The Two Last Battles | TheLastDays
How is it possible that there are two last battles? Shouldn’t one have been catastrophic enough? Couldn’t one have decided the issue once and for all? Wouldn’t one have taught everyone which side to be on for the second? Evidently not. Because there are two “last” battles confusion naturally spreads around them. This makes it difficult to know how they match up with the prophetic texts that describe wars that happen in “the latter days.” The Latter Days cover a lot of time! These colossal conflicts serve as bookends to the Millennium—the thousand years of peace. The first one erupts when Jesus returns to reign and the other explodes after He reigns for one thousand years of unprecedented peace and prosperity. Both battles are gathered into one article here in hopes that it will lessen the confusion to see these accounts in close succession. They have one thing in common: an undefeated Commander.
When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us, or for our adversaries?" And he said, "No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come." Joshua 5:13-14
All scripture citations are from the English Standard Version (ESV) unless otherwise noted.
Chief Characteristics
Whole books are written about most of these crucial components. These characteristics are summaries of what is grounded in scripture, not fabricated through speculation.[1] Speculation is trying to “see” more than we are being shown. What we see by Biblical revelation is real enough, but a fuller view will only come as these still distant components draw nearer.
1. The First Last Battle
The fearsome climax of all the deadly convulsions preceding our Lord’s Return comes with this epic “Final Conflict.” So dreadful is the thought of it that its very name has become a byword for any end of the world scenario: Armageddon! Never mind that this final conflict is not the last battle—that will come a thousand years after this one. Or, that it won’t take place where church tradition and popular culture suppose. Even so, this titanic battle will bring our history to a spectacular end. Earth will no longer be a planet ruled without its rightful King enthroned. Armageddon is the last-ditch effort of fallen humanity to retain the reins of power. It will be a dramatic duel to the death between the vast armies of Jesus Christ and the Antichrist.
And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. Revelation 19:19
Finally, we come to the moment when the two opposing sides square off and face each other head-on. So far in the Book of Revelation, we have seen tremendous judgments hurled against the earth and its unrepentant inhabitants for many of the preceding chapters. Much of the havoc has rained down from the skies almost like a mirror image of the earth-shaking bombardments that the belligerents of World War I threw at each other. Those massive artillery barrages would sometimes last for days, even weeks. They were colossal attempts to “soften up” the entrenched soldiers on the other side of the line, rendering them either dead or incapable of resistance.
Astonishingly, once the fire from the heavens ceased, the enemy soldiers often emerged from their positions fully intact and supercharged with a desire to give back as good as they been given. Some had been blown to pieces, of course, but the majority survived more grimly determined than ever to destroy the ground assault that was sure to follow. Sticking to the analogy, we know that the home team was not removed from the battlefield and whisked away to safety behind the lines. No, they were told to stay dig in while the cannons thundered. Tons of deadly ammunition hurtled by overhead, targeted towards their enemies. Though the sounds and shock waves gripped them with fear, the fusillade gave them a respite from being under assault themselves.
Something like that has been happening here. Our God knows how to target His enemies. He also knows how to “pass over” His own people. The terrible bombardments of the Trumpet Judgments and the Bowls of Wrath would seem to leave no one alive who served the Beast and his system. Who could survive those fearful calamities? Of those who survived, who would not want to throw down their arms and surrender? Yet we are told that multitudes will remain unrepentant right up to the bitter end, the end that we see happening here with this final confrontation. Astonishingly, even in the aftermath of the most horrendous judgments the world has ever seen, the Antichrist will still be able to raise a vast army. It will be his (and their) last gasp attempt to throw back the ground assault this is coming. But it will be in vain.
2. The Final Last Battle
This battle isn’t Armageddon. That “Last Battle” is the one that will end our present age—the time that lies between the two advents of Jesus: when He came to be the Lamb slain at the cross and His return as our Lion-hearted King. When Jesus returns at Armageddon, He will face forces of evil that have had at least six thousand years to dig in. The run-up to this battle will be radically different. It is preceded by one thousand years of peace and righteousness upon the earth. If this final conflict seems anti-climactic, it also seems unnecessary. One thing, however, is certain. It will be titanic!
And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. Revelation 20:7-8
So much can happen within four Bible verses, especially if those verses lie within this Book of Revelation. Time seems to be compressed as we move towards the end. A thousand years go swooshing by, paling in comparison (it seems) to the two events which bookmark the Millennium: the capture of Satan and his release. His release, just as quickly, leads into what we’re calling “The Final Last Battle.” Just as quickly that final offensive of Satan against God comes to a blazing end. Along the way there rises the intriguing question of just who on earth will be falling for the Enemy’s lies this time around. With the victorious Lord already on the throne, with the ending that He decreed already written, who will fall away? And why?
Pre-Figured in Scripture
Every crucial component of the Last Days has already “appeared” in the Biblical prophetic narrative in the past, somewhat like a dress rehearsal for the final drama. These foreshadows are called “types” because they precede their ultimate expression (the “antitype”).[2] As shadows of the future reality, however, they cast a revealing light of their own.
