3. SATAN AND Revelation 20:7-10 7 And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,--The view here advocated is that the binding of Satan means the return to the people the right to read and obey the Bible without human dictation; his loosing, then, would be his regaining in some way the power to prevent or hinder such voluntary obedience. 8 and shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.--Though we do not know how or exactly what means he will use, yet it is not improbable that increasing infidelity, superstition, and idolatry will be main contributing factors. Whatever is involved in his loosing, it is safe to say that wickedness will prevail as never before. In this "little time" will occur the events recorded in Revelation 19:17-21 and Revelation 20:7-10; it will be Satan's last struggle against the church in which not only he but his chief aides--beast and false prophet--will be overcome and banished to the lake of fire. (Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:10.) This victory will not be gained by a carnal sword, but by the word that proceeds from the Lord's mouth. (Revelation 19:15.) These enemies will be slain and the war against the church ended by the brightness of the Lord's coming and the breath of his mouth (2 Thessalonians 2:8) as suddenly as the 185,000 in the Assyrian army were slain by an angel of the Lord. (2 Kings 19:35.) In the time preceding the thousand years Satan deceived the nations largely through false religious doctrines and practice, virtually suppressing the Bible by demanding the acceptance of papal interpretations. That similar means will be used to deceive after the thousand years is certainly probable. The existence of nations to be deceived after the millennium is proof that the nature of mankind then will be the same as now, and harmonizes with the question, "When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8.) "In the four corners" means that the nations will be scattered over the whole earth as now. This is further indicated by the fact that the number shall be "as the sand of the sea." According to the doctrines of the premillennial coming of Christ, nations to be deceived by Satan after being loosed presents insolvable problems. The theory calls for the banishment of the beast and false prophet and the death of all the wicked (Revelation 19:19-21) at Christ's coming; the wicked dead to remain unraised (Revelation 20:5); the righteous dead to be raised and with the righteous living all to receive spiritual, incorruptible, and immortal bodies. (1 Corinthians 15:44; 1 Corinthians 15:54.) The theory requires all these resurrections to be of the body. The following difficulties are apparent for which no solution can be offered other than pure guesses: Will children be born during the thousand years? If so, will they inherit incorruptible and immortal bodies from their parents? If so, how can beings with such bodies be deceived by Satan? If they can be deceived with such bodies, how can they be safe during the millennium when many of his devices are recorded in the Bible? Can they receive corruptible and mortal bodies from parents with incorruptible bodies, without a fundamental law--seed bearing after its kind--being violated? Will their birth of parents put them in the kingdom? If not, how will they get in? If by obedience to the gospel, that is no improvement on the church. It is hard to see how Satan when loosed can deceive people with incorruptible and immortal bodies. The wicked dead for whom the theory provides no resurrection till Satan is loosed at the end of the thousand years are already deceived, having lived and died in his service. So they cannot be the nations he will deceive. It is a significant fact that the advocates of a literal reign of Christ on earth have no solution but guesses for these problems. Nothing is satisfactory but to make the millennial reign figurative, and the coming of Christ and the bodily resurrection of the dead at the judgment. On Gog and Magog see notes on Revelation 16:14-16. The reference here in verse 8 and in Revelation 19:17-18 are both made in allusion to Ezekiel 39:11-18 and show that this paragraph is parallel with Revelation 19:17-18; hence, it follows that Revelation 19:17-21 and Revelation 20:7-10 contain a complete story of the defeat of the enemies of the church that will occur after the millennium. Read the passages in connection, omitting 20:1-6, and this fact will appear evident. 9 And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city:--The figure here is that of contending armies. Satan's forces are represented as coming from all directions to besiege the beloved city. The imagery is borrowed from Israel's encampments, systematically planned for defense and convenience. Divested of all figures, the thought is that wicked powers will make a general attack on the church, under the influence of Satan. To make the final struggle a carnal battle against literal Jerusalem is to miss the symbolic teaching of the passage. Spiritual Jerusalem--the true church--will be scattered over the earth just as are forces of evil, and the conflict will rage everywhere. and fire came down out of heaven, and devoured them.--Fire has been a common instrument when God visited capital punishment on incorrigible sinners. Note the destruction of Sodom (Genesis 19:24); Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1-3); Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (Numbers 16:35). Christ will come "in flaming fire" and the earth shall be burned tip in the day of the Lord's wrath. No emblem could more appropriately indicate the sudden and complete overthrow of Satan and his servants than to say fire came down from heaven and devoured them. The defeat of the same enemies referred to in Revelation 19:21 is said to be accomplished by the sword "which came forth out of his mouth." The wicked at the judgment are to depart "into eternal fire." Symbols must be construed in harmony with plain truths literally stated. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet; --Jesus said the fire was prepared for "the devil and his angels." (Matthew 25:41.) In vision John had seen the beast and false prophet cast in this lake; now he sees the devil cast in with them. This is another proof that this paragraph is a completion of the story in Revelation 19:19-21. and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.--This means endless duration, and agrees with the plain statements of Jesus in Matthew 25:46 and Mark 9:48-49. Whether the "fire" is to be construed literally or figuratively is immaterial; the lesson taught is intense and endless punishment. No more expressive emblem could have been used.