THE MILLENNIAL PERIOD FRAMED IN CH. 20

The Framework of the Millennial Period  Ch. 20

The coming of Christ and the effects carry on marking the transi­tion.

The Satanic Powers are Removed from Circulation  

vs.1-3

"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And 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."

 

Therefore there will be clear thinking among the people. Men will no longer be able to blame spiritual environment for their sin.

The Fact of the Chaining of Satan is Declared vs. 1
"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand."
This may or may not be a material chain. Such would probably not work upon an evil spirit. But it is a literal chain fashioned to confine an evil spirit in the place of punishment and separated from men. This place is the bottomless pit.

"angel" The angel may well be the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, since it is He who has the key to the bottomless pit (Revelation 1:18), and it would be most appropriate for the Son, on behalf of the Father, to personally dispatch the great rebel to his prison.
"bottomless pit" On the bottomless pit (Greek abusos) see note on Revelation 9:1. The demons had dreaded the prospect of being sent by Christ to “the deep” (same Greek word, Luke 8:31), but the “time” for their “torment” (Matthew 8:29) will finally have come, as they will be corralled with their evil prince into the deep dungeon.
"great chain" The “great chain,” with which to “bind the strong man” (Mark 3:27) is no doubt a spiritual chain to restrain the spirit being called Satan, but it will serve the purpose, whatever it is.

The Length of Chaining is for a Thousand Years vs. 2

"And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,"

This covers the entire period of the millennium. There is no reason then why the inhabitants of earth should not think clearly and walk righteously.

First news that the Kingdom was a 1000 yrs. in duration, a millennium. Peter and Paul both died without this knowledge.

And he laid hold on the dragon.  -Rev. 20:2
 Having cast the "beast" and the "false prophet" alive into the lake of fire and having destroyed their deluded followers, the time has come to deal with that great evil spirit who is ultimately responsible for the delusion of the nations. For this purpose, now, an angel comes down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. Of his action we read that "he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years; and 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" (Rev. 20:1-3).
 The language here is very specific: The object of the angel's action is the dragon of the Book of Revelation, the ancient serpent of Genesis, whose well-known names are the Devil and Satan. The angel lays "hold" on him, binds him, casts him into the abyss, shuts him up, seals the prison, and thus renders him powerless to deceive the nations for a period of a "thousand years." If this language does not mean that the immobilization of Satan is complete, so far as his deception of the nations (Grk. ethni) is concerned, then there is no way to express the idea. And this binding of Satan, according to St. John's account, takes place at the coming of Christ in glory to establish His reign on earth for a thousand years. After making all legitimate allowance for possible figurative and symbolical terms, the central facts here are so clear that there should never have been any serious dispute about them. And this was the case during the first three hundred years of the Early Church. But since that time the passage (and the entire chapter) has been a battleground of theological conflict.
 Of all the divine acts described in Revelation 20, none appears to be more reasonable than the binding and imprisonment of Satan. In the first place, if there is ever to be a Kingdom of God on earth, a reign characterized by the total absence of war and by rigid control of disease and death, it should be evident that in such a kingdom there can be no place left for the great deceiver of the nations, who is said to have not only the power of inflicting disease upon men (Job 2:7) but also the "power of death" itself (Heb. 2:14), to say nothing of his control over the demonic world (Matt. 12:22-26). To be sure, the vast powers of Satan have never been outside the permissive control of our-sovereign God, but the continued exercise of such powers would be utterly incongruous within an established Kingdom of God on earth.. This is suggested in the pattern of prayer where we are taught not only to pray, "Thy Kingdom come," but also "Deliver us from the evil one" (Matt. 6:10,13, ASV). At the coming of our Lord these petitions will be answered, not only in part, but fully. In that wonderful day there will be no room left for the diabolical activities of "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2, italics added). Satan shall be bound in such a way that he can deceive the nations "no more" till the thousand-year reign of Christ is done.
 In the second place, such a binding of Satan for a thousand years will constitute a conclusive demonstration of man's personal responsibility for his own depravity. Although Satan has indeed been the originator of much of the evil of our fallen race, he cannot be charged with all of it. Yet the alibi of Eden - "The serpent beguiled me" - has never ceased to be the excuse offered by men for their sins. Our Lord struck at this alibi when, after enumerating a terrible catalogue of human iniquities, He declared that their source was "from within, out of the heart of men" (Mark 7:21-23). Yet men - even Christians - have been loathe to believe that this is altogether true. Through the ages of God's dealing with a fallen race, He has tested its members under many different conditions; and in every test, apart from the grace of God, an has always proven to be a failure. But sinful men have never been given an opportunity to "prove", what they will do in an environment from which the great deceiver of souls has been completely banished. The purpose here is not to acquaint God with something which He does not now know, but rather to prove to men themselves how desperately wicked they really are. The complete immobilization of Satan for a thousand years, therefore, will lay the basis for God's final argument against the popular doctrine of the inherent goodness of man when placed in the right kind of environment. It might be thought that all orthodox theologians would recognize the value of such a demonstration of the doctrine of total depravity, but such is not the case.
 On the other hand, the binding of Satan will show under the rule of Christ the yet unrealized and vast possibilities of human life in physical existence on earth, even where sin still exists in a society composed of both regenerated and unregenerate men. For, great as the progress of the world has been in many ways, by all reasonable men it is generally agreed that things ought to be almost infinitely better than they are. What this binding of Satan by our Lord will mean to the world has been well stated by Fausset: "A mighty purification will be effected by Christ's coming. Though sin will not be abolished for men will still be in the flesh (Isa. 65:20) sin will no longer be a universal power, for the flesh is no longer seduced by Satan. He will not be, as now, 'the god and prince of the world'; nor will -the world 'lie in the wicked one': the flesh will be evermore overcome. Christ will reign with His transfigured saints over men in the flesh (Auberlen). The nations in the millennium will be prepared for a higher state, as Adam in Paradise, supposing he had lived in an unfallen state."

