In Revelation 20, we see the scene of Satan’s binding and eventual release, which shows us that God has control over Satan. Today, Satan still tempts people, but God has control over Satan. Who bound Satan and released him? God did that because He has power over Satan.
Jesus said in Mark 3:20-30 that a powerful man had control over His own house. On that occasion, Jesus was able to cast demons out of a man, which showed that because he could cast out demons that were under Satan’s control, He was greater than Satan.
John now sees an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain, Revelation 20:1. The Dragon, that ancient serpent, the devil or Satan who had the key to the Abyss, Revelation 9:1-11, is now defeated and bound in chains for a thousand years, Revelation 20:2.
The angel now throws the devil into the Abyss, locks him up and seals him in, and notice, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended, Revelation 20:3. The number 1000 was symbolic of completeness or fullness, and so in this passage signifies a complete or full period of time.
Barclay, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Even the way in which the word thousand is used in Scripture warns us against taking this literally. Psalms 50:10 says that the cattle on a thousand hills belong to God, and Job 9:3 says that a man cannot answer God once in a thousand times. A thousand is simply used to describe a very large number.’
Notice, however, that after the thousand years, the devil must be set free for a short time, Revelation 20:3. When he is set free, he is really restricted in what he can do.
McGuiggan, in his commentary, says the following concerning the ‘little time’.
‘The devil is let loose to have another go at Christ and the church. This is God’s way of speaking on any manifestation of Satan. In that case, he will get, not Rome, for she’s gone, but Gog and Magog. God and Magog stand for anyone, anytime, who would be Satan’s tool against the church.’
Notice John sees thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge, Revelation 20:4. He also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God, Revelation 20:4.
These are God’s martyred people, those who remained faithful to God and His Word, Daniel 7:21-22 / Daniel 7:26-27 / Revelation 2:26-18 / Revelation 3:21 / Revelation 13:1-2.
Beasley-Murray, in their commentary, says the following concerning Revelation 20:4.
‘This assurance was of importance for the Christians of John’s day. even if they were called to yield up their lives, their sacrifice would issue in God’s vindication of them.’
It was those fallen martyrs who hadn’t worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands, Revelation 20:4 / Revelation 13:15-18 / Revelation 14:9-10 / Revelation 16:2.
They were the ones who came to life, which implies that they were dead but raised to life, and they reigned with Christ for 1000 years, Revelation 20:4. These faithful martyrs are sharing in the victory of life and reigning with Christ for 1000 years.
Kercheville, in his commentary, says the following concerning Revelation 20:4.
‘This is a simple image of triumph for the people who have gone through this ordeal. Those who have died for the cause of Christ are not left out or left behind but are reigning with Christ.’
John tells us that the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended, Revelation 20:5, that is, those who died in service to the beast. This is, Revelation 20:5. The second resurrection will deal with the rest, and their outcome will be determined at the white throne scene in Revelation 20:11-15.
Notice it is the Christians who died who are blessed and holy, 1 Peter 1:2, because they died in the Lord, Revelation 20:6. Note the first resurrection only involves the blessed and the holy, but the second resurrection involves only the unholy.
The second death has no power over them, Revelation 20:6, why? Because they were a part of the first resurrection, they are victorious, Revelation 20:5. Those martyrs who died in Christ will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years, Revelation 20:6 / 1 Peter 2:9.
McGuiggan, in his commentary, says the following, concerning ‘the first and second resurrection’, Revelation 20:5-6.
‘What is the first resurrection? The resurrection of the martyrs for Jesus! Why is it first? Because John is about to see a ‘second’ resurrection. He has seen a ‘first’ death (as it were). He will see a ‘second death’. Saints and sinners alike die under the first death (some in service of the beast and some serving Jesus), but the saints are in the ‘first resurrection’, so the second death holds no fear for them. That ‘first’ resurrection is to life and reigning, but the ‘second’ resurrection will be to the second death.’
Another commentator says the following, concerning the ‘first and second resurrection,’ Revelation 20:5-6.
