REVELATION CHAPTER 20

PowerPoints and Commentary by Mark E. Hardgrove, Ph.D., D.Min., M.Div.© 2011

PART VII: THE MILLENNIAL VIEWS

Premillennial Approach The binding of Satan is yet future.

It will take place when Christ returns.

The 1000 years is a literal period during which Christ will reign on earth from Jerusalem, with His people.

PART VII: THE MILLENNIAL VIEWS

Premillennial Approach The loosing of Satan will bring the

Millennium to its climax followed by the resurrection and judgment of the wicked at the Great White Throne.

The new heavens and new earth will be created after the Millennium, i.e., 1000 years after Christ’s Second Coming.

PART VII: THE MILLENNIAL VIEWS

Amillennial Approach The binding of Satan represents the

victory of Christ over the powers of darkness accomplished at the cross.

The 1000 years is symbolic of a long, indeterminate period, corresponding to the age of the church (now).

PART VII: THE MILLENNIAL VIEWSAmillennial Approach Satan will be loosed briefly to wreak

havoc and to persecute the church in the end of the present age.

The fire coming form heaven and consuming the wicked is symbolic of Christ’s Second Coming.

A general resurrection and judgment of the evil and the good will occur at Christ’s coming, followed by the creation of new heavens and a new earth.

PART VII: THE MILLENNIAL VIEWS

Postmillennial Approach Some interpret the chapter essentially

as do the amillennialists, but with an added note of optimism about the success of the gospel in the present age.

Others see the binding of Satan to represent a future point in time when the successful preaching of the gospel will have effectively reduced Satan’s influence to nothing.

PART VII: THE MILLENNIAL VIEWS

Postmillennial Approach The 1000 years may or may not be a

literal duration, but speaks of the future glorious age, prior to the Second Coming, in which the influence of the gospel will have universal sway.

A final attempt on the part of a loosed Satan at the end of the age will go nowhere.

A general resurrection and judgment will occur at the coming of Christ.

REVELATION CHAPTER 20

REVELATION CHAPTER 20

In chapter 20 several important end-time concepts are introduced. The first is the subject of the millennium, or the thousand years, and the second is that of the great white throne judgment

VERSE 1 & COMMENTARY

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

The beast and the false prophet had been cast into the lake of fire, but there was someone else who needed to be put away, namely Satan.

VERSE 2-3

2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

VERSE 2-3 COMMENTARY

Before an uninterrupted reign of Christ and His kingdom can occur Satan must be bound (Horton) and removed from the world stage. Satan is referred to by four titles:

DragonSerpentDevilSatan

1,000 YEARS

The Greek word for thousand is the word chilioi, defined as “plural of uncertain affinity; a thousand.” The debate centers on whether or not to take the thousand years as a literal period of time, or as symbolic of a time of uncertain length. Additionally, does Christ come to literally set up an earthly kingdom, or is this a symbolic reference to the presence of the Church on the earth?

SYMBOLISM AND NUMBERS

First, the use of numbers in Revelation is frequently used to convey symbolic reference. For example, the seven horns and seven eyes that John saw on the Lamb in chapter 5 are almost certainly totally symbolic and are not intended to convey a literal picture of Christ. If we were to take every symbolic reference to Christ given in the Apocalypse, and insist that they are literal, we would have a very unusual view of Christ.

SYMBOLISM AND NUMBERS

Second, there are times when numbers are used literally. For example, there were seven literal letters written to the seven churches. We can literally count and read these seven letters. So there are times when a number is intended to be a literal number designating a specific numerical value.

SYMBOLISM AND NUMBERS

Third, there are times when a number has both a literal and a symbolic meaning. The seven churches are seven literal churches, and yet, these seven churches represent all churches in all ages. The use of the number seven is symbolic of complete or full, therefore these churches represent the full scope of church experience and history—though probably not, as some contend, seven church ages.

1,00O YEARS LITERAL OR SYMBOLIC?

When it comes to the reference to a thousand, the questions are: Is it only symbolic with not numerical value? Is it only literal with no symbolic meaning? Or is it both literal and symbolic?

1,000 YEARS LITERAL OR SYMBOLIC?

