REVELATION 20
Victory and Judgment

After the Battle of Armageddon, Satan, that old serpent, which is the devil, is bound in a chain and cast into the bottomless pit where he is unable to cause any more trouble for the next 1000 years. Although it does not specifically say that the demons and fallen angles that follow Satan are cast into the bottomless pit, it should be assumed that his lying little helpers must be with him and equally restrained if the deception of Satan stops while he is locked away in the pit.

Revelation 20:1-3

1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

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

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.

The next few verses are the ones that inform us that the saints will reign with Christ for 1000 years. The thrones that are set up are those from which the saints will rule, alongside their Lord, for the thousand-year period between the Battle of Armageddon and the White Throne Judgment. The thrones have nothing to do with the White Throne Judgment. When that final judgment takes place, the righteous will stand before the Lord on the opposite side of the Throne Room from the wicked. Romans 14:10 says that we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Even though Verse 4 describes the saints that reign with Christ as though only those who successfully go through the Great Tribulation will be included in the Millennial Reign, Verse 6 lets us know that all saints, from every age, are part of this ruling class of nobility. It declares that those who take part in the first resurrection are a part of the thousand-year reign and that they are exempt from the second death. As we saw earlier, those who are a part of the first resurrection includes those who have already died before He returns to rapture His Church and all of those who are alive and remain at His coming. That’s everyone who is saved!

It is not until after the thousand-year reign that the dead without Christ (sinners) are resurrected to the final judgment. We learned in the last chapter that not everyone that is on the earth when Jesus returns a second time with his saints will be destroyed. Jesus will defeat the spiritual armies of Satan and the human armies of the anti-Christ and then take the kingdom to Himself, or in other words, take charge of the earth and rule forever.

Revelation 20:4-6

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

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

6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

In Verses 7-9, Satan is given one last chance to deceive the nations. It’s important to remember that the people that he is deceiving are those that have had 1000 years of the peace of God on earth, living with Jesus and the glorified saints. If they are not the very ones that survived the Wrath of God—1 Corinthians 15:25-26 and 54 all maintain that Jesus completely defeats death at the Resurrection of the just, and these people will not die unless He wants them to—then they are the descendants of those who survived the wrath. They’ve heard the stories, they’ve interacted with the saints, they’ve seen Jesus with their own eyes, and they know the truth. Now they are being deceived for the first time in 1000 years with all advance warning, and yet so many of them choose to follow the lies of Satan and are destroyed by fire. The people that live on the earth who Christ and His saints will reign over during the Millennial Reign start out as heathens just as the saints once were. It is not clear whether the people who survive the wrath are given the same opportunity for salvation as we are given before the Rapture takes place, but it is clear by the response of many at the end of the 1000 years that, even with evil being held in check by the government that God will established with His Son at the helm, many will still despise the rule of God in their hearts.

We know first hand how difficult it is to live as new creations in a fallen world with the temptations that come at us everyday, but what will it be like for sinners of the new millennium when there is no temptation, where they will be able to see Jesus with their eyes, and yet the old sin nature will continue to be a part of their lives? If God is still offering salvation through the everlasting gospel, it must be a lot easier for them to believe and be saved, but will it be permanent? For all of us during this present age until the day we die, we can always reject God after being saved and go back to our old nature of sin. (Not just backsliding, but telling God we do not want Him in our lives anymore.) Our salvation is assured to us as long as we continue to hold to it, but it is not completely sealed until after we die and become the glorified saints of God. Will this be true for the people of the Millennium? What will the Millennium be like? After the dragon, the beast, and prophet are removed from the earth, there will be no tempter for 1000 years, therefore righteousness will be able to flourish for generations. However, the unregenerate nature of mankind will remain a part of the Millennium, and that in itself will spell trouble at the end.

Revelation 20:7-10

7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Satan will finally be discarded for ever. Praise God!!! And the great White Thrown Judgment follows. The saints are gathered on the right hand of the Lord and invited to enter into the Joy of their Lord, while all the dead are gathered to His left side and then cast into the Lake of Fire. We are all judged for our works, but only those that are found in the Book of Life will live forever. Those not found in the Book of Life will experience the second death of eternal damnation in a resurrected body that will experience the pains of death—the fire is not quenched, and their worm dieth not—forever.

1 Corinthians 6:2-3 tells us that the saints will judge the world, but it is speaking more to the time of the Millennium when they are seated on their thrones to rule and judge the people of the Millennium and perhaps beyond the Millennium. The righteousness of the saints, which they receive through faith in Jesus Christ, will be the standard by which sinners are judged.

Revelation 20:11-15

11 And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

No second chances. Death and hell are cast into the Lake of Fire, along with all those who reject God and His plan of salvation. 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 tells us that Jesus Christ is the foundation upon which our lives will be judged. Our acceptance of Him as Lord and Saviour is what gets our name written in the Lambs Book of Life. All the works that we do in this life that will survive the judgment of God are built upon the foundation of the gospel and our submission and servitude to Jesus Christ. Everything else will be destroyed by fire, which leads us into the next chapter.

1 Corinthians 3:11-15

11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Think about it!

­Is Satan literally bound in the bottomless pit for a thousand years?

­If so, is the same pit where the beast is bound right now?

­Does the final judgment of all mankind take place at the end of the thousand years?

­In 2 Peter 3 where Peter said that a day is as a thousand years with the Lord, he also also seems to suggest that the heavens and the earth would be dissolved in the Day of the Lord when Christ returns. In this chapter and the next we see that there is a thousand years between the Return of Christ and the judgment, at which time the old earth is replaced by the new. Which is literal and which figurative?

~Selah~Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. Acts 17:31

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