Revelation Lesson 13
Chapter 20
Comments, Questions and Discussions
COMMENTS
Introduction
Revelation chapter 20 may well be the hardest chapter in the Bible. I know that I have lots of difficulty with it. Just a quick review of the various teachings and a few notes about the 1000 year reign are in order.
1. Some believe that before Christ comes in judgment there will be a 1000 year reign on earth. At the end of the 1000 years, Christ will come in judgment and the earth, as in 3rd planet from the sun, will end in a catastrophic event.
Note the text. Nothing is said about Christ returning after the 1000 years. Only God is mentioned. There is a great judgment, but the Christ is missing, at least in the text.
2. Some believe that Christ will return and set up a kingdom on earth for a 1000 years. After the thousand years everything will end as described in number 1.
Verse 6 gives some credence to this belief. It says "they shall reign with Him a thousand years." According to verse 4, the "Him" is Christ.
It must be remembered that in Revelation 20, the 1000 year reign is never said to be on earth. It also must be remembered that the 1000 years is part of the vision. Recall also the time frame according to chapter 1, verse 19:
"Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this."
The vision could thus contain past, present and future. This also agrees with the tense, although, I admittedly haven't the Greek skills to build a case built on the tenses. Jesus' church was built, having begun at the first Pentecost after His resurrection. In Colossians 1:13, Paul says that they were translated (aorist tense) into His kingdom. Therefore, any understanding which places His kingdom in the future when John wrote or still in the future now cannot be the correct understanding.
3. Some believe the 1000 years is a literal 1000 years and others believe it to be symbolic of a complete but unspecified period of time. After the 1000 years, Jesus is to come again and after this there is no longer any hope for anyone who is lost. Everything will be over with and all the sinners punished.
4. Among those who believe it is symbolic are the amillenialists (no literal 1000 years). Generally, this group believes that we are in the thousand year reign now waiting for Jesus to come again. It is this view that I was brought up believing.
The major problem with this view is that in Revelation 20, we do not have a reference, inferred or otherwise, about Jesus coming after the 1000 years. We do, however, have a judgment. If it is the same judgment congruent with Jesus' coming, as described in Matthew 24:29-36, then it must be the judgment which was to occur in that generation.
To have a major prophecy in Revelation that wasn't going to come to pass for over 1900 years, is in violation of Jesus' statement that the revelation is about "things which must shortly take place." I must reject this view on these grounds.
If the gospel being preached is part of the equation, then the 1000 years would have been occurring during the time that Colossians was being written. Colossians 1:23 says:
. . if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Some teach that until Jesus comes we have hope, but once he comes then there is no more hope. I must ask, where does the Bible teach no more hope after Jesus comes again. I know this is reasoned out because if everything ends and earth is destroyed, then all will have died and subsequently raised to stand in judgment. Does the Bible really teach this or have we just made a lot of assumptions? My thoughts at this moment of writing are that I made a lot of assumptions for which I really had no scriptural basis.
5. Preterists generally believe that the 1000 years ended at the Destruction of Jerusalem, but a few believe that the "1000 years" is an incidental to the text and that we are in it now. I held the view that the 1000 years' reign is incidental for a number of years. The same problem is here as is above. A thousand years in not a short period of time.
6. Those who believe the 1000 years ended at the Destruction of Jerusalem are also varied as to the beginning and end of the 1000 years. Some believe the entire 1000 years occurred in the first century. Of these, some believe it is the final few months before the destruction and others believe it is the 40 years between the Cross and Jerusalem's destruction.
7. Still others who believe the 1000 years ended at the destruction of Jerusalem, believe the 1000 years began at the dividing of the kingdom when Solomon died. This occurred about 930 BC.
(These last two will be discussed in greater detail in the remainder of this lesson.)
It might be well to examine the text noting tenses and events. This text is from the New King James Version. We will be looking at the tenses as noted in the Greek and not necessarily in the text it self. The Greek tenses are different than ours. One of the striking differences is the Aorist. The definition of this tense is fairly consistent among scholars and the following from BDB/Thayers is found in the Bible Companion Software as follows:
The aorist tense is characterized by its emphasis on punctiliar action; that is, the concept of the verb is considered without regard for past, present, or future time. There is no direct or clear English equivalent for this tense, though it is generally rendered as a simple past tense in most translations. The events described by the aorist tense are classified into a number of categories by grammarians. The most common of these include a view of the action as having begun from a certain point ("inceptive aorist"), or having ended at a certain point ("cumulative aorist"), or merely existing at a certain point ("punctiliar aorist"). The categorization of other cases can be found in Greek reference grammars.
