Revelation 20 commentary

Revelation 20
edited by Glenn Pease
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 any more 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 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 for 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 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.
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 sulphur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown.
They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
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.
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 he had done.
14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake
of fire is the second death.
15 If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was
thrown into the lake of fire.
INTRODUCTION
OVERVIEW
The Simple OVERVIEW of chapter 20 is that Christ the Messenger of
the Covenant, the Deliverer, that was promised should come, comes
down from Heaven and lays hold on Satan, who has been deceiving the
whole world, and binds him up in spiritual chains, for as long as it
takes to build the Church of GOD. During this time he is not able to
deceive that church, so as to make it fruitless, and in this time,
many souls are saved, raised up, Resurrected in Christ to new life,
to reign with Him in His kingdom. Blessed are the souls that have
part in the First Resurrection. And when the fullness of Believers
have come in, then Satan will be loosed ONCE AGAIN and go forth
deceiving again, to muster an army to come up against the church.
This period is called the great tribulation. Believers normally
have tribulation from unbelievers, but this is great Tribulation
near the End of the world. Satan and his army assult the churches
but are devoured by the fire of GOD which burns them as if they were
wood. And then Christ returns, and the Judgment is set, and all
are judged by what is written in the book of life, and all are
judged according to their works.
This is what Revelation chapter 20 is saying. It's a Symbolic picture
of what takes place from the coming of Christ, the first time, to His
second coming. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. May The Lord
give us all wisdom in the Study of His HOLY word.
Peace,
Tony Warren
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.

The identity of the angel is an issue. John Gilmore in his book Probing Heaven
argues that the angel is Christ. He goes back to Revelation 12:7-9, which he sees
this passage reduplicating. There the archangel Michael is casting down the
dragon. In the Old Testament the archangel Michael was another name for Messiah
(Dan.12:1). For details see Hengstenberg, Christology of the Old Testament vol. IV:
266-268.
Heb. 6:13 insighting Gen. 22:16 identifies Jesus with the angel of Jehovah in
addition, the great angel of the covenant (Gen.22:11,12) is, according to Heb. 12:25,
Jesus. It is likely also, that Mal. 3:1 alluded to the angel of covenant as the Lord,
Christ. Gilmore goes on, "In the ew Testament one may deduce from First Thess.
4:16 and John 5:25-29 that the voice of the archangel is actually the voice of the Son
of God." In Rev. 1:18 Jesus holds the key to Hades and He alone.
The Key of the Abyss
Remember what we've already learned about the Abyss. It is the Greek word "abussos",
sometimes translated "the bottomless pit". The Abyss is a shaft, a bottomless pit leading to
Hades in the center of the earth. How can it be bottomless, yet lead and end at the center
of the earth? Simple: if you are in the center of the earth, where is the bottom? The center
of the earth is the one place that we know of which has no bottom - only top. Whatever
direction you go, it's up, not down!
In chapter 9 we saw that the devil had the key to it:
Rev. 9:1-2 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth;
and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. And he opened the bottomless pit...
In the book of Revelation, satan has used this key to release a demonic horde upon the
earth, and to bring the antichrist up from the abyss. But now an angel has the key, and
instead of releasing evil from it, he's shutting up evil inside of it.
WILLIAM BURKITT, “This chapter begins with a fresh and glorious vision which St. John had
of an angel's descending from heaven, to bind Satan for a thousand years; and herein we have
observable,
1. The person binding, the angel of the covenant, Christ Jesus (for he only has the keys of the
bottomless pit, of hell, and of death, Rev_1:18. This angel is here said to come down from heaven,
and with a great chain in his hand, denoting his omnipotent power and sovereignty over Satan, and
his ability to restrain him.
Observe, 2. The person bound, Satan; where mark, that he is set forth here by five names, he is
called the Dragon, the Serpent, the Old Serpent, the Devil, and Satan.
And note, Christ's power is set forth in as many terms as the devil has titles, he is said to
lay hold on him, to bind him, to cast him into the bottomless pit, to shut him in, or seal him up for
a thousand years, that is, to restrain him and render him incapable of doing such mischief to the
world as he had done before.

Observe, 3. What we are to understand by Christ's binding Satan: some thereby do understand
Christ's overthrowing the power of the devil in the heathen world; his casting down those strong
holds of Satan, to wit, ignorance, superstition, idolatry, and lying oracles, by the light and power of
the gospel, preached among the Gentiles; his curbing of Satan, that he should no more cozen the
world with heathenish delusions as he had done.
Others understand this binding of Satan to be after the destruction of antichrist; when the Jews
shall be converted, and there shall follow a quiet and peaceable state of the church for a long time,
styled here a thousand years; during which time Satan shall be bound, and there shall be no
molestation from him.
From the whole learn, That be the devil never so devilish, Christ has power to overpower him.
Christ has a great chain in his hand to bind Satan: intimating, that how mighty and malicious soever
Satan is, Christ has him as a dog in a chain.
But observe a little, how Christ's power meets with and masters Satan's power: the devil carries
power in his name, he is called a dragon; in his nature, as being an angel; in his numbers,which
are numberless: but Christ overpowereth him, so that he cannot do his own will without him; he
bound him in the execution of his malice, though his malice be boundless.
Satan is bound in a double chain, in a chain of justice, and in a chain of providence; he cannot
move a foot either to tempt or trouble us, without a permission from Christ.
BARNES, “And I saw an angel come down from heaven - Compare the notes on
Rev_10:1. He does not say whether this angel had appeared to him before, but the
impression is rather that it was a different one. The whole character of the composition
of the book leads us to suppose that different angels were employed to make these
communications to John, and that, in fact, in the progress of things disclosed in the
book, he had contact with a considerable number of the heavenly inhabitants. The scene
that is recorded here occurred after the destruction of the beast and the false prophet
Rev_19:18-21, and therefore, according to the principles expressed in the explanation of
the previous chapters, what is intended to be described here will take place after the final
destruction of the papal and Muhammedan powers.
Having the key of the bottomless pit - See the notes on Rev_1:18; Rev_9:1. The
fact that he has the key of that underworld is designed to denote here, that he can fasten
it on Satan so that it shall become his prison.
And a great chain in his hand - With which to bind the dragon, Rev_20:2. It is
called great because of the strength of him that was to be bound. The chain only appears
to have been in his hand. Perhaps the key was suspended to his side.
CLARKE, “An angel came down from heaven - One of the executors of the Divine
justice, who receives criminals, and keeps them in prison, and delivers them up only to
be tried and executed.
The key of the prison and the chain show who he is; and as the chain was great, it
shows that the culprit was impeached of no ordinary crimes.

GILL, “And I saw an angel come down from heaven,.... All Christ's enemies, and
Satan's instruments being removed, the devil is left alone, and only stands in the way of
Christ's kingdom; and what will be done to him, and how he will be in the issue disposed
of, this vision gives an account: by the "angel" John saw, is not to be understood
Constantine the great; for though he is the man child that was taken up to God, and his
throne, being advanced to the empire, yet he cannot, with that propriety, be said to come
down from heaven; and though he vanquished the Heathen emperors, in which the
dragon presided, and cast Paganism out of the empire, by which the devil ruled in it, yet
the binding of Satan is another kind of work, and seems too great for him; and besides,
did not take place in his time, as will be seen hereafter: nor is an apostle, or a minister of
the Gospel intended; such are indeed called angels in this book, and may be said to come
down from heaven, because they have their commission from thence; and particularly
the apostles had the keys of the kingdom of heaven, but not the key of the bottomless pit;
and a chain and system of Gospel truths, which they made good use of for the
establishing of Christ's kingdom, and weakening of Satan's, but not such a chain as is
here meant; and they had the power of binding and loosing, or of declaring things lawful
or unlawful, but not of binding and loosing of Satan; nor was he bound in the apostolic
age: nor is one of the ministering spirits, or a deputation of angels designed; for though
Christ will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, and will make use of them,
both to gather together his elect, and to cast the wicked into the lake of fire, yet not to
bind Satan; but the Lord Jesus Christ himself is this angel, who is the angel of God's
presence, and of the covenant; and who is in this book called an angel,Rev_7:2 to whom
all the characters here well agree, and to whom the work of binding Satan most properly
belongs; for who so fit to do it, or so capable of it, as the seed of the woman, that has
bruised serpent's head, or as the Son of God, who was manifested to destroy the works of
the devil, yea, to destroy him himself; and who dispossessed multitudes of devils from
the bodies of men, and is the strong man armed that dislodges Satan from the souls of
men, and is the same with Michael, who drove him from heaven, and cast him out from
thence before, Rev_12:7. And his coming down from heaven is not to be understood of
his incarnation, or of his coming from thence by the assumption of human nature; for
Satan was not bound by him then, as will be seen hereafter; but of his second coming,
which will be from heaven, where he now is, and will be local, visible, and personal: of no
other coming of his does this book speak, as seen by John, or as future; nor will the order
of this vision, after the ruin of the beast and false prophet, admit of any other.
Having the key of the bottomless pit: the abyss or deep, the same out of which the
beast ascended, Rev_11:7. And the key of this becomes no hand so well as his who has
the keys of hell and death, Rev_1:18 who has all power in heaven and in earth, and has
the power of hell, of opening and shutting it at his pleasure, which is signified by this
phase; see Rev_9:1. The Ethiopic version reads, "the key of the sun", where some have
thought hell to be; and yet the same version renders the word, the deep, inRev_20:3.
And a great chain in his hand; the key in one hand, and the chain in another; by
which last is meant, not any material chain, with which spirits cannot be bound, nor
indeed sometimes bodies possessed by evil spirits,Mar_5:3 but the almighty power of
Christ, which he will now display in binding Satan faster and closer than ever.
HENRY, “We have here, I. A prophecy of the binding of Satan for a certain term of time,

