Rev 20
almost 3 yrs ago when i began this revelation deep-dive, i shared with ya'll in part 1 that i was pondering the title faithful witness. Jesus is called the Faithful Witness in chapter 1 and chap 3, and i wasnt sure i fully knew what it meant. i found out online there was the image theory: that the term means Jesus did a perfect job of bearing Gods image, there was the legal theory: that He was a truthful person like in a sense of a court room or even how He spoke before pontious pilot - causing people to believe, and there was the trustworthiness theory: that it means Jesus is reliable and true. and i threw out the possibility that all the concepts could even be present in the term.
And now, after meditating on the book more and seeing the emphasis on martyrs, i have some even further thoughts on the phrase faithful witness. Jesus is our perfect example. and His followers are called to be faithful witnesses just like him, to live lives that testify about Him, and of course the word martyr means witness, and in a way He was kinda the first martyr for the faith - being killed for His claims about Himself. Then He rose in victory over death. and we see faithful witnesses throughout the book - the ones that didnt bow to the beast system and it cost them their lives but they gained resurrection with Jesus - following in His victorious footsteps.
He is the perfectly faithful witness about Himself - He alone is God of all and it's His love that permeates every atom in the universe - and we can be faithful testifiers about Him, if we dont grasp our lives too tight, but are willing to lose it if push comes to shove, to stay loyal to Him. That's what it means to be in His army - it's an army of faithful witnesses.
And then we recently saw Him show up at the final battle and what's He called? Faithful and True. the rider of the white horse with many crowns and eyes of fire. the completely capable witness reveals His own identity and this alone defeats every evil thing.
in other words bearing witness to Christ like the martyrs exalted in the book is our highest calling. and we follow the OG faithful witness as we do it. Last solo episode we looked at the second half of Rev 19 - and I didn't do a good job of explaining we're in the next section. in fact i mis-spoke and said the previous section was ch 17-19 but the truth is the new section started last episode - in the 2nd half of 19. My apologies. Fall of Babylon section ended atthe half way pt of ch 19, and our current section, an expansion on the theme of the final battle, is the last half of 19 thru all of ch 20 today.
Having said that, the previous section and this current section are very related and reiterate each other a lot with related metaphors. This current section's about Armageddon once again - we're looking at a recapitulation of the final battle - and the ultimate enforcement of victory of Jesus and the saints. John uses the sandwich method in this section; he describes Armageddon first (we looked at that last episode), then there's a picture of the vindication and 1,000-year reign/rule of the martyrs sandwiched in the middle, then John describes Armageddon again from a diff angle where we see the judgement of Satan and of the rebelled dead.
Beale describes ch 20 like this: "The millennium is inaugurated... as God limits Satan's deceptive powers and as deceased Christians are vindicated by reigning in Heaven. The millennium is concluded by a resurgence of Satan's deceptive assault against the church and the final judgement."
In other words the millennium happens (a thousand year reign of Jesus and the deceased overcomers, that a lot of Christians think will be right after the tribulation and right before the great white throne judgement), where peace happens and satan is bound. And then satan makes a brief come back, and then God declares His perfect final judgement regarding everybody forever.
Note that the Day of the Lord is happening in the form of a battle here in this part of the bk (compared to being in the form of a fire or an earthquake or a harvest in earlier parts of the book). There are a lot of different layers to the Day of the Lord throughout Revelation, and this section is one thorough expansion on the theme. We're harkened back to the 6th bowl, and shown even more clearly how Jesus brings justice all around, finally and permanently.
So that's the section we're finishing up today. with that in mind let's read ch 20.
NIV:And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss
and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient
serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 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.I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to
judge [or, some scholars say this is supposed to read 'judgement was passed
for them']. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of
their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They 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 a thousand
years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were
ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the
first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be
priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
The Judgment of Satan
When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 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. 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. 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.
The Judgment of the Dead
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and
the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw
the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened.
Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged
according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the
dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them,
and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and
Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into
the lake of fire.
MSG:
I saw an Angel descending out of Heaven. He carried the key to the Abyss and a
chain—a huge chain. He grabbed the Dragon, that old Snake—the very Devil,
Satan himself!—chained him up for a thousand years, dumped him into the
Abyss, slammed it shut and sealed it tight. No more trouble out of him,
deceiving the nations—until the thousand years are up. After that he has to be
let loose briefly.
