Revelation
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Revelation 20
Revelation 20
1And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
2And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished: after this he must be loosed for a little time.
1And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Commentary · verses 1-3
Commentary · verse 3
Disclaimer: What follows is an explanation that is possible, but by no means proven. If this explanation does not help you or make sense, continue reading verse 4...
"Notice, the 7th Dispensation consists of Satan being locked up. This "Sabbath" dispensation consists of everyone getting a 1000 year rest from Satan. People who lack disease, poverty, and war will have to be shown the benefits of taking direction from God because they will not have any "problems," Satan is locked up. However, this would also be the perfect time for everyone who has ever been conceived to be witnessed to by those who have been saved. The point is not where (earth or heaven) these people are witnessed to or who (martyrs or saints in heaven) witnesses to them. The point is that every person who was conceived and not born...and every person who was not able to make a conscious decision for God because of their age, mental ability, or even location would be able to make this decision during this rest from Satan. The number of people this entailed could be enormous, even on the order of hundreds of billions."
4And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
4And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Commentary · verse 4
The martyrs were judged and reigned with Jesus during the Millennium. During the Millennium, the martyrs will serve as "grace" to people who live on earth during this 1000 years. The Jewish believers who hid in Moab and Edom will be the only people on earth who enter the Millennium. Now we see that everyone was "saved by grace through faith"...it's just the method that God influenced the heart of the individual was different for each dispensation:
- During the 1st Dispensation (Eden) God influenced Adam and Eve face to face;
- by angels during the 2nd Dispensation;
- by verbal (spoken and written) means during the 3rd Dispensation;
- by the patriarchs (Israel) during the 4th Dispensation;
- by the Law during the 5th Dispensation;
- by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit during the current (6th) dispensation; and
- by martyrs during the 7th Dispensation.
5The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished. This is the first resurrection.
6Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: over these the second death hath no power; but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
5But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Commentary · verses 5-6
Summary of verses 1-6: Satan was locked up for 1000 years while Christ reigns on earth with the martyrs. The 1000 years Christ reigns is the 7th Dispensation: The Millennium.
7And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8and shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down out of heaven, and devoured them.
10And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
7And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
10And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Commentary · verses 7-10
The "lake of fire" will be the final destination for those who are eternally tormented.
Commentary · verse 10
Summary of verses 7-10: When Satan is loosed at the end of the 1000 year reign, he deceives many of the descendants of the Jewish believers who entered into the Millennium from Moab and Edom. God defeats this group with fire coming down from heaven. God sends Satan into the lake of fire with the Antichrist and the false prophet. This next section covered the Final Judgment also known as The Great White Throne Judgment...
Doctrines on this passage
11And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire.
15And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.
11And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Commentary · verses 11-15
Summary of verses 11-15: There will be two judgments. There will be a Reward Judgment (according to works in books) and a Salvation Judgment (according to one book: the Book of Life).
Everyone will be judged according to all their works, all the works they did of themselves whether good or bad. This will be the only moment in history that Justice is completely equaled out. It will be done in front of everyone proving God is Just.
Some people think we will all have the same amount of Reward. They say that because they know there will not be any jealousy in heaven, and they think the way to do that is through the man-made concept of denying uniqueness. Actually, it would be unjust for everyone to have the same Reward when some people deserve more and some people deserve less. Jesus told us to store up treasure (Reward) in heaven (Matthew 6:20). In fact, earlier in Matthew 6 Jesus said some people get their Reward on earth and others get their Reward in heaven. There will not be jealousy over people having different amounts of Reward because people will know it is Just for some people to have more Reward than them and some to have less.
Also, the Reward judgment occurs first. Then the Salvation judgment. There will be people with Reward who do not make the Salvation judgment. What happens to their Reward? Again, people, in hopes of denying uniqueness, want to say that Reward is given to those who do not have much to get everyone closer to the same amount of Reward. Actually, according to the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), those with the most get the left over Reward, making the difference of Reward between people even greater.
Finally, notice that everyone that does not pass the Salvation judgment will be cast in the lake of fire. One of the places people could spend eternity is the lake of fire. The Bible ended with "bad people go to the lake of fire"...not "bad people go to hell."
Next, we will find out the other place people can spend eternity, which is why the last two chapters (21 and 22) are denoted by the "21,22" in the final section of the diagram which represented eternity.
Satan was cast into the bottomless pit and was sealed so he could not deceive the nations until the 1000 years was finished. Satan will be set free for a "little time" at the end of Christ's Millennial reign.