The Revelation of Jesus Christ
“The Final War and Judgment” Rev 20:7-15
Review
I. Prologue
II. Messages to the churches
III. Last days
G. Marriage of the Lamb 19:7-11
H. Return of Christ 19:12-22
I. The MILLENNIUM 20:1-6
Jesus appeared to John with a message concerning the final days of this age. At the end of this present age, God plans to make all things new. Life will be much different than we have ever known. And probably more wonderful than we have ever imagined. He will destroy all those who refused to embrace the Savior and will rally against Him at the battle of Armageddon.
Along with their destruction, the Antichrist and his false prophet will be thrown into the lake of fire. Satan and his army will be bound with chains in the abyss for 1,000 years. They will be prevented from contact or influence in His new kingdom order. All those who endured the horrific events of the tribulation will be invited to enjoy a period of 1,000 of peace and fruitfulness under the righteous reign of the King of kings. Israel will be restored as a nation under their Messiah. The Promised root of David will take His place on the throne from which He will rule forever. The promises of an unshakable and enduring Kingdom will finally come to pass. I believe God performs some sort of renovation miracle upon the earth at the beginning of the Millennium. Whether this is the renewed heavens and earth talked about by John and by Peter and the prophets, I don’t know for sure. But the Millennial period is a time of grand prosperity and fruitfulness over the earth. All the devastation and destruction described during the Tribulation period seems to be past.
What happens when the 1,000 years is complete? John continues the narrative in Rev 20:7-15.
There is final battle between good and evil and one last resurrection to judgment for those whose names are not written in the book of life. This will be followed by eternal blessing for those whose names are written in God’s book.
Introduction
Every person that has ever lived was born in the middle of a war zone. The battle between good and evil has raged since the high ranking angel Satan made his gutsy move against his Creator. The presence of good and evil has been clearly recognized throughout human history; even by those who do not believe in God. Philosophers have wrestled with the problem of evil for centuries. Only the Biblical view of good and evil makes any sense.
Some propose equal forces of good and evil eternally vying for supremacy. (Star Wars Theory)
Others theorize that man at his core is basically good and it is his environment that dictates his life choices. (communism)
The Bible clearly recognizes the devil as the source of evil that rose up within him and proceeded to recruit and pollute a third of the angelic realm. Scripture refers to him as the “father of lies”. Since his banishment to the earth, Satan has continued to follow his own delusion that he could become like the Most High. In doing so he sought to recruit mankind, the pinnacle of God’s creation, to his cause. Satan has sought to build a rival kingdom to God’s kingdom from the beginning. His main tools have been deception and lies.
Will it ever end?
I am here today to tell you by the authority of Scripture that there will be an eternal end to the influence of evil. Today we battle the evil of a polluted flesh within us as well as the evil of a potent devil outside of us. We battle the influence of a devil directed world system that continually assails us. The devil goes about as roaring lion seeking someone to devour. 1 Pet 5
Believers have been granted the power to resist both.
We resist the evil of the flesh by walking in the Spirit (Gal 5).
We resist the world by putting the eternal kingdom of God first. (Matt 6:33)
We resist the evil of the devil by resisting him with strength of the Lord and the sword of His Spirit. (Eph 6)
One day the battle with the world, the flesh AND the devil will be over. Our lives will be transformed and the flesh eliminated forever. Our world of evil doers will be defeated and judged. The material word will be renewed along with the heavens. Satan will be consigned to the lake of fire forever and ever.
John describes these final dealings with evil in the final chapters of Revelation.
Think about it!
We spend so much time and energy battling the assault of the evil of the world the flesh and the devil. There is coming a day when it will not even be part of our conversation.
No more battles. We will eternally enjoy only the pure joy of a righteous life in God’s perfect community. No want, no drama, no sin, no pain, death tragedies, earthquakes, tsunamis.
I get ahead of myself. That is a subject yet to be addressed in chapter 21.
J. The Final Battle and Judgment Rev 20:7-15
1. Satan’s Release 20:7-8
When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 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.
