20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
[1] {thousand years} The duration of the kingdom of heaven in its mediatorial form ¯ See Note "1Co 15:24"
20:3 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.
20:4 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.
20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This [is] the first resurrection.
[1] {first resurrection} The "resurrection of the just" is mentioned in # Lu 14:13,14 and the resurrection of "life" distinguished from the "resurrection unto damnation" in # Joh 5:20 We here learn for the first time what interval of time separates these two resurrections. ¯ See Note "1Co 15:52"
20:6 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.
20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
20:8 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.
20:9 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.
20:10 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.
[2] {devil} Satan, Summary: This fearful being, apparently created one of the cherubim ¯ See Note "Eze 1:5" ¯ See Note "Eze 28:12" and anointed for a position of great authority, perhaps over the primitive creation ¯ See Note "Ge 1:2" note 3; # Eze 28:11-15 fell through pride # Isa 14:12-14 His "I will" # Isa 14:13 marks the introduction of sin into the universe. Cast out of heaven # Lu 10:18 he makes earth and air the scene of his tireless activity # Eph 2:2 1Pe 5:8 After the creation of man he entered into the serpent ¯ See Note "Ge 3:1" and, beguiling Eve by his subtilty, secured the downfall of Adam and through him of the race, and the entrance of sin into the world of men # Ro 5:12-14 The Adamic Covenant ¯ See Note "Ge 3:14" promised the ultimate destruction of Satan through the "Seed of the woman." Then began his long warfare against the work of God in behalf of humanity, which still continues. The present world-system # Re 13:8 organized upon the principle of force, greed, selfishness, ambition, and sinful pleasure, is his work and was the bribe which he offered to Christ # Mt