in which he should have much less power and the church much more peace than before.
The power of Satan was broken in part by the setting up of the gospel kingdom in the
world; it was further reduced by the empire's becoming Christian; it was yet further
broken by the downfall of the mystical Babylon; but still this serpent had many heads,
and, when one is wounded, another has life remaining in it. Here we have a further
limitation and diminution of his power. Observe, 1. To whom this work of binding Satan
is committed - to an angel from heaven. It is very probable that this angel is no other
than the Lord Jesus Christ; the description of him will hardly agree with any other. He is
one who has power to bind the strong man armed, to cast him out, and to spoil his
goods; and therefore must be stronger than he.
JAMISON, “Rev_20:1-15. Satan bound, and the first-risen saints reign with Christ, a
thousand years; Satan loosed, gathers the nations, Gog and Magog, round the camp of
the saints, and is finally consigned to the Lake of Fire; The general resurrection and
last judgment.
The destruction of his representatives, the beast and the false prophet, to whom he
had given his power, throne, and authority, is followed by the binding of Satan himself
for a thousand years.
the key of the bottomless pit — now transferred from Satan’s hands, who had
heretofore been permitted by God to use it in letting loose plagues on the earth; he is
now to be made to feel himself the torment which he had inflicted on men, but his full
torment is not until he is cast into “the lake of fire” (Rev_20:10).
PULPIT, “Verse 1. - And I saw an angel come down from heaven; coming down out
of heaven. The usual mode of introducing a new vision (cf. Revelation 4:1, etc.). On
account of Revelation 1:18, some have considered this angel to be Christ himself; but
this is incorrect. As in Revelation 12:7-9, an angel is the immediate agent in this
expulsion of Satan (vide infra). Having the key of the bottomless pit; the abyss; as
in Revelation 9:1, 2, 11; Revelation 11:7; Revelation 17:8. In all these places the word
signifies the present abode of Satan and his angels, whence they direct their
operations in hostility to God, not the place of their final punishment (see ver. 10).
In Luke 8:31 the word has exactly the same meaning; while in the only remaining place
where it is used in the New Testament, viz. Romans 10:7, it stands for the place of
abode of the souls of the dead. Having the key of the abyss therefore informs us that
power is given to this angel over Satan during the time of this world's existence. And a
great chain in his hand; literally, upon his hand, as if lying on it and hanging from it;
the chain evidently symbolizing the power of the angel over the inhabitants of the
abyss, and the purpose with which he now comes, viz. to restrain the power of Satan.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR “Satan
1. Whereas it is said that this Angel that came down from heaven had the key of the
bottomless pit, we see that our Saviour has all power given to Him in heaven, the
earth, and hell itself.
2. That He had a great chain in His hand, shows us that how mighty and malicious
soever Satan may be, yet for our comfort Christ has him in a chain, without whose

permission he can do nothing.
3. Whereas Satan is called an old serpent, we see to whom they are like who are
habituated in wickedness and crafty to do evil.
4. Whereas he is called the devil, or an accuser, we see whose brood they are who in
like manner are false accusers of their brethren, slanderers, etc.
5. He is also called Satan, that is, an enemy to God’s glory and man’s good of
salvation, therefore whoever by doctrine or practice impairs the one, or opposes the
means of the other, they are satanical, and like him.
6. Whereas it is said that Satan was shut up, that he should deceive the nations no
more, we see that his task from the beginning hath been deceiving, using fraud where
he cannot prevail by force; wherefore we should beware of his deceiving in his subtle
instruments, and acknowledge whose brood they are.
7. Whereas it is said that he was bound up so long that he should deceive no more,
this shows that on the contrary, therefore, when we see seducers arise and abound,
that then Satan in his instruments for the punishment of a nation or Church is set
loose to be a lying spirit in the mouth of false prophets.
8. Whereas it is said that after the time of his binding or shutting up he is to be
loosed a little season, this is greatly for the comfort of the godly, that Satan’s
prevailing in his instruments is determined by God, and shall be but for a little
season; therefore with patience let them possess their souls. (Wm. Guild, D. D.)
He laid hold on the dragon.—
The great enemy of humanity
I. The great enemy of humanity described. “Dragon” stands as an emblem of power. His
power is seen in the vast authority which he wields.
1. Over fallen angels (Eph_6:11-12). He is the leader of those myriads.
2. The authority he exercises over men. He leadeth the world captive at his will. He
worketh in the “children of disobedience.” He opposes God, Christ, the universe. The
existence of such a being in the universe as this impresses us with—
(1) The fallibility of the holiest creature.
(2) The independent force of moral mind.
(3) The mysteriousness of the Divine government.
II. The great enemy of humanity imprisoned.
1. His imprisonment is effected by a Divine messenger.
2. His imprisonment is effected by Divine authority.
3. His imprisonment is effected by a Divine instrument.
What is the chain? Gospel truth. What is meant by imprisoning Satan? Limiting the
sphere of his agency. Every man who expels him from his own heart helps to imprison
him, and every man who seeks to expel him from the heart of others helps to imprison
him. As liberty binds the influence of slavery, intelligence the influence of ignorance,
religion the influence of infidelity, so Divine truth will bind the influence of the devil.

Lesson:
1. The true sphere of heroic action. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Resist
him as he is on the arena of your own soul; resist him as you find him on the arena of
society in everyday life.
2. The grandeur of the Christian character. “Put on the whole armour of God,” etc.
(Homilist.)
The scene of mural struggle
I. Redeemed humanity has a fearful antagonist to contend with.
1. The actual existence of such an enemy.
(1) Universal belief of humanity.
(2) The opposite classes of moral phenomena. In the world we have error,
selfishness, infidelity, misery, and truth, benevolence, religion, happiness. Can
these be branches from the same root?
(3) The general teaching of the Bible.
2. The personality of such an enemy. An evil principle implies an evil person.
3. The characteristics of such an enemy.
(1) Mighty.
(2) Crafty.
(3) Virulent.
II. Heaven has vouchsafed an agency which is destined to master the adversary. Let the
word “angel” here stand for every true religious teacher.
1. His authority. Every man who has the spirit and power of a teacher has the “key”
or the authority to teach. He has a right to do battle with the enemy wherever he is
found; whether in literature or commerce, churches or governments, theories or
practices.
2. His instrumentality. “A chain.” Iron, brass, adamant? No. These cannot fetter
intellect or manacle soul. Nothing can curb or restrain the influence of Satan but
Christian truth. What is meant by binding Satan? It does not mean the binding of his
being or faculties, but the binding of his influence. He is to be bound, in the sense of
limiting his sway, by closing up human hearts against him. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Bound him a thousand years.—
Satan bound for a thousand years
I. There is in the world a mighty force of evil.
II. Mightier forces of good, although unseen, are in the background.
III. The employment of the mightier against the mighty has been matter of ancient
promise (Gen_3:5).

IV. The stronger force of good has ever been at work. This world has never been given up
to the evil one.
V. Wherever the gospel has been preached there a binding of Satan has been and is being
effected.
VI. Nevertheless, the passage before us leads us to expect a much greater restraint on
Satan’s activity than has as yet been known.
VII. When the binding of Satan is completely effected, there must needs be a period of
rest, such as neither the world nor the Church has enjoyed since “sin entered into the
world, and death by sin.” Note—
1. Let our faith embrace all that is in the Word, and we shall then find nothing in the
fiercest conflicts of the age to shock or disturb it.
2. Let us thank God for the restraint which we know is even now put upon Satan. He
worries, but he cannot devour.
3. Let us be stimulated by the fact that, through the energy of the Spirit of God, the
power of evil is being subdued within us and around us.
4. Let us, with renewed faith, energy, prayer, and hope, be found doing our part
towards bringing about earth’s time of rest. (C. Clemance, D. D.)
EBC, “JUDGMENT OF SATAN AND OF THE WICKED
IN now approaching chap. 20, with its yet unsolved difficulties of interpretation, it is of
essential importance to observe, in the first place, the relation of the chapter to what
immediately precedes. The Seer is not entering upon an entirely new subject. He
distinctly continues, on the contrary, the prosecution of a theme he had before begun. In
the previous portion of his book three great enemies of the saints of God had been
introduced to us, the dragon or the devil, the beast, and the false prophet. These were the
main opponents of the Lamb, in one way or another stirring up all the efforts that had
been made against Him by the kings of the earth, their armies, and their followers. For a
time they had appeared to succeed. They had persecuted the saints, had compelled them
to flee, had overcome them, and killed them. This, however, could not continue; and it
was to be shown that the final triumph remains with those who have suffered for the
sake of righteousness. In chap. 19, we have the beginning, but not the close, of this
triumph. Of the three great enemies only two - the beast and the false prophet - perish in
that chapter. The destruction of the third is reserved for chap. 20, and is effected at the
tenth verse of the chapter. The verses following then describe the judgment of those who
had listened to these enemies, but who, though defeated, or even killed,1
or devoured by
fire out of heaven when in their service,2
had not yet been consigned to their doom.
Thereafter nothing remains, in order to complete the triumph of Christ and His saints,
but that death and Hades shall also be removed from the scene and cast into the lake of
fire. (1
Rev_19:21; 2
Rev_20:9)
These considerations are of themselves sufficient to show that the overthrow of Satan,
and not the reign of a thousand years, is the main theme of the first ten verses of the
chapter. So far is the latter from being the culminating point of the whole book, that it is
not even introduced at the beginning of any new and important section. It starts no new
series of visions. It comes in, in the midst of a section devoted to an entirely different
matter: -

