How Satan was destroyed

In our last 3 articles in this series,

Why it’s important that Jesus already returned

Why it’s important that the Resurrection of the Dead happened

The Great White Throne Judgement was expected in that generation

we proved that Jesus promised to return in the disciples lifetimes in order to resurrect and judge the living and dead (Matthew 16:27-28). He was not lying, making a guess, or misunderstood by the disciples, and the angel of Revelation made an oath that his coming would not be delayed.

How the Great White Throne Judgement was expected in that generation

We proved this promise to soon come and “reward each according to his work” (Matthew 16:27-28) is the same event as the sheep and goats judgement of Matthew 25:31-41. We also proved that the sheep and goats judgement of Matthew 25:31-41 is the same judgement as the Great White Throne Judgement of Revelation 20:11-15. Thus we concluded, Matthew 16:27-28 and the Great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11-15 are the same event and Matthew 16:27-28 promised it would occur in the disciple’s lifetimes.

Jesus also promised his disciples would experience the most distressing time in the history of the world in their generation (Matthew 24:34, Luke 21:36 NIV) and never again would there be a greater time of distress (Matthew 24:21) in fulfillment of Daniel (Matthew 24:15, Luke 21:22). Daniel 12:1-12 prophesies that at the most distressing time of the world, the dead would be resurrected and the wicked dead to shame and everlasting contempt.

Both Paul and Peter claimed either explicitly or implicitly that the resurrection of the wicked dead was about to occur (Acts 24:15 see Greek, 2 Timothy 4:1 see Greek, 1 Peter 4:4-7).

Since Revelation 20:11-15 is the only place in Revelation that describes the resurrection of the wicked dead happening, it was promised to be fulfilled in the disciples’ generation.

How the resurrection of the dead was promised to occur

In the article about the resurrection of the dead, we showed that the resurrected saints were not meant to dwell on earth forever, but heaven (John 14:2-3, Philippians 3:20, 2 Corinthians 5:1, 1 Peter 1:4, John 17:14). We showed that the dead were waiting in Sheol or Hades for the resurrection (Revelation 20:12-13, 1 Corinthians 15:52-57, Hosea 13:14). They were not already in heaven. We also showed that in the resurrection the dead would receive new “spiritual” (1 Corinthians 15:44), “heavenly” bodies (1 Corinthians 15:49) “like the angels” (Luke 20:35-36). And just as the bodies of the angels and the resurrected body of Jesus could be visible or invisible, material or immaterial (Genesis 19:1-11, Genesis 32:22-32, John 12:28-29, Matthew 3:16-17, 2 Kings 6:17, Luke 24:31, John 20:26, Luke 24:37-39), so too the resurrection of the saints could be either an invisible or visible event (Philippians 3:21).

How does the thousand year reign end soon?

But this forces us to accept some difficult conclusions. The resurrection of the wicked dead and Great White Throne Judgement of Revelation 20:11-15 was said to happen at the end of the thousand year reign (Revelation 20:5). In addition, Satan was thrown in to the lake of fire soon after the end of those years (Revelation 20:3,7,10). So then, if the Great White Throne Judgement was supposed to happen in the disciples lifetimes, that can only mean that Satan would have been destroyed and the millenium would have finished within the disciple’s lifetimes.

Remember that a prophecy must fulfill both it’s content and timing to be inspired. I hope the provide one reasonable explanation on how these promises could have been fulfilled in the first century but other readers may find other explanations. We will explore:

1. How the first resurrection at the beginning of the thousand years happened.
2. How Satan was bound.
3. How the thousand years could be reduced to forty.
4. How Satan was released at the end of the thousand years to deceive the nations and gather Gog and Magog against the saints
5. How Satan was thrown into the lake of fire and Gog and Magog were destroyed by fire

If we can provide probable candidates demonstrating how these events occured, we will have another line of evidence that our faith is credible.

The first resurrection at the beginning of the thousand years

The thousand years begins with Satan being bound and those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus coming to life.

Revelation 20:4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

But if the thousand years were ending before Jesus returned in 66AD, then that means this first resurrection must have happened before then. We have just such a candidate occuring at Jesus’s resurrection:

Matthew 27:51-53 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

This event is occuring before 66AD and involves a resurrection of many holy people, no sinners were resurrected at this time. These saints were likely raised with Christ into heaven (Ephesians 4:8-9) forty days later.

