelation
20 teach about this second death? Verse 6 says that the second death is
not for the believer: “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first
resurrection: on such the second death hath no power.” So, believers do not
experience the second death. Verse 14 states concerning the second death, “And
death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” The
second death, then, is eternal punishment in the flames of the lake of fire. So,
while the first and second resurrections in Revelation 20 are for the
believer, the (first and) second deaths are for the unbeliever. And if the
second death of the unbeliever is the lake of fire, which is torment in body
and soul, the first death is their intermediate state, hell, which is torment
in soul.
I am going to run through it again in order
to parallel the two. What happens to the believer? At death, he experiences the
first resurrection: he lives with Christ in heaven in his soul. At Christ’s
return, he receives the second resurrection: he lives with Christ in the new
heavens and new earth in body and soul. This view of the resurrection, the
first resurrection being that of the soul at death and the second resurrection
being that of the body at Christ’s return, accords with the Heidelberg Catechism (Q. & A. 57).[3] What
happens to the unbeliever? What is his first death? That is when he dies in his
body and he, in his soul, enters the intermediate state for the wicked. Like
the rich man in Luke 16, he lifts up his eyes in hell being in torments. The
second death occurs when, at Christ’s return (and the general resurrection and
the final judgment), his body and soul are cast into the lake of fire to endure
eternal punishment.
Thus Revelation
20:4-6 tells us about
what is happening with the church both in heaven and, by implication, on earth
during the thousand years. On earth, between the first and second comings of
Christ, Christians are tempted to commit idolatry: to worship the beast and his
image, and to receive his mark (v. 4). The Christian church is always tempted
by the world and the false church to commit idolatry, and so I John 5:21 commands, “Little children, keep
yourselves from idols.” This temptation to idolatry will intensify with the
deeper apostasy as our Lord’s return draws nearer (cf. II Thess.
2:3-4, 7, 9-12). This means, second, that faithful
Christians are persecuted when they refuse to commit idolatry and worship the
beast in whatever form he is manifested through the New Testament age. Then, at
death, Christians live and reign and judge with Christ in heaven in their souls
(the first resurrection), where the blessed dead currently are, awaiting the
second resurrection, which is the resurrection of the body at the personal
return of Jesus Christ on the clouds of heaven.
What can we say about the unbelievers
during the New Testament or millennial age? They live in sin and the hatred of
God and they tempt and persecute the church (Rev. 20:4). Each of the ungodly at his first
(physical) death is cast into hell in his soul; then, at the second death, he
is cast into the lake of fire where he is tormented in both body and soul.
Satan’s Little Season, Gog and Magog and the Final Battle (vv.
7-10)
At
the end of the millennium or New Testament era, “Satan shall be loosed out of
his prison” (v. 7), that is, as verse 8 specifies, he “shall go out to deceive
the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to
gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.”
This period is called “a little season” (v. 3). From this we get the phrase
“Satan’s little season.” And why “little season?” Because it is a brief
period. It is a brief period, especially when compared to the thousand
years. Satan is bound for a thousand years. Then he is allowed a little season,
in which he carries out his dastardly plan (for a while), and so fulfils God’s
eternal purpose. What does Satan do in this little season? He gathers Gog and
Magog to battle (v. 8).
The first and
only reference to Gog and Magog in the Old Testament is in Ezekiel 38 and
39. Gog is presented as a chief prince and Magog is a people or country. The
idea of Ezekiel 38 and 39 is that Gog and Magog constitute a particularly
evil, fierce and numerous enemy. They are a vast army that swarms and destroys.
They come up to attack the people of God, and then the Almighty comes and
destroys them suddenly.
Revelation
20 picks up this reference to Gog and Magog in Ezekiel, and presents Gog
and Magog as the final, great enemy that attacks God’s church. Gog and Magog
are not Russia or China. In fact, they are not any particular individual nation
at all. They are described in verse 8 under three names. First, they are called
“the nations” (Satan shall go out “to deceive the nations”). Second, more
specifically, the nations “which are in the four quarters of the earth.” Third,
they are called “Gog and Magog,” a fearsome enemy mentioned in Ezekiel 38-39.
If you put these details together, Gog and Magog, that terrible enemy described
in the Old Testament, are the nations in the four quarters of the earth—all the
ungodly of the world.
More particularly, God
and Magog are the wicked world, as it is united under Satan who, being released
and loosed, gathers all the ungodly together to persecute and destroy the
saints (Rev. 20:9).
Satan has his man over them; he is called “the man of sin” in II Thessalonians
2, or “antichrist” in I John 2:18, or
“the beast” in the book of Revelation. Revelation also explains the role of the
false prophet as one who seduces the nations with his lying propaganda so that
they enlist in the service of the beast. Through Antichrist, aided by the false
prophet, Satan gathers Gog and Magog to the final battle.
