Satan is Over


Revelation 20:7-10
7And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The final battle, the great tribulation, still stands before us. Apparently Satan will be released from the bonds that currently hold him. Any movement he makes right now is still held in check by the all-powerful authority of God the Father. There will come a time when those bonds are released and Satan’s reign of terror against the Church will increase. While this time will be brief, it will be terrible. The reference to God and Magog is somewhat obscure. The most likely reference is to Ezekiel 38 & 39 where people of God are attacked ruthlessly by Gog from Magog. Just before their complete destruction, God intervenes and they are spared. Finally, Gog (Satan) is totally destroyed by fire.

I have to confess I look at God and wonder why He will allow such thing to happen in the end. Why not just end it? But the Scriptures are filled with stories of God allowing terrible things to happen so that He can be glorified. The most obvious of these stories is Job who is tortured by Satan at God’s suggestion! Job remains steadfast in his faith and because of that God is glorified. Also we find the story in John 9 about the man born blind. Jesus even explains to the disciples that this happened so that God might be glorified. This was the story that God led me to when I had cancer. If God could be glorified by my cancer, then so be it. Seemed like a good enough reason to me.

Ultimately we simply must hold onto the fact that even in this last most hideous attack by Satan, he will not win. It may even look like he’s winning for a time; but he will not. Our faith must hold out in the face of struggle for when our faith remains strong, God is glorified and that is the perfect outcome.

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