How did the saints in Matthew 27 avoid the Mark of the Beast?

Revelation 20:4 describes that the saints in the first resurrection were “those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands.” If the beast was Rome/Nero how could these saints be the people described since they lived long before Nero?

These holy people could very well have been the prophets and Jews who had prophesied and taught about Jesus in the Old Testament to previous generations and were killed for their testimony. A friend of mine, Robert Cruickshank, in an unpublish manuscript (p. 103-104) quotes Richard W. Engle that the beast was greater than a symbol for Rome/Nero. It “became a symbol for great kings and empires who punished Israel or whom Israel should avoid.” (39) Egypt/Pharaoh (Ezekiel 29:2-3) and Babylon/Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 51:34) were also described as “serpents” or “beasts” towards God’s people and those who held to the testimony of Christ in their prophets suffered at their hands.

They came to life with Christ

But how can we be extra sure this resurrection (Matthew 27) is describing the same resurrection at the beginning of the Millennium?

Revelation 20:4 They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

What if here it’s not only that they reigned with Christ but that they came to life “with Christ” and reigned with him for a thousand years? Meaning they came to life with him at the same time as his resurrection? Although we cannot absolutely prove that they came to life at the same time as Christ, such a reading is permissible. But while that might be an interesting position to take, there is a better way we can validate this connection. We can compare Matthew 27 to Ezekiel 37 and Ezekiel 37 to Revelation 20.

Matthew 27 correlates with Ezekiel 37

Cruickshank has pointed out that Matthew 27:51-53 and Ezekiel 37:1-14 are likely describing the same prophecy (p. 76-83).

1. Both include the Spirit raising the bodies of many (Ezekiel 37:2 Matthew 27:52) Holy people (Ezekiel 37:11, Matthew 27:52),
2. Both include an earthquake (Ezekiel 37:7, Matthew 27:51)
3. Both include the tombs or graves being opened (Ezekiel 37:12, Matthew 27:52)
4. Both involved the resurrected bodies being lead into the Holy City afterwards (Ezekiel 37:12, Matthew 27:53)

Ezekiel 37-48 correlates with Revelation 20-22

Cruickshank also points out the striking correlations between Ezekiel 37-48 and Revelation 20-22 (p. 87, Unpublished Manuscript).

Therefore Matthew 27 correlates with Revelation 20

If the resurrection of the saints in Matthew 27:51-53 is correlated with Ezekiel 37:1-14 and if Ezekiel 37:1-14 is correlated with Revelation 20:4-6, then Matthew 27:51-53 is also correlated with Revelation 20:4-6. Therefore, the resurrection of Matthew 27:51-53 is our most likely candidate for the resurrection at the beginning of the thousand year reign.

How Satan was bound

Revelation 20:1-3 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

What evidence do we have in the Bible that Satan was bound between 30-70AD? Jude tells us the demons were currently bound with everlasting chains waiting for the the day of judgement.

Jude 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.

Paul tells us the lawless one, who’s coming is by the activity of Satan, was being restrained from coming just yet:

2 Thessalonians 2:6-10 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

So when did this binding begin? Whatever candidate we choose it must be around the same time as the first resurrection of the martyrs.

Matthew 12:28-29 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.

Jesus tells us that by him driving out demons he was tying up the strong man so he could plunder his house.

Luke 10:17-20 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” 18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

The disciples were suprised that the demons submitted to them in Jesus’s name. These passages seem to be strong candidates for Satan being bound. It occurs around the same time as the first resurrection. Jesus says, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy.” He is reducing Satan’s authority and power to act or “binding” and limiting him.

We may also consider the “Gospel of Nicodemus.” In this writing, as Jesus descends into Hades at the time of his death, he rescues the martyrs and raises them to paradise. While doing so, he orders Satan to be bound in Hades until his second appearing.

Gospel of Nicodemus Part II – The Descent of Christ into Hell Chapter 6 (22).

