THIS WILL END WELL FOR US
Revelation 20:7-10 NKJV
7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
This is one of the prophecies in Revelation that I understand. I am not sure when it will happen, but I love the end result. Satan loses, God wins, and this is forever.
Satan has been bound with a chain and thrown into the bottomless pit for 1000 years. And when that thousand years is up he will be loosed for a little while. You would think Satan would learn something being imprisoned for such a long time, but no. When he is freed, he goes out again to deceive the nations.
This gives us some insight into Satan. His main work is deception. He is so deceived himself that he believes he can fight against God and win. So when he is loosed once again, he goes out to deceive the nations. I am sure we are not going to be one of those who are deceived. By the time all these things take place, we will have been with the Lord.
So, as Satan gathers the nations to fight against the saints of God, he surrounds them in the beloved city, which would be Jerusalem. And I love what happens next. Even though the saints of God are surrounded, God steps in and incinerates those with Satan with fire out of heaven. I hope I can see that happen.
Then Satan will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone and will be tormented forever and ever. That sounds great. I have zero sympathy for the devil and all the deception and destruction he has worked on mankind for thousands of years. But he will get what is coming to him, and it will keep on coming forever and ever.
APPLICATION
You may wonder how these verses can be applied to our life. They seem so far off and so distant that they bear no relevance to life in 2023. But they are a reminder of a couple of important things.
Our life down here on earth is brief. These verses speak of 1000 years as if it were nothing. And to the eternal God who transcends time, they are nothing. We are bound by time, but God is not. And one day, time will have no hold on us. Until that day, we are to make the most of the time. The scriptures talk of redeeming the time because the days are evil. Redeeming the time is making the most of the time we have down here.
The second thing we can apply to our life is that the source of all the agony, torment, and deception has been defeated by Jesus and, in the end, will suffer total defeat forever and ever. You may feel as if you are defeated by life or by certain situations that seem to constantly win. But in the end, you will be the one standing when Satan is cast in the lake of fire. You will be with God forever and ever, and Satan will be tormented forever and ever. At the end of the age, this will turn out well for us. In the end, God wins, Jesus is King, and we will rule with Him.