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| Photo of Jon Tracy, by Jim Tracy |
1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in His hand.
The Bottomless Pit is Hell.
Angel is a collective noun.
Key= authority.
Chain= binding element.
So, a collective or group of ministering spirits with the authority of casting into Hell came to bind.
2 And He laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound Him a thousand years,
This is the Greek word for “Thousand,” not one thousand or two thousand. In other words, a long, unspecified period of time.
This chapter is the ONLY place in all of scripture that speaks of a Millennial Reign (millennial being latin for thousand) Being a symbolic book, this is symbolic of something, not an exact number.
There are many different interpretations of this scripture, the most common being that sometime in our future there will be a great physical war with Jesus leading the troops of good to victory from the back of a white horse. Then all the living righteous will help him rule for 1,000 years followed by another big war with Satan and a Time when he wins, conquering the planet and persecuting the church. Then Jesus will come back and everyone goes to heaven. Or something like that.
This interpretation begin in the mid 1800s under a minister named Darby. His most prominent student was Schofield who wrote a verse by verse commentary on the Bible that spelled this entire interpretation out. I find it significant that this is the same time when Mormonism, evolution, socialism, communism and many many other false teachings also began.
Up until now Revelation has been mostly chronological order, detailing the persecution of the church and the fall of Jerusalem followed by the fall of Rome. Why would that change now?
After Rome fell there was a time that we refer to as the Middle Ages. During this time the majority of royalty and church leaders and The peasants under them tried their best to serve God. They certainly weren't perfect about it, being fallible human beings and all, but they tried. This time period Lasted about 1200 years.
The Middle ages ended in the Renaissance and Reformation during which time All of Humanity was focused on as the most important thing in the universe. This brief time was followed by "The Enlightenment," a self-created title by those involved in the movement. This movement said that there wasn't really a God or if there was He had nothing to do with humanity after He created them; that everything that came before was dark (thus calling "The Middle Ages" the "Dark Ages") and depressed by evil religion. "Look at how much more enlightened we are we don't believe in a God."
3 And cast Him (Satan) 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.
I believe this is the Middle Ages.
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 worshiped 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.
The beast is Rome, the image Israel in previous chapters. These would be those killed in persecution in the mid-first century. They live and reign with Christ for “thousand” years; The church age.
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Jesus is the first resurrection. Those who are not spiritually resurrected won’t reign/aren’t reigning with Him, won’t live again until His return at the end of the Church Age, the Great White Throne Judgement.
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.
The first resurrection is Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:5, Acts 26:23, Colossians 1:18, 1 Corinthians 15:20) The second death is hell. Hell has no power over those that have a part in Christ.
The fact that it numbers this resurrection as “the first” means there will be at least one more resurrection, but this is the ONLY place in scripture that speaks of two resurrections, and all the other places speak of the saved and unsaved rising at the same time, while here is speaks of a 1000 year gap between the two. There are plenty of places, however, that speak of salvation as a "rising from death."
So "the first resurrection" is salvation while the second is the bodily one that will come at the end of time, when Jesus has His bodily return and the universe is remade.
Similarly, the fact that this mentions “the second death,” means there has to be a “first death.” That first death is the result of Adam’s sin- both the “physical cease functioning of the human body” and the "spiritual separation from God" (the two can’t really be separated. If you are separated from God, you die. It’s only His mercy that keeps us breathing long enough to find Him). The second death is the sentencing to hell and it never ends; you die for eternity.
7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of His prison,
This whole book repeats “shortly come to pass” over and over. This is the only place in the Bible to mention “1000 year reign” and it is the most symbolic book of all. This is VERY likely symbolic number.
“The Bible informs us that God shows His mercy to a 1000 generations (Exodus 20:6) which does not imply the 1001st generation receives no mercy.
The Lord promises to make Israel a 1000 times more numerous than they were in Moses’ day (Deuteronomy 1:11) which does not set an upper limit on their growth potential.
The Lord even claims the cattle on 1000 hills (Psalms 50:10) but nowhere suggests that the cattle on the other millions of hills in the earth belong to someone else.
Nor may we assume that a day in God’s heavenly courts is better than only 1000 (Psalms 84:10) but not one day more.
And surely we would not calculate time gradually accumulating wear and tear on God as 1000 years becomes one day of God’s time (2 Peter 3:8) but 2000 years doubles the impact on Him to two days, and so on.
“Thousand" simply means “A Whole Lot ”
The Middle Ages lasted 1000-1200 years, depending on when you think it started and exactly ended. If Satan was loosed in the Enlightenment (1715-1789), and is fixing to be bound again, that would be around 300 years. Certainly a "short time" in the grand scheme of things. During that time we have seen mysticism grow and take over the "elites" as a fashion, evolution, Marxism, communism, socialism (all names for the same basic idea), fascisms (which look an awful lot like socialism), racism which led to the African slave trade beginning in the 15th century but really taking off in the 1700's, materialism, and a bunch of other "isms" grow and capture peoples minds. Isn't this what it would look like if Satan was trying to conquer the planet?
8 And (Satan) 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.
The study of Daniel told us Gog and Magog was the Syrian empire, in other words, the Euphrates region where most of the troops from AD70 came from. So devil released to bring armies against God's people?
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.
Prophecy of now? God is fixing to send fire from heaven to destroy the socialists?
“Them” who? The armies or “the camp of the saints and the beloved city?”
The saints went to Pella. Romans appeared to have never marched into that region, only bothering the west side of Jordon.
Or are we “compassed about” right now? This being during all of the church age, the Church being the beloved city now?
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.
Hell; Final punishment for Satan and all who persecuted Christians through our history.
The End
Chapter divisions were not added until the 1700’s. I believe a new chapter should begin here.
The evil Jews, Roman Empire, Nero, and Satan have been thrown into Hell.
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.
God on His throne. You can’t run from God.
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.
We are actually being judged right now. How we live today decides our final destinations. But there is coming a time when the sentencing will be handed out; a time when we will be told our final destination and sent there.
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.
All the dead will stand before God.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
The first death is when we rebel against God and sin. We die spiritually.
The second death is when our bodies quit functioning. This is only a temporary state for believers, but an unending one for the sinner.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the Book Of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
All who are not saved will die eternally.