Then the King of glory seized the chief satrap Satan by the head, and delivered him to His angels, and said: With iron chains bind his hands and his feet, and his neck, and his mouth. Then He delivered him to Hades, and said: Take him, and keep him secure till my second appearing.

I don’t know what credibility or authority we should give to the Gospel of Nicodemus, however it does at least demonstrate that this was a view of the early church and may give additional evidence that Satan was bound around the time of Christ’s death.

What was Satan prevented from doing?

But, in what manner was Satan bound? Was he completely out of action? We could not take such a view if he was bound between 30-63AD because the apostles still speak of Satan having limited mobility, even blinding the minds of unbelievers (2 Corinthians 4:4). So then if Satan was bound, what exactly was he prevented from doing? Unfortunately, the Bible doesn’t give us more information, so we must infer what he was restricted him from doing. One way we could solve this dilemma is to look at what Satan does as soon as he is loosed:

Revelation 20:7-10 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves.

Whatever Satan was prevented from doing before he was loosed, he would have been anxious to do as soon as he was released. As soon as he is released he goes out to deceive the nations and gather them for battle against God’s people. This is the activity he was bound from doing before. But, who was Gog and Magog?

Who is Gog and Magog?

Ed Stevens in his PDF, What the Rabbis Said about the Millennium says:

Talmud — Mas. Sanhedrin 94a

Gog and Magog are, in Jewish eschatology, the tribes who shall lead all nations in a tremendous attack upon Israel; their final defeat ushers in the halcyon [peaceful] days of the Messiah, (Ezek. XXXVIII, XXXIX). It is not clear whom the prophet had in mind, the whole passage having the mystic form of apocalyptic prediction. The present passage is remarkable in that it shows that in the opinion of its author no particular nation was intended, but any great heathen power whose destruction [in the sixth millennium], by the will of God, is to precede the [seventh] millennium.

So then Gog and Magog respresent a heathen power who attack God’s people “Israel.”

I speculate, that Gog represented unbelieving Jews and Magog respresented Rome. But how did unbelieving Jews become Gog? In the Old Testament prophets, it was Babylon, Sodom, and Egypt who were the enemies of God’s people Israel. Since the establishment of the New Covenant, God’s people were reconstituted. It was no longer ethnic Jews but those of faith in Jesus Christ who become the true Israel (Colossians 1:26-27, Romans 4:12, Romans 11:17-18, Matthew 3:9, Ephesians 2:11-22, Romans 9:6-8, Galatians 3:29, Galatians 4:21-31, Acts 3:21-26).

Worst yet, the old Israel not only rejected Christ but persecuted God’s new people, killed Jesus, and was being held responsible for killing the prophets, making themselves an enemy of the true Israel (Galatians 4:29, Matthew 10:17-23, Revelation 3:9, Revelation 2:9, Luke 11:46-51, 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16, Romans 9:27). That’s why Revelation refers to unbelieving Jerusalem as Babylon, Sodom, and Egypt (Revelation 18:21,24, Matthew 23:30-38, Revelation 11:8). Likewise, Revelation says Gog comes against “the camp of God’s people” (Revelation 20:9). In Revelation, ethnic Jews are never defined as God’s people.

As we will cover two sections from now, when Satan was released, possibly in 63AD, he used the Jews to convince Rome to use “Caesar’s sword” for the first time against the Christians in the Neronic persecution. Persecution existed in small doses, but was no where near as wide-spread or terrible as in the Neronic persecution.

Tom Mills from “Preterist and Futurist debate and discussion” group on Facebook says:

Did you know in the Septuagint, in the story of Esther, Haaman, the villan of the story that tried to kill all the jews by the kings decree, is called a “gogite”? The Hebrew scriptures say Agagite, but in the LXX its Gogite, I find that very enlightening! In the same way that Babylon from the OT is used to describe Israel in the NT, I think that perhaps it is the same thing with the Gogites applying to some villan in the New too! (Tom Mills)

In Revelation, perhaps Gog is the unbelieving Jews who wished to persecute God’s people (Christians, Israel) using Nero’s degree like King Xerxes decree to carry it out. They were acting like Haaman, the Gogite.

Another line of evidence that Jerusalem is Gog, is how Ezekiel describes it’s downfall:

Ezekiel 38:21-22 I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign Lord. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.

