Revelation 20:10

‘And the Devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet also are, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.'

The Devil shares the fate of his close minions, and the severity of their punishment is stressed. This parallels the fate of the unearthly beast and the false prophet both of whom represent Satanic power (see Revelation 19:20). All three are sent there. Unlike mortal man Satan appears to be indestructible. As a spirit-being he cannot be destroyed and he must therefore be kept under total restraint for ever. The ‘chain' had allowed him some freedom. That will be the case no longer. The ‘lake of fire' is a symbol of something that destroys, but that it is not literal comes out in that in the end death and Hades will be destroyed by it (Revelation 20:14). It is thus God's incinerator. Satan's torment will mainly lie in what he has forfeited and lost, and in what this has made him. It will be the consequence of his own choice and of what he has turned himself into. It will be eternal remorse, burning like a fire around him. It will be a place where he is totally restrained and which he can never leave. His influence is finished.

This is in strict contrast with the fate of rebellious man. The beast and false prophet were cast ‘alive' (this is emphasised - Revelation 19:20) into the lake of fire, whereas it is stressed that the remainder ‘were killed' (Revelation 19:21). Of them we learn that it is only ‘the smoke of their torment' that arises for ever and ever (Revelation 14:11; compare Revelation 18:9; Revelation 18:18; Revelation 19:3). In their case, having suffered their deserved punishment, their suffering itself ceases, but the means of their punishment burns on for ever as an everlasting witness.

This is as depicted in Isaiah 66:24 where they are described in terms of dead bodies tossed on to an eternally burning rubbish dump. Compare Isaiah 34:10 where a similar idea of smoke arising for ever and ever from God's judgment is depicted, and the judgment of Babylon the Great, which is also depicted in terms of similar rising smoke (Revelation 18:18). Its punishment and destruction leaves behind a permanent reminder, symbolised by rising smoke.

‘The lake of fire and brimstone'. That this is not a literal lake of fire is clear from the fact that Satan has no bodily form, and could thus not be cast into fire. It contrasts, by its connection with brimstone, with the pure fire of God's holiness (compare Revelation 9:17 with Revelation 11:5). It indicates something dreadful and miserable and beyond comprehension. It is the ‘eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels' (Matthew 25:41). That their punishment is severe there can be no doubt, but its true form we can never fully appreciate. As mentioned Death and Hades are also thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14). It can thus denote a place of permanent end. They clearly are not kept alive.