Tom Lowe
9/29/17
Book of Revelation Commentary
Lesson: V.A.1: Satan Bound For a Thousand Years, Unable to Deceive Nations (Revelation 20:1-3)
Revelation 20:1-3
1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Introduction
Jesus has come, and the Millennium has arrived. The golden age, so frequently proclaimed by the prophets of Israel’s past, has dawned at last, and the earth is filled with the knowledge of God. Jesus is Lord, and he rules the nations with a rod of iron. His reign is righteous, and the nations obey. The principles of the Sermon of the Mount are the laws of the kingdom, and men obey them because infractions are not allowed. Sin is punished with swift and sure judgment. The era lasts a thousand years.
The two beasts were cast alive into the lake of fire before the golden age began, but the devil was not. He was chained in the abyss{1] for God is not yet through with him. He has one more evil mission to fulfill.
In chapter 20 we will see four outstanding things:
The binding of Satan. He will be put in prison for one thousand years. We might say he will be placed in God’s penitentiary (vs. 1-3).
The reign of Christ and the saints for one thousand glorious years (vs. 4-6).
We see Satan loosed for a little season to test those who will be born during the Millennium. [The Millennium will be an actual historical period taking its place in a tightly-forged chain of events.] He makes his last great drive to conquer the world and overthrow God. He comes to utter defeat and meets his eternal doom (vs. 7-10).
And in the last part of chapter 20 we see the judgment of the wicked dead. There are no righteous dead here—only the wicked dead. The righteous have already been judged for their stewardship of the gifts they have received, and have received their rewards at the marriage supper of the lamb (vs. 11-15).
All of the events so far in the book of Revelation have been premillennial, that is, they all occur before Christ returns to earth to reign. In this chapter the events are millennial. During the millennium God will bring to pass certain of His plans and purposes, and then after the 1000 years have run their course, the millennium will merge into the eternal state.
Commentary
1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
The end of chapter 19 describes the Beast, the false prophet, and all their followers thrown into the lake of fire. This vision at the beginning of chapter 20 describes Christ’s dealings with Satan.
We do not need to speculate on the identity of the angel . . . It is the angel of the Lord. In Revelation 1:18{2] we read that Jesus has the keys of hell and death, and He would not trust those keys to anyone else. The last time the key to the abyss{1] was mentioned, Satan had it and was permitted to open that dreaded prison and release swarms of foul fiends upon the earth. Now an angel has that key. Armed with authority and power from on high, the angel seizes that old dragon, flings a mighty chain around him, and hurls him into the abyss{1], locking him up for a thousand years. I believe He personally binds Satan and puts him into the bottomless pit{1], thus denoting by sealing the pit that the government of Almighty God is behind the prison term of Satan, and He will see to it that he does not escape. With similar chains evil angels are kept bound even now awaiting the day of judgment (Jude 6{3]). Satan and his demons can break the chains and shackles that men may fashion (Mark 5:1-5), but the "great chain" of God's making not even Satan himself can resist or shake off. It is adequate for the purpose of binding him and making him a helpless prisoner.
There could be no Millennium, no time of peace, as long as Satan is loose. As long as he is at liberty to act he will not rest from deluding men with lies, and seeking their destruction. And let each one of us be reminded that Satan is not bound now. He would have us believe that he is, but the Word of God says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). We know that he is at present the god of this age, and the prince of the power of the air. This is the day of Satan. Evil men and seducers are waxing worse and worse. As it was in the days of Noah and in the days of Lot, so shall it be before Jesus returns to this earth to reign. There can be no peace on earth and good will toward men until Satan is in the pit, securely locked away to deceive the nations no more.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
In this verse Satan is called by four different names: The Dragon, the Serpent, the Devil, and Satan. These names are given here in the same order in which they are mentioned in Revelation 12:9. “Dragon” symbolizes cruelty. “Serpent” signifies guile and cunning treachery. “Devil” is the deceiver, the tempter of men. “Satan” means the opponent, the enemy of Christ and His people.