‘The first resurrection is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Several people were raised from the dead during Biblical times, but Jesus Christ is the first one resurrected who would live forever, never again to die. There are only two resurrections mentioned in scripture which will do this. The first one has already come to pass. The second one is yet to come, John 5:28-29. Those who participate in the resurrection of Jesus Christ are priests of God and of Christ. How do we participate in the resurrection of Jesus Christ? When we are baptised, we are buried in a symbolic way with Jesus Christ when He was buried, Colossians 2:12 / Romans 6:4-5. Christians have a participatory part in the resurrection of Jesus Christ at baptism. And upon these, the second death hath no power. What is the second death? Hebrews 9:27. The second death is the judgment of the unrighteous who will die the spiritual death, which is eternal separation from God in everlasting punishment. This death has no power over faithful Christians who have participated in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.’
This chapter of Revelation is considered the most difficult chapter of the book of Revelation if not the entire Bible. Dispensationalists freely employ this difficult chapter to prove that Christ will reign on earth for a literal thousand years. Revelation 20:4 specifically is the passage that is so heavily relied on to prove their theory.
A close reading of Revelation 20:4 nowhere states any of the basic tenets of the Dispensational doctrine.
1. It does not mention the second coming of Christ with a rapture.
2. It does not mention a bodily resurrection.
3. It does not mention a thousand-year reign on earth.
4. It does not mention the throne of David.
5. It does not mention the city of Jerusalem.
6. It does not mention or say anything about those raptured reigning with Christ.
7. It does not mention the rapture anywhere.
8. It does not say that fleshly Israel will return to Palestine.
9. It does not say the raptured (faithful Christians) will be placed in positions of rulers.
Now notice what the text does say.
1. It does say ‘they’ lived and reigned, not we, the raptured, will live and reign.
2. It says they ‘lived’ and ‘reigned’ with Christ, not shall live and reign, future tense.
3. It says they lived and reigned ‘with Christ’, not that Christ reigned.
4. It says ‘souls’ reigned with Christ, not resurrected physical bodies.
5. It says it was the souls that were ‘beheaded’ that reigned with Christ.
There is no way one can take Revelation 20:4 and make it teach the dispensational doctrine. A careful reading will show that it does not even hint at such a theory. Men have no right to tamper with God’s word, implying things it does not teach.
Dispensationalists make a fatal mistake by making the book of Revelation literal. This is especially true of the 20th chapter. But are they willing to accept all of the passage as literal? Reading it literally presents some very awkward problems.
Do they accept a literal angel coming down with a literal key and a literal chain? Revelation 20:1. Do such material things exist in heaven? This was for the purpose of literally binding a literal dragon, Revelation 20:2.
This literal dragon’s body literally filled the whole earth, and his literal tail reached to the literal heavens and literally plucked the literal stars of the heavens out of their literal orbits millions of miles away!
Are they willing to accept this position? The literal dragon, which filled the whole literal earth, was to be put in a literal pit, tail and all. If his body filled the earth, where could a pit be dug on earth large enough to accommodate his literal body?
If the thousand years are literal, then the beheading is literal and only those who have been literally beheaded will get into the millennium, Revelation 20:4. If the reigning ends with the thousand years, the living ends also, for John says they ‘lived and reigned’ a thousand years with Christ. If we accept the dispensationalist view, the inescapable conclusion is that when the millennium ends, everyone dies.
We can see that if Revelation 20 is taken literally, we get into all kinds of problems. Any literal conclusions force us into positions that are ridiculous. The ‘thousand years’ is but one symbol in this chapter.
Note the use of ‘1000 years’ in the following passages, Exodus 20:6 / Deuteronomy 7:9 / Psalm 50:10. The 1000 years are figurative; they speak of perfection. Satan was perfectly bound up for 1000 years, Revelation 20:2, meaning he was completely defeated.
Jesus reigned for 1000 years, Revelation 20:4, meaning that Jesus was completely triumphant over Satan. A proper understanding of the chapter, as well as the other chapters, begins by recognising that all of John’s visions are described in highly figurative, apocalyptic language.