I saw thrones. Those put in charge of judgment sat on the thrones. I also saw
the souls of those beheaded because of their witness to Jesus and the Word of
God, who refused to worship either the Beast or his image, refused to take his
mark on forehead or hand—they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand
years! The rest of the dead did not live until the thousand years were up. This is
the first resurrection—and those involved most blessed, most holy. No second
death for them! They’re priests of God and Christ; they’ll reign with him a
thousand years.
When the thousand years are up, Satan will be let loose from his cell, and will
launch again his old work of deceiving the nations, searching out victims in
every nook and cranny of earth, even Gog and Magog! He’ll talk them into going
to war and will gather a huge army, millions strong. They’ll stream across the
earth, surround and lay siege to the camp of God’s holy people, the Beloved
City. They’ll no sooner get there than fire will pour out of Heaven and burn them
up. The Devil who deceived them will be hurled into Lake Fire and Brimstone,
joining the Beast and False Prophet, the three in torment around the clock for
ages without end.
Judgment
I saw a Great White Throne and the One Enthroned. Nothing could stand before
or against the Presence, nothing in Heaven, nothing on earth. And then I saw all
the dead, great and small, standing there—before the Throne! And books were
opened. Then another book was opened: the Book of Life. The dead were
judged by what was written in the books, by the way they had lived. Sea
released its dead, Death and Hell turned in their dead. Each man and woman
was judged by the way he or she had lived. Then Death and Hell were hurled
into Lake Fire. This is the second death—Lake Fire. Anyone whose name was
not found inscribed in the Book of Life was hurled into Lake Fire.
Breakdown:
20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. some think this is an archangel or other high ranking heavenly being, i saw some Bible scholars tying him to probably michael. but John's not worried about identifying the angel here, he's focused on his function. and to be fair, angels themselves seem to be more focused on their function glorifying the Name of Jesus than their own name anyway.
2-3 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan,
and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit (aka abyss
which we learned about in ch 9, some ppl think of it as the fallen realm, some
say it's a more specific spiritual prison, and a fraction of the hollow earth people
say its more local to this globe) , and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he
might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended.
After that he must be released for a little while (greek: mikros chronos - a short
time aka a little season).
some people think this blurb is a flashback to satan being cast down out of heaven, or some other previous event around the time of Jesus' death and resurrection. other ppl think this is a separate moment from those. Beale ties this casting down of the dragon to the casting down of the dragon that happens in ch 12, and he believes that it's deeply tied to Christ's resurrection. Here's what He says "In both ch 12 and ch 20, resurrection is directly linked to the casting down of satan. The resurrection of Christ in 12:5 results in Michael, Christ's heavenly representative, casting satan out of heaven, and the angel of [ch 20] doing likewise. The mention of the saints' resurrection in 20 is probably a mention of their share in Christ's own resurrection, which results in their power to rule spiritually over the devil." Btw, many Bible scholars point out that John ties the identity of the devil explicitly to Satan here, and that there also seems to be a reference to the garden of Eden serpent. So this is a main verse for everyone who believes all those are the same person / entity, along with rev 12:9 where John write the same thing! that the great dragon IS the old snake IS the devil IS satan. the only debate is how literal those "IS"s are. cause sometimes the Bible calls things by other names to describe attributes.
Also some Bible scholars think that satan getting thrown down in ch 12 and satan getting thrown down into a pit here are the same event being recapitulated. Beale thinks that, and he thinks it's during the non literal
millennial, and he supposes that is the church age. So if you heard my recent conversation with Dr Adam Ayers, those two smarties would disagree on
whether the millennium means the church age.
Here the good angel (possibly michael) binds the dragon satan, so does that mean the devil's completely powerless? or just limited? does he still influence his minions from jail, are they still wreaking havoc or is the whole operation completely paused? these are great questions that have been discussed for centuries.
the Amillennialists like GK Beale are generally gonna say it's a restriction. that Just like Jesus talked about in Mt 12 that you have to bind the strong man before you plunder his house, that Jesus has bound the enemy by His great work of redemption and bringing the kingdom of God. John 12:31 says "now is the time for judgement on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out." which also reminds me of Colossians 2, teaching us the powers of darkness are disarmed through the cross. so they would say we're already in this time of reigning and satan's already been bound. most of them would say, he's bound from stopping the gospel, from deceiving the nations away from the truth of Jesus.
but other verses, like 2 Tim 2:26 make it sound like the enemy's running about unbound at the moment - it says he can take people captive to do his will... But anyway Beale would say ever since Christ's resurrection He holds the keys to death and hades and the enemy has been thrown down to the pit / disempowered, and kept from snuffing out the gospel with deception like he desires to do.
so it depends on which theologian you wanna ask.
many ppl say that Christ's victory at the armageddon battle and the subsequent little season where satan has more influence are all yet to come. there are other people that say we're currently in the mikros chronos (little season) where satans running amuck rn! opinions vary. Also, as you may know, There are different views within Christianity on the specifics of this millennium thing. Postmillennialism is an idea that the gospel will spread and God's kingdom will be more established on the earth in such a way that it could be described as the non-literal thousand yrs of Rev 20, THEN Christ will return.