Revelation 20:9 says
that Gog and Magog, the ungodly nations of the four quarters of the earth,
“went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints
about, and the beloved city.” We need to specify who this “camp,” this “beloved
city” (Jerusalem), is. This camp and this beloved city are not national Israel
and the earthly Jerusalem. This camp of the saints, this beloved city, is the
New Testament church of Jesus Christ. I say this because the
New Testament teaches explicitly and repeatedly that we are the true Jews. We,
Gentile and Jewish believers in Christ, are “the circumcision” (Phil. 3:3). He is not a Jew who is one outwardly
whose circumcision is in the flesh; he is a Jew who is one inwardly, who is
circumcised in the heart and by the Spirit (Rom.
2:28-29).
What does the word “Jew” mean? It means “praise” (v. 29). Who are the people
who praise God? First, the Messiah and, second, all those who are in Him. They
are the only humans who truly praise God. Galatians
4:26 states
that “Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” That is
the Jerusalem in which we are supremely interested, the one that is above and
not the one that is in the Middle East. Hebrews
12:22 speaks
to this same subject as well. It says to New Testament believers (over against
the earthly, unbelieving nation of the Jews), “ye are come unto mount Sion, and
unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.”
Identifying
the “beloved city” in Revelation
20:9 as the church, practically defines
the nature of the battle. It is a vision: there is a massive army, coming from
all the quarters of the earth, surrounding this city. The reality portrayed by
the vision is that all the ungodly will systematically and unitedly persecute
the true church wherever she is found throughout the world. This persecution takes
various forms, as the book of Revelation describes. Believers will be unable to
buy or sell (13:16-17). This has happened in various places at certain times,
and it will intensify as the end approaches. Then there is the mark of the
beast: you will have to identify openly with the
antichristian system and Antichrist himself, and you will have to worship
the beast and his image, or you will die (20:4). All the world wonders after
the beast with all its false miracles and power and popularity, apart from the
faithful saints (13:1-18). Then, just when everything looks bleakest for the
church of Christ on earth, fire comes down from God in heaven and devours
Antichrist and all his forces (20:9).
This is the second coming of Jesus Christ
for judgment, described in much the same way as it is presented in II
Thessalonians 2:8, when
Antichrist shall be destroyed with the brightness of Christ’s coming. The Lord
shall consume the man of sin with the spirit of His mouth and shall destroy him
with the brightness of His coming. In Revelation 19:19, this same battle is spoken of: “I saw the
beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make
war” (literally “the war” or “the battle”) “against him that sat upon the
horse, and against his army.”[4] Revelation 16:14 speaks of this same battle: “They are the spirits of
devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the
whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”
It is called the battle of “Armageddon” in verse 16: “And he gathered them
together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” Then all the
ungodly are destroyed, and the beast and the false prophet and Satan are
captured and cast into the lake of fire (19:20; 20:10).
So,
to what sort of a world does Christ return? He does not come back to a
converted or Christianized world. He returns, to take up the imagery of
Revelation 20, for a remnant church, for the nations on the four
quarters of the earth are gathered together against one, besieged city. This is
a picture of a minority, certainly not of a majority. Christ returns to punish
an ungodly world dominated by Antichrist, who reigns over the whole earth, and
to deliver His beloved people.
This
does not destroy my hope because my hope is not that all the nations of the
earth will one day be Christianized. My hope is that “blessed hope,” namely,
“the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Tit. 2:13), when all the elect have been saved. Then
all the wickedness of Satan, man and the fallen angels will be judged; every
wrong will be righted; all the elect church will be gathered, perfected and
vindicated; and we shall be prepared with new, glorified, resurrection bodies
for the bliss of the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwells righteousness
for ever. Sorrow, tears, pain and death will be no more; God’s name will be
worshipped in all the world; Christ’s name shall be in our foreheads and we
shall see His face! “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first
resurrection” … and in the second resurrection!
NOTES:
----------
[1.] The
speech from which this article is derived can be listened
to on-line.
[2] Here are some more non-literal uses of the
number 1,000 in the Bible:
Deuteronomy 7:9: “Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the
faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep
his commandments to a thousand generations.”
I Chronicles 16:15: “Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he
commanded to a thousand generations.”
Job 9:3: “If
he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.”
Psalm 50:10: “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon
a thousand hills.”
Psalm 84:10: “For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand.”
Psalm 90:4: “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when
it is past, and as a watch in the night.”
Psalm 105:8: “He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he
commanded to a thousand generations.”
Ecclesiastes 6:6: “Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath
he seen no good: do not all go to one place?”
Ecclesiastes 7:28: “… one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among
all those have I not found.”
Song of Solomon 4:4: “Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury,
whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.”
II Peter 3:8: “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one
day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
[3] “Q.
What comfort doth the ‘resurrection of the body’ afford thee?
A. That not only my soul after this life shall be
immediately taken up to Christ its head [i.e., the first resurrection]; but
also, that this my body, being raised by the power of Christ, shall be reunited
with my soul, and made like unto the glorious body of Christ [i.e., the second
resurrection].”
[4] Two
sermons on “The Last Battle” (Rev. 19:11-21) are available on-line:
“The Last Battle (I)” [http://cprc.co.uk/sermons/the-last-battle-i/], and
“The Last Battle (II)” [http://cprc.co.uk/sermons/the-last-battle-ii/].
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