EVERYONE’S JUST DESSERTS
PART 2 REVELATION 20
When we last looked at Revelation Chapter 20 and the discussion
of Everyone’s Just Desserts, we took a look at the first of three groups
who will receive the consequences of their actions. While not in order
of the way they show up in our text, we first looked at a group who
chose to follow God and his representative Jesus Christ. I referred to
this group and their reward as The Believer’s Bonus in verses 4
through 6. Today we come back to our text and we will see the last
two groups and their reward based upon their actions toward God
and his chosen ruler King, Jesus Christ. The next two groups that we
will look at are similar in the fact of their decision to oppose God and
his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. The first of these groups consists
of only one character and that is Satan, the dragon and serpent of old
whose sole goal and desire has been to usurp God’s rightful place as
Creator and Sovereign of the universe. We saw in the previous
chapter’s how he tried to set up his own unholy trinity with himself in
the place of God the Father, the beast or anti-christ as his number one
representative as in the place of God the Son and the false prophet as
in the place of God the Holy Spirit. The false prophet’s sole purpose
was to bring glory to the anti-christ and thereby back to the one who
gave the anti-christ his authority and power which is Satan. We also
saw how during the battle of Armageddon, the beast or anti-christ
and the false prophet where captured and thrown alive into the fiery
lake of burning sulphur in Revelation chapter 19 and verse 20. Now
we return to the scene of Satan’s Just Dessert which actually consists
of two parts contained in verses 1 through 3 and 7 through 10 of
Revelation chapter 20. I’ve entitled this section referring to Satan’s
Just Desserts as:
1) THE DEMON’S DETENTION – that is his imprisonment which is
carried out in two parts. The first part of his imprisonment is
chronicled in verses 1 through 3 where we read, “And I saw an
angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and
holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that
ancient serpent, who is the devil or Satan, and bound him for a
thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and
sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations
anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must
be set free for a short time.” There are a few things to note from
this first part of Satan’s imprisonment. The first part of his
imprisonment will be:
a) A Temporary Confinement – that is Satan will be held there for
only a limited amount of time. We know he is confined due to:
i) The name of his prison which is referred to as “the Abyss”.
The Abyss or bottomless pit was a place of holding or
imprisonment for demons. When Jesus encountered the
demoniac near the lake who was inhabited by Legion as there
were many of them, they begged him not to cast them into
the Abyss. It was not a place they wanted to go. Also in
Revelation chapter 9:1, 2 we learn that a star that had fallen
from the sky (which was a reference to Satan) was given the
key to the shaft of the Abyss. He opened the Abyss and a
demon army like locust was released who had obviously been
held their and their King named Abaddon in Hebrew or
Apollyon in Greek. The Abyss would have seemingly been
emptied at that time. We also know he is confined due to:
ii) His arresting officer – that is the angel who incarcerated him
in verse 1 where it says, “An angel coming down out of
heaven, have the key to the Abyss and holding in his had a
great chain. He seized the dragon…and bound him.” It also
says, “He threw him into the Abyss and locked and sealed it
over him.” In the apostle John’s time is was customary for a
prisoner to not only be placed in prison but to have chains
placed on his feet or hands or even around his neck as a
further means to ensure the prisoner stayed locked up. In
addition, a seal placed on the cell or prison would ensure that
the prisoner could only be released by the one who placed
the seal on his cell. Usually this would have been the
emperor, king or governing official who was ruling at the
time. We can also know that this confinement is temporary
due to:
iii) The timeframe attached to this first imprisonment. Verse 2
emphasizes that when it says, “…and bound him for a
thousand years.” Remember when we first looked at chapter
20 of the book of Revelation and mentioned that the number
one thousand would be important in this chapter, well here is
another mention of that number. While one thousand may
not seem like a very temporary timeframe to you it does
denote that there would be an end to this incarceration—that
being one thousand years. Then end of verse 3 gives the
purpose or reason for this first temporary part of The
Demon’s Detention when it says, “…to keep him from
deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were
ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.”
There we have the word thousand mentioned again. Not only
did we mention last week that it would be the timeframe for
Jesus Christ’s earthly rule and kingdom but here we see it is
the timeframe for the first part of Satan’s imprisonment.
Jesus’ millennial kingdom will be marked by not having Satan
loose running around disturbing things or even influencing
things as he clearly is allowed today. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us,
“…the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for
someone to devour,” and 2 Cor. 4:4 refers to him, when it
says, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of
unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of
the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” While scripture
seems to point to the emptying of the demon army in the
Abyss in Revelation chapter 9 and chapter 20 only specifically
mentions Satan being bound and thrown into the Abyss, I
must assume that Satan’s demons were either thrown into
the lake of burning sulfur at the same time when the beast
and the false prophet were captured and thrown there in
Chapter 19 during the short battle of Armageddon or the
demons were incarcerated with Satan for the thousand years.
