Revelation 20:7-10
The Final Defeat of Satan
If the evil in men’s hearts is unfathomable (Jeremiah 17:9), how evil must be the arch-deceiver! We might be surprised that Satan is granted a parole and evil allowed one last hurrah but such lies in the mysterious will of God.
So we read in this short passage that after the millennial reign on earth of our Lord and his saints—which for all we know might last aeons, the purpose being to magnify our Lord’s regal office and to teach men what a kingdom of righteousness should look like—that even this most blessed earthly kingdom must give way before the heavenly. And how should this happen except some evil thing threaten to undo it? And what better way to do this than the old fashioned way we already know? We have said before, Satan, though wily, is terribly inept in the area if creativity. He only knows to deceive, so upon his release from the pit he goes about doing that which he only knows to do. Similarly, men being dullards when it comes to Satan’s evil schemes and whose vanity is easily enticed by baubles and charms, naturally follow in the footsteps to which they were so accustomed before that reign of justice and join themselves to Satan’s league. We might imagine some time would elapse before all the nations would execute their plan to march on the “camp of the saints,” but the result is undeterred: No parley, no bargains and no battles—God simply sends fire down from heaven to consume them all at once. The wretch, Satan, is cast into the lake of fire to join his comrades, the beast and false prophet, and there “they are tormented day and night forever and ever,” just as their deeds deserve.
Why would someone rebel when he lives in such a wonderful world, and against the King of kings and Lord of lords at that! It boggles the mind but we must remember that sin and evil make no sense but at their very root are irrational. We know within our very selves how sinful we can be, how taken with our own passions whatever they be, how demanding we are even to our own hurt—we who are created in God’s very image! We can’t understand sin and evil in and of itself, but we do understand that it abides in us, and so likewise understand why others do the evil they do—which is to say, we know sin and evil from the inside—and we shudder.
But the promise of heaven is that there our souls will be completely healed. We shall be unable to die because we shall be unable to sin, and we shall be unable to sin because we shall be unable to die. We shall finally be the people we were created to be. We will have come through—by grace alone.
