The Persian Gulf War (2)

The Persian Gulf War and Revelation 20

Revelation 20 and its popular interpretation by American Christianity

Verses 1-3 and 7-9 of Revelation 20 will receive our special attention here.

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.... And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

Revelation 20 serves as the foundation for an elaborate premillennial eschatology. In order to build this doctrinal edifice, the reference to the thousand-year reign of Christ is superimposed upon all of Scripture, and thus all prophecy and references to the return of Christ are interpreted in the light of this chapter.

An amillennial view of Revelation 20

However, when we examine this chapter from an amillennial perspective, a very different picture emerges. First, it is evident that this chapter presents us with a compact summary and overview of human history (which appropriately is followed by a description of the new heaven and the new earth in chapters 21 and 22), as well as the culmination of this history— the white throne judgment described in verses 11-15. In this chapter the history of mankind is divided into three major divisions: the initial season when Satan went about deceiving the nations of the world unopposed (Israel being the only nation to whom God had regularly revealed Himself unto salvation); the second season when Satan is bound for a thousand years so that he can deceive the nations no more; and the third and final season when Satan shall be loosed again for a little season in order to deceive the nations once more. All of this culminates before the white throne when Christ shall judge the nations of the world.

It is the amillennial view which correctly teaches that the thousand-year reign of Christ and the concurrent thousand-year binding of Satan commenced at Pentecost. On that day the Spirit of God broke through international barriers and wrought mightily in the hearts of sinners from every nation. Since that day Satan has not been able to stop the advance of the gospel. Wherever the gospel has come in the world, the prince of darkness, who prior to this had free reign among the nations of the world, has had to yield to Christ who by means of the gospel establishes His spiritual kingdom on earth. This spiritual conquest of the world is nearly finished as there are only a few nations where the gospel has not been brought. This indicates that we are at the end of the gospel age, the second season of human history. We stand on the threshold of the final season of history.

The signs of Satan being loosed

According to Revelation 20, this final season shall be ushered in by the loosening of Satan. How are we to know when Satan has been loosed (for his final moment of dominion)? Revelation 20:8 states that two events shall signal this loosening: 1) he shall go out to deceive the nations, and 2) he shall gather those nations to battle. Is it not possible that these events are currently taking shape?

Even a casual observer of the twentieth century will conclude that there are numerous indications that Satan is being progressively loosed. This is being validated by the rapid proliferation of falsehood around the globe. Evolutionism and humanism have come to full bloom. A world which wholeheartedly embraces both of these lies is now ready to embrace New Age thinking with enthusiasm. Satan has cultivated the soil of human thinking and has deviously prepared it for the acceptance of the ultimate lie of New Age philosophy by which Satan is literally deceiving the nations.

Since World War II a satanic apostasy has increased until we have now arrived at the West’s growing rejection of Christianity and its concurrent embracing of New Age thinking. This tendency is so pervasive that Christian leaders have openly stated that the West has entered the post-Christian era—an era in which Christianity is in rapid retreat. Is it not possible that the “falling away” of which Paul speaks in 2 Thessalonians, and which shall precede the revelation of the man of sin, has indeed begun?

In addition to the West’s growing rejection of Christianity we are observing an alarming preoccupation with the occult. Satanism has been acknowledged to be the fastest growing religion in North America. It is rapidly gaining influence in high schools and on college campuses of the United States and other Western nations. An alarming number of young people are deeply involved in the occult, being fueled by a rock music industry which flagrantly markets Satanism. Many poor young people openly pledge an allegiance to the prince of darkness that frequently leads them along a pathway which culminates in suicide.

We cannot but conclude that we see alarming evidence that the nations are indeed being deceived by the prince of this world who has cunningly repackaged his original lie as New Age philosophy. This deceit is of a global scope, and is facilitated by a global media network which enables Satan to market his lie with an effectiveness and rapidity as never before.

In returning to Revelation 20:8, we must notice that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between Satan’s deceit of the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth and his gathering of these nations to battle. In other words, it appears that this gathering to battle is a direct outgrowth of the deceit that he is perpetrating upon the nations. Hence it is possible that we have been or soon shall be witnessing the fulfillment of Revelation 20:8.