Amillennialism is an idea that we're in the non-literal thousand yrs referred to in Rev 20 now - that the millennium is just the current church age. Premillennialism is an idea that Jesus is going to returnbefore the possibly-literal thousand yr reign, both of those events being yet to happen at this pt in history.
I also notice that John says "after the 1k yrs the devil has to be let loose briefly" - but doesnt explain why. why does he have to be released for a short time?cant we just send him straight to his final punishment? You may have heard me ask Dr Ayers this.
Most of your mainstream evangelicals will explain it like this quote from GotQuestions.org : "At the beginning of the millennium, only believers will be alive, some who live through the tribulation period, and some who come back with the Lord at His second coming. It will be a time of peace unparalleled in history.... The believers who live through the tribulation will be mortal. They will live and repopulate the earth during the millennial kingdom. Without the devastation of sin taking its toll, we can imagine the population increase during the millennium will be enormous... they will still be born with a sin nature, and they will still have to freely repent and believe the gospel, personally choosing Christ as Savior and Lord.
Yet, at the end of the millennial reign, Satan is loosed and is able to deceive a vast multitude to follow him in one final rebellion ... Even though the number who rebel with Satan are said to be "as the sand of the sea" they may still be a minority compared to the number who do not rebel. It will still be a large number of souls who join Satan...
Additionally, God is trying to tell us something about His nature as displayed during the millennium. His grace and goodness will be on display continually. But at the end of the 1,000 years, He will have zero tolerance for rebellion. When it happens, He will show no mercy and offer no "second chances." At that time He will be quick to judge, and the final rebellion of Satan and sinful man will be over in a flash of fire. After this, the final judgment of the dead takes place...
Eternity can thus begin with every aspect of sin gone for all time..." People in this camp are saying it has to do with the free will of the never-dead- yet humans that roam the earth during the millennium - that they will have an adversary and a choice who to serve just like every generation before them.
But you heard that Dr Ayers isnt convinced that's it, and he says it's more about the superior power of Christ being displayed when satan gets let out like "dont call it a come back" and then bam he's done. and death is also done with him. this whole thing also reminds me of Thessalonians 2:6 where paul talks about there being a person who restrains the lawlessness of the antichrist from getting too out of control, and one day the restrainer's gonna step out of the way. the restrainer might be the Holy Spirit or someone acting on Gods behalf, but the point is things are under the authorization and limitation of a sovereign God.and this mention of the enemy having a short hay day also reminds us of verses like 12:12 "woe to the earth and sea bc the devil has come down to you; he's angry cause he knows he has LITTLE TIME" and like 6:11 "to each of [the martyrs] a white robe was given and it was said to them they should rest YET A SHORT TIME.." there's an imminence here - the havoc will end.
4-5 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority
to judge was committed (or "judgement was passed for them"). [is that us?
some of us? elders? non human elders?] Also I saw (or some translations say
they, meaning the ones on the thrones, were) the souls of those who had been
beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and (or some
translations dont have the word and here) 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 (this is the phrase used in Ez 37; some people think
this means physical resurrection, others think it means just spiritual) and reigned
with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until
the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.
some translations make it sound like it's rulers on thrones AND previously beheaded Christians AND all who didnt take the beast's mark. Other translations make it sound like these are three descriptors of the same one group of Christians. When Dr Adam Ayers read it straight from the greek right here on this podcast, he said he felt it was a layered descriptor of one group of people. judgement is passed for them or given to them or both depending on how u read the greek i guess - and this could be an allusion to Daniel 7 "the Son of Man arrived and judgement was passed in favor of the saints" It's also important to remember that John often points to the concept of God's people being a kingdom of priests for Him, which is first found in Exodus 19:6. The whole story arc contains God delegating to humans the authority to do things like reign and judge and steward and bless and invite and serve as priests and be ambassadors for God's kingdom, etc.