Also, to understand this chapter, we must keep in mind that it is a sequel to Revelation 19. Revelation 20 is the climax to the last scenes of Revelation 19. The dragon, Revelation 20:2, that is, Satan, the instigator of all opposition to Christ and His church, is about to be cast into the abyss, the bottomless pit, thus the final and complete defeat of Satan.
We must consider ‘a thousand years’ as symbolic just as we consider most all the other numbers to be symbolic. Does this passage, especially Revelation 20:4-6, teach the establishment of an earthly kingdom and a thousand-year reign of Christ with the saints? Notice first that the thousand years of this passage correspond with the thousand years that Satan is bound in the bottomless pit of Revelation 20:2-3.
The number 1000 symbolises completeness or fullness and refers to the complete period of time Satan is bound. However long that is, Christ’s reign is the same period of time. But who reigns with Christ? Revelation 20:4.
These martyrs lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Neither the return of Christ to the earth, the establishment of an earthly kingdom, nor His reign on earth with His disciples for a literal thousand years is in this verse.
The number 1000 symbolises completeness, thus the complete defeat of Satan and his foes, the complete victory of Christ and His Cause over persecution and oppression. Look at what the Hebrew writer wrote in Hebrews 2:14.
Through the death of Christ, every persecuted Christian gained victory. If they would remain faithful till death, they would gain victory. While the symbols of this chapter apply primarily to the early Christians and their persecutions, it has a general application to all today who are faithful to him.
In this last and great dispensation, Christ is on the throne of His kingdom, Hebrews 1:8. Christians who overcome ‘sit with Him in His throne’, NOW, in complete victory over the devil. Every Christian today is a citizen of the kingdom of Christ, for that kingdom is now in existence.
We do not have to wait for a future time. It was established on the day of Pentecost after the resurrection of Christ. This kingdom is not an earthly temporal kingdom manifesting political, military, and carnal characteristics, but it is entirely spiritual.
Those in Palestine who heard Jesus preach had great difficulty in understanding the nature of His kingdom because they were looking for a kingdom which would have its capital in Jerusalem.
Jesus told the woman at the well that Jerusalem would not be the central place of worship, John 4:21, yet dispensationalists like the Jews in Christ’s time want to put it there in a visible way.
Jesus said that his kingdom was not of this world, Luke 17:20-21. Thus, the kingdom would not have a visible earthly manifestation. While this chapter of Revelation is difficult, it certainly does not teach any of the doctrines of dispensationalism.
When the thousand years are ended, Satan is going to be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations again. In Revelation 20:7, during this little time he is revealed, Revelation 12:12, it appears the nations will see through him and his deceptive works. Satan goes to the four corners of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to muster his hosts for the final struggle against God and the Christians, Revelation 20:7.
Here again, we are carried back to the Old Testament, where the reference to these two names is found in Ezekiel 38:2-3. ‘Gog’ is said to be the ruler, and ‘Magog’ his kingdom, and, as we might expect, there has been a great deal of speculation as to the meaning of these two names, as people have attempted to identify a particular individual and a particular nation.
However, they aren’t identified for us by the prophet Ezekiel himself; he merely predicted that a nation would come ‘from afar’ to fight against Israel. But the thing to notice is that the prophet said that God would destroy this enemy, without any fighting on Israel’s part, and the outcome would be that the nations would see His glory.
Perhaps it helps us to understand this passage if we know that the word ‘Gog’ is an ancient Sumerian word ‘Gug’, which means ‘darkness’. Therefore, ‘Gog’ is the Prince of Darkness, and ‘Magog’ is his kingdom, the Kingdom of Darkness. Is further identification really necessary?
Here, then, in Revelation 20, we see that, once again, a piece of Old Testament history involving God’s ancient people is used to bring comfort to the church of the New Testament.
The important and very significant fact which should always be remembered is that this persecution by ‘Gog and Magog’ predicted in the prophecy of Ezekiel, represents the last persecution of God’s ancient people in Old Testament times.
When the names reappear in the New Testament, in the ‘Book of the Revelation’, they are used to predict the end of the persecution of the church and the defeat of Satan, the prince of darkness, and those who serve him.
It’s during this time that he will unleash one more effort to defeat God’s people, as he did during the days of the Roman Empire, Revelation 20:8. Satan is going to try to destroy the people of God yet again, Revelation 20:9. Notice it’s ‘the city he loves’, Revelation 20:9.
