We read in Revelation 20 that Satan is bound in a bottomless pit for a period of a thousand years, but that he will be loosed for a little season to deceive the nations again once those thousand years are over. Revelation 20:1-3 says,
Revelation 20
1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Then again, in verses 7-8:
7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8 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.
What exactly is this "binding and loosing" of Satan in the bottomless pit? And when was he loosed, or has he been loosed? What is the characteristic of the world upon this loosing so that we will know whether this has occurred?
SATAN BOUND
First, we need to understand from the Bible what it means that Satan was bound. And when we read about the crucifixion of Christ in John 12:31-33, we find that Jesus speaks of it as the time when judgment fell upon Satan and on the world:
John 12
31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.
Christ speaks of the fact that Satan, the "prince of this world," would be cast out upon His death. That is, Satan was effectively judged at the cross. Satan was cast out of heaven so that he could no longer accuse the elect before God in heaven and so that the Gospel might go forth throughout the earth.
We read further in Luke 10:18:
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Christ's death and subsequent resurrection destroyed the works of the devil. Hebrews 2:14 says:
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Then in Jude 6 we read where the whole realm of fallen angels, over which Satan is the head, is reserved in chains, which is parallel in language to Revelation 20 where we read that Satan is bound by a chain in the bottomless pit:
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
So the time when Satan was bound in the bottomless pit, reserved in chains, occurred at the time of the cross and goes for a period of "a thousand years" according to Revelation 20.
THOUSAND YEARS
This thousand years is therefore not some future event that will occur during a thousand-year reign of Christ on this sin-cursed earth. The "thousand years" is a figurative term that means "in the completeness of time" -- as the number 10 (like the 10 virgins), 100 and 1,000 all point to the completeness of whatever God has in view. That is, these numbers have a spiritual emphasis, not a literal emphasis in this case. So the thousand years begins from the time of the cross and figuratively stretches to the little season near the end of the world, it is a figurative period meaning "in the completeness of God's time.
So the thousand years is the New Testament church age that terminates with the little season during the last days, when Satan is loosed to deceive the nations of the world again as he did prior to the time of the cross. And his focus during this season will be to assault the camp of the saints, to silence the Truth of the Gospel. But God will eventually bring final destruction and the end of the world against him. Again, Revelation 20:7-10 reads:
7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8 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.
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
So it's evident that this thousand years expires just prior to the end of the world, leaving a little season wherein Satan is loosed to rule the world and to prepare it for final destruction.
SCOFFERS ABOUND BEFORE THE END
However, there's another interesting passage concerning the end of the world where we find this phrase "thousand years." We read in 2 Peter 3:8:
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
In this context, God speaks about the proud, contemptuous nature of the human race that prevails as the end of time approaches, how they readily dismiss and ridicule the fact that God had already destroyed the wicked world once before through the flood of Noah's day.
True, God promised that He would never again destroy the world through a worldwide flood, placing His bow in the cloud as a token of the covenant (Gen 9:11-17). But the human race has taken this promise, and His bow, and turned in into a symbol of spiteful pride against God. Therefore, God declares that He will again destroy the world, but by fire. And in this context He speaks about the passage of time from His vantage point as a day and a thousand years:
2 Peter 3
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
So here, as with Revelation 20, God uses the phrase "thousand years" in the context of the end of time, that the end will come "as a day" and "as a thousand years" from God's perspective. This obviously does not mean that the end of the world will come in a literal, exact thousand years as we would count them.
This is the same thousand years that expire when Satan is loosed to deceive the nations again just prior to being cast into the lake of fire, as we read in Revelation 20 -- and as we read here in 2 Peter 3 that the heavens and earth are reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. In both cases, the thousand years end with this destruction by fire. So we can glean from these 2 passages that after the "thousand years":
1) Satan is loosed for a little season to deceive the nations of the world again (and to assault the camp of the saints),
2) There will be scoffers walking after their own lusts, and, then,
3) Destruction will come. So the sinful nature of the human race at the end of the world parallels that of pre-flood days and God brings final destruction.
