Elias Brasil de Souza
This study addresses the final moments of the great controversy as portrayed in the Bible and explained in the writings of Ellen G. White. Three sections organize the exposition that follows. The first section offers a cursory outline of the final events to provide the proper backdrop for the ensuing discussion. The second section addresses Satan’s final battle and the executive judgment. In the third section, this paper deals with the descent of the New Jerusalem, the capital of the new earth. A short conclusion wraps up some of the main points of this essay.
Based on Ezekiel 38–48 and Isaiah 24–27, among other Old Testament texts, Revelation 20–22 provides an overall picture of the last events. Space does not allow an exegesis of the biblical passages related to each event, but an overview shall suffice for this study. One should bear in mind that the Second Coming of Jesus stands as the pivotal event of biblical eschatology, which sets in motion a series of events that culminate in the resolution of the great controversy. Upon Jesus’ coming, the faithful dead of all the ages “will be raised incorruptible” (1 Cor. 15:52) and the faithful who are alive “will be changed” (1 Cor. 15:52). Thus, clothed with immortality, all the saints are taken to meet with Jesus in the air and ascend with Him to heaven (1 Cor. 15:50-58; 1 Thess. 4:13-18). There they will spend one thousand (millennium) years partaking of the judgment of the wicked.
While the Second Coming of Christ brings resurrection and transformation to the believers, it also brings destruction to the beast, the false prophet, and all the living wicked. Thus, all the wicked that are alive on the occasion of Jesus return are put to death by the glory of His appearance. Along with the wicked dead from past ages, they will remain in the tomb until the second resurrection, which will take place at the end of the millennium (Rev. 19:19-21).
According to God’s plan, however, Satan will survive the cataclysmic events triggered by the Second Coming. He will spend the thousand years that will elapse between the two resurrections restricted to this depopulated planet and contemplate on the devastating effects of his rebellion on the earth. Eventually, after one thousand years are completed, God brings back to life the innumerable multitude of the wicked dead. Ellen G. White offers this ominous portrayal of the second resurrection:
At the end of one thousand years, Jesus, the king of glory, descends from the holy city, clothed with brightness like the lightning, upon the mount of olives—the same mount from whence he ascended after his resurrection. As his feet touch the mountain, it parts asunder, and becomes a very great plain, and is prepared for the reception of the holy city in which is the paradise of God, the garden of Eden, which was taken up after man’s transgression. Now it descends with the city, more beautiful, and gloriously adorned than when removed from the earth. The city of God comes down and settles upon the mighty plain prepared for it. Then Jesus leaves the city surrounded by the redeemed host, and is escorted on his way by the angelic throng. In fearful majesty he calls forth the wicked dead. They are wakened from their long sleep. What a dreadful waking! They behold the Son of God in his stern majesty and resplendent glory. All, as soon as they behold him, know that he is the crucified one who died to save them, whom they had despised and rejected. They are in number like the sand upon the sea-shore. At the first resurrection all come forth in immortal bloom, but at the second, the marks of the curse are visible upon all.1
Such resurrection represents the release of Satan. He now recruits that vast multitude of human beings to launch the final attack against the New Jerusalem. At this point, the city had already come down out of heaven and sat upon the earth. As Satan and his armies make their final attempt to overtake the city, fire comes down from heaven and obliterates them forever. God’s creation is rid of evil and sin once and for all. The redeemed can now enjoy unimpeded communion with their Creator and Savior for the countless ages of eternity.
In a nutshell, this is how the final events of earth’s history will unfold according to Scripture. At this point, the present article turns its focus to the event that will finalize God’s dealings with the sin problem—the executive judgment, which will culminate in the destruction of evil and annihilation of the wicked in the context of Satan’s final battle.
With broad strokes, Revelation portrays Satan’s attack on the New Jerusalem after the millennium and God’s executive judgment of all evil forces:
Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Rev. 20:7-10).
As comforting as it is to reflect on the hope that one day, evil and evildoers will be forever obliterated, the idea of a judgment which culminates in the destruction of the wicked may seem difficult to square with the biblical notion of an all-loving and compassionate God. For this reason, some Christians throughout history have proposed that eventually everyone will be saved, even Satan (according to some thinkers).2 Scripture, however, does not support such a universalistic idea of salvation. Although salvation has been made available to all humanity, some reject God’s gracious offer and therefore will reap the consequences of their choices. Scripture is clear in that those who reject Jesus will perish, as Jesus Himself noted in that classical summary of the gospel: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). So, the final judgment and destruction of the wicked are consistent with the most basic definition of the gospel message.
