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The Millennium and Beyond
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Revelation 20: "Satin's Future"
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Link to Printer Ready PDF Version of this document. |
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Chapter Highlights
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Chapter Aids
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Topical Index
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This chapter reveals something that is mentioned nowhere else in the Bible: The thousand year reign of Jesus on earth or, as we have already called it, the Millennium. Before it can begin, though, two things must happen: Jesus must return, and Satan's rule must come to an end. Chapter 19 covered the Second Coming of Christ, so now its time to look at the demise of Satan.
What Others are Saying:
- Jack Van Impe: To have a thorough understanding of the word millennium, lets look at the original language derivatives for this word. In Latin, mille means thousand; annus means years. The Greeks also had a term for this which they called chilias meaning one thousand. Whenever we use the terms millennial, millennialism, or chiliasm, the meaning is always a thousand years. 20-1
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Revelation 20:1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain.
An unnamed, but seemingly ordinary, angel will come from heaven to earth. He will have the key to the Abyss that will be taken from Satan when the devil is cast out of heaven in Revelation 12:7–9. The angel will also have a great chain in his hand.
Key Symbols:
What Others are Saying:
- J. Vernon McGee: It is true that the Millennium is mentioned only in one chapter, but God mentions it six times. How many times does he have to say a thing before it becomes true? He mentions it more than he mentions some other things that people emphasize and think are important… 20-2
- David Jeremiah with C. C. Carlson: How else can we respond to the disciple's prayer, Thy kingdom come (Matthew 6:10 kjv), without the literal establishment of that kingdom? The Millennium is needed to redeem creation. We have been told of the terrible devastation of our planet; now it will be made new and beautiful once more. 20-3
- Hal Lindsey: The heart of the Old Testament prophetic message is the coming of the Messiah to set up an earthly Kingdom over which he would rule from the throne of David. The only important detail which Revelation adds concerning this promised messianic Kingdom is its duration, one thousand years. 20-4
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Revelation 20:2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
Obviously, since God is omnipotent, he could seize Satan anytime he wants. But the Bible says Satan's arrest will come at the end of the Tribulation Period. God will not jump the gun and violate his own Word. When the Tribulation Period is over, he will send one ordinary angel to seize and bind Satan for a thousand years.
Key Symbols:
- The Dragon
- Satan/Devil
- the ancient serpent
What Others are Saying:
- Hal Lindsey: I don't really have any problem believing that God could make such a key and chain, since Satan has never really been free anyway. He's only been able to do what God has permitted. God has had him on a long leash, and now the time has come to pull it in! 20-5
- Jack Van Impe: These are the words (millennial, millennialism, chiliasm) of the early Church fathers, the leaders during the first three hundred years of Christianity. If, in their day, you did not believe in chiliasm, the reign of Christ on earth for a thousand years, you were considered a heretic. 20-6
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Revelation 20:3 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.
The angel will cast Satan, bound and chained, into the Abyss. This will keep Satan from deceiving the nations during the Millennium. Survivors from the Tribulation (the Tribulation Saints and the living Jews) will repopulate the earth, and people from all nations will go to Jerusalem once a year to worship Jesus (Zechariah 14:16).
Multitudes will be born during the Millennium. During that time, the offspring from the Tribulation Saints and Jews will not know what temptation (Isaiah 2:4; 11:9) is. There will be no real test of their faith. Satan will be released one more time to try them, and unfortunately, many will fall.
What Others are Saying:
- Jack Van Impe: The Targum (Aramaic paraphrase of the Old Testament), Talmud (a vast compendium of Jewish law and lore), and Midrash (an interpretive method to penetrate the deepest meaning of a Hebrew passage) all have concluded there will be a literal thousand-year period when the Messiah will reign on earth. 20-7
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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 worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge refers to the Church and martyred Tribulation Saints. They will sit upon thrones and reign with Jesus during the Millennium. They will even be given the authority to judge the world (1 Corinthians 6:2, 3).