The English reader need not concern himself with most of these finer points concerning the aorist tense, since in most cases they cannot be rendered accurately in English translation, being fine points of Greek exegesis only. The common practice of rendering an aorist by a simple English past tense should suffice in most cases. (end quote)
The general tense of Revelation chapter 20 is the aorist tense. We will note the exceptions with parentheses. All other verbs are in the aorist tense. Also note the italicized verbs which are not in the Greek text but are added for clarity by the translators.
20:1 Then I saw an angel coming (present) down from heaven, having (present) the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is (present) the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 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 (present) be released for a little while. 4 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 (perfect) 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. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has (present) part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has (present) no power, but they shall be (future) priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign (future) with Him a thousand years. 7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released (future) from his prison 8 and will (future) 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. 9 They 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. 10 The devil, who deceived (present) them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented (future) day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat (present) 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, standing (perfect) before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is (present) the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written (perfect) in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is (present) the second death. 15 And anyone not found written (perfect) in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire
Difficulties with this passage should be readily apparent. As one can see, the aorist tense is predominant. Concerning the vision, it is generally in this tense that John describes what he sees. The explanations are generally in different tenses. Read the text isolating the vision from the comments about what is seen.
It also might be well here to note that the Jews were fantastic keepers of time, at least in choice periods of their generations. Note Josephus' account of the fall of Jerusalem from Wars Of The Jews, Book 6, Chapter 10.
And thus was Jerusalem taken, in the second year of the reign of Vespasian, on the eighth day of the month Gorpieus [Elul]. It had been taken five times before, though this was the second time of its desolation.
And again from the same chapter:
And from king David, who was the first of the Jews who reigned therein, to this destruction under Titus, were one thousand one hundred and seventy-nine years; but from its first building, till this last destruction, were two thousand one hundred and seventy-seven years; yet hath not its great antiquity, nor its vast riches, nor the diffusion of its nation over all the habitable earth, nor the greatness of the veneration paid to it on a religious account, been sufficient to preserve it from being destroyed. And thus ended the siege of Jerusalem.
For any who wonder, Josephus considered the first building to be by Melchisedek.
20:1-3 - He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
This is something that takes place in the 1000 years. It could help determine the beginning or end or both. A thousand years is spoken about in Psalms 90:4. This passage in Psalms speaks of an eternal God in comparison with what to us would be a long period of time, but to God would be minuscule. This and other things in the text does not help us pinpoint a time of beginning or ending for the thousand years. Verses 7-9 of Psalms 90 are interesting in this study of Revelation. Verses 7-9:
For we have been consumed by Your anger, And by Your wrath we are terrified. You have set our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance. For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; We finish our years like a sigh.
In defense of the position that the 1000 years represented a brief period just before the end we must consider a couple of things. First in reference to the Psalm, to those having to endure, the time would seem long, yet the actual time of suffering was only 31/2 years. A long time to suffer, but as the quotation from Josephus points out, this time compared to the existence of the city and the temple was relatively short. I think another conjecture might be that from Peter's statement, "A year is as a day and a day is as 1000 years," the 1000 years had become a synonym for the waiting period that they were going through. Consider:
Peter writes to those to whom Paul has written.
It is about a subject that was a common topic of discussion.
Such letters as those Paul and Peter had written were known and could be referenced.
Note what Peter says about Paul's writings in II Peter 3:15-16
. . . and consider that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation -- as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked.
We might also consider that when Jesus died and was resurrected, the power of Satan over death was taken away for those who obeyed the Gospel. Paul says in Romans 8:2:
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
The text in Revelation, however, refers to the deceiving of the nations. It is in this sense that Satan is bound. According to Paul in I Corinthians 15:52-55, even the escape from death caused by sin is not seen until the end.
All things considered, it seems obvious to me that the 1000 years in Revelation is not there to depict a short period of time. So in this study the question to consider is when does the 1000 years occur? I'm going to answer that it is the time from the split in the kingdom after Solomon's death till the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
1. We have noted the tenses of the verbs and the use of conjunctions. There isn't anything grammatically to indicate when the 1000 years begins.
2. We find in verse 3 that it is at the ending of the 1000 years that Satan is loosed. It is during this time that the nations can be deceived.
We will take a little side note to discuss the "nations." I believe this generally refers to those of God whose identity is of a nation other than Israel. This would be not only the Jews, but would include Gentiles of all those nations who accepted Judaism or who might believe in Christ. These are the ones subject to deception. There would be no need for Satan to deceive the others.