We should keep in mind that a review judgment precedes the executive judgment. While in heaven during the millennium, the saints undertake the judgment of the wicked (Rev. 20:4; cf. 1 Cor. 6:2-3).3 So when the execution of the sentence takes place, all cases will have been reviewed, and all will acknowledge the justice and fairness of God’s judgment. As Ellen G. White says:
God’s dealings with rebellion will result in fully unmasking the work that has so long been carried on under cover. The results of Satan’s rule, the fruits of setting aside the divine statutes, will be laid open to the view of all created intelligences. The law of God will stand fully vindicated. It will be seen that all the dealings of God have been conducted with reference to the eternal good of His people, and the good of all the worlds that He has created. Satan himself, in the presence of the witnessing universe, will confess the justice of God’s government and the righteousness of His law.4
Furthermore, that the wicked have been so entrenched in their choices shows itself in the fact that they will join Satan’s last attempt to attack the holy city. Ellen G. White so describes Satan’s preparation to attack the holy city:
Then I saw that Satan again commence his work. He passed around among his subjects, and made the weak and feeble strong, and told them that he and his angels were powerful. He pointed to the countless millions who had been raised. There were mighty warriors and kings who were well skilled in battle and who had conquered kingdoms. And there were mighty giants and valiant men who had never lost a battle. There was the proud, ambitious Napoleon, whose approach had caused kingdoms to tremble. There stood men of lofty stature and dignified bearing, who had fallen in battle while thirsting to conquer. As they come forth from their graves, they resume the current of their thoughts where it ceased in death. They possess the same desire to conquer which ruled when they fell. Satan consults with his angels, and then with those kings and conquerors and mighty men. Then he looks over the vast army, and tells them that the company in the city is small and feeble, and that they can go up and take it, and cast out its inhabitants, and possess its riches and glory themselves.5
Strikingly, as the entrance of sin was marked by the rebellious angel’s attack on God’s throne in heaven (Isa. 14; Ezek. 28), so the eradication of sin will be characterized by Satan’s attack on the heavenly city. Precisely, when the Satanic armies surround the New Jerusalem, “fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them” (Rev. 20:9). In this final act of judgment, God obliterates Satan and his allies. As the biblical text says: “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev. 20:10).
At this point, it should be noted that the expression “forever and ever” does not indicate that the punishment of the wicked will last forever. Instead, the expression indicates that the torment will last for a limited period as can be understood from the fact that the fate of the wicked will be annihilated (Matt. 10:28). Indeed, as noted in Revelation 20:14, death itself will be annihilated. So the eternal suffering of the wicked under the shower of fire coming down from heaven should not be understood in terms of duration but in terms of finality. Besides, the image of smoke ascending forever comes from an Old Testament depiction of the desolation of Edom according to which, “It shall not be quenched night or day; Its smoke shall ascend forever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; No one shall pass through it forever and ever” (Isa. 34:10). Of course, Isaiah did not expect the smoke of Edom to ascend eternally to heaven; the expression conveys complete destruction, the effects of which last forever (Mal. 4:1).6 Likewise, in Revelation, the torment that afflicts Satan and its allies “day and night forever and ever” designates a torment that lasts until God’s enemies are annihilated. As Ellen G. White describes:
I saw that some were quickly destroyed, while others suffered longer. They were punished according to the deeds done in the body. Some were many days consuming, and just as long as there was a portion of them unconsumed, all the sense of suffering remained… . Satan and his angels suffered long. Satan bore not only the weight and punishment of his own sins, but also of the sins of the redeemed host, which had been placed upon him; and he must also suffer for the ruin of souls which he had caused. Then I saw that Satan and all the wicked host were consumed, and the justice of God was satisfied; and all the angelic host, and all the redeemed saints, with a loud voice said, “Amen!” … I then looked and saw the fire which had consumed the wicked, burning up the rubbish and purifying the earth. Again I looked and saw the earth purified. There was not a single sign of the curse. The broken, uneven surface of the earth now looked like a level, extensive plain. God’s entire universe was clean, and the great controversy was forever ended. Wherever we looked, everything upon which the eye rested was beautiful and holy. And all the redeemed host, old and young, great and small, cast their glittering crowns at the feet of their Redeemer, and prostrated themselves in adoration before Him, and worshiped Him that liveth forever and ever. The beautiful new earth, with all its glory, was the eternal inheritance of the saints. The kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, was then given to the saints of the Most High, who were to possess it forever, even forever and ever.7
If the wicked were to remain forever burning in an eternal hell, evil would never be eradicated from the universe. It is precisely the notion of complete obliteration of Satan and his allies that guarantees that the universe will be forever free from evil. Thus God’s final act of judgment in destroying Satan and his followers stands as an expression of His love inasmuch as He destroys that which alienates His children from Him.
