We explained in the last Q&A regarding Christ’s battle with hostile armies at the time of His return, that Jesus Christ will come back “on clouds”; that His holy angels will accompany Him; that He will be met “on clouds” in the air by His saints—true, converted Christians who will be resurrected and changed to immortality at the time of His return; and that all will descend together on the same day to the Mount of Olives to make an end of deceived hostile human armies and their leaders (Revelation 19:11-21; Zechariah 14:1-15). After that, Christ will deal with the real author of destruction and deception—Satan the devil along with his demons.
We read in Revelation 20:1-3:
“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold on the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 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. But after these things he must be released for a little while.”
We read that Satan will be thrown into the “bottomless” pit. As we will see, that same fate awaits all the demons under his control. We write on pages 53 and 54 in our free booklet, “Angels, Demons and the Spirit World,” under “The Fate of Satan and His Demons”:
“… a full one-third of God’s angels sinned in times past, thus becoming demons. God did not prevent them from sinning. He created them as free moral agents and He knew that they could sin. The angels who sinned are presently in chains of darkness, to be reserved for future judgment (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6). They are living today in a state of darkness. They are spiritually imprisoned by their own perversions… They are not literally imprisoned and jailed at a certain place. Rather, they are roaming to and fro on this earth. Satan is compared to a roaring lion, walking about, to see whom he can devour (1 Peter 5:8).
“Demons are waiting for their judgment. Demons asked Christ whether He had come to ‘torment’ them ‘before the time’ (Matthew 8:29). Luke 8:31 adds that they begged Christ not to command them ‘to go out into the abyss.’ At this point in time, they are not yet in that ‘abyss.’ Satan is not in it either; rather, he will be placed in it at the beginning of the Millennium (Revelation 20:1–3, 7—the word ‘abyss’ is translated there as ‘bottomless pit’).
“What is the ‘abyss?’ The word is used in Romans 10:7, where we read, ‘Who will descend into the abyss? (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).’ In Romans 10, the ‘abyss’ is used as an analogy in association with the dead who are buried. It is also used as an analogy in Luke 8 and in Revelation 20. When Satan and his demons will be placed in the ‘abyss’ at the beginning of the Millennium, they will be as good as dead—unable to influence and deceive the nations any longer during that time period (compare Revelation 20:3). The fact that they won’t be able to destroy others will give them spiritual torment—that is why they asked Christ whether He had come to torment them before ‘the time.’
“Satan’s spiritual torment, and that of his angels, will continue. After a time period called the Great White Throne Judgment, Satan and his demons will be cast into the lake of fire, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Revelation 20:10; Matthew 25:41). Their torment will be spiritual, as they will see all of their evil works destroyed by fire (compare 2 Peter 3:10–13), and their influence on others will be gone forever. Their final fate might be revealed in Jude 13, referring to ‘wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.’ Compare, too, 2 Peter 2:17.”
Even though only Satan the Devil is specifically mentioned in Revelation 20:1-3, it is obvious that the demons are included. This becomes also clear when reviewing carefully the fate of Satan and his angels at the time when the Millennium ends. Revelation 20:10 says that the Devil will be cast in the lake of fire, and that “they” will be tormented day and night. Some claim that the reference is to the beast and the false prophet, but this is not the case. Rather, the torment relates to Satan and his demons. We write in our free booklet, “Is That in the Bible? The Mysteries of the Book of Revelation,” on pages 139-140, under “Lake of Fire Prepared for Satan and His Angels”:
“Let us quote again from the Revised English Bible, to note how they continue their rendition of Revelation 20:10: ‘Their seducer, the Devil, was flung into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet had been flung to be tormented day and night for ever.’ Of course, by not placing a comma after ‘had been flung,’ they give the impression that it is the beast and the false prophet who will be tormented forever and ever. But since the clause, ‘where the beast and the false prophet had been flung,’ is clearly an inserted thought—a relative sentence—the rendering should obviously include a comma after ‘had been flung,’ making it clear that it is the DEVIL who is to be tormented day and night forever. We see, then, that the translation of the Revised English Bible should read: ‘Their seducer, the Devil, was flung into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet had been flung, to be tormented day and night for ever.’…
“… we [need to] understand for WHOM the lake of fire was prepared… We read in Matthew 25:41 that the lake of fire was ‘prepared for the devil and his angels.’ Therefore, it will be the devil and his demons who will be tormented in the lake of fire, for as long as that lake exists. Since spirit beings cannot die (compare Luke 20:36), they will be tormented—in a spiritual way—while being confined to the lake of fire, when they come to the realization that they are unable to deceive man anymore, and when they see all their ‘works’ and evil ‘accomplishments’ replaced by the good and prosperous ways of God…”
The New King James Bible translates that after the Devil is cast into the lake of fire, “THEY will be tormented day and night.” We explain in our aforementioned booklet:
“The Bible uses that way of speaking on occasion. Note one example of this ‘figure of speech’ in the report of the demons possessing the herd of swine. In the record of Matthew, we are clearly told that Christ dealt with TWO demon-possessed men (Matthew 8:28–32). However, in the record of Mark, we are only told about ONE demon-possessed man (Mark 5:1–13). It is obvious, then, that the one man mentioned in Mark was the spokesman or leader of the other man, mentioned in Matthew. In the same way, the devil in Revelation 20:10 is the leader or representative of all the demons, mentioned or referred to in the latter part of the same sentence.”
