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On the brink of defeat, the seven-headed beast faces four soldiers of God in this scene from a 14th-century tapestry that covers the walls of a medieval chateau in Angers, France. At left stands John with a book in his hands, poised to record all he sees. The oldest tapestry of its size in the world, The Apocalypse of Angers depicts numerous scenes from the Book of Revelation, including this interpretation of the battle at Armageddon.

According to Revelation 19:20, the beast will be captured in the course of the battle and will subsequently be cast into “the lake of fire.” The defeat will also lead to the imprisonment of Satan, but as Eric Cline reminds us, Armageddon is not to be the scene of the final conflict between good and evil. In John’s vision of the future, Satan will be held captive for 1,000 years after the Messiah’s victory at Armageddon. Then he will be released, and for an unspecified period he will roam the earth once more and will gather yet another army, “the hosts of Gog and Magog,” before being routed at last in Jerusalem. Only after this second battle will Satan be thrown into the lake of fire, where he will join the beast who has been suffering there since the day of Armageddon.