Justice is Served

But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, 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. (Revelation 19:20-20:3, NIV 1984)

My Musings – Whatever its location, God’s Word assures us that in the end mankind does not “devise some greater and more equitable system.”   The flesh cannot be saved by flesh.  In the face of defeat of God’s remaining tribulation saints by military forces from the east, south, and the north, the Lord Jesus Christ will return to defeat His enemies and deliver His people. The defeated enemies include:

The Two Beasts – The first to be defeated by Christ will be the anti-Christ and the false prophet. Since Satan’s henchmen are the leaders of the revolt, it is only right that they be captured and confined. They are cast into the lake of fire (see Revelation 20:10, 14–15), the final and permanent place of punishment for all who refuse to submit to Jesus Christ. The beast and false prophet are the first persons to be cast into hell and will be the sole occupants for 1,000 years. Satan will follow 1,000 years later (Revelation 20:10) and will be joined by those whose names are not recorded in the Book of Life (Revelation 20:15). 

Armies of the Kings of the Earth – The second group to be defeated by Christ are the armies of the kings of the earth. These warriors have assembled to fight against Him. “Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One,” (Psalm 2:1–2, NIV 1984). But their weapons prove futile. The battle turns out to be a slaughter and a feast for the scavenger birds.

Whereas the first half of Revelation 19 described the marriage supper of the Lamb, the last half describes the “supper of the great God.” For, “wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather,” (Matthew 24:28, NIV 1984). The word flesh occurs six times in this passage.

While John’s immediate reference is to the human body, eaten by the vultures, there is certainly a deeper meaning here. Man fails because he is of the flesh and relies on the flesh. The Bible has nothing good to say about fallen human nature. Recall the Lord’s words before the Flood: “My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh,” (Genesis 6:3, NIV 1984). In his Epistle, Peter states that “all flesh is as grass,” (1 Peter 1:24, NIV 1984) and must be judged. 

This is the account of the well-known battle of Armageddon, which was anticipated earlier (Revelation 14:14–20; 16:13–16). Just as it was when He created the heavens and the earth (the Lord said … and it was so), Jesus only needs to speak the Word, and “the sword of His mouth” will “strike down the nations.” Like the unsaved dead that preceded them, they will go to Sheol (Hebrew) also translated as Hades (Greek). 

Satan – The last to be defeated by Christ in this great battle is Satan. Christ will cast him into the Abyss, or bottomless pit. The “bottomless pit” spoken of in Revelation 20:1 is not the same as hell, Hades or Sheol. It is the “abyss” that we mentioned earlier (“the beast that comes up from the Abyss,” Revelation 11:7, NIV 1984). Satan is not cast into hell immediately, because God still has one more task for him to perform. Rather, Satan is confined in the bottomless pit for 1,000 years.

First, Satan was cast out of heaven (Revelation 12:9), and now he is banished from earth, unable to deceive the nations anymore.  Some Bible students feel that Satan was chained when Jesus died on the cross and arose from the dead to ascend into heaven. While it is true that Jesus won His decisive victory over Satan at the cross spelling his doom, the sentence against the devil has not yet been carried out. He is a defeated foe, but he is still free to attack God’s people and oppose God’s work (“[our] enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour,” (1 Peter 5:8, NIV 1984). Paul was sure that Satan was loose (Ephesians 6:10), and John agrees with him. We need only to look around us to know this as well.

My Advice – Do not be discouraged when you do look around and see “how great man’s wickedness on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart [is becoming] only evil all the time,” (Genesis 6:5, NIV 1984). Justice is coming.

Resources:

Hubbard, K. (2003). Armageddon. In C. Brand, C. Draper, A. England, S. Bond, E. R. Clendenen, & T. C. Butler (Eds.), Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (p. 115). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, pp. 618–619). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.