Rev 20 Part III

THE

Revelation

of Jesus Christ
Chapter 20
part III
(VS7-10)


7When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 8and 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 seashore.(NASB)

Satan Freed
John moves us from the upcoming current events of his time to the far distant future at the closing of the millennial age. No matter what the millennium 'is' in its form and essence, the events stated here take place after the 1000 years. God's sovereignty is once again stressed as He releases Satan to perform his evil assembling. God's releasing is not arbitrary or capricious; rather it’s intentional and deliberate. The picture of Satan being in a prison brings much confusion to the nature of his incarceration. The text clearly indicates the ceasing of specific actions as the strong man is bound. Upon his release, he begins the same activity he was prohibited from carrying out during his imprisonment. The release from prison and the exercised act of deceiving the nations are integrated. One action prevented the other. Previously in redemptive history, mankind outside of God’s revealed covenant was ignorant of God and doomed in the grasp of the Dragon and his deceptions. The millennial incarceration opens up the nations to the influence of the Holy Spirit as He calls for Himself a people from every tribe, nation and tongue. Satan's prison was NOT having the ability to deceive the nations. This ability was taken from him as sovereignly as it is given back to him. God releases him to deceive the nations once again. The completed number of the elect has been reached. All the sheep have herd the voice of the Shepard and responded. The myriads upon myriads have dinned at the table of the Lamb and are in full covenant with their sovereign Lord. Satan’s gathering takes place in the four corners of the Earth, a place already combed over by the Spirit of God as He drew for Himself a people ransomed by the slain Messiah.

(Matthew 24:28)

Gog and Magog

There is much written about John's Gog and Magog and speculation as to who they are. John is again borrowing from the Old Testament and its imagery to portray an event. This is not the same battle that Ezekiel spoke of where the enemies of God are defeated with bows, arrows and the like. John is using a common phrase derived from Ezekiel known to his readers. The word nations lean to a corporate snap shot of those outside God's elect. The phrase Gog and Magog intensifies the phrase to a dreaded, fearful, powerful enemy of God.
The rabbinical writings used the names Gog and Magog to describe their foes, all and anyone that opposed those who were servants of the Lord. It would be similar to our modern use of the term 'terrorist'.

Concerning Gog and Magog, W. Barclay writes:

.....here we come on a picture which is etched itself deeply, if mysteriously, on Jewish thought, the picture of Gog and Magog. We find it first in Ezekiel 38 and 39. There Gog of the Land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and of Tubal, is to launch the great attack upon Israel and is to be in the end utterly destroyed. It may be that originally Gog was connected with the Scythians whose invasions all men feared. As time went on, in Jewish thought Gog and Magog came to stand for everything that is against God. The rabbis taught that Gog and Magog would assemble themselves and their forces against Jerusalem, and would fall by the hand of Messiah.

John is drawing upon existing motifs all ready established in Jewish and Biblical literature. Terms that express a fearful enemy that is opposed to all things good. Gog is grammatically the same as the nations Satan has deceived. The words are interchangeable. The deep emotional meaning of a fierce enemy of God and His people could not be provoked by the word nations alone. They stand in apposition to each other, describing the direct brash challenge against the Lord.

A couple points to think about for those who see the battle of Ezekiel 38 and 39 as one and the same as our text here in Revelation 20.

1) Gog in Ezekiel is completely destroyed before the Kingdom age. Revelation's Gog is done away with after the 1000 years. All sorts of textual juggling is needed here to explain this simple observation. Do we reverse the sequence in Ezekiel or in Revelation? Is Gog revived for another complete annihilation?

2) Gog’s war machines in Ezekiel are swords, bows, arrows and clubs made from wood that serve as fuel for 7 years. Following John’s battle in Revelation the Book of life is read and all mankind, living and dead are judged. The consummation of Kingdom is completed. (I am taking the liberty here and assuming there will be no need for 7yrs of fuel)

3) Many modern day prophecy gurus claim Ezekiel’s battle is unfolding before the 20th century church and proclaim the weapons of Ezekiel’s day culminate in modern weaponry. Thomas Ice writes….”Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Ezekiel spoke in a language that the people of his day could understand. If he had spoken of MIG-29s, laser-fired missiles, tanks, and assault rifles, this text would have been nonsensical to everyone until the 20th century.”[1] Hitchcock adds………”This modernizing of the weapons is not spiritualizing the text but rather understanding God’s Word in its historical context in light of its original audience.”[2]
Ezekiel writes to an audience that can relate and understand the text, yet the true meaning is disguised from those whom it is intended? The battle makes sense to original readers, yet it does not to the 20th century? The Holy Spirit spoke in a language understandable to all save for the ones it speaks of? Nonsensical indeed! To Ice and Hitchcock, God indeed works in mysterious ways, literally. Revelation lists no specific weapons, only that they gather to make war and are defeated quickly without a raging battle.