McGuigan, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The city in the vision is Jerusalem. The truth is, it’s the church of God. The fire out of heaven ends the contribution of Gog to this apocalyptic story. Since this army and invasion stand for any and all of the devil’s assaults against the church (after the Roman offensive), its failure signals the end of Satan’s career as an opponent.’
As a result of his defeat, the devil was thrown into the lake of burning sulphur, indicating his total defeat; the triumph of God is complete. He will endure torment forever, Revelation 20:10. The lake of burning sulphur is where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown in there earlier, Revelation 19:20.
Wallace, in his commentary, says the following.
‘These passages were not written as a dissertation on eternal punishment.’
We must bear in mind that just as the judgment scene in Revelation 20:4 wasn’t literal, neither is this judgment scene we read about here. John now sees a great white throne, signifying purity, and he sees someone sitting on it, Revelation 10:11. It is God Himself who is the judge, Psalm 9:4-7 / Matthew 25:31-46 / John 5:22 / Acts 17:31 / 2 Timothy 4:1.
The earth and the heavens flee from him, and there was no place for them, Revelation 10:11. This clearly indicates there will be a new heaven and earth, Revelation 21:1-5. The earth and all that is in it will be destroyed, 2 Peter 3:10.
He sees the dead, standing before the throne, and books were opened, Revelation 20:12. Another book is opened, which is the book of life and the dead were judged according to what they had done, Revelation 20:12 / Daniel 7:9-12.
McGuigan, in his commentary, says the following concerning Revelation 20:12.
‘When John spoke about the ‘first resurrection,’ he was contrasting it with this one. Those who participated in the first resurrection were blessed and holy. They were holy, and they were blessed because they were raised to live and reign, to share the victory of the Lamb. These are the unholy. They died too, and now they are (in figure) raised but only to die a second time.’
The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done, Revelation 20:13. I’m sure you noticed that the sea, death and Hades are all personified here.
‘Hades’ in the New Testament means ‘the realm of disembodied souls’. The New Testament words ‘Hades’ and ‘Gehenna’ are the final destination of the wicked ‘soul’, the place of punishment, hell.
In other words, everyone’s ‘body’ will go to the grave, and their ‘spirit’ will go back to God, Ecclesiastes 12:7, but the ‘soul’, which is the part of man, will go on for eternity, either with God in heaven or in Hell with the devil and his angels.
Remember, ‘Sheol’ in the Old Testament means ‘the realm or place of the dead’. The realm or place of the dead is the grave where our bodies end up, but the realm of disembodied souls is where our soul ends up without our physical bodies.
In the account of the Rich man and Lazarus, we find Jesus using the other word for hell, which is Hades, Luke 16:19-31. Where were Abraham and Lazarus? When Lazarus the beggar died, he was carried to ‘Abraham’s side,’ Luke 16:22. This is the Hebrew way of saying that he was in ‘the paradise of God’, that is, heaven.
The word ‘heaven’ simply means ‘the heights or lifted up’, but notice in Genesis 1:1 that God created the heavens, plural. The Bible teaches there are actually three heavens, and this was firmly believed by the Jews.
1. They saw the area of the clouds in the sky as the first heaven. This is the atmosphere and the place where the birds fly. This is physical and is created by God.
2. They saw the area in which the sun, moon, and stars hung as the second heaven. This is physical and is created by God.
3. The third heaven was known as the dwelling place of God. This is God’s spiritual, eternal home. This isn’t physical and isn’t created.
This third heaven is also known as ‘paradise’, which is used in connection with ‘the third heaven.’ Paul speaks about being ‘caught up in the third heaven and caught up in paradise’ in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4.
In other words, the third heaven and paradise are the same location. And there’s no need to speculate where Paul was because John tells us that paradise is the heavenly realm of God, Revelation 2:7.
And there’s no need to speculate where Lazarus was located; he was in paradise, the heavenly realm of God. And there’s no need to speculate where Jesus and the thief on the cross were going that very day, Luke 23:43. They were both going to paradise, the heavenly realm of God. The third heaven, paradise, is the place where Paul and all Christians long to go, 2 Corinthians 5:6-8.
