The Problem of Revelation 20:7-8

I was given a great biblical question for our Now That’s a Good Question series. The question is an interpretive one about a prophetic passage of Scripture in the book of Revelation. The wider context reads,

⁷ When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison ⁸ and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth -- Gog and Magog -- and to gather them for battle. In number, they are like the sand on the seashore. ⁹ They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. ¹⁰ And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Rev. 20:7-10)

The question focuses on verses 7-8 of this text, and is this, Revelation 20:7 says that when the thousand years is over, Satan will be released from his prison. If he will be in prison, why would he be released? What a great question! Let me restate it from a different angle. If God is going to put Satan, the rebel, the dragon, the tempter and accuser of the believers in prison for 1,000 years while Jesus personally, literally, and physically reigns over all the earth’s nations from Jerusalem, what sense does it make to release him only to see him lead a rebellion against King Jesus? It makes no human sense for God to do this. From our finite human perspective, it makes no sense to spoil the Millennial Kingdom of Christ in such a way. Why not send Satan to Hell and get it over with?

I think my restatement captures the interpretive frustration this questioner is evidencing. This really is an interpretive issue, and links directly to one’s hermeneutic (method of biblical interpretation). I believe a dispensational hermeneutic best answers the question and provides a consistent interpretation of the passage, so that’s the line of interpretive reasoning I will follow in providing an answer.

Defining Dispensational Hermeneutics

Dispensational hermeneutics has been defined as, “an approach to understanding the Bible in terms of the unfolding revelation of God that results in different stewardships of responsibility on the part of man.”[1] (Emphasis mine - this last phrase is crucial to our answer).

Those who interpret Scripture along classic dispensational lines believe God has revealed Himself and His purpose to mankind in certain distinguishable economies. These economies are called such because they are less about periods of time in human history than they are periods in which God has given new revelation about Himself and His purpose and given mankind a new responsibility in relation to that revelation. These economies are distinguishable in that there is something sufficiently new about each economy that was not present in the previous economy to differentiate them. Each of these economies are part of a sum-total we call God’s purpose. God has a purpose, an end-game planned for human history and each of these economies, with the new progressive revelation they bring, serves to accomplish God’s purpose. Ultimately, Scripture says that God’s purpose is His own self-glorification (Rom. 11:36), so they are less about humanity and more about God and his ultimate purpose.

Each of these economies, or dispensations, contains new, progressive revelation from God, a new method for relating to God, and a failure on mankind’s part which demonstrates our collective inability to function independently of God and move them to a place of faithful trust of Him as He works out His plan for humanity.

Let me give you a couple of examples. Under the dispensation / economy of innocence, Adam and Eve were given a certain amount of revelation and stewardship expectations from God. Put succinctly, have children, tend the garden, and don’t eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Within this last piece of revelation, the test is seen. They failed that test and plunged mankind into sin and the effects God’s curse on the universe. Genesis 3:14-19 marks a very clear movement from the dispensation / economy of innocence to conscience. God gave new revelation which marks this dispensation / economy; namely the promise of Genesis 3:15. Now, mankind was expected to respond to God through the prompting of the Holy Spirit in his conscience and bring an acceptable blood sacrifice (cf. Gen. 4:4-5); believing the promise of Genesis 3:15.

Another example exists between the dispensation of Law and grace. Under the economy of Law, Israel was responsible to keep the whole Law and act as the priests of the world; the Gentile world relating to God through Israel as His mediatorial people (Lev. 18:5a; Gal. 3:10; James 2:10; Ex. 19:6). Israel’s failure is continually seen in their trying to establish their own righteousness and not submitting to the righteousness of God (Rom. 10:1-3). The climactic failure under Law was the rejection of the Messiah in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. However, after the inauguration of the Church with the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, a new dispensation / economy began; the economy of grace. God’s new revelation consisted of the new provisions and injunctions that resulted from the life and death of Jesus Christ; including: how to approach God via the “new and living way” (Heb. 10:20), the New Testament Church as the “new man” (Eph. 2:15), and all Church truth. Mankind is now responsible to relate to God by receiving by faith the gift of righteousness offered to all (Acts 16:31), becoming aligned with a local, New Testament church (Acts 2:41), and propagating the Gospel around the world (Matt. 28:18-20). The failure in this economy is seen in individuals, but especially in the great apostasy which grows and enlarges toward the end of the church age, and which culminates in the appearance and universal acceptance of the Man of Sin after the rapture of the church (2 Thess. 2:3).

From these examples, we see that each of these economies / dispensations is a moving of God toward His ultimate, self-glorifying purpose of the redemption of creation from the curse on sin. This dispensational motif will help us answer the question above.

The Answer to Revelation 20:7-8

In order to answer the question properly, we need to put it in context of the overall flow of Scripture in which it is found. Jesus Christ has returned at the time appointed by the Father and raptured the Church – all those who were saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone from the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) forward historically. After the Church’s rapture, the Man of Lawlessness is revealed (2 Thess. 2:3) and the Tribulation period begins. This Man of Lawlessness, or Antichrist, dupes the world into accepting a global governmental system with himself as its head and makes a peace treaty with Israel; establishing peace in the Middle East. Three and one-half years into the Tribulation period, the Antichrist breaks his treaty with Israel and seats himself on David’s throne; declaring himself to be Messiah. A series of great tribulations, or judgments, from God rain down on mankind. This tribulation period culminates with the Battle of Armageddon, the final return of Christ and the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom – the literal, personal 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ on earth.

