Revelation 20
1000 Years…Satan’s Doom, and the Final Judgment
Welcome to one of the most contested, widely argued and debated, and
confusing chapters of Revelation 20. I hope this confusion will elude you. If
you read this in the context of the interpretation we have been studying (Fall
of Rome), you will see that it is not quite as confusing.
There are 2 main areas in this chapter that are the “hot buttons”: 1) the Gospel
of the 2nd Chance and 2) Jesus’ 1000 year Reign. But I do not think this chapter
supports any of these ideas at all. Especially not that of a literal reign for
Jesus on earth. This area is what we will focus on during the first part of this
chapter study.
This theory generally states the following: Jesus will come in the 1st phase of
his return (the rapture) at which time the righteous dead will be raised from
the grave and the saved will be caught up with the Lord in the air. Next will
come the marriage feast of Jesus during which time, great tribulation will be on
the earth. After the wedding, Jesus and his bride, the church, will then
complete the return to earth (the revelation), where Jesus will sit upon his
throne (the throne of David) and reign from Jerusalem for a literal 1000 years
(the millennium). And according to some, the Jews will be converted and return
to Palestine and OT worship will be restored (with modern necessary
modifications of course) and a utopia will exist on earth, lasting the literal
1000 years. At this time’s end, Satan will be freed briefly to make his last
ditch efforts to destroy God’s works! This will be followed by a resurrection of
the wicked (since all the saved were already resurrected at the beginning of the
reign on earth). Then, judgment will occur and the eternal destinies will be
decided!
Whew……that was a lot of information. Make sure that you got all of that!
Now, you already know that I do not believe in this interpretation. Let me point
out a few things that DO NOT occur in this chapter:
On of the biggest and most basic premises of those who believe in a literal
reign of Jesus on earth is that He came to establish God’s kingdom on earth.
This kingdom was prophesied in the OT. But, they believe that since Jews
rejected Jesus as the Messiah, God could not do what he had planned to do in
regard to this kingdom. And since he could not establish this kingdom on earth
due to this Jewish rejection, that he established the church as “secondary
measure” or “plan B” to last until the time that he would come again and THEN
establish his kingdom on earth! What do you see wrong with this idea??
Here are some thought to ponder on the above stated theory:
So, that is what most of the world think about what we are studying, getting most of this argument from the chapter we are now diving into. So, strap on a helmet and some pads and let’s dive! There are 4 sections we will break this chapter into:
Satan’s Binding
Vs 1-3- The angel is pictured as having “keys”, which we have already stated
indicates some form of ownership, access or control over.
The primary emphasis it seems to me, is that the power of Satan is restricted
and limited! It does not seem to be the 1000 yrs mentioned. Satan is bound! His
power is greatly limited. Do you think this means that he is rendered
completely incapable of any works? I do not think so at all. Satan will
always have some power here on earth. Here’s a question for you: at what
literal point in history do you think Satan’s powers were 1st severely limited?
I think this took place at the cross where the law of sin and death was made
void.
Now, let’s get to the 1000 years. What do you think this is referring to?
In scripture, and ESPECIALLY in apocalyptic writing, the # 1000 symbolized or
suggested the thought of “wholeness” or “entirety”.
John is painting a picture of Satan cast into a pit, and a seal of protection is
placed over this, not allowing him to escape. Once again, it is important to
remember this is symbolic. The picture is just to paint a serious restricting of
Satan.
One area of Satan’s wok is directly mentioned. He said he will deceive the
nations no more. What do you think this means? Perhaps this was
what was so limited and restricted. I think he directly talking about the
specific deceiving he did in Rome. Satan’s power to make people believe in
Emperor worship due to divinity of the Emperor is null and void. If this
is so, what meaning would this have to us Christians today? I think that
when ANYTHING is worshipped as God, whether it be a leader or money, the
principle of this verse applies. What do you think John means at the end
where he says that Satan “must be set free for a short time”?
