Revelations - Satan Loosed

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.
Revelation 20:7-10

Before we examine other Scriptures that go with this, I need to break down a little bit of what is happening here. Satan is loosed and goes out to deceive the nations. This is a tower of Babel incident all over again. The nations desired to make a monument that would reach up to heaven. God had not ordered them to do so. He told them to disperse and fill the earth. They decided in their own wisdom that it would be better to strive against God and see if they could come up to His level. Thus starts all of the national pride and egocentrism of politics. From this time forward many nations (if not almost all nations) have a ruler or government that think they are god.

John tells us that this final battle is the battle of Gog and Magog. These are Hebrew words. The word gog comes from the root of a false roof – or a human substitute – for the tabernacle used in the Feast of Tabernacles. If you read Zechariah 14, you will find that after the Antichrist is destroyed, the Feast of Tabernacles is mentioned. This is a fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles is supposed to be symbolic of God “tenting” or “tabernacling” with us.

So Gog is a false tent. It is a false representation of the Feast of Tabernacles. The mem letter in Hebrew prefixes nouns to mean “from.” So, Gog and Magog are interpreted, “false tabernacle and from a false tabernacle.” The implications here are of old. Satan has said in his heart:

¹³I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Isaiah 14:13-14

It doesn’t stop there. Hebrew is an ancient language. It used to be written in pictographs. Each letter is a picture that represents something. The gimmel is the picture of a foot or heel. The waw is a picture of a nail or tent peg. Put together, the pictographs would mean, “to strike the heel.” This is an obvious reference to Genesis 3.

In Genesis 3, the curse given to the serpent is that some seed of the woman was going to crush his head, but he would bruise (or strike) his heel. Another way that this could be interpreted in Hebrew would be that the seed of the woman will strike first, but you will strike last. Hebrew is poetic. The verb used to crush and to bruise are the same word. It means to snap at. The Hebrew word for head figuratively means “first,” and the word for heel figuratively means “last.” It comes from the idea of birth. You are birthed head first, and your heel comes out last.

Thus, if we translated the prophecy in Genesis 3:15 as, “He will snap at you first, but you will snap at him last,” we can see how this relates to Gog and Magog. Jesus’ return was the end of the party. Satan’s kingdom and rule is over. But when he was loosed, he still went to strike at (or snap at) Jesus.

Another thing about this text that I find intriguing is that Satan is completely unrepentant. I think that is the point. God wants to reveal to all that even after given 1000 years to think about his actions, the first thing that he does is plot his revenge. Satan has been corrupted to the absolute core. There is nothing unrighteous about God casting him into the lake of fire. God is just.

What are some other Scriptures that speak of Gog and Magog?

The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.

² Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.

³ And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

⁴ In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.

⁵ And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their God.

⁶ In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.

⁷ The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah.

⁸ In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.

⁹ And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Zechariah 12:1-9

One thing that I note from this passage is that it seems like the fire from heaven mentioned in Revelation 20 comes from the people of God! We know that the mountain of the Lord will be lifted up, and all the other mountains will be brought low. Zion is the highest place in the world at this moment. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem are above the armies coming against it. Maybe the fire isn’t coming from heaven. Maybe it is coming from the saints. I don’t know that this is true, and I wouldn’t be dogmatic about it, but it sure does preach good!

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

² Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

³ And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

⁴ And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:

⁵ Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:

⁶ Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.

⁷ Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

⁸ After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.

⁹ Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.
Ezekiel 38:1-9

Note how in this last verse God mentions that numerous people will ascend and come like a storm. Revelation 20:8 tells us that they are as numerous as the sea shore. Ezekiel 38:9 says they are like a cloud that covers the land. That is a lot of people! Ezekiel continues:

¹⁰ Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:

¹¹ And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,

¹² To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

¹³ Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
Ezekiel 38:10-13

Is it really for the love of money that Satan is able to gather the people? We know that Satan has other motives than heavenly pavement. But the nations are still inclined to do wickedly for the sake of gold?

¹⁴ Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?

¹⁵ And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:

¹⁶ And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
Ezekiel 38:14-16

Do you note how God is still reaching out a hand of mercy to the heathen? His name shall be sanctified in their eyes. I haven’t touched on this yet, so maybe now is a good time. It says in Daniel 7:12 that the other 3 beasts (not the antichrist kingdom) were stripped of their power for a time. They were allowed to remain. There are a lot of prophecies about other nations dwelling during the time of the Millennial Kingdom. These are pagan nations. Is it possible that God allows them for this time so that they might see His glory and be converted? And thus the option is still there for sin. However, when Satan is destroyed and the people that would come against the Lord and His Anointed are cast into the fire with him, there will be no sin left to purge. All others will glorify the Lord and be made clean.

¹⁷ Thus saith the Lord God; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?

¹⁸ And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face.

¹⁹ For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;

²⁰ So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

²¹ And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man's sword shall be against his brother.

²² And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

²³ Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Ezekiel 38:17-23

This continues through Ezekiel 39, and by the verses mentioned there, I can assume that Gog and Magog are symbols. I mentioned this earlier. Gog and Magog are not necessarily literal people. They are symbols of the king that leads the armies against Jerusalem and the kingdom of darkness. In one case that is the Antichrist (as spoken of through Ezekiel), and in the other case that is Satan himself. Ultimately, Satan is the ruler and authority over the nations. So the Antichrist is a perfect representation of Satan. This is why we find what seem to be contradictions. They aren’t contradictions.