Sermon Tone Analysis

Revelation 20:7-15

Revelation 20:7-15 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And 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.

9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.

This is the second death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Introduction

The first six verses of the twentieth chapter cover the one-thousand-year reign of Christ.

During that time, Satan is bound, and will have no influence on man.

Today we will look at the end of the Millennial reign and the ultimate battle of evil against God.

And finally, we will look at what is referred to as the “Great White Throne” judgment of the LORD.

The Fall of Satan

Revelation 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

At the end of the literal 1,000-year reign of Christ on the earth, Satan will once again be free to spread his hatred and evil in the hearts of man.

He will be let out of the abyss, presumably by the same angel that put him there.

Revelation 20:8 And 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.

“And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth…”

The book of the Revelation is the revealing of Jesus Christ and contains the events of the last things.

Chronologically, this is the last hurrah of Satan.

This will be the last of his rebellion.

The last of his deceitfulness.

The last of his attacks against God.

But Satan will only have “a little season” in which to work (Rev 20:3)

For a thousand years, man has been under the influence of Jesus as the King of the earth.

According to Jesus, there will be marrying and having families during the 1,000 years.

Generations will be born and they, like the children of Israel in the wilderness, will make their own decisions on who they will follow.

You would think that under the ideal conditions of being in the presence of Jesus all men would not only look to Jesus as King, but also as their Savior.

However, as we will learn, not everyone confesses Jesus as his or her savior.

The prophet Jeremiah says,’ “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

(Jeremiah 17:9).

Man still has the original sin nature and free will and according to the book of Romans, “there is none righteous, no not one” (Rom.

3:10).

The prophet Isaiah writes, “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.”

(Isa.

64:6)

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that there is trouble brewing in paradise and that Satan will be able to persuade countless numbers of followers to his cause, “the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.”

Gog and Magog

“…Gog and Magog…”

From these two words come varying opinions concerning who or what they are or what they represent.

There are no more kings as Jesus is the King over the earthly kingdom.

Gone are the kings that ruled during the Tribulation period.

At some point, Gog, a ruler replaces them, and Magog is defined as a people.

These rebel against God.

I believe that the straightforward way to look at the reference of Gog and Magog is simply, in the book of Ezekiel, the events surrounding Gog and Magog are premillennial.

In the Revelation, this battle with Gog and Magog is postmillennial.

“…to gather them together to battle…”

Gog and Magog, under the control of Satan gathers the new rebellion for battle.

“…the number of whom is as the sand of the sea…”

John cannot easily number the rebels, so he simply says they are numerous as the sand of the sea.

I wonder if Satan is surprised by the success in finding a world so ready to listen to his rebellious words and then ready to follow him?

The “Deceiver” will once again present his case against God,

Revelation 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

This mighty army, orchestrated by Satan, and under the guidance of Gog and Magog, marches against Christ with one goal in mind: total destruction!

The goal is to abolish and annihilate Christ’s kingdom and those who love Him.

“…and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city…”

It would be difficult to understand “camp of the saints” and “the beloved city” to be anything other than Jerusalem, which becomes the center of the kingdom of Christ during the 1,000-year reign (Isa.

2:1-5).

On the surface, everything appears to be in place for Satan and his followers to defeat God and Christ.

They have enticed the world for one final and glorious battle, so they think.

What they do not know is that this is a suicide mission.

Satan believes that he will be victorious.

How can that be?

Satan has shown repeatedly to know the word of God.

He has quoted and misquoted the scriptures and yet he is oblivious to the result of this final assault.

The Book of the Revelation has been in existence for thousands of years and yet Satan does not heed to the Word of God.

His fate and those who follow him is sealed.

Pride and vanity are his attributes, and they will be his downfall.

“…and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them…”

Once again, we see that there really is not a battle, per-se.

The rebellious hordes, establish themselves militarily in surrounding the saints and their beloved city.

Everything is ready for the battle to commence, when suddenly; God consumes them all with fire from heaven; swift and final.

You can almost put “The End” after this event, but there is so much more to be done.

What to do with Satan?

Satan Cast Into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone

Revelation 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

“And the devil that deceived them…”

Deceit is a common trait of Satan.

Another name for Satan is the devil, Greek word diabolos, which means false accuser and slanderer.

“…was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone…”

This is the final judgment of Lucifer/Satan/Devil.

This is literally, “Three strikes and you are out!”

· He was cast out of heaven (Re 12:9),

· An angel cast him into the bottomless pit for 1,000 years (Re 20:3)

· Finally, he is cast into the lake of fire and brimstone (Re 20:10).

Jesus was teaching His disciples about the future kingdom recorded in Matthew 25.

In that passage Jesus told them that the devil and his angels are destined for punishment in everlasting fire which was made for them (Mt.

25:41).

The end of Satan is told in just fifteen words: “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.”

Drum roll, a clash of cymbals and the violins fade.

The end has come.

Pause for dramatic effect.

“…where the beast and the false prophet are…”

Revelation 19:20 says the beast and the false prophet were “cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.”

“…and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever…”

Satan was a created being.

Now he will be “tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

There will be no end of the suffering of Satan.

Contrary to many, Satan is not in charge in Hell and the lake of fire.

He and his demons will not be tormenting the fallen - no he is brought down to the same level as all the other inhabitants of Hell.

At the fall of Babylon, the third angel proclaimed: