This lesson is about a vision that covers a broad sweep of time on earth —the time between the ascension and second coming of Christ. The focus is on the binding of Satan during the reign of Christ. The climax is the demise of Satan who gets out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Satan Bound A Thousand Years

Rev 20:1-10

the abyss We are introduced to the abyss in an earlier vision (Rev 9:1). The abyss is an evil deep, a great and bottomless hole, the domain of Satan, and yet also his dungeon. It represents the powers of darkness. It does not represent eternal hell. In John’s visions eternal hell is seen as a lake of fire distinct from the abyss (Rev 20:10).

one thousand years A particular period of 1000 years, usually called simply "the millennium", is talked about so much by Bible teachers that you would think the Bible mentions it frequently. In fact the Bible mentions that 1000 years in only one passage in the very last book (Revelation 20:1-10).

This 1000 years took place in a vision which John saw, but John did not need to live 1000 years to see it. The 1000 years did not take place in earth time. It took place in God's time so to speak, and "a thousand years in [God's] sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night" (Psalm 90:3-5). We'll find out more about this thousand years as we progress through the rest of this lesson.

Satan... bound In this vision, Satan is bound and locked in the Abyss for the entire 1000 years (Rev 20:1-3). This represents the impotence of Satan compared to the mighty power of Christ. In real life of course, Satan tempts and evil is everywhere. Nevertheless Christians are blessed with a ward against evil and so long as they stay at the throne of Jesus Christ, Satan cannot touch them by his temptations (1Co 10:12-13).

reigned with Christ In this vision, Christ reigns, and his faithful with him, for the entire 1000 years (Rev 20:4). Peter declared that Christ commenced his reign when he ascended to heaven (Acts 2:29-36). Paul said, "God rescued us from [Satan's] domain of darkness, and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son" (Col 1:13). John, who understood better than anybody the meaning of the visions he saw, knew that he and his fellow Christians were already reigning with Christ (Rev 1:6). So the thousand year reign in the vision represents the reign of Christ from his resurrection and ascension until his second coming on Judgment day.

first resurrection In this vision there were two resurrections. The first resurrection was at the beginning of the 1000 years. It was a resurrection of those who kept the word of God, and these then reigned with Christ (Rev 20:4-6). This first resurrection represents the new birth which takes place when one obeys the word of God in baptism (Jhn 3:5-6, Rom 6:1-6).

beheaded One does not have to be actually beheaded in order to take part in the first resurrection and thousand year reign. The vision represents a commitment so solid that one stands ready to be killed rather than give up the testimony of Jesus by yielding to Satan. This commitment is taken on in baptism, where one dies with Christ, is buried with him, and is raised to walk in newness of life (Rom 6:3-10). Not every Christian is a martyr in reality, but every Christian must be a martyr at heart.

mark of the beast The mark or number of the beast represents allegiance to the kingdom of Satan and to the spirit of Antichrist typified by the Roman empire and its idolatry. The number of the beast is 666. In Roman numerals this is DCLXVI —the inferior numerals in descending order: 500+100+50+10+5+1=666. Because 666 can be represented by this significantly ordered Roman numeral set, it identifies the Roman empire as the Beast, and its emperor as the "man".

second death In this vision, the other resurrection was at the end of the 1000 years. It was a resurrection of "the rest of the dead" —those who had not obeyed the word of God. Those in this second resurrection were subject to the second death, but those who had a part in the first resurrection had no part in the second death, but rather entered into eternal life in the heavenly city (Rev 20:5-6, 22:14-15).

the war In this vision, after the 1000 years were completed, Satan was released. He set about making war (the battle of Armageddon). However this was a war that never happened because although it was planned, and the vast armies gathered for battle, they never got to fire a shot or thrust a sword because fire came down out of heaven and devoured them (Rev 20:7-9).

lake of fire Satan himself is cast into the lake of fire where already the other two beasts have been thrown. Thus the story of Satan's opposition to Christ may be summed up as follows: Cast out of heaven to earth, locked in the Abyss, thwarted in his battle plans, cast into the lake of fire. What and end for this fool Satan! Is there really any point in your being on the side of this biggest loser in the universe? Surely the Lord's side is the only place to be.