"And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great
chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil, and
Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and
sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years
should be finished: after this he must be loosed for a little time. And I saw thrones, and
they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that
had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as
worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their
forehead and upon their hand; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
The rest of the dead Lived not until the thousand years should be finished. This is the
first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: over
these the second death hath no authority, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ,
and shall reign with Him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are finished,
Satan than be loosed out of his prison, and shall come forth to deceive the nations which
are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war:
the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up over the breadth of the
earth, and com passed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came
down out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into
the lake of fare and brimstone, where arc also the beast and the false prophet; and they
shall be tormented day and night forever and ever (Rev_20:1-10)."
It is impossible within the limits of a commentary such as the present to discuss the
different interpretations that have been given to a passage so difficult and so much
controverted as the above. Nothing more can be attempted than to state briefly what
seems to be the true meaning of the sacred writer, together with the grounds upon which
the interpretation to be suggested rests.
The fundamental principle of that interpretation, to be kept clearly and resolutely in
view, is this: that the thousand years mentioned in the passage express no period of
time. They are not a figure for the whole Christian era, now extending to nearly nineteen
hundred years. Nor do they denote a certain space of time, longer or shorter, it may be,
than the definite number of years spoken of, at the close of the present dispensation, and
to be in the view of some preceded, in the view of others followed, by the second Advent
of our Lord, They embody an idea; and that idea, whether applied to the subjugation of
Satan or to the triumph of the saints, is the idea of completeness or perfection. Satan is
bound for a thousand years; that is, he is completely bound. The saints reign for a
thousand years; that is, they are introduced into a state of perfect and glorious victory.
Before endeavoring to bring out this thought more fully, several preliminary
considerations may be noticed.
1. Years may be understood in this sense. In Eze_39:9 it is said that the inhabitants of
the cities of Israel shall .prevail against the enemies described, and "shall go forth, and
shall make fires of the weapons and burn them, both the shields and the bucklers, the
bows and the arrows, and the hand-staves, and the spears, and they shall make fires of
them seven years." No one can suppose that the "seven years" here spoken of are to be
literally understood, or even that the length of time which would be needed to burn the
weapons is the thought upon which the prophet dwells. His meaning, in correspondence
with the use of the number seven, can only be that these weapons shall be destroyed with
a great and complete destruction. Again, in the same chapter, at:Eze_39:12, after the
defeat of "Gog and all his multitude," it is said, "And seven months shall the house of
Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land." A literal interpretation is here
not less impossible than in the case of the burning of the weapons; nor can the meaning

be exhausted by the thought that a long time would be necessary for the burying. The
number "seven" must have its due force assigned to it, and the prophet can only mean
that the land should be thoroughly cleansed from heathen impurity. The use of the term
"years" in the vision before us seems to be exactly similar; and the probability that it is so
rises almost to certainty when we observe that, as proved by the vision of Gog and Magog
in the subsequent part of the chapter, the prophecy of Ezekiel is before the Seer’s eye,
and that it constitutes the foundation upon which his whole delineation rests.
The only difficulty connected with this view is that in the third verse of the chapter Satan
is said to have been shut into the abyss until the thousand years should be finished, and
that in the seventh verse we read, And when the thousand years are finished, Satan
shall be loosed. But the difficulty is more specious than real. Let us familiarize ourselves
with the thought that the thousand years may simply express completeness,
thoroughness, either of defeat or victory; let us remember that the Seer had represented
the defeat of Satan by the figure of being bound for a thousand years; finally, let us
notice, as we have yet to see more fully, that Satan, although deprived of power over the
righteous, is still to be the deceiver and ruler of the wicked: and it immediately follows
that this latter thought could find no more appropriate form than in the statement that
the deception took place, not "until," or "after," the thousand years should be finished.
This is simply the carrying out of the symbolism already employed. To revert for a
moment to the symbolism of Ezekiel, let us suppose that, after the prophet had described
the burning of the weapons for "seven years," he had wished to mention also some other
step by which the burning was to be followed. What more suitable words could he have
used than that it took place either "after this," or "after the seven years were finished"?
In point of fact, this is exactly what the prophet does. He has occasion to refer to further
efforts made to secure the purity of the land; and the words employed by him are, "After
the end of seven months shall they search."*
The one expression is no more than the
natural con sequence of the other. (*
Eze_39:14)
2. What is the meaning of the last words of the third verse of the chapter, - He (i.e.,
Satan) must be loosed for a little time? What is this "little time"? The words take us
directly to that conception of the Christian age which is so intimately interwoven with
the structure of the Apocalypse, and even of the whole New Testament, - that it is all "a
little time." This is particularly apparent in the application of the very same words to the
souls under the altar in Rev_6:11 : "And it was said unto them, that they should rest yet
for a little time, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, which should be killed
even as they were, should be fulfilled." The "little time" there is undeniably that
extending from the moment of the vision to the close of the present dispensation. But, if
it be so there, we are entitled to suppose that the very same expression, when used in the
passage before us, will be used in the same sense; and that, when it is said Satan shall be
loosed "for a little time," the meaning is that he shall be loosed for the whole Christian
age. Again, in Rev_12:12 we read, "The devil is gone down unto you, having great wrath,
knowing that he hath but a short time." The "short time" here referred to begins with the
casting down of the devil out of heaven into the earth spoken of in the ninth verse of the
same chapter. It must therefore include the whole period of his action in this world; and
the manner in which that period is designated corresponds closely with the description
of the time during which he is said, in chap. 20, to be loosed. Again, inRev_10:6 the
angel swears that there shall be "time" no longer, using the same word for time that we
meet with in the verse now under consideration; so that it would appear as if to the
author of the Apocalypse the word "time" were a kind of technical term by which he was
accustomed to denote the period of the Church s probation in this world. Lastly, this
conclusion is powerfully confirmed by the many passages of the Apocalypse in which it is

clear that the Christian dispensation, from its beginning to its end, is looked upon as a
"very little while," as hastening to its final issue, and as about to be closed by One who
cometh quickly.*
The "little time," therefore, of the present chapter during which Satan is
loosed, and which, when more fully dwelt upon, is the time of the war spoken of in
Rev_20:7-9, is the historical period of the Christian dispensation, during which Satan is
permitted to deceive the nations and to lead them against the camp of the saints and the
beloved city. It is, in short, the time between the first and second coming of our Lord.
The period so often sought in the thousand years of Rev_20:2 is really to be found in the
"little time" of Rev_20:3. (*
Rev_1:3; Rev_2:16; Rev_3:20; Rev_22:20, etc., 1Co_7:29;
Heb_10:37)
3. Attention ought to be particularly directed to the condition of the saints during the
thousand years spoken of. It is described in general terms as a first resurrection. Certain
words of our Lord in the Gospel of St. John throw important light upon the meaning of
this expression: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour cometh, and now is, when the
dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that have heard shall live,"1
and,
again, a little later in the same discourse, "Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in
which all that are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth."2
Let us
compare these two verses with one another, and the presence of the clause "and now is"
in the first, taken along with its omission in the second, leaves no doubt as to the
principle on which they are to be interpreted. The first refers to a spiritual, the second to
a bodily, resurrection. Here then in the words of our Lord Himself we have the source
whence the idea of the "first resurrection" of the Apocalypse is derived. It is not an actual
resurrection from the grave, although that resurrection is potentially involved in it. It is a
spiritual resurrection in an hour "that now is;" and the fact that this is St John’s meaning
is brought out still more clearly by the intimation that what he saw was souls, whose
resurrection bodies had not yet been given them.3
(1
Joh_5:25; 2
Joh_5:28; 3
Comp.
Rev_6:9)
The condition of the saints thought of in this vision is described, however, not only
generally, but in various particulars, all of which, it will be seen, correspond with the
apocalyptic idea of it even in a present world.And I saw thrones, and they sat upon
them. But we have been already told that "they reign over the earth."1
Judgment was
given unto them, words which seem best understood in the sense, so peculiar to St.
John, that for believers there is in the ordinary sense of the term no judgment. As they
have passed through death, so also they have passed through judgment.2
They lived with
Christ. But Christ Himself had said in the Gospel, "Because I live, and ye shall live."3
They reigned with Christ. But that is only another method of saying that they sat on
thrones, with the added conception, so often associated with the word in the Apocalypse,
that their enemies were bruised beneath their feet. Over these the second death hath no
authority. But we have before been told of "him that over-cometh" that he shall not be
hurt of the second death."4
Finally, they shall be priests of God and of Christ. But it is
needless to dwell upon the fact that from the opening of this book such has always been
spoken of as the position of believers. (1
Rev_5:10; 2
Comp. the teaching of our Lord in
Joh_11:25-26; Joh_5:24; 3
Joh_14:19 (margin of R.V.); 4
Rev_2:11)
Nothing, in short, is said of the saints of God in this picture of millennial bliss that does
not find a parallel in what the Seer has elsewhere written of their present life. On not a
few different occasions their ideal condition in this world is set forth in as glowing terms
as is their thousand years glory and joy.
One expression may indeed startle us. What the Seer beheld is said to have beenthe
souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of