It is the inauguration of the Millennial Kingdom which constitutes the seventh, and final, dispensation / economy of the outworking of God’s plan for the redemption of creation. With the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom, humanity closes the dispensation / economy of grace. The new revelation given of this dispensation consists of the new light that comes with the direct rule and reign of Christ (Isa. 2:3; Joel 2:28; Jer. 31:31-34). Man will be responsible to obey the King and receive the blessings of the New Covenant. These responsibilities are principally for those in their natural, unglorified bodies (see below). Resurrected saints who participate in the Millennium will then be glorified and their sanctification will be complete and final.

Before moving forward, it is helpful to understand a few aspects of the Kingdom. The Millennial Kingdom will be an unprecedented time of global fertility, peace, and safety with King Jesus at the helm (Isa. 2:3; Joel 2:28; Jer. 31:31-34). Scripture does not give indication that every living person on the planet will die at the Battle of Armageddon. There will be a host of people on earth who survive Armageddon. It is these survivors who will comprise a major component of the Kingdom’s inhabitants. The Kingdom’s population can be divided as follows.

• Those of Israel who recognize and submit to Jesus as Messiah will survive the Battle of Armageddon and enter alive into the Kingdom; inheriting the promises given to their historical forefathers (Isa. 4:3; Joel 2:32; Rom. 11:1-10, 26-27).
• Those Gentiles who come to Christ for salvation in the Tribulation will enter the Kingdom in their natural bodies; having survived Armageddon (Matt. 25:31-46).
• Those who were saved from Pentecost until the Rapture will return with Christ when He comes to establish the Kingdom. Those who were saved during the Tribulation, but died for the faith, will be resurrected to sit alongside the rest of the Church saints to rule by Jesus’ side as the fully sanctified Bride of Christ (Rev. 20:4-6).

The saved individuals who survive Armageddon will, in their natural bodies, repopulate the earth in this Kingdom period of great global fertility. However, this does not mean that those born to them will automatically be redeemed. Rather, they will, as all human beings are now, be born with the sin nature they inherited from Adam. This will necessitate personal faith and submission on their part to King Jesus as their Lord and Savior so that they might be redeemed spiritually in this Kingdom economy.

This is where Revelation 20:7-8 and Satan’s loosing comes into play. Remember, every dispensation / economy in the outworking of God’s plan for the full redemption of creation comes with new revelation, new expectations, and a test-failure. The new revelation of the Kingdom economy / dispensation centers on the revelation of the King. Binding Satan goes hand-in-hand with the promise of unprecedented global fertility. By binding Satan, the great deceiver and liar to mankind, Jesus is removing a major obstacle to saving faith. Satan and his minions will not be free to deceive and entice men away from the Gospel as they do now (Luke 8:5-15; 2 Thess. 2:8-12).

Loosing Satan at the end of the Millennial Kingdom comprises the test/failure phase of the dispensation / economy. The passage states God’s purpose in releasing Satan from his 1,000-year incarceration, “…to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth…and to gather them for battle” (Rev. 20:8).

Two questions arise here. First, how could Satan deceive anyone who is living in the Millennial Kingdom and entice them to go to war against King Jesus? Remember, no one born during the Kingdom period is automatically redeemed. Each natural-born individual in the Kingdom must exhibit personal faith in Jesus as King and Savior to be redeemed. It’s hard to imagine, but not even the pristine, nearly perfect global conditions will offset the stubborn sinfulness of the human heart. By virtue of the statement at the end of verse 8, “In number they are like the sand on the seashore” (Rev. 20:8) indicates that those who do not believe will be great in number.

What purpose does Satan’s deception serve in God’s plan? Remember, untested faith is no faith at all. Every dispensation / economy has required that mankind have faith in God and has seen God test that faith, only to see humanity fail. The binding of Satan, the removal of the external sources of temptation, and the bountiful provisions of the Kingdom made it easy for almost everyone to submit to Jesus’ rule in the Kingdom, but did not prove the validity of their faith. Therefore, God releases Satan to do what he does best – deceive unbelievers away from Christ.

It is this brief period of deception and the human response by the myriad of unbelievers living in the Kingdom which comprises this dispensation’s / economy’s test. Satan’s deception reveals that mankind’s unregenerate heart cannot be changed by external circumstances alone, but only by true repentant faith. It proves, once and for all, that God’s assessment of the human condition after the Fall was true, that His righteousness in cursing mankind because of sin is unimpeachable, that mankind’s depravity is total and systemic, and that God’s grace and love in Christ is sufficient.

This final act of Satan and rebellion by this unredeemed segment of the Kingdom population become the capstone of God’s dispensational outworking of His plan to redeem creation.

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[1] Rolland McCune, A Systematic Theology of Biblical Christianity: Vol. 1, (Allen Park, MI: Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary, 2008), pp. 106-107.