CHAPTER 20
Revelation 20:1-3
1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss (bottomless pit) and holding in his hand a great chain.
2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.
John now sees an Angel coming down from Heaven and he has the key to the Bottomless Pit along with a great chain. It is interesting to note that Satan, the Dragon, the Old Serpent is seized by an unnamed Angel, not God, not Jesus, an unnamed Angel. This must have been a blow to Satan’s arrogant pride that God did not think he was important enough to come and do this Himself. This is the same as declaring to the world that Satan, the Devil is not the equal to God and can be handled by any of God’s ministering Angels.
Satan is seized, chained and cast into the Bottomless Pit and imprisoned for 1000 years. At this time this is not Satan’s permanent sentence or punishment, it is a time of restraint so that he cannot deceive or influence the nations anymore until the 1000 years is completed. If he is to have no further influence on earth for 1000 years then it stands to reason that his demonic hordes are also imprisoned with him. This conquest of Satan and his demons is brought about by God and human effort plays no role in it happening. At the end of the 100 year Millennium he will be set free for a short time when God will finally put an end to his lifework of trying to thwart God’s plans for mankind.
Revelation 20:4
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
John saw those who were seated on throne were given the power to rule and judge the earth, these maybe the twenty-four Elders spoken of in Revelation 4:4. Along with these he saw the souls of those martyred during the Tribulation for not taking the Mark of the Beast and worshipping him. It indicates here that the method of execution is beheading, either way they have been killed for their faith. These are resurrected to join the Saints who with Christ will rule and reign over the earth for 1000 years, this is a special vindication for them because God has kept His promise and has avenged them for the suffering they endured under the Antichrist. The Millennium, 1000 years of joy, peace and God’s blessings, under the earthly reign of Jesus Christ and all will live in strict obedience to Him. It is during the Millennial reign that the curse upon the earth is lifted and these interesting changes in the animal kingdom occur. All of creation is transformed, the wild animals will live in harmony with all the others, there will be no want and peace will reign. During this time Israel is gathered together and renewed in Christ and will assume a leadership role in the world.
Isaiah 11:5-13
5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling are together; and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the Knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
Revelation 20:5-6
5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
The first resurrection, another subject that is much debated. It indicates that there is more than one resurrection, and there is for Jesus describes two resurrections in the Book of John. The first resurrection involves those who have died in Christ prior to the Great Tribulation, the Raptured Church. This is not a singular event as some claim, whereby those who died before the Tribulation and those who have died during the tribulation are raised together at the end of the Tribulation. The first resurrection as we have already explained includes all the righteous that have died in Christ from Adam until the Rapture takes place. They are raised from the dead before the Great Tribulation begins. The second resurrection will be for the unsaved who will be resurrected to stand in judgment before the Great White Throne Judgment. This will include all who where saved during the Great Tribulation for not taking the Mark of the beast and will at this time be separated from the unsaved.
John 5:28-29
28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice
29 and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
Revelation 20:11-12
11 Then I saw a Great White Throne and Him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from His presence, and there was no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
Revelation 20:7-10
7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison
8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth-Gog and Magog to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore.
9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city He loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
This is the beginning of the final battle when Satan is turned loose from his prison and once again begins to deceive the nations, and is successful in doing so. He goes to the four quarters of the earth, North, South, East and West and gathers the people together to fight the last great battle. If the world has just enjoyed a 1000 years of peace under Christ’s rule, why will they once again rebel against Him and follow Satan and eventually be destroyed. It seems as though multitudes (as the sand of the sea) conformed to Christ’s rule because they had to but inwardly they are still evil and have not had that personal experience of being born again. They have lived in a perfect environment, free from all diseases, with plenty of everything they would want or need to make them comfortable and enjoy life, but still the old nature, the carnal nature is still resident in the heart of man.
Satan and his followers cover the length and breadth of the earth. They surround God’s Saints, even to God’s beloved and Holy City, Jerusalem. God deals with this immediately and the battle is over before it even starts for God sends fire from Heaven and destroys them all. God deals with Satan for the last time and casts him into the Lake of Fire, this is the second death (20:14).
This last sentence does away with any arguments that eternal damnation for the lost is not real or forever, it says, ‘shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.’
Revelation 20:11
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them
The Great White Throne Judgment is a place where the lost from all ages will be summoned to personally hear their fate pronounced from the mouth of the, “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Rev. 13:8. He that sits on the throne is God’s Son, Jesus Christ, representing the fullness of the Triune God. The peoples of the earth will try to run away from Him but there will be no place to hide, there will be no escaping the judgment that is going to be pronounced upon them.
John 5:22-23
For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,
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For the child of God there will be the ‘Judgment Seat of Christ,’ were they will have their works judged and will give an account of all they have done while living on earth. Their Salvation will not be judged, only their works and they will receive or lose their rewards.
2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Revelation 20:12-13
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works
There is a Book of Life, the Lamb’s Book of Life and only those whose names are written in it will enter Heavens gates. There are other books and out of these books the unsaved of all time will be judged, the judgment of condemnation. Their works will condemn them for they are the irrefutable evidence, recorded in those other books of their rebellious acts and the lack of any desire to have a relationship with God. When they stand before the Lord it will not be a trial to see if they are guilty or not guilty, they are seen standing before Him indicating that they are about to be sentenced, the facts are already in and they are standing to hear their sentence pronounced. The sea gave up the bodies of the unburied dead as well as the grave, indicating that everybody is included in the final judgment and that physical death is not the end of life.
Revelation 20:14-15
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
The Lake of Fire is an eternal place of damnation and separation from God. Where the soul will never die and the lost will remember over and over again of why they are there. WHY? Because they chose to spurn and reject God’s offer of Grace and Mercy presented to them on a cross where His Only Begotten Son bled and died that they could free from the shackles of sin. There will be no mistaken identity, for the Book of Life will be opened and whosever’s name was not found written in it will die the second death by being cast into the Lake of Fire. It is not God who sends people to this terrible place, they condemn themselves to it by choosing not to believe and by rejecting His Son, Jesus Christ.
John 3:16-18
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Ezekiel 33:11
'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die?