Scripture closes with the climatic depiction of the New Jerusalem, the city indwelled by God and the redeemed (Rev. 21–22). One aspect to be noted at the outset is that the New Jerusalem stands in contrast and opposition to Babylon as shown by several parallels and contrasts in the biblical depiction of the two cities, most notably in the book of Revelation. One of such parallels lies in the fact that both cities are shown to John by “one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls (Rev. 17:1; 21:9).”8
For this study, it should be noted that from a chronological perspective, the descent of the holy city takes place before the march of the wicked against it (Rev. 20:9) and the executive judgment that ensues. However, the full description of the city takes place later to bring the last book of the Bible to a close with the glorious depiction of the heavenly city. This way, the canon of Scripture comes to a close as it began—depicting a world without sin. However, unlike Genesis 1 and 2, which reports God giving a garden to humans, Revelation 21–22 closes the canon with God giving a city-garden to His redeemed people. A close look at the broad outline of the biblical story shows that in the New Jerusalem, the losses inflicted by sin in the garden are recovered, and the promises and aspirations announced by the prophets to the Old Testament saints are fulfilled.
In Adam, we lost a garden, in Christ, we gain a city-garden—a symbol of security and peace that will remain forever untainted by anything sinful or impure. Furthermore, all the types and prophetic promises will find in the city their ultimate realization. For example, what has been created in Genesis 1 and 2 becomes a new creation in Revelation 21 and 22. The exodus of Israel out of Egypt referred to in the Old Testament as a type of a more significant exodus finds its ultimate realization as God’s people leave behind a world of sin and death to enter the gates of the heavenly Zion (Rev. 22:7, 14).
God’s relationship with His Old Testament people was often depicted as a covenant and sometimes represented as a wedding feast or a marriage bond. It is summarized in the mutuality formula of the covenant: “I will be your God and you will be my people.” And this covenantal communion that God entertained with His chosen people found its most tangible expression in the Old Testament sanctuary. So it is not without significance that Revelation 21:3 depicts the New Jerusalem with language and imagery reminiscent of the covenant and the sanctuary: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” The language associated with this description bears noting: “He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” Undoubtedly, such diction points to the realities of the covenant, which finds fulfillment in the New Jerusalem.
It bears noting that the designation of the New Jerusalem as “the tabernacle of God” evokes the Israelite sanctuary and indicates that the New Jerusalem stands as God’s definitive dwelling-place among His redeemed people. John saw no temple in the city (Rev 21:22) because the city functions as a temple. And this proposition can be corroborated by the dimensions of the New Jerusalem. In addition to being made of pure gold, one intriguing and fascinating aspect of the city was its cubic shape. Of the various architectural entities mentioned in the Old Testament, one was made of gold and shaped like a cube: the Most Holy Place of the temple of Solomon.9 So the shape and constitution of the New Jerusalem indicate that it functions as the Most Holy Place did in the Solomonic temple—the locus of the Shekinah glory of God.
Two final but not least essential points deserve mention. One concerns the interesting fact that the number 12 appears prominently in the features and measures of the city. If previous chapters of Revelation have emphasized the number 7 (seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven plagues), the description of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21–22 highlights the number 12 and its multiples as noted in the 12 gates, 12 angels, 12 tribes of the sons of Israel (vv. 12), the twelve apostles (vv. 14), “twelve thousand stadia” (vv. 16), “a hundred and forty-four cubits” (vv. 17), “twelve pearls” (vv. 21), and finally it is noted that the tree of life produces “twelve fruits” and “yielding its fruit every month” (Rev. 22:2). These details are not incidental, but as one insightful study has suggested, the number 12 “seem to point to the plenitude of God’s people: the city is marked by the sign of the 12 tribes of ancient Israel and of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ, underlying thus the continuity of salvation history and even the spiritual identity between ‘the Israel of God’ and the triumphant church.” Furthermore, the dimensions of the city “(a square of 12,000 stadia, or about fifteen hundred miles) show that this city is as the measure of the redeemed humanity as a whole. Surpassing Babylon and Rome, New Jerusalem is the true and the only universal city.”10
The other aspect that deserves mention is the fact that the city is the locus of God’s and the Lamb’s throne. It is the presence of God in its midst that gives ultimate meaning to the city. As Revelation says, “the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 22:3-5). Although there are many beautiful features in the city that invites us to be there, the most important feature of the city lies in the fact that “the throne of God and of the Lamb” will be there. It is not without significance that the Lamb is mentioned seven times in Revelation 21–22. The reason is, “the New Jerusalem is the city of Jesus Christ.”11 So in the figure of the Lamb, Jesus is connected with the New Jerusalem in various ways: Jesus is the husband of the New Jerusalem (21:9), the founder of the city (21:14), Jesus, together with the Father, is the temple of the city (21:22); Jesus is the “lamp” of the city, the Shekinah glory of God (21:23); Jesus is the gate-keeper of the city (21:27); Jesus is the source of life since the river of life flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb (22:1); finally, Jesus is king (22:3). So, the
sevenfold reference to Christ in relationship to the New Jerusalem emphasizes the Christian significance of the Holy City. Identified with the Father, and sharing the throne of the universe with Him, Christ is the center of the New Jerusalem. He is the king. His presence, always stated, is never described. Christ is essential to the Holy City: He is its founder, its temple, its lamp of light, and its source of life. He is, in a word, the best gift of God to mankind—the bridegroom, the husband of humanity redeemed. Everything is recapitulated in Him. In the Lamb of the New Jerusalem we have “the summing up of all things” (Eph. 1:10, NASB).12
In answering an artist, who asked her to write a description of the New Jerusalem, Ellen G. White said:
Anyone who is dealing with the future unseen world may best describe its untold glories by quoting the words of Paul, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Cor. 2:9). I feel that many approach sacred things as though their finite powers were capable of taking them in … .
