Revelation 20

The Thousand Year Reign

20:1 Then I saw an angel descending from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the abyss and a huge chain.

Sheol is the Hebrew name for the place of the dead. Before the Lord Jesus Christ emptied Paradise, Sheol consisted of two different compartments. Abraham's Bosom (or Paradise) was the place of the dead for the Old Testament saints. Hell and/or Hades is the place of the dead for all unbelievers. The Hebrew is Hell, while the Greek is Hades. The Lord Jesus Christ emptied Paradise after His resurrection. All of the Old Testament saints are currently living in Heaven in their spirit bodies, plus a temporary physical body. The Old Testament saints will not receive their glorified bodies until after the Great Tribulation.

Currently, Hades consists of three different compartments. Hell is the place of all unsaved, before and after Christ. Tartarus is a permanent holding place for fallen angels who intermarried with human women in Genesis 6. The Abyss is a temporary holding place for demons who have done really evil things. The demons in the Abyss will be let out during the fifth and sixth bowl judgments. An ordinary angel will descend down from heaven with keys to the Abyss.

20:2 He seized the dragon – the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan – and tied him up for a thousand years.

An ordinary angel who will be under the rank of Satan will lock him in the Abyss for 1000 years. Some Bible commentators like to spiritualize this passage and claim that Satan is bound up today, but he has a long chain. If studied literally, then Satan will not be bound until the end of the Great Tribulation. He will not be bound by a modern charismatic preacher. If Michael could not bind Satan, then neither can any modern charismatic preacher. Satan will be bound by another angel of lesser rank. This has to be humbling to Satan. This is the first mention in Scripture that the Millennial Kingdom will be a literal 1000 years.

20:3 The angel then threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it so that he could not deceive the nations until the one thousand years were finished. (After these things he must be released for a brief period of time.)

Satan will be bound for a literal 1000 years. This is the second mention of the length of the Kingdom.

20:4 Then I saw thrones and seated on them were those who had been given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. These had not worshiped the beast or his image and had refused to receive his mark on their forehead or hand. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 

Those who have authority to judge are most likely the apostles, as Jesus predicted that they would judge the twelve tribes during the Millennial Kingdom. Those beheaded were the saints who were martyred during the Great Tribulation. 

Verses 4-6 in this chapter are the only three verses in the New Testament which discuss the details of the Millennial Kingdom.  Amillennialists spiritualize this passage and falsely claim that there will be no Millennial Kingdom. Postmillennialists spiritualize this passage and falsely claim that there will be a Millennial kingdom, but it will not be exactly 1000 years. They claim that "1000 years" just means that it will be a very long time. They both attack the Premillennial position by pointing out that there are only three verses in the New Testament which describe the Millennial Kingdom. They claim that the Book of Revelation is a symbolic book, so they force this verse to be symbolic as well. 

How does one answer this argument? It is true that there are only three New Testament passages that discuss the Millennial Kingdom, but there are many other passages in the Old Testament that discuss this Kingdom period in detail. The purpose of the Book of Revelation was to give a chronological account of the Great Tribulation. There is no chronological order of the Millennial Kingdom. The events written in the Old Testament identify the characteristics of the Millennial Kingdom for the entire period.

As far as Revelation being too symbolic to take this account literally, just about all the symbols are identified either in the Old Testament or in the book itself. John recorded in writing six times that the Millennial Kingdom would be a literal 1000 years. He mentioned it six times so that the Amillennialsts and Postmillenialists would not miss it!

Verses 4-6 give two new pieces of information about the Millennial Kingdom that was not revealed in the Old Testament. First, it gives the length of the Millennial Kingdom as a literal 1000 years. Second, it reveals that it will have an ending.

This is the third time that John mentions a literal 1000 years.

20:5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were finished.) This is the first resurrection.

The rest of the dead are the Old Testament saints and those martyred during the Great Tribulation. Both of these groups will have temporary physical bodies during the Millennial Kingdom. They will not receive their glorified bodies until the end of the Millennial Kingdom. This is the fourth time that John has mentioned that the Millennial Kingdom will be a literal 1000 years.

20:6 Blessed and holy is the one who takes part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

Those who are resurrected at the first resurrection are the believers in Christ. Those believers will be priests of God during the Millennial Kingdom for 1000 years. The second death is eternal death in the Lake of Fire forever. This is the fifth time that a literal 1000 years has been mentioned. 

Satan’s Final Defeat

20:7 Now when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be released from his prison

This is the sixth and final time that 1000 years is mentioned. Satan will be released from the Abyss and loosed upon the earth.

20:8 and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to bring them together for the battle. They are as numerous as the grains of sand in the sea.

Satan will lead another rebellion against God. He will deceive many nations and He will have a large following. This verse shows that not everyone will be saved during the Millennial Kingdom. All Jews and their children will be saved. All Gentiles going into the Kingdom will be saved. However, the children of the Gentiles will still have a sin nature. With this sin nature, they will rebel against God, unless He opens their eyes and changes their hearts.

20:9 They went up on the broad plain of the earth and encircled the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and devoured them completely.

Satan and his new army of unbelievers will attack the City of Jerusalem and attempt to kill all of the saints. However, fire will come down from heaven and wipe out Satan's army. The point is that if Satan is given another chance, he will still rebel against God.

20:10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are too, and they will be tormented there day and night forever and ever.

Satan will be the third member of the Lake of Fire. Now, the entire satanic trinity will be removed from the earth for eternity.

The Great White Throne

20:11 Then I saw a large white throne and the one who was seated on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them.

After Satan is thrown into the Lake of Fire. a Great White Throne will come out of the sky. God the Father will be sitting on the throne as Judge. There will be no place for the Christ-rejecters to hide.

20:12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. Then books were opened, and another book was opened – the book of life. So the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds.

Only unbelievers will stand before the Great White Throne Judgment. According to Psalm 139:19, the Book of Life will contain the names of every person who has ever been born. If a person's name is blotted out of this book, then this person will be thrown into the Lake of Fire forever.  

The Lamb's Book of Life is a different book. It is mentioned in Revelation 13:8, 17:8, and Psalm 69:38. Only those who are born again will have their names written down in this book. 

There are other books of judgment which will be opened at the Great White Throne. These other books will determine the degree of punishment.

20:13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each one was judged according to his deeds.

The sea will give up its dead. When the oceans turn to blood, many will die. There are also many physical bodies that were drowned during the Noahic Flood.

20:14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death – the lake of fire.

Once Death and Hades are thrown into the fire, there will be no more death. Everyone will live eternally with Christ in eternity or with the devil in the Lake of Fire forever.

20:15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, that person was thrown into the lake of fire.

Heaven and Hell are temporary places of confinement. Hell and Hades are both the same place, but the first is Hebrew and the second is Greek. Everyone who goes to Hell will eventually be transported to the Lake of Fire forever.