Revelation 20 - God's Answers to the Christian's Fear

Revelation 20

In the previous

Chapter John saw a vision of two great enemies of God being thrown into the lake of fire (hell). In Chapter twenty we hear that Satan also will be cast into the lake of fire to remain there forever. So, we might title this Chapter, “Christ’s Victory over Satan”.

But Satan’s downfall is not the only comforting message that God delivers here. The images presented in this chapter must have been particularly comforting for the persecuted Christians of John’s day. The successive images that we find here almost seem like God’s answers to the questions of a frightened first century Christian.

VERSES 1-3

“An Angel to Bind the Dragon” The image of an angel descending to bind the dragon is comforting, but what does it mean? To answer this question we must be careful not to lose sight of the reality portrayed by this image.

Satan is an evil spirit being who could not be hindered by a physical chain. Nor does Satan’s being cast into hell prevent him from simultaneously being present in the physical world.

In Jude we are told that the angels who rebelled against God are,

“…kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day” (Jude 6 NIV).

Yet we are also told that Satan roams the earth like a hungry lion (1 Peter 5:8). We also have many examples of demons being present in the physical world during Jesus’ time and later.

Similarly, the Bible speaks of God’s good angels as always seeing the Father’s face who is in heaven (Matthew 18:10). Yet this does not stop them from simultaneously ministering to God’s people (Hebrews 1:14).

We are reminded that heaven and hell are not places that can be located on a map. Nor are spirits spatially limited creatures like humans are.

So, what then is the chain which binds Satan? Satan’s power over human beings comes from sin and the just punishment that sinners deserve. Because humans are sinful, Satan can accuse them and demand that God justly punish them. But, Satan’s powerful weapon of sin was destroyed when Jesus suffered the punishment for our sins.

In a very real sense, when Christ accomplished our salvation, Satan was collared and chained like a mongrel dog. When the Gospel is preached louder and clearer the chain of Satan is drawn shorter and shorter, lessening his destructive influence in the world. As the Gospel is clouded and quieted by false teaching and false teachers, Satan’s leash is released further and further, increasing his room to cause harm.

“Bound For a Thousand Years” Throughout Revelation John has seen visions connected with numbers. Some of these numbers have been measurements of time. We remember the 42 months in which the unbelieving were said to trample the holy city, the 1,260 days God’s two witnesses were given to prophecy in His Name, the time, times and half a time during which the Church is watched over by God, etc. Over and over we have seen that the numbered things of John’s vision represent concepts and ideas, rather than literal predictions which might be used to forecast future events. The thousand years is no different. As ten is the number of completeness, its cube represents the same. That Satan is hindered and limited in his actions for a thousand years suggests that he is bound for a long period determined by God.

In later verses we will see more details about Satan’s short parole immediately preceding his final judgment. (Revelation 20:7-10)

“No Longer to Deceive the Gentile Nations” When the Gospel of Christ went out into the world carried by the Apostles and early Christians, the dawning of a new day for the non-Jewish nations had come. Previously the Gentile nations had not been flooded with God’s Word. Becker says,

“In spite of the many Old Testament passages that urged the Israelites to share their faith with the Gentiles, the fact remains that any large-scale conversion of the Gentile world had to wait for the great commission the Lord gave to his disciples after his resurrection” (Becker 299).

We see the binding of Satan by the Gospel of Christ throughout the history of the New Testament era. Not only do we see it, we have experienced it. We ourselves are Gentiles by birth who are no longer deceived by Satan. Through Christ we have seen the glory of God and are being continually enlightened to see more spiritual truths through the work of the Holy Spirit!

“Only to Find Release for Short Time near the End” God tells us that the hindering of Satan will lessen in the times preceding the Judgment. This we see happening as God’s Gospel is watered down and clouded in our modern age.

To answer the fearful Christian’s question of, “What about Satan?” God says, “By Christ’s Gospel he is bound! Fear him not! But beware, when Christ’s Gospel is cast aside, Satan is released.”

VERSES 4-6

“The Souls of the Beheaded Martyrs” Earlier John saw a vision of the disembodied souls of Christian martyrs waiting for God’s just punishment of their murders (Revelation 6:9-11). Here in chapter twenty John sees the souls of God’s martyrs reigning for a thousand years on thrones with Christ. We remember that Jesus said,

“…I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; ²⁶and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26 NIV).

And,

“…have you not read what God said to you, ³²‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’ ? He is not the God of the dead but of the living” (Matthew 22:31-32).

“The First Resurrection” The souls of these disembodied believers live because they have taken part in the “first resurrection”. The First Resurrection occurs when a spiritually dead sinner comes to faith in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 6:1-11, Ephesians 2:4-6, Colossians 3:1-4).