These final two conflicts have been graphically pre-figured in scripture. First, there is the complete annihilation of an enemy army that suffered the misfortune of invading Israel at a time when God was defending His people, not disciplining them. That gives us a preview of Jesus’ return. Next, two nations with the same name as the ones heading up the final last battle meet their match at the Hands of the Lord.
1. The First Last Battle: Sennacherib’s Defeat
In 721 BC Assyrian armies led by Sargon II invaded the Northern Kingdom of Israel, laying siege to the capital of Samaria. When it fell in 722 BC, they carried off the defeated survivors as captives. These became the famous “ten lost tribes” of Israel. They passed silently out of history and into legend. Good King Hezekiah of the Southern Kingdom didn’t relish sharing in their fate. Yet, he and the combined forces of Judea and Benjamin were powerless to stop Assyria when that powerhouse of death and destruction steam-rolled towards them two decades later.
Sennacherib’s invasion came southward through the coastal plains before turning east to lay siege successfully to Judea’s key fortress city of Lachish in 701 BC. Lachish was all that stood in the way of a strike against Jerusalem itself. Accordingly, the Assyrian king sent an emissary to King Hezekiah threatening dire consequences if Jerusalem also forced a siege, rather than accept the inevitable and surrender. Hezekiah had no hope that he could stop what no other power on earth had been able to resist. But he believed God could. His prayer is a textbook on how to lay your cause before the living God. God heard and answered with a stunning overthrow of the godless king’s entire army.
"Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the LORD. For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David." And that night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 2 Kings 19:32-35
2. The Final Last Battle: Gog and Magog
The issues that God and Magog raise are far too complex and contested to deal with here. For instance, are these two nations part of the forces that confront Jesus at the end of this age when He returns to begin His reign? Are they the sole two powers that God defeats from heaven in the final battle that comes one thousand years later? Or do these incorrigibly difficult-to-identify entities represent instead the spiritual forces that ever align against God and His holy people? What is it about going up against God “Almighty” which fails to hold them in check? They are apparently as reckless as they are determined.
The relevant passages can be found in Ezekiel 38-39. Eventually, a companion article will be written which covers them in detail. For our purpose here, it is enough to note from the following passage that Gog and Magog will indeed play a crucial role in “the latter years.” That role will be one of unmitigated onslaught against the people of God “gathered upon the mountains of Israel.” Theirs will not be a glancing blow, but a direct, unprovoked assault “coming like a storm” with “hordes” of soldiers in their ranks. Even so, it will not be enough.
After many days you [Gog, of the land of Magog] will be mustered. In the latter years you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land whose people were gathered from many peoples upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. Its people were brought out from the peoples and now dwell securely, all of them. You will advance, coming on like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.” Ezekiel 38:8-9
Revealed by Scripture
The Bible exposes the secret plans and deceptive operations of the dark kingdom, even as it unveils the glorious realities of what our God is doing. The truths of scripture are, therefore, our rock-solid building blocks for interpreting the times we are entering. Nevertheless, for biblical information to become true revelation both prayer and the Holy Spirit are needed.
We certainly have a lot of text to explore here, as well as two titanic conflicts to review, the likes of which the world has never seen. Can you imagine the movies that could be made from this material? Why have so few (as in none) been attempted? Since Hollywood has steered clear of these coming realities, we are left with our imaginations aided only by the Word of God. That should give us all we really need to light the road ahead. After all, all we really need to know is which side to be on!
1. The First Last Battle
Less than ten verses earlier n the Book of Revelation, we were treated to a veiled glimpse of the most glorious wedding banquet ever—the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Then, the Lamb mounted His white horse and lead the armies of heaven into combat, the dreaded final conflict which now lies before us in the text. Ironically, the carnage from that colossal battle is also described as a supper, the “great supper of God.” It is a hideous juxtaposition of images. Yet, what could bring home better the absolute difference between the choices that lie before us?[3]
1) The Antichrist Gathers an Army
Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, "Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great." Revelation 19:17-18
John has certainly seen some strange sights! He sees now an angel “standing in the sun.” From where John is positioned, he can see the earth in minute detail and the far-flung celestial heavens as well. Not only that but the long, agonizing years of earth’s judgments are passing before him in what will likely be only moments of earth’s time when he returns. This is further evidence that heaven lives, moves, and works through both time and space radically different than we do. Is it any wonder that the two questions the Lord rarely answers (to any but His most select prophets) are “how” and “when” Always, once the Lord “shows up” in answer to prayer, the how and when make sense. Yet, we could never have puzzled it out beforehand.
How can an angel be standing in the sun? How can John see such a marvel at so great a distance? How can he hear him? Yet, he does. Not surprisingly the angel resorts to “a loud voice” in order to be heard by the ones his message must reach. He calls to all the birds remaining on earth (for many creatures have perished by now)—those that still “fly directly overhead.” John doesn’t mean over his head, but over the heads of those on the battlefield for the task is immediately assigned: “Come, gather… to eat the flesh” of all the men (and women?) soon to be slain in battle.
