Postmillennialists continue to face an acute dilemma, perhaps more so now than ever before: At Christ’s return, will “the nations that are at the four corners of the earth” be in the grip of diabolic deception (Rev 20:7–9)? Or will these nations still be subdued by the power of the gospel, leaving death as the only remaining enemy (1 Cor 15:24–26)?

Postmillennialists are developing a fresh approach to one of their problem passages, Revelation 20:7–9, which predicts Satan’s end-time deception of the nations. This prophecy presents a formidable obstacle to the eschatological optimism that postmillennialism promotes:

7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 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.

The Standard Postmillennial Approach to Revelation 20:7–9

Postmillennialists affirm that the satanic deception described in these verses will happen just before Jesus returns and will still be ongoing at his second coming. This passage has posed a perennial challenge to postmillennialists in that it forces them to accept a disappointing conclusion.

To address this tension, they have typically downplayed the extent of Satan’s eschatological deception by suggesting that it will result in a relatively small, insignificant falling away. For example, David Chilton calls the language in these verses “hyperbolic.” He asserts that “the Christian ‘wheat’ will be dominant” at Christ’s return, since Satan will only deceive an inconsequential number of “tares” in “some outlying areas of the world.” Chilton quotes Austin Farrer, who likewise proposes that the devil will only beguile a smattering of unbelievers “tucked away in lands remote from the centre.”[1]

This interpretation fails to do justice to the passage, which says that Satan will “deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth” and “gather them for battle” (Rev 20:8) until “the camp of the saints” is “surrounded” by innumerable enemies (20:9). Greg Beale points out “the note of universality” in the phrase “the nations that are at the four corners of the earth” (cf. Isa 11:12; Ezek 7:2; Matt 24:31; Rev 7:1).[2] Revelation 20:7–9 indicates, for postmillennialists, that at the end of the age, the devil will successfully deceive the same nations previously discipled (Matt 28:18–20). Accordingly, some postmillennialists see the need for a revised tactic, one which acknowledges that the last-days deception of the nations (like the previous discipling of those nations) will be widespread and significant.

An Emerging Postmillennial Approach to Revelation 20:7–9

Some postmillennialists have developed a line of thought that recognizes the monumental nature of the deception but mitigates it by emphasizing two points: (1) this Satan-led rebellion will take place only at the very end, during the final generation, and (2) righteousness and peace will prevail throughout the earth for many generations before this worldwide apostasy occurs, thus fulfilling the postmillennial vision. For example, a recent article by postmillennialist Ralph Smith concedes that there will be “a final generation that turns away from Christ and the Gospel, having been deceived by Satan,” but insists that “the apostasy of the last generation does not nullify the faith and blessing of the many generations that preceded it.”

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