Certainly we learn from these names that Satan is a person, and not just and influence or principle of evil. Satan is the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2); he is the god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4) and the ruler of the powers of darkness (Ephesians 6:11, 12). He can assume any form necessary to damn a soul.
His position is so exalted that Michael, the archangel, would not accuse him, but said, “The Lord rebuked thee” (Jude 9{4]). If Michael dared not bring an accusation against Satan, what angel do you think would attempt to bind him? Only the omnipotent Lord Jesus could do that. It is He who holds the key to the bottomless pit. This is the same angel we read about in Revelation 9:1-2.
The binding of Satan reveals to us the fact that Almighty God can stop the devil at the appointed time. He can stop him without armies. When the time comes, God will send a one angel to seize, handcuff and bind Satan and place him in chains in prison.
The term “a thousand years” is found six times in Revelation 20: Verses 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Three of these times pertain to Satan, two are connected with the reign of the saints with Jesus during the Millennium, and the last one pertains to the time between the resurrection of the righteous and the resurrection of the wicked.
There is no such thing in the Word of God as a general resurrection. The dead in Christ will be raised first (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15). All six of the references above have to do with the same thousand years, but in a different relationship. This is not symbolic, but is literally one thousand years according to Bible years of 12 months. (A prophetic year is 360 days, not 365 days.)
The devil is chained for the duration of the Millennium. Generation after generation is born, and the earth flourishes as it did in Eden before the serpent seduced mankind. For a thousand years the old deceiver and murderer is chained, and for a thousand years there is heaven on earth. A thousand years?that’s the duration of it! There can be no mistake, for God writes it down again and again; it is a whole Millennium of time.
The time of the millennium is given by our Lord in His words, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son a man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great Glory” (Matthew 24:29-30). Here Christ places the theocratic kingdom immediately after the seventieth week of Daniel as mentioned in Daniel 9:27{5].
The form of government during the millennium will be a theocracy. In both the Old and New Testaments it is stated that God will rule in the Person of Jesus Christ (Psalm 2:6-9; Jeremiah 23:5; Luke 1:30-33{6]).
According to Jewish belief and reasoning, the six thousand years now drawing to a close correspond to the six days in which God created the heavens and the earth. On the seventh day God rested from His labors. A day is as a thousand years with the Lord, and a thousand years as one day (2 Peter 3:8). Therefore, by such reasoning, we have been on this earth about six days (almost six thousand years—4000 before Christ and almost 2000 since). It must be about time for the Sabbath—the thousand years of peace. The Bible says, “There remaineth therefore a Sabbath rest (literal Greek translation) for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9). The people of God refers to all saints, but primarily to the elect of God, the nation Israel.
3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
We are next told the place where Satan is bound. John says that the angel “cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him.” There is a poetic justice in God’s dealing with Satan. Centuries ago, the evil one saw to it that the mortal remains of God’s beloved Son were shut up in a tomb and sealed. Throughout the tribulation era, Satan has opened the abyss{1] to plague mankind, once with horrible demons and once with the recalled soul of the beast. Now he himself is consigned to that dark hole and sealed in by an act of God, and there he rages in the most secure prison cell in the universe. It is the condemned cell, and he knows it. He has his thoughts to keep him company, and terrible thoughts they are?thoughts of the day of his creation when he sprang mature, magnificent, and mighty from the hand of God; thoughts of the wide world he once ruled as the anointed cherub; thoughts of the ways he once led the worship of the angel hosts; thoughts of God’s throne and his attempts to seize it for himself; thoughts of his fall, of his entrance into Eden; of his short-lived triumph over the first human pair; thoughts of the sentence passed upon him and of his futile efforts to prevent the coming of the promised seed; thoughts of Calvary and his utter defeat; thoughts of the fleeting moments when he brought the world to the foot of the beast and had seemingly triumphed at last; thoughts of the lake of fire just ahead. He is given a thousand years in confinement to think about it.