Not one of the slaughtered foes of this epic battle will be honored with a dignified burial. All will be picked to pieces by flesh-eating birds. This gruesome banquet is termed “the great supper of God.” Just as dogs ate Jezebel’s corpse, so these birds will feast upon all the fallen. We can have no doubt that any of the righteous ones will fall here. The hosts of heaven cannot be slain, nor can they even be wounded by merely human combatants. There will be neither demons nor fallen angels littering the battlefield, though they would be present driving their human victims mercilessly to their doom. This will be the “flesh of all men”—both “small and great.”
And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. Revelation 19:19
This ill-fated army is headed up by “the beast”—the Antichrist himself. He is recklessly putting everything he has on the line. Just like an addict under the full spell of his craving, this power-hungry megalomaniac believes that he not only can conquer the world but also its Redeemer. Those who deceive others are themselves the most deceived. Not only would he believe he can win, but he is driven by knowing that he must. He must beat back this challenge to his power and authority or all is lost. Nothing else matters. Perhaps, the largest army ever assembled will end up as carrion—food for vultures. He doesn’t care!
The highest-ranking “kings of the earth” have been called out to join their villainous leader, along with their immense armies. Somehow, they know who is coming. Have they read the Book? It would seem so, for they have “gathered” here to stand against an earth invasion led by “him who was sitting on the horse.” Unpleasant thought that it is, we must allow that the Enemy and his human team (from the Antichrist on down) may be better schooled in our scriptures than many believers. Why? Naturally, they would want to twist the Word and use it against us. In addition, they would just as naturally want to know what is prophesied so they can bend a path around it, or at least ready themselves for the shocks that are coming their way.
Where are they gathered? We already know the answer to this for John’s vision of the sixth bowl of wrath showed three unclean spirits being sent forth “to gather them to the battle of that day, the great day of God Almighty.”[4] We were told then that the location would be “a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”[5] Before exploring this controversial topic at length, the short of it is that ancient Megiddo is not the site for this battle—Jerusalem is. Nothing could make better Biblical sense than that Jerusalem will be this future ground zero, or that Jesus will return to the location He left from, just as the angel foretold.[6]
The Plains of Megiddo which lay before the ancient city indeed hosted numerous epic battles, beginning with a decisive conquest won by Egyptians under Thutmose III in the 15th century BC. The Israelite prophetess Deborah, Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte and General Allenby are among the many who fought here. Megiddo’s importance lay in its commanding position above a strategic pass through the Carmel Mountains. It guarded the Via Maris, one of the main trade routes of the ancient world, transporting goods as well as armies between Egypt and Persia. That trade route completely lost its importance in the modern world, leaving Megiddo like ghost towns in the old west when the railroads stopped coming.
Although Megiddo and its plains are mentioned a dozen times in the Hebrew scriptures, and several biblical battles took place there, no specific prophecies were ever associated with it. The only mention it receives is this one at the tail end of the scriptures. This is certainly a big one, but does the location belong here? From the Greek, Har-Megiddo translates as the “mount” of Megiddo, which in turn means “a place of crowds.” This sounds like a match except that nothing about Megiddo fits the designation of mountain. It is a tell, a man-made hill, built-up (in this case) over the destroyed remains of twenty previous cities. Megiddo began life as high ground suitable for a settlement, but hardly as a mountain. The biblical writers would have known the difference, just as we do.
There is a mountain, however, that looms large throughout the scriptures with special significance for the End Times: Mount Zion. Without question, Mount Zion and Jerusalem are at the epicenter of the cosmic battle between the Dragon, Satan, and the Lord God. Is it possible that the text points us to this location? Certainly, numerous other texts and prophecies are pointing there. In fact, the meaning of megiddo from the Greek gives us a clue: “a place of crowds.” Modern scholars have further identified a Hebrew root word moed which means assembly.[7] What we have is very likely a typical biblical reference to Mount Zion as the place or mount of assembly. Zion is where God meets—assembles—with His assembled people. God’s people are already “assembled” (vs 16:16) in Jerusalem. All that’s needed is for the enemy’s forces to travel there.
2) The Antichrist and False Prophet Are Captured
And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. Revelation 19:20
Hallelujah! Victory comes swiftly! No sooner is the opposing army described, than we hear of its utter defeat— “the beast was captured.” Not just the Antichrist is overthrown, but “with it the false prophet.” They who rose together, are brought into captivity together. Does their seizure come before the carnage of that tremendous host? Cut off the head and the body dies. Or does it come at the end—when their absolute and ignominious failure is laid bare even before their deceived eyes? If they are captured ahead of the army’s rout, they could feed their pride into eternity, thinking “if only” they hadn’t been captured, they’d have found a way to win. That cannot be allowed. All their best efforts must surely be exposed for what they are— “vanity of vanities.”[8]
Curiously, John has more to say to denounce the false prophet than he does the beast. Not that John has any sympathy for the devil—in this case, the devil’s avatar, the Antichrist. It is expected that “the lawless one” will be the very embodiment of evil.[9] What John reprobates is the false prophet for “the signs by which he deceived” the world into following the devil incarnate. Specifically, he deceived to their eternal damnation those “who received the mark of the beast.”