God. Is the word "beheaded" to be literally understood? Then a very small number of
martyrs can be thought of. The great majority of those who have died for the faith of
Jesus have been martyred in other and more dreadful ways. The word is the counterpart
of "slaughtered" in the vision of the souls under the altar.*
These were the saints of the
Old Testament, whose death is described by a term characteristic to the Jewish mind of
the mode in which offerings were presented to God. When the Seer passes to the thought
of the great Gentile Church, he uses a term more appropriate to the Gentile method of
terminating human life. "Beheaded" therefore expresses the same thing as "slaughtered."
Both words refer to martyrdom; and both include all faithful ones in the dispensations to
which they respectively belong, for in the eyes of St. John all the disciples of a martyred
Lord are martyrs. (*
Rev_6:9)
4. The meaning of the doom inflicted upon Satan demands our notice. And theangel
laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him
for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him. It
is hardly possible to read these words, at the same time remembering St. John’s love of
contrast or even travesty, and not to see in them a mocking counterpart of the death and
burial of Jesus, when the stone was rolled to the door of the sepulchre and sealed. If so, it
is not enough to say that by the infliction of this doom the power of Satan was restrained,
and his influence lessened. Much more must be implied; and the language can only mean
that, in one sense or another, Satan was rendered powerless and harmless, as unable to
act his part as though he had been laid in the grave.
5. The use of numbers in the Apocalypse ought to be remembered. These numbers are
invariably symbolical; and, if the number a thousand is to be here interpreted literally, it
seems in that respect to stand alone. Nor is it a reply to this to say that, though not in the
strict sense literal, it may signify a period of indefinite length. Such an interpretation
would be not less opposed than the former to the genius and spirit of this book. The
numbers of the Apocalypse have always a definite meaning. They express ideas, but the
ideas are distinct They may belong to a region of thought different from that with which
arithmetical numbers are concerned, but within that region we cannot change their value
without at the same time changing the thought. We are not to imagine that numbers, in
the allegorical or spiritual use made of them by the Jews, might be tossed about at their
pleasure or shuffled like a pack of cards. They were a language; and the bond between
them and the ideas that they involved was quite as close as it is between the words of
ordinary speech and the speaker’s thoughts. A thousand years cannot mean two, or ten,
or twenty, or three hundred and sixty-five thousand years according as we please. If they
are a measure of time, the measure must be fixed; and we ought to be able to explain the
principle leading us to attach to the number one thousand a value different from that
which it naturally possesses.
6. The teaching of Scripture elsewhere upon this subject has to be considered. Upon this
point it is unnecessary to say much, for the difference between that teaching and any
view commonly taken of the thousand years reign is acknowledged. It ought to be
observed, however, that this difference is not merely negative, as if the rest of the New
Testament simply failed to fill in certain details of events more largely described in the
Apocalypse, but upon the whole substantially the same. The difference is also positive,
and in some respects irreconcilable with what we are taught by the other sacred writers.
The New Testament, unless this passage be an exception, always brings theParousia and
the general judgment into the closest possible connection. It nowhere interposes a
lengthened period between the resurrection of believers and that of unbelievers. It knows
only of one, and that a general, resurrection; and the passages, such as1Co_15:23-24,

and 1Th_4:16-17, usually quoted to support another conclusion, fail when correctly
interpreted to do so. When our Lord comes again, He at once perfects the happiness of
His saints and makes all His enemies His footstool.1
One text alone may be quoted upon
this point While the "first resurrection" is assigned to a date a thousand or even
thousands of years before the end, it is several times repeated in the discourse of Jesus in
the sixth chapter of St. John that the resurrection of believers takes place at the "last
day."2
(1
Mat_25:31-46; Rom_2:5; Rom_2:7; 1Th_4:17; 2Th_1:7-10; 2
Joh_6:39-40;
Joh_6:44)
7. One other consideration may be kept in view. It would appear that about the time of
the Advent of our Lord there was a widely extended opinion among the Jews, traces of
which are also to be found among the Gentiles, that a golden age of a thousand years
duration might be anticipated in the future as a happy close to all the sins and miseries of
the world.1
Here, it is sometimes urged, is the source of the apocalyptic figure of this
chapter, which thus becomes only one of the wild chiliastic expectations of the time. But,
even if it be allowed that St. John drew the particular figure employed by him from a
general belief of his age, it by no means follows that he accepted the literal interpretation
of that belief as the reality and substance of prophetic hope. In many a passage of his
book he has undeniably spiritualized hopes of Israel founded on the language of the Old
Testament in its outward form. He might easily do the same with what he recognized as a
belief, not less widely spread and not less deeply seated in both the Jewish and Gentile
portions of the Church. To use the language of the late Archdeacon Lee, "a world-wide
belief such as this naturally supplied St. John with symbols and with language wherein to
clothe his revelation of the fortunes of the Church, just as he has employed for the same
purpose the details of the theocracy, or the imagery of war, or the phenomena and the
convulsions of nature."2
In all such cases the determination of the point at issue really
rests upon our view of the general tone of the writing in which the difficulty occurs, and
on our perception of what will give the unity and harmony to his words for which every
intelligent writer is entitled to expect credit at his reader’s hands. This conclusion is in
the present instance strengthened by the fact that St. John did not confine himself to the
traditional belief he is said to have adopted. So far from doing so, he occupies himself
chiefly with a picture of that overthrow of Satan which seems to have been no part of the
belief, and the mould of which is taken from entirely different sources. (1
See authorities
in Lee (Speaker’s Commentary) on Rev_20:2, and his excursus on that chapter; 2
Speaker’s Commentary, u.s.)
Putting together the different considerations now adduced, we can have but little
difficulty in understanding either the binding of Satan or the reign of the saints for a
thousand years. The vision describes no period of blessedness to be enjoyed by the
Church at the close of the present dispensation. Alike negatively and positively we have
simply an ideal picture of results effected by the Redeemer for His people, when for them
He lived, and suffered, and died, and rose again. Thus He bound Satan for them; He cast
him into the abyss; He shut him in; He sealed the abyss over him, - so that againstthem
he can effect nothing. He is a bruised and conquered foe. He may war against them,
afflict them, persecute them, kill them, but their true life is beyond his reach. Already
they live a resurrection and ascended life, for it is a life hid with Christ in God, a life in
that "heaven" from which the devil has been finally and forever expelled. They rest upon,
they live in, a risen and glorified Redeemer; and, whatever be the age, or country, or
circumstances in which their lot is cast, they sit with their Lord in the heavenly places
and share His victory. He has been always triumphant, and in His triumph His people
even now have part. The glory which the Father gave the Son the Son has given them.1
They cannot sin, because they are begotten of God.2
He that was begotten of God keepeth

them, and the evil one toucheth them not.3
This is the reign of a thousand years, and it is
the portion of every believer who in any age of the Church shares the life of his risen and
exalted Lord. (1
Joh_17:22; 2
1Jn_3:9; 3
1Jn_5:18)
Thus also we may comprehend what is meant by the loosing of Satan. There is no point
in the future at which he is to be loosed. He has been already loosed. Hardly was he
completely conquered for the saints before he was loosed for the world. He was loosed as
a great adversary who, however he may persecute the children of God, cannot touch their
inner life, and who can only "deceive the nations," - the nations that have despised and
rejected Christ He has never been really absent from the earth. He has gone about
continually, "knowing that he hath but a short time."*
But he is unable to hurt those who
are kept in the hollow of the Lord’s hand. No doubt he tries it. That is the meaning of the
description extending from the seventh to the ninth verse of this chapter, - the meaning
of the war which Satan carries on against the camp of the saints and the beloved city
when the thousand years are finished. In other words, no sooner was Satan, as regards
the saints, completely bound than, as regards the world, he was loosed; and from that
hour, through all the past history of Christianity, he has been stirring up the world
against the Church. He has been summoning the nations that are in the four corners of
the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war. They war, but they do not
conquer, until at last fire comes down out of heaven and devours them. The devil that
deceived them is cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and
the false prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. (*
Rev_12:12)
The whole picture of the thousand years is in its main features - in the binding of Satan,
in the security and blessedness of the righteous, and in the loosing of Satan for the war -
a striking parallel to the scenes in chap. 12 of this book. There Michael and his angels
contended with the devil and his angels; and the latter "prevailed not,"1
but were cast out
of heaven into the earth, so that the inhabitants of heaven are forever safe from them.
There the man-child who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, and from the
thought of whom it is impossible to separate the thought of those who are one with Him,
is caught up unto God and unto His throne. Finally, there also the dragon, though unable
really to hurt the saints, "the rest of the woman’s seed," makes war upon them, but
without result. Of this scene the picture which we have been considering is at once a
repetition and a fuller development; and, when we call to mind the peculiarities marking
the structure of the Apocalypse, we seem in this fact alone to have no slight evidence of
the correctness of the interpretation now proposed.2
(1
Comp. the remarkable parallel in
Joh_1:5 : "and the darkness overcame it not.")
(2
It is not to be denied that difficulties attend the interpretation of the thousand years
suggested in the text. The writer would advert in a note to the two which appear to him
to be the most formidable.
1. In Rev_20:3 we read that Satan was cast into the abyss, etc., "that he should deceive
the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished." Let it be granted that
"the nations" here referred to can hardly be understood in any other sense than that
common in the Apocalypse: the heathen, the ungodly, nations or the wicked in general.
We then seem to read that there must be a time during which Satan does not "deceive
the nations," while the explanation given above has been that he was no sooner
subjugated for the righteous than he was let loose to deceive the unrighteous. In his
Lectures on the Revelation of St. John (p. 224, note) the author was disposed to plead
that the words in question may not have beer intended to indicate that action on Satan’s
part was for a time to cease, but rather to bring out and express that aspect of Satan by