Another interesting passage in which the phrase "thousand years" is found is Psalm 90:4, where we read:
For a thousand years in thy sight [are but] as yesterday when it is past, and [as] a watch in the night.
While we won't get into the detail now, a watch in the night represents the "watching" that the believers do during the Gospel era (living for Christ, waiting upon Him and sending forth the Gospel as watchmen), and that watching comes to an end for the most part once Satan is loosed, after these thousand years have expired.
So, we've just read a passage from 2 Peter 3 where God is effectively saying, "Just as the world of Noah's day was wicked and destroyed by the flood, so the world is again wicked prior to the destruction of creation by fire at the end of time, after the thousand years when Satan is loosed for a little season." We see a similar comparison given by Jesus in Matthew 28:38-39:
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Christ is here relating the same thing, that the end-time world will be much like it was in the days before the flood. But here He includes the fact that destruction comes suddenly and by surprise, where there is panic, alarm and horror to those living carelessly in their selfish ways. We know from the larger context that Noah and his family were prepared in the ark to survive the flood because they found grace in the eyes of the LORD (Gen 6:8). But for the rest, it was the end of the world.
DELUSION FUELS THE SCOFFERS
Thus far we've seen the general characteristics of the end of time: Satan is loosed for a little season to deceive the nations and to surround the camp of the saints, and there will be scoffers walking after their own lusts. These go hand-in-hand because the unsaved human race is under the rulership of Satan, so it stands that when Satan is loosed, the human race will be more wicked than ever. In John 8:44, speaking about the unsaved, Christ says:
You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. 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.
Notice that the devil is both a murderer and a liar. And Christ equates lying with both murder and lust here. This is important because this word "lie" is found in a couple of other important verses that we will look at momentarily. As Satan is loosed, we can expect that people will believe lies, and they themselves will be liars. Deception and self-deception will be the order of the day. This agrees to the fact they are scoffers walking after their own lusts because they have utterly rejected the Truth of God's Word. Lets's look at this in a little more detail.
We'll start with Romans 1 where we read a more detailed account of the wickedness of the world, or of the human race, prior to the destruction of the world. It details the intensely sinful nature of people as Satan is loosed for a little season to deceive the nations. We read in Romans 1:21-32:
Romans 1
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Notice that God says in verse 24, due to this morass of evil behavior, "God gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts...." You see how God emphasizes that people are given up to their lusts. This word lusts is translated from the Greek word epithymia [G1939] and it is the same word found in John 8:44 and in 2 Peter 3:3 that we read previously:
You are of your father the devil, and the lusts [G1939] of your father you will do. 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 speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts [G1939], (2 Peter 3:3)
So when Romans 1:24 speaks of God giving them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, it means God has given them up to Satan. And this is the prevalent nature of the human race when Satan is loosed for a little season. They are scoffers against God, walking after their own lusts, doing the lust of their father the devil or Satan.
Looking again at Romans 1, focusing on verse 25, notice that God says that they, "...changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen." Here the word "lie" [G5579] is in view, and it is the same word that we read in John 8:44:
You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. 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 [G5579], he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)
So again, God is saying that they changed the very Truth of God into a lie [G5579], just as Christ says in John 8:44 that Satan, "...abode not in 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." That is, they are following Satan into his lie and denying the Truth of God as they walk after their lusts.
So we must understand that this lie requires particular satanic influence upon the people. This isn't just ordinary sin of the flesh, but sin that is particularly inspired by Satan. God gives them over to a reprobate mind to willingly desire all sorts of twisted, perverted sin. There is more to it than fleshly lusts, these are fleshly lusts supported by a lie. So God says that they are in delusion in order to believe this lie of spiritual bankruptcy and debauchery. Continuing in verses 26 and 27, we read:
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
So Romans 1 is saying here that they changed the truth of God into a lie [G5579] as God gave them up to vile affections, that they might commit grievous error [G4106].
