Studies in the Millennial Kingdom: Heaven on Earth – Mike Bickle
Session 3 Millennium: Saints’ Victory and Satan’s Defeat (Rev. 20:1-10)Page 1
Session3Millennium:Saints’VictoryandSatan’sDefeat(Rev.20:1-10)
I.wemustinterpretRevelation19:11-21:8inachronologicalsequence
A.Scene #1: Jesus’ second coming includes the capture of the Antichrist and the False Prophet.
11I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He [Jesus] who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war…14And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen…followed Him on white horses…16And He has…a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS…19And I saw the beast [Antichrist], the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him[Jesus] who sat on the horse…20Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet…These two were cast alive into the lake of fire…21…The rest were killed with the sword… (Rev. 19:11-21)
B.Scene #2: Satan is cast into prison for 1,000years so that he cannot deceive the nations.
1ThenIsawanangel…havingthekeytothebottomlesspitandagreatchaininhishand.2Helaidholdofthedragon…theDevil…andboundhimforathousandyears;3andhecasthimintothebottomlesspit,andshuthimup…thatheshoulddeceivethenationsnomoretillthethousandyearswerefinished…afterthesethingshemustbereleasedforalittlewhile.(Rev.20:1-3)
C.Scene #3: Resurrected saints will be given governmental leadership over the millennial earth.
4And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus…who had not worshiped the beast [Antichrist]…they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5…the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection…6they shall be priests…and shall reign with Him a thousand years. (Rev. 20:4-6)
D.Scene #4: Satan is released to deceive the nations and thus prove that God’s judgments are just.
7…when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison8and will go out to deceive the nations…in the four corners of the earth…to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand…9They went up…and surrounded…the beloved city…fire came down…and devoured them. 10The devil…was cast into the lake of fire… (Rev. 20:7-10)
E.Scene #5: God has a final judgment of the human race at the great white throne.
11Then I saw a great white throne…12And I saw the dead…standing before God, and books were opened…the dead were judged according to their works…14…This is the second death. 15And anyone not…in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:11-15)
F.Scene #6: God dwells in face-to-face fellowship with His people on the new earth forever.
1Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth…2Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven…3“Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men…God Himself will be with them…4AndGod will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying…”…8“But the cowardly…murderers, sexually immoral…shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire…which is the second death.” (Rev. 21:1-8)
II.Introduction to Revelation 20
A.Revelation 20 is the most in-depth NT teaching on the millennial kingdom. It provides insight into the length of the Millennium, the exaltation of the saints who reign as kings and priests, the imprisonment of Satan for 1,000years, and his release to deceive the nations. In these events,God demonstrates the justice of His judgments by showing that Satan cannot be rehabilitated and that men will rebel against God,even in an ideal environment, because they love sin.
B.The Millennium is a term which means a literal 1,000-year period in which Jesus rules the earth (millennium is from the Latin mille,or a thousand, and annus,a year).
C.The main themes of Rev. 20 are the victory of God’s people and a final defeat of His enemies.
D.Revelation20:1-10 has three sections describing events occurring during the Millennium.
1. Rev. 20:1-3, Satan will be imprisonedfor 1,000 years (beginning of the Millennium)
2. Rev. 20:4-6, resurrected saints given the leadership of the earth (during the Millennium)
3. Rev. 20:7-10, Satan released from prison to deceive nations (end of the Millennium)
III.Satan will be imprisoned for 1,000years (Rev. 20:1-3)
1Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. (Rev. 20:1-3)
A.The bottomless pit, or the abyss, is a prison for fallen angels that are released in the end times at the fifth trumpet (Rev. 9:1-4, demonic locusts). There is a long shaft extending from the earth’s surface to its depths,which is currently sealed up. It requires a key to open it(Rev. 9:1). The Antichrist spends time there (Rev. 11:7; 17:8), as does a demonic king named Abaddon (Rev. 9:11), plus a multitude of demonic locusts.
B.A natural chain could not restrain a demonic spirit. These unusual chains are also called “everlasting chains” (Jude 6) and “chains of darkness” (2 Pet. 2:4).
4For ifGod did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment… (2 Pet. 2:4)
6…the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day. (Jude 6)
C.Four evil angels are currently bound (with chains?) at the Euphrates riverand will be released to lead a large demonic army that kills one third of the human race (Rev. 9:14-15).
14“Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” (Rev. 9:14)
D.Demonic spirits and evil kings at the end of the Tribulation are imprisonedin this pit.