which he is specially distinguished in the Apocalypse. In deference to the criticism of the
Rev. H. W. Reynolds (Remarks on Dr. Milligan’s Interpretation of the Apocalypse, pp.
9, 27), he would yield this point. Notwithstanding the irregular constructions of the
Apocalypse, it is at least precarious; and it is better to leave a difficulty unsolved,
especially in a case where difficulties surround every interpretation yet offered, than to
propose solutions of the sufficiency of which even the proposer is doubtful. It may be
asked, however, without resorting to the conjecture formerly thrown out, whether the
words "that he should deceive," even when taken in what is said to be their only true
sense, are irreconcilable with the view of the thousand years advocated in this
commentary. - That view is that the subjugation of Satan for a thousand years means his
complete subjugation. When, therefore, it is said that he has been so shut up as "to
deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished," the meaning
may simply be that in the act of being subjected he was deprived alike of authority and
opportunity to deceive the nations. It lay within the power of the Conqueror to grant or
not to grant him fresh liberty to do so. The "strong man" was then bound, and "his goods
were spoiled." He was completely subjected to Christ. When, therefore, we are told of the
thousand years during which he was to deceive the nations no more, this language is only
the continuation of the figure used in the second verse of the chapter; and what the Seer
intends to express is, that during the process of his subjection, and until he should be
again loosed by Him who had subjected him, he could do nothing. Satan, in short, must
be permitted to come up out of the abyss either in his own person or by his agents before
he can disturb the earth (comp. Rev_9:2); and it is the purpose of God that he shall not
have power to disturb it until, having been really "brought to nought" by Christ (comp.
Heb_2:14), he shall go forth to his evil work among the nations as one who, whatever
may be the increase of his wrath (comp. Rev_12:12), has yet been overcome by another
far mightier than himself.
2. The second difficulty demanding notice is presented by the words ofRev_20:5, "The
rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished." Who are these
called "the rest of the dead," and in what sense did they "live"? The term "the rest,"
applied to persons, occurs in the following passages of the Apocalypse in addition to that
before us: Rev_2:24; Rev_9:20; Rev_11:13; Rev_12:17; Rev_29:1. In every one of these
cases it refers to the remaining portion of a class mentioned, but not exhausted; and it
cannot be extended to any class beyond them. Here, however, no class has been spoken
of except the righteous, or rather the "souls" of the righteous, described by various
particulars both of their character and their state. "The rest" of the dead must therefore
belong to that class, and to it alone. They cannot be the general body of mankind, both
good and bad, with the exception of those previously mentioned. Again, what is meant
when it is said that the rest of the dead "lived"? The same word had occurred in the
immediately preceding verse, and it must now be understood in the same sense. "If,"
says Dean Alford, who has been quoted with great confidence against the present writer
(Reynolds, u.s., p. 23), "in such a passage the first resurrection may be understood to
mean spiritual rising with Christ, while the second means literal rising from the grave,
then there is an end of all significance in language; and Scripture is wiped out as a
definite testimony to anything. If the first resurrection is spiritual, then so is the second,
which I suppose none will be hardy enough to maintain" (onRev_20:4-6). Now that is
exactly what is here maintained. The "lived" of Rev_20:4 is spiritual; the "lived" of
Rev_20:5 is also spiritual. The "rest of the dead" then are the Old Testament saints of
Rev_6:9, who, by the completion of the Lord’s redeeming work, were brought up to the
level of the New Testament Church. The meaning of Rev_20:5 may thus be said to be
that, the New Testament Church having had first bestowed upon it a complete

redemption, the same white robes were afterwards given to the Old Testament Church,
the succession being again one of thought rather than time. In this wayall the members
of Christ’s body are marked out as having been "dead" before they lived, thus identifying
them with their Lord in Rev_1:18; the position of the words at the close of Rev_20:5,
"this is the first resurrection," is rendered more natural by their thus following what is
wholly a description of the condition of the blessed, instead of having a sentence
interposed of an entirely different character; and, finally, to say nothing of the contextual
consideration already referred to, the full Johannine force of the word "lived" is
preserved.
These answers to the two chief difficulties associated with the interpretation here
suggested of the thousand years may not be satisfactory to all; but it is submitted that
they go far at least to meet them, and that in themselves they are neither unfair nor
strained. Against one thing only must the author of this commentary enter his most
decided protest, - the allegation that the interpretation here offered is gained by
dispensing with textual criticism (?) and by sacrificing grammar to an idea. If there be
one ground more than another upon which it rests, it is upon the strictest principles of
historical interpretation. It ought only to be remembered that the idiosyncrasies of an
author are as much a part of such interpretation as the literal meaning of his words; and
that to that interpretation, if honestly and thoroughly conducted, the most deeply
ingrained prejudices will in due time be compelled to submit.
The three great enemies of the Church have not only been overcome, but judged, and
forever removed from all possibility of troubling the righteous more. But the great mass
of the wicked have not yet been overtaken by a similar fate. The time has now come to
show us in vision what awaits them also: -
"And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and
the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, the
great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another
book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things
which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them: and they
were judged every man according to their works. And death and Hades were cast into the
lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire. And if any was not found
written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire (Rev_20:11-15)."
Upon various particulars mentioned in this passage it is unnecessary to say much. The
throne beheld by the Seer is great, at once in contrast with the "thrones" of the
millennial reign, and as befitting the majesty of Him who sits upon it. It is alsowhite, as
emblematic of His purity and holiness. The Judge is God, the Father in the Son, the Son
in the Father; and thus the judgment is searching and complete, and is answered by the
consciences of those upon whom it is executed. They see that the Judge’s eye penetrates
into the most secret recesses of their hearts, and that He is One who has been in the
same position, has fought the same battle, and has endured the same trials as
themselves. Thus His sentence finds an echo in their hearts, and they are speechless.*
Thus also judgment becomes really judgment, and not merely the infliction of
punishment by resistless power. (*
Comp. Mat_22:12)
The effect of the Judge s taking His seat upon His throne was thatfrom His face the
earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. Yet we are not
to understand that after their flight there was neither an earth nor a heaven to be found.
It is only the old earth and the old heaven that are spoken of; and almost immediately

afterwards the Seer exclaims, "I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven
and the first earth are passed away."1
The change is part of that "restoration of all things"
of which St. Peter spoke to the multitude gathered together in Solomon’s porch,2
of
which he then added, "Whereof God spake by the mouth of His holy prophets which
have been since the world began," and upon which he dwelt more fully in his second
Epistle when he said, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the
heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat,
and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up. But, according to His
promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."3
In
the Epistle to the Romans, too, "creation" longs, not for destruction, but for something
akin to that "liberty of the glory of the children of God" which they shall obtain along
with their "adoption, to wit, the redemption of theirbody."4
In all these passages it is not
the translation of God’s saints to an immaterial sphere that lies at the bottom of the
thought. It is rather the idea of change, of the trans figuration, of the glorification, of this
present scene into a state corresponding with that of its redeemed inhabitants, when
they shall "not be unclothed, but clothed upon,"5
and shall dwell in "spiritual bodies."6
To
St. John "heaven" is not an abode of bliss in a scene of which we can form no clear
conception, but the spiritual atmosphere in which, alike on this side the grave and on the
other, the saints live and move. The "dwellers upon earth" are not those who simply
tread its firm soil and breathe its atmosphere, but those who are worldly in their spirit
and whose views are bounded by the things of time. The kingdom which Christ
establishes is the "kingdom of this world" in its cleansed and purified condition rather
than one to which we travel by long and unknown paths. As the Seer looks forward to the
future there is nothing to show that he thinks of any other residence for man than that
which the Son consecrated by His tomb in Joseph’s garden and by the glory of the
resurrection morning; and even the new Jerusalem comes down out of heaven to be
established upon earth. (1
Rev_21:1 2
Act_3:21; 3
2Pe_3:10; 2Pe_3:13; 4
Rom_8:21-23; 5
2Co_5:4; 6
Comp. 1Co_15:44)
Many may doubtless think that such a hope is too earthly, too material, to be suited to
the spiritual nature of the Christian dispensation. They fear that it has a tendency to
withdraw us from Him who is "spirit," and who must be worshipped, if He is to be
worshipped acceptably, "in spirit and truth."1
But any such apprehension is at variance
with the fundamental fact of our Christian faith, the incarnation of our Lord, and is little
less than the revival of the old Manichean heresy that matter is essentially evil. Two
errors have existed, and may exist, in the Church upon this point. We may strip the
Gospel of its spiritual element, and may reduce it to a system of outward and material
forms, or we may strip it of its material element, and may resolve it into a vague and
shadowy mysticism. Both are the errors of extremes, and it would be difficult to say
which has wrought most havoc in the Church. If the one was disastrous in the days of the
supremacy of Romanism, the other is hardly less disastrous now. To the false and
spurious spiritualism which it engenders we owe not a few of the most serious
misconceptions of the present time with regard to the person of Christ, the Church, the
Sacraments, and the purpose of redemption as a whole.2
(1
Joh_4:24; 2
In connection with
the point here spoken of, reference may be made to an interesting and instructive paper
by Canon Dale Stewart Rector of Coulsdon, in The Churchman for December, 1887.)
To return to the main question in connection with the passage before us. Does it present
us with the picture of a general judgment or of a judgment of the wicked alone? There is
much in the passage that leads distinctly to the latter conclusion.
1. The whole vision is obviously an enlargement of what we have already met under the