Our interpretation of Revelation 20 leads us to conclude that the season before us will only be short in comparison to the thousand year season in which Satan has been bound. Satan knows that he has little time left to accomplish the objective he has lusted after since he deceived our first parents in Paradise, i.e., total dominion over this earth. The progression of human history during the last few years has accelerated at a breathtaking speed. Events which we would have never deemed possible have transpired in an incredibly short period of time. This includes the dismantling of the Russian empire which made it possible for the international coalition to engage Russia’s ally, Iraq, without risking a nuclear holocaust. David Gergen writes in the January 28, 1991, issue of U.S. News & World Report

The disappearance of the Soviet threat has transformed this crisis. Only with Soviet cooperation could the United States turn to the United Nations early on. Only because Western Europe is now safe could the United States pull half of its forces out of Germany to achieve a massive buildup in the gulf. And last week (the week of January 15, 1991 — BE), only because they no longer fear the Soviets could Americans fire off their top weapons.

The prince of this world is in a hurry. He believes the Scriptures and he trembles; he is watching the signs of the times more carefully than we are. He knows that none of God’s words will ever fall to the ground. In order to have his final hour of glory before he shall forever be cast into the lake of fire, he is offering the leaders of the world what he offered Christ in the wilderness: the nations of the world!

However the precise details of Revelation 20 will be fulfilled, we may be assured that we are caught in the final rapids of the river of human history. This river will deposit us before the great white throne of the majestic God of heaven and earth. Then shall be fulfilled what we read in verse 12: “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” (Rev. 20:12). This solemn fact ought to occupy our thoughts more than anything else when we reflect upon all the ramifications of the Persian Gulf War.

The Significant Implications of this War for Us Personally

It ought to concern us greatly that the approaching Judgment Day is not uppermost in everyone’s mind as the world still basks in the glow of the decisive victory of America and its allies in the Persian Gulf War. The prevailing opinion is that this is a glorious moment in America’s history, and that this victory is a clear indication that God is on our side. It is understandable that we would be inclined to embrace such an idea out of love for our nation. How comforting and refreshing it is to believe this after having heard in recent years that our national sins have made us ripe for divine judgment! Instead, it now appears that God has blessed us in a most extraordinary manner. But is this really true?

In the light of Scripture we must seriously question such a notion. The entire history of Israel bears witness to the fact that God will only favor a nation that walks in His ways and obeys His precepts. Who in all honesty would dare to maintain that this is currently true for our nation and the international coalition to which it belongs? Let us examine the facts in the light of Psalm 50:16-21 which is most applicable to our current situation:

But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take My covenant in thy mouth? Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest My words behind thee. When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers. Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s son. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself.

Let us now paraphrase this passage and apply it to the current condition of North America—and for that matter the entire Western world which shares this moment of victory. The Lord would say today: “You have been condoning the slaughter of the unborn since 1973. You are indulging in every imaginable form of fornication and adultery. You are training the children of this nation to lead immoral lives under the guise of freeing them from worn-out notions of the past. You are the leading exporter of pornography to the world. You make a mockery of My holy day, when instead of worshipping Me you indulge in the lusts of the flesh. “These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself” (v. 21).

Like Israel, are not many interpreting God’s silence as a sign that all is well after all, and thus the notion is strengthened that God is indeed just as we are— a pragmatic God who overlooks sin and blesses us even when we habitually trespass His holy law? If this victory would be indicative of divine favor, would not God be presenting Himself as something other than a sin-hating God who will judge rather than bless the wicked?

If God’s goodness and longsuffering patience do not lead us to repentance— which, sad to say, appears to be the case at present—it is to be feared that this victory could turn out to be a judgment rather than a blessing. Instead of bringing about genuine repentance, it may only further enhance the superficiality of religion that prevails in our culture, namely, that the practice of religion in times of great need is all that God really requires of us. Moreover, without repentance it will only harden our nation in indulging in the lusts of the flesh. These perceptions may even further erode the credibility of Scripture in a Western world which is progressively engaged in the total elimination of the Holy Scriptures from its social fabric, relying instead upon man-made weaponry and human ingenuity.

Must we not fear that for many this success will end in nothing more than the prosperity of the wicked, of whom Asaph writes that “pride compasseth them about as a chain,” and who say, “How doth God know? and is there any knowledge in the most High?” Asaph concludes that “these are the ungodly who prosper in the world; they increase in riches” (Ps. 73:3-12). The prosperity of an ungodly coalition of nations, which is now boasting of its success, weaponry, and soldiers, may be “the prosperity of the wicked” whereby our Western world is being fattened for the day of slaughter.

