‘And when the thousand years are over Satan will be loosed from his prison and will come forth to deceive the nations who are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people (the saints) and the beloved city, and fire came down from Heaven and devoured them.'
Satan's loosing from his prison (Revelation 9:11) indicates that in the final days before Christ's coming he will be given greater rein (Revelation 12:12; Revelation 17:12), although, as we learn earlier, unable to touch those who have been sealed by God (Revelation 9:4). He especially reveals the effect of this release in the rising up of the beast from the abyss (Revelation 17:8) and of the dreadful spiritual creatures headed by their equally dreadful king Apollyon, which is almost certainly another name for Satan himself (Revelation 9:2-11).
‘And will come forth to deceive the nations.' The emphasis is here laid on his deceitfulness. This is one of the characteristics most often applied to Satan, along with his pride (1 Timothy 3:6). He is ‘the father of lies' (John 8:44 compare 2 Corinthians 11:3). His known career began with deceit in the Garden of Eden and here it ends in deceit, and he has deceived people all the way through (2 Corinthians 4:4). It is because of him that people ‘believe a lie' (2 Thessalonians 2:11 in context). This ‘coming forth' has very much the rise of the scarlet beast of Revelation 17 in mind.
‘Gog and Magog ---'. This idea is taken from Ezekiel 38, 39 where in the final days Gog, of Magog (Ezekiel 38:2), - both the king and his people - will come against the people of God only to be totally defeated and destroyed (compare Revelation 19:21). In Ezekiel they are situated in Asia Minor, and there is no question but that this comes before Christ's second coming, for the final restoration of God's people is then described. In apocalyptic and Rabbinic literature, however, ‘Gog and Magog' have become symbolic figures representing the enemies of God, so that they have by this time become world figures, which explains why they can gather such huge forces.
‘The number of whom is as the sand of the sea.' It was on the sand of the sea that Satan first stood when the beast first came out of the sea (Revelation 13:1). His standing on it signified his dominion over it, just as later the strong angel would stand on the sea and the earth to indicate God's taking control (Revelation 10:5). Now he makes use of those whom he dominates.
‘To gather them together to war.' This parallels Revelation 19:19. Now we see what chapter 19 is indicating. Satan was not expecting the rider on the white horse to appear. He had gathered his armies together to finally eliminate the people of God.
‘And they went up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people and the beloved city.' Note that God's people live in ‘a camp', in temporary accommodation (parembole - fortified camp or barracks) for they are soldiers of Christ (2 Timothy 2:3-4) and strangers and pilgrims on the earth (Hebrews 11:13). They seek a city which is above whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:10).
‘The beloved city' is in contrast to ‘the great city' likened to Sodom and Gomorrah in Revelation 11:8. The latter is physical Jerusalem. The former is those in that city who are true to God (the sanctuary of Revelation 11:1-2) and look to the city that is above (Galatians 4:26). Compare how in Psalms 78:68 ‘the mount Zion which He loved' is the tribe of Judah, the ‘chosen' tribe, over against the remainder of Jacob's descendants, so that ‘He loves the gates of Zion more than the dwellings of Jacob' (Psalms 87:2). The ‘beloved city' therefore refers to the camp of the chosen remnant. This suggests that here the people of God are the beloved city, as they are the components of the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2 with Revelation 21:12-14).
This is confirmed elsewhere in Revelation for it is clear that while the literal Jerusalem itself is a city rejected and condemned, ‘trodden down', there is a chosen remnant within with whom God deals (chapter 11, see especially Revelation 20:8). The thought of a fortified camp of Christians fits well with the picture of Satan making war with God's people (Revelation 11:7 and elsewhere). This explains why the armies go ‘over the breadth of the earth' (compare Habakkuk 1:6) for the camp of the people of God is worldwide. Compare Ezekiel 38:11 where Gog's attack is on ‘the land of unwalled village, --- those who are quiet and dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor gates', a perfect description of the people of God whose stronghold is God. This camp of God's people is in total contrast to the first camp when Cain ‘built an encampment' (Genesis 4:17 with Numbers 13:19). Cain's action was leading up to Babel and Great Babylon. The camp of God's people is a leaving of Babel to stand with God.
‘And fire came down from Heaven and devoured them.' When Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to call on their God (who was god of storm and lightning) to light the fires of sacrifice directly (through his lightning) they failed in their endeavours, but for Elijah the fire came down from Heaven and devoured the sacrifice (1 Kings 18:24; 1 Kings 18:38). This same fire came down on Elijah's enemies from God (2 Kings 1:10; 2 Kings 1:12). So will God's fire finally fall on Satan's hosts.
Here again we have an illumination of chapter 19. As we saw there, there was really no battle, and yet the hosts were destroyed. Here we have the explanation. There they were described as slain by the sword from the mouth of the Word of God (Revelation 19:21), here we learn it was a fiery ‘sword', a sword of lightning like the sword in Genesis 3:24. Once again those who rebel against God are being prevented from having access to the tree of life by the fiery sword, but this time it is permanent. Ezekiel 38 links the sword with fire and brimstone (Revelation 19:21 with 22).