In the siege of Jerusalem, the Jewish rebel factions warred against each other within the walls of Jerusalem. They suffered plagues as prophesied against Israel for breaking a covenant (Deuteronomy 28:58-61) , famine, bloodshed and Roman hailstones were showered down on them. Ultimately they were destroyed by fire, as Revelation 20:9 prophesies.

How is a roaring lion bound?

But if Satan was bound from waging war against the saints, how do we explain Peter’s statement?

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Satan does not seem to be bound in this verse. This book was written just before the Neronic persecution, likely in July of 63AD according to Ed Stevens (The Final Decade, 128), which as I will argue in this article was around the time when Satan was released from the thousand year reign. This is why he says,

1 Peter 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

So then during the nearly 40 year span between Jesus’s ministry and 63AD we have mostly ambivalence from Rome towards Christians. Seeing that Satan was bound from causing Rome to go to war against Christians, and given that this occured in the same timeframe as the first resurrection, this seems to be a reliable realization of Satan’s binding.

How the thousand years could be reduced to forty.

When we are reading the Bible, to accurately understand the meaning, we must put ourselves in the shoes of the people first hearing these words. If we do that, we will realize that a much different meaning for “thousand years” comes out.

Many Jewish Rabbis and Christians in Jesus’s time believed the world was divided up in 7 Millennia corresponding to the 7 days of creation with the Messianic age being the 6th millennia. When God’s kingdom arrived it would mark the beginning of the 7th millennia or “cosmic Sabbath.”

Genesis 2:2-3 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Psalm 90:4 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.

Hebrews 4:8-11 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

A thousand years referred to the full length of each age, although few believed the ages each lasted exactly a thousand years. Scholars and Christians of the first century differed on how many days they believed the 6th millennia would last and many of the scholars expected that time period to be well below a thousand years. Those days were also called the “days of the Messiah,” and they were believed to be purposed for the transition between the ages. Some believed this aeon would last only 40 years:

R. Eliezer [c. 80-120 AD] said, “The days of the Messiah will be forty years.”

R. Akiba [c. 120-140 AD] said, “Forty years, as long as the Israelites were in the wilderness.”

Most understood it to be a time of great anguish:

B. F. Westcott (1889). Jewish teachers distinguished a ‘present age’ (this age) from ‘that age’ (the age to come). Between ‘the present age’ of imperfection and conflict and trial and ‘the age to come’ of the perfect reign of God they placed ‘the days of the Messiah,’ which they sometimes reckoned in the former, sometimes in the latter, and sometimes distinct from both. They were, however, commonly agreed that the passage from one age to the other would be through a period of intense sorrow and anguish, ‘the travail-pains’ of the new birth (Mt. 24:8). The apostolic writers, fully conscious of the spiritual crisis through which they were passing speak of their own time as the ‘last days’ (Acts 2:17; James 5:3; comp. 2 Tim. 3:1); the ‘last hour’ (1 John. 2:18); the ‘end of the times’ (1 Peter 1:20; 2 Pet. 3:3); ‘the last time’ (Jude 18).

What the Rabbis Said about the Millennium by Edward E. Stevens

When John wrote about the thousand years, he doesn’t elaborate on it any further, showing that he assumed his audience already understood what he meant. This means we must rely on how the early Christians understood him in order to realize the length of the “days of the Messiah” or the thousand years. In this case, the thousand year reign could be understood as the age-during reign.

You can read more about this here:

What the Rabbis Said about the Millennium by Edward E. Stevens

The disciples believed they were living in the Millennium reign of Christ

But do we have any evidence that the disciples believed they were living in the mellinnium?

1 Corinthians 15:19-26 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Ed Stevens draws a parallel between 1 Corinthians 15:23-26 and Revelation 20:6 in his PDF, “Millennium Transition Period”. Christ was the firstfruits of the resurrection, just like the resurrection at the beginning of the Millennium (1 Corinthians 15:23, Revelation 20:6) and that at Christ’s coming, the remaining dead would be resurrected (1 Corinthians 15:23) just like the Great White Throne Judgement at the end of the Millennium (Revelation 20:5). Christ was currently reigning (1 Corinthians 15:25) and that at his return, the end would come when he has defeated all his enemies (1 Corinthians 15:24). He follows by using the word “For”, which means it is explaining the reason for something described in the previous sentance. For Christ must reign until Death is defeated. He makes clear that Christ’s return would mark the end of Death. Death is not defeated in Revelation until the Great White Throne Judgement (Revelation 20:14) and the new heavens and earth (Revelation 21:4). So Paul places himself in the middle of the Millennium reign and was eagerly expecting the rest of the dead to rise, for Death to be defeated and for the end to come as soon as Christ arrived.

