Revelation 20:7-10 (NKJV) Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
V7 “Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison…” Satan’s influence has been absent for 1,000 years. No one can complain that the devil was responsible for their sins. The devil was not able to initiate trouble anywhere in the world. Now, he is allowed out. This shows God’s superiority over the devil. The purpose of the devil’s release is to tempt the population of the whole world, testing them to see if they will be loyal and true to Jesus or not.
V8 “…and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.” Since the devil is a liar from the beginning (John 8:44), he begins doing what he does best. The Greek word for “deceive” is (G4105) πλανάω planáō, which means going astray in many senses as 1) to go astray from truth in any type of communication, 2) to confuse, 3) in an active sense to go astray (1 John 1:8 and 1 John 3:7), 4) to lead into idolatry, 5) bribes as a motivation, 6) to be seduced into error (believing lies), etc. He will use any and every method that has been successful since he started deceiving (Genesis 3:1-6). Many people in that day will secretly long to escape the laws and reign of Jesus Christ, so they live by their own standards. Satan promises them freedom, but it is a lie leading to the Lake of Fire.
Four corners of the Earth refer to north, south, east, and west; thus, everyone was tempted. Those who had rebellion in their hearts or were at least susceptible were revealed to be fake. A separation has taken place between loyalists and rebels. The number is huge. Their purpose was to fight Jesus and take the kingdom for themselves. Didn’t Jesus already defeat satan? Yes, see verse 2, but somehow in their desires, they thought that this time they could do it.
Keathley:
“”Gog and Magog…” (Revelation 20:8). These names are used appositionally to describe the nations, though they are used without any explanation; they are simply introduced as a description of the nations from the four corners of the Earth. Though expositors disagree in their understanding of Gog and Magog, this is not the same as Ezekiel 38:1-23; Ezekiel 39:1-29. This is evident from several things: (a) The invasion in Ezekiel comes from the north, but this one comes from all directions; (b) Ezekiel’s battle seems to occur about the middle of the Tribulation when the people of Israel are trusting in the treaty with the beast, but this battle occurs over a thousand years later, after Christ comes to Earth; (c) In Ezekiel, Gog and Magog are the names given to the ruler from the north and his land, a territory now occupied by Russia, but according to Ezekiel, these will be decisively wiped out in the Tribulation.
“So why use this term here? Because, from its use in the Ezekiel passage, these names stand symbolically for a rebellious and warlike people and for the nations in rebellion against God and His people (Psalm 2:1-12) who will be crushed.”
V9 “They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.” This beloved city is Jerusalem. Whereas the first gathering for war against Jerusalem, the plague that destroyed them (at Armageddon was to have their flesh rot off them while they were still alive (Zechariah 14:12-13 and Revelation 19:17-21). This is God’s fire called down from heaven. The false prophet’s fire was to imitate God and was a lying miracle (Revelation 13:13). This fire is probably the same judgment as found in Isaiah 66:15-16). The fire is to purify (Numbers 31:23 and 1 Corinthians 3:13) and to punish (Malachi 4:1 and 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9).
V10 “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” The devil is the first to be sentenced to the Lake of Fire. The antiChrist and false prophet were sentenced there 1,000 previously. To be tormented day and night forever and ever strongly implies conscious existence. Hell never ends, nor its torments.
We learn:
- God has a purpose for the devil here, namely to see who will be true, loyal, and faithful to Jesus and those who are not.
- God sentences.
- Hell is eternal.
- Satan was the first to lie and deceive as well as the last.
Questions:
- What are our secret desires?
- Are our secret desires godly?
- What is the standard of truth to help us recognize and reject lies?