Chapter 14
A Season For Evil
“Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer
I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then
a law, that evil is present with me, the one who
wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God
according to the inward man. But I see another
law in my members, warring against the law of
my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the
law of sin which is in my members.”
Romans 7:20-23
Evil! The uniformly nature of man, an inherent desire producing that which is contrary to the way things ought to be. A drive within the soul of man to do evil, to harm one’s self, to harm others - a nature from which pleasure is derived. A law within ourselves; brings us into captivity to the law of sin. A nature which is contrary to the Commandment and the Law, that which is holy and good. This is the age-old battle with which we are intimately familiar. We are the personification of that battle. We know first hand the meaning of evil.
But, where did it all begin? It began when Satan rebelled against God before the creation of man. Evil was manifested on earth with the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. God allowed Satan to tempt man and man was tempted, thus our sin nature. In reading the Book of Job one finds that God allows Satan and his minions to roam the earth to inflict evil on whom ever they can. But, in reading Job, we also realize that God sets bounds in which Satan can operate.
Paul tells us that the law within his members war with the law within his mind. The law within his members is sin, whereas the law within his mind is of God. Both of these laws are spirit forces, one is evil, the other is good. One triumphs when the other is removed. One can be controlled, the other cannot. One is of the earth the other is of heaven. This appears to be somewhat of a paradox. Why is this so?
In chapter five, “Between the Verses,” we find that Lucifer (Satan) was originally on the earth; he was the keeper of the garden of God. “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.” (Ezekiel 28:14). Then Lucifer rebelled against God, and as such lost his position within heaven. However, since he was the prince of the garden initially, God allowed him to remain on earth as the prince of the air. “…you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air…” (Ephesians 2:2). Thus, Satan the father of evil has been with us since the creation of man. He is that force spoken of by Paul that constituted the evil law within him. But, that evil force will soon be removed. He will be placed in chains and bound for a thousand years. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. But, after these things he must be released for a little while.” (Revelation 20:2). That force will again be released on earth. God will allow Satan to peddle his evil for a season.
I think that anyone who has ever read the Book of Revelation, especially chapter twenty, knows this story. However, sometime back I was asked a very good question regarding this scenario. “Why didn’t God keep Satan in the bottomless pit when He had him there, and why was he released?” These are two good questions, both of which require some doctrines and precepts to be established in order to understand the answers. Also, one must understand and accept certain Scriptures, and believe those Scriptures to be factual in the interpretations. Furthermore, it must be understood that contextual Scripture does not stand alone, and therefore must be supported either by text in the Old Testament or the New Testament or both. It is only on this basis that we can search the Word to ascertain the intended meaning within the texts pertaining to the questions.
Binding Satan
“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.” (Revelation 20:1). Look at the aspects of this text and the events therein. The bottomless pit is the lowest abyss of hell. Keith Harris in his book, The Unveiling, defines this as “Gehenna Hell or the lake of fire.” It is the eternal abode of those judged at the Great White Throne Judgement. It is also the eternal dwelling place of Satan and the fallen angels.
The verse states that the angel has a great chain for binding Satan. This is not a chain as we know it, but an instrument for binding a spirit being. Satan is bound there for a thousand years, which is the duration of the reign of Christ on earth after the end of the great Tribulation. In other words, Christ will not have to battle Satan’s brand of evil during His thousand-year reign, but must contend with him again in the future. The reason for that future time is the subject of this chapter. It is a season for evil!
Revelation chapter twenty verse three states, “…and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished.” Shut him up means Satan was locked in a specific place, and the seal that was placed on him has a definite purpose and meaning. This seal is very significant in its application, and provides a notice as to whom is responsible for Satan’s imprisonment. The Book of Daniel explains the definition and purpose of the seal. “And the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed.” (Daniel 6:17). Thus, God set His seal on Satan so that everyone, even Satan, would know the purpose of this binding and sealing; that Satan would be loosed after the thousand years were up. When the king sets his seal no one has the power to remove it unless so ordered by the king. It is the same with God. He has a specific reason for binding Satan for the thousand years and no one in heaven, on the earth or under the earth has the power to remove that seal. This provides the proof that God controls Satan and all the things of this world. God controls all the forces in heaven and on earth.
The term that he should deceive the nations no more would indicate that this is the end of Satan’s reign of deception, but Scripture states that he will again deceive the nations after the thousand years are up. He will be loosed for a little season or a little while indicates that Satan will be allowed to apply his evil forces at the end of the thousand-year reign. But, for what purpose, and for how long?
The Greek word for season is chronos meaning opportunity, and has no time element associated with it. Thus, Satan will be given an opportunity to deceive the nations. Although the season will be for a little while, we do not know the exact length of this opportunity, but we do know that it occurs at the end of the thousand-year reign. Therefore, we can only assume that Christ will make the decision when the time will expire, and that Satan will be given ample opportunity to implement his deception.
“Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are at the four-corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.” (Revelation 20:7-8). This verse states exactly what Satan will do, but the question is why does God release him to go out and deceive the nations again? Why did God not keep Satan bound since it is evident that He can do whatever He wishes to do, and when He wishes to do it? Why is this force again released on earth? The answers to these perplexing questions will be the discussion within the remainder of this chapter.
Precepts
There are some precepts that must be defined and established before it can be fully understood why Satan is released to deceive the nations after he was locked in prison by the angel of the Lord. As such, it is necessary to establish the doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ; to define the great Tribulation, the thousand-year reign, and who will be those living during the thousand-year reign. We also need to establish who is the Bride of Christ; who is killed by the Antichrist during the Tribulation; and who is alive at the end of the Tribulation. We also need to define who are those entering the thousand-year reign of Christ, and finally what is the difference between the Bride of Christ and the Tribulation saints. However, if you do not believe in the Tribulation you will not accept the discussion herein. And it is for that specific reason I think it is necessary to go into some detail relative to the doctrines and precepts I’ve listed. However, in doing so, I will not be making an attempt to change your view nor your position regarding preconceived doctrines or precepts, but to provide the answer as to why Satan was released for a little while at the end of the thousand years.
Second Coming
There are two distinct stages to the Second Coming of Christ; the rapture (catching away) of the born again believers before the Tribulation, and the Revelation of Jesus Christ at the end of the Tribulation. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.” (Revelation 19:11). These two passages refer to a time before the Tribulation and a time at the end of the Tribulation respectively.
Before continuing, I think it is necessary to provide an overview of the three major views of Bible prophecy in order to arrive at the correct basis for this discussion. First, there are three views relating to the thousand-year reign or the Millennial Kingdom of Christ. These are amillennialism, premillennialism, and postmillennialism.
According to those who espouse amillennialism, there will be no literal future thousand-year reign of Christ on earth. Those adhering to this position state, there is already a present spiritual form of the kingdom presently on earth. Premillennialism, on the other hand, is the doctrine that the Second Coming of Christ will be at the end of the Tribulation, and that the establishment of His kingdom will be the beginning of His thousand-year reign as outlined in Revelation chapter twenty verses four through seven. The opposite of premillennialism is postmillennialism, a doctrine stating that we are currently in the millennium, and through the preaching of the gospel a majority of the inhabitants of earth will be converted to Christianity resulting in Christianizing the world.
Regardless of the position you take, it is the belief of this writer that the premillennialism doctrine is the one and only one that has Scriptural support, and it is on this basis that the answer to the initial question is provided. If any other position is taken one cannot fully answer the questions put fourth herein regarding why Satan will be released for a short time at the end of the thousand-year reign. Premillennialism is the viewpoint of a majority of those who are conservative in their approach to Biblical exegesis.
In addition to the three millennialism positions described above, there are four interpretative views regarding the timing and fulfillment of Bible prophecy. These are past (preterism), present (historicism), future (futurism), and timeless (idealism).
Preterism is the position that most of, if not all, prophecy has already been fulfilled. This position holds that the major prophetic portions of Scripture, such as the Olivet Discourse (primarily Matthew chapter twenty-four), and the Book of Revelation, were fulfilled in the events surrounding the AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem.
Historicism, on the other hand, equates the current church age with the Tribulation period using the day/year theory. Those ascribing to this doctrine simply take numbers such as the two thousand three hundred days (Daniel 8:14) and the one thousand two hundred ninety days (Daniel 12:11) and declare them to be years. Those holding this position believe that if you can find the right starting year and add these days as years, then you can define the date for Christ’s return.
Then there are the futurists who believe that the prophetic events yet to occur will not happen in the current church age, but will take place in the future during the Tribulation, at the Second Coming, during the millennium and after the millennium. This doctrine is the only position that supports the pre-Tribulation rapture, and from my perspective, the only position totally supported by Scripture. This is because, again from my perspective, the timing of the rapture relates to the timing and beginning of the Tribulation.
Idealism is the doctrine that looks at the prophetic passages of Scripture as teaching the great ideas or truths about God and the Christian life, which are to be applied to our life style. However, in spite of the many prophetic statements in the Bible, and the timing of the events as they relate to each other, the idealist’s position is that either the Bible does not speak of these issues or they cannot understand what it says. In other words, those holding this doctrine seem to be saying that they do not have the ability to interpret Scripture. The Bible tells us that we do have the ability to interpret Scripture with the help of the Holy Spirit. But, if those doctrines, which held by many are not the true interpretations of Scripture, then naturally not all Scripture dovetails and as such the inability for true interpretation will exist.