seventh Trumpet, when it was said that "the time of the dead to be judged came."*
In
both visions the persons spoken of as "the dead" must be the same; and they are clearly
distinguished in the earlier vision from those called "Thy servants the prophets," the
season of whose "reward" was come. With this corresponds the fact that in the writings
of St. John the words "to judge" and "judgment" are always used, not in a neutral sense,
but in one tending to condemnation. Without some qualifying term the Apostle could
hardly have applied them to the acquittal of the righteous. (*
Rev_11:18)
2. The sources whence the "dead" are gathered confirm this conclusion. These are three
in number: the sea, death, and Hades. Looking first at the two last of these, it is plain
that "death" cannot in this connection be the neutral grave, for it is "cast into the lake of
fire," where the devil, the beast, and the false prophet are. Similar remarks apply to
"Hades," which in Rev_6:8 is the coadjutor of death, and which in the New Testament
always appears as a region of gloom, and punishment, and opposition to the truth: " And
thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? thou shalt go down unto Hades;
"And I also say unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church;
and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."*
If such be the sense in which we are
to understand death and Hades, light is thrown upon the manner in which we are to
interpret the first of the three sources, - "the sea." This cannot be the ocean, because the
number of those to be given up from its depths at the last day is comparatively small;
because, as the literal sea, it is in no way suitably associated with death and Hades; and
because, when we read in Rev_21:1, "And the sea is no more," it is impossible to think
that the word is used in any other than a figurative sense. No reason can be imagined
why, when the earth is renewed, there should be no more that sea which is one grand
instrument of its present greatness and glory. Besides all this, we have hitherto found
that in the Apocalypse the "sea" is the emblem of the unruly and troubled nations of the
earth, and the source from which the first beast of chap. 13 had his origin. In the same
sense therefore we must understand it here. Like "death" and "Hades," "the sea" spoken
of can give up none but ungodly dead to the judgment of the great day. (*
Mat_11:23;
Mat_16:18)
3. The "books" mentioned in the passage are clearly books containing the record of evil
deeds alone. When it is said that "books" were opened, and that "another book was
opened, which is the book of life," the "books" are distinguished from the "book." It
harmonizes with this that the book of life is not opened in order to secure deliverance for
those whose names are inscribed in it, but only to justify the sentence passed on any who
are cast into the lake of fire.
4. The general teaching of St. John ought not to be lost sight of in considering this
question. That teaching is that the eternal condition of the righteous is fully secured to
them even in this life, and that in their glorified Head they have already passed through
all those preparatory stages on their way to everlasting blessedness at the thought of
which they might otherwise have trembled. In Him they have lived, and overcome, and
died. In Him they have been raised from the dead, and been seated in the heavenly
places. All along they have followed the Lamb whithersoever He goeth, and everything
that befell Him has in principle befallen them. We cannot say, in the Johannine sense of
the word, that Christ has been "judged;" and therefore "judgment" cannot be predicated
of the members of His Body. To these last "judgment," we have already seen, "was given"
at the time when they entered on their millennial reign; and, with the result of this
judgment (for that is the true meaning of the original) in their hands, it is impossible to
think of them as judged again.
The judgment of these verses is therefore a judgment of the wicked; and, when it is

closed, all Christ’s enemies have not only been vanquished, but have been banished from
the scene where He is to reign " before His ancients gloriously."*
The first part of the final
triumph has been accomplished. (*
Isa_24:23)
HAWKER, “Revelation 20:1-3
(1) And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and
a great chain in his hand. (2) And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is
the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, (3) And 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.
We have here the judgment of Satan, and his being chained for a thousand years. And
from that prison, be is not to be loosed, until the thousand years are expired. I pray the
Reader to observe, the beautiful order of things, in this divine procedure. First, the beast,
and the false prophet, were to be cast into hell. That we saw, done, in the foregoing
Chapter. Next comes Satan’s imprisonment. And that is accomplished in the opening of
this Chapter. But, though there spoken of as done, because John’s vision these things
were so represented; yet the events have not yet been done. The beast still reigns. The
false prophet still exerciseth his delusion. And Satan never more artfully deceived, than
he doth now, in the present hour. But these prophecies are to be accomplished in their
due course. And here they are recorded in their proper order. And a beautiful, and
blessed account it is, taken in one grand whole; and enough to warm the affections of
God’s redeemed ones, into an ardent love to the Person of Christ, when God the Holy
Ghost graciously becomes our Teacher. I beg the Reader’s attention to it, in order,
First. Here is an Angel seen by John, coming down from heaven, with a key in his hand,
and a chain. Now we cannot be at a loss to know who this is; it can be no other than the
Lord Jesus Christ. For not only must it be Him, and can be no other, because all power is
his in heaven and earth, and he hath the keys of hell and death, Rev_1:18. but because
the personal hatred the devil hath to Christ, and the opposition Satan hath made to
Christ and his kingdom, renders it peculiarly suitable and proper, that he should have his
punishment immediately from Christ himself.
Secondly. Here is the power of Christ manifested, in seizing the old serpent, and binding
him, and casting him into the bottomless pit, and the time limited for his confinement.
Thirdly. Here is also an account of a time of liberation; for the devil when he shall be at
liberty for a little season, and when, as it should seem, he shall again deceive the nations,
though but shortly.
Now some have thought, that this confinement of Satan began, when Christ cast out the
devil from the bodies of men, in the days of Christ’s flesh, and of consequence, the term
is expired. And in proof of this opinion, they quote those scriptures, where it is said, that
for this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the woks of the
devil, 1Jn_3:8. And Christ himself said, that he beheld Satan, as lightning fall from
heaven, Luk_10:18-19. But to these things it may be said, that the purpose of Christ’s
coming, will be as fully answered by Satan’s destruction, when the time cometh, as to
suppose it hath come. And very certain it is, from the days of Christ’s being upon earth to
this hour, there hath never been a period of shortness, much less of a thousand years, in
which the devil’s influence on the minds of men, hath been restrained. And, moreover, as

the imprisonment of the devil, according to the statement in this scripture prophecy, is
to follow the burning alive of the beast and the false prophet, and not before these
events, and as neither of these events have as yet taken place, it should seem, that there
can be but little question, that the time of the devil’s overthrow by Christ is not yet
arrived.
I shall take occasion in this place, to offer to the Reader, some few, and, I hope, not
unprofitable observations, on this interesting subject of the war Satan hath waged with
the Lord Jesus Christ and his people, and on scriptural authority. And I pray God the
Holy Ghost, that, from his divine teachings, I may be kept from advancing any one single
point, but what is in perfect conformity to the word of God; and the Reader may be
preserved from deriving anything in those observations, but what shall be in strict
consistently With God’s truth, that both the Writer and Reader of this Poor Man’s
Commentary may be taught of God, and be mutually blessed by them to the Lord’s glory,
and to our souls furtherance in grace, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
In the prosecution of this service, I shall not think it necessary to go over the whole
ground of enquiry concerning Satan, and the empire, which from the fall of men he hath
established, and in cruelty exercised over the souls and bodies of men, more or less, in
every individual instance of the children of Adam. This would be too extensive a subject.
But I shall take the matter up from that part, which, unhappily for mankind, is too well
confirmed, and too strongly proved to our sorrow, to be called in question. I mean, that
there is this evil, and formidable foe to our nature, which walketh about as a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour, 1Pe_5:8.
Our adorable Lord hath so very fully drawn the outlines, both of the Person and kingdom
of Satan, in his ministry when upon earth, and the Holy Ghost by his servants, both of
the Old Testament and the New, have also so very largely set forth, the several horrible
features belonging to both, that a reference to those scriptures, will supersede the
necessity of advancing a single line, on these plain points. That there is this Prince of the
power of the air, as he is called by the Holy Ghost, which worketh in the children of
disobedience, and that the Church, as well as the whole Adam race, had their spirits
under his government by nature, is a truth not to be controverted, Eph_2:2-3. But the
scripture is in a great measure if not altogether, silent, from whence this malignity of
Satan to our nature arose, and wherefore this cursed and apostate spirit, hath taken up
such a bitter and irreconcilable hatred to man.
Some great and distinguished men among the Lord’s people, gathering into one focus,
the several lights which here and there the word of God hath thrown forth upon this
subject, have conceived that when the whole rays are centered, they do shine with
sufficient clearness, to show, that this malignity of hell first began, when at the fall of
those apostate spirits, they took offence at the Son of God, betrothing the nature of man
for a spouse for himself, at the call of God the Father, and not marrying the angelic
nature. Their high intellectual powers could not stomach this choice. And therefore,
rebellion brake out against the counsel and pleasure of the whole Godhead, Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost. And, hence the quarrel with the Son of God became personal. Satan
attempted to set up a kingdom in opposition to Christ’s. Hence he began his malignant
purposes upon the first man, made in Christ’s image, in the garden of Eden. And, hence,
the war hath continued ever since, and will remain during the whole time-state of the
church, and Satan’s enmity to all eternity.
But be this as it may, very sure we are, that such a deadly foe we have, whose captives,
both by original and by actual transgression we are, and under whose dominion we must