The Antichrist is a beast, no doubt about it. However, the False Prophet made the beast seem like a household pet. Where the beast would force multitudes to take the mark—and create the resistors we saw in verse 16, the False Prophet lulls others to sleep: “There, there, this will all work out splendidly for you.” They will awaken—too late—when they feel the flames of hell for the curse of taking this mark is irreversible.[10]
John goes further. In doing so he reminds us that not only is refusing “the mark of the beast” mandatory, but there is a second danger to tempt us. John also denounces the False Prophet for deceiving all those “who worshiped its image.” This second beast—the False Prophet—will not only create a “living” image of the beast, but he will also somehow lure multitudes into worshipping it. Had the beast merely (!) demanded worship from any in his presence that would affect relatively few. This image will go worldwide via the twin technological “miracles” of holographic imagery and the internet, enhanced no doubt by artificial intelligence if it comes online in time. By this image, the False Prophet will lead millions to destruction.
It is only fitting that such a heinous twosome should be punished together. Both beasts “were thrown” into “the lake of fire.” Remember, this is prophetic past tense. If only it were happening now. As it is, we will have to suffer through watching their sordid rise to power (unable to stop it) and suffer through their abuse of it, before this happy moment arrives. But arrive it will and when it does, they will find themselves being thrown “alive” into the eternal flames.
All the rest of unrepentant and, therefore unsaved, humanity will die first before experiencing hell’s torment. These two alone are signaled out for special treatment, a sign of how unutterably despicable their crimes against God and humanity have been. It is as if God were saying, “No need to die and come before Me in judgment—away with you now!” That the fire “burns with sulfur” indicates that eternal stench too is part of the hellish punishment, originally devised only for Satan and the fallen angels.[11] Whatever you do, don’t take the mark! Don’t worship the image! Don’t join these two in their doom!
And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh. Revelation 19:21
Now we learn the fate of the vast army that the beast and his False Prophet gathered. All “the rest” are slain. Not one king or soldier remains. Everyone perishes “by the sword.” How fitting that the One who slays them with a sword is the very one that others of their kind arrested with swords.[12] Then, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus pronounced a curse that comes to rest on those who are fallen here: “All who take the sword will perish by the sword.”[13] By taking the sword—by violence—they tried to oppose the rightful reign of God. With a conquering violence the Word of God “speaks” forth a sword that destroys them.
Does this happen after the beast and False Prophet are captured and thrown into hell? We are not given a time sequence here, but a catalog of actions. John tells us first about the fate of the evil twins for that is of primary importance, not necessarily because it happens first. Let us remember that all of this in happening swiftly. We hardly need to imagine that the sword from our Lord’s mouth is a weapon that seeks individuals and targets them one at a time. No, even our movies have trained us to imagine weapons that annihilate entire armies in an instant. Art may not be imitating life, so much as anticipating it.
Presumably, all in the same day the birds descend upon the battlefield and “are gorged with their flesh.” This informs us that the supernatural sword Jesus unleashes doesn’t “vaporize” the assembled multitudes. It cuts them off from their life source, in some way severing spirit and soul from body.[14] Their corpses drop lifelessly, helplessly, to the earth from which we all came. Their spirit with soul attached will await the judgment that is coming.[15] Their bodies give immediate satisfaction to the summoned and waiting birds. The “great supper of God” has begun.
3) Satan Is Captured and Imprisoned
The first of the Two Last Battles just culminated with a crescendo of unparalleled violence. A great “sword came from the mouth” of the Lord annihilating the entire army that the beast and the false prophet gathered. Those two partners in crime had already been captured and “thrown alive into the lake of fire.” Their capture and disposal appeared to be as swift as it will be irreversible. With these twin events—the destruction of both the soldiers and their leaders—the great battle of Armageddon ended. It is an ignominious extermination for the defeated and a glorious, complete conquest for the Victor. Nevertheless, all is not yet over. There is a nefarious henchman behind the scenes whose evil machinations brought the world to this appalling moment. Now, his moment has come—and it’s not the exaltation that he vainly supposed would be his just reward. His prophesied doom arrives at last.
"How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit. Isaiah 14:12-15
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. Revelation 20:1
In the previous verse John saw a vast army instantaneously slain by the sword-slashing forth from the Lord’s mouth and lingered over the battlefield long enough to see birds being “gorged with their flesh.” One wonders how John can keep watching. At what point does looking at the destruction of human beings become too much for anyone to bear? And these unrepented soldiers had been human once. By the time of the battle they were so thoroughly “at one” with the beast that they had lost all desire or ability to repent, even when seeing God’s glorious Son heading their way. Yet, hope-filled mothers had once held them in their arms.
It is this dreadful, grisly sight that John’s eye is turned from: “Then I saw an angel.” It is literally a shift from hellishness on earth to the holiness of heaven for he sees the angel “coming down” from that unsullied realm. Immediately, curiosity combined with divinely conveyed knowing turns his inward focus from the battle’s aftermath. This angel is holding something extraordinary, or rather two somethings. The first is “the key to the bottomless pit” which he could only know by the inner prompting of the Spirit for the angel remains silent throughout. The last time we saw an angel with a key to this same pit, it was used to release fallen creatures from imprisonment in the underworld.[16] That swarm of locusts wreaked unbridled havoc upon the earth. This time will be radically different. This time the angel brings “a great chain” with him.
