Welcome back! This is the second post in our series on Revelation chapter 20. In our last post, we learned about how Satan would be chained up and thrown into a pit to serve a prison sentence of 1,000 years. Then we learned about the first resurrection, which consisted of only believers in the Messiah. In this post, we’re going to study what happens when Satan is let out of his prison. Stay tuned!

Revelation Chapter 20: Satan’s Imprisonment, the First Resurrection, and the Second Death

Second in a Three-Part Series
by Karen Thompson

Satan Is Let Loose From His Prison

Rev. 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Now in this section, the vision jumps 1,000 years into the future when Jesus’ millennial reign is at its end and Satan’s prison sentence is up. John writes, “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison…” (v. 7). When one thousand years pass, Satan will be let loose out of the bottomless pit. The Lord has a final purpose for Satan. We see that purpose in verse eight: “And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.”

When he is let loose, he will do what he has always done—deceive. The very first time we read about Satan in the Bible is when he deceived Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. And the very last thing we read about him in the Bible is that he will, again, deceive the nations. And he’ll be successful. He will have enough time to work his deception on the “four quarters of the earth,” which is to say the whole world. Satan manages to stir up the nations against the Messiah. Those he is able to successfully deceive will be numerous, so numerous that “the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.”

We find out what Satan does with this great army in verse nine: “And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” Basically, history will repeat itself. Satan stirs up the nations against God. With his army, Satan will surround the “camp of the saints,” which means the encampment of the army of the saints. Satan also surrounds the beloved city, which, of course, is Jerusalem. God intervenes by raining fire down from heaven which devours the army of Satan. It will be the same outcome as the battle of Armageddon where Satan was handily defeated.

Verse 10 tells us of Satan’s final end: “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Satan finally meets his end. He will be thrown into the lake of fire to join the Antichrist beast and the false prophet.

What Is the Purpose for Letting Satan Out?

About Satan, we have one final question. Why let Satan out to deceive the nations again? When reading this passage, people’s response is incredulous: “What! Why do this? We got the troublemaker locked up, and now you want to let him go!”

The answer to this question isn’t specifically spelled out for us in scripture, but when we examine certain scriptures, we can speculate as to the reason why. The reason for letting Satan out has to do with the last step in purging earth of God’s enemies. In order to understand why Satan is let out to deceive the nations, you have to understand what Jesus’ millennial reign is all about. Most people don’t understand the purpose of His millennial reign. People just assume His millennial reign will be something like heaven on earth. Without Satan’s presence on the earth, everything will be copasetic and hunky-dory. Or Shangri-la, right? But, surprisingly, that will not be the case.

There is a misconception about Jesus’ millennial reign. People have the idea that with Satan bound and Jesus as ruler over earth that mankind will be at peace with one another. Free from Satan’s influence, people will be free of negative emotions. There will be no fighting and division. The nations will open up their arms wide to Him. They’ll be so excited to have Him as their ruler, as their king. They’ll welcome Him by lining up in the streets with palm trees in their hands, singing, “Hosanna to the King.”

But that won’t be entirely true. People are still going to be people with their emotional capacity still intact. It’s a wrong idea to think all of our negative emotions come from Satan. Every day, people all on their own experience thoughts of envy, jealousy, anger, and the like, without any influence from Satan. So the idea that all the nations will spread their arms out wide to King Messiah and ask Him to be their ruler is wrong. It’s even unscriptural.

Our first clue in understanding Jesus’ purpose during His 1,000-year reign is the fact that scripture says He will rule the nations with a rod of iron. The phrase “rod of iron” symbolizes that He will have to rule with strength and power. Having to rule with a rod of iron indicates He will have some sort of resistance from the nations, that everything will not be heaven on earth.

Psalms chapter two is a messianic psalm that prophesies Messiah’s millennial reign. In no way does it paint a rosy picture of the nations opening up their arms wide to Him. In fact, they will openly resist and plot against Him.

