Revelation 20:1-10 Discussion

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Dinner next week: Hands and Stiles

Prayer

Discussion

Read the passage

Revelation 20:1–10 ESV

1 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. 4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. 7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

This passage has been the subject of debate for basically the whole life of the church. The debate centers around the thousand years, or what you might hear called the Millennium.

We’re going to split in into 3 sections as we talk about it. The different views will come up, but by and large we’re going to talk about what we can all affirm to be true based on the plain reading of the passage.

What are we told about the situation with Satan in vv 2-3?

Revelation 20:1–3 ESV

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.

He was seized by the angel and bound for 1000 years

He was thrown into the bottomless pit, or the abyss, which was then shut and sealed over him

This was done so that he might not deceive the nations any longer

But, he will be released at the end of the 1000 years

Your millennial view will impact the way you interpret the binding of Satan.

In a premillennial or post-millennial view you would say that Satan is absolutely bound and has no power at all.

In the amillennial view, you have to concede that Satan is currently bound since Jesus’ death and resurrection and yet Satan has some level of influence still.

Regardless of your view, we can know that the thousand years begins with the binding of Satan.

The next section, vv 4-6, tell us about the reign of the saints during the Millennium. Who are those with the “authority to judge” in v 4?

Revelation 20:4–6 ESV

4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

The group includes the martyrs who had been killed for Jesus’ sake and those who had not worshiped the beast and had not received the mark on their foreheads or hands. If we continue interpreting the way we have throughout, this is all of the people of God.

What do these verses tell us happen to the people of God here?

They reign with Christ for the 1000 years.

Again, your millennial view impacts your interpretation here. The premil sees this as the dead in Christ being raised and reigning with the Lord literally on earth.

The amil and post-mil interpret the first resurrection to be the moment of regeneration, or when a person becomes a believer. The amil sees the thousand year reign to be currently happening as Jesus has already ascended and is reigning in heaven. The post-mil sees the millennial kingdom coming gradually as the gospel spreads throughout the earth.

Again, regardless of which view we take, we can know that the people of God will reign with Christ in the millennial kingdom.

In the final section, vv 7-10, what is the situation with Satan?

Revelation 20:7–10 ESV

7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

He is released from prison.

He attempts to deceive the nations of the whole world.

He gathers his army to attack the saints.

Fire comes down from heaven and consumed him and his army.

He is thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, where the beast and false prophet were already.

How do we see the sovereignty and control of God in this?

Satan didn’t escape contrary to God’s wishes, he was released. We’re not exactly sure why but this is another example of God’s control and power over Satan.

How does this end encourage us to live as we wait for the final defeat of Satan?

We can know that because of Jesus’ victory at the cross, we have victory over Satan, sin, and death.

We will still have hardship as we await Jesus’ second coming, but we can endure because we know the end is sure.

We should also be faithful witnesses for Christ, as Jesus commanded and empowered us to be. We need to be sharing the gospel with people around us so that they too can experience new life and be spared from the second death.

Break apart for prayer