Revelation 20:1-10 - Exposition - Part 1
What is the literary structure of Revelation 20:1-10? Two complementary structures are possible:
Chronological Structure of Revelation 20:1-10
Revelation 20:1-3 – Inauguration of the Reign
Revelation 20:4-6 – Continuation of the Reign
Revelation 20:7-10 – Completion of the Reign
The second structure that complements the first is as follows
Revelation
20:1-3 – The millennial reign on earth
Revelation
20:4-6 – The millennial reign in heaven
Revelation
20:7-10 –Events on earth
The full justification of the above structure (s) will be
given in the following studies.
Revelation 20:1-3
“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.”
Why was Satan bound? Was he bound so that he
should do nothing? Verse 3 says that the devil was bound not to deceive the
nations. Does this includes all forms of deception? Verse 8 gives more clarity
about the specific nature of "deception."
Revelation 20:7, 8: “And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be
released from his prison 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.”
When Satan is released from prison, what he will
do is going to deceive the nations in order to gather them for the final
battle. So it is better to understand that Revelation 20: 3 says that he was
bound so that he would not deceive the whole unbelieving nations so as to gather
them together to make the final war against God's people.
God's Word prophesies that the devil and his army
will seek to destroy God's people before the coming of the Lord.
Ezekiel
38:16: “You [Gog, Magog] will come up
against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the
latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through
you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.”
Zechariah
14:2: “For I will gather all the nations
against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the
houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out
into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.”
Revelation
encourages God's people. That great war in which the devil will finally try to
destroy the people of God will only happen when God allows it. One day God will
allow the devil (loose him). On that day he will go out to seduce all the
nations, to gather them together for war against the saints.
Why was
Devil unable to destroy the church in the first century? He could have used the
Roman army to destroy the small flock of God’s people. Revelation unequivocally
says: Satan is bound.
Revelation 20:7-10
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.”
At the end
of the thousand years, Satan will be released. God will allow him. For what? To
fight the last battle against God’s people. Old Testament prophesies also
indicate that.
Ezekiel 38:3-6: “…..Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief
prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4 And I will turn you about and put
hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them
clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield,
wielding swords. 5 Persia, Cush, and Put are with
them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer
and all his hordes; Beth-togarmah from the uttermost parts of
the north with all his hordes—many peoples are with you.”
Zechariah
14:2: “For I will gather all the nations
against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the
houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out
into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.”
Here we see the sovereignty of the Lord God. Our
God allows the Devil and his men to fight against his people. He then punishes
them with eternal destruction because of their wickedness.
The second epistle to the Thessalonians speaks of
the same thing.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-12: “ Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day
will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is
revealed, the son of destruction,[c] 4 who opposes
and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he
takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still
with you I told you these things? 6 And
you know what is restraining
him now so that he may be
revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is
already at work. Only he who now
restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and
bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the
activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God
sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be
condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in
unrighteousness.”
Reading
Revelation 20 and 2 Thessalonians 2 together will reveal certain truths:
1.
Before the return of Christ, Satan's works will be intensified as never before.
2.
Before the return of Christ, God's people around the world will be persecuted
by unbelievers as never before.
3.
At the Second Coming of the Lord, God will forever punish those who persecute
His people and God will protect His people.
|
Revelation
20 |
2
Thessalonians 2 |
|
“Satan bound” by angel (20:1-3) |
The Mystery of Iniquity, coming of Man of Sin, activity of
Satan restrained by restrainer (2:6, 7) |
|
Short time of loosing after Millennium
(20:3; 20:7-9) |
Restrainer taken out of the way and the man
of lawlessness revealed shortly before the second advent (2:2, 3, 8) |
|
During this period nations are deceived
(20:7-9) |
Those who are perishing believe a lie
(2:9-11), deceived |
|
Satan and the nations destroyed (20:9, 10) |
Man of sin and those who believed the lie
judged by Christ’s second Advent (2:8, 12) |
Practical
lessons:
1.
Satan is bound today. He will not be able to
destroy God's people today. God's people will continue to carry out their
assigned responsibilities. Evangelism will continue. This awareness inspires
us.
2. God will allow the devil in the future. Forewarned
is forearmed. The devil and his army will surround God's people. But he will
not be able to destroy God's people. The Lord will fight for his people. We can
prepare ourselves because we know in advance the plans of the enemy. Let us
prepare for the last great battle.
Revelation 20:4-6
“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.”
John saw thrones in Revelation 20:4. He also saw
those who sat on the throne. Where are the thrones of Revelation 20:4 situated?
· The throne(s) appears 47 times in the book of Revelation. Twice (2:13; 13:2) it refers to Satan’s throne and once it refers to the throne of the beast (16:10). On three occasions it refers to God’s throne on the new earth when it comes down from heaven (21:3,5; 22:1; 22:3). In every other instance (39 times), it refers to a throne in heaven, either that of God the Father, of Christ, of the twenty four elders.
|
Throne
(s) |
Place |
Number
of times |
|
Throne of God and Lamb |
Heaven |
36 |
|
Thrones of 24 elders |
Heaven |
3 (4:4 2x; 11:16) |
|
Throne of God in the New Earth |
New Earth |
4(21:3, 5; 22:1; 22:3) |
|
Throne of Satan, throne of the beast |
Earth |
3 (2:13; 13:2; 16:10) |
Revelation
21-22 reveals when will the throne of God which is situated in heaven will come
to the New Earth.
Revelation 21:1-4: “Then I saw a new
heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had
passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I
saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from
God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne
saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe
away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither
shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things
have passed away.”
Revelation 22:1-3: “Then the
angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as
crystal, flowing from the
throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through
the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the
river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its
fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the
nations. 3 No longer will
there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in
it, and his servants
will worship him.”
Therefore,
we can reasonably take the thrones (which may be of the 24 elder’s) of
Revelation 20:4 to be situated in heaven since it occurs before the coming of
the New Earth.
Revelation 20:4-6
“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.”
What did John
see? Souls. The word "psychas" is used in Greek. The word “psychas”
has two meanings.
1. Disembodied soul: the soul separated from the body
2. Whole person
In what sense is
the word “psychas” used in Revelation 20:4?
It can be seen
from the context that Revelation 20: 4 describes about the disembodied souls.
Reasons:
1.
Revelation 20: 4 refers to the souls of those
who have been beheaded.
2. The Greek verb translated, beheaded, is in the
perfect tense. This demands a translation something like this: “souls who
remain in a condition of having been beheaded.” The perfect tense plainly
informs us that the effects of their being beheaded continue into the present.
3. We need to understand that the effects of the
beheading continue when John sees the spirits. If John saw a decapitated human
body (headless body), it would be a horrible sight. That view is not what John
is referring to here. On the contrary, John saw disembodied souls.
4. The parallel found in Revelation chapter six proves this. Everyone will agree that Revelation 6:9 uses “souls” to describe disembodied souls.
Revelation
6:9: “When he opened the fifth seal, I
saw under the altar the souls of those who had been
slain for the word of God and for the
witness they had borne.”
|
Revelation 6:9 |
Revelation 20:4 |
|
The souls of
those who had been slain |
The souls of
those who had been beheaded |
|
For the word of
God |
For the word of
God |
|
For the witness
they had borne |
For the
testimony of Jesus |
Everyone (including premillennialists) agrees that Revelation 6: 9 is written
about the disembodied souls of believers in heaven. It is clear, then, that the
souls found in Revelation 20:4 are also the spirits of believers in heaven.
(Continued)
Comments
Post a Comment