Where was the rich man? The rich man found himself in Hades, which is hell and notice he was in torment, he was in agony in the fire. Don’t those words ‘torment’ and ‘fire’ describe what we now know as hell? Matthew 13:41-43 / Matthew 25:41.
The apostle Paul uses the Greek word ‘Hades’ in 1 Corinthians 15:55, but he never uses the word ‘Gehenna’ in any of his other letters, which were mainly addressed to Greek-speaking churches.
The only place outside of the Gospels where “Gehenna” is used is in James’ letter, which is addressed to Hebrew-speaking Jews, James 3:6. The Jewish-speaking audiences would understand that ‘Gehenna’ was a reference to hell, and the Greek-speaking audiences would understand that ‘Hades’ also referred to hell.
The term ‘death and Hades’ occurs only in the Book of Revelation. Jesus has the keys of death and Hades, Revelation 1:18. The one who sits on the pale horse has the name Death, with Hades following after him, Revelation 6:8.
In Revelation 20:13, death and Hades gave up the dead, who are then judged at the final judgment. Then both ‘death and Hades’ are thrown into the lake of fire, Revelation 20:14, along with anyone whose name is not written in the Book of Life, Revelation 20:15.
It’s often thought by many that the ‘lake of fire’ mentioned in Revelation 20:14 refers to hell. However, if Hades is hell, which I believe it is, then how can hell be thrown into hell? That wouldn’t make any sense. If we carry on reading the next few words in Revelation 20:14, it becomes quite clear what the lake of fire is a reference to: ‘The lake of fire is the second death.’
The first death is physical. When we die, our bodies end up in the grave, ‘the realm of the dead,’ our spirit goes back to God who gave it, Ecclesiastes 12:17, and our soul goes straight to God’s presence, ‘paradise’, that is heaven, if we have obeyed the Gospel, or straight to hell, Hades/Gehenna, ‘the realm of disembodied souls’ if we haven’t obeyed the Gospel.
Upon death, the soul is separated from the body, and the unbelievers who don’t have their names written in the Book of Life continue to be separated from God. At the second death, their resurrected body is joined to their soul, and both are separated from God for all eternity.
The Scriptures say very little about what the bodies of those who haven’t obeyed the Gospel will be like when they are resurrected from the dead, and then thrown into ‘the lake of fire’, but it does tell us that the bodies of those who have obeyed the Gospel will be glorious, Philippians 3:20-21 / 1 Corinthians 15:50-57 / 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 / 1 John 3:2.
At this point in time, all sin and evil have been judged and punished, Revelation 20:11-15. The two greatest fears of mankind are death and hell, which is eternal banishment from the presence of God, 2 Thessalonians 1:9-10, but Jesus will have victory over them both, 1 Corinthians 15:24-26.
Please note this isn’t speaking about total annihilation, but separation forever from God and everything which is good, 2 Thessalonians 1:9-10. Therefore, the ‘lake of fire’, the second death, is permanent. From that death, there will be no resurrection, 1 Thessalonians 4:16.
What’s being described here in Revelation 20:14-15 is nothing less than the final, complete accomplishment of total victory over sin. The judgment is complete. Death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire. Eternal punishment involves spending eternity in the presence of all those who have chosen to reject God’s grace and His love.
In other words, with the unforgiven, this means the immoral, murderers, liars, and all the vicious, cruel and evil in the history of the world, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 / Galatians 5:19-21 / Ephesians 5:3-5 / Revelation 21:8.
The New Testament clearly describes the destination of the wicked after the Judgment and their place of punishment, as ‘eternal banishment from the presence of God’, 2 Thessalonians 1:9-10.
The wicked will be denied the fellowship and blessing of ‘everlasting life’, ‘the life of the ages’, and there will be no need for fire and brimstone, for they will know that their banishment is something they have deserved because they rejected God’s offer of forgiveness.
We must be sure that our names are written in the Book of Life because we have lived as we ought to live in faithful obedience to God and because our deeds in this life allow us to stand justified before God.