Revelation 20:9, commentary and pictures

At the close of the thousand years after Christ's second coming the holy city descends from heaven to the plain made from the Mount of Olives, with the saints gathered safe inside and the wicked dead raised outside it. Satan with his angels leads that vast resurrected host, unchanged in rebellious spirit, to march across the breadth of the earth and compass the camp of the saints to seize the beloved city and overthrow God and Christ. God ends the siege by sending fire down out of heaven that falls upon the wicked outside and devours them root and branch, with Satan as the root and his followers as the branches, so they cease to exist. The burning lasts according to deeds, some consumed quickly and others suffering until nothing remains, while Satan bears added punishment for his own rebellion and for the sins he led others to commit and suffers longest. This is the final execution of the judgment determined during the thousand years, and the same fire that consumes the wicked purifies the whole earth and prepares it as the new earth the redeemed then inherit.

Timing and Setting

The vision belongs to the close of the one thousand years after Christ's second advent, after the saints have rested in the holy city and reigned as kings and priests and have sat in judgment in the city in heaven, and it is the execution of the final judgment after the wicked have been raised and heard their sentence. At that time Jesus descends with the angels and all the saints, leaving the holy city as He comes down to earth. He stands upon the Mount of Olives, which parts asunder and becomes a mighty plain, and the holy city comes down from heaven from Paradise and settles on the plain. The rest of the earth is not yet cleansed when the city descends and the wicked dead are raised and gather around the city.

The saints are gathered inside the descended New Jerusalem on earth while the wicked dead are raised outside it. Jesus welcomes the saints to inherit the kingdom, closes the gates of the city, and the curse is pronounced on the wicked. The glorified saints with Jesus then stand on top of the city wall to witness the end, watching from inside while the judgment decided in unison by Jesus and the saints during the thousand years is carried out. When seen at this time the city itself is God's temple where the saints serve Him day and night, having no separate temple.

The wicked just raised flee at His appearing. Those who pierced Christ see Him afar off in all His glory with angels and saints, and wail because of Him at the sight of the prints of the nails and spear. All who disowned Christ and betrayed Him in the person of His saints then see the result of their work at the general judgment at the end of the one thousand years.

The verse belongs to the events following the thousand years during which Satan is bound on the desolate earth. The wicked are resurrected, they surround the saints and the beloved city, and Satan and all the wicked are finally destroyed by fire from God. This destruction brings Christ's triumph and reign on earth.

Final Assault on City

Satan leads the wicked raised in the second resurrection with his angels in a final assault on the camp of the saints and the beloved city, seeking to seize the city with its riches and glory, to overthrow God and Christ, and to regain his kingdom. The resurrected wicked experience no change in death but resume the rebellious and warlike spirit, desires, thoughts, ambitions and desire to conquer they had when they fell, just where they ceased. The vast army includes countless millions, mighty warriors and kings skilled in battle, mighty giants and valiant men who never lost a battle, rulers and people from before the Flood including the long-lived antediluvian race of lofty stature and giant intellect, kings and generals who conquered nations, proud ambitious conquerors and warriors such as Napoleon, with the feeble made strong.

Satan passes among his subjects, consults with his angels and with the kings and conquerors and mighty men, claims he raised them and is their rightful ruler who will free them, flatters them that the company in the city is small and feeble while his army is large, and deceives them that by numbers and strength they can overcome the saints and take the city. Seeing the vast multitudes on his side his hopes revive and he determines not to yield, marshaling all the armies of the lost under his banner to execute his plans, for the wicked are his captives who in rejecting Christ accepted the rule of the rebel leader and are ready to receive his suggestions and do his bidding. Deceived and stirred by Satan, all immediately prepare for battle with skillful artisans constructing weapons and implements of war and famed military leaders marshaling warlike men into orderly companies and divisions each under its appointed leader with military precision. Then at the order to advance the countless host marches across the breadth of the earth over its broken and uneven surface to the city of God, with Satan the mightiest of warriors at the head followed by kings and warriors and angels uniting their forces, an army such as earthly conquerors never summoned and the combined forces of all ages since war began could never equal.

They compass the camp of the saints and surround the beloved city and place themselves in battle array with all kinds of implements of war expecting a fierce conflict. By Christ's command Jesus closes the gates and ascends with the angelic host and the crowned saints with glittering crowns to the top of the wall above them. Outside for battle the wicked see the redeemed crowned and glorious with Jesus in the King's majesty, understand the eternal life for the just and death for the wicked and the reward they have lost, recognize that sin ends in death, and their courage fails. Satan's last hopeless struggle is vain and doomed because he knows God's power and majesty, sees his plots have failed and he has again and again been defeated and forced to yield, and cannot prevail; the wicked remain hostile but when victory is seen to be impossible they turn in rage against Satan and his agents.

Destruction by Fire

God ends the encirclement by sending fire down from God out of heaven that falls upon the wicked outside the city and is breathed upon them, devouring and consuming them with complete destruction so that they cease to exist and their feet will never desecrate the earth made new. This devouring is the final execution of judgment on all the wicked after they have been raised and gathered at the close of the one thousand years, the final destruction of Gog and Magog and of Satan's host. It displays God's wondrous power and is just in light of His love for fallen man in giving His only begotten Son to die for them, which makes continued perversity inexcusable.

The destruction and death of the wicked by this fire is caused by the wrath of God and the Lamb. The seven last plagues are poured out after Jesus leaves the sanctuary, and are distinct from this final execution at the close of the one thousand years. The wicked are burned up root and branch: Satan is the root, and his followers and children are the branches.

Punishment lasts according to deeds: some are destroyed quickly, while others suffer as long as any part remains to be consumed, until nothing remains for the fire to consume. Satan and his angels suffer longer and more greatly, and their destruction satisfies God's justice. Satan bears added punishment for his own rebellion and for the sins he led God's people to commit, being confined to the desolate earth for a thousand years and at last suffering sin's full penalty in the fire that destroys all the wicked.

The fire from heaven joins fire from within and beneath the earth, breaking open the earth with devouring flames bursting from its chasms and bringing destruction across its surface and consuming the works of the earth. Coal and oil, formed from trees that once grew on the earth and were used for idols, have been reserved as agencies in this final destruction. As God once used the waters of the Flood to destroy the ancient world, so He uses fire to destroy the wicked of all generations, including those who died in the Flood, with hidden weapons exposed. The same fire that consumes the wicked purifies the whole earth, melting the broken ragged mountains with fervent heat and consuming the atmosphere and all stubble. In this way the verse's fire represents the destruction of the wicked in connection with Christ's return and the end of the world.

Judgment Justice and Renewal

The fire that devours the encircling host is the final execution of judgment on all the wicked, coming after they have been raised at the close of the thousand years and have heard their sentence. It carries out what Jesus and the saints in unison determined during the thousand years, each receiving according as had been decided then. At the voice of God the saints are made mighty and terrible as an army with banners, but they do not execute the judgment then. Its execution comes at the close of the thousand years, when the destruction and death of the wicked by fire is caused by the wrath of God and the Lamb, distinct from the seven last plagues poured out after Jesus leaves the sanctuary.

That destruction outside the city displays God's wondrous power and is just in light of His love for fallen man in giving His only begotten Son to die for them, which makes continued perversity inexcusable. In the cleansing fire all creation recognizes God's justice, as Satan and his followers are finally destroyed and punishment is meted according to deeds. The punishment takes place before the assembled universe, with errors and wrongdoing exposed, so that those who refuse to confess their sins now will then have them exposed and will share the punishment. After the second resurrection Satan and his followers perish together; all acknowledge God's righteousness, but their cases are settled forever and they receive no further probation.

While the wicked are consumed outside, the righteous remain safe inside the holy city, watching from within after the gates are shut. The same fire from God that consumes the wicked purifies the whole earth, melting the broken ragged mountains with fervent heat and consuming the atmosphere and all stubble. After this destruction the new heaven and new earth appear and the glorious and beautiful inheritance is opened. The earth made new, prepared by that purifying fire, then opens before the saints as their eternal inheritance, which the redeemed inherit with shouts of Glory, Alleluia and triumph.