Revelation Sermon - 52

Revelation: Satan’s Final Defeat

Revelation 20:7-10

1. Introduction – Over the past month, we’ve been hanging out in Revelation 20 – a difficult chapter, one that has caused churches and denomination and Christians to go to war against each other.

a. Remember we’ve been studying the millennium – the concept revolves around when Satan has been or is going to be bound…depending on how you read and interpret this section.

i. Last week, we saw a glorious vision…I saw thrones. John saw the souls of victorious Christians…and we talked about the 1st resurrection and the 2nd death.

b. I’ve made a conscious effort to stay away from talk about timing. When we start talking about the timing of all of these events, that’s when we get in trouble.

i. What I wanted to do as we studied this difficult chapter is simply look where John is looking.

1. I wanted us to see what John saw. We tried to focus on the WHAT of this chapter and leaven the WHEN up to God.

c. At the end of v.3 we encountered a really strange phrase. John spent vv.1-2 and most of verse 3 of chapter 20 speaking about Satan being caught, bound, arrested and thrown into the abyss.

i. But then he writes this…Afterward, he must be released for a little while.

1. That phrase and this section of vv.7-10 is interrupted by the glorious scene we looked at last week.

a. But John returns to the subject of Satan’s release in v.7. After the 1000 years had come to an end…John begins.

i. And there really is one pressing question that should be addressed…

1. If Satan’s ability to deceive had been taken away for 1000 years, why give it back to him?

ii. We’re going to answer that question in just a bit, but first, I want to tell you what we’ll be looking at this morning.

1. We’re looking at one final onslaught from Satan against God’s people. One final onslaught, but it ultimately leads to his final defeat.

d. There’s a number of events happening in this chapter. Satan’s release, his deception, his gather the nations for war, the nations surrounding God’s people, God’s deliverance, and finally we see Satan being thrown into the lake of fire.

i. We’re going to make our way through this section this morning, and along the way we’ll try to figure out as best we can what this section says, what it means and how it can spur us on as Christians today.

2. Satan’s Release – Back when we studied 20:3, we quickly looked at the word ‘must.’

a. Satan must be released for a little while after the millennium.

i. This is a must of divine initiative.

1. And we see divine initiative in v.7 also. Satan will be released. He will be let out of his prison.

b. Notice that Satan doesn’t escape, he doesn’t break out his prions, he isn’t broken out by his henchmen. He is released by God.

i. But why? If God already had Satan locked up, why let him out? Remember, the text specifically tells us that Satan’s ability to deceive was limited. If deception was all but eliminated, why reintroduce it? How are we to understand this?

c. The first way to understand this is in regards to the divine must.

i. Satan’s incarceration and pseudo parole are all part of God’s plan.

1. This isn’t a surprise to God – Satan’s release from the abyss is actually the event that triggers his ultimate demise.

d. Here’s another way to view Satan’s release.

i. Back in v.3 we are told that Satan is bound and imprisoned so that – and this is really specific and we shouldn’t lose sight of this…he is bound so that he could no longer deceive the nations.

1. This means that there will be a time, or there is now a time, depending on how to view and interpret the millennium – a period of time where Satan’s power and influence will be diminished so that Christ’s power will be made known.

a. But look at vv7-8. Time has passed, a millennium – maybe a literal 1000 years, maybe more, maybe less…not really all that important.

i. Any way you look at it, a lot of time has passed, but as soon as he is able – Satan is right back to his old tricks…he deceives the nations.

e. He’s released and immediately deceives the nations into joining his cause.

i. This reminds us that Satan’s primary tactic is not overt physical aggression, but covert deception that leads to unbelief.

1. The main point of Satan’s release is that his ways and designs will not be altered or changed by the mere passing of time.

a. He is a deceiver, and after a millennium of not being able to deceive – he will still deceive at the first opportunity he gets.

3. Human Waywardness – Do you see what else doesn’t change with the passing of time? Human waywardness and the depravity of the human heart.

a. A millennium, maybe a literal 1000 years, maybe not…a long time has passed where the power of Christ has been made known.

i. The gospel has freely gone out, Satan’s deceptive tactics have been bound…but look.

1. At his first opportunity Satan deceives again because he is a deceiver.

a. And what else happens…the nations are deceived and follower him, because humans are fickle and easily deceived.

b. They still flock to Satan’s side at his first beckon call.

i. Once release, after a millennial imprisonment, Satan picks up right where he left off, and the nations rally to his cause.

1. I speak of this at length because its these factors that are the basis for judgment at the great white throne in the next section.

a. The point is this – Satan’s designs and the waywardness of the human heart will not change with the mere passing of time.

i. Not in 1000 years, and what’s implied in this. If 1000 years won’t do it, neither will a million years, or a billion years, or a trillion years.

c. Nothing will change by the mere passing of time, so those who reject God in this lifetime will be rejected by him in the next.

i. The implication is that time won’t change the human heart, so we need something outside of ourselves to come into us and change our wandering ways.

1. And that is why as Christians, as God’s people, we have been sent out into the world with God’s truth.

d. Whatever it is the church does, whether it’s running the best programs for all ages, or running a clothing cupboard, or a soup kitchen. Or whether its fighting injustice and inequalities… we can do all of those great things…

i. But if we aren’t boldly proclaiming the truth of God’s Word, we are missing task one. We are missing the point of why we exist as the body of Christ.

1. Satan’s main tactic is not violence but deception that leads to unbelief, so as God’s people we must counter his lies and deception with the truth that is only found in God’s Word.

4. War – So Satan is released to deceive, and then he gathers the nations for war.

a. We have in v.8 a specific mention of Gog and Magog. Now over the course of history, like many other symbols in Revelation, these names have been taken advantage of.

i. They have been interpreted to mean many things people and places.

