© 2006 F. O’Donoghue
“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 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. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And 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: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” Revelation 20:1-10
In the first place, John describes the binding of Satan, who is seized and thrown into the bottomless pit and there secured and sealed for a thousand years (v. 1.). Some have taken this to mean that for the period of one thousand years when Christ (following his second coming), reigns on earth, Satan will be immobilized and placed under duress, therefore it will be a time of peace and blessedness unspoiled by his activities. The purpose of Satan’s binding, however, is defined as being in particular “that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years were ended” (v. 3); and this is better understood, within the perspective of the New Testament, as referring to the present “times of the Gentiles” when the devil is held under restraint as the Gospel is preached to all nations. Read the passage carefully, and in context. The advent of Christ has brought about a change in the relationship between Satan and the nations; in past generations God allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. Paul told the Gentile crowd at Lystra;
Acts 14:15,16 And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.
Since the cross, everything has changed. That is why Paul and Barnabas had come to the Gentile territory of Lycaonia and were pleading with the people to turn away from their vain superstitions, unto the living God who is the Creator of all (Acts 14:15). Later on, in Acts 17 when he came to Greece, Paul emphasised this same change regarding the position of the nations to the intellectual audience that had gathered to hear him in Athens;
Act 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent:
Paul is saying that hitherto, God has overlooked the times of ignorance, that is to say, the times of Gentile ignorance, during which time the nations were in the wings, and only the people of Israel were on stage; but now He commands all men everywhere to repent. Why? Because since the advent of Christ, in whom there is blessing for every nation on earth, for Gentile as well as Jew, all men have been brought fully into the scene and it is by Him that God will judge the world in righteousness (v.31)
Act 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
How can we miss this most imortant dynamic of Christ’s ministry? Where else was the gospel opened to the Gentiles, if not at the cross of Christ? Prior to the coming of Christ, the nations had been permitted to remain in the darkness of superstition that resulted from Satan’s deception. They had “walked in their own ways.”In striking contrast to this, Israel alone of all the peoples on earth had been entrusted with the oracles of God;
Rom. 3:2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.
It doesn’t do well to ignore the full implications of our inclusion into God’s plan of grace through the cross. It is precisely these essential doctrines which we should be grasping in their entirety. Before the Gentile inclusion, it was only the Jews who had the knowledge and enlightenment which God’s revelation brings. It was required of them that they should be distinguished from the other nations precisely by walking, not in their own ways (which would be to imitate the nations), but in God’s ways (see Deut 5:32; 10:12; 12:1 etc.). Moses reminded the Israelites;
For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth. Deut 14:2
God chose the Israelites for the divine purpose of bringing blessing to all the nations of the earth, and that purpose has been achieved in and through the coming of Christ. The nations are no longer left in the shadows. No longer is Satan permitted to blind the nations with his deception. For God’s salvation has been prepared in the presence of all peoples, and Christ is a light to lighten the nations as well as the glory of God’s people Israel;
Luke 2:30-32 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
Part of our work now as Christ’s witnesses, is to proclaim the gospel message to the farthest parts of the earth so that the fulness of the nations may be brought in;
Mat 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
The power of Satan over the nations has been broken by the power of the Gospel. The darkness of his deception is dispelled by the light of him who declared, “I am the Light of the world” (Jn. 8:12; 9:5). Thus the arrival of Jesus means the fulfilment of the words spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned” (Mt 4:13-16; Isaiah 9:1). So, in light of the above, let us read once again the passage in Revelation 20;Rev 20:1-3 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 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.
In Revelation 20:2, the binding of Satan is specifically in context with the reference to his deceiving of the nations. Therefore His binding does not preclude the possibility of his continuing activity in the world within the lives of unsurrendered individuals or of society in general. As the god of this world, Satan’s evil work is apparent in his blinding of the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ;
2 Cor. 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Satan is still our adversary; the devil who prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8), but his binding in relation to decieving the nations is nonetheless real, as indeed the spreading of Christ’s gospel clearly demonstrates. The binding of Satan is for the particular purpose “that He (Satan) should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled.” This was effected through the victorious ministry, sacrificial death, and exaltation of the incarnate Son. Therefore, it follows that Satan is bound even now as the Gospel is universally proclaimed, and that the millennium is not a future but a present reality. The apostles taught plainly that, in fulfilment of the prophetic scriptures, the ascended Saviour is now reigning in glory at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and will continue to reign until all enemies have been placed under his feet;
1 Cor. 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
Heb. 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
I believe that this adds weight to the conclusion that this present age is the time of the millennium, for John explains that the thousand years of his vision is a period in which Christ is reigning. It is as the ascended Lord that Christ is now crowned with glory and honor. His enthronement at the Father’s right hand is on high. My understanding that this is the millennial reign of Christ depicted by John is incompatible with the view that the thousand-year rule of Christ is not present but future, and is exercised not from heaven but on earth. In actual fact, there is no indication anywhere in scripture that Christ’s millennial reign is, or will be an earthly reign. Nor, for that matter, does it state that it is a heavenly reign, so it remains for the discerning student of God’s word to bring the passage into its correct context.
The apostle John writes that he saw thrones upon which were seated those to whom judgment was committed; and he goes on to designate the identity of those who were thus enthroned;
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
John is clearly speaking of souls, that is to say, persons who have died and are in the disembodied state. This description of Christians who have departed this life corresponds with the passage in Revelation 6 where John says he saw the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne, and who cried out, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before thou wilt judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell upon the earth?” (Rev. 6:9). Though they were killed (and no longer themselves dwelling upon earth), their souls were living in the divine presence. Paul confirms this teaching in 2nd Corinthians where he refers to the Christian who has died as “away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8), and that “to die is gain” because it means “to depart and be with Christ” (Phil. 1:21, 23). When speaking of those souls who live and reign with Christ during the millennium, John, apparently, is not speaking exclusively of those who have suffered martyrdom; for he mentions two distinct groups of persons:
1) those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God.
2) those who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands (those who have been faithful unto death – Rev. 2:10), whether that death be through martyrdom or otherwise.
The very essence of Christian martyrdom means faithful witness to Christ; not only in death but also in life. In the case of James and John for example, the former was the first of the apostles to be martyred (Acts 12:1), whereas the latter lived on into old age and did not suffer a ‘martyr’s death’ in the conventional sense. Yet we read that both drank the cup of suffering and were baptized with the baptism of persecution:
Mar 10:38 But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:
So also in John’s vision the souls he sees reigning with Christ are the souls of those who have been faithful witnesses both in life and in death. They are a manifestation of the truth of the declaration, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord” (Rev. 14:13). The blessedness of the dead who die in the Lord has already been affirmed in the earlier part of John’s Revelation where the members of the church in Ephesus are told that they must expect tribulation. However, they are encouraged with the promise that they would gain eternal life, and the assurance that they would not be hurt by the second death:
Rev. 2:10-11 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
This passage clearly has a direct bearing with the millennial passage in Revelation 20. John teaches that the souls of those who die in the Lord live and reign with Christ a thousand years. These are the dead who in fact are living. With them the rest of the dead (those who die in unbelief), have no part. These do not participate in what John calls the first resurrection, as they await the judgment of the second death.
The blessedness of the dead in the Lord is proclaimed;
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
