Satan Released, Then Destroyed

Revelation 20:7-9, 11-15 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
⁷ When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, ⁸ and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the sea. ⁹ And they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the fortified camp of the holy ones and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.

The Dead Judged

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened; and another scroll was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the scrolls, according to their deeds. ¹³ And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. ¹⁴ Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. ¹⁵ And if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

The apostle John helps us to appreciate what takes place just before judgment day. He wrote, “Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, … And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, … and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the scrolls, according to their deeds.” (Rev. 20:11-12) Therefore, just before the thousand years of Judgment Day begins, the heavens and earth will pass away. (1 John 2:17) This does not mean the literal earth or the literal heavens.

Thus, unlike what most Bible scholars are suggesting, it is not just the resurrected dead that are judged on Judgment day, and Judgment Day is not a day of judgment. It is a thousand years long. Paul tells us that there is going to be “there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” The righteous who survive Armageddon is a great multitude of Christians. However, the righteous that were already dead will be resurrected at the beginning of that thousand-year reign of Christ. The unrighteous who never had an opportunity to hear and act on the good news will be resurrected at the beginning of that thousand-year reign of Christ. All living on earth under the kingdom of God will be judged based on what they do throughout the millennial reign of Christ and after Satan is released for a little while at the end. In his vision, John saw how they are judged. “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened; and another scroll was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the scrolls, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.” – Revelation 20:12-13

What are the “scrolls” from which the “living” and the “dead” will be judged? This will be a book or books that will be an addition to our present Holy Bible. The Bible was penned to get mankind from 1500 B.C.E. up unto Armageddon. Thereafter, more book(s) are to be penned to help us through the millennium. These new additions to the Bible will be inspired and will give us God’s will and purposes. It is based on the Holy Bible and these new books that mankind will be judged throughout the thousand-year reign of Christ. Those who obey these books will receive the benefits of Jesus’ ransom sacrifice, growing into perfection through the millennium.

When the thousand years have ended, no one will be imperfect or need the ransom sacrifice of Christ any longer. Truly, Revelation 20:5a, the parenthetical talked about in the previous chapter, will be fulfilled. “(The rest of the dead [those besides the elect in heaven] did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.)” (20:5a) Once people are in the same condition that Adam and Eve were prior to the rebellion, what will happen?

After Judgment Day

Jesus has actually brought things full circle so that God’s original purpose has been fulfilled. The earth is filled with perfect humans, enjoying life, carrying our pure worship to their Creator, death had been brought to nothing, so Jesus hands the kingdom back over to the Father.

1 Corinthians 15:23-28 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)

²³ But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, afterward those who belong to the Christ at his coming,^[1] 24 then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy that will be abolished is death. ²⁷ For he put all things in subjection under his feet. But when he says “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that he is excepted who put all things in subjection to him. ²⁸ When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all.

15:23. Having given a theological justification for calling Christ the firstfruits, Paul continued the analogy. The term firstfruits suggests a certain order. Resurrection will happen to each in his own turn. First, Christ as the firstfruits has already been resurrected. Second, those who belong to him—those who have exercised saving faith in Christ—will be raised along with Christ. This second resurrection will occur when he comes in the second advent. Thus far, Paul had not taken the analogy of firstfruits beyond his discussion in the preceding verses. But at this point, he turned to an additional dimension of the analogy. 15:24. After Christ returns, then the end will come. It will be time for the final judgment and the formation of the new creation. At this time, Christ will give over the kingdom to God the Father. Just as the firstfruits of the Old Testament sacrificial system were symbolic of the giving over of an entire harvest to God, Christ’s resurrection was symbolic of a much greater harvest to be given to God the Father—the harvest of the entire kingdom. Just as an entire harvest exceeds the firstfruits, so the harvest of the dominion given to the Father will be beyond measure. This handing over to the Father will occur only after Christ has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. Elsewhere Paul used this terminology to describe both human authority (Rom. 13:1–3) and demonic powers (Eph. 1:21). In this context he had in mind the destruction of all powers that are raised against the kingdom of Christ, whether human or supernatural. 15:25. Paul had just set forth a complex scenario that pointed to Christ as the firstfruits: Christ’s resurrection, then believers’ resurrection, then the destruction of authorities and the deliverance of the kingdom to the Father. To explain this scenario further, Paul pointed out that Christ must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. This verse recalls Psalm 110:1. This psalm spoke of the promise of great victories given to the descendants of David. Every time a Davidic king experienced victory over an enemy, he saw this dynastic promise realized in his life. Paul applied this psalm to Christ, since Christ is the great and final son to sit on David’s throne (Mark 11:10). In Christ all the promises to David’s family come to full realization. Paul focused here on reigning in victory. The New Testament explains that Christ was seated on the throne of David at the time of his resurrection and ascension (Eph. 1:20–21). God once promised that David’s family would rule over the entire earth (Ps. 89:20–29), and this promise now applies to Christ. Thus, it is necessary that Christ eventually reign over everyone and everything. 15:26–27a. Of course, the last enemy that Christ will destroy is death itself. Adam introduced death into the human race (Rom. 5:12–14), but Christ has come to eliminate death. Yet, this destruction of death will take place gradually. The elimination of death is the last great work of Christ. This will occur when he raises believers to everlasting life and frees them from the power of death (Heb. 2:14–15). How can we know death will be destroyed? Paul referred once again to Psalm 110:1, emphasizing that Christ would dominate everything. He considered it an indisputable fact that the great son of David would reign over all things, including death itself. Since Christ would reign over death, those in Christ would not be subjected to death’s dominion. For this reason, the general resurrection of all believers is a certainty. 15:27b–28. Realizing that he had pushed the term everything to the limits, Paul qualified himself to avoid confusion. He noted that it was clear or obvious to those reading Psalm 110 that the term everything did not include God himself, because God the Father is the one who put everything under Christ. In other words, Psalm 110:1 makes it plain that God puts everything under the feet of David’s son. For this reason, the Father remains superior to the Christ. As a result, when all is accomplished the Son himself will be made subject to the Father. In perfect harmony with the idea of Christ as the firstfruits that honor God as the one who gives harvest, Christ will remain in subjection to the Father so that God may be all in all. – Richard L. Pratt Jr, I & II Corinthians, vol. 7, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 264–265.