And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years… Revelation 20:2
The angel “seized the dragon.” Lest we are wondering, John wants us to know for certain just who this evil creature is. It is none other than the “ancient serpent”—the one who first appeared at the very beginning of the Biblical record. This is the Tempter who brought Adam and Eve to ruin in the Garden. The earth that they had been divinely commissioned to tend has now been all but destroyed through the cycle of judgments that brought his own evil empire to ruin. But long before this end came, the serpent grew in size and power by feasting on the souls he corrupted, usurping their wills to empower his. He became the dragon through what we gave him—our allegiance and obedience. Nevertheless, though he has been a perfect “devil” to humanity, his will has ever been to be “Satan”—the one who opposes God.
Pause a moment. This is the Evil One whose every word and deed has sown the horror of sin and its consequences throughout the earth and the second heavens. This creature proved himself unstoppable (by us) and ineradicable up to this point. His power over the earth and over the forces of darkness he assembled was unrivaled by any of his peers. Weren’t we expecting the Grande Army of the Lord to take him down? If we were, we would be surprised and perhaps a bit disappointed. In the end, all it requires to take out the Evil One is this unnamed, unheralded angel. Seemingly without resistance, this puffed-up dragon is “bound” with the angel’s chain. The chain is heaven forged. It will hold him fast for “a thousand years.” It turns out he was nowhere near as mighty as he appeared to us, or to himself.
Those who see you will stare at you and ponder over you: 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who did not let his prisoners go home?' All the kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb; but you are cast out, away from your grave, like a loathed branch, clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a dead body trampled underfoot. Isaiah 14:16-19
...and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. Revelation 20:3
Without the slightest ceremony or judicial review, the angel throws Satan “into the pit.” How that must have hurt and enraged his pride! To be so ingloriously treated, as if he were a common criminal. Worse, to be “thrown in,” not escorted into the bowels of the earth’s hidden dungeon. Just how deep into the bottomless pit he’s been cast we have no way of gauging. Yet, it is certainly so deep that it is beyond his ability to touch the world, even with his mesmerizing, accusing voice.
This is solitary confinement devised for a spiritual being who can project his thoughts to others. The angel “shut” the pit and “sealed it over him.” Every precaution has been taken so that he “might not deceive the nations any longer.” Not only is he confined, chained, and unable to escape. He is being held in such a way that he will be entirely unable to communicate with the outside world. That alone will ensure that “the thousand years” will be peace-filled.
Now comes a sentence that should make us all pause, scratch our heads, and say, “What?!” John tells us rather matter-of-factly, as if it’s the most obvious thing, “After that, he must be released for a little while.” What? We have the most notorious criminal in the universe locked up for good. We, therefore, get to enjoy unbroken peace for one thousand years—something we have never known. We are at long last living free of all the thoroughly wicked things this evil being is capable of instigating. And we’re going to set him free? That’s going to take some explaining!
No explanation is given to us, but one is hinted at in the previous sentence. The Tempter is being sealed in a dungeon of profound silence so that he “might not” have an opportunity to “deceive the nations.” Those nations include many who, as we have seen, resisted the beast with his mark, yet never gave their lives to the Lord through faith-conversion. They will need to be converted and discipled. They also will have children. Those children will need to grow in the nurture and knowledge of the Lord.
All of this will take place under ideal conditions. Jesus Himself will be ruling over the rebuilding of the earth. They will live under the most perfect leadership of the most loving and sensible societies imaginable. But their allegiance will one day have to be tested, just as ours was (and still is even to this writing). Improbably, perversely, many of them will reject the Lord and His ways. When the devil is released, they will side with him. This seems almost impossible, but scripture says it will happen. That part of the story will arrive is coming up next.
2. The Final Last Battle
Only four short verses earlier in the Book of Revelation, we thought we’d seen the last of Satan. An angel from heaven descended with a key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. The dragon was summarily seized as if he were a sack of potatoes and thrown just as ingloriously into the pit. Once Satan was inside his prison chamber, the angel shut and sealed it. Case closed. Let’s hope they threw away the key. They didn’t! Because they didn’t, we now have this strange episode to explore.
1) Satan Regathers an Army
And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison… Revelation 20:7
What?!? If this little verse doesn’t startle and amaze you, it’s time for the electroshock paddles. The worst mass-murderer in the history of the universe, the very devil who put the “d” in diabolical, was locked up in isolation for a thousand years of perfect peace. And we let him out? Of all the bizarre things we’ve read in this book of strange revelations, this must be the most inexplicable. In fact, no explanation is given.
So, let’s review. He wasn’t locked in solitary confinement in hopes of rehabilitation. This one is evil to the bone with no redeeming qualities. He has zero desire to change his ways, so repentance is out. It was never on the table. Was he locked up, then, strictly as punishment? No, it was “so that he might not deceive the nations any longer (20:3).” What will he do when he is turned loose? You guessed it: deceive the nations.
That he was thrown into the pit should have tipped us off. According to Jesus, the “eternal fires” had been prepared in advance for “the devil and his angels.”[17] His ultimate destination is the lake of fire. That well-deserved torment is written in the Book. It will positively come to pass. This incarceration, therefore, could only have been intended as a temporary measure. First the pit, then the lake of fire. But why such a long delay before the final execution of his sentence? Why this unexpected release? He certainly isn’t getting time off for good behavior!
