Satan Loosed on Earth – Some Context
To have Satan loosed on earth, he first has to be bound. So let’s start at the beginning.
In Revelation 16, we have the 7 Bowl Judgements (the King James Version of the Bible calls them vials).
Revelation 17-18 is the graphic depiction of the Whore of Babylon.
Revelation 19 commends those who died for their faith, talks of the “Bride of Christ”, as distinct from the “invited guests” and tells of the much awaited second coming of Christ, this time as a royal conqueror wearing a robe dipped in the blood of His enemies.
The antichrist and the false prophet are the first two to then be tossed into the burning lake of fire.
These events mark the end of the seven years of tribulation and herald in the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom – 1000-year reign of Christ on Earth!
Now we get to the bit about Satan
Satan Bound for 1000 Years
Revelation 20: 1-3 doesn’t need any explaining!
“And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.”
We have zero indication of how long a short time is! After all, we were told way back in the Old Testament, 2,000 years ago, that Jesus was coming again soon!
We do know that he is mighty successful in his deception-drive to win souls!
How??! How can that be possible, after all we will know by then! We’ve had seven years of tribulation, complete with the 21 Tribulation Judgements. We’ve had the antichrist and the false prophet, the prophesied mark of the beast, the battle of Armageddon and satan bound for a 1,000 years.
The mind boggles!
Satan Loosed on Earth to Deceive the Nations
The passage in question, Revelation 20:7-10, comes near the end of the book and follows a series of visions that depict the ultimate defeat of Satan and his followers. In this passage, Satan is released from his prison and allowed to deceive the nations once again. He gathers an army from all corners of the earth and leads them in an assault on the city of God.
But this attack is doomed to fail, and Satan and his followers are ultimately cast into the lake of fire.
Satan’s Release
The first thing to note is that Satan is not described as escaping from his prison, but rather as being released. The Bible uses the verb ‘is‘, as in Satan “is loosed on earth“.
This implies that his release is not accidental or unplanned, but is part of God’s sovereign plan for the end times. The purpose of Satan’s release is to test the nations and to reveal who among them will remain faithful to God and who will follow the deceiver.
It’s also worth noting that Satan’s release is not permanent. He is allowed to deceive the nations for “a little while“, Revelation 20:3, which could mean a few months, a few years or, lots of years! This underscores the idea that God is in control of the situation and is allowing Satan to do his worst only for a limited time.
God is making sure that those who make it through all these trials and ordeals are fit for life in Eternity!
The Deception of the Nations
Once Satan is released, Revelation says he immediately goes back to deceiving the nations and gathering people together to attack the city of God. Scripture does not explain exactly how he does this, but deception has always been his greatest weapon.
How he manages to do this after everything humanity has witnessed is honestly one of the most astonishing parts of Revelation.
And why people would follow him again after Christ has literally ruled on earth for a thousand years is another question entirely.
The fact that Satan is still able to deceive people at this stage suggests that even after all of God’s judgement, all the evidence, and even Christ’s reign itself, there are still human beings who reject God’s authority in their hearts.
That is a sobering thought.
It also says something deeply uncomfortable about human nature, pride, and the ongoing pull of rebellion.
The Final Defeat of Satan
When Satan is loosed on earth, he heads for the “four quarters of the earth” to gather his allies together to battle: “the number of whom is as the sand of the sea“. Not only does he get to deceive the nations once more, but he gets to deceive a lot of them!
Satan loosed on earth is a terrible defeat of many souls! He “compassed the camp of the saints” and “the beloved city“. So God gives him the run of the earth to do his damnedest!
The Bible doesn’t spare much time on this easy victory of Satan’s army: “fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” Revelation 20: 9-10. The devil is then tossed into the lake of fire, to join the antichrist and the false prophet, to “be tormented day and night for ever and ever”!