The souls of those who had been beheaded refers to the martyred Tribulation Saints. They were beheaded for two reasons: because of their testimony for Jesus, and to fulfill the Word of God. These will be Gentiles and Jews who refused to worship the Antichrist or his image, and refused to take his Mark. After Satan is bound and chained, their souls will appear, and they will be raised from the dead in the fourth and final phase of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20-23; more on this in next verse).
Key Symbols:
- Thrones
- judgment seats for Christians
Remember This…
- You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth (Revelation 5:10).
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Revelation 20:5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.
Jesus said, Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned (John 5:28, 29). The first resurrection is called the resurrection of life or the resurrection of believers. The second resurrection is called the resurrection of damnation or the resurrection of unbelievers. This verse reveals that there will be a thousand years between the two.
Perhaps some clarification would help. Some people think that the first resurrection means only one resurrection, but that is not the case. The first resurrection is a resurrection that began over 1,900 years ago and occurred in four phases (see Time Line #5):
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Phase 1:
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the resurrection of Christ and some Old Testament Saints
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Phase 2:
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the resurrection of the Church at the Rapture
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Phase 3:
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the resurrection of the two witnesses
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Phase 4:
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the resurrection of the Tribulation Saints and the remainder of the Old Testament Saints (Matthew 27:52-53; Daniel 12:1-3) at the end of the Tribulation Period
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the unbelievers at the end of the Millennium
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The 144,000 and those believers who survive the Tribulation Period will not be resurrected since they will still be alive at the start of the Millennium.
Key Symbols:
- First Resurrection
- Second Resurrection
- Resurrection of Damnation
- unbelievers
- end of the Millennium
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Revelation 20:6 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.
This tells us six things about those who will have a part in the first resurrection:
- Blessed, they will be happy in their eternal state
- Holy, they will be separated or identified as God's special people
- Priests, they will minister to, and serve in the presence of God
- Reign, they will be both a royal and a political priesthood (Revelation 5:10, 1 Peter 2:9)
- A thousand years, the length of their earthly reign with Jesus
- The second death has no power over them, they will never suffer the consequences of their sin by being cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 19:20; 20:10) because they have been redeemed
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Revelation 20:7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison
With Satan bound during the Millennium, people will be shielded from temptation and sin. Sickness and disease will not exist and people will live to be hundreds of years old (Isaiah 65:18-24). A population explosion will occur. However, God is no respecter of persons. Those born during the Millennium will have to be tested just like everyone else. When the Millennium is over, the Abyss will be opened one more time, and Satan will be released to resume his old ways.
Key Point:
- Those born during the Millennium will be tested!
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Revelation 20:8 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.
When Satan is released he will pick up where he left off. He will go out once again to deceive the nations.
Tempting those who were born during the Millennium will prove that eliminating sin is not as simple as changing our environment. Something is wrong with the very nature of man's heart (Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 8:7, 8). Rebellion is our nature, and unless we are born again, we will never see change.
At the Battle of Gog and Magog Satan will repeat what he tried at the Battle of Armageddon. He will try one final time to become greater than God (Isaiah 14:12, 13; Revelation 12:9) by gathering a great horde of people from all over the world, including those from Gog and Magog.
Key Point:
- Rebellion is man's nature, and unless we are born again, we will never change.
What Others are Saying:
- J. Vernon McGee: Because the rebellion is labeled "Gog and Magog," many Bible students identify it with the Gog and Magog of Ezekiel 38–39. This is not possible at all, for the conflicts described are not parallel as to time, place, or participants — only the names are the same. 20-8
- Hal Lindsey: War is one of his (Satan's) favorite enterprises. He gets together some of the descendants of the enemies of Israel (Gog and Magog) who were born during the Millennium, and surrounds Jerusalem. 20-8
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Revelation 20:9 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.
Jesus will reign from Jerusalem, the City of God (Psalm 87:2, 3; the camp of God's people), during his Millennial reign. Satan's army will march across the earth and surround the city, but just as God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24), he will again consume Satan's army with fire from heaven.
"God is love" is one of the great truths of the Bible, but we should also remember that God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). It is interesting that the only thing stopping the attack on Jerusalem is fire from heaven and the destruction of Satan. The message here is to not harm the things God loves.
Key Symbols:
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