Why Will Satan Be Released After 1,000 Years of Peace?
Imagine a world where justice flows, and peace fills the earth. “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb… the nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra” (Isaiah 11:6–9). Nations stream to Zion: “Come, let us go up… that He may teach us His ways” (Isaiah 2:2–3). Christ rules with “a rod of iron” (Psalm 2:9; Revelation 19:15). Satan is bound “so that he might not deceive the nations any longer” (Revelation 20:3).
And then—shockingly—Scripture says: “When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison” (Revelation 20:7).
Augustine in City of God dismissed this as allegory, claiming the “1,000 years” was just symbolic of the church age. Yet John repeats “a thousand years” six times (Revelation 20:2–7). If the Spirit meant “a long time,” He could have said so. Instead, He distinguishes: Satan bound (20:2), Christ’s saints reigning (20:4), Satan released (20:7). Prophecy, not parable.
The Kingdom begins with only believers. Jesus says: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you” (Matthew 25:34). These Tribulation survivors enter, but their children must choose for themselves. “To all who did receive Him… He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). God has no grandchildren. Faith is never inherited.
The release of Satan unmasks humanity’s deepest need. Jeremiah 17:9 declares: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick.” Even in paradise, with Christ visibly present, multitudes rebel: “Their number is like the sand of the sea” (Revelation 20:8). Only new birth can cure sin (John 3:3).
God’s justice is vindicated. “They marched up… and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them” (Revelation 20:9). Outward submission is stripped away; rebellion is judged; only the redeemed remain.
Prophecy is fulfilled. Ezekiel foresaw Gog and Magog rising against God’s people (Ezekiel 38–39). Revelation shows the ultimate reality: one last war, one last fire, one final defeat. “The devil… was thrown into the lake of fire… and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10).
The Millennium ends with rebellion, but eternity begins with glory: “Then I saw a great white throne” (Revelation 20:11)… and “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1). Evil exposed. Sin condemned. Christ victorious.
“Even under the most perfect government, the problem of sin will remain until hearts are changed by Christ. The Millennium will prove beyond all doubt that man’s greatest enemy is not Satan, but his own heart.”
— Ed Hindson
If men will rebel even with Jesus reigning in glory, how urgent is it to bow before Him now?
“Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15).
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