Revelation 20:1-6

Following the seven years of Tribulation judgments described in Rev 5-16, John provides a prophetic vision in Rev 17-19 that foreshadows the ultimate downfall of Babylon the Great – that ultimate, worldwide system that opposes God, his people, and his plan. This system has many iterations today (many economic or political systems and religions), but all will coalesce behind the Antichrist into a new and worldwide system in the end.

The final downfall of this system will occur through two primary means, (a) the plagues described in the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments of Rev 5-16 and (b) Christ’s decisive victory over Satan, the Antichrist, and their forces at the Battle of Armageddon in Rev 19.

Following the Battle of Armageddon, Christ will replace the Antichrist’s worldwide system with his own superior kingdom, which we call the millennial kingdom.

This chapter portrays what will occur at the end of the Tribulation, which leads to the start of the millennial kingdom – in which Christ will reign on Earth for 1,000 years. This lengthy reign will be followed by (1) a final battle with Satan and rebellious people called God and Magog (Rev 20:7-10), (2) a final judgment called the Great White Throne (Rev 20:11-15), and (3) the beginning of the eternal state, complete with a new creation populated exclusively by all who follow God (Rev 21-22).

In this study, we’ll look at the millennial kingdom itself, the perfect, Christ-led system that will replace the godless, Antichrist-led system. Though Scripture has more to say about this period, especially in the Old Testament (OT) prophets, we’ll focus primarily on what John tells us here in Rev 20:1-6.

Satan will be bound for a thousand years. (Rev 20:1-3)

These six verses divide into two halves, the first three focusing on what happens to Satan and the second three on what happens to people, esp. Christ’s followers.

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

Revelation 20:1

Then refers back to the Battle of Armageddon, where Christ defeats the Antichrist and his armies (Rev 19:20-21). It places what happens now after this defeat while also viewing it as a result of this defeat. An angel from heaven (a “good angel” who is “on God’s side” and serves him) held a large and impressive chain and was given access to “the bottomless pit,” something John as referenced once before (Rev 9:1-2).

This phenomenon describes something like “shaft of the abyss,” “passageway to the immeasurable pit,” or “entrance to the nether- or underworld. This place seems to exist deep in the Earth, far beyond our ability to explore and seems to be where at least some demonic beings reside (Luke 8:31; Rev 17:8). It’s what normally comes to mind when we speak about “hell,” even though that word sometimes refers to the grave in general.

He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

Revelation 20:2

“Laid hold” means something like to “seize” or “arrest” and indicates some degree of power and force. So, whom did this angel take into custody? John describes this captive in a fourfold way and make clear that it is Satan, Christ’s ultimate nemesis who had lured mankind into sin and had attempted to overthrow Christ by empowering the Antichrist.

By listing these titles for Satan, John repeats them just as he did once before when he described an event which happened between the trumpet and bowl judgments.

“The great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth” (Rev 12:9).

In Rev 12:9, Satan was expelled from heaven and relegated to Earth, but here Satan is expelled from Earth as well and relegated to the bottomless pit instead. When this happens, his confinement will last for a thousand years, which is the full duration of the millennium.

And 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.

Revelation 20:3

“He cast him” uses the same language as “the great dragon was cast out” (Rev 12:9), which describes a vigorous, energetic throwing motion. So, his expulsion to the bottomless pit will be emphatic.

Just as John goes out of his way to identify Satan with four names and titles, he goes out of his way to describe the degree of Satan’s confinement as well. He will be not only cast into the bottomless pit, but he will be “shut up” and “sealed” there, too. To shut up describes being locked up and shut inside and to seal describes an official, secure situation as in a maximum-security prison cell.

The point here is that Satan’s removal from the Earth will be complete, with no possible escape and no access to the outside world. John makes this purpose clear by ensuring that he would be entirely unable to deceive people at all – until the thousand years had run their course. John also tells us that Satan will be released once more when the millennial kingdom concludes, but only for a “little while.”

At this point, we should answer an important question: is it possible that “a thousand years” is figurative language for “a long period of time?” Many faithful Christians take this view and believe we are living in the millennium right now. Though we should not argue and divide from one another over this fascinating discussion, I believe that this passage points quite clearly to a future, literal, 1,000-yr. period instead, for at least several reasons.