3. There is no reference to Satan acting from the split to the time of Christ on earth. This time on earth would be at the end of the 1000 years.
4. The time between the split and the destruction can certainly be considered to be 1000 years beginning at 975 BC or so. Time periods are often rounded to a whole number.
5. Historically we can document opposition to the spread of the gospel.
6. In the Bible, the devil, Satan, is given credit for this opposition.
The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age
And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him,
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Therefore we wanted to come to you -- even I, Paul, time and again -- but Satan hindered us.
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
It is a consistent theme in Revelation
Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
So 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, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time."
20:4 - 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.
This is an inclusive list. If we assign the beast as the nation or Empire of Rome, then we lose the short time aspect of the Revelation prophecies. If, however, we assign the beast to the growing nationalism of Israel, then this problem is solved. Daniel did say that that fourth beast was different. From the latter part of Daniel 7:7, "It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns."
We ask again when was Rome ever destroyed to the extent taught in Revelation? If still in the future, how do we account for the short time references. The beast of nationalistic Israel, certainly fits into the picture very well.
In reference to the 1000 years starting at the divided kingdom, it is at this point we see opposition to the rightful rule of a Judean King. The two nations, Israel and Judah, became more and more evil and prophets came to warn them. It was these prophets who were persecuted. Steven says to the nation of Israel in Acts 7:51-52:
You stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 52 "Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers.
Notice Stephen refers to those "who foretold the coming of the Just One." These witnesses of Jesus were among the prophets, apostles and early Christians.
We also want to notice that these lived and reigned with Christ "for a thousand years." Obviously, regardless of which period we take, these martyrs did not each reign a literal 1000 years. This was the duration of the time and during that time these lived and reigned.
Note this reigning group are the same as the souls under the altar in Revelation 6:9-11 who were waiting:
When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.
20:5 - But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Since only a few were living and reigning during the 1000 years, this could not be the general resurrection that everyone was expecting. Since the rest were to be raised at the ending of the 1000 years, this would be the general resurrection.
Unless we want to have 2 millenniums, as one writer has suggested, the phrase, "this is the first resurrection," must refer to those who lived during the 1000 years not to the resurrection at the ending of the 1000 years.
20:7-10 - Satan . . . to gather them to battle.
In these verses, Satan was released and went to all the nations (four corners of the earth) surrounding Israel. The time for battle came and fire from God came down and devoured them. Satan was thrown into the lake of fire and those he gathered are presently being tormented. (At least from the perspective that I take on these events the torment is now taking place.)
Gog and Magog are mentioned. These are found in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. We won't copy these two chapters, but we do note a few verses, 6-8 of chapter 39.
And I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security in the coast lands. Then they shall know that I am the Lord. 7 "So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore. Then the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. 8 "Surely it is coming, and it shall be done," says the Lord God. "This is the day of which I have spoken.
Notice the bold phrases. I believe this is the parallel that Jesus draws in this revelation to John. This is a mighty deed and Christ gets the glory. He is Lord. The day of the Lord came.
If Satan is now in the lake of fire being tormented forever, why do we still have sin on the earth? This is a good question but not an unanswerable one. Right now Jesus is in heaven, but we still do right. We are still obedient. We do not need His actual, whether spiritual or other wise, existence on earth to do the right thing. We have been left what we need to believe and obey so as to receive the eternal reward. We have also been left all that we need to seal our fate in the second death after this physical life. It is our choice. That's the way it is since the New Covenant came. We are where we are by our choice. We are not born into a covenant with God or Satan. We are not serving either God or Satan because some spiritual influence caused us or placed us there.
It is a common error to attribute the bad things we do to the influence of Satan and then think that implies he is still with us on this earth. To have influence, Satan does not need to be here with us. We are influenced by the dead heroes of History who are not with us. Truth is sin is in the world and we through our own lusts yield to sin.
Remember also we have noted that Satan was active during the time of the writing of the New Testament. That was also an age of miracles and confirmations of the word. Satan did gather all who would bow to him and there was a great battle which Jesus won. The battle is over and Satan is now being punished. To refute this argument one needs to show that the battle with Satan was not fought and won according to the scriptures. Quoting scriptures telling what Satan or the devil does is not proof of his existence now.
20:11 - I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was no place found for them.
As we have noted, the prophecy of Isaiah 65:17 and 66:22 refer to the New Heavens and New Earth. In Revelation 21:1 the new heaven and new earth were because the first heaven and earth had passed away. As we have noted Christ is Lord. It was through Christ that the old was completed and the new came into existence. A battle was necessary. Those who chose to worship vainly, were destroyed and the righteous remained.
