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4. The Rebellion of Hell (Revelation 20:7-9a)
The prime Evil One has already been overcome on the cross by the Son of God. Satan did not succeed in deluding the son of Mary into committing any sin and in preventing the atoning dead of the holy Christ. Therefore Jesus Christ is victoriously risen from dead so that he now lives and reigns in perfect union with his Father in eternity.
The righteousness of God, however, allows the verification that any man who is convinced of his own goodness is in reality depraved from his youth on, even without being under the influence of Satan. The Millennium gives proof thereof; for even the re-education of the nations during thousand years by the holy delegates of Christ will not succeed in renewing all unclean and wicked hearts of men. The multitude of men want be free, also free of God, they do not want to submit to His commandments, but they like to determine by themselves what is good and evil and the do's and don'ts (Psalm 2:1-12). Instead of waiting for their Savior, they are waiting for the poison spitting prince of this world that he may come and inspire and lead them into the battle against the meek Almighty. The rebellion against God runs in the blood of men.
REVELATION 20:7-9a
7 And after the thousand years, Satan will be released from his prison, 8 and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up over the breadth of the earth, and surrounded the camp of the saints, and the beloved city.
When Satan is loosed after thousand years of the peaceful dominion of Christ, he will begin his old game anew. He will deceive the multitudes of the unbelievers, of the half-hearted and the hypocrites with his lies and tricks, and plants in them doubts on God's love and his righteousness (Genesis 3:1-5; Matthew 4:3-9). He knows all grumbling discontent people and is aware of single persons and groups of people who think of having got the shorter end in the attribution of the gifts of God (Acts 6:1). To the centre of the saints, where love and truth are reigning, he is not able to advance, but he rushes to “the four corners of the earth” so as to sow hatred against God and His Lamb and to arouse the will for rebellion. In the days of John it was not known that the earth is a rotating globe; in fact, one thought of an oversized earth-plate, on the four edges of which the abyss begins, out of which at times attackers of the Evil One ascend against mankind. However it is, remote from the centre of the government of the holy representatives of Christ the loosened deceiver unleashes his rebellious propaganda campaign.
According to the Book of Revelation Satan will seek out a proud rebel, who is sufficiently arrogant and imperiously so as to start an open war with God and his saints. According to Genesis 10:2 Magog is a son of Japheth, the progenitor of the northern people, who originally lived in the Caucasus. They were barbarians, notorious for their lack of restraint and therefore feared. Mentioning their name and their other designations such as “land of the north” (Jeremiah 6:22-26) or “the northern army” (Joel 2:20) inspired everybody with fright and terror.
Gog and Magog have been already described in detail by the prophet Ezekiel. According to this text, God, the Lord himself, leads Gog and Magog with their army, contrary to their own intention, to the hills of Israel for an offensive against the Middle East and their complete break down (Ezekiel 38:1-39:16). According to the Book of Revelation, Satan is the initiator of the rebellion. Presumably, both of these prophesies complement one another in spite of obvious differences, as this event can be assessed from various points of view.
Linguistically the compound name “Gog and Magog” can also be understood as follows: Magog is the country where Gog and his people live. In the modern Hebrew language “Gog in Magog” means often “the Russian from Russia".
The prophesy from Ezekiel 38+39 nowadays is discussed in the media and Synagogues of Israel again and again. Several Rabbis are supposed to have prayed to the Lord of their covenant in Hebron at the tomb of Abraham that he may postpone the invasion of Gog from Magog into the Holy Land, as the people of Israel did not yet acquire spiritual and moral maturity so as to overcome this superhuman challenge.
The Koran contains also a (distorted) prophesy about Gog from Magog, according to which Alexander the Great (the twofold horned) will try to stop the all devastating army group from the north by means of a high iron wall (Sura al-Kahf 18:83-98). In some mosques it is preached that Gog from Magog tries to bore his way through this wall or to hollow out it so as to invade into the Islamic people in order to destroy them. He may succeed in this if not all Muslims participate regularly in the Friday prayer.
Hell is Attacking! Revelation 20:9 contains the curious wording that the people participating in the last battle against God and his saints “go up on the breadth of the earth". This expression is related, as already mentioned, to the world view at that time thinking of the earth as an oversized big plate lying upon the underworld. Over the edges and corners of this surface of the earth demons were supposed to be able to go up and race across the earth like devastating whirlwinds (Daniel 7:2; Revelation 7:1).
In the last battle against God, Satan will mobilize all demons and devils which are dominated by his evil spirit. In his fury because of his thousand years of solitary confinement he seems to succeed in combining the armies of hell and earth so as to lead them under the commandment of Gog from Magog against the beloved city of Jerusalem, the so-called centre of the earth (Ezekiel 38:12). And as the saints in Christ are not mortal men but risen souls in spiritual bodies, this war between heaven and hell should according to Satan's idea not only be fought in the reality of this world but at the same time also between the risen souls and the devil spirits gone up to the earth surface.
The army of Satan numbers at the end of times not only 200 millions (as in case of the army of the sixth trumpet judgment) in the battle at Armageddon (Revelation 9:16; 16:16; 19:19-21), but in fact, his armies are in number like the sand on the seashore, that is an innumerable number which cannot be understood logically any longer. The complete hell will participate in this last rebellion against God, His Lamb and His saints.
How Will the Saints Fight? How will the authorized of the Messiah oppose this demonized challenge? They think and act like Jesus in a meek and lowly manner. Under their guidance all swords will be hammered into ploughshares and all spears into sickles (Isaiah 2:4). The nations under the dominion of the risen souls have forgotten to produce arms and to wage war. The Prince of Peace is forming their society and culture. From the human point of view they are faced with this attack of hell in a completely helpless and defenseless manner.
Like the forces of hell the armies of heaven gather in a camp nearby Jerusalem, the Holy City, however, not to learn how to use bazookas and missile launching pads, but to pray together and to strengthen one another in the faith in Christ, their Almighty King. They do not stare at the direction from where they wait for the enemy nor do they bemoan their military inexpertness, on the contrary they ask their Lord and Savior for His will. Perhaps some of them may also repent and confess their omissions and lapses. The prayer of the church in Acts 4:24-31 may be a guideline for the prayers in the camp of the saints on the mountains of the Holy Land.
The prayers of the saints and angels pass the purging fire on the altar of burnt offerings in heaven so that not any egoistic or much too human motive remains in their praises and supplications. Such prayers in the name of Jesus have a great promise and move the arm of God powerfully (Matthew 7:7; 18:18-20; 21:22; Mark 11:24-26; John 14:13; 15:7.16; 16:1; 1 John 5:14-15 and other verses). In case of such prayers according to the will of Jesus we are to believe what we ask for and exercise in thanking in advance for answering our sighing.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, the demons and the spirits of hell are like the sand on the shore. They curse You and those anointed with the Holy Spirit. Their hatred is poisonous, tricky and wicked. But You sanctify Your congregation with the blood of Your Lamb and You strengthen the followers of Your Christ with the Spirit of Your kindness that the victory of Your humble Son may be realized in them. Amen.
QUESTION:
- Why does Satan and hell fight God and Christ and His followers? How?