have lain forever; had not God our Savior conquered him for us, and conquered him in
us. And it is only by his victory, that we are delivered from the powers of darkness, and
translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. It is the personal labors of the Son, of
God, which have accomplished all the purposes included in redemption; and though all
the Persons of the Godhead have manifested the interest they take in this contest, yet the
whole efficiency in the executive part of the work is in Christ, and by Christ. Christ, in his
own Person, hath subdued Satan f or his people. And by his Holy Spirit, he subdues him
in his people. A few leading points on this most interesting of all subjects, will make this
matter abundantly clear, and from the warrant and authority of scripture.
I began from that part, where the word of God begins; namely, Satan’s ruining our
nature in the instance of the first man in the garden of Eden. Here we date the origin of
all the sins and sorrows of life. By the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to
condemnation. So saith the scripture. And so saith common sense. For as in our first
father, we all had an inheritance of holiness, had he kept it in which we were all by right
interested. So by his loss of it, and the sin involved in that loss, we are, by right of
inheritance, included. Adam did then, as many a worthless father doth now, by sin, spent
his estate, and left his children beggars. But, Reader! By the way, do not fail to observe,
that as by original sin, in a birth-right of nature we had no hand in, we are all implicated
in Adam’s sin and misery, so is it the mercy of the Church, that by the birth-right of
grace to all God’s people, we are all interested, and take part in Christ’s righteousness
and glory, in which we bore no hand. So sweetly saith the same scripture. For as by one
man’s obedience many were made sinners; so, by the obedience of one, shall many be
made righteous, Rom_5:12 to the end. One caution I beg the Reader to take with him, as
he makes application of these scriptures, I mean, that he sees the proof of his
relationship, in the right of which the whole depends. Prove yourself my brother, by the
birth-right of grace; a child of God, before you lay claim to the privileges of a child. For,
as upon the supposition I had not sprung from the first Adam, so called, and none of his
blood had ran through my veins, I certainly should not have been implicated, either in
his sin or his condemnation; so by a parity of reasoning, unless I can prove my
relationship to the second Adam so called, I can lay no claim for an interest in his
righteousness and justification. It is the relationship which makes out the right of both.
Now both you and I too sadly prove we are sprung from the earthly Adam in nature. Can
we as joyfully prove we are born of the heavenly Adam by grace? Sure we are, that we are
by generation of the first man, which is of the earth, earthly. Are we as sure, that by
regeneration we are of the second man, which is the Lord from heaven, 1Co_15:47.
It is truly blessed to observe, how graciously the Son of God, when coming into our world
to destroy the works of the devil, took up both our cause and his own, and as the
apostate spirit, dared to attack the Lord of Life and Glory, Jesus not only came to redeem
his people from his power, but to destroy him, and root out every evil from his kingdom.
The Holy Ghost in one sweet verse of scripture, sums up in a comprehensive manner the
whole subject. For as much as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also
himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had
the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them, who, through fear of death, were
all their lifetime subject to Bondage, Heb_2:14-15.
But it would be the subject of a volume, yea, many volumes, to go over the track of
ground which the scriptures furnish, in showing, Christ’s personal triumphs and
victories over sin and Satan, death, hell, and the grave. What an huge account might be
gathered, if only from that branch of the Lord’s first open skirmishes with Satan, in his
miracles, when dispossessing him from the bodies of men? And then again from the

souls of his people?
That Christ was the glorious Person interested in this great event, of the destruction of
Satan and his kingdom, is evident, from, every consideration. For against Christ as God-
Man, and his kingdom as his glory, the devil bent his whole malice. And hence, when
Christ wrought his miracles, and especially in those miracles in which he cast out devil,
Jesus made an appeal to those works, as so many demonstrations of his kingdom. If I,
said Jesus, cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto
you, Mat_12:28.
The first, and greatest act of Christ’s triumph over Satan, was on, the cross. Here, most
eminently might it be said, that, through death, he destroyed him that had the power of
death. For the devil is said to have had the power of death, not from his appointing the
time of any man’s death, or having any power so to do, but because, by his introducing
sin, he hath brought death into the world, which God, hath appointed, as the
unavoidable consequence of sin, and therefore, the devil is very properly said, on this
account, to have been a murderer from the beginning, Joh_8:44. Hence, Christ by his
dying for sin, hath removed the cause of death for his people, in the everlasting effects of
it. And as by his death and resurrection, he is said to have overcome death and the grave,
so in those glorious acts, he here gave the first death-blow to Satan and all his cursed
empire; and from the cross and the tomb, the first views of the everlasting mansions of
the redeemed were then discovered, 2Ti_1:10.
The Holy Ghost, by his servants the Prophets and Apostles, hath caused these victories
of Christ to be loudly and joyfully celebrated. The Lord Jesus himself, speaking in the
language of prophecy thus delivered the blissful tidings ages before the event was to take
place. I will ransom them from the power of the grave. I will redeem them from death. O
death, I will be thy plagues. O grave, I will be thy destruction; repentance shall be hid
from mine eyes, Hos_13:14. And the same is spoken of Christ by the Apostle after the
great triumph had been accomplished., And you being dead in your sins, and the
uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you
all trespasses, blotting out the hand-writing of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross and having spoiled
principalities and powers (that is, those whom Paul elsewhere calls the rulers of the
darkness of this world; see Eph_6:11-12.) he made a show of them openly, triumphing
over them in it, Col_2:13-15. Hence here the Lord Jesus began the first open display of
his personal victory over Satan. And hence God the Father’s gracious acknowledgment of
the same, with the blessed consequence which were first delivered by prophecy, and
confirmed by the event: Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall
divide the spoil with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and he
was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many, and made
intercession for the transgressors, Isa_53:12. And in the prospect of this, just before the
Lord Jesus entered the field of battle, he cried out; Now is the judgment of this world,
now shall the prince of this world, be cast out, Joh_12:31.
Secondly. After the Son of God had accomplished redemption - work, and was returned
to glory, he sent down the Holy Ghost for the carrying on this victory in the hearts of his
people. It was not sufficient, in God’s view, for Christ personally to conquer Satan, he
shall be conquered by Christ mystically, yea, the poorest, the humblest, the feeblest, of
the Lord’s members, in that day shall be as David by his Spirit dwelling in them,
Zec_12:8.
But while I begin this subject at this point, of Christ first personally triumphing over

Satan on the cross, let not the Reader misapprehend, as though none of Christ’s chosen
were enabled by virtue of their union with Christ, to triumph over Satan in the Lord’s
strength before. This would be to mistake my meaning. Instances we have upon record,
of old Testament saints, of Job and others who in the strength of Christ, were borne up
against the devil and his temptations, before Christ at his incarnation, became
manifested to destroy the works of the devil, But what I mean to say, and indeed what
the word of God declares, is, that Christ in his own person conquered Satan, at his death,
upon the cross, and Christ in his members conquers Satan, when at any time by the
influences of his Holy Spirit, he bears them up against his temptations.
Now it is blessed to behold Christ’s triumphs over Satan, in every individual instance of
his members, when, at regeneration, the Lord brings them out of his prison and sets
their souls at liberty. Indeed, the Lord Jesus calls this work himself, the proof of his
grace in the hearts of his people. For when Jesus sent Paul to preach the Gospel, his
commission ran in these words, I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee
a minister and a witness, both of these things which thou host seen, and of those things
in which I will appear unto thee, delivering thee from the people and from the gentiles,
unto whom now I send thee to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light,
and, from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and
inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me, Act_26:16-18
And although the enemy, doth rally again and again, and endeavors to draw back to his
prison-house the souls a those that was once led captive by him at his will; yet, blessed
be God, there is that, in every truly regenerated soul, which in Christ’s strength keeping
them alive, (the Lord himself being their strength,) that enables the child of God to resist
the devil stedfastly in the faith. And, if at any time the Lord, to show them their own
nothingness, and his all sufficiency, permits the enemy, as in the case of Job, to come on
more furiously, yet the end is, but for the greater glory of God, the greater good of his
people, and the greater disgrace of Satan. Yea, even in those cases where, for the
moment, the child a God falls, and is led away by the enemy, yet, even then like a captive,
reluctantly obliged to march, be goeth on sullen and displeased. And when the grace of
Christ recovers him, as Peter was recovered by one look of Jesus, oh! how godly sorrow
springs up in the soul afresh, and he cries out, rejoice not against me, O mine enemy,
when I fall I shall arise, when I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me,
Mic_7:8-9.
Thirdly. But the victory of Christ, in his own Person, over Satan, and the triumphs of
Christ in his members, during the time-state of the Church, are here followed by the
tremendous one, the opening of this Chapter presents to us. The Son of God having
thrown down Pagan Rome, Papal Rome, and the false Prophet, here seizeth upon Satan,
the ringleader of all, and being now about at this period of his Church, to set up a visible
kingdom in this world, and before the final day of judgment, he shuts up the devil for a
thousand years, that he shall not, during that time, afflict the people of God, either with
persecutions or temptations. What events will mark this era of the Church, and to what
extent the blessings of the Lord’s people will reach, we have no further account, than that
it will be a time of great ingathering to the Lord.
There will be, according to the predictions of scripture concerning it, the more
immediate presence of God our Savior in the midst of his people. Ezekiel speaking of it,
said, that the name of the city from that day; shall be Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is
there, Eze_48:35. There will be a great pouring in of the Lord’s people, gathered out of
all nations. In allusion to this day, it should seem, is that scripture. Thy people shall all
be righteous, Isa_60:21. Not more righteous in themselves, for Christ is the

