"THE BOOK OF REVELATION"

The 1000 Year Reign (20:1-6)

INTRODUCTION
  1. Previous chapters illustrated the defeat of agents used by Satan to persecute God's people in the first century...
    1. The fall of Babylon - cf. Re 18:1-19:10
    2. The fall of the beast, the false prophet, and their armies - cf. Re 19:11-21
  2. Now in chapter twenty, we see described...
    1. What happened to Satan, the dragon who gave authority to the beast and the false prophet in their efforts to wage war against the saints - cf. Re 12:9,17; 13:1-17
    2. What happened to those Christians killed by the agents of Satan - cf. Re 16:6; 17:6; 18:24

[What happened to Satan and those Christians he killed through his agents is described as taking place during a 1000 year period commonly referred to as "The Millenium". Let's first consider what is said about Satan...]

  1. SATAN BOUND FOR 1000 YEARS (1-3)
    1. AS DESCRIBED IN THE TEXT...
      1. John sees an angel come down from heaven - Re 20:1
        1. Having the key to the bottomless pit
        2. With a great chain in his hand
      2. The angel binds Satan for a thousand years - Re 20:2-3
        1. Casting him into the bottomless pit, shutting him up and setting a seal on him
        2. So that he should deceive the nations no more for a thousand years
        3. But afterward he will be released for a little while
        -- A long but temporary limitation placed on Satan
    2. OBSERVATION AND INTERPRETATION...
      1. It most likely depicts a long period of time in which Satan is no longer able to deceive the nations as he did during the time of the Roman empire - cf. Re 12:9; 13:14
        1. "The nature of the binding itself is not absolute, so as to preclude every activity of Satan. It is specifically limited in the passage to the devil's power to deceive the nations (v. 3) for the duration of the period." - Steve Gregg, Revelation: Four Views
        2. "...the imagery of "binding Satan" conveys the fact that Satan has been rendered incapable of successfully resisting the forward advance of God's kingdom." - ibid.
        3. In other words, Satan could still tempt people on an individual basis to sin - e.g., 1Pe 5:8-9
      2. If so, it began following the end of Roman persecution and would continue for a long time in the future
        1. The number 1000 is often used figuratively in Scripture; for example...
          1. Israelites were to keep the covenant for 1000 generations - Deut 7:9
          2. Is it literal when God says that the cattle on 1000 hills are His? - Ps 50:10
          3. God will remember His word for 1000 generations (but no more?) - Ps 105:8
        2. So for a long period of time Satan would not be able to deceive the nations like he did with unfaithful Jerusalem (Re 6-11) and pagan Rome (Re 13-19)
        3. Afterward he is released and once more deceives the nations for a short time - cf. Re 20:7-9a
        4. But then Satan also is defeated once and for all - cf. Re 20:9b-10
        -- It is important to remember that the 1000 year binding of Satan relates to his ability to deceive the nations

      [Now let's direct our attention to what is said about those who were killed by the agents of Satan...]

  2. SAINTS REIGN WITH CHRIST FOR 1000 YEARS (4-6)
    1. AS DESCRIBED IN THE TEXT...
      1. John sees souls upon thrones, to whom judgment was committed - Re 20:4
        1. Who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and the word of God
        2. Who had not worshiped the beast or his image
        3. Who had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands
      2. These souls lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years - Re 20:5-6
        1. The rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished
        2. This is the first resurrection
          1. Blessed and holy are those who have a part in the first resurrection
          2. Over such the second death has no power
          3. They shall be priests of God and of Christ
          4. They shall reign with Christ a thousand years
          -- Imagine how this would have encouraged Christians facing Roman persecution in the 1st century!
    2. OBSERVATION AND INTERPRETATION...
      1. The focus of this passage is not on the reign of Christ per se, but rather:
        1. The binding of deceptive Satan
        2. The reign of resurrected souls with Christ
      2. Note carefully what is said about these souls
        1. It is their souls that are "resurrected", not their bodies
        2. This "resurrection" is described as the "first resurrection"
        3. Implying that there is a "second resurrection" (likely that of the body) - cf. Jn 5:28-29
        4. And over such the "second death" (i.e., the lake of fire, cf. Re 2:11; 20:14) has no power
        5. They shall be priests of God and Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years - cf. 1Pe 2:9; Re 1:6
      3. Note carefully what is not said about the reign of these souls
        1. Nothing is said about them reigning on the earth
        2. They could just as easily be reigning with Christ in heaven!
        3. As Jesus had promised in His letters to the churches - cf. Re 2:26-27; 3:21
      4. In the rest of the New Testament...
        1. There is no mention of a 1000 year reign of Christ on the earth!
        2. Instead, Christ is reigning now from heaven!
          1. He has all authority in heaven and on earth - Mt 28:18
          2. He is Lord of all - Ac 2:36; 10:36
          3. He is Lord of the living and the dead - Ro 14:9
          4. He is head over all things - Ep 1:20-22
          5. He is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords - 1Ti 6:15
          6. Angels, authorities, and powers have been made subject to Him - 1Pe 3:22
          7. He is truly the ruler over the kings of the earth - Re 1:5
        3. His kingdom (reign) was always intended to be spiritual, not physical
          1. He resisted when people tried to make Him an earthly king - Jn 6:15
          2. He said that His kingdom was not of this world - Jn 18:36
          3. His kingdom was not to come with observation, but to be within you - Lk 17:20-21
          4. His apostles taught that kingdom was spiritual in nature - Ro 14:17
        4. His second coming is not to establish His kingdom, but to deliver it to God!
          1. When Christ comes and the dead are raised, that is the end! - 1Co 15:22-24
          2. He will deliver the kingdom to God, when He has put to an end all rule, authority and power - 1Co 15:24
          3. He reigns now, and must do so until all enemies are put under His feet - 1Co 15:25; Ps 110:1
          4. The last enemy to be destroyed will be death, which will occur when our bodies are raised from the dead - 1Co 15:26, 51-54
          -- The New Testament (including Revelation) teaches that Christ is reigning now from heaven!
CONCLUSION
  1. In chapter twenty we learn that after the beast and false prophet are destroyed...
    1. Satan himself loses his ability to deceive the nations for a long time
    2. Meanwhile, those he had killed experience the blessing of reigning with Christ and serving as priests of God and Christ in heaven
  2. But chapter twenty has much more to reveal concerning...
    1. The future release of Satan
    2. Another effort by Satan to deceive the nations and destroy the people of God
    3. His ultimate defeat and eternal torment with the beast and the false prophet
    4. The great white throne judgment in which all will stand before God to be judged

Which we will examine more closely in our next lesson. But even now everyone should ask, "Am I ready to stand before God in the day of judgment?"

To be sure that you are, please carefully read: "The Gospel Of The Grace Of God".