Judgment Day
Revelation 20 is about the contrasting final judgments on the two distinct groups: Jesus’ followers and the followers of the Evil Empire (the system that developed from the city-state model of Babylon). First, Satan is captured and taken away from influencing humanity for a thousand years. He is later released for a short time to wreak havoc on those who had experienced a thousand years of peace under Jesus Christ. At the end of that time, fire from heaven consumes the human followers. Meanwhile, the devil and his two chief henchmen (the Beast and the False Prophet – both of whom seem to command demons) are thrown into the lake of fire, to be “tormented day and night forever.” At this point there only seem to be three entities in “hell.”
In contrast, resurrected followers of Jesus rule over the world with Him for that Millennium. They are said to be immune from the “second death.”
After the final battle at the end of the Millennium, subsequent to the Devil´s being cast into the lake of fire, comes the judgment of all human beings who have ever lived. The only basis for judgment that the Revelation gives is their works and whether their names are written in the Book of Life. This final judgment destroys all who are now written in the Book of life in the lake of fire. While the Devil, the Beast and the False Prophet are said to be tormented forever, there is no mention of eternal torment for the human beings cast into the lake at this point. The name of this event is “the second death,” which may suggest that the punishment is different in result than that of the three prior inhabitants.
Important safety tip: get your name into the Lamb´s Book of Life.
Wascana Fellowship 
Hi John,
Ever wonder what the point is of releasing Satan after the millennium? It never really has made sense to me. I mean, Jesus has returned, put all things under His feet and all is wonderful, no sin, no sickness, no tears, no temptation from the Devil.
Then, whammo, let’s let Satan out again to run amuck again for a little while before finally banishing him forever. I just have never seen what the whole point of ever letting him back out again is. Why? I just don’t get it.
Hi Randy, I have puzzled over that one for a long time. I´m not sure I have the answer, but there are a couple of thoughts that have occured to me. The first is that this event seems to kick off the final judgment sequence in the book. Maybe this is how God “clears the pool” to get judgment started.
Or else maybe this is a test for those who, like Adam and Eve, began without a real test of obedience until the Serpent came along. God is testing to see if the Millennial generation really gets what their peace cost.