In the last part of verse three we read, “After that he (Satan) must be loosed a little season.” “After that” refers to more than the thousand years Satan will spend in prison. It means also after the destruction of Babylon; after the marriage of the Lamb; after the battle of Armageddon here on earth; after the destruction of the Beast, the false prophet and all who follow them; after the binding of Satan, sealing him for one thousand years. After all these things, he must be turned loose for a little season.
Someone may ask, “Why? After Satan is placed in prison, why would God release him?” Remember, Israel will be in her own land for a thousand years in natural bodies. She will build houses and inhabit them; she will plant vineyards and eat the fruit thereof. She will multiply by the millions. At the end of the Millennium there will be millions on earth who have never been tempted. If God did not permit them to be tested as were Adam and Eve, and you and I, then God would be a respecter of persons—and we know He is not (Romans 2:11). Therefore, all who are born during the Millennium must be tempted. Satan will be loosed for a little season, but the Word of God does not tell us how long the “little season” will be.
To these people, Satan will offer the same things he offered Adam and Eve in the Garden, the same things he offered Jesus in Matthew 4 and Luke 4. In his last desperate attempt to overthrow God’s throne and exalt himself above the stars of God (Isaiah 14) Satan will offer power and Glory with himself to all who will follow him. Many (the number as the sands of the sea) will rally around Satan in his last great attempt to take the Holy City, to crush the saints and Israel in the earth that has been freed from the curse for one thousand years.
Finally, we are told the reason why Satan is bound. It is “that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” But who are “the nations”? It appears that at the battle of Armageddon (16:14-16{7]; 19:19), only the Beast, the false prophet, the Kings of the nations, and their armies were destroyed. The battle at Armageddon did not kill the entire population of the earth. Therefore, some unbelievers would still be alive (the believers would be with Christ, for they had been part of His army (19:14{8]). The nations blunder along in darkness and despair, throughout the long ages of time, ever learning but never able to come to knowledge of the truth. Responsibility for this is laid at Satan’s door, but now for a thousand years they will be free of the dangerous influence of lies. In the verses that follow, three reasons are given for the incarceration of the devil. Paul promised the Roman Christians, “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly” (Romans 16:20). This is what is described.
Someone may ask, “Why is there a Millennium?” Why doesn’t God go straight from Armageddon to eternity? Why this interim and then another final battle—Gog and Magog? We don’t know, but it appears that unbelievers on earth are given the opportunity to experience what the rule of God is like. However, as shown in the following verses, even though unbelievers will experience the reign of Christ, they will continue to rebel against God even without Satan’s deceptive influence. And the moment that Satan is let out of the prison, these people will flock after Satan and go to war against Christ. This will prove their absolute depravity, their true allegiance, and the necessity of the final punishment in the lake of fire.
Scriptures and Special Notes
[1} The abyss (bottomless pit) was a vast subterranean cavern beneath the earth, sometimes the place where all the dead went, sometimes the place where special sinners were kept awaiting punishment. It was reached by a chasm into the earth and the angel locks it in order to keep the devil in the abyss. The bottomless pit, or abyss, is not the lake of fire which is the final hell. It is a sort of prison-house in which evil spirits are confined, awaiting final judgment. These have no share in Christ’s redemption.
It was the abyss which the devils feared most of all. In the story of the Gerasene demoniac the request of the devils was that Jesus would not command them to leave the man and to go out into the deep, that is , the abyss.
The devil is to be kept in the abyss for the period of a thousand years. Even the way in which the word thousand is used in Scripture warns us against taking this literally.
[2} I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
[3) (Jude 6) “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”
[4} (Jude 9) “ Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.”
[5} (Daniel 9:27, NLT)“The ruler will make a treaty with the people for a period of one set of seven, but after half this time, he will put an end to the sacrifices and offerings. And as a climax to all his terrible deeds, he will set up a sacrilegious object that causes desecration, until the fate decreed for this defiler is finally poured out on him.”
[6} (Luke 1:30-33, NLT) “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
[7} (Rev 16:14-16) “For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”
[8} (Revelation 19:14) “And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.”