righteousness of his people, but all of them shall be righteous in being brought home by
the Spirit to Christ. There will be true spiritual ordinances, and a true spiritual ministry.
Pastors after God’s heart, and watchmen that shall see eye to eye. And the people shall
have one heart and one way, and serve the Lord with one consent, Jer_32:39; Jer_3:15;
Isa_52:8.
Fourthly, and finally. The Lord Jesus will bring Satan, with all his hellish crew at the day
of judgment, and completely execute his wrath upon him and them, by fixing them in
eternal punishment in hell. This is read to us, verse 10 (Rev_20:10). And 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 forever and ever. And let all the
people say, Amen and Amen.
Reader! pause one moment more over the wonderful subject, and with me, bless God for
the graciousness of those discoveries, concerning both the ruin of Anti-Christ and the
devil, and all his works. How little should we have known of these things, but for our
Lord Jesus in these sweet records. How little do we even now meditate upon them, in a
way equal to their vast importance. Think how the Church above, have been watching
over these events, which have taken place below since their translation. Think how the
spirits of just men made perfect in the Patriarchs, and Prophets, and Martyrs, who died
in the faith of Christ before the coming of Christ, when they beheld Christ combating
with the devil, in the wilderness, and in the garden, and when by his death he overcame
death and the devil, and by his blood paid their ransom, which God had trusted him for,
and for which they were received into glory.
That those departed have an intimate knowledge of these things is certain, for we find
them (Rev_6:10) crying with a loud voice for vengeance on their murderers, when God
explained to them the reason, wherefore they were to wait a little season for the
accomplishment of their wishes. And, therefore, how must they have looked on and
beheld with holy joy, the Lord Jesus casting down the beast and the false prophet alive in
the lake of fire, and chaining Satan for a thousand years in the bottomless pit. And, oh!
what joy, what shouts of praise will burst forth from the whole army of heaven, when all
the accursed crew, shall be finally sent together into everlasting perdition, and their
sentence and execution be in the full view of the congregated world of angels and of men.
COX 1-3, “The question arises here, as in all parts of the Revelation, as to just who is to
be the judge in deciding what parts of a given verse are to be interpreted literally
and which parts symbolically. Who gives the millennialist the right to decide that
one word is literal while the very next word is symbolic, then to ostracize another
Christian for daring to suggest that both words might be symbolism? To say that
Satan is to be bound after Christ comes the second time, then released again,
contradicts many clear passages of Scripture. Assuming this to be so, and assuming
that one Scripture passage does not contradict another, let us search out clear
teachings of the New Testament concerning a binding of Satan. It is to be noted
that John nowhere fixes the time for this event.
Only one event coincides with John's picturesque language here in
Revelation 20:1-3 - this event is the defeat of Satan brought about by Christ's first
advent and crucifixion. For those who object that Satan still has much power today,
let it be noted that John does not picture him as obliterated, but merely imprisoned.

Many a prisoner has been known to operate from inside barred windows through
henchmen on the outside. And many a dog, though bound, has bitten people who
came within the confines of his chain. Satan is bound, but with a long chain. Our
Lord certainly overcame him and pronounced sentence upon him (John 12:31);
however, the sentence will not be completely executed until the second coming (2
Thess 2:7,8). Satan was eternally doomed when, on the cross, Christ bruised the
head of the serpent in fulfillment of Genesis 3:15.
Floyd E. Hamilton (The Basis of Millennial Faith) makes some helpful
observations on the subject of Satan's being bound.
'I suppose that no one would insist that Satan is to be bound with a literal
chain of iron or some other metal, for Satan is a spirit and material chains could not
hold him captive for a moment. Binding always means the limitation of power, in
some way. When men bound themselves with an oath not to do something, they
agreed to limit their own power and rights to the extent of their oaths. A man and
wife are bound by their marriage vows, but that does not mean that they are bound
in respect to other relationships in life. A slave is bound to his master, but he lives
his life as a human being with freedom to do countless other things which do not
interfere with his relationship as a slave to his master. So Satan's being bound does
not mean that he is powerless to tempt people, and we know that he does. It is
merely limitation of Satan's power in one particular respect especially, that of
ability to deceive the nations. During the interadventual period the gospel is to be
proclaimed to all nations, and Satan is powerless to prevent it. The way of
salvation has been opened to all nations and there is nothing that Satan can do to
block that way' (pp. 131-32).
'In Hebrews 2:14, the writer tells us, that through death He might bring to
nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. Christ brought the devil
to nought, that is, He limited the devil's power in such a way that all his efforts
amounted to nothing, and his power was definitely frustrated. All these things
show that in the New Testament Christ claimed that in a very real sense he had
bound Satan, and limited his power. In Revelation 20, one particular aspect of that
binding is before us, namely, the limiting of Satan's power to deceive the nations as
he did before the coming of Christ. From that time forward during the whole of the
interadventual dispensation Satan is defeated in fact. He can still go about like a
roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, but in this particular respect he is a
caged lion' (ibid., pp. 132-33).
When Jesus sent the Twelve on a preaching mission (Luke 9:1) he gave
them power and authority over all demons. He also sent seventy disciples on a
similar mission, and they returned rejoicing in the fact that even the, demons are
subject unto us in thy name (Luke 10:17). Then it was that Jesus said to them that
he beheld Satan fall from heaven. We take this as a reference to his defeat of Satan
at the cross (see Rev 12:7-12). Our Lord went on to say to the seventy disciples,
Behold, I have given you authority ... over all the power of the enemy (Luke
10:19).

WILLIAM KELLY, “A new and immensely important fact is described - the binding
of Satan. He is no longer to be allowed to prowl about the world ensnaring and
destroying. It is not his final judgment. "And I saw an angel coming down from the
heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold
on the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a
thousand years and cast him into the abyss, and shut and sealed [it] over him, that
he should no more deceive the nations, till the thousand years should be completed:
after these things he must be loosed a little time." The unclean spirits when cast out
by the Lord deprecated consignment to the abyss before the time. Immense will be
the relief for man and the earth when they are thus shut up, as we see their prince
here.
Then we come to a disclosure of wondrous blessing. "And I saw thrones, and they
sat upon them, and judgment was given to them: and [I saw] the souls of those
beheaded on account of the witness of Jesus, and on account of the word of God:
and those who did not homage to the beast, nor his image, and received not his
mark upon their forehead, and upon their hand; and they lived and reigned with
Christ a thousand years." ot many words are required to show that it is no mere
figure of the new birth on the one hand, or of a flourishing state for the gospel or the
church. It is the foreshadow of a real resurrection. Here the vision was of thrones
with sitters already there, and of others now caused to join them, who had suffered
unto death for the truth; of which the inspired explanation is, "This the first
resurrection." Let us look at the different groups that have part in the first
resurrection.
First, the thrones were already filled. Instead of judgment being executed on them,
it was "given to them." They themselves were to judge. Scripture is clear that the
saints are destined to be invested with judicial authority of a glorious nature. We
shall reign with Christ. These are the same saints whom we have seen set forth by
the twenty-four elders in heaven, next, by the bride and the guests at the marriage-
supper of the Lamb, and finally by the armies that followed Him out of heaven.
They are the heavenly saints generally up to the Lord's coming to receive and set
them in the Father's house.
It is no longer a question either of celebrating the preliminary ways of God's
government, or of the war with the Beast and kings of the earth. Accordingly we
have the power of evil restrained beyond all example; and ruling in righteousness as
never seen before. There are thrones filled with persons come from heaven in the
train of Christ, who now reign along with Him. The language of symbol is as definite
as any other. There is no lack of precision, but the very reverse. Peculiarly compact
energy attaches to symbolic language.
But there is, in the details which come next, much of interest and consequence to
observe, in that an accession follows of the souls of those beheaded on account of the
witness of Jesus, and on account of the word of God. These are the martyrs

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