Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Revelation 19:20

"And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image: they two were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth with brimstone:" — Revelation 19:20 (ASV)

The contrast between the assembling of the beast’s might with his kings and their soldiers and the ease by which he is defeated and captured highlight the beast’s powerlessness before his mighty conqueror. The “kings of the earth” refer to the ten horns (kings) of the beast, which is another way of describing the beast’s power . Both the beast and the false prophet (13:1ff.) are seized and thrown into the lake of fire. Their followers fall before the sword (i.e., the word) of Christ. No battle is fought; only the arrangement of the foes and the defeat of the beast is described. John may be indicating that the battle has already been fought and won. In ch. 5 the Lamb had won the victory by his death (5:5, 9). Further, in the battle in heaven, Satan was cast out and defeated by the blood of the Lamb and the word of his followers’ testimony (12:7–9, 11).

There thus seems to be only one actual battle described in Revelation (ch. 12), and these further scenes may be understood as more judicial in character than as literal battles. Because of John’s christological reinterpretation, no great final military battle will actually be fought, for the decisive battle has already been won at the Cross. These armies and the beast, who destroy the earth (11:18) are the satanic principalities of the world and have been positionally defeated at the Cross (16:11; Colossians 2:15). But they will be stripped of all power at Christ’s return—though John did not deny that Satan and his evil powers promulgate great evil and deception in the world in the present age (cf. Ephesians 2:2; 1 Thessalonians 3:5; 1 Peter 5:8–9; Revelation 2:10), allying themselves with their human puppets to harass Christians. Yet he is a deposed ruler who is now under the sovereign authority of Christ but who for a “little time” is allowed to continue his evil until God’s purposes are finished. In the defeat of the beast, his kings, and their armies, John shows us the ultimate and swift downfall of these evil powers by the King of kings and Lord of lords. They have met their Master in this final confrontation. On the “lake of fire,” see comment on 20:14.