This is due to the reason for Satan’s imprisonment. He isn’t
allowed to deceive the nations for the thousand years
therefore I have to imply the same would be true of his
followers. Now we’ll look to the second part of the Demon’s
Detention which will be:
b) A Life Sentence – that is an eternal life imprisonment. This is
outlined in verses 7 through 10. “When the thousand years are
over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to
deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and
Magog—to gather them for battle. In number they are like the
sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the
earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he
loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of
burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been
thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and
ever.” We should notice a few things about Satan’s parole. He
has served his thousand years and what is the first thing he
does? He goes out and does the very thing for which he was first
imprisoned. He was imprisoned to keep him from deceiving the
nations. The moment he is release, he returns to his old familiar
ways. We are told in verse 7, “Satan will be released from his
prison and will go out to deceive the nations…” This really
shouldn’t surprize us as we learn from scripture that, he is a
deceiver. Revelation 12:9 in the NIV says of Satan, “who leads
the whole world astray.” The KJV says, “Which deceiveth the
whole world.” Jesus spoke of Satan in John 8:44 when he said,
“He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the
truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his
native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Our text in
Revelation chapter 20 verses 7 through 10 are pretty much selfexplanatory. However we might need a few things explained.
Satan goes to the four corners of the earth called Gog and
Magog to gather the nations for his last ditch effort to dethrone
God’s chosen ruler king, Jesus Christ. Gog and Magog are
reference from Ezekiel 38 and 39. Gog was a prince of Meschech
and Tubal from the land of Magog. Ezekiel mentions that Gog
from Magog will lead a massive army from the North against
Israel. But this campaign will not succeed and will be a turning
point for the nation of Israel in their relationship to God as he
will deliver them. As Russia is directly North of Israel, it has
been suggested that this Magog army will come from Russia and
the former surrounding southern states of the Soviet Union are
represented by Meshech and Tubal. Elsewhere in Ezekiel, the
lands of Persia, Cush, Put, Togarmiah and Gomer are also
mentioned as being part of this force. Persia is Iran as that was
its former name prior to 1935. There is some disagreement
among scholars regarding the other countries but Cush is said to
represent Sudan, Put represents Libya, Gomer is Eastern Europe
perhaps as far as Western Germany and Togarmiah represents
Turkey. Any way you interpret it, Revelation 20:8 says about
this armed force that, “In number they are like the sand on the
seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and
surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves.” Now,
the city God loves is a reference to Israel and specifically
Jerusalem. So we have this massive army coerced by Satan
marching against God’s people and surrounding Jerusalem. The
outcome of this war is practically the same as the battle of
Armageddon. We could call these two battles, non-battles as
Jesus destroys the enemy armies at Armageddon with the sword
of his mouth. Here we are told in verse 9, “Fire came down from
heaven and devoured them.” God’s people don’t have to fight
as he fights for them. So here was the big set up for the second
part of Satan’s Just Desserts and his Demon Detention. Verse 10
of Revelation chapter 20 states, “And the devil, who deceived
them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur where the
beast and the false prophet had been thrown.” Remember the
other two members of this unholy trinity had been cast there a
thousand years earlier. The last sentence of verse 10 gives the
timeframe for this second imprisonment for Satan when it says,
“They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” This
is a life sentence, an eternal life imprisonment…for ever and
ever. There will be no king’s pardon or release for good
behavior. The Greek word for torment means to be tortured, to
be harassed and distressed, to be vexed with severe pains of
body and mind. It is also used of the testing of metals by a
touchstone which is a black siliceous stone used to test the
purity of gold or silver by the color of streak produced on it by
rubbing it with either metal. What God has in store for Satan
and his right hand man (the beast) and his right hand man (the
false prophet) isn’t pretty. There will be a final reckoning for the
Usurper and his lackeys. Jesus spoke of this place in the parable
of the sheep and goats when he was speaking to the goats in
Matthew 25:41 where he says, “Depart from me, you who are
cursed, into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
Again will not specifically mentioned, I believe that Satan’s
angels the third of the angelic creation who followed him in his
rebellion will be thrown into the lake of burning sulphur either
at the same time as the beast and false prophet or here when
there leader and representative, Satan his cast there. The
Demon’s Detention is both a temporary confinement and then a
life sentence. That takes care of two of the three groups
receiving their Just Desserts. We have one more group which
are those who had not been resurrected in order to go into the
Millennial Kingdom consisting of those who chose not to follow
God or Jesus Christ. However, time has run out. We’ll look at
this third and final group when we look at Revelation chapter 20
again.
Satan knows what is coming because he knows scripture. He
quoted it to Jesus during the temptation. However he refuses to turn
from his disobedience and desire to become greater than God. We
also know what’s coming but have a choice. Won’t you choose Jesus?