1And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3and 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.
After the record of the fall of Babylon in chapter 18 and the celebration in heaven recorded in 19:1-10, a final narrative section of the book began with the coming of Christ in 19:11. That narrative section contains seven main events, each introduced by John’s words, “I saw.” The first of the seven events is the return of Christ. The second is the summons to the birds to come to the carrion feast of the flesh of the armies of Antichrist (19:17-18). The third is the defeat of the armies of Antichrist and the casting of the beast and the false prophet into hell (19:19-21). The fourth of the seven events in the final narrative section is found in the verses above in chapter 20. An angel with a great chain casts Satan into the abyss. No resistance by Satan is mentioned. The angel who performs the task is not even said to be strong. The abyss will be closed and sealed, and Satan will remain bound there for 1000 years. This fourth event will resume with Satan’s temporary release in 20:7-10. Verse 2 calls Satan “that old serpent.” It is the same devil which led Adam and Eve into sin. But for 1000 years he will deceive the peoples of the earth no more.
Satan is not bound today. Peter said, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8). Paul said, Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us (I Thessalonians 2:18). Paul also said, And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:1-2). However, Satan does not have governance over any who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ: Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:12-14).
Satan is still deceiving the peoples of the earth today: But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 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 (II Corinthians 4:3-4).
After the return of Christ, Satan will be bound in the abyss for 1000 years. Several specific time expressions are found in the book of Revelation: “a thousand two hundred and threescore days” (11:3; 12:6), “three days and a half” (11:9,11), “five months” (9:5), “forty and two months” (11:2; 13:5). All are literal. The time expression “thousand years” is found six times in Revelation 20:2-7. The thousand years are also literal.
Verse 3 says that after the thousand years, Satan “must be loosed a little season.” Why would God turn Satan loose again even for a short time? And why “must” Satan be loosed for that brief period of time? Verses 7-10 tell us what Satan will do when he is allowed to be active in the world again at the end of the thousand years. The information in those verses will make the reason clearer. The “must” means that it is necessary to the fulfilling of God’s perfect plan.
4And 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. 5But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed 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.
Verse 4 begins with the words, “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them.” Yet there is no statement about who “they” are. That is probably because of the close similarity between the wording of this verse and that of Daniel 7:22. Daniel prophesied that the Antichrist would have power until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. Resurrected believers will be given responsibility to govern in Christ’s kingdom for 1000 years. God will vindicate and reward His people who have suffered at the hands of the Antichrist.
The prophet Daniel said that after the great Tribulation many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:1-2). Those who “awake to everlasting life” have part in the first resurrection. They are raised before the thousand year reign of Christ and will reign with Him. The rest face the second death and will not be raised until the end of the thousand years. The first resurrection includes the resurrection of Christ (the firstfruits of them that slept [I Corinthians 15:20]), the resurrection of the dead in Christ at the time the church is taken out of the world (I Thessalonians 4:16), the giving of new bodies to believers when the church is taken (I Corinthians 15:51-55), the resurrection of believers who lived before Christ's death (Job 19:25-26; Daniel 12:2), and the resurrection of believers who die in the Tribulation period (Revelation 20:4).
Those who have part in the first resurrection “shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” John spoke of this reality for the church in chapter 1. He said, “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever” (1:5-6). This resurrection is the fifth event in the final narrative section of the book of Revelation.
7And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8and 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. 9And 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. 10And 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.
Satan will remain bound in the abyss during the entire thousand year reign of Christ. But at the end of the thousand years he will be released for a short time. Without any repentance, Satan will go out to do exactly what he was doing before he was thrown into the abyss. Chapters 38 and 39 of Ezekiel speak of Gog and Magog. Those chapters may allow reference to the events of Revelation 20 also, but the information in Ezekiel seems to primarily fit the events of the Tribulation period, climaxing in the return of Christ to the earth. After Satan is released from the abyss, he will seek to gather the nations again, as he did in the Tribulation period, to rebel against King Jesus.
Perhaps here we gain understanding as to why verse 3 says, Satan “must be loosed a little season.” Those still alive at the end of the Tribulation period who enter Christ’s kingdom will enter His kingdom in their old bodies. Many of them will have children in His kingdom. Those children will have sinful natures as do all descendants of Adam. During the thousand years, multiple generations of people on the earth will live in the blessings of the reign of King Jesus. Yet, even in that incomparably wonderful world, many will reject Him in their hearts. They will not like His ruling them “with a rod of iron” (12:5; 19:15). When Satan is released, they will rally to his demonic call to rebel against Christ. They will surround Jerusalem to try to take over the throne from the Lord Jesus. God will let them go that far, probably to show just how sinful the human heart is apart from regeneration. Even in a perfect environment, people need a new heart.
After multitudes from the nations have surrounded Jerusalem, God will intervene. There is no interchange of attacks. Fire will fall from heaven from God and consume them. Period. The verbal contrast in verse 9 stands out: the nations “went up on the breadth of the earth,” and “fire came down from God out of heaven.”
Satan will then be cast into hell forever. Verse 10 says that Satan will be cast into the lake of fire “where the beast and the false prophet are.” Satan is a demon, but the beast (the Antichrist) and the false prophet are human beings. They will have been in hell for the thousand years and will still be there. Human beings who go to hell are not annihilated. And, hell does not purge people of their sins so that they can get out. They (the Greek verb is plural) “shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” We will read of the judgment of the others who rebel with Satan and of the unbelievers of all history in the coming verses.
11And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Jesus said, For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him (John 5:22-23).
The One sitting on the great white throne to judge will be the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Revelation 16:20 we read, “And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.” That verse described the world at a time near the end of the Tribulation period; no island or mountain remained as a place to escape God’s wrath. Now, at the end of the thousand year reign of Christ, “the earth and the heaven fled away.” Peter wrote, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up (II Peter 3:10). The completion of the Day of the Lord will bring the disintegration of the earth and heavens. There will be absolutely no place to hide from God’s final judgment.
12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
We read in verse 5 of this chapter, “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” At the end of the thousand year reign of Christ on earth, “the rest of the dead,” that is, those who did not have part in the first resurrection (see verse 6), will be raised for judgment. The dead who are at the great white throne judgment are the lost, those who had not believed in the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
At that judgment there will be books (plural) and there will be a book (singular). The book (singular) is the book of life. The books (plural) are apparently records of what people did. The dead who are at the great white throne judgment will be judged “out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” That’s because they came without the Savior. Their names are not in the book of life.
Is there any hope for anyone who is judged according to his or her works? James said, For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all (James 2:10). God is absolutely holy, so even one sin one time brings condemnation forever. Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden of Eden permanently because of only one sin one time.
The great white throne judgment is the sixth of the seven events in the final narrative section of the book of Revelation.
13And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
The sea here likely pictures the principle of sin and death (see notes under 21:1). The word translated “hell” in this verse is not the lake of fire. The Greek word is “Hades.” It is the word that is found in Luke 16:23 concerning the place of torment of the lost dead before the time of final judgment. Death and hades “delivered up the dead which were in them.” Death took their bodies; hades took their spirits.
14And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Verse 6 of this chapter said, “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power.” The second death is the lake of fire. Only those who are written in the book of life can escape the second death.
The book of life is called “the book of life of the Lamb slain” in 13:8 and “the Lamb’s book of life” in 21:27. Salvation from eternal judgment for our sins depends solely on forgiveness by the payment made by the Lamb of God at the cross. If there were another way, Jesus would not have had to die.
Note: All Scriptures are quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.