Those who take part in this first “spiritual” resurrection are then destined to take place in the second “physical” resurrection when they are reunited with their bodies which are instantly changed into perfect bodies fit for experiencing the joys of eternity with God (1 Corinthians 15:51-52, Philippians 3:20-21).

“The Second Death” Scripture also speaks of two deaths. The first death is again a spiritual death. This is the condition in which we were born into this world. If we had not been spiritually resurrected and given spiritual life through faith in Christ, we would have also experienced the “Second Death”. The “Second Death” is eternal separation from God – hell. In verse fifteen those who experience this death are depicted as being thrown into an eternally burning lake of fire.

“Continuing Service in the Priesthood of God” In Peter’s first letter, he calls Christians a “royal priesthood” belonging to God (1 Peter 2:9-10). All Christians belong to this royal priesthood which brings continual praise and thanks to God for His mercy. Here in Revelation twenty, the Christians of the first century were reminded that this priesthood cannot be stopped by the swift descent of a Roman sword or the ferocious bite of a hungry lion. In death, the priest or priestess of God continues the worship begun on earth, in heaven. The Christian’s mighty rule over sin, death and the Devil began by faith and remains through death into eternity.

In this way, God also answers another fearful Christian question: What about when I face death? God’s answer: “Dear child, you will not die, but live”.

To answer the fearful Christian’s question of, “What about our friends who were murdered because of their faith?” God says, “They are even now reigning in glory with Christ and with you. Though you do not see one another, you are nonetheless reigning together with Christ because you have both taken part in the first resurrection.”

“The Spiritually Dead Remain” Verse five says,

“The rest of the dead did not live until the thousand years come to an end. This is the first resurrection” (Revelation 20:5 Becker’s Translation).

This verse speaks of those who have had not part in the first resurrection. They are the spiritually dead. They do not live, even if their bodies still move, minds still think and mouths still talk.

The “until the thousand years” does not imply that they come to life after the thousand years is over any more than the “until” of 2 Samuel 6:23 implies that Michal gave birth to more children after she died.

“What about the Millennium?” The idea that Christ will return to this earth and establish a perfect earthly kingdom that will last for 1,000 years is not a Biblical idea. It is imported into the text. The phrase, “a thousand years” is only found in three places in all of scripture (Psalm 90:4, 2 Peter 3:8, Revelation 20). The first two places speak of God’s timelessness. Revelation twenty speaks about disembodied souls of martyrs reigning with Christ in heaven.

“No Scripture passage speaks of a thousand-year reign of Christ – nor about a reigning at Jerusalem; Jesus said to Pilate: ‘My kingdom is not of this world’ (John 18:36)” (Concordia Self-Study Bible 1971).

VERSES 7-10

“Satan Released” Previously in Revelation we have seen visions of the forces of evil going out into the world to gather up a great army to do battle against God (Revelation 16:12-16, 19:19-20). Here again in chapter twenty we see the forces of evil gathering with the intent of battling God. This is no doubt another image of the same marshalling of forces. Again the hype far exceeds the main event. There is no great contest of powers, God simply consumes His enemies in a flash of fire.

“Gog and Magog” The nations that Satan is said to gather for battle against God are called, “Gog and Magog”. All that can really be said with any certainty about these names is that in the book of Ezekiel they are great enemies of God’s people.

“They Surrounded the Camp of the Saints” In this visions of the defeat of God’s enemies, the forces of evil have surrounded the “camp of the saints” the “beloved city” – the Church of God on earth. God’s quick and easy dispensing of Satan’s whole force reminds us that God can easily stop the forces of evil that march against His people where and when He in His infinite wisdom deeds it best. In times of doubt we do well to bolster our faith by remembering this truth.

“Forever and Ever: Hell’s Punishment” Many arguments are made against the idea that the punishment of hell lasts forever. The Greek phrase translated, “forever and ever”, is word-for-word translated, “into the ages of the ages”. While the Greek word for “ages” can sometimes mean only “a very long time”, this is not true for the phrase, “into the ages of the ages”.

This phrase is used in Romans 16:27, Galatians 1:5, Philippians 4:20, 1 Timothy 1:17, 2 Timothy 4:18, Hebrews 13:21, 1 Peter 4:11, 5:11. In these passages it is said that glory should be given to God, “into the ages of the ages”. Surely this doesn’t mean glory should be given to God only for a very long time, but should end at some point.

In Revelation 1:6, 5:13, 7:12 the same phrase is used to say that God or Jesus live “into the ages of the ages”. Surely this doesn’t mean God will live only for a long time, but not forever.