I am assuming that both Satan and his sorry soldiers have been confined for the past 1,000 years and will all be release to resume their deception on mankind. He will make one last attempt at an eternal coup. While imprisoned, Satan has been unable to influence humans.
Once released, he will be allowed one more time to exert his influence on the peoples of the world.
The word “nations” here probably refers to nationalities and people groups , geographical societal groups that have formed and flourished during 1,000 years of peace and prosperity.
Ethnicity will still be a factor during the millennium.
The term “God and Magog” is symbolic as a worldwide assault. Satan and his army of deceivers will scatter throughout the entire world to peddle their deceptive plans to break away from Messiahs absolute rule. Maybe his cry will be “freedom”. Yet what he offers is bondage not freedom. Freedom is not the freedom to do whatever we want but the freedom to live the way we ought.
At this point there should be some obvious questions.
Where does he get this vast innumerable company of people to war against the King of kings?
The answer is that they are the offspring of those faithful Jews and gentiles who entered the millennium. With increased longevity and health and peace and prosperity and environmental perfection the population will increase greatly over a thousand years.
A second question follows.
Why does God allow Satan to be released one more time? Verse 3 indicated that Satan “must be release”. Here will be a divine necessity that Satan be released. Satan has had a thousand years to cook up a new plan. His heart is continually evil. He will not repent. Even though his inferiority is obvious, he continues his rebellious purposes. As in all of history, each individual will need to make a personal choice to embrace Messiah. Up to Satan’s release back into society there has been no other option but to serve Jesus. Everyone was compelled to follow Messiah. There was no real choice. Only freedom of choice exposes the true and actual loyalty of the heart.
If I really love strawberry ice cream but the only available choice is vanilla, no one would ever know that I really love strawberry. Once a choice of both flavors is available and I choose strawberry over vanilla, my true preference becomes obvious to all.
God desires followers who serve Him from the heart not the sword. There has been no other option for those born during the millennium other than Jesus. An untested heart is an unknown heart. God allows Satan one last effort to raise a revolt by recruiting those who have not served Jesus from the heart. These are those who choose to believe the deception of Satan who promises to break the bonds of Jesus and allow them to live according the inclinations of their heart.
Wow! After a thousand years of peace and prosperity in a near perfect environment, there will be those who still prefer independence from God over service to their wonderful Creator.
It seems like the Garden of Eden all over again. Even a perfect environment cannot produce a perfect heart. Circumstances do not determine character; they can only test it. Character is forged in circumstances. How long this worldwide recruitment lasts we are not told. It seems to be fairly brief. The rebellious hearts jump at the new option and all gather for the final assault on the capital.
2. Battle of Gog and Magog 20:9
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.
Just as they surround the capital city Jerusalem where Jesus physically reigns and the residence of the saints from the ages God intervenes. OK. It’s over in one verse. All that energy and rallying the troops and its over in seconds. The last of the rebellious hearts are destroyed.
This leaves only the faithful in natural bodies who chose from the heart to serve Jesus and those who previously chose Jesus and have been enjoying their resurrected bodies for the last thousand plus years. We will come back and discuss what happens to them later.
For now we need to find out what happens to Satan and all those who have been held over for sentencing from the beginning.
3. Satan’s Final disposition 20:10
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.
First, Satan. Satan was thrown. Passive – involuntarily. Lake of fire and brimstone or sulfur.
Hot and smelly. I will take some time to deal with the nature of hell later.
This burning pit is not Satan’s headquarters as is so often depicted. It is Satan’s eternal destiny.
"Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; Matthew 25:41
God does not send people to a place of torment; they choose to go there.
The second thing to notice is that Satan joins the beast and false prophet who have already been sizzling for a thousand years. Remember they were thrown there at the beginning of the millennium. These were human beings whose sentence came early. They are conscious.
They did not cease to exist. They will experience eternal torment. The word “torment” is also translated, “pain, vex, toil, vex”. There is no parole. There is no early release for good behavior. This will go on forever and ever. The insertion of “day and night” indicates no release, no rest. It is constant pain and suffering. I will not shed a single tear. I will stand with every victim of Satan’s malicious attacked and shout Hallelujah!