How will God determine whose name are to go into the book of life? (Rev. 20:12, 15) It will be a test upon all perfect humans. Perfect Adam and Eve failed a test that was far less difficult. However, imperfect Job passed a test that was far more difficult than Adam and Eve. Many of the people alive at the end of the millennium will have never had their faith tested. The millions of unrighteous that were resurrected never knew God nor had faith to be tested. Then, there will be millions born during the millennium. Life during the millennium will be easy because there is no Satan. All are devoted or become devoted to God in pure worship, perfection is being restored, and Satan and his demons are abyssed. Thus, we are looking at billions that will have to evidence their faith. Will Satan be able to do the same to them as he had done to Adam and Eve?

After the thousand-year reign of Christ, Satan and his demons are let loose from the abyss for a short period of time. What is the result? “The number of them [who side with Satan and reject God] is like the sand of the sea.” (Rev. 20:8b) After the test, Satan, his demons and those who failed the test are destroyed, this is pictured by the symbolic lake of fire. This is the second death, eternal death, from which there is no resurrection, ever. (Rev. 20:7-10, 15) Those on earth, who passed the test, are in the book of life, having a righteous standing before God, and they will live forever here on earth, the paradise earth originally intended for Adam and Eve.

We have no reason to fear what lies ahead. The two great questions are; ‘will we be there and how many people can we help to be there?’ If we are going to be there, we must first survive “the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” (2 Pet. 3:7, NASB) This comes by way of the great tribulation and Armageddon. This takes place as “the Son of Man” and the elect who are in heaven, and all the angels with them separate us, “as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” – Matthew 25:31-46

IN SUMMARY

According to the Bible, the final judgment is the event in which God will judge all people for their actions and deeds, both good and bad, will be the one-thousand-year millennial reign of Jesus Christ. This judgment is described as beginning after the end of the destruction of the wicked at Armageddon and is often referred to as the “last judgment” or the “day of judgment.”

In the New Testament, Jesus speaks about the final judgment in several passages, including Matthew 25:31-46, where he describes the separation of the righteous and the wicked, with the righteous being rewarded with eternal life and the wicked being punished with eternal punishment [i.e., eternal destruction].

The Bible also describes the final judgment as a time when God will reveal the secrets of all hearts and when every person will be judged according to their deeds. In Romans 2:6, Paul writes, “God ‘will give to each person according to what he has done.’”

The Bible also teaches that the final judgment will be carried out by Jesus Christ, who is described as the “judge of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42). According to the Bible, Jesus will rule over the earth at the end of time to begin the thousand-year judgment of the righteous that survive Armageddon and the righteous and the unrighteous [unevangelized] who are resurrected and to bring an end to the present world.

Overall, the Bible teaches that the final judgment is a time of great importance when all people will be held accountable for their actions and when the righteous will be rewarded and the wicked punished. It is a time of great importance for all believers, and it is important to live a life that is pleasing to God, anticipating this day.

[1] Or presence (Gr parousia), which denotes both an “arrival” and a consequent “presence with.”

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