Revelation 20:1-2; And He Laid Hold on the Dragon, that Old Serpent

Posted on Posted in Devotions Tagged with , ,

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, 

This binding and imprisonment of Satan will not be limited to believers as the language of Revelation 20:1-3 makes clear.

Revelation 20:1-3 (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, 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. 

It requires an absolute stopping of his activity (Mounce, Johnson). “The nations” (v3) who will be free from his deceptive ploys are not the same ones as Christ has destroyed at His earlier coming (Revelation 19:11-21).

Revelation 19:11-21 (KJV)  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, bothfree and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. 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. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. 

They will be a new crop of nations emerging from faithful mortals who populate the Millennium at its beginning. The privilege of reigning with Christ will extend to those martyred by the beast, the ones who are in the forefront of Revelation 20:4, but it will also include all the faithful up to that point, both from Israel and from the church. Such a future chronologically limited kingdom on earth is necessary to allow for a rule of God in history such as the Old Testament emphasised. It also accords with the theological framework provided by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28.

1 Corinthians 15:20-28 (KJV)  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith, all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. 

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 8-22 – An Exegetical Commentary, Moody, 1995, 404-405]