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Revelation 20:10 "[A]nd the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."

 

The "them" who the devil had deceived are "the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, that is Gog and Magog" who the devil gathers for battle upon his release from his thousand year imprisonment. (Revelation 20:7-8) After the devil's defeat comes the judgment of the dead. At that judgment, books will be opened, including the book of life, and those whose names are not found written in the book of life will be likewise thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15).

 

There is an acknowledgment here that the nations fighting on the devil's behalf have been deceived. The people of those nations are not summarily thrown into the lake of fire like the devil is, but rather will be judged along with everyone else "by what was written in the books, by what they had done." (Revelation 20:12)

 

The devil was at one time an angel in God's good graces. He had perfect knowledge and chose disobedience to God, so he suffered his judgment then and there. But human beings are born into this fallen world under the cloud of original sin and all the sins that have followed. We are responsible for our actions, of course, but we do not have the knowledge the angels have, we are broken and our vision is clouded. We are easily deceived, especially by a being that has the knowledge and intelligence of an angel and is bent on leading us astray.

 

So while the nations that fought alongside the devil clearly chose the wrong side, each person among them will be judged "by what they have done", that is, on their own merits and considering their individual weaknesses. God alone knows their hearts. Only He knows how deceived they actually were, and whether they had the requisite knowledge and understanding of what they were doing when the devil roused their nations to battle.

 

This is true for all of us. The devil may have deceived us in the past, he may still be deceiving us, but God sees our hearts and minds. He knows if we are willing participants in the devil's plan, or if we have weaknesses or limitations that make us not as culpable for being deceived. He also knows if and when we have repented, even if it is at the last minute.

 

We are all deceived and we all fall at some point or another. We can still hope that our names will be found in the book of life. The books opened at judgment will tell our story in full. In order for that story to have a happy ending, we have to repent when we come to see our sin, and trust in God's mercy for the things we are too blinded by the devil's deception to even see.