So they reign for a thousand yrs. this is to mean a long time. there's a rich history of the scriptures using the phrase a thousand yrs non-literally, to mean a very long enduring blessing of the redeemed.So that's either all believers, or a VIP pre-party of forerunner believers, depending which Bible scholar u ask. and the phrase "the rest of the dead werent raised yet" is then everybody else meaning believers not martyred and all unbelievers, OR unbelievers according to the ppl that think all believers are in the first res, OR its JUST non-martyred believers if u are someone who thinks the non-believing dead dont get raised to judgement but i think thats a less common belief.
i still have a possibly silly question about when this verse says "this is the first resurrection" - Jesus raised Lazarus, then Holy Spirit raised Jesus, and some other holy people came out of graves that it seems like Mt 27 says were re- alived before Jesus was, and yet here's rev 20 saying that this end times re-aliving is supposed to be the "first resurrection" - maybe that's another reason to consider the possibility that it's a spiritual resurrection thats referred to here.
idk.
6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the
second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and
they will reign with him for a thousand years.
so WHO is co-reigning with Christ during the 1k yrs?? is it just people who were beheaded? is it all faithful Christians that have died so far? verse 6 just gave us addl info on the individuals who reign in the millennium. and it makes it sound more like it's all Christians. we know we're gonna eventually reign with him, the only question is do we average Christians start at the millennium or later on. and we know death also has no power over us and we also will serve as priests of God. so John's either describing every believer here, or some forerunners that set the precedent for all of us
and notice the major emphasis on victory even in defeat. the roman empire and every beast-run empire can sometimes kill our bodies, but not our souls. and if we belong to Christ we will experience victory and rulership after death, bc death isnt the end of the story. your suffering here on thisside is a temporary and very not-wasted state. He is working it for your good and you are becoming more like Jesus.
7-8 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners (or quarters) of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle (that same phrase is found in ch 16 and ch 19 - its from zech 14); their number is like the sand of the sea. what does "the four corners of the earth" mean? it was a jewish old school way of saying: the whole world.
here's what happens when satan gets released from prison: armageddon. - again you say?? remember the revelation isnt linear - this section (vv 7-10) is another description of the final battle where evil is defeated. of course it's basically already defeated bc of Christ's death and resurrection, that's why we can do things like cast out demons and heal from trauma and save souls with the power of God's love and good news of His rulership, but this will be the final enforcement of the defeat of evil. And what's with the term Gog and Magog?
This is from Ez 38. In the Hebrew text it reads like Gog is the name of an enemy leader and Magog is the place he rules. Later it kinda morphs into the phrase Gog AND Magog, which is a concept of this is an enemy that is going to be defeated by the messiah, and that will usher in the messianic age. Different groups identified them as different ppl over time, but one that's notable is
Josephus (the well known jewish historian in roman times) said this was the descendants of the Magog the Japhetite mentioned in Genesis). So whoever it is, the concept Gog and Magog is: an enemy army that's destined for defeat. (Some dispensationalists will tell you Gog of Magog is going to be Russia - if you've heard that, I understand the argument for it and... I personally don't agree with that conclusion)
The book of Revelation also alludes back to Zechariah and Zephaniah when it talks about this; there are many OT prophesies that talk about a huge enemy army, and a lot of times you get the sense that God is behind (or at least allowing) this wicked conglomeration to usher in heaven's ultimate victory over evil.And, the enemy army depicted throughout Rev seems to be tricked into it. Remember we're told the leader os a dragon who deceives the earth's inhabitants. There's some false narratives and false promises being spread here, and many humans are joining up with these deceptive forces. So there's an evolution of thought from Ezek to Rev - in Ezek an army was gathered against ancient israel, and God was planning to use that situation; here everything's amplified and universalized - the whole earth is supplying soldiers for the dragony army, and all God's people are encircled by their forces.
9-10 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them,and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur (we saw this also in ch 14) where the beast and the false prophet were (there's some debate about the greek here, and whether these two were in there a lot earlier, or all three are being thrown in simultaneously) and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
So vv 9-10 are still working in that allusion to Ezek. and we see some exodus vibes in here too with the "camp of the saints" phrase. in Rev the church is in the desert/wilderness bc it's our place of protection for a while. And it's equated here with the beloved city - we ARE the city. 3:12 says everyone who overcomes gets the name of God's city written on them. we'll learn more about this glorious city in the next couple episodes, but for now just know that jewish first century readers would so get this. and they would prob also think of Ps 87 where it talks about God loves the city of zion, and other people can be written into the records as born in the city even if in a literal sense they werent. fire comes down and consumes the enemy - just like earlier in the book in ch 11 fire consumed the people who messed the two witnesses. and just like in 1 Kings 1 when there was a showdown between Elijah and the Baal prophets; fire consumed their altars. some people interpret this end times fire as a literal thing that's going to happen; others see it as figurative for judgement and destruction. then the devil gets thrown into the lake of fire with the beast and the false prophet. Bible readers who read Rev more linearly and literally are going to see this as happening way later - the beast and false prophet were thrown in like a thousand yrs earlier than the devil - but Bible readers who see the bk morecyclically are going to read this as just another recapitulation of a judgement that's already been touched upon elsewhere in the bk. G K Beale takes a strong stance that they're all 3 actually thrown in at the same time, all after the millennial reign, partly bc he believes that the millennial reign is right now, the church age. and while im not sure about that, in general i do agree w him that the judgement in 19 and the judgement in 20 are likely descriptions of the same event.
