“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for 1,000 years. He threw him into the abyss, closed it, and put a seal on it so that he would no longer deceive the nations until the 1,000 years were completed. After that, he must be released for a short time. Then I saw thrones, and people seated on them who were given authority to judge. I also saw the people who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of God’s word, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and who had not accepted the mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with the Messiah for 1,000 years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the 1,000 years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of the Messiah, and they will reign with Him for 1,000 years. When the 1,000 years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the sea. They came up over the surface of the earth and surrounded the encampment of the saints, the beloved city. Then fire came down from heaven and consumed them. The Devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20:1–10 HCSB)
We struggle with uncertainty, don’t we? I know I do. I think this often stems from our deep-seated desire to be in control of everything but, especially, our own lives. We constantly monitor the weather, we get news flashes and updates via text and email, and we check our phones every few minutes to make certain we haven’t missed something important. We live in the midst of a global mental health crisis, and I think a lot of it can be partially attributed to these things. Things are changing at such a rapid pace that sometimes I want to scream, “Stop! I have to get off this merry-go-round.” Our anxiety about the future also extends to our theology and our attempts at understanding and reconciling these words in Revelation.
This week’s focal passage centers on the very issue most people want to talk about when they discuss Revelation—the Millennium. While I suspect most of you know what is meant by that term, let’s start by defining it. It comes from the Latin for one thousand (mille) and year (annum) and simply means a period of one thousand years. With that background, we are then confronted with the conundrum of how we are to understand the images in the passage and this period of one thousand years. Before we do so, I need to remind you that these are images, visions, and symbols and should be treated that way. Being dogmatic about how they must be understood is likely to come back and bite you. Pun intended.
There are three basic views of the one-thousand-year reign of Christ: Postmillennialism, Amillennialism, and Premillennialism. As you can see, the difference is the prefix on each of those terms. Those prefixes break down this way: post = after; a = none; pre = before. Each of the prefixes is intended to define when the return of Christ fits into each respective view of the one-thousand-year reign of the Messiah, or Jesus. Post is the view that Jesus returns after the millennium; A is the view that the millennium is now and that it started when He came the first time; Pre is the view that Jesus returns just prior to the millennium.
To be honest, I have tried to avoid this very issue throughout our study of this magnificent book. Why? Because I think it detracts from the book’s purpose and is unresolvable this side of heaven. Many great scholars have argued for each of these views, and one’s view on this topic has never been used to define whether one’s beliefs are orthodox or not. Fortunately, none of our misunderstandings of God’s Word or disagreements with one another over these views of the millennium keeps God from doing exactly what He has willed and planned to do from before time began. Here’s the main point I’d like us to stay focused on: how and when Jesus returns is not important. The fact that He WILL return is the focus of Revelation, and it must be our focus in this study.
First, notice that our passage starts with the dragon being seized, bound, and sealed in the abyss. The wording almost appears to be a legal indictment. It lists the accused’s name, all of his aliases, and the charges being brought against him. He is the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the Devil and Satan, and he is charged with deceiving the nations. This ties all of the history of evil, deception, and rebellion—from the dawn of creation through final judgment—to the same source: the dragon of Revelation. This doesn’t remove our responsibility or guilt, but it does help us understand our struggle. The Apostle Paul put it this way: “So I discover this principle: When I want to do what is good, evil is with me.” (Romans 7:21 HCSB)
We have the capacity to do good, but we also have the capacity to choose evil. The reality of righteousness or unrighteousness is the result of that choice. Some skeptics like to argue that there is no such thing as righteousness and that absolute truth is a myth. But if there is no such thing as right, then there can be no such thing as wrong. As we lose the ability to discern what is absolutely right, we also lose the ability to discern what is absolutely wrong. These are choices we make, but they are influenced by the deception and lies of the dragon. I think we would all agree there are some things that are absolutely wrong. For these things—and others—to be absolutely wrong means there are corresponding things that are and must be absolutely right. To put it more simply, to recognize that we are in the dark, someone must be able to see the light. If nobody is able to see the light, then we would assume that our existence in the dark is completely normal, and the concept of light would never enter our minds.
So, in our narrative, the dragon is taken captive, chained, and thrown into the abyss. Then the abyss is closed, locked, and sealed to prevent him from deceiving the nations for a thousand years. Ah, but here’s the kicker in all of this. It then says, “After that, he must be released for a short time.” I need to be honest here: Scripture doesn’t give a reason for his release that we can fully understand. It appears to be a divine requirement or mandate that we must trust. This is a good place for us to talk about the limits God has placed on the dragon. Satan is not divine or sovereign, though he would like us to believe he is. When he appears in the book of Job, he must get divine permission to test Job’s faith. God gives permission but limits the scope. That’s the critical part we need to hear and where we need to place our hope—God’s sovereignty and Satan’s limits.
Next, John tells us that he sees thrones, and those seated on them have been given the authority to judge. He also sees those who had been beheaded because of their testimony, who had refused to worship the beast or his image, and who had refused his mark on their foreheads or hands. They were alive and reigning with the Messiah for one thousand years. Then we are given another stark contrast in a book filled with them: the rest of the dead did not come to life until the one thousand years were completed. In this millennial kingdom, God’s will rules. Those who were faithful to Him in the face of death are called blessed and holy, and the second death holds no power over them.
