Satan’s Final Attempt and Defeat (verse 9)

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.”

Well, in verse 9, we see that “They went up on the breadth of the earth….” All of the world, it would seem, would be swallowed up by the empire of evil, and the vicious hatred of the Truth and of Christ will not rest as long as any souls, no matter how few, are true believers in Christ and His church. Therefore, the empire of evil will move to destroy utterly even the remnant of believers who are left, and that is the picture when the final Judgment falls. This picture that we have just described here is the picture when the final Judgment comes to pass.

Do you think that there any righteous who Satan has given up on? I don’t think there are. I think Satan is after every one of us, and he will be after every one of us as long as we live. Even when we reach the age when we can start to draw Social Security, Satan will still be after us. As I often point out to folks, he really isn’t concerned about the people of the world. He’s not concerned about those who make up the “Gog and the Magog,” because he already has them. He can concentrate his efforts upon the children of God. He can focus all of his time, all of his efforts, upon us. And so, he is active, even today, and in every age. We must be on guard, because as Peter says, he is as a roaring lion, going about seeking whom he may devour [1 Peter 5:8-9: “8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”]. The implication is there that it is the righteous, it is the children of God, whom Satan seeks.

Verse 9 also says that Satan and his evil forces surround “the camp of the saints and the beloved city.” This is not a reference whatever to some locale where Christians will be encamped as an army, barricading themselves against evil. It just means that the devil will finally take it in hand to utterly and finally destroy the last vestiges of Truth and righteousness upon the earth. John mentions “the beloved city.” This symbolizes the true church of God, certainly not a literal Jerusalem, but rather, the church of God, God’s people.

Fire from heaven will be God’s answer to that decision on the part of Satan [“And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.”]. Oh, man! That was some war, wasn’t it!?! That was really something to behold! I mean that went on for…about that long [John indicates a very small period of time with his index finger and thumb]. It was over quickly. God spoke and it was done. “God settled the full account with evil in a single fiery blast,” as one writer said.

Satan’s Eternal Torment (verse 10)

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.”

The devil “was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.” This “lake of fire and brimstone,” of course, is hell, of which Jesus so often spoke. Concerning hell, Jesus says that it prepared, NOT for man… Now, there’s something to think about. Hell was not prepared for man, but was prepared for Satan and his angels, Matthew 25:41 [“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels….”]. But, alas, men also shall suffer therein, even though God never intended that it should be so. In fact, God did everything that He could possibly do to see that it would NOT be so. What did God do? He sent Christ to die. Christ came and died and shed His blood to prevent man from going to this place, but people who choose to ignore this must assume full responsibility for their failure.

“And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” This, brethren, is the doctrine of “endless punishment,” a teaching that is visible, that is apparent throughout the New Testament. There are many these days who would suggest that the references to hell, that the references to punishment, are only temporary measures. For example, one doctrine would say that those who would be banished to such would experience oblivion, that the spirit would simply be obliterated, that they would no longer be alive in a spiritual sense, their spirit not being alive, and, thus, their punishment would be that they are just obliterated—they don’t get to enjoy anything. And there are those who would say that, “Well, yes, there is a place of torment. There is a place of punishment, but, once again, it’s only a temporary state, it’s only something that is temporarily experienced, and there will be a time of being reconciled,” and so on.

Well, that is not what John is saying here, and there’s really no way to make it say that. This teaching in Revelation is consistent with all other teaching in the New Testament.

One writer said about this, “Whether the fire is construed literally or figuratively, it is immaterial. The lesson taught is, intense and endless punishment. And no more impressive emblem could have been used.”

Well, back to Revelation, chapter 12, verse 1 and following, we witnessed the vision that John had—the appearance of the dragon, which we identified as Satan. Then we saw the appearance of the sea beast, what we described as a perverted earthly government, and then we saw the land beast, which we described as a perverted religion. Following that, there came successive judgments in which these three were destroyed in reverse order, that is, first the land beast, then the sea beast and now the dragon, or Satan. And thus, this brings to an end the period of the Christian age. All evil will ultimately fall before the Will of God.

I think that that is the message of Revelation, chapter 20, verses 7 through 10.