Cooper leaves the issue open. He suggests that while the sequence of events might be taken literally, the thousand years may not necessarily refer to a literal period of time. He writes: “In all honesty, whether or not the number 1000 is literal or figurative doesn’t really matter. What matters is the fact that Christ will rule as King of kings, and we will reign with Him”.

1,000 YEARS LITERAL OR SYMBOLIC?

Reading chapter 20, one cannot help but be struck by the fact that the reference to the thousand years occurs with great frequency, six times in six verses. This fact alone is striking and suggests that John intends to convey something very specific: v .2 “a thousand years”; v. 3 “the thousand years”; v. 4 “a thousand years”; v. 5 “the thousand years”; v. 6 “a thousand years”; v. 7 “the thousand years”.

VERSE 4

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

VERSE 4 COMMENTARY

John now sees “thrones.” Notice that he uses the plural with reference to the thrones, but does not give us a number. Whose thrones are these? Perhaps the answer is in the next phrase, “the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus. . . .” In the thrones are those who refused to bow to the beast or to worship his image, or receive the mark of the beast on their foreheads or hands.

VERSE 5 & COMMENTARY

5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

Those who died in their sins were not raised when the righteous dead were raised. In fact, both the unrighteous dead through the ages, as well as the unrighteous who died during the Tribulation Period through the judgments of God, are not resurrected until after the Millennial reign of Christ.

VERSE 5 COMMENTARY

The statement, “This is the first resurrection,” suggests that there will be a second resurrection. The idea may be that there are two types of resurrections. There is the resurrection of the saints (prior to, during, and after the Tribulation Period), and then there is the resurrection of the unrighteous dead at the end of the Millennium. In the second resurrection they are not raised to eternal life are cast into eternal judgment, known as the “second death.”

VERSE 6 & COMMENTARY

6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

The resurrected righteous will not face death again. The second death has no power them because they have been restored to the state intended by God before sin entered the human condition. The resurrected saints will reign and rule with Christ as kings and priests for a thousand years upon the earth.

VERSE 7-9

7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.

VERSE 7-9 COMMENTARY

At the conclusion of this thousand year theocracy, Satan will be released from the pit for a short season. Each person will face sin as foreign to his or her nature and choose, as Adam did, whether to remain faithful to God or give in to sin and rebel against God.Apparently Satan is successful in gaining some recruits because the result of this rebellion is that fire will come down from heaven and devour “them.” The use of “them” implies that Satan had a following, but once again his rebellion is futile in the face of God’s power.

VERSE 10 & COMMENTARY

10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Finally, the devil himself is cast into the lake along with those who are already there, including the beast and the false prophet, who preceded him. The torment they face is endless and everlasting—“day and night forever and ever.”

LaHaye & Ice, (2001) Charting the End Times. Harvest House.

VERSE 11 & COMMENTARY

11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.

This judgment is often referred to as “the Great White Throne Judgment.” This judgment is to be distinguished from the judgment of the saints, which is focused on assessing rewards and not judgment.

VERSE 11 COMMENTARY

That God is the occupant upon this throne is clear from the reaction of creation itself. So awesome is His appearance the elements would have hidden from Him, but there was no place to hide. This tells us, as well, that every man and woman will give an account and there will be no place to hide.

VERSES 12-13

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.

VERSES 12-13 COMMENTARY

Two books: First is the book that contains every deed, word or thought of man. This was opened and compared to or judged according to a second book, the Book of Life. The Book of Life has names of all the righteous in it. Jesus said, “Rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (Lk. 10:20). Therefore, anyone whose name is not in the Book of Life, whose robes have not been washed in the blood of the Lamb, will be judged from the first book and found guilty of sins .

VERSES 14-15 & COMMENTARY

14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

All the unrighteous dead are resurrected only to face the Judge and to acknowledge their own sin and to pay the penalty of their sins. They must pay the penalty only because they refused to accept the payment that Jesus made for them.

VERSES 14-15 COMMENTARY

Two books will be opened and if our name is not found in the Book of Life, then every secret sin, every thought, every deed, every word will be lifted up before all men and we will be found guilty.If, however, we have received Christ into our hearts, then as Jesus said, we can rejoice now because we have the assurance of the blessings that will be ours then.