and plenty of Bible scholars will also point out that the lake of fire prob isn't literal/physical, because these are spiritual beings being judged, but metaphorical for spiritual judgement.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his
presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
I kinda love that; John's droppin bars here in this poetic imagery of God's authoritative presence making heaven and earth flee for cover. we saw a similar situation in ch 6 - let's run it back: 6:1
2And I watched as the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and there was a great
earthquake, and the sun became black like sackcloth of goat hair, and the whole
moon turned blood red, 13and the stars of the sky fell to the earth like unripe
figs dropping from a tree shaken by a great wind. 14The sky receded like a scroll
being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.
15Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty,
and every slave and free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the
mountains.16And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide
usb from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the
Lamb. 17For the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to
withstand it?”
we also saw something similar in ch 16 during the last bowl: "then every island fled, and no mountain could be found" this is all giving daniel 2 vibes, where "no place was found for" the wicked
kingdoms when judgement happens. keep in mind a new heaven and earth are going to descend from capital-H Heaven in the next chapter. so is this just poetry here? or are the fallen earth and skies fleeing in some way that's for real before the instatement of the heavenly city that happens next? it's interesting to ponder.This isnt the first mention of a vision of God seated on the throne - ch 4 and ch 5 mention the same visual. and these are all allusions back to daniel and ezek.
12-13 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and
books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life.
And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what
they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades
gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them,
according to what they had done.
if you arent already convinced about recapitulation in revelation, think about this; in chapter 11 John wrote "and the time came for the dead to be judged"- and now in chapter 20 the time comes for the dead to be judged. so if you're still thinking this book might read in order, idk what to tell you and If you look back at rev 16 and 19, the topic of final judgement of the beast's army has already occurred in this book. so it's potentially another example of recapitulation: maybe the 6th and 7th bowl judgements in ch 16 equal the defeat of the beast in ch 19, which both also equal this description in 20 which happens to include the non-redeemed being thrown into the lake of fire with their leaders.
14-15 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the
second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the
book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
the book of life is also called the lambs book of life, and the book of life of the lamb who has been slain. it should make us think about daniel 12 when being written in God's book meant salvation from doom. when you're name is in that book, you get associated with the lambs death and resurrection. they become your death and resurrection. it's references in the letter to sardis, it was a spiritually dead church yet there were faithful believers within it that were going to be found alive - listed in the bk of life. another example of life occurring even in death.so how about you - has a dream seemed to die? or is your church kinda dead? or is your marriage kinda dead? or are you dealing with illness or depression and there are days where you feel sorta dead? or is there a spirit of death speaking to your mind making you wish you were dead? ... look at the promise of this holy spiritual book. with our holy scriptures we learn theres a heavenly holy book that belongs to the lamb. and if you follow him you also belong to the lamb. and your name is written in his forever life book. bc he paid the price for you to be there, and then he re-alived. and when you die you get to re-alive, in his perfect presence forever. and on top of all that you can pray and bring that into the now. the same spirit that raised Christ will quicken your mortal body and empower you. youre a plant growing and thriving even in the concrete or corporate jungle around u. you're the awake to God person in a family or friend group of unbelievers. you're walking through the fire of the trials of life knowing youre not alone and bc he wins you win! life conquers death in this epic final story. and its real and you can tap into it now. lots to think about from this amazing chapter, and a theme that keeps coming to mind is the idea of authority. the high ranking angel had authority to jail satan. the believers are given authority to take the role of priests and judges. when satan gets released for a brief time he isnt authorized to deceive the elect. everything happens according to authority and the Lord is Lord of all bc as the Author He has the greatest authority. This can give us comfort - things are ordered. He is in charge. there are limits on the scope and the duration of the things of the beast. so let's take heart, bc the story's about to get really really really good. (pray)