God’s Devil - Part 11: The Serpent in Eternal Humiliation
In the OT God repeatedly predicted a coming kingdom in which righteousness and justice will win out over all evil and sin. Isaiah 2 reflects on this time when men shall turn their weapons into farm instruments. So far, such tranquility has never appeared in human history (after the fall from the Garden of Eden). Such a time and kingdom will be when Jesus Christ shall rule.
Satan has continually tried in his own efforts to bring about a world ruling kingdom. From Rome to the Holy Roman Empire to Prussia to the German Reich, all of history reflects his attempts. Scripture reveals one more such effort on Satan's wishes. At the time the Antichrist appears, the world may seem ready to accept his dream which has been in the making since the ancient days of Babylon. We have studied that Satan will be cast down from access to heaven in the middle of the tribulation but this event will not hinder his efforts on earth.
His final push will crumble into pieces at the feet of our Lord. This time Satan will not approach a Jesus whose flesh is weakened whatsoever by human hunger in a wilderness. This time Satan will find a glorified Jesus who comes to judge and defeat him. Jesus speaks of these times in Matthew 24:21 teaching that these days will be worse than any days ever known.
Descriptions of these days of horror can be seen in Zechariah 14 and also Revelation 19. We are given to know that the Lord's elect will come with Him to be witnesses of the final battle. The beast and false prophet will go into the lake of fire with Satan soon to follow, but not quite yet for him. God has one more assignment for Satan.
He will be bound for the 1,000 years and only loosed at the end of that time. Human nature itself will not change in the 1,000 years and there will still be sin and salvation then. When he is loosed he will one last time find followers to join with him in the last conflict.
Our faith in these scripture promises is called premillennialism. Saved souls, both dead and living, will have been caught away, raptured, before these days occur.
If the first step in Satan's final downfall is his being forbidden to access heaven any longer, the next and last step will be forbidding him to reside on the earth. For 1,000 years the earth will be free from his constant daily influence or direction. Now we are ready for his final fall.
Rev 20:10:
“And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire … and be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
What can we say about this final destination for Satan and his own?
The place was created by God, prepared by the Almighty for those who were doomed to dwell there. Christ said that God's message will be to the wicked:
Matt 25:41:
“Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
If the devil is God's devil, then the lake is God's final command for him. God rules over all of His creation (is sovereign) and He will not give any part of His final eternal kingdom to another.
The place is a place of torment. The torment will be physical (fires never quenched) and will be a place of ultimate eternal rejection away from the presence of God.
The place has many occupants. The beast and false prophet were sent there at the return of Christ 1,000 years before. Immediately after Satan is sent there, the Great White Throne moment arrives and the rise and casting away of all unbelieving dead will be seen. Revelation 20:11-15 describes this event and clearly teaches us that Death and Hades gave up these individuals to the Great White Throne and then both Death and Hades are themselves to follow them into the lake of fire. This moment is known as the Second Death.
The place is eternal. Jesus taught us this strong lesson in Matt 25:46:
“These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
This plan, in place for all eternity past, will be in place for all eternity future.
The place is purely just. The serpent will be judged into there as the final penalty for his original rebellion, as will his demons who were once one third of all the angels, These must bear their many sins and pay the full penalty for them. No atonement was made for their sins. Human believers were redeemed by the blood of the Messiah.
Rev 1:5-6:
“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
The devil today is still the prince of our air, and appears to rule earth, but he does so only by divine decree. He tempts us, but only to the extent that God chooses to grant him his wish. He destroys, but only as God approves of such destruction. He stalks proudly about the earth, but only as far as God lets him stalk. He is unwilling to face the reality of his impending eternal humiliation and shame. He already knows what others may not know, which is that his actions upon earth are but a long charade. His present battle victories over the faithful are temporary. The outcome is certain.
He exists only as God's instrument of justice for the disobedient and God's intended means of purification for the saved. Our war with him teaches us about the nature of sin, the holiness of God, and our own helplessness apart from grace. Lucifer's fall gave our heavenly Father His intended opportunity to display limitless mercy toward us. Through His use of this fallen one, the Lord shows us the path needed for those who believe to overcome. This was His plan before the foundation of all things. It still unfolds each day within His creation, over which none rules but Him.
Romans 11:36-36:
“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to who be glory for ever. Amen.”