…and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. Revelation 20:8
As we suspected, this incorrigible villain immediately returns to what he knows best: deceiving humanity. He’s not after one or two unsuspecting individuals. This isn’t going to be a slow build-up of his base. He’s been brooding for a thousand years about how best to quickly expand his malignant influence. John tells us that the devil has come out with one purpose in mind: “to deceive the nations.”
If John had left it there, we could picture the mass of humanity divided at the end of the Millennium into a friendly assembly of nations. People from all nations and even some of the nations as a whole may be Satan’s target. John, however, doesn’t leave us in the dark. There are only two nations that Satan sets his sights on: Gog and Magog. These exist “at the four corners of the earth.” The territory they cover is vast and so is their population for “their number is like the sand of the sea.” Who can this be?
First of all, it seems highly unlikely that these two nations are situated solely at the “extremities” of the earth, which is what the Hebrew word for corners (kanaph) means. Most likely the best reading would be “everywhere, out to the farthest points.” If this is correct, it brings us back to seeing the deceiving influence of the Enemy spreading throughout the whole of humanity over the entire surface of the earth, not just two specific nations out on the fringes.
There is an additional meaning of the word which may be significant. Kanaph also means “away from the center.” In Biblical geography, Jerusalem is always at the center of what God is doing, never more so than during the Millennium when Jesus with the redeemed will reign from the holy city. See “The Millennium Reign” for a discussion of who will be in the central group of the redeemed. It is almost unthinkable that any in that well-tested group would fall prey to the devil’s enticements!
Who will? Once again, we must take recourse to the theory that there will be a sizeable group of people who for convenience are dubbed “the resisters.” These will have successfully resisted worshipping the beast and his image. They will also have resisted taking the mark of the beast. Otherwise, they would be slain and punished with eternal torment.[18] That sentence is unavoidable and irreversible. (Whatever you do, don’t take the mark!)
These resisters, however, will also have resisted conversion. They may be God-fearers, but they will not yet have become Jesus followers. They will be scattered throughout the nations and it is their remaining presence upon the earth which will give the redeemed—headquartered in Jerusalem—people to teach about the Lord and over whom to reign with Him. Not only that, but they will still be able to marry and have children. The redeemed will not. The redeemed will have received their glorified bodies and will be “like” the angels in not marrying and raising families of their own.
It was Jesus who said that “in the resurrection” the redeemed would “neither marry nor are given marriage but are like angels in heaven.”[19] We will most emphatically not be angels—they are an entirely separate order of creation—but we will be “like” them in not marrying. This period of the Millennium is only for those believers who have experienced the “first resurrection.” These will have passed (as martyrs) through death into eternal life, or they will have been overcoming believers who were caught up to be with the Lord and changed “in the twinkling of an eye.”
Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
Under the unprecedented conditions of the Millennium, the only people who will be marrying and raising families will be those who were not born-again Christians before the Millennium began. Somehow, they managed to remain alive throughout the cataclysmic disasters of the judgment cycle and despite the beast’s best efforts to destroy them. Neither were they gathered to be with the Lord’s elect because they weren’t believers yet. Therefore, none of them will have experienced the first resurrection. Nevertheless, they will be willing to learn the ways of the Lord and live within His moral boundaries. They won’t have the Tempter tempting them and they will have Jesus (and the redeemed) shepherding them. So far so good.
On the other hand, those who were born again before the Millennium will pass through the first resurrection. This will effectively end our present liberty to marry as well as our ability to procreate. We will pass on our inheritance in Christ, but not our DNA, to the resisters we are discipling. God willing, we will gain many “spiritual children” for the Father’s larger family, but we won’t be growing families of our own. Nevertheless, we will have received glorified bodies and with that will come liberation from the sin-prone conditions of our mortal natures. We will have been raised above and beyond the previous pull of sin within. It won’t be there! The glorious liberty of the children of God will be our daily inheritance! Paul has this to say about the unique conditions of resurrected life.
So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 1 Corinthians 15:42-44
Hence, there is only one real possibility for who the people “of the nations” are that will be deceived by Satan when he is loosed. The deceived can only come from the ranks of the original resisters, their children, and their children’s children to whatever generation is here when the Millennium draws to a close. Consider this also, that without death and disease running rampant, the numbers of those repopulating the earth can grow exponentially.
Out of the vast numbers of a restored and repopulated earth, the deceived “nations” of Gog and Magog will arise. These two names have been a source of curiosity and confusion since Ezekiel first named them in prophecy. Without going into the details, the reality is that there are no known nations at present or in history which fit these designations. Many have tried a force fit, but that isn’t necessary.
These names identify an assembly of deceived individuals forged into two upstart nations by a freshly released Tempter and Deceiver. Their names are legendary as enemies of God’s people but impossible to exactly locate and identify. It is apparently enough for us to know that this final conflict is coming. We will have one thousand years to learn more about it. Getting safely through the coming Tribulation should be much higher on our agenda than trying to penetrate such a distant mystery until more is plainly revealed.
