Satan has had a long, a really long career in fighting against God and His people. From the information we read about in Isaiah, we know that Satan, aka Lucifer, has always had aspirations of being like God. He was a created being, but was lifted up with pride seeking to be worshipped. The five “I wills” of Isaiah 14:12-15 reveal his desires. That passage also reveals his ending. Now, his career has been extremely successful and don’t let anyone tell you different. But being successful is not always a positive thing. Lenin and Stalin were “successful” in Russia with their communism and 40 million people died, soldiers and civilians, under their demonic political system. Mao was very “successful” in communist China killing over 65 million of his own people through starvation. His “Great Leap Forward” was an overwhelming success.

The devil has been successful to a degree from the time of the Garden of Eden. Perhaps his main tool in his well-supplied toolbox is deception. John 8:44 declares that he was a “murderer from the beginning” and the “father of lies.” He used deception on Eve, lying to her, and has been successful in deceiving people and nations since. He promises glory and greatness only to deliver shame and suffering, yet millions succumb to his deceptions constantly. The great Baptist preacher of the 20th century R.G. Lee would often say, “All the devil’s apples have worms, and all the devil’s diamonds are glass.”

The verses for us to consider today are found in Revelation 20:1-3. The passage begins with an unnamed angel that is dispatched from heaven. I am sure you know some basic facts about angels the Bible teaches us. Let me mention a couple because of our focus today. First, they are created beings. God made them and they were not always eternal as God is. Second, when these beings were created, God placed them in various ranks like the military. Some angels are more powerful than others. Third, only three angels are mentioned by name in the Bible. Those three are Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer (Satan). But just because they are named doesn’t necessarily mean they are the most powerful. Now Michael is the protecting angel of Israel and Gabriel will blow his trumpet, but there is an unnamed angel that is able to lay hold on Lucifer and bind him with a huge chain. That binding with this chain is something even Michael, who is an archangel and actually fought with Lucifer over the body of Moses, could not do. But this unnamed angel will have the strength to subdue him. Revelation 20:1-2 tells us about this wonderful event. Satan down through the centuries hated God and His plan and has always sought to thwart and hinder God’s purposes. He tired killing babies in Egypt, killing Jews in Persia (read Esther), killing more boy babies in Bethlehem, tempting Jesus in the wilderness, even in our times seeking to crush the church in its mission,  seeking to destroy the people of Israel through a constant barrage of attacks such as October 7th, 2023, and grandmothers being locked up for praying outside abortion clinics or in The nation’s capital.

Revelation 20:3 we are told that this powerful unnamed angel, after binding Satan, will place him in the bottomless pit. As a side note, I have heard preachers who claimed to have bound Satan and his ability to destroy the work of the Lord. They are delusional. If they have bound him, the chain he is shackled with must be a really long one. Back in our current verse there is a seal placed on him that he can’t break, and he will be incarcerated for 1000 years. That period is called the Millennial Reign of Christ. The word millennial means one thousand. Once this first sentence is fulfilled, he will be loosed for a short time. He will deceive the nations once again. He grabs his favorite tool, deception, and begins working on the nations again. The question I have been asked on numerous occasions is, “Why does God allow him a short release?” Let me mention three possibilities.

  1. To show the world how wonderful things are with Jesus in charge. There will be peace and prosperity unlike any at any time in the history of the world. Isaiah 11:6-9 describes this beautiful time when the animal kingdom will be peaceful with each other instead of enemies. Little kids will play and when around snake holes they won’t be bitten. The world will have a knowledge of the Lord. A thousand years of greatness and peace.
  2. To show Satan’s heart still hasn’t changed. After a millennial in jail, he still has his sights set on God’s throne and trying to destroy God’s plan. Revelation 20:8 gives us this little insight. Perhaps while residing in the bottomless pit for this long length of time, he thinks “finally the details are worked, and I have a plan that will work.” Perhaps his favorite tool, deception, is now working on Satan himself. Self-deception, whether in us or others, is in my opinion the worst of the deceptions.
  3. To show unsaved people still need to be saved. An amazing occurrence happens in this chapter after Satan’s release for a short time. Satan goes out to deceive and the amazing thing is, people will follow him after 1000 years of nothing but good and great things. Many choose to follow the lies being told instead of following the knowledge of the Lord Isaiah told us about in Isaiah 11.

His career is over in Revelation 20:10. He is “cast,” literally hurled into the Lake of Fire. His two useful idiots, the Beast and False Prophet, are already suffering there and now he joins them. This trio, along with those being judged at the Great White Throne will be in this awful punishment forever. Earlier in this blog I wrote about the happenings in verse 3, but I intentionally skipped a portion of the verse. Go to verse 3 now. Notice right in the middle the phrase “…till he should deceive the nations no more.” One day the deceptions, that are so rampant in the eyes of God’s people who have discernment, will cease. There is an expiration date. Nations that fall for demonic types of governments will no longer vote for evil men and their evil policies. Those nations and individuals that are against God will be a thing of the past. Satan’s career ending can’t come soon enough for me. Until then, be vigilant, our adversary, our enemy, the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking to devour the people of God.