THIS WORLDWIDE DELUSION IS SO TOTAL IT INFECTS THE CHURCHES
A parallel to this is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:11, where God speaks of the man of sin (who again is Satan himself) being seated or ruling over those who falsely profess to be Christians at the end of time. There we find the same 2 words "lie" [G5579] and "error" [G4106], although the Greek word [G4106] is translated "delusion" in this case. There we read:
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion [G4106], that they should believe a lie [G5579]:
Thus, God uses the same two Greek words in 2 Thessalonians 2, which speaks of Satan deceiving those who profess to be Christians, as He uses in Romans 1 where God has given up the human race in general, to do all kinds of lewdness according to their vile affections. God sends them strong delusion, or error, that they should believe a lie. So, when Satan is loosed it affects the entire world. Both the world and professing Christendom are given over to delusion, or to Satan, at this time, and only the very elect will not be so totally deceived:
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (Matthew 24:24)
We can see this satanic delusion more fully in 2 Thessalonians 2, and how it relates to the end of the world and professing Christians, if we quote verses 1-12 from that passage:
2 Thessalonians 2
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and [by] our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know what withholds that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity does already work: only he who now lets [will let], until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 [Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
It's clear from the context that this passage is speaking of the end of the world. Verses 1-2 speak of the coming day of Christ and the gathering together of the believers to be with Him. And God tells us that day will not come until a falling away takes place where the man of sin (Satan) is revealed to be seated in the temple (a spiritual reference to the church itself), showing himself to be God and being worshiped as God. That is, God sends them strong delusion that they might believe a lie, using Satan who comes with all power and signs and lying wonders to deceive. And, according to what we read in Matthew 24:24, even the very elect would be deceived if it were possible.
Thankfully, we know that the true believers, or the elect, cannot actually be deceived by Satan permanently because Christ dwells within them. Christ says about the true believers in John 10:
John 10
4 And when he puts forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
This is why Jesus says that the elect would be deceived if it were possible. The deception of Satan when he is loosed, when God sends strong delusion that the unsaved will believe a lie, is so strong that even the very elect would be deceived if it were possible. But it is not possible because they have eternal life, they have the discernment of the Holy Spirit from the Word of God dwelling within them. But it does bring to the fore the fact that when God gives up the unsaved to delusion, it is an intense deception on the part of Satan. In Romans 1 they will live according to grotesque, self-gratifying affections, and in 2 Thessalonians 2 they will heed lying signs and wonders.
Keep in mind, all of this immediately precedes the destruction of the world by God Himself as we see in verse 8 of 2 Thessalonians 2:
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
Now, what we have just concluded with regard to Romans 1 and 2 Thessalonians 2 is firmly supported by Revelation 20, where we see Satan loosed for a little season. He is loosed to deceive the nations and he compasses the camp of the saints, the beloved city, which is a reference to the churches. The camp of the saints and the beloved city are where the true believers are normally found, whom Satan seeks to destroy. And Revelation 20 indicates this occurs at the very end of time when Satan and the world will be destroyed:
Revelation 20
7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8 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.
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
THE SAD MILITANCE OF THE UNSAVED
There's one more tie-in that we must consider in order to fully understand the nature of the world when Satan was loosed. As we already saw in Romans 1, God mentions all kinds of wickedness and evil that people commit when they are fully under the power of Satan. We read in verses 28-32:
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Again, all of this is to be expected because, as we saw, Christ said that Satan is a murderer and a liar, leading people into all sorts of diverse lusts. He is the spirit of evil that drives the inordinate sin of the human race, especially as he has been loosed from the pit. So we see all kinds of hatred against God and against fellow man here. The entire summary of the Law of God is to love God with all of your heart, soul, mind and might, and your neighbor as yourself. But those who are unsaved do the opposite -- they hate God with all of their heart, soul, mind and might, as well as their neighbor, in favor of satisfying their own desires. So we see this in full bloom in Romans 1:28-32. This is parallel to what we read in 2 Timothy 3:1-5:
2 Timothy 3
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
This is also parallel to what we read in Galatians 5:19-21:
Galatians 5
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told [you] in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
So we see how, once Satan was loosed, the human race or the world is living according to their fleshly desires more than ever before, they are walking after their own lusts in complete disregard for God without any question.
