In two of my most recent posts we
have looked at the third reason for holding to an Amillennial understanding of
the end times: “The only mention of a 1,000 year reign of Jesus Christ is found
in Revelation 20. That text is best
understood in the context of Revelation as a reign of Christ in heaven with
saints during this present age.”
In our first two looks at that
passage, Revelation 20:1-6, we focused on introductory and contextual issues
that lead us to believe Revelation 20:1-6 cycles back and focuses upon events
that take place during the current time and before the Second Coming of Jesus
Christ.
Now we will look in more detail
at the passage itself, which is best divided into two parts. To begin, we have verses
1-3, which describe the binding of Satan. Then we have verses 4-6, which
describe the thousand-year reign of Christians with Christ. In this post we
will explain verses 1-3. Those verses read as follows:
Then I saw an angel coming down from
heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And
he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and
bound him for a thousand years, 3 and
threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might
not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After
that he must be released for a little while.
There are several things we can
say about these verses:
· *Satan is bound for 1,000 years. What is the
purpose? “So that he might not deceive the nations any longer.” This binding is
reminiscent of other texts in which we learn Satan is defeated and contained in
Jesus’ victory over him through the cross and resurrection (Mt. 12:26-29; Rev.
12:7-9). It also coincides with a greater coming to Jesus by the nations, as
prophesied in the Old Testament (Isaiah 59:19-62:12). This binding of Satan is
best taken as the ending of the times of ignorance (Acts 17:30), that time when
the nations were, for the most part, lost—during the years of God’s working
primarily through Israel. Since once Satan
is released, he will gather the enemies of Christ to band together to attack
the church (7-9), “We conclude, then, that the binding of Satan during the
gospel age means that, first, he cannot prevent the spread of the gospel, and
second, he cannot gather all the enemies of Christ together to attack the
church.”[1]
·
*Since Revelation is full of symbolic numbers, it
would be consistent that the 1,000 years is symbolic. “Since the number ten
signifies completeness, and since a thousand is ten to the third power, we may
think of the expression ‘a thousand years’ as standing for a complete period, a
very long period of indeterminate length”[2]
which would occur between the first and second comings of Christ in light of
the structure of Revelation.
·
*“Since the ‘lake of fire’ mentioned in verses
10, 14, and 15 obviously stands for the place of final punishment, the
‘bottomless pit’ or ‘abyss’ mentioned in verses 1 and 3 must not be the place
of final punishment. The latter term should rather be thought of as a figurative
description of the way in which Satan’s activities will be curbed during the
thousand-year period.”[3]
·
*That this binding is real, but that the words in
the text which depict it are symbolic and not literal are seen in the fact that
a non-corporeal being is being bound with chains. How does that take place literally? It does not.
So, what is Revelation 20:1-3
talking about? It addresses a greater
working of God among the nations, through the Church, so that people from all
over the world will come to know Christ and take their place among the Church.
Though Satan still works and brings much damage (cf. Eph. 6:10-13; 1 Peter 5:8;
Rev. 6:1-8; 12:1-6, 10), nevertheless God also is currently bringing about a
great work and a great harvest at one and the same time that much in the way of
trials and persecution are taking place.
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