Rod Stokes profoundly notes in his PDF, that the final defeat of death was promised to occur at Christ’s Parousia (1 Corinthians 15:19-26). The final defeat of death occurs at the end of the Millennium (Revelation 20:14) proving that Christ’s Parousia also occurs at the end of the Millennium. Thus, the statement “Behold, I come quickly” (Revelation 22:12), which refers to his Parousia, meant that the end of the Millennium was near when John wrote (Rod Stokes, Study Series 16 Lesson 8: Revelation Chapter 20 also: Sub Study Millennium (Fulfillment period of Heb. 8:13)).

Stokes also points out that Peter was not hastening and looking forward to the beginning of the Millennium but to it’s end at the “new heavens and earth” (2 Peter 3:12-13).

2 Peter 3:12-13 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

The new heavens and earth don’t arrive until the end of the Millennium (Revelation 21:1). So Peter, was not looking forward to the beginning of the Millennium, he assumed he was already in it and was eagerly praying for and expecting the end of the Millennium.

Jesus confesses himself that he was now reigning.

Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Paul and Hebrews in other places says Jesus was reigning:

Ephesians 1:20-23 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Hebrews 1:3-4 After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs

Hebrews 1:13 And to which of the angels has he ever said,

“Sit at my right handuntil I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

Hebrews 2:8 Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control.

Hebrews 10:12-13 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.

The author of Hebrews places the reign of Jesus, who was sitting at the right hand of God in his time and that enemies were currently being made a footstool for his feet.

Jesus’s reign in the first century can be paralleled with the reign of David over Israel:

2 Samuel 5:3-4 and they anointed David king over Israel. 4 David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.

Likewise Jesus was roughly 30-35 years old when he was resurrected from the grave and reigned for roughly 40 years until God’s kingdom arrived.

So Paul and Peter believed that Christ was currently reigning, wouldn’t this mean they believed they were in the Millennium?

How Satan was released

Revelation 20:7-10 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves.

Christian persecution existed in smaller doses before 64AD, but in that year the Neronic persecution started and for the first time the “sword of Caesar” was used against Christians.

Search your records, then you shall find that Nero was the first that used Caesar’s sword against this sect, which at that time greatly increased at Rome. However, we glory in the author of our condemnation, for he who understands, knows that Nero could only condemn that which is very good. [Tertullian Apology Bk. 1, Ch. 5 (3:22)]

A fire broke out in Rome and the Jews incentivized Nero to falsely blame the Christians. Christians were hunted down and subjected to widespread and brutal torture.

Philip Schaff tells us that Sulpicius Severus (c. 363-425) in his Chronicle (2:28-29) “gives a pretty full account [of the horrors suffered in Rome], but mostly [copied] from Tacitus. Both he and Orosius (c. 375-418, History Against the Pagans 7:7) [were the first to] clearly assert that Nero extended the persecution to the provinces.” Both of these were Christian writers, and Orosius worked with both Augustine and Jerome (Ed Stevens, The Final Decade, 152)

Ed Stevens writes:

But Orazio Marucchi, a Roman Catholic scholar, mentions several Roman and Italian sources who indicate that the Neronic persecution was not just confined to Rome or Italy, but rather:

“…extended throughout the length and breadth of the Empire. The burning of Rome was but a pretext, for the Christians were to be considered as enemies of the human race.” [Orazio Marucchi, Manual of Christian Archeology, p. 29] (Stevens, The Final Decade, 155)

If the thousand years were coming to a close, I can see no better time to mark the release of Satan than the start of the Neronic persecution and fire in Rome. He was allowed for a short time to persecute Christians. He “deceived” Rome into falsely blaming the Christians and gathered those Gentile persecutors against Christians. Notice what Philip Schaff has to say about that time:

