During the End Times, there are many plans for Satan. While many individuals are under the false belief that Satan is the cause of the tribulation, he is not. The events of the End Times, including the seal judgment, the bowl judgment, and the trumpet judgment, are the works of God.
Each part of eschatology has already been carefully crafted by God. He is the one in charge of the End Times. Satan has no decision or power over the End Times. The devil plays a major role, but God is ultimately in control.
The Events of the End Times
Before understanding the plans for Satan during the End Times, we have to first establish the events of the End Times. The events of the End Times in order according to a premillennial dispensational perspective consist of:
1. The Rapture.
2. The Seven-Year Tribulation.
3. Jesus’ Second Coming at the Battle of Armageddon.
4. Satan being thrown into the Abyss and locked away for 1,000 years.
5. Jesus’ literal 1,000-year reign on earth.
6. Satan being released from the Abyss for a short time.
7. Gog and Magog.
8. Satan being thrown into the Lake of Fire.
9. The Resurrection of unbelievers and the Great White Throne Judgment.
10. Those who reject Christ are thrown into the Lake of Fire.
11. The creation of the New Heaven and New Earth.
Knowing these future events of eschatology will help us map out the plans for Satan during the End Times.
As mentioned, Satan plays a major role in the End Times, but he does not cause all of the negative things to happen. During the time of the Tribulation, Satan will be closely working with the Antichrist and the false prophet.
In this way, Satan will establish a false trinity made of him, the Antichrist and the false prophet. Satan does this to undermine the true Trinity of the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
As shown throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament, Satan is constantly trying to undermine God and His plans.
Despite Satan’s efforts, nobody can thwart God’s purposes. God is more powerful than anyone or anything, including the devil. While Satan has an important part in the End Times, it is all in conformity with God’s will.
Satan will be working with the Antichrist and false prophet to deceive the nations. The entire goal of Satan during the End Times will be to try to thwart God’s plans and prevent the unsaved from knowing Jesus and accepting Him as their Savior.
It is important to mention here that only unbelievers will enter the tribulation. Before the start of the seven-year tribulation, believers will be taken up in the Rapture.
This will happen quickly, and believers will be taken up faster than the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:52). All believers will be taken up to be safely with the Lord. They will be spared from God's wrath throughout the tribulation.
The purpose of the Tribulation is to be a last chance for the lost to come to know the Lord. The tribulation is also mainly focused on Israel coming back to the Lord. Israel is still God’s people, and He desires for them to come to know Him.
Since the focus of the Tribulation is on causing ethnic Israel to turn back to God, Satan will be focusing on preventing those who are ethnically of Israel from coming to know God.
While Satan will still be trying to prevent all people from accepting Jesus, he will be specifically targeting Israel. Satan does this because he wants God’s people not to choose him and to instead continue to live in rebellion.
There will be Israelites, and Gentiles saved during this terrible time in history, yet it was through the painful time of the tribulation that they will choose to accept Jesus.
Even though it will be quite painful and grueling to go through the tribulation or experience it to some degree, these new believers who come out of the tribulation will experience eternity with the Lord because they placed faith in Him.
During the Tribulation, there will be many individuals who become believers, and they will be martyred for their faith by the Antichrist. These individuals will be known as the Tribulation saints (Revelation 7:9).
God’s Plans for Satan
As we can see, just because Satan is trying to thwart God’s plans doesn’t mean he succeeds. Everything works out in accordance with God's will, even bad things. In addition to Satan’s role in the Tribulation, he has other functions during the End Times.
After Jesus returns for His Second Coming at the Battle of Armageddon, He destroys the antichrist, Satan, the false prophet, and all those who rejected His name. After the end of the Tribulation, Satan is thrown into the Abyss and is locked away for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:3).
During these 1,000 years, Jesus will literally reign for 1,000 years on earth. Despite Jesus’ literally being on earth and walking among men, there will still be those who choose not to follow Him.
Believers who don’t die during the Tribulation will live on earth along with past resurrected believers. While resurrected believers will not be able to have children, those who don’t die during the Tribulation will be able to have children.
Since this is true, their children have to make the choice of whether they will personally accept Jesus as their Savior. Sadly, many will choose to rebel and will reject the Lord.
After the 1,000 years have ended, Satan will be released to test the nations (Revelation 20:3). The devil is released to test the nations to see who is going to follow Christ and who is going to reject Christ.
Believers will not be tested; however, the children and grandchildren of the believers of the Tribulation will be tested. Once the nations have been tested and each individual’s allegiance has been made, Gog and Magog will take place.
Revelation 20:7-9 tells us, “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.”
What Does This Mean?
After the events of Gog and Magog take place, Satan will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. God has no further purpose for Satan, and He will destroy the devil once and for all.
Once the devil is thrown into the Lake of Fire, the resurrection of all unbelievers of all time will be resurrected, and the Great White Throne Judgment will occur.
During this judgment, unbelievers will be judged based on the severity of their sin, and then they will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. The Lake of Fire does not cause a person to be eradicated, but rather, it causes everlasting pain and torture to the individual.
The Lake of Fire will be the forever end to the Antichrist, the false prophet, Satan, and all unbelievers. For those who choose to accept Jesus as their Savior, they will go to live in the New Heaven and New Earth.
God will create this new place for us to live with Him forever in paradise. There will be no more crying, pain, or death (Revelation 21:4). There will only be joy, happiness, and love.
No more will there be any sin across the New Heaven and New Earth. Everything will finally be restored just as God had planned ever since the fall of mankind.
For further reading:
Who Are Gog and Magog in the Bible?
What Are the Signs of the Apocalypse?
5 Things Christians Need to Know about the Lake of Fire
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