Jesus Christ will rescue humanity from self-destruction–but lasting peace also requires the removal of the power that has deceived the world.
The Bible describes a world at the edge of self-destruction when Jesus Christ returns. It is angry, divided and armed. Nations have gathered for war, and mankind’s rebellion has become so dangerous that Christ warns, “unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved” (Matthew 24:21–22).
That is why Christ must return. He will intervene before humanity destroys itself. The book of Revelation pictures Him confronting the political and military powers that resist His rule. The armies gathered against Him are defeated, and the leaders of that rebellion—the Beast and the False Prophet—are removed (Revelation 19:19–21).
But the defeat of armies does not, by itself, produce a peaceful world. Wars are fought by human beings, yet the Holy Bible reveals an unseen influence that has cultivated pride, hatred, falsehood and rebellion throughout human history. Before Christ’s millennial reign can proceed unimpeded, that deceiving power must also be restrained.
The Power Behind the Deception
Immediately after describing Christ’s victory over the nations, Revelation turns to another decisive event. John sees an angel descend from heaven, seize “the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan,” bind him for a thousand years and shut him in the abyss “so that he should deceive the nations no more” (Revelation 20:1–3).
The prophetic sequence and order of these events matter. Revelation 19 shows Christ defeating organized human resistance. Revelation 20 shows Satan removed. Only then does John describe the saints reigning with Christ for a thousand years (Revelation 20:4–6). The sequence is victory, removal and restoration.
The Bible identifies Satan as the one “who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9) and “the god of this age” who blinds human minds (2 Corinthians 4:4). His influence does not excuse human sin; each person remains responsible for his or her choices. But it does help explain why the same destructive ideas recur from one generation to the next: that force produces peace, greed produces security, immorality produces happiness, and mankind can build a just world while rejecting the law and authority of its Creator.
Christ’s return ends the immediate threat of human extinction. Satan’s imprisonment removes the relentless spiritual pressure that has distorted human thinking. Human nature and free choice will remain, but the nations will no longer be continually incited and misled by the great deceiver.
A Ceremony With a Future Meaning
This removal was foreshadowed long before Revelation was written. On the Day of Atonement, ancient Israel’s high priest presented two goats before God (Leviticus 16:7–10). One was chosen “for the LORD” and killed as a sin offering. The other goat in Leviticus 16:8 is named “the scapegoat” — as if unfairly blamed. But the correct translation is Azazel or “evil demon.” After the atoning blood had been presented, the high priest laid his hands on the live goat, confessed over it the sins of Israel, and a suitable man led it into an uninhabited wilderness (Leviticus 16:20–22).
The slain goat unmistakably reinforces the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), and His sacrifice alone pays the penalty for human sin. The live goat cannot be another sacrifice, because it is not killed and its blood is not offered. Instead, it is removed after the work of atonement has been completed.
That distinction is important. The New Testament says Christ was “offered once to bear the sins of many” and that He will appear a second time “apart from sin, for salvation” (Hebrews 9:28). The sacrifice for sin is not repeated at His return. Passover points to the price Christ paid; the events pictured by Atonement look beyond that sacrifice to the reconciliation of the world and the removal of the adversary who opposes it.
The parallel with Revelation is striking. The live goat is identified, placed under the authority of a designated agent, led away and separated from the community. Satan is identified, seized by an angel, bound and confined where he can no longer deceive the nations. The goat does not represent a co-savior and does not pay for sin. Christ alone does that. It portrays the removal of the instigator—the one who bears responsibility for having deceived and corrupted, though never the guilt that belongs to each human sinner.
Why Removal Must Precede Peace
The purpose of Satan’s confinement is not only punishment. Revelation explicitly states that he is bound so that he can no longer deceive the nations. His absence makes possible a radically different environment for human life.
Under Christ’s government, people will at last be taught God’s ways without a worldwide system of spiritual counterfeits constantly pulling them in the opposite direction. Isaiah describes nations coming to learn the law of God. The result is not merely a truce enforced by superior power: weapons are converted to productive use, and people no longer learn war (Isaiah 2:2–4). Peace grows from truth, right government and changed conduct.
This also clarifies the meaning of atonement. Human beings have been separated from God by sin (Isaiah 59:2). Reconciliation is possible only because Christ died for us; “through whom we have now received the reconciliation” (Romans 5:10–11). Yet imagine that a captor continues to hold and mislead people whose ransom has already been paid. Paying the ransom is essential, but the captor must still be removed and the captives brought into freedom. Christ pays the price no one else could pay. Then He ends Satan’s power to deceive the nations.
The biblical festivals present these truths in a purposeful progression. Passover proclaims the sacrifice of the Lamb. The Feast of Trumpets anticipates the return of the King and His victory over rebellious nations. The Day of Atonement points to reconciliation and the removal of the great deceiver. The Feast of Tabernacles pictures the transformed world that becomes possible under Christ’s righteous rule.
The World That Becomes Possible
The Day of Atonement carries a message of extraordinary hope. Humanity will not be abandoned to its present course. Jesus Christ will rescue mankind from its own rebellion, establish righteous government, remove the one who has deceived the whole world, and teach the nations a way of life they could never produce for themselves.
Technology, diplomacy and human idealism cannot cure the deepest causes of conflict. They cannot reconcile humanity to God or silence the spiritual source of deception. God’s plan addresses both: the guilt of sin through Christ’s sacrifice, and the deceiver’s influence through his removal.
Christ has already paid the price for sin. He will return before mankind destroys itself. Satan will be bound, the nations will be taught God’s ways, and the conditions for genuine peace will finally exist. That is the future pictured by the Day of Atonement: the adversary removed, humanity reconciled to its Creator, and the way prepared for the Kingdom of God to fill the earth.
World News and Prophecy Review