1. No doubt, they are symbols of invading armies, and they are vague enough references that they lend themselves to be interpreted and reinterpreted over the course of history.

b. During the Roman Empire, the church father Ambrose thought Gog and Magog referred to the Goths, who were pressing in on Roman territory.

i. In the 7th century, Gog and Magog were interpreted as the Muslim armies invading the Holy Land.

1. In the 13th century, as the Mongol Khan.

a. Later Gog was interpreted as the Pope, the Turks, or the Russian Tsar.

i. In more recent years it has been interpreted as Russia, who will gather an army of Arab nations and lead a war against Israel.

c. The image is flexible, and lends itself to whatever contemporary dangers to world peace are perceived to be.

i. Gog and Magog show up in the Bible most notably in Ezekiel 38-39, where Ezekiel is given a vision of the final battle between God’s people and the nations of the earth.

1. If we want to better understand Revelation, we need to also understand Ezekiel.

a. Gog is the name of a king from a nation in the north…Magog means land of Gog.

d. As I’ve already said, here in Revelation 20, Gog and Magog are symbols. Gog doesn’t refer to one literal rule.

i. We’re told previously in Revelation that the KINGS, plural, of the earth gather for war against God’s people.

1. I interpret Magog, not as Russia or China or one particular nation…Revelation makes clear that the persecution of God’s people will not be from on particular country, but it will be worldwide…

a. The nations, plural, gather against God and his people.

e. One commentator puts it this way – Gog and Magog are symbols of evil in the nations of the earth – and this evil comes from all directions.

i. Again, Revelation isn’t concerned with the fine details of events like we are. Revelation isn’t concerned with WHO gathers, but THAT they gather for war against God’s people.

1. We shouldn’t get caught up in the WHO either, as soon as we do that, we start to read into the text a lot of things that the text itself isn’t really concerned with.

a. The point is this – after an extended period of time living without Satan’s deception, at his first call, he can still gather an army as numberless as the sand on the seashore.

f. Also, notice that this isn’t a war against evenly number opponents.

i. The image here is one of a vast army – too many to count, encircling and surrounding the camp of God’s people.

1. The image is of God’s people being out numbered and outmatched.

a. The image shows that Christians will not be victorious because of their own strength or military prowess.

i. Only the power of god can save them.

g. And this is the biblical model of salvation for God’s people.

i. Multiple times in the OT, Israel was surrounded by a vastly superior army – they were besieged…at the mercy of an invading enemy army.

1. Yet, time and again, they were delivered by God’s sudden intervention.

h. So, it will be for the entire church at the end of the age. The church will be surrounded, besieged.

i. But when the pressure hits its worst…the day of deliverance is at hand.

1. The point for the church to take way from this is that we are not to violently defend ourselves.

a. We are to wait on the Lord, for his timing and his deliverance.

i. We overcome, not through battle, but by trusting in the blood of Jesus, bearing testimony to God’s Word, and offering our lives to seal our witness.

i. The vision reminds us that when things look to be at their worst – victory is at hand.

i. When sin has you surrounded and in despair…when the Gogs and Magogs of this world are closing in around you…know that you have a Saviour who loves you.

1. Who loves you enough to die for you…a Saviour who is coming back to deliver you.

5. Forever & Ever – And finally this morning, we come to the judgment of Satan himself.

a. The enemy army is wiped out with fire from heaven. God’s people rescued and delivered. And then said receives his final punishment.

i. In the previous chapter we saw the beast and false prophet thrown in to the lake of fire.

1. And here they are joined by God’s chief adversary – the devil.

b. The unholy trinity, which worked together on earth to deceive the nations, will spend eternity together in torment.

i. And once again, I’ll reiterate that this suffering is conscious – meaning, those who spend eternity separated from God will know it.

1. And this suffering is also eternal.

c. I’m not sure how people come to a position of annihilation. Some believe that those who reject God will not spend eternity in conscious torment, but they will simply cease to exist…they will be annihilated.

i. I’m not sure who you can read the words “forever and ever” and take that to mean anything other than “forever and ever.” Not sure who ‘forever and ever’ means ‘ceasing to exist.’

d. This phrase is used multiple times through Revelation, and it always has the same meaning.

i. Rev. 11:15 – the kingdom of this world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ…and he shall reign…how long? Does this forever and ever have an ending to it too?

1. Rev. 22:5 says that the people of God will reign with God forever and ever. Does that have an end date attached to it?

a. How come those statements of ‘forever and ever’ can mean for all of eternity, but this ‘forever and ever in 20:10 means annihilation. It doesn’t add up.

i. Yes, eternal conscious torment isn’t a topic or an idea that we like to think about.

1. But it as God’s people it should drive us to be more fervent in our evangelism so we influence the world with God’s truth against Satan’s deceptions.

e. If God reigns forever and ever and God’s people will reign with him forever and ever – it only makes logical sense that God’s adversaries and all those who rejected God in this lifetime will be tormented day and night, forever and ever…meaning for all of eternity with no hope of release.

6. Application – So how does this help us today?

a. Well, we know the end of the story. Jesus wins. Satan is judged. And knowing this can help break the crippling fear and doubt that the adversary seeks to bring on us.

i. He is a defeated foe, operating on borrowed time.

1. And we know, at some point at the end of the age he will be cast into the lake of fire for all eternity.

b. Think about it…no more adversary seeking to devour us.

i. Rev. 21 says no more tears or death or even night, because all of that is taken away.

1. Yes, what a joyous occasion that will be in the future…

a. But…

i. But we can lie with hope and joy now because we know the end of the story.

c. We can live with the fullest confidence that what God said will happen, will one day take place.