I think it is important to note that this ability and authority to judge is reserved for Christians in the millennial kingdom. It is not our right to judge others today. That is reserved for Christ alone. In the millennial kingdom, we will reign with Christ, and under His authority and leadership we will guide, lead, and judge in His kingdom. We will be priests of God and of the Messiah and reign with Him during that time. I also believe this vision is given to John for the churches of Asia Minor to highlight and emphasize the distinct difference between the world in which they lived and suffered and the one their King has promised to them. In His kingdom, they will not be subject to the whims of Caesar’s delegates who threaten them with death unless they abandon their faith and deny their Lord. They will be the ones who are reigning under the authority and will of God and His Messiah. Instead of hatred, bigotry, and threats of violence, their reign will be a demonstration of God’s love, grace, and righteousness.
“Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:2 HCSB)
But in addition to the incredible promise of reigning with the Messiah in His kingdom is the promise of resurrection life, which is impervious to the “second death.” As we’ve discussed before, Jesus says that to see and inherit the kingdom of God, we must be born a second time (see John 3:3). Jesus uses simple language here, but it is often misunderstood. He says that whatever is born of flesh is flesh, or is physical, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. So, when we are born physically, we are a part of this physical world, and when we are born spiritually, or of the Spirit, we are a part of His spiritual world, or God’s kingdom. Jesus’ resurrection was the miracle that not only proved who He was but also empowers our resurrection and eternal life with Him. If we are only born once, physically, then we will die twice—physically and spiritually. If we are born twice, physically and spiritually, then we will only die once—physically. Those who are a part of the first resurrection cannot be touched by the “second death.”
Before I get into this last section of our text, I want to remind you that our study in Revelation has been filled with images, symbols, and numbers. They have been used to help us understand the truth but also to disguise and hide the truth from a hostile world for the sake of these persecuted Christians. We often do the same thing to disguise the meaning of our words or conversations. Parents often use code words or spell out things to keep young children from understanding their conversation. “Do we want to take the kids to the P-A-R-K today or wait until tomorrow?” But symbols are also used when we don’t know the full extent or length of time being referenced. How do you explain eternity when no words can fully encompass it?
The millennium reference is a symbol and not an exact number. Gog and Magog are symbols, and “their number is like the sand of the sea” is intentionally vague but vast. My point is that these visions and symbols are intended to give hope to suffering believers while disguising their intent from their enemies. They are not detailed in the way we might like, but I also believe that is intentional. We often scour the pages of Revelation in search of details we can use to tell us about tomorrow. That is not and never has been the intent of John’s visions. God didn’t intend for us to know the day or the hour but to live by faith in the interim. When we seek out these details, we are often trying to control our lives and our circumstances. The entire Revelation is about seeing that God is in control; we aren’t. Even the forces of evil are subject to His sovereignty and will and will ultimately be judged by Him. That’s what this last section is all about.
You would think that after a thousand years of living under the loving and grace-filled reign of Christ in the millennial kingdom, the world would reject the lies of Satan, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. At the end of the millennium, Satan is released from his prison and is free to deceive the nations again. Gog [the king] and Magog [the people or nation] are symbols borrowed from Ezekiel and represent everyone and anyone who is an enemy of God and His kingdom rule (see Ezekiel 38). Satan unites them in opposition to God, and they gather and surround the beloved city of God. Fire comes down from heaven and consumes them. Then the Devil is not just imprisoned; this time he is taken and thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where he and his cohorts, the beast and the false prophet, will be tormented day and night forever.
Don’t go back and try to dissect the details of that last part. Listen to the words and hear the truth in it. As I tried to tell you above, we want to know the details so we can be in control of them. And that’s precisely the problem God is showing us in this interesting and odd vision. Why would He capture and imprison the Devil just to release him again after the millennium? Because we are certain that if people just experienced the loving and grace-filled rule of Christ in a tangible way, they would willingly submit themselves to Him. We are shown just this scenario and the tragic results.
Our culture thinks that evil exists because of the circumstances in which we live. If we change people’s circumstances, then people will change. Put them into a loving, grace-filled environment and give them the things they need, and they will be loving, kind, and full of grace. But given that opportunity, that is NOT what happens. They still believe the lies of the Devil and rebel against God’s kingdom rule. They gather for battle and surround the encampment of the saints, and God must judge them, again.
Let me say this one more time. The only thing that changes the evil intent of our hearts is the transforming new birth of God’s Spirit. I believe this vision of man’s response following the millennial rule of Christ is intended to help us see this truth. Yes, even those of us who know this truth tend to forget it. The only way our world can be set right is for God’s rule and reign to be absolutely sovereign in, through, and over us. We see this clearly in the vision of Christ’s millennial reign in these verses. Even though the unredeemed world is clearly living under Christ’s rule and His saints’ leadership, they still reject the truth, believe the lie of the Devil, and rebel against God’s will.
Where does that leave us? It leaves us with a clear demonstration of how much our world needs the transformational power of God’s Spirit and the new birth He brings. It points us directly to the importance of the Great Commission given to the church by our Lord: “Then Jesus came near and said to them, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” (Matthew 28:18–20 HCSB)
It leaves us longing for the Messiah’s reign, desiring His kingdom, and anticipating His second coming. It should also encourage us to live in obedience until that day.
Come, Lord Jesus. Come.
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