Revelation 20:1-2; Having the Key of the Bottomless Pit (2)

Revelation 20:1-2 (KJV)  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 

The expression “come down from heaven” described angels in Revelation 10:1 and 18:1.

Revelation 10:1 (KJV)  And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: 

Revelation 18:1 (KJV)  And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 

The reason this angel must descend is that Satan’s location is now on earth. He lost his place in heaven earlier according to Revelation 12:9, 12 (Lee).

Revelation 12:9 (KJV)  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 

Revelation 12:12 (KJV)  Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. 

The beginning of the Millennium marks the end of Satan’s spreading of havoc on earth.

In his possession, the angel has the key of the bottomless pit. The bottomless pit, also mentioned in Revelation 11:7 and 17:8, is different from the lake of fire in Revelation 19:20 and 20:10.

Revelation 11:7 (KJV)  And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 

Revelation 17:8 (KJV)  The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. 

Revelation 19:20 (KJV)  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 

Revelation 20:10 (KJV)  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 latter is more severe and is a permanent place of punishment. The picture of a locked dungeon differed from that of an open shallow pool of fire that constitutes the lake of fire. Both, however, are places and not just symbols (Swete, Lee).

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody, 1995, 405-406]