20:12 - And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God.
This is the great judgment and no doubt this verse refers back to those who would be resurrected at the end of the 1000 years. This puts a time on the Judgment. It came at the end of the 1000 years.
Note Revelation 14:7-8 also places the judgment at the destruction of the city.
Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water." And another angel followed, saying, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."
Now what we see here is that the end of the 1000 years, the destruction of Jerusalem (Babylon) and the judgment all happen in the same time frame. They are all related.
The judgment could not come prior to all these happenings because all things were not in place and all prophecies were not fulfilled, but the victory did come. Christ is Lord and has won the victory over Satan. Revelation depicts the awaited time, the time when all could reach completion, be made perfect. Hebrews 11:39-40 has been noted several times. All could now receive the promise.
20:12 - the books and the book of life.
The books are the records and be assured there are records. God knows and each is judged according to his works, verse 13. There is also the Book of Life. It is here that those who have been faithful are found. These are the saved. It is God who make this determination although Paul speaks with confidence about Euodia and Syntyche being in the Book of Life, Philippians 15:2-3. Exodus 32:30-34 says:
Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses said to the people, "You have committed a great sin. So now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, "Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin -- but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written." And the Lord said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. Now therefore, go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to you. Behold, My Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit for punishment, I will visit punishment upon them for their sin."
In this passage of Revelation, the day comes. The Judgment was implemented. The books were opened and a full accounting was made.
20:13 The sea, Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them.
The sea - Revelation 15:2 -
And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God.
Sea is used a number of times in Revelation. It probably represents more than one thing depending on the context. In the passage above, it seems to be the trials and persecutions the faithful went through. They may well have suffered without dying a martyr's death. The sea could of course be something simple like those who died in the sea. In a book with such symbolism however, this seems unlikely. We have noted also that the sea could represent the barrier of access to God. Thus those in the sea would be those who sought God.
Death has previously been personified in Revelation 1:18, and 6:8. One should take this death to be the death brought on by sin, the dead in this place of death would be those who died in sin with no hope.
Hades is the place of the dead, the unknown realm of departed beings.
In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, both are in Hades, but the rich man is in torment while Lazarus rests in Abraham's bosom. This was the state of those awaiting the completion of God's plan. It was the waiting place until the promise could be fulfilled. All could now be judged.
If this happened at the end of the 1000 years and this was at the destruction of Jerusalem, does this mean that we are not judged now? No, of course it doesn't. They had to wait then because everything was not done. Now everything is done and so we can die an earthly death, and then receive according to our works without waiting. Can anyone give a biblical reason for us to wait after we die now? Everyone must answer honestly. One should not speak in circles saying we wait because the judgment hasn't come. That the judgment came is what the discussion is about. One simply cannot say that we await judgment because the Judgment has not come. This is not proof. Once again for emphasis, Matthew 24:29-31
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Does this passage refer to judgment? If so, it came in that generation, Matthew 24:34.
Matthew 16:27
For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.
Does this passage refer to judgment? If so, it came before some of those standing there died, verse 28.
And one more, Mark 8:38-9:1
"For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels." And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power."
20:14 Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire
They were no longer needed. The time for waiting was over. The lake of fire is the second death. If we so live as to be doomed, we will go to the lake of fire. If we are not found in the Book of Life, we will go the lake of fire, because we cannot live unless we are in this book.
We have taken the position that the 1000 years was over at the destruction of Jerusalem. This is necessary because of the short term references and because the events fit with the overall events which were part of the "harlot's" destruction. The start of the 1000 years is more difficult but both the short term at the end and the long term beginning just after Solomon's death are both viable explanations and should not effect the end.
Revelation Lesson 13 Chapter 20
QUESTIONS
1. Do Jude 1:5-7 and II Peter 2:4 shed any light on verses 1&2 of this chapter?
2. List all the references you can find about Satan or the Devil or Lucifer between the time of Solomon and Malachi 4:6. Can you draw any conclusions from this list?
3. Who or what was Satan prevented from deceiving and for how long?
4. Read Daniel chapter 7. Do you see any connection between Revelation 20 and Daniel 7? Explain.
5. What were the thrones in Daniel 7:9?
6. In Daniel 7, is the beast a person or a place or something else?
7. Who lived and reigned with Christ 1000 years? Did each one reign 1000 years?
8. When was the first resurrection according to Revelation 20:5?
9. What would happen to Satan at the end of the 1000 years? What would he do and what would finally happen to him?
10. What fled away in verse 11? In view of past studies, when did this happen?
11. What was the book of life and what was in it?
12. What happened to Death and Hades?
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