1 Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, 3 “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.” 4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. 5 He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, 6 “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” 7 I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. 8 Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.” 10 Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. 12 Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (NIV)

Right away, we read how the nations will conspire and plot together. They’ll rise up together as one. For what purpose? They will rise up against God and His anointed, the Messiah. They will say, “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.” In response, God simply laughs and scoffs at them. He says, “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” He has installed Jesus the Messiah to rule the nations. In fact, it says in verse eight that the nations are His inheritance. God has given them to Him to rule. Verse nine tells us how He will deal with these plotting nations: “You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.” The Father God gives the nations some advice, telling them to be wise and to serve the Lord with fear. They are told to celebrate His rule with trembling. Their way of rebellion, says the Lord, will lead to their destruction. The final sentence is assurance to all those who take refuge in Him, that they will be blessed. And, yes, multitudes will welcome Him with arms opened wide, so happy to have Him as their King.

Let’s look at another scripture in 1^st Corinthians that talks about His millennial reign. It tells us His millennial reign will be for the purpose of putting down all God’s enemies. First Corinthians chapter 15 talks about what Jesus did at His First Coming and what He will do at His Second Coming. First it talks about Jesus’ death and resurrection and how we are raised because He was the first to be raised. Then, starting in verse 24, we are told what His purpose will be during His millennial reign as King of Kings:

Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. (1 Cor. 15:24–28).

Verse 24 says, “Then cometh the end….” This is referring to Christ’s millennial reign on the earth as the King of Kings. The rest of verse 24 and 25 tells us His purpose during His millennial reign: “when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.” The purpose of Jesus’ millennial reign will be to hand over the kingdom to the Father God after He has put down His enemies. His goal will be to bring all authority under His submission. Verse 25 says He will reign until all enemies are under His feet. His purpose during His millennial reign is to subdue the nations. The word “enemies” indicates that He will be met with resistance.

Once the task of subduing the nations is complete, He will then turn the kingdom over to God the Father. That is when God the Father will live and dwell with mankind. Bottom line: Jesus’ millennial reign is to prepare earth for the Father God to dwell, once again, with His creation.

Jesus will rule the nations as the King of Kings, but there is another aspect of His millennial reign that is equally as important. The other aspect of His reign is that He will also fulfill His calling as priest. Jesus was called by God to function as both king and priest. The book of Zechariah has much to say about Jesus’ two-fold calling. Specifically in Zechariah 6:12, the prophet Zechariah prophesied how Messiah will simultaneously fulfill both His callings as priest and king. “And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord: even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both” (Zec. 6:12–13).

Verse 12 speaks of the man called the Branch; the branch is Jesus, as He comes from the root of Jesse. Notice it says He will build the temple, and He will also sit and rule upon His throne. That speaks of both His callings as priest and king. As the priest, He will build the temple. As King, He will sit on His throne and rule. Verse 13 tells us He will operate in both these callings at the same time: “and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” While sitting on His throne as King, He will also be priest.

Notice the very last phrase says, “the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” That means He will have no conflicts ministering in both offices simultaneously. He will be able to function as both king and priest at the same time without conflicts of interest. While He is subduing the nations, He will also be ministering to them God’s love and His Word. He will reveal the love of God the Father to the nations. Not only will the overcomers and the 144,000 servants help Messiah rule the nations with a rod of iron, but they will also be sent forth as priests to minister the love of God to the nations. That’s what it means when it says we shall reign with Him as both kings and priests (Rev. 1:6, 5:10).

Now let’s get back to the reason why Satan is let out after Jesus has completed His millennial reign. It’s at this point that we must speculate. After 1,000 years, Jesus will have brought the nations to a place of submission. They are submissive, but are they devoted? At this point, this is where Satan comes in. He is let out to deceive the nations. What will that accomplish? Those not devoted will be susceptible to Satan’s deception. Scripture tells us Satan can only deceive those who are willing to be deceived.

First Peter 5:8 tells us Satan is like a roaring lion that walks about seeking whom he may devour. He can’t devour just anyone at will, only those that he “may” devour. Satan has never been able to draw anyone away from God that did not want to be drawn away. Those not devoted to Christ, will be drawn out into the open due to Satan’s deception. Because of Satan’s influence, the people will be separated into two groups of people: those devoted to God and those who are not. Those not devoted will join the rebellion and be part of the army that Satan brings against the saints and the beloved city. Fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours all the rebels (v. 9). This final purging of the unrighteous from the earth will prepare the way for when God Himself can, once again, dwell with the kingdom of man.

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