 

The Place of Chaining is the Bottomless Pit vs. 3

"And 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."

This is the place of departed spirits, the place of torment before the lake of fire. This is a place of seclusion, of separation, of sealing.

The Measure of Time - "a thousand years," - Millenium
 This is stated as "a thousand years," and the expression occurs six times in Revelation 20:2-6, once in every verse, thus indicating its importance. But this repetition is not merely tautological, for in each recurrence the expression is connected with a distinctive idea: First, Satan is bound for a thousand years (Rev. 20:2). Second, the nations will not be deceived for a thousand years (Rev. 20:3). Third, the martyred saints reign with Christ for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4).  Fourth, the rest of the dead live not again till the thousand years are finished (Rev. 20:5). Fifth, all who have part in the first resurrection will be priests of God and reign with Christ a thousand years (Rev. 20:6). Sixth, Satan will be loosed after the thousand years (Rev. 20:7).

The Purpose of Chaining is to Prevent Deception vs. 3

"And 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."

For one thousand years no man will ever be able to blame anything upon the devil. Men and women_. will know right and wrong and the consequences thereof. For a little season this deceiver must be loosed at the end.

"no more" With Satan bound in the bottomless pit, the beast and the false prophet in the lake of fire, and all the ungodly men and women purged from the earth either at Armageddon or at the judgment of the nations (see notes on Matthew 25:31-46), there will be only a “few men left” (Isaiah 24:6) still in their natural flesh, to enter Christ’s millennial kingdom (Matthew 25:34). Redeemed Israel, having been saved both individually and nationally when she sees and accepts her Messiah (Zechariah 12:9–13:1; Romans 11:25-26) will become the world’s chief nation. All the ancient prophecies and promises concerning Israel will finally be fulfilled (e.g., Isaiah 2:2-4; Ezekiel 37:21-28; Zechariah 9:10; 14:9).