This will truly be our V-Day. Victory! Triumph! The fulfillment of Genesis 3:15 will finally come about. The head of the serpent will have been crushed beyond recovery. The judgment pronounced by Jesus while on earth will finally be carried out. John 16:11 The works of the devil are destroyed. 1 John 3:8 The enemy of our soul will receive back for all his evil that was perpetuated from the Garden of Eden to the final battle of God and Magog. It’s over!
Why doesn’t Satan stand before the throne? Because the Bible says he has already been sentenced (judgment) and will be immediately handed over to the fires of eternal torment.
By the way, when Satan tries to remind you of your past – remind him of his future.
4. The Great White Throne Judgment 20:11-15
So what about all those who have been in holding awaiting final judgment and sentencing?
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it,
This is a white throne indicating absolute purity; perfect judgment. It is most likely Jesus sitting on the throne. The
Father committed all judgment to the Son. The next phrase is problematic.
from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.
What is meant by earth and heaven? Usually it is a reference to the entire universe; either material or immaterial. Some see this as a reference to the new heaven and new earth mentioned in the next chapter. It that is true than there would be no “sea” to give up their dead.
Why would the earth and heaven flea away from Jesus their Creator.
Creation was also promised redemption and to be set free into the freedom and glory of the sons of God. This is annihilation. We will spend more time on the concept of the new heaven and earth at a later date.
I tend to think that this is a reference to the inhabitants of earth and heaven. It would make perfect sense in this context that John simply comments that there is no place to hide from this judge either human or angelic. There was no hiding place for human or angelic creatures to avoid final judgment.
The next phrase then details the extent to which the universe gives them over for judgment.
And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them;
First we are dealing with those who have died from every walk of life. Not one escapes. Whether prominent or impotent, you will personally stand before Jesus. Those who have been dead will be raised with a physical body in order to stand before Jesus. Those who died at sea will not escape. Those who are in graves will not escape. Those who were cremated will not escape. As Hebrews so gravely declares.
… it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment… Hebrews 9:27
Two sets of books will be consulted.
The citizenship records (Book of life). Are you a registered citizen of God’s kingdom?
The rap sheet (book of deeds). What did you do with your life while on earth?
The book of life determines the destination.
The book of deeds determines the degree of punishment.
Let’s clarify some terms used here. Hades is a term often confused with the term hell. The term that describes our normal view of fiery hell is actually gehenna which referred to the perpetually burning garbage dump outside the city which had been the place where babies were sacrificed during the time of Ahab and Manasseh. Hades is similar to the Hebrew term Sheol which referred to the abode of the dead both wicked and righteous.
We detail some of these things more thoroughly in a couple of weeks.
and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Notice this is the final demise of death as it also is destined for the lake of fire. No more death!!! The final enemy will be forever conquered. Not more sting. No more victory. The book of life determines your eternal destination. Those whose names are written in the book of life experience eternal bliss. Those who names are not written are thrown into the lake of fire. It is as simple as that. How do you get on the citizenship rolls?
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name…John 1:12
And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. 1 John 5:11-12
He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. John 3:36
It is what we do with Jesus Christ that will determine our destination. Failure to embrace the only sufficient atonement for our sin will result in judgment based on our own merit which God say’s fall short of the required credentials for heavenly citizenship.
The book of life determines destination.
The book of deeds determines the degree of punishment.
Several Scriptures seem to indicate that there will be degrees of punishment.
Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city (that refuses to embrace the disciples). Matthew 10:15
"And that slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more. Luke 12:47-48
Every thought, word, deed, attitude, motive we have ever done, good or bad will be recorded.
Nothing is secret or hidden.
But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. Matthew 12:36-37
For the Christian, all our deeds will stand the test of fire at the judgment seat of Christ until only the good stuff remains and determines reward. The unbeliever will give account for every deed before the one who can’t be fooled.
Today is the day to choose.
Either embrace Jesus as your Savior or stand before Him as your Judge.
Either have all your sins covered by the sacrifice of Jesus or face them all at the throne of Jesus.
Become a citizen of God’s kingdom today.