The same is true for Revelation 20:1-3, which mentions that Satan—the ruler of the demonic world—will be bound in the abyss or bottomless pit for a thousand years. Even though only the ruler over the demons is mentioned here, the demons themselves are included as well. Conversely, in another passage (discussed below), only demons are mentioned, but there, Satan, their ruler and the highest of all the demons, is also included.
The capture of Satan is symbolically portrayed by the Day of Atonement—one of God’s seven annual Holy Days. For more information on the importance of that day which is still to be observed today, please read chapter 3 of our free booklet, “The Sacrificial System and the Tabernacle in the Wilderness.” We state the following on page 51 regarding an ancient procedure in Old Testament times–the removal of the “Azazel Goat,” which pictures Satan the Devil:
“Leviticus 16:21 explains that Aaron had to lay both his hands on the head of the Azazel goat; confess over it all the iniquities, sins and transgressions of the Israelites; put them on the head of the Azazel goat; and send it away alive into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. Leviticus 16:22 continues to instruct that the Azazel goat, bearing all the iniquities of the Israelites, was to be let go alive in an uninhabited land—a wilderness. Modern Babylon, a city built on seven hills, and, at the same time, a description of a military, religious and economic system—symbolizing the end-time generation of this evil world—will become such a wilderness (compare Isaiah 13:19–22; Revelation 18:2).
“The removal of Satan is described in Revelation 20:1–3: ‘Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He [the angel, pictured by the suitable man who took the Azazel goat into the wilderness] laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan [pictured by the Azazel goat], and bound him for a thousand years; and 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. [This is pictured by the fact that the Azazel goat was not killed, but placed alive in the wilderness, far away from the camp of Israel.]’”
What exactly is that bottomless pit, mentioned in Revelation 20:1-3, where Satan and his demons will be bound? It is not a mystical fiery “hell” way down under the surface of the earth—such a “hell” simply does not exist, and nowhere in the Bible is it remotely mentioned. Even the lake of fire in which Satan and his demons will be cast before the Great White Throne Judgment begins, will be ON the earth—not UNDER the earth.
Now note again the reference to modern Babylon in Revelation 18:2: “And he [an angel] cried mightily with a loud voice, saying ‘Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of DEMONS, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird.”
In this passage, Satan is also included as the highest demon and the ruler over the demons.
What, then, is the relationship between the bottomless pit or the abyss and the wilderness of the modern city of Babylon, which is built on seven hills?
We write the following in chapter 7 of our free booklet, “The Book of Zechariah—Prophecies for Today,” on pages 55-56, when addressing Zechariah’s seventh vision, pertaining to a wicked woman in a basket, which pictures the modern system and city of Babylon (please read the entire chapter 7):
“Some commentaries identify the woman in the basket [in Zechariah 5:5-11] as the woman or harlot riding the beast, as described in the book of Revelation. There, she is called ‘Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth’ (Revelation 17:5). She is also described as a religious city built on seven hills (Revelation 17:9, 18, New International Version, Living Bible)—in other words, Babylon the great, in the book of Revelation, signifies a false religious, political, military and economic system…
“We read that the woman, personifying worldwide wickedness or iniquity, is confined to a basket or container, but she is trying, unsuccessfully, to escape from her prison (verses 7–8). This gives us the time setting of Zechariah’s vision—it describes the woman’s future judgment—which will occur when Jesus Christ returns. The modern CITY of Babylon the great—as well as the SYSTEM which it represents—will be destroyed with fire (Revelation 18:8, 21; 19:3). Depending on the translation, it will become a ‘dwelling place’ or a ‘habitation’ or a ‘house’… or a ‘home’ (New International Version) of ‘demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird’ (Revelation 18:2).
“This fact explains why two women with wings of a stork (Zechariah 5:9)—perhaps angels—carry the imprisoned woman to the land of [Shinar or] Babylon, to build a house or dwelling place for her (verse 11)… The two women will assist in removing ‘wickedness’—the wicked system—from this earth… wickedness will be placed ‘forever in Babylon’ (compare Geneva Study Bible); that is, the burned and destroyed location and area of the modern city of Babylon will become a ‘house’ for demons during the time of the Millennium…”
We see, then, that the abyss or the bottomless pit, where Satan and his demons will be shut up, describes the destroyed areas where currently the modern city of Babylon is situated. We read that the modern city of Babylon will never be rebuilt and inhabited again (Isaiah 13:19-22).
After Satan and his demons are confined to the bottomless pit or abyss of the wilderness of modern Babylon, unable to deceive the nations anymore during the time of the Millennium, Jesus Christ will proceed with freeing the enslaved peoples of the modern houses of Israel and Judah. We will address these events in more detail in a subsequent Q&A.
Lead Writer: Norbert Link