Dear reader, let us not be deluded. What we are witnessing today is first and foremost the execution of God’s decree rather than the triumph of justice and the dawn of a brighter and better future. Both Scripture and history make it clear that God uses nations for the execution of His eternal decrees concerning other nations. God even calls the ungodly Medes His servants whom He had appointed to destroy the Babylonian empire (Isa. 13).

Parenthetically, God used those Medes to execute judgment upon Israel’s enemy, the empire of Nebuchadnezzar. May we not observe that also in this war God used the international coalition as His “servant” to protect Israel, the beloved for the fathers’ sake, from the aggression and conquest of the man who boasts of being Nebuchadnezzar’s heir apparent, Saddam Hussein? Furthermore, must we not view the coalition’s crushing defeat of Saddam Hussein as the means whereby God has executed judgment upon the avowed enemy of Israel, a nation that is still the object of His special care?

Consequently, there ought to be serious reflection about what this victory truly implies. Is there not reason to fear that a just God is giving this Western world over to the hardening of its heart a hardening already evident in the boastful pride which now prevails and which may well lead to an ultimate hour of destruction? Precisely when man will believe that he has succeeded at last in completing the construction of his tower of Babel by having removed all international barriers and when all appears to be well, Scripture shall be fulfilled: “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them” (1 Thes. 5:3)— the destruction foretold in Revelation 20:9.

The King of kings is returning to judge the nations

We ought to give heed to the signs of the time. The Lord is speaking loudly; also the current circumstances are a clear indication that the return of His Son is imminent. How imminent we do not know, for we are forbidden to engage in such speculation. There is reason to believe, however, that there is but a relatively short season left.

We have a solemn duty at the present time to examine our priorities carefully. If ever there was a time that we ought to remind ourselves and our children that we are called to live as strangers and pilgrims in this perishing world, it is now. If ever we ought to stress to our children that the major objective of their life ought not to be a successful career in this world, but rather to be reconciled to their Maker through the mediatorial work of Jesus Christ, now is the time. We must prepare our children for difficult times ahead-times in which Christians may well be increasingly persecuted in such a way that the comforts and blessings we now enjoy may become a thing of the past.

How seasonable therefore is Christ’s exhortation uttered at the outset of His ministry: “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”! Dear reader, are you prepared to endure persecution for righteousness’ sake? More importantly, are you prepared to meet your Maker in righteousness? Also this war is one of the footsteps of the King of kings who is coming to judge the quick and the dead. Soon the trumpet shall sound, and then the nations of the world shall perceive that they were deceived. They will have to bow before Him who alone is the sovereign Ruler of the universe. What a dreadful moment it shall be for all who have believed Satan’s lie which he marketed to the nations of the world as an angel of light, holding out to them the seductive promise of peace, justice, and prosperity in a New Age for humanity!

The blessed prospect for the church of God

On the other hand, how blessed is the prospect for you, dear children of God! All that is now transpiring is an indication that your redemption is drawing nigh. The same Jesus whose subject you have become by His wondrous grace, and whose appearing you love, is coming to present His beloved bride to His Father. You alone may truly look forward to a “New Age” of God’s making. Peter tells us: “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Pet. 3:13). The day is dawning when a true international community consisting of the redeemed of all ages shall inhabit the new world to enjoy a peace and prosperity which eye hath not seen and ear hath not heard. In this world God in Christ shall be all in all rather than man. John received a glimpse of that blessed moment when he wrote:

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb (Rev. 7:9,10).

Then Psalter 200:1 shall truly be fulfilled:

Christ shall have dominion
Over land and sea.
Earth’s remotest regions
Shall His empire be.

Therefore, in the midst of all your afflictions and tribulations and the stream of foul transgression which prevails within you from day to day, lift up your heads and pray more fervently than ever, “Come Lord Jesus, come quickly!” The consummation of human history shall mark the beginning of everlasting joy for you, when you shall forever be able to worship and serve the God whom you love with every fiber of your being. There you shall behold His loving countenance forever in the face of His magnificent Son who shall eternally dwell in the midst of a people whom He has loved with an everlasting love and purchased with His blood!

In conclusion, let us seek grace to heed Peter’s admonitions:

Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 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? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless (2 Pet. 3:11-14).

Bartel Elshout is presently on leave of absence as evangelist, and is translating W. Brakel’s The Christian’s Reasonable Service (Redelijke Godsdienst).

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