The Millennial Reign And Judgment Series

NOTE: This Bible study on the end times comes from the perspective of a pre-tribulation Rapture.

Tonight, we will be looking at Revelation chapter 20. We are going to start by examining what happens during the 1000-year period after the battle of Armageddon, by observing how Satan is bound and how believers will reign with Christ. We are also going to discuss the devil’s final rebellion and the Great Judgment. Therefore, I want to encourage you to be filling out the provided handout, so you can keep track of all this information.

(Refer to Handout: “The Symbolism of Chapter 20”)

Satan is Bound for 1000 Years

Turn with me in your Bibles, and let’s read Revelation 20:1-3:

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

• Who is the dragon that is mentioned in the book of Revelation?

The answer is Satan, or the devil.

On your provided handout, for The Dragon, fill in “Satan.”

• What happens to Satan here?

He is placed in the bottomless pit and bound with a great chain for 1000 years. He is also sealed up so tight he can no longer deceive the nations.

On your provided handout, for Satan Bound, fill in “For 1000 Years.”

The bottomless pit is not hell. We find references to the “abyss” in Luke 8:31 and Romans 10:7. The “abyss” is a place of confinement. John Walvoord says it is “the home of demons and unclean spirits.” The “abyss” might be hades or something like it. In Revelation 1:18, Jesus is said to hold the keys of death and hades. One commentary says, “The purpose of the confinement is not punishment. It is to prevent [Satan] from deceiving the nations. The elaborate measures taken to ensure his custody are most easily understood as implying the complete cessation of his influence on earth, rather than a curbing of his activities” (Hindson).

• What happens to Satan after 1000 years?

The answer is that he will be released for a little while.

The Saints Reign with Christ

Turn with me in your Bibles, and let’s read Revelation 20:4-6:

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

• What is the event in these verses commonly called?

It is called the “Millennial Reign of Christ,” or the “1000-Year Reign.”

On your provided handout, for Jesus Reigns, fill in “For 1000 Years.”

• Where will Christ reign during this period?

The Bible commentator Richard Hindson tells us that during the Millennial Reign, Jesus will establish His kingdom “here on the earth.” Notice in Revelation 20:1, how the angel came “down,” as in coming to the earth. In Revelation 20:8, when Satan is released, he goes throughout the “earth,” as in this present earth.

• In verse 4, there are some people sitting on thrones who live and reign with Christ for 1000 years. Who are these people?

They are “the martyrs of the Tribulation period.” Though not stated, this group might include “all other Christians” who descended from heaven to fight in Armageddon.

On your provided handout, for People on the Thrones, fill in “Martyrs and Christians.”

In verse 6, the “first resurrection” is the term used for this raising of the Tribulation Martyrs and all other Christians. The website GotQuestion.org, however, says that the “first resurrection” simply refers to the raising of all believers. It does not say anything about the Martyrs. The website continues to state that the “first resurrection” corresponds with Jesus’ teaching of the “resurrection of the just” in Luke 14:14, and the “resurrection of life” in John 5:29.