What does the release of Satan at the end of times mean?

“Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison” (Rev. 20:7). That is, when the time of the antichrist comes, he will be granted the power and authority of the devil to arise and destroy, and even, if he can, to mislead the elect. Thus it is said that Satan will be released from Hades his prison, and will appear to work with a power never seen before. The Book of Revelation continues, saying that he “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. 20:8–10).

Here we find two interpretations of this text:

The first interpretation: Certain tribes, subject to one of the ten kings who will be contemporaries of the antichrist, will gather in the city of Jerusalem to war against Elijah and Enoch and the rest of the Church in Jerusalem, but God will send fire to burn them. Some believe that “Gog and Magog” do not refer to specific tribes, but to all those peoples who have strayed and whose soldiers gather to oppose the Church; but God chastises them with heavenly fire.

The second interpretation: In St. Augustine’s¹²²⁴ view, the war here is a spiritual war, rather than a physical one. The antichrist and his supporters Gog and Magog will use all methods of cruelty, violence, and deception to kill the saints as they attempt to force them to

1224 See St. Augustine of Hippo, City of God 20.11 (NPNF I/2:432).

stray from their faith. However, God will support the two faithful witnesses Elijah and Enoch with the heavenly fire of the Holy Spirit that burns error, casts out fear, and sustains faith. By this fire the faithful will stand fast during the days of the two witnesses, and even more so after their martyrdom and the killing of the antichrist, and the Holy Spirit will rebuke many of those who followed the antichrist and resisted the Church that they might repent and turn from their evil. As for the devil, his end will be with the beast and the false prophet, when the wicked are cast into the lake burning with fire.