Romans 1 also ties in to the Old Testament account where God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah by fire, when He pulled Lot and his 2 daughters out from the midst of the overthrow. Looking again at Romans 1:26-27,32, we read:
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
...
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
In these 3 verses, God foretells of the proliferation and acceptance of militant sin. That this is against God is clearly stated in Mark 10:6-8:
Mark 10
6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
8 And they two shall be one flesh: so then they are no more two, but one flesh.
In our day, many accept unbiblical marriages as permissible to God, even as a loving or godly thing to do. However, to do so they have eliminated the true God from their collective conscience. They may worship a god of their own making in order to reject the God of the Bible, but they aren't heeding the Word of God. They have redefined what love is ("love is love"), claiming that making any such judgment against it is an evil phobia. But this is a satanic deception, it is a change in the law of God to suit one's own lusts or desires, according to Romans 1, without any fear of God.
Biblically, the loving thing to do is to deny that sin is right in God's sight, that hopefully others might seek after God instead of their sin, that perhaps God might save them if it is His will. But to go along with sin in the name of love or under the guise of being non-judgmental is a serious twisting of God's Word and of His Law. To be loving and non-judgmental biblically means that, yes, we love others and do not harbor hatred in our hearts toward them, regardless of their lifestyle, and to desire the very best for them (ie. salvation). But it does not mean going along with sin (theirs or ours) or saying it is okay in God's sight. That is a delusion, it is the opposite of what God calls for in the Bible.
CULMINATES WITH DESTRUCTION AT THE END OF THE WORLD
Now, the fact that Romans 1 ties in to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is very evident. Turning to the book of Jude, we see similar language to Romans 1:
Jude
5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
8 Likewise also these [filthy] dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke you.
10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
...
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints,
15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard [speeches] which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling [words], having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.
17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
Notice 2 very powerful things in this passage. First, God refers to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (for having given themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh) as an example of suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. When God rained fire from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah for the sexual sin of strange flesh, it represented the final destruction of the world. And secondly, notice how God twice speaks about them walking after their own ungodly lusts, and how there will be mockers in the last time. This again is parallel to 2 Peter 3:3:
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
Jude is also absolutely parallel to Romans 1 and 2 Timothy 3. But in this context (and that of Romans 1), God refers to these things as a sign that the end of the world and destruction is fast approaching. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was an example of suffering eternal fire. And this is a result of the loosing of Satan to powerfully deceive the nations and professing Christendom to the point even the very elect would be deceived if possible -- to the point that the unsaved are deluded to believe a lie and to walk after all kinds of vile lusts -- and to the point unsaved professing Christendom has set up the abomination of desolation, or Satan himself, as their god. Any false idol reigning as God is an abomination and is ultimately the worshipping of Satan himself:
Jeremiah 44
2 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; You have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwells therein,
3 Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, you, nor your fathers.
4 Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.
5 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.
6 Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day.
Notice in Jeremiah 44 above, God speaks of Jerusalem as having forsaken God so that they were a desolation, they set up their abominations (idols). This is the abomination of desolation, to worship idols and other gods in the temple as if they are God. Ultimately, these other idols and false gods are of Satan, so they effectively worshiped Satan as God. And this is still true today. Whenever a professing Christian or church has set up idols or false doctrines in place of God, they have set up the abomination of desolation and are worshiping Satan as God. And thus, they are under strong delusion to believe a lie. And God equates this delusion in 2 Thessalonians 2 with the delusion of Romans 1 where vile activity proliferates and is accepted by the masses. They are deluded or in error that they might believe a lie in fierce opposition to God. They have very willingly changed the truth of God as revealed to them into a lie as they follow Satan who has been loosed, and this leads to the destruction of God by fire.