The “1st Resurrection
Vs 4-6- John here discusses what he calls the “1st resurrection”. This apparently occurs when a faithful Christian dies in the Lord and goes to be with him. This would include all faithful who have experienced physical death. ***I have NO DEFINATES why this is called the “1st” (as I see nothing to say there is another)!!! I believe it just means that one will be the righteous dead and there will also be the one of those who are still alive. Any ideas? Some think the 1st resurrection occurs when you obey the gospel, by experiencing the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus (so it is symbolic). There are also several scriptural references to a bodily resurrection which will occur at the end of time (but it is NEVER referred to with a number). So, I have no clue why he calls it this…but he does. Joe Jones, a professor from Harding University challenges us to think about the following statements when considering this emphasis:
Did you take that in and process it?
If you are only born physically, you will die physically, but will also have to
face a second death (of spiritual nature). This 2nd death is the eternal
separation from God. And, if a person is born physically, and also chooses to
“born of the water and spirit (John 3:3-5), they will only die one time, since a
second death would have no power over them.
What do you think he means by “the rest of the dead”? I think it
simply talks of those who die outside of a saved relationship with Jesus. These
are the folks of whom the second death has power.
Those who have died faithful to Jesus will never worry about the 2nd death! This
death is not talking about annihilation but separation….from God eternally.
The Freeing of Satan and His Final Attempts
V7-10- It seems the deceptive power of Satan is restored here. It may not
work the exact same way it did in Roman times, but what are some ways it
works today? Men may not address the Roman emperor as God, or their
president or King, but when we place anything above God…Satan’s deceptive power
is accomplishing the same thing!
What does God and Magog symbolize? These are nations of the world
coming together for one last fight against God. *These names would have recalled
names of ancient enemies of God’s people to the Romans this was originally being
written to! They were often used in apocalyptic writings. The Talmud uses them
to describe the enemies of the Messiah. Ezekiel referred to them in his book to
seemingly symbolize all heathen enemies of God’s people. So it is clear…these
were common descriptions. These enemies would be Rome in John’s days.
He says the number of enemies is as many as the sands of the sea. This makes
LITTLE matter to God! Remember…Satan only has the power that God allows him to
have. John constantly reminds us that God is always the one in control.
It initially looks like Satan and his forces will win! They have God’s people
surrounded! But suddenly and rapidly he is wiped out….by fire form heaven!!!!
God destroys the enemy himself. So it is not the power of men that finally
brings and end to evil work of our enemy, but the power of Heaven!
The final state of the devil and his allies is pictured here as HELL where they
are tormented fore ever and ever!!!!!
The FINAL Judgment
So far in Revelation, John has described several judgment scenes, but none
have been the final judgment of earth. I believe that this description is just
that: the final judgment that will occur at the end of this present world!
Some say this is only referring to the judgment on the wicked. Others argue it
is simply a continued description of Rome’s judgment. But ALL of the symbols
that have been previously used by John have already been listed as going down in
defeat and judgment and are not left to be included in this. And many of the
phrases used here seem to ONBLY fit into a picture of final judgment at the end
times.
** Judgment Day is NOT a time to determine guilt and innocence.
When does that occur? We determine guilt or innocence by the life we
lead on earth! Death is the final sealer of this decision! At death we should
know what our final judgment pronouncement would be. Judgment day is merely a
day of “sentence passing”.
Vs 11-15- Who is sitting on this white throne? It has to be Jesus
because it is he who will make final pronouncements (Matt 25:31-32).
What do you think he means by “great and small” were present? It
simply means that EVERYONE is there.
“The books were opened” refers to the criteria which will be used in handing out
judgment pronouncements. What do you think the books contained?
Those living in the OT times will be judged by the law in affect at that time.
All on this side of the cross that we are in will be judged by the NT. So, the
books could be the OT and the NT. Or they could be a record of our lives,
decisions, sins etc. What do you think?????? GOD WILL JUDGE ACCORDING TO HIS
REVEALED WORD…so the 1st theory makes some good sense!
The Book of Life is heaven’s record of the saved…man don’t you want to be in
that book!
Because, whoever was not found in it, will be cast into hell! Simple as that!
This is the close of the final judgment. Die outside of Jesus, and Hell is all
you have to look forward to……forever!