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. 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. 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 about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 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 share 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. 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 and 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 forever and ever. And I saw an angel The vision now changes. John sees an angel who binds Satan for a thousand years. During this period those martyred by the beast are given thrones and they rule from them. Everyone else remains dead for the same thousand years. At the end of that time Satan is set free and he once again deceives people and opposes God. After this he is finally destroyed, thrown into the lake of burning sulfur. What is going on here? This is one of the most hotly debated and divisively interpreted passages in the entire Bible. The viewpoints can be sorted into three primary categories: 1. Premillennialism: a literal reading of the passage in which Jesus returns and established God s kingdom for a literal 1000 year period. This is the newest viewpoint and the most popular in North America. According to Craig Blaising premillennialists believe that when Jesus comes. He will raise the dead in two stages. First, he will raise some to participate with him in the millennial kingdom. After the Millennium (the thousand-year period) is over, he 1
will raise the rest of the dead and institute the Final Judgment. Then will come the final and eternal destinies of the saved and the lost. 1 The problems with this view are: a. You must now read the entire revelation literally something no one actually does. b. The Old Testament says nothing about a thousand-year reign. Instead it points to the Day of the Lord, a decisive day of judgment and salvation. This would be the only major image in Revelation not drawn from the Old Testament. c. The thousand in this passage becomes the only completely literal number in the Revelation. According to Darrell Johnson, The one thousand years is not a statistic. It is a symbol. The millennial reign could turn out to be exactly one thousand years. But that is not what John is saying in the last book of the Bible all numbers have turned out to be symbols, not statistics. 2 2. Postmillennialism: this view interprets the thousand years symbolically and teaches that Jesus will return after the church dominates the world and establishes a golden period. Postmillennialism expects the proclaiming of the Spirit-blessed gospel of Jesus Christ to win the vast majority of human beings to salvation in the present age. Increasing gospel success will gradually produce a time in history prior to Christ s return in which faith, righteousness, peace, and prosperity will prevail in the affairs of people and of nations. After an extensive era of such conditions the Lord will return visibly, bodily, and in great glory, ending history with the general resurrection and the great judgment of all humankind. 3 In other words the church will bring about an age of righteousness that will immediately precede Jesus return. Postmillennialists emphasize the covenantal crushing of Satan in history at Christ s first advent, with its results being progressively worked out in history on the plane of Adam s original rebellion, Satan s consequent struggle, and Christ s incarnational intrusion. 4 1 Craig Blaising, page 157 (Darrell L. Bock; Kenneth L. Gentry Jr.; Robert B. Strimple; Craig A. Blaising (2010-07-14). Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond (Counterpoints: Bible and Theology) Zondervan. Kindle Edition. 2 Darrell Johnson, page 337 3 Kenneth Gentry Pages. 13-14. 4 Kenneth Gentry, Page 28 2
An adaptation of postmillennialism called theonomic postmillennialism is currently growing in popularity. According to this view the church will influence a gradual return to the Mosaic Law though evangelism and discipleship. The biggest problem with this view is history, which doesn t bear it out at all. 3. Amillennialism: The millennium is not a literal 1000-year reign but reflects the Bible s now and not yet tension. Currently all authority belongs to Jesus (Matt. 28.18) but the fullness of that is yet to come. Amillennialists believe that all things will conclude with Jesus second return. Amillennialists see the promises made in the Old Testament of a righteous kingdom and glorious temple fulfilled in the church. With regard to the New Testament revelation concerning the future, however, we must say even more than that. Not only does the New Testament not teach a future millennial kingdom, in what it teaches us about Christ s second coming, the New Testament rules out an earthly millennial kingdom following Christ s return, because the New Testament reveals clearly that the following events are all concurrent; that is, all will occur together in one cluster of end-time events, one grand dramatic finale of redemptive history: the second coming of Christ, the resurrection of believers (and the change of living believers, 1 Cor. 15:51), the resurrection of the unjust, judgment for all, the end, the new heaven and new earth, and the inauguration of the final kingdom of God, the blessed eternal state of the redeemed. 5 Also amillennialists draw on several NT verses that seem to teach one resurrection and one judgment. - John 5.28-29: 28 Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. - 2 Thessalonians 1.5-10: 5 All this is evidence that God s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who 5 Robert Strimple, page 100 3
have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you. - See also Rom. 8.17-33; 2 Peter 3.3-14; 1 Cor. 15.20-26 Then what is the millennium described in Chapter 20? The millennium is an image describing the role of the saints in the kingdom now before the final judgment. It is one more angle or perspective on the events of the previous few chapters. According to Robert Strimple, Revelation 20:1-10 is a figurative representation of Christ s victory over Satan at each of the two climactic points. At the cross Satan is bound but not absolutely. Revelation 20:2-3 does not say that Satan is bound, period. He is bound in one respect only, namely, to keep him from deceiving the nations [the Gentiles] anymore. The age of salvation for the Gentiles has arrived. Prior to Christ s ministry Israel was the one nation called out from all the nations of the world to know God s blessings and to serve him. There were exceptions, of course those who came to know God s grace even though they were not of the children of Abraham after the flesh. But essentially all the nations on this earth were in darkness, under Satan s deception. But then, praise God! Christ came and accomplished his redemptive work. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out on all people (Acts 2:17), signifying the fact that the gospel of Christ is a gospel for all the nations, not just the Jewish people. The age of world missions had begun, and Satan s deceptive work on that grand scale over so many centuries had come to an end. 6 So the millennium is the age in which the Gospel goes forth to all people. This is how the saints rule. The defeat of the beast and false prophet quickly leads to a mop-up operation in which an angel binds Satan, who was the power behind the beast s throne. Recall that Satan has already suffered a massive defeat, for he was cast out of heaven by Michael and the angels in Revelation 12. This meant that his sphere of operations was limited, for he could no longer come before the throne of God to denounce the righteous. Satan extended his influence on earth through the beast, but now that the beast has been eliminated, Satan is exposed and vulnerable again. The angel binds Satan with a chain and throws that ancient serpent into the bottomless abyss, which the angel locks with a key. This action further restricts Satan s operations by barring him from earth itself for a period of a thousand years The vivid images in this scene alert readers to the fact that John is using word pictures to describe things that do not neatly fit within confines of space and time. 7 Satan is already bound according to the New Testament (Matt 12.28-29; John 12.31; Col. 2.15; Heb. 2.14-15. Strimple again, In other words, the New 6 Robert Strimple, pages 123-124 7 Craig Koester, pages 180-181 4
Testament emphasizes two climactic points in Christ s victory over Satan: victory at the cross, and victory at his second coming. 8 According to Richard Bauckham, the theological point of the millennium is solely to demonstrate the triumph of the martyrs: that those whom the beast put to death are those who will truly live eschatologically, and that those who contested his right to rule and suffered for it are those who will in the end rule as universally as he and for much longer: a thousand years! Finally, to demonstrate that their triumph in Christ s kingdom is not one which evil can again reverse, that it is God s last word for good against evil, the devil is given a last chance to deceive the nations again (20.7-8). But it is no re-run of the rule of the beast. The citadel of the saints proves impregnable (20.9). 9 In other words, John s picture is not that believers live at Christ s coming and unbelievers live at the end of the Millennium. The unbelievers never truly live. Believers live and reign with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead, John says, do not enjoy this wonderful blessing. They do not experience life throughout these thousand years. What will they experience instead? The second death. 10 Also the Greek text indicates the war here (20.7-9) is the same one already mentioned (19.19). The NIV translation of Revelation 20.7-8 says, 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 and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. However the Greek text actually has the definite article and calls it the battle as in 19.19. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens 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. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. All are agreed this will occur at the end of history. 11 This is The Judgment. Someone (Beale: presumably God ) is sitting on a white throne. It is 8 Robert Strimple, pages 123-124 9 Richard Bauckham, page 107 10 Robert Strimple, pages 127-128 11 Osborne, page 719 5
conceivable that Jesus is the one on the throne. In any case both are clearly involved in the judgment. White is the symbol of purity and holiness in the book of Revelation (Christ s hair 1.14; He sits on a white cloud 14.14; Jesus returns on a white horse 19.11; celestial beings wear white 4.4; triumphant saints wear white 3.4, 5; 6.11; 7.9, 13, and Christ returns on a white horse 19.14). The white throne is a symbol consistent with that. It is a throne of purity and triumph and so stands rightly as the throne of judgment. The earth and heavens flee, meaning nothing can how hide the grandeur of God. See the same idea (fleeing) in 16.20. In both instances judgment is clearly at hand. Verse 12 depicts the righteous one standing before the Throne. The image draws on Daniel 12.1b-12 which says, But at that time your people everyone whose name is found written in the book will be delivered. 2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. The books were opened, In Jewish writings those were the books recording the deeds of both the righteous and the unrighteous. Thus as a result of these books, the righteous dead were judged from what was written in the books according to their deeds. 12 At the same time the book of life is opened. Grant Osborne writes, As in the ancient world, it is built on the roll of citizens in a city or nation; thus those written in it are citizens of heaven and God s special people. 13 It is the book that belongs to the Lamb (13.8) so all in it belong to him. Philippians 2.9-11: 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Verses 13-15 detail the judgment of sinners. The sea, death, and Hades are three terms that are synonymous with hell. After the unrighteous are judged death and Hades are likewise destroyed in the lake of fire. The lake of fire has already been established as unending, conscious punishment for all who are consigned to it (see 20.10; 14.10-11). Now it is also termed the second death. The unbelievers undergoing judgment have already died physically and been resurrected (20.5, 12-13). 20.10 shows that the torment of the lake of fire involves not physical death but suffering that is primarily spiritual in nature, since Satan and his angels are only spiritual being. 14 A facet of the second death is separation forever from God s presence in the city of God. The categories of wicked people who will suffer this death are also 12 Osborne, page 722 13 Osborne, page 722 14 Beale, page 1036 6
said to dwell outside the heavenly city, while the righteous enjoy the blessings of participation in it (cf. 21.8 with 22.15; see also 21.27; 22.14-15, 19). Elsewhere the New Testament can also speak of a spiritual death that separates people from God (e.g., Luke 15.24, 32; Eph. 2.1, 12; Col. 2.13). 15 1 Corinthians 15.26: The last enemy to be destroyed is death. Now the stage is set for life to last forever. 15 Beale, page 1036 7