Greek Key Terms:
Context: Revelation 20 describes the final judgment. The devil is cast into the lake of fire (v. 10). The dead are judged according to their works, and "if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire" (v. 15). This is called "the second death" (v. 14).
OT-to-OT Development:
Connections:
Christological Connection: Revelation 20:10-15 is the consummation of the entire seed-of-the-serpent trajectory — the final answer to Genesis 3:15. The serpent's head is not merely bruised but permanently destroyed: "the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur" (20:10). The deceiver, the murderer from the beginning (John 8:44), the spiritual father of Cain and all who walked in his way, meets his irrevocable end. The "great white throne" judgment that follows (20:11-15) extends this verdict to all who belong to the serpent's seed — "if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire" (20:15).
The Lamb's book of life (Revelation 21:27) determines eternal destiny, and it is Christ's book — belonging to "the Lamb who was slain" (Revelation 13:8). Christ, the seed of the woman, has crushed the serpent's head through His death and resurrection. Those who belong to Christ share His victory; those who followed the way of Cain share the serpent's fate. The two-seed structure of Genesis 3:15 reaches its permanent resolution: there is no third category.
The escalation from Genesis to Revelation is total. In Genesis 3:15, the enmity is announced. In Genesis 4, Cain manifests it. Through the OT, the serpent's seed operates through Pharaoh, Manasseh, and countless persecutors. In the Gospels, the serpent strikes the Messiah's heel at Calvary. In Revelation 20, the serpent and all his seed are cast into the lake of fire — the head-crushing blow is final and irreversible.
Already: Christ has defeated the serpent through His cross and resurrection (Colossians 2:15), and believers' names are written in the book of life. Not yet: the visible, public, cosmic enactment of that victory at the last judgment, when the enmity of Genesis 3:15 reaches its ultimate and eternal resolution.
Connection Method(s): Promise-Fulfillment, Redemptive-Historical Progression — The serpent's final defeat in the lake of fire is the consummation of the promise of Genesis 3:15, bringing the entire redemptive-historical trajectory of the seed-conflict to its ultimate resolution.
Trajectory Table: 024 - Cain (Seed of Serpent)