Under this wanton charge of incendiarism, backed by the equally groundless charge of misanthropy and unnatural vice, there began a carnival of blood such as even heathen Rome never saw before or since. It was the answer of the powers of hell to the mighty preaching of the two chief apostles, which had shaken heathenism to its [foundations]. A “vast multitude” of Christians [were] put to death in the most shocking manner. Some were crucified, probably in mockery of the punishment of Christ, some sewed up in the skins of wild beasts and exposed to the voracity of mad dogs in the arena. The satanic tragedy reached its climax at night in the imperial gardens on the slope of the Vatican (which embraced, it is supposed, the present site of the place and church of St. Peter): Christian men and women, covered with pitch or oil or resin, and nailed to posts of pine, were lighted and burned as torches for the amusement of the mob; while Nero, in fantastical dress, figured in a horse race, and displayed his art as charioteer. Burning alive was the ordinary punishment of incendiaries; but only the cruel ingenuity of this imperial monster, under the inspiration of the devil, could invent such a horrible system of illumination. (Schaff, History of the Christian Church)

We covered that when Satan was loosed he would wage war against the saints. We have just such an event happening with Nero using the Roman state to persecute Christians. It seems we have a probable candidate for the time of Satan’s release.

How Satan was thrown into the lake of fire and Gog and Magog were destroyed by fire

Revelation 20:7-10 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

After Satan attacked the saints, he was thrown into the lake of fire and fire came down from heaven and devoured Gog and Magog. If Satan was about to be destroyed in their generation, did the disciples expect this?

Romans 16:20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

Paul was expecting Satan’s demise soon. We have just such an event occuring a few short years after Jerusalem’s burning. In 79AD a huge fire broke out in Rome which was so great, the Romans believed it was sent by God. At that same time, Cassius Dio writes of the Abyss opening up and giants roaming the earth and flying through the sky. Could this have been the angels throwing Satan into the lake of fire literally?

Cassius Dio Epitome of Book 66:22-24

22 1 Such is Vesuvius, and these phenomena usually occur there every year. But all the other occurrences that had taken place there in the course of time, however notable, because unusual, they may have seemed to those who on each occasion observed them, nevertheless would be regarded as trivial in comparison with what now happened, even if all had been combined into one. 2 This was what befell. Numbers of huge men quite surpassing any human stature — such creatures, in fact, as the Giants are pictured to have been — appeared, now on the mountain, now in the surrounding country, and again in the cities, wandering over the earth day and night and also flitting through the air. 3 After this fearful droughts and sudden and violent earthquakes occurred, so that the whole plain round about seethed and the summits leaped into the air. There were frequent rumblings, some of them subterranean, that resembled thunder, and some on the surface, that sounded like bellowings; the sea also joined in the roar and the sky re-echoed it. 4 Then suddenly a portentous crash was heard, as if the mountains were tumbling in ruins; and first huge stones were hurled aloft, rising as high as the very summits, then came a great quantity of fire and endless smoke, so that the whole atmosphere was obscured and the sun was entirely hidden, as if eclipsed. 23 1 Thus day was turned into night and light into darkness. Some thought that the Giants were rising again in revolt (for at this time also many of their forms could be discerned in the smoke and, moreover, a sound as of trumpets was heard), while others believed that the whole universe was being resolved into chaos or fire. 2 Therefore they fled, some from the houses into the streets, others from outside into the houses, now from the sea to the land and now from the land to the sea; for in their excitement they regarded any place where they were not as safer than where they were. 3 While this was going on, an inconceivable quantity of ashes was blown out, which covered both sea and land and filled all the air. It wrought much injury of various kinds, as chance befell, to men and farms and cattle, and in particular it destroyed all fish and birds. Furthermore, it buried two entire cities, Herculaneum and Pompeii, the latter place while its populace was seated in the theatre. 4 Indeed, the amount of dust, taken all together, was so great that some of it reached Africa and Syria and Egypt, and it also reached Rome, filling the air overhead and darkening the sun. 5 There, too, no little fear was occasioned, that lasted for several days, since the people did not know and could not imagine what had happened, but, like those close at hand, believed that the whole world was being turned upside down, that the sun was disappearing into the earth and that the earth was being lifted to the sky. These ashes, now, did the Romans no great harm at the time, though later they brought a terrible pestilence upon them.

