Question:
When were the beast and the false prophet of Rev. 19:20 cast into the lake of fire and brimstone?
Answer:
Before the millennium. The “beast” and “false prophet” are symbols of papal and apostate protestant systems that will be destroyed by the glory of Christ’s presence when He comes. At that time, “a fire shall devour before Him,” and the earth shall be set on fire at His presence. See 2 Thess. 2:8; Ps. 50:3; 97:3; Isa. 30:33. The last text shows that when the unveiled presence of God shall be revealed to the sin-cursed earth, the earth will be set on fire, though not universally so. But all the works of man will be broken down and consumed, and thus all earthly systems, prominent and predominating among which are the “beast” and “false prophet,” will be destroyed. They live and seemingly prosper till the great day of the Lord breaks upon the world but are then taken by the calamities and snares of their wickedness and perish in the fires kindled by God’s presence. Rev. 19:20. At the end of the thousand years, the whole earth will be converted into a vast lake of fire, which will consume all sin; and all who have identified themselves with sin will be cast into the lake of fire, where “the beast and the false prophet are [were cast],” at the beginning of the thousand years. Before the millennium, these systems and their devotees perished as a consequence; after the millennium, the people meet the full fruition of their evil deeds as individuals.