Looking now at the actual account of Sodom and Gomorrah's destruction, we read in Genesis 13:13:
But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
Again, in Genesis 18:20-21:
Genesis 18
20 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
So God tells us without question that Sodom and Gomorrah were very wicked cities. Then, in Genesis 19:1-26, we read:
Genesis 19
1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;
2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, No; but we will abide in the street all night.
3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, [even] the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where [are] the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.
8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as [is] good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
9 And they said, Stand back. And they said [again], This one [fellow] came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, [even] Lot, and came near to break the door.
10 But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.
11 And they smote the men that [were] at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
12 And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring [them] out of this place:
13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxed great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.
14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.
15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind you, neither stay in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed.
18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:
19 Behold now, thy servant has found grace in thy sight, and you have magnified your mercy, which you have showed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:
20 Behold now, this city [is] near to flee unto, and it [is] a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, ([is] it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.
21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted you concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which you have spoken.
22 Haste, escape there; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come there. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.
24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
There is a lot from this passage that could be said. But note these several things: First, the 2 Angels or the 2 Men that are visiting Lot here are actually God Himself in the form of men. So the men of Sodom sought to assault and abuse God Himself (as well as Lot, a believer) in their lewdness. God says that all the men of the city, old and young, people from every quarter, compassed or surrounded the house to abuse them.
Secondly, notice that "the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven...." God had already said that the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful, and here He gives us more detail. And, as we read in the book of Jude, God destroyed them by fire as a result of their going after strange flesh. They were even forcibly going after God Himself, having surrounded Lot's house! Likewise, the wicked of the world today seek to destroy the Truth of the Gospel, they seek to destroy and silence every vestige of the Gospel left under the loosed power of Satan as they compass the camp of the saints. And Satan has indeed succeeded, he is even loosed in the spiritual temple (professing Christendom) so that the non-elect, unsaved Christians worship Satan as God.
But just as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah in the days of Lot, so will He destroy Satan and all of the unsaved at the very end once their sins have come to the full. This again is directly parallel to what we read in Revelation 20:9. See how Satan and the deceived nations compass or surround the camp of the saints, just as the men of Sodom surrounded the house of Lot in order to abuse them wickedly. And in this case, too, God sends fire down from heaven and destroys them:
Revelation 20
7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8 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.
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
God has loosed Satan so that the world and professing Christendom are fighting against the Truth of the Gospel, silencing and stamping out the Word of God that it might not have any say, twisting the Truth of God into a lie that they might scoff and live according to their lusts. But God will have the eternal victory.
Finally, just as God compares the flood of Noah's day with the destruction of the world by fire at the end of the world in 2 Peter 3, and just as Christ says that the days of Noah were like the days of the coming of the Son of Man to destroy the world, so He equates the end of the world with the days of Lot in Luke 17:28-33:
Luke 17
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed [them] all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
31 In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.
32 Remember Lot's wife.
33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
When God rained fire down from Heaven to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19, and when He reiterated in the book of Jude that Sodom and Gomorrah had gone after strange flesh, He was emphasizing exactly what we read in Revelation 20 -- that when Satan is loosed to deceive the nations and compasses (or surrounds) the camp of the saints, God will send fire from heaven to destroy them and cast them into the lake of fire.
Remember, in Jude God says that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is an example of suffering the vengeance of eternal fire -- that is the lake of fire. And, according to 2 Thessalonians 2, God destroys Satan by the brightness of His coming. That is, God Himself is the consuming fire that will destroy the wicked:
For our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:20)
Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. (Jude 7)
And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swore by him that lives for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. (Daniel 12:7)
6.15.2014, Last updated 2.20.2023