24 1 However, a second 5 conflagration [fire], above ground, in the following year spread over very large sections of Rome while Titus was absent in Campania attending to the catastrophe that had befallen that region. 2 It consumed the temple of Serapis, the temple of Isis, the Saepta, the temple of Neptune, the Baths of Agrippa, the Pantheon, the Diribitorium, the theatre of Balbus, the stage building of Pompey’s theatre, the Octavian buildings together with their books, 6 and the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus with their surrounding temples. Hence the disaster seemed to be not of human but of divine origin; 3 for anyone can estimate, from the list of buildings that I have given, how many others must have been destroyed.

This event seems to closely match the prophecy in Revelation 20:

Revelation 20:9-10 But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown.

Perhaps one of the giants roaming around was Satan and he was cast into Vesuvius. Either way, this event certainly seems to match “fire came down from heaven and devoured them” and occurs within the few short years that Satan had remaining. Cassius Dio himself says,

Hence the disaster seemed to be not of human but of divine origin;

It seems the people experiencing these events would certainly describe the Heavens and Earth shaking in a quite literal way:

There, too, no little fear was occasioned, that lasted for several days, since the people did not know and could not imagine what had happened, but, like those close at hand, believed that the whole world was being turned upside down, that the sun was disappearing into the earth and that the earth was being lifted to the sky.

Ezekiel 37-39 closely parallels with Revelation 20. I speculate that the eruption of Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum on the coastlands of Rome was the fulfillment of Ezekiel 39:6 and Revelation 20:9:

Ezekiel 39:6 I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in safety in the coastlands, and they will know that I am the Lord.

Revelation 20:9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.

Gog, the believing Jews who persecuted Christians were destroyed by the fire of war from the Romans and the Romans, Magog, were destroyed by the fire of Vesuvius.

In addition, many people who worshipped false gods believed the gods were destroyed at this time:

There were some so afraid of death that they prayed for death. Many raised their hands to the gods, and even more believed that there were no gods any longer and that this was the one last unending night for the world … I believed that I was perishing with the world, and the world with me, which was a great consolation for death. (Pliny the Younger, Letters, 6.20)

If we believe that false gods were Satan and his demons and if the people who worshipped them from this time forward believed they no longer existed, this is strong evidence that Satan and his demons were destroyed in the lake of fire at this time.

Furthermore, the Jews or Greeks believed this eruption of Vesuvius was the wrath of God as fire coming down from heaven,

and showers will fall from heaven like red earth. Know then the wrath of the heavenly God (John J. Collins, Sibylline Oracles—A New Translation and Introduction)

Too see more evidence check out: The Destruction of Pompeii—God’s Revenge? by Hershel Shanks.

Conclusion

The thousand years were expected to conclude in that generation before the soon approaching Great White Throne Judgment. Paul believed himself to be in the mellinnium reign. Many Christians of that day expected the mellinnium reign or “days of the Messiah” to be much shorter than a thousand years though they used that same term to describe the timeframe. We have a resurrection of only holy people occuring around 30AD and Jesus alluding to the binding of Satan in that same year. Not only this, but we have evidence of Satan’s release around 63AD in the Neronic persecution and his demise in 79AD in the lake of fire of the volcano Mount Vesuvius. Also in 70AD and 79AD, we have evidence that unbelieving Jews and Rome or “Gog and Magog” were largely destroyed by the siege of Jerusalem and a volcanic eruption and divine fire. Thus we can conclude that Jesus did all he promised he would do in that current generation and that he indeed was proven to be our Messiah.

For additional evidence that the thousand years was concluding in that generation check out

Don K Preston The War Revelation 20:7-8 | Memphis Eschatology Conference 2016

[39] Richard W. Engle, PSALM 74: STUDIES IN CONTENT, STRUCTURE, CONTEXT, AND MEANING (Submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Theology in Grace Theological Seminary May 1987), p. 88. http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/OTeSources/19-Psalms/Text/Books/Engle-Ps74/Engle-Ps74.pdf