The Little Season and Battle of Gog and Magog

The Little Season of Less Than 100 Years

Revelation 20 describes one of the most remarkable transitions in the history of the earth. After one thousand years of peace, when Christ personally reigns on the earth, Satan will be released from the bottomless pit with great power on earth (Rev 20:7). John calls this the “little season.” The scriptures never tell us how long the little season will last, but Joseph Fielding Smith and others have opined that it could last another 1000 years. However, there are compelling reasons which suggest the little season will last significantly less than 100 years. For example, during the Millennium, mortals will live no more than 100 years (Isa 65:20), and the fixed number of children appointed to this earth must be born well before the millennium ends. That’s because the celestial and terrestrial resurrections occur at the end of the millennium. All children, therefore, must be born before the end of the first resurrection to have sufficient time to mature, to accept the gospel, and receive all the necessary ordinances that qualify for them for exaltation. If they lack these opportunities simply because they are born too late, then God is a respecter of persons. These conditions place a natural limitation on the length of the little season to a duration of less than 100 years.

The Battle of Gog and Magog

Since the celestial and terrestrial resurrections will be complete by the time Satan is loosed from the bottomless pit, only telestial-worthy people and mortal sons of perdition‒born before the end of the millennium‒will be left on earth. Satan’s release is the official start of the little season. Michael the archangel will use his priesthood keys to loose Satan after the millennium in the same way he will bind Satan at the start of the millennium. (Rev 20:1-3) Satan’s release when the little season begins doesn’t mean that wickedness suddenly appears where none previously existed. Toward the end of the Millennium, people will again begin to reject Christ and his millennial church in the same way the Nephites apostatized for several hundred years after their Golden Era.

When Satan is loosed from his prison, “he shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle” (Rev 20:8). Satan’s deceptions will occur worldwide to bring about one final great battle between telestial-worthy people on the one hand and mortal sons of perdition on the other hand. These sons of perdition are called Gog and Magog. These symbolic names originate in the Old Testament, particularly Ezekiel 38-39, where Gog and Magog were powerful and ruthless enemies of God’s people anciently. This post-millennial battle of Gog and Magog against telestial-worthy people will be similar to the pre-millennial battle called Armageddon.

This final conflict between telestial people and sons of perdition serves a divine purpose. It is the final test that separates those who will qualify for the telestial kingdom from those who will remain filthy still after the wrath of God is poured out during the little season. People who repent when they face the wrath of God on earth (D&C 76:104), will inherit telestial glory. Sons of perdition who refuse to repent and harden their hearts will be destroyed when they become fully ripe in iniquity. When the little season has accomplished this purpose, the mortal history of this earth will be complete and the earth will die. For more on the battle of Gog and Magog during the little season, check out my podcasts from November 1 and 3, 2026.

November 1, 2026 — Podcast

November 3, 2026 — Podcast