Rev. 20:1-3 "The Binding of Satan"

Introduction

As we come to an end of the topical series on eschatology and the Kingdom I thought it would be good for us to end our journey in the Book of Revelation (Apocalyptic/Spiritual Metaphor).

This section of Revelation may be the most debated section of Scripture in all of the Bible.

Your interpretation of the details of Revelation 20 really dictates how you see the end times unfolding in sequence.

Over the course of my Christian life I have probably shifted my view on the end times more than any other area of theology.

The reason is due to how difficult these things are to understand when we seek to incorporated the whole of Scripture.

Most people fall into the category of being either pre-millennial, post-millennial or a-millennial. And there are those who are pan-millennial. They are the ones that believe it will all pan out in the end and have given up trying to figure it out.

I have taught through this section before but I have never preached through it. We see in our text that John tells us of an event that he sees where Satan is bound. Look back at your text to verses 1-2:

I. The Event (1-2).

When it comes to the sequence of the events you may need to know how it is I am seeing this text in relationship to the rest of Revelation.

For years I believed that the events of chapter 20 followed in historical sequence to chapter 19. As a matter of fact I thought that Revelation was unveiling of history in ordered sequence.

I no longer believe that due to the repetition of some of the events that we see through the book.

I see it as progressive parallelism where there are 7 literary cycles being revealed in the book. Chapter 19 ends cycle 6 and cycle 7 begins at chapter 20.

If you have always seen Revelation 20 being the continued sequence of chapter 19 this is going to sound crazy to you. But please humor me for a season and I think you will see my Biblical logic in the end.

So now let us look at some of the details in these two verses.

John saw an angel coming down out of heaven with a key to the bottomless pit and a chain in his hand. And there is no mistake regarding the one that the angel seizes.

There is no mistake because every term used to describe the culprit is reiterated as to be sure that the reader knows who we are talking about.

And the angel binds Satan for a thousand years.

The time of 1,000 years is a subject of much debate.

The reference to 1,000 years, and how it is to be understood, largely dictates between the pre-millennial, post-millennial and the a-millennial position.

A pre-millennial position sees the 1,000 years happening in sequence after the return of Christ in chapter 19. Christ returns and then sets up His millennial kingdom for a thousand years on the earth. And during that time Satan is bound.

A post-millennial and a-millennial view see the 1,000 years of the kingdom being a figurative time (because a day is as a thousand years to the Lord (II Peter 3:8; Psalm 90:4).

So 1,000 years is seen as representing the time of completion or fulfillment of the kingdom. And those views understand chapter 20 to be a new cycle or a retelling of events from a literary standpoint.

Post-millennial puts the emphasis on the physical church on earth as the manifestation of the kingdom while the a-millennial view puts the emphasis on the spiritual kingdom over which Christ rules and reigns over from heaven.

The post-millennial view believes that it will make the world a better place through gospel ministry. To the point that they will usher in the kingdom in the world. Things will progress to the point that the gospel will bring change and make the kingdom on earth.

This view drives a utopian Christianity and it has driven much of the liberal theology of our day.

I do not hold to the post-millennial view because Matthew 24 tells us that it will be like it was in the days of Noah when our Lord returns with tribulation on the earth. So I will limit my contrast between the pre-millennial position and the a-millennial position.

This is where the pre-millennial person says there is no way Satan could currently be bound. Have you seen the world lately? Have you studied history and seen all the things that the devil has done through the ages? How in the world could he currently be bound?

Well we need to see the reason and purpose of the binding. Look back at your text to verse 3”

II. The Purpose (3).

The whole reason for the binding is so that he can no longer deceive the Nations.

That term “Nations” is the “ethnos” as it is referring the Gentiles and the nature of the deception is a spiritual deception.

In the Old Testament God worked primarily among the Jewish people but in the New Testament something changed. God began to do a work that was for Jew and Gentile.

You can look later today at John 12: 20-31. This is the passage where some Greeks sought out Jesus by inquiring of Philip: “Sir we wish to see Jesus.”

Philip tells Andrew and they tell Jesus. But Jesus doesn’t say send them in. No, Jesus starts declaring the coming reality of the crucifixion and the glorification of the Father.

The Father speaks in affirmation from heaven and Jesus declares in verses 31-32: “31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Gentiles seeking Him out was an indication to Him that the time has come for the devil to be cast out because no one can take the strong mans property unless you bind him first.

Satan is bound from deceiving the Gentiles by keeping them from the gospel. And that is exactly what we have seen throughout history as the time of the Gentiles has been going on since the first century.

The Church has been declaring the gospel to the Gentile nations, the “ethnos” and God has bound the devil from deceiving them. Their eyes have been opened to the truth of the gospel.

The eyes of the Jews have been blinded while the eyes of the Gentiles have been opened. But in these later days we are seeing an increasing number of Jews coming to Christ. We have talked about this when we were in Matthew 24.

But Satan will be released for a short time at the end of the 1,000 years for a little while.

This is when he will be allowed to once again deceive the nations and gather them together under the leading of the man of lawlessness.

The pre-millennial view sees this as yet another attempt of Satan to defeat Christ and His Kingdom.

The A-millennial view sees this as a restatement of the anti-christ’s attempt to thwart Christ and His kingdom.

I do think we could be in this “little while” period. Because the hostility of the nations towards the gospel seems to be intensifying (Martyrs) and there are more Jews coming to faith in their true Messiah.

Christian our view on the end times really shapes our understanding on gospel ministry and the nature of it.

Is it the emphasis on the spiritual aspects of the Kingdom or is it the physical aspects of the Kingdom that we should be emphasizing.

This is where our theology hones us in our practice in what is it that we are trying to accomplish in gospel ministry.

Some would say the Kingdom is future and others say it is now. And if it is now then is it primarily spiritual or is it physical.

If you are a student of history you know that how people saw their eschatology often drove their political ambition in the world and it created a tension between the physical and the spiritual dynamic in the Christian worldview when it came to advancing the Kingdom of God in the world.

Nothing has really changed in that battle between the physical kingdom which where too often we can have the political ambition being prioritized over the spiritual.

Or where we may fall for the idea that the social gospel is the real gospel and miss the spiritual implications of the gospel completely.

When Biblical eschatology is set in contrast with the world situation there is a lot of clarity that helps define the reality of what gospel ministry really is.

This is because events of history and current life experiences reveal that there can be no change without heart transformation. Calling something Christianity and promotion of a false gospel looks eerily similar to the practices of other religions and pagan practices in the world.

Conclusion

But the gospel calls us to something different. To encounter Christ in His transforming power to triumph over the evil one and to liberate us to life in grace.

Love that scene in the Passion at the crucifixion where the scene cuts to the satanic character screaming in terror in a dry barren wasteland.

Christian the Cross has set us free and liberated us to the reality of the gospel of grace. Confess and receive!

Unbeliever

Lets Pray!