• While it’s possible for an apocalyptic, prophetic book like Revelation that does use some figurative language to use “a thousand” in a figurative way, there is no biblical precedent for doing so with this number and nothing in this passage requires that. In fact, it seems quite obvious that John is emphasizing “a thousand years” because he intends for us to interpret it precisely that way and not mistake it for a figurative number. If saying “a thousand years” six times in six verses (Rev 20:2-7) doesn’t mean “a thousand years,” then how else could John communicate “a thousand years” in a literal sense?
• If John intended to communicate something like “a long, indefinite period of time,” then he could have said so because he does exactly that in this same passage when he describes how long Satan will be released after the millennium as “for a little while,” which means something like “a brief, undefined period of time.” Why wouldn’t he say something like “for a day” or “for an hour” instead? So, “for a little while” indicates that by choosing “a thousand years,” John intended a literal interpretation of that number.
• If this millennium describes something that has been going on for a while now (as many amillennial and postmillennial believers suggest), and if the “binding of Satan” in the “bottomless pit” is something that also lasts for the duration of this time, then how do we reconcile this with Satan being “cast to the Earth” in Rev 12:9, since he cannot be both “cast to the Earth” and “cast into the bottomless pit” during the same time, and both do not describe the same vicinity.
• Furthermore, if Satan is bound as completely as John describes and is entirely prevented from deceiving the world right now, then how do we reconcile that with how the NT writers portray his activity in the world today (2 Cor 4:4; Jam 4:7; 1 Pet 5:8). They clearly teach that Satan continues his deceptive, destructive ways today and hasn't been prevented from doing so yet. This does not correlate with the emphatic binding of Satan that John describes in Rev 20:3.

These details point clearly towards a future, one-thousand-year reign of Christ on Earth.

Christ’s followers reign with him for a thousand years. (Rev 20:4-6)

So, now that we know Satan will be immobilized during this 1,000-yr. reign of Christ, what else should we know about this period?

And 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 and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Revelation 20:4

Here John saw Christ’s faithful followers from time past, esp. those who had endured excruciating suffering for him during the Tribulation. These people will include you and I if we are genuine followers of Christ and believers from throughout the ages. We will be brought back to life (a reference to being resurrected) and will help Christ govern the world in strategic, delegated ways throughout this period, including various administrative and judicial roles.

• Christ previewed this kind of opportunity for his twelve disciples for instance during his earthly teaching ministry (Matt 19:28).
• Paul also foreshadowed this opportunity to church-age believers in his letter to the church at Corinth (1 Cor 6:2-3).

So, though John emphasizes the role that Tribulation saints will have in this kingdom, Christ indicates a role for believers prior to the church age and Paul indicates a role for believers in the church age, too.

But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

Revelation 20:5

This verse distinguishes between the dead who are raised to life before the millennium and who reign with Christ during the millennium from the “rest of the dead” who will remain dead and not be resurrected until after the millennium concludes. So, what is the “first resurrection” that John speaks of? I’ll share an extended, biblical explanation from Charles Ryrie (Basic Theology).

“All bodily resurrections fall into two categories: the resurrection of life or the first resurrection, and the resurrection of condemnation or the second resurrection (Luke 14:13–14; John 5:28–29). These resurrections will not occur at the same time, so time is not the distinguishing feature; life or eternal death is.

The Resurrection of Christ

First in the order of resurrections was the resurrection of Christ. Though others had been raised from the dead before Christ, He was the first to rise from the grave with a body that was no longer subject to death (Rom. 6:9; Rev. 1:18). This is why Paul called Him the Firstborn from the dead (Col. 1:18). His resurrection is the first of many to come.

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Cor 15:22-23).

The Resurrection of Those Who are Christ’s at His Coming

This resurrection will include several groups: the dead saints of this Church Age (1 Thess. 4:16), the dead saints of Old Testament times (Dan. 12:2), and martyrs of the Tribulation period (Rev. 20:4). These resurrections of the saints of all ages constitute the first resurrection (Rev. 20:6), the resurrection of life (John 5:29), or the resurrection of the righteous (Luke 14:14).

The Resurrection of Unsaved Dead at the End

The last group to be raised will include the unredeemed dead of all time, and they will be raised at the end of the millennial kingdom to stand before the Great White Throne in a judgment that will sentence all of them to the lake of fire (Rev. 20:11–14).”

So, all of Christ’s previous followers will be resurrected sometime before the millennial kingdom, whether at the rapture before the Tribulation or after the Tribulation just before the millennium begins.

Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

Revelation 20:6

Here again John describes the special opportunity that Christ’s followers will have to be resurrected and to participate in his righteous government of the world.

He also points out that those who have died as followers of Christ and who are resurrected by Christ in this way will never experience death again. This will not be the case for those who refused to believe on him and remain dead during the millennium. These will be resurrected for a final judgment and then returned to an even more excruciating, eternal experience of death in the Lake of Fire forever.

Key Takeaway

Present suffering for Christ precedes future glory with Christ.

Sometimes we ask or hear the question in various forms, “Why do God’s people suffer?” One way to answer this question is to remember that Christ himself suffered unjustly for our sins to a degree which we will never experience, so it is both a small trial and a worthy experience to suffer for him in return.

As Paul said elsewhere, “If we endure, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Tim 2:12).

Yet there is another way to answer this question, too. After Christ was humiliated to the farthest extent for our sins, though for a temporary time, he was exalted to the highest, most glorious position afterwards for eternity. Even so, when we suffer for Christ in this brief life, we know that we will rule and reign with him in the future. The tables will turn.

As Paul also said elsewhere, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom 8:18).

John’s description of the millennial kingdom reminds us that when we suffer for Christ under the governance of a godless system, we can look forward to governing the world with Christ in the end. We have a lot to look forward too!