| 1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. | Before the Lord Jesus Christ can establish His millennial rule upon this earth the Devil (Satan) must be restrained. An angel appears with the keys to the Abyss, the Bottomless Pit. He is holding a strong chain with which Satan will be bound. | |
| 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, | Satan, given his various diabolical names, is captured by the angel and bound for a thousand years in the Bottomless pit. This is obviously the same thousand years that Jesus Christ reigns on this present earth. | |
| 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. | Now that Satan is imprisoned in the Abyss he cannot deceive anyone. He is totally without influence or power on the earth. We see in this verse that the Millennium is not the same as the New Heaven and New Earth. Failure to recognise this has fatal consequences. If they were the same then we would have Satan being released into the New Earth after his thousand-year captivity. | |
| 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. | John's vision now reveals the vast multitude of redeemed people in Heaven, before the Throne of God. Some say that this Throne will be on earth during the Millennium. That may be so. It does not matter where this gathering of the redeemed are at this point, for wherever Jesus is that must be Heaven! They are made up of all who lived for Christ, refusing to be controlled by the Antichrist's system, even to the death. Some commentators see these as being limited to the 'tribulation saints', but surely if Babylon is guilty of all the slain of the earth, then these must include the redeemed of all ages. It is better to see this multitude as being made up of all believers of all ages. It is the Bride of Christ who will reign with Him for a thousand years. | |
| 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. | The unbelievers will not be resurrected, reunited with their bodies, until after the Millennium is over. The First Resurrection is a reference to :4. The First Resurrection is actually made up of several resurrections, but we see the gathering of these in a single place, before the Throne. The Church is raptured at Christ's coming (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18); The Two Witnesses are resurrected (Revelation 11:11); and there is obviously a resurrection of the believers who die during the Wrath of God period (see Daniel 12:2). We should see this First Resurrection as being the first time they are all together. Since they are before the Throne we can assume that they are receiving their rewards for serving Christ throughout their lifetime. | |
| 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. | Those who are saved, and are part of this assembled crowd, will never experience the second death. The second death is eternity in the Lake of Fire. Instead they are rewarded with the great privilege of priests of God and Christ as well as reigning with Him throughout His earthly rule. | |
| 7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, | Almost the unbelievable happens, Satan is released for a short period after the Millennium. Why does not God just keep him in the Abyss for eternity? God has His reasons, these are expresses in the following verses. | |
| 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. | Satan immediately is back to his old ways. The devil never changes his desire to dethrone Christ. He goes out to deceive the nations, including Gog and Magog (Russia?). He assembles another great army to fight against Christ. During the obvious peace and prosperity of the Millennial rule of Christ have the nations learned anything? How easily and quickly man is tempted and deceived by Satan. Rebellion against God is easily ignited by the devil. The fact that the nations can be deceived means that life will continue as normal during the Millennium, and that some still do not submit totally to Christ. God has to test them by allowing Satan to tempt them. | |
| 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. | Satan assembles his army outside of Jerusalem, the city of the saints. In an instant this army is consumed with fire from Heaven. No man can rebel against God and win. Rebels are always the losers. | |
| 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 for ever and ever. | The Devil is taken. He is cast into the Lake of Fire with the demonic host and the Antichrist and False Prophet. There he will be tormented for eternity. He will never be released from here. At last mankind is free from Satan. It has taken seven thousand years, but finally he is gone forever. | |
| 11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. | Now John sees the end of time, the end of the earth, and the end of all wickedness. He sees the Great White Throne of Judgement. Who is seated on this Throne? John 5:22, 27 informs us that it must be Jesus, yet verse Revelation 20:12 says it is God. How can some say Jesus is not God! This judgement of the wicked of all ages takes place after this present Earth and Universe is destroyed (see 2 Peter 3:10). | |
| 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. | These souls do not have their names in the Book of Life, they are doomed, but they still must be judged according to their deeds. This is actually the Second Resurrection. The life story of each person is opened. Every word, action and thought is declared. They will receive degrees of punishment. | |
| 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. | All dead bodies are resurrected and reunited with their souls. It does not matter how they died or where they were buried, God has the blueprint for each person, and He will reconstruct them. Those who are in Hell will be there to for this final judgement. Everyone receives a just judgement. | |
| 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. | Death and Hell are cast into the Lake of Fire. This may be reference to the final imprisonment of all demonic spirits. Certainly all who have ever rebelled against God meet their end in this place. It is the Second Death. | |
| 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. | Everyone whose names are not in the Book of Life will be thrown into the Lake of Fire, the place of eternal punishment for the Devil and his angels … "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41). This is why we must urge people to sign up with the Lord Jesus before its too late. There is no second chance, just a second death! |