The Destiny of the Bride of Christ - Part 17
“When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison”—Revelation 20:7 (NASB)
After the glorious, 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ and His Bride on earth, Satan will be released from the bottomless pit where he had been imprisoned.
But why? Why, after allowing people to experience the paradise of Jesus’ reign on earth, would God allow Satan to roam free again?
We are told in Revelation 20:3 that Satan was cast into the bottomless pit **“to keep him from deceiving the nations **anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.” (NIV)
As long as Satan is locked up, he cannot deceive people into sinning against God as he has done since the beginning of time in the Garden of Eden. During the millennial reign of Christ, people will be born on earth who have the experience of living in a paradise free from Satan’s deceptions. They will have never been tempted by the devil as Jesus was in the wilderness, and like all of us have been tempted during our lifetimes.
But God is a just and righteous God. He will never force anyone to obey Him. He has given each of us free will to choose our paths in life. Everyone will be allowed to choose whom they will serve.
Because of this necessity to allow every person to choose whom they will serve, God will allow Satan to be released for a short season so that Satan can present people with the choice to sin and to rebel against God, just as he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Every person who was born free of Satan’s influences during the 1,000-year reign of Christ will experience the devil’s temptations, just as Eve did, and just as Jesus did in the wilderness after His baptism. Every person will be allowed the freedom to choose whom they will serve.
The Last Great Deception
After Satan is released, he will immediately return to his old ways of attempting to deceive people into disobeying and rebelling against the Lord.
“And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison (the abyss), and will come out to deceive and mislead the nations which are in the four corners of the earth”—Revelation 20:7-8 (AMP)
When he is released, he knows that he has a very short time left, because he is familiar with what is written about him in the Scriptures. Knowing that his time is short, he will risk everything on one last attempt to rally the nations of the world to rebel against God and His authority as King of Kings.
Remembering the prophecy of Genesis 3:15, Satan will put all of his efforts into one final attack in an attempt to destroy the godly seed of Overcomers (embodied in the Bride of Christ) who have crushed Satan’s head of authority, as described in Revelation 12:
“for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”—Revelation 12:10-11 (KJV)
Satan will put the focus of his efforts into one great final push to rally the nations of the world to rise up against God’s authority in one last worldwide rebellion. Deceiving world leaders, he will gather them together, giving them one mind, as best he can, to overthrow the seat of God’s authority on earth in Jerusalem.
Satan will cause the nations of the world to surround Jerusalem in overwhelming numbers. Things will most likely seem very dark as hordes of rebels surround Jerusalem and the people of God. From all appearances, it may seem as if all is lost. It may appear that nothing on earth will be able to stop these overwhelming hordes of people who are coming to crush and annihilate God’s people and any remnant of His authority on earth.
“And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison (the abyss), and will come out to deceive and mislead the nations which are in the four corners of the earth—[including] Gog and Magog—to gather them together for the war; their number is like the sand of the seashore. And they swarmed up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints (God’s people) and the beloved city [Jerusalem]”—Revelation 20:7-9 (AMP)
And then, just when things appear to be as dark as they can be, God will intervene and make short work of this rebellion to end all rebellions.
“But fire from heaven came down on the attacking armies and consumed them.”—Revelation 20:9 (NLT)
Then, without fanfare or ceremony, the devil—the Father of Lies who has deceived people since the beginning of life on earth; the thief who came to steal, kill, and destroy the lives of countless people—will be summarily tossed into the Lake of Fire where he will be justly punished for all of his wrongs, forever.
“And the devil who had deceived them was hurled into the lake of fire and burning brimstone (sulfur), where the beast (Antichrist) and false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night, forever and ever.”—Revelation 20:10 (AMP)
Game over.
“You had the full measure of perfection and the finishing touch [of completeness], Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
“You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz, and the diamond; The beryl, the onyx, and the jasper; The lapis lazuli, the turquoise, and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and your sockets, Was in you. They were prepared On the day that you were created.
“You were the anointed cherub who covers and protects, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire [sparkling jewels].
“You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness and evil were found in you.
“Through the abundance of your commerce You were internally filled with lawlessness and violence, And you sinned; Therefore I have cast you out as a profane and unholy thing From the mountain of God. And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire.
“Your heart was proud and arrogant because of your beauty; You destroyed your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I lay you before kings, That they might look at you.
“You profaned your sanctuaries By the great quantity of your sins and the enormity of your guilt, By the unrighteousness of your trade. Therefore I have brought forth a fire from your midst; It has consumed you, And I have reduced you to ashes on the earth In the sight of all who look at you.
“All the peoples (nations) who knew you Are appalled at you; You have come to a horrible and terrifying end And will forever cease to be.” —Ezekiel 28:12-19 (AMP)