21TheLordwillpunishonhighthehostofexaltedones[demonicprincipalities,etc.],andontheearththekingsoftheearth.22Theywillbegatheredtogether,asprisonersaregatheredinthepit[bottomlesspit],andwillbeshutupintheprison[asinRev.20:1-3];aftermanydays[1,000years]theywillbepunished[intheLakeofFire].23Thenthemoon will be disgraced and the sun ashamed; for the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem [in the Millennium] and before His elders, gloriously. (Isa. 24:21-23)
E.FourtitlesofSatan(Rev.20:2;12:9):ThesenameswillindictSatanatthebarofGod’sjusticeforhiscrimesagainsthumanity.Eachtitledepictsdifferentdimensionsofhiscrimes.Heiscalledthe“dragon,”denotinghiscruelty.ThisisthenameJohnusedmost(Rev.12:3,4,7,13,16,17;13:2,4,11;16:13).Heisthe“serpentofold,”tyinghimbacktothegardenofEdentohintofthemillennialrebellioninRev.20:7-9.Heiscalledthe“Devil,”whichmeanstheaccuser,and“Satan,”whichmeanstheadversary(Rev.2:9-13,24;3:9;12:9,12).
F.1,000years:The length of Satan’s imprisonment is literally1,000years. This number is emphasized six times (Rev. 20:3, 4, 5, 6, 7). There is no precedent in Scripture for a symbolic number to be given six times. Nothing in Scripture is contradicted by this 1,000-year time frame. John’s point is that the Millenniumis only allowed for a restricted time.
G.Satan is bound: He cannot deceive the nations for 1,000 years. Satan is put in prison below the earth to keep him from influencing the people on the earth for 1,000 years.
H.TheNTmakesitclearthatSatanisnotboundindeceivingthenationsinthisagebeforethesecondcoming.Satanwillbemoreactiveasweapproachtheendoftheage(Rev.12:12).SatanwasnotboundinthebookofActs.InActs5:3,SatanfilledAnaniasandSapphira’shearttolietotheHolySpirit.In2Corinthians4:3-4, Satanblindsthemindsofunbelievers.SatanappearsasanangeloflighttodeceivetheChurch(2 Cor.11:14).Peoplelive“accordingtotheprinceofthepoweroftheair”thatworksinunbelievers(Eph.2:2).SatanhinderedPaul’stravels(1Thes.2:18).UnsavedpeoplearetakencaptivebySatan(2Tim.2:26).Satanisouradversary; heroamstheearthasaroaringlionseekingtodevour(1Pet.5:8).
IV.Satan will be bound in five ways(Rev. 20:2-3)
A.Laid hold of Satan: Adramatic event in which Satan is filled with rage (Rev. 12:12)
B.Bound him: Put supernatural chains on him so he could not deceive the nations
C.Cast him into the pit: Put him in prison
D.Shut him up:Kept him from any communication with or activity on the earth
E.Set a seal on him:To stop him from breaking out of prison
V.Resurrected saints given the leadership over the earth (Rev. 20:4-6)
4AndIsawthrones,andtheysatonthem,andjudgmentwascommittedtothem.ThenIsawthesoulsofthosewhohadbeenbeheadedfortheirwitnesstoJesusandforthewordofGod,whohadnotworshipedthebeastorhisimage,andhadnotreceivedhismarkontheirforeheadsorontheirhands.AndtheylivedandreignedwithChristforathousandyears.5Buttherestofthedeaddidnotliveagainuntilthethousandyearswerefinished.Thisisthefirstresurrection.6Blessedandholyishewhohaspartinthefirstresurrection.Oversuchtheseconddeathhasnopower,buttheyshallbepriestsofGodandofChrist,andshallreignwithHimathousandyears.(Rev. 20:4-6)
A.The millennial,or messianic, kingdom was prophesied often in the OT. Those who remain true to God through history will replace the Antichrist’s government as Daniel prophesied. The saints of Revelation 19:14 and 19 are the subject of the phrase “they sat” (v. 4).
21“I was watching; and the same horn [Antichrist] was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, 22until the Ancient of Days [the Father] came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom…25‘He [Antichrist]…shallpersecute the saints of the Most High…then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time [3½ years]. 26But the court shall be seated, and they shall take away his [Antichrist’s] dominion, to consume and destroy it forever. 27Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High…’” (Dan. 7:21-27)
B.The saints’highest roles in the Millennium: priests (worshiping) and kings (ruling). Priests worship, intercede, and mediate the knowledge of God to people (with natural bodies on the millennial earth), to one another, and to angels.Kings rule with judicial responsibility and authority. This role involves evaluating the past and helping set the future action plan for the area of authority entrusted to them. This involves appointing people into positions within the infrastructure of the kingdom of God,including training and managing those people.
VI.Satan released to deceive the nations (Rev. 20:7-10)
7Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. (Rev. 20:7-10)
Satan must be released at the end of the Millennium. Why? God will openly manifest the truth about the depth of human sin(called the mystery of lawlessness in 2 Thes. 2:7)and about Satan beingincurably evil. Satan immediately deceives the nations, revealing that there was no rehabilitation or change in his character during his 1,000-year prison sentence.
3But after these things he must be released for a little while. (Rev. 20:3)
International House of Prayer of Kansas City ihopkc.org
Free Teaching Library mikebickle.org