Revelation 20:1-3

The Thousand Years

1And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.





Dig Deeper

No one really thought they were dangerous and that attitude would turn out to be dangerous in and of itself. We were embroiled in a summer basketball tournament that was double elimination. This meant that once you lost two games, you could not advance into the semi-final round. Yet, each team was guaranteed at least three games in the tournament. This meant that a team could already be defeated and knocked out of the tournament but still have the ability to play another game and harm another team's chances. It was a unique format that I've only ever seen in that one tournament. And sure enough, I watched a team that had lost it's first two games play a game against an undefeated and overly cocky team. Because their opponents had already been eliminated from the tournament, the undefeated team felt they had a cakewalk of a game. That is until they were beaten by a plucky team with nothing to lose.




That team learned a valuable lesson that day, as did everyone in the gym. Just because a team has been defeated doesn't mean they're not dangerous if given the opportunity. This truth will help us understand what John says about Satan in the Revelation. The point is that he has already been defeated and his fate has been determined, but he has been allowed to play one more game. This means that we had better be prepared because he is still quite dangerous.




20:1 - The importance of this vision is stressed as it is the middle of the seven visions. John saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. As in 10:1 and 18:1, this is none other than a symbol for Jesus Christ, whose authority is symbolized by the key and the great chain. Satan temporarily had taken possession of the keys of authority (Rev. 9:1) but Christ came and defeated Satan and now holds the keys of death and Hades (1:18) symbolized here as the key to the Abyss.




20:2-3 - John now clearly brings together all of the different descriptions of the accuser that he has used throughout the Revelation: the Dragon (12:3-4, 7, 9, 13, 16-17; 13:2, 4, 11; 16:13), the ancient Serpent (9:19; 12:9, 14-15), the Devil (2:10; 12:9, 12), Satan (2:9, 13, 24; 3:9; 12:9). He is quite fearsome, but that only heightens the power and greatness of the one who conquers him. In fact, it says that He seized the evil one and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss and sealed it over him.




This great battle between the Messiah and Satan began in the wilderness. The issue was dominion over the world that Adam had forfeited. Satan came and offered this dominion to Christ, who rebuffed him, proving that the issue for Jesus was obedience. He would have to acquire the power that Satan offered Him only through the manner ordained by God. After that, He demonstrated his power over satanic forces again and again. He cast out demons and, in His words about the strong man (Matt. 12:29; Mark 3:27; Luke 11:21), Jesus demonstrated His growing authority over Satan. After sending out the seventy-two to cast out demons, demonstrating that the kingdom of God had come (Matt. 12:28; Luke 11:20), Jesus says, at their return, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven." Just as he once hell from God's full presence in heaven, Jesus was watching Satan fall from the position of authority in the earth, no longer would he be the prince of the earth.




The New Testament stresses repeatedly that Satan was defeated once-and-for-all in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ (Eph. 4:8; Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14). Daniel had written of the time when the Son of Man would come to His Throne (Dan. 7:13-14), but this was not just the single act of ascension to heaven, it included the immediate consequences of that act that included the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost on the Church in 30 AD and the outpouring of Gods wrath in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The final binding of Satan would be played out with the definitive end of the Old Covenant. This is why Paul writing a few years before 70 AD would comfort the Church, writing: "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you" (Rom. 16:20).




His being bound would keep him from deceiving the nations anymore. This refers to Satan's ability to prevent the gospel from achieving success throughout the world. Before Christ, Satan controlled the nations, but now that control has been broken by Christ. This does not mean that all of his activity has ceased or that he is not a formidable foe, but that his activity is restricted. There is more to this binding though, that we need to cover. Verse 8 informs us that his deceiving the nations has to do with gathering them together for war. The Dragon wants to join the nations of the world together for an all-out war against Christ. Why would he do that? The answer is pretty simple. Satan knows he has been defeated but still hates God and His creatures. His goal has become to drive the world into such an evil state that it brings about the premature judgment of the world and prevents God's Kingdom from coming into full maturity. Jesus says that the Kingdom is like yeast (Matt. 13:33) which takes time to do its work. The purpose of binding the Dragon, then, is to keep him from inciting God's final judgment before God is ready. When will that be? When God's Kingdom is fully matured. At that point, He will release Satan for the final confrontation. But that showdown will happen according to God's schedule, not Satan's. Satan, then, is bound from inciting the nations in an all-out war on the people of God.




Satan, then, will remain bound for a thousand years. This is biblical symbolism for manyness. It is an intensified multiple of ten, a symbol John has used often (Rev. 5:11; 7:4-8; 9:16; 11:3, 13; 12:6; 14:1, 3, 20). It is not a literal number, anymore than God only owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Ps. 50:10), but not the one-thousand and first. The description of the Dragon will be picked up in verse 7, but one important item to note here is that he must be set free. Satan, throughout all of history, has only been able to work in so much as God has allowed Him . He uses Satan according to His purposes and will continue to do so.





Devotional Thought

Although Satan has been bound, he is still active, prowling like a lion, looking for someone to devour. Are you wary of Satan and his attacks on your life? What are the areas that Satan most attacks you in? What do you do to stay righteous during those attacks?