4) John's Gog comes from the four corners of the Earth, not a single geographic location (modern day Russia).

These points should emphasize that John’s Gog is not Ezekiel’s Gog specifically, and any literal use of Ezekiel 38 and 39 to embellish Revelation 20 is merely a modern day misuse of an ancient prophecy.


9And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. (NASB)

The Beloved City
We are faced now with determining whether or not this is a literal reference to Jerusalem.

Literal
1) An ad90 authorship requires this prophecy to be a rebuilt Jerusalem, which it now is. The present Jerusalem stands mostly in unbelief, but it does stand and is a large part in the premillennial-dispensational system.

2) The beloved city as a phrase is no where else used in Scripture, but is close to several other affectionate descriptions of Judaism’s Holy city in the Bible. It is however used frequently in extrabiblical literature.

Figurative
1) The destruction of Jerusalem in chapter 19 is God’s judgment upon a covenant breaking people who rejected God as their King and Lord. The spiritual dwelling place of God is now in the hearts of His people and requires no more a physical place to reside as Covenant Lord. Outside the dispensational-premillennial understanding of John’s Revelation of Christ; there know where exists any evidence of the Jerusalem temple regaining its centrality to the unwinding of Redemptive History. In fact, the Scriptures speak loudly to the contrary.

2) Can literally the number of both the Saints and the Satanic hordes actually fit into the area described in the Dispensational-Premillennial systems? The text speaks of the ‘number of them is like the sands of the seashore’ (vs8), and the hordes being summoned from the four corners of the Earth. The literal picture here means basically a whole bunch of folks! Will the land around Israel hold such a group?

3) The phrase ‘the camp of the saints’ used here is parallel to the beloved city. Both are describing the same thing in different terms that are equally important and in fact, interchangeable. They both refer to God’s covenant people in unique stages throughout Redemptive History. The camp of the saints of course would reflect God’s people post Egyptian bondage in route through the wilderness. One might ask how would this fit into dispensational-premillennialism? Do we now need a rebuilt ‘Camp of the Saints’ as well? The beloved city describes Gods people as settled in the land w/ Jerusalem (Temple) as its center. The common factor between the two terms is those who are in covenant with the covenant Lord.

God’s people are being described by John with endearing terms that have been used throughout Redemptive History. The ‘Camp of the Saints’ and the ‘Beloved City’ are simply; ‘believers’. They are the object of Satan’s attack, no matter where they are.


Fire from Heaven
The consummation is in full swing, Christ returns to execute judgment on all outside the camp. The sentence of God's wrath falls upon the unregenerate that are united against the church. The unregenerate hordes prepare to wage war on the church by surrounding her but are consumed as they gather. They prepare for battle and surround the Saints, only to be devoured by fire. No chest deep bloody battle as we had in the judgment of the Harlot in chapter 19. The only death and destruction that happens here comes from heaven as the Messiah-Warrior ends the revolt before it takes shape and begins to judge all mankind.

10And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (NASB)

The rebellion of Satan is squelched. He is not bound and imprisoned in the Abyss, only to be released after a set time. He is not to roam the Heavens nor the Earth freely or under restriction. He is sentenced to the Lake of Fire, forever and ever. God’s Kingdom is rid if its arch nemesis and will now enjoy itself in full communion with its Sovereign Lord of the Covenant.

[1] Mark Hitchcock & Thomas Ice, The Truth Behind Left Behind: A Biblical view of the End Times (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Press, 2004), p47.
[2] Mark Hitchcock, Iran: The Coming Crisis-Radical Islam, Oil, and the Nuclear Threat (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Press, 2006) pp186,187