A similar phrase is used in Hebrews 2:10-12 to describe Jesus as being the same yesterday, today and forever. Surely this doesn’t mean Jesus is the same yesterday, today and for a pretty long time, but not forever.

Just as the length of time it takes to commit a crime doesn’t determine the length of punishment in the state penitentiary, the length of time spent sinning against God doesn’t determine the length of punishment in hell. Hell is forever.

To answer the fearful Christian’s question of, “What about when it looks like Satan will triumph?”, God says, ”Appearances will make the reality all the more remarkable. As surely as I made hell for Satan and his evil angels, they will be there for eternity (Matthew 25:41).”

VERSES 11-15

“He Who Sits Enthroned to Judge” While the figure sitting on the great white throne who passes judgment on the resurrected crowd of all people is not named, it is undoubtedly Jesus. Passages like John 5:22 that attribute the final act of judgment to God’s Son make this interpretation certain.

“Two Books” Jesus is said to judge all people on the basis of two books. In the first is recorded all the deeds of mankind. In Psalm 10:11-13 the wicked man is said to hold the mistaken opinion that God has forgotten his evil deeds. This is the hope of many: God is forgetful. But this is a fanciful notion that arises from treating God like He is like man. God has not forgotten, but recorded every word said and every thing done. On the basis of this record the wicked will be judged.

But there is also a second book Jesus uses to judge the members of the human race – the book of life. In this books there are no deeds recorded, only names. These names are the names of those who will share in the glories of heaven (Ephesians 1:3-6).

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Paul wrote the following,

“¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10 NIV).

Since the Word of God has made us to understand that we too are sinners, this very well may cause us to wonder in fear with the Christian of the first century, “But what about my judgment? Won’t I too be judged by my own deeds?”

Becker helps us greatly by writing,

“The answer is found in many passages of Scripture. One of the clearest of these in Christ’s statement that he had not come to destroy the law but to fulfill it (Mt 5:17). The law demands that a person, in order to be saved, must keep all the commandments. Jesus did not come to set aside this requirement. He kept the commandments as our Substitute, and by faith we make his obedience our own, so that we can say that in him we have fulfilled all the requirements of the law. In God’s book all of the Savior’s righteousness is credited to our account. If God would ask us on the day of judgment whether we have done everything the law requires, we can say, “Yes, through him who knew no sin but was made to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor 5:21). Through the forgiveness of sins all the wrong deeds that might have been recorded in the books have been erased and blotted out (Is 43:25). While God says that he will remember the sins of Babylon (Re 18:5), he also promises to forget the sins of his people (Jr 31:34; Is 43:25). The only works of the believers that will be remembered are the good deeds that they have done in faith (Mt 25:35; Re 14:13) and which are acceptable to God through the forgiveness we have in Christ (1 Pe 2:5). In that sense also believers will be judged according to their works” (Becker 322).

“Death and Hades Cast into Hell?” One final puzzling statement is made in this last of Revelation’s visions of the Final Judgment. After death and Hades give up the dead that were in them, they are cast into the lake of fire (Hell).

The word “Hades” is word which is sometimes understood to mean “the grave” and other times is understood to mean “Hell”. In the three times this word is used in the book of Revelation it is used in connection with death. The interpretation of Hades meaning “Hell” seems to fit in these contexts. But if this is so, how do we understand the picture of Hell being cast into Hell?

Perhaps this falls into the realm of things we cannot yet understand. Becker offers one suggestion:

“It has been suggested that perhaps Hades is “hell” as the abode of the souls of the unbelievers while they exist separated from the body and that the lake of fire is “hell” as the place of eternal torment for body and soul. That explanation is as good as any.

”We are not accustomed to speaking about the souls of unbelievers as dead. Such language is confusing to modern ears because of the almost universal acceptance of the term “immortality of the soul.” It is perhaps more in keeping with biblical terminology to speak of the continued existence of the soul. The souls of unbelievers exist in a state of death, that is, of separation from the blessings of God; and the souls of believers continue to exist in a state of life, that is, of enjoyment of the blessings of God. The dead who are given up by death would then refer to the bodies of all the dead and the dead who are given up by Hades are the souls of unbelievers (Becker 324).

While dwelling on the judgment of God’s enemies is a necessary and beneficial exercise, we are glad to find this the last of Revelation’s images of God’s wrath. In the next two and final chapters God graciously bathes us in a vision of final glory, healing, happiness and light. In Revelation 21-22 we see a visions of Heaven, the final home of God’s people.

-Pastor Caleb Schaller

References:

Revelation: The Distant Triumph Song, Siegbert W. Becker

Concordia Self-Study Bible