Gathered Together for Battle Revelation 20:8

An “angel” from heaven showed John the apostle many things which will occur in the tribulation time on the earth, and John wrote about commercial Babylon's destruction and the people who were affected by it. John wrote about great worship which occurred in heaven afterward and then shared about the birds being gathered together to eat the flesh of the bodies of the opponents of Jesus. He wrote, “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection: on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.” In Revelation chapter twenty and verse eight John sees how Satan, “shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth” where we read:

And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

The verse reads, “And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, ...” John began with the words, “and shall go out” which means “leave, forsake and escape from his prison” “to deceive” or “to lead astray and aside from the right way, roam about and wander to lead from the truth” “the nations” which means “the multitudes, tribes, people groups and individuals of the same nature or genus” “which are in” or “who are located within” “the four quarters” or “the four external angles or secret places” “of the earth” which means “belonging to the arable land, country, territory and region” “Gog” which means “mountain” and refers to “the king of the land of Magog who will come from the north and attack the land of Israel” “and Magog” which refers to “a land north of Israel from which the King of Gog will come to attack Israel and means overtopping or covering”. John shared how “Satan” will move throughout the entire world attempting to “deceive” everyone he can against the ways of God.

The verse goes on to say, “... to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.” John continued the words, “to gather them” which means “to collect, assemble and join together those whom Satan deceives” “to battle” which means “to fight, dispute, quarrel and war”: “the number” or “an indefinite multitude” “of whom” which means “belonging to Satan's deceived ones” “is as the sand” or “is like or similar to the number for the grains of sand” “of the sea” which refers to “belonging to the large bodies of waters”. John shared how and “innumerable” number of those whom “Satan” has “deceived” will “assemble” to go to “war” against Jesus the Messiah.

When we think through John's words in this verse, we may not have understood after the “millennial reign” of Jesus, Satan will be loosed to “deceive” as many people as possible to go to war against Him. “Satan” always desires to “lead people away” from the things of God, and he shall be no different when he is released from his prison. Jesus speaking of Satan said, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (John 8:44) God desires to have people follow His truth concerning “salvation” through His Son Jesus, and those who receive Him as their personal “Savior and Lord” shall not only inherit “everlasting life”, but also shall align with Jesus when “Satan” comes to “battle” Him with his “deceived” army. Let all who read these words take heed.

Next time John shares how, “fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.