The greater mystery here is why would anyone want to join their ranks? And why would God allow the peaceful, righteous people of the Millennium to be so sorely tempted that vast numbers of them would fall away from serving Him? The answer to this must surely lie in the mystery of love which God is ever working to cultivate. Yes, the resisters and their children will have lived within the moral boundaries, but their life decision to live for Jesus will not have been tested. Remember that the text said He would be ruling over the nations with "an iron rod"?[20] That may mean that any impulse to sin they may have would be kept in check by Him, not necessarily by them.
As in the beginning, when the Enemy was allowed to tempt two untested lovers of God, so in the end, many will have their love tested to see if it is genuine. By that is meant, to see if it is genuinely what they would freely choose for themselves if given a choice. Love cannot be genuine unless that choice is real. Hence the Enemy will have an opportunity with them as he has had with all of us. As the people of earth pass through this final trial those who choose rebellion will be winnowed out. Only those who freely choose to live for Jesus will remain.
Lastly, we may have something here that goes well beyond the trial of faith everyone must ultimately face in choosing whether to live for God or not. Is God also staging an event which should once and for all settle the issue of His holiness versus the Accuser’s twisted accusations? By “for all” is intended that immense company of celestial beings who inhabit the unseen realm. These are sometimes referred to as “Watchers.”[21] They have been watching this contest between God and Satan—far longer than any of us. Their question could be, “Is God really being fair in His judgment against Satan and accurate in His judgment of humanity?”
Satan is an accuser of God as well as the brethren. His charge has always been that God is unjust. Remember his taunt against God in the book of Job: "Does Job fear God for no reason?”[22] Behind that barb is an accusation that Job’s choice isn’t fairly assessed. God has His finger on the scale. It’s God who’s twisting the truth to make things work out His way. Give Job half a chance and his choice may very well go against God. How do we really know what Job thinks deep down? He’s being blessed out of his mind! Such, at least, seems to be the thrust of Satan’s accusation.
This final conflict may be the Lord’s ultimate revelation to these celestial beings that He has indeed been just and that they made the right choice by siding with Him. Speaking about this future conflagration with Gog, God clearly has vindicating “His holiness” on His mind. The “eyes” that concern Him would not be those of the fallen angels for they have no interest in true justice, but He may be seeking to reach more eyes than those of “the nations.” As this “Very Last Battle” will finally end the rebellion begun by Satan, so it may also be designed to annul his accusations.
You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. Ezekiel 38:16
2) The Army Marches to Its Doom
And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, Revelation 20:9
How much time elapses here? This is a battle of such massive proportions that it boggles the mind, yet all we are given is these two brief verses. In the text it ends as quickly as it begins. Yet, how long does it take for Satan to deceive the nations? How long does it take for them to assemble? Where do their weapons come from? Surely it took time for them to fabricate weapons. The earth has known unbroken peace for one thousand years. By this time all swords would have been beaten into plowshares. By this time the art of war would have been completely forgotten. At least that is what Isaiah foresaw in his vision of “the latter days.”
He [the Lord] shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. Isaiah 2:4
This prophesied worldwide disarmament does not last. At the mere release of Satan from his prison a mighty army rises fully equipped for battle and gathered from all over the earth. From a world at peace to a world at war. Had they read the prophet Joel? Through Joel the Lord called for the mighty men of all “the nations” to “beat your plowshares into swords.”[23] It’s just the opposite of what Isaiah called for, though it’s coming a thousand years later. If one were to have doubts about the accuracy of Biblical prophecy, this ought to settle them. Just give the Lord enough time and He will fulfill every word of scripture![24]
It just may be that precisely because earthlings have “unlearned” the art of war and weaponry, that this battle is reduced to the kind of warfare that our ancestors would have waged in bygone years. In Ezekiel, the descriptions of the soldiers and their armaments are what we would expect of the armies of his day, but it could easily apply to a hastily conscripted (by deception) army with makeshift weapons and only horses for transport into battle. Consider this description of what the inhabitants of Jerusalem will do with the piles of useless weapons left by the defeated army.
Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and make fires of the weapons and burn them, shields and bucklers, bow and arrows, clubs and spears; and they will make fires of them for seven years, so that they will not need to take wood out of the field or cut down any out of the forests, for they will make their fires of the weapons. Ezekiel 39:9
John records precious little about the battle but we can glean a bit from the hints he drops. First, He says he sees that the army “marched up.” The Amplified Bible says that they “swarmed up”—giving us a riveting image of their enormous numbers. Either way, the direction is up. Spiritually speaking, Jerusalem always sits on higher ground because of its close association with heaven. At the beginning of the Millennium, this proximity will be even more pronounced. Jerusalem will be raised upon a “great and high mountain” (which doesn’t describe its present elevation) and heaven will have descended upon it in the form of the New Jerusalem.[25] The convulsions of the Last Days will affect not only humanity but all of nature. Hence, this army is going up in order to reach the holy city.
There are marching up from every direction it seems. The ESV translates their journey as “over the broad plain of the earth.” There is no broad plain surrounding Jerusalem at present, so again this is pointing towards significant future transformations of the geography. The KJV, however, has it that the army “went up on the breadth of the earth” which implies that this going up is from all directions. As we have already seen (v 8), this is an army being drawn from “the four corners of the earth”—its outermost reaches—towards the earth’s true center.