There is so large a number that tread on holy ground with unsanctified feet that we are very cautious, even in statements that we present to them in regard to sacred and eternal things, because finite and common ideas become mixed with the holy and sacred. Man may try with his entrusted and cultivated powers to represent something of heaven and he will make a blunder of the whole thing.
Your power as an artist will, when stretched to its utmost capacity fall down faint and weary in seeking to take in the things of the unseen world, and yet there is an eternity beyond. With these statements you will excuse me from attempting to portray before you anything concerning the works of the great Master Artist.
Let the imaginations of the people be on the highest stretch to contemplate the glories of the New Jerusalem and yet they have but just entered upon the borders of the eternal weight of glory that shall be realized by the faithful overcomer. Put off thy shoes from off thy feet for the ground whereon thou standeth is holy. This is the very best answer I can give to your question.—Letter 54, April 4, 1886, to Sister Stewart.13
The above reflections touched briefly on a few aspects of our eschatological hope. From the final chapters of the Bible, we learn that after the millennial phase of the final judgment and the holy city’s descent to earth, Satan, along with the millions that have come to life in the second resurrection, will mount a final attack against God and His redeemed people. But unlike the first confrontation in heaven, this time, Satan and those who have followed him will be forever obliterated. All the powers that throughout human history have inflicted so much damage and suffering on God’s people will be forever extinguished. But the Bible’s final word is not about death and destruction. The depiction of the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven closes the biblical canon with a note of promise and hope. While we still live in a world marred by sin and death, we can live with the comforting expectation that a glorious future is yet to come when we shall enter the gates of that city and enjoy the presence of our Lord forever. In that glorious city, we will be priests because Jesus has become a sacrifice; and we shall also be kings because Jesus has become a servant (Rev. 22:4-5). To Him be adoration, honor, and glory forever and ever!
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1 Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts, 3:83–84.
2 See Jerry R. Root, “Universalism,” ed. Daniel J. Treier and Walter A. Elwell, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2017), 910–911.
3 For a detailed study about the judgment and its phases, see Gerhard F. Hasel, “Divine Judgment,” Handbook of Seventh-Day Adventist Theology, ed. Raoul Dederen (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2001), 815–856.
4 Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, 338.
5 Ellen G. White, Early Writings, 293.
6 Francis D. Nichol, ed., The Seventh-Day Adventist Bible Commentary (Review and Herald, 1980), 7:832.
7 Ellen G. White, Early Writings, 294–295.
8 For a detailed list of the parallels and contrasts between the New Jerusalem and Babylon, see Roberto Badenas, “New Jerusalem–The Holy City,” in Symposium on Revelation: Exegetical and General Studies, Book 2, ed. Frank B. Holbrook, vol. 7, Daniel and Revelation Committee Series (Silver Spring, MD: Biblical Research Institute of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 1992), 255–256. See also Ranko Stefanovic, Revelation of Jesus Christ: Commentary on the Book of Revelation, 2nd ed. (Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 2009), 593–610.
9 According to T. Desmond Alexander, The City of God and the Goal of Creation, ed. Dane C. Ortlund and Miles Van Pelt, Short Studies in Biblical Theology (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018), 152, the “New Jerusalem and the Most Holy Place are the only perfect cubes mentioned in the Bible.”
10 Badenas, 258–259.
11 Badenas, 269.
12 Badenas, 269–270.
13 Ellen G. White, This Day with God, 103.