#soap # Revelation 20 ## Title: The Victory Procession ## Scripture: (Revelation 20:7-10) “Now when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to bring them together for the battle. They are as numerous as the grains of sand in the sea. They went up on the broad plain of the earth and encircled the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and devoured them completely. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are too, and they will be tormented there day and night forever and ever.” (NET) ## Observation: I recently watched an interview with a Roman historian. He was talking about this chapter because the question was why would God release the devil once captured. This historian had an interesting theory. He said that after a major victory had been won, the Romans would put on a victory parade. Many think this is where we get our parades from today. There would be many things done to commemorate the victory, but at the end of the parade would be the defeated foe. They would sometimes save the defeated king for up to a year or more so they could parade him down the street and show who had been defeated. The historian pointed out that the Bible says he was released from prison, but not unchained. He thinks this would have made complete sense to the early readers that God was not giving the devil a second chance, but showing off who He had defeated. The last in the parade was the conquering king. He was the one they came to see and He reigned Supreme over all. ## Application: Don’t fear the devil. Honor the Lord. The devil is a defeated foe. Jesus reigns Supreme. ## Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, for already being victorious.