After climbing from all directions, they “surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city.” The image here is of an encirclement of Jerusalem by its own defending forces which in turn are encircled by the approaching army. Imagine being on a hill on an African plain as swarms of Army Ants race towards you from all directions. Everywhere you look you can see the deadly disaster approaching—yet there is no way of escape. The “saints” inhabiting Jerusalem during the Millennium will number vastly more than they do now for Jerusalem will be the religious and political capital of the world. Even so, they will be outnumbered, and very likely outgunned.
Nevertheless, the defenders will have the next phrase of this verse to give them courage: “but fire came down from heaven and consumed them.” Though it may have taken many days or (more likely) many months to raise the invading army, it only takes a moment to annihilate it. Just as fire came down to consume Sodom and the cities of the plain, so now fire comes down to thoroughly stop this swarming tide of humanity in its tracks. Destruction by fire gives evidence of God’s judgment as swift, irreversible, and entire. Nothing would likely be left but the charred remains of this colossal venture. Not a soul is said to have survived. There is, however, one lonely survivor mentioned, but he doesn’t have a soul.
…and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Revelation 20:10
Somehow the devil survived the fiery onslaught from heaven which destroyed his entire army. He certainly would have shed no tears for those poor lost souls he “had deceived.” He led billions more to their doom when he was in his prime. No, we can well imagine that he is entirely focused upon no one but himself. In this grim moment of capture, is he enraged or filled with terror now that his own doom has finally arrived? Let’s hope it’s both! This is one creature that no one should feel sorry for. He saw it written in the Book that he would be “thrown into the lake of fire” but never once did he alter his course. Instead, he purposed to take as many with him as he could.
Two whom he deceived and therefore damned are mentioned now: “the beast and the false prophet.” At this point, their endless torment is only one thousand years old. That’s long enough for them to bring their former master up to speed, if they care to offer any tips on how to make the suffering less unbearable. More likely, these three malignant beings will only add fuel to the fire by hurling invectives, insults and blame at each other. Rather than linger here, let’s leave this unholy trinity to their future hate-filled embrace, and go our merry way, quietly rejoicing that “they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Waiting for the justice of God has been worth it.
Other Scriptures to Study
1. Before the Final Last Battle: The Thousand Years
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. Revelation 20:1-6
2. After the Final Last Battle: The Great White Throne
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 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. Revelation 20:11-15
Next Crucial Component
The Return of the King With all of the focus you see on the web, or on the bookshelves, you would think that the Last Days are all about the antichrist. They’re not! Jesus is the central figure. He is the soon coming King which all the tumultuous events are preparing the earth to receive. Moreover, He is the One continually at work through His Word and His Spirit to help His believing people endure all that He will be asking of us. Nor is the Rapture primarily about our ascent, as it is us joining Him in His great descent. We’re not leaving! And neither is He…
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Endnotes
[1] Cambridge Dictionary defines speculation as “the act of guessing possible answers to a question without having enough information to be certain.” It derives from the Latin word “speculari” which means “to look at, view, observe” and originally indicated “close observation and intelligent contemplation.” By the late 1500s it gained the disparaging sense it carries today of “mere conjecture.” See etymonline.com.
[2] Adam is the type; Jesus, the “second Adam” is the antitype: Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. Romans 5:14 ESV
[3] I call Heaven and earth to record today against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live. Deuteronomy 30:19
[4] And the sixth angel poured out his vial on the great river Euphrates. And its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the rising of the sun might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, working
miracles, which go forth to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that day, the great day of God Almighty. Revelation 16:12-14
[5] And he gathered them into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. Revelation 16:16
[6] And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." Acts 1:10-11
[7] See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armageddon. Also see Dr. Michael Heiser’s podcast: Naked Bible Podcast 152, 153 — The Gog Magog Invasion | Ezekiel 38–39 at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3YnPvBwQxk&t=4085s
[8] Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? Ecclesiastes 1:2-3
[9] And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 2 Thessalonians 2:8-10
[10] And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. Revelation 14:9-12
[11] "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew 25:41
[12] At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, "Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me.” Matthew 25:55
[13] Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.” Matthew 26:52
[14] Before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Ecclesiastes 12:6-7
[15] It is generally agreed that we humans have a tripartite nature: spirit, soul and body. There is a lot less agreement about the difference between spirit and soul. See Genesis 2:7 and this: Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23
[16] He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. Revelation 9:2
[17] "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew 25:41
[18] And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name." Revelation 14:9-11
[19] In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her." But Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God. Matthew 22:28-31
[20] Revelation 19:15
[21] "I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, came down from heaven.” Daniel 4:13
[22] Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for no reason? Job 1:9
[23] Proclaim this among the nations: Consecrate for war; stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near; let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, "I am a warrior." Joel 3:9-10
[24] For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Matthew 5:18
[25] The elevation of Jerusalem is between 2,133 – 2,756 feet (650 - 840 meters) above sea level. That places it on a level with the other low mountains that share the same range with it. That hardly fits John’s description:
And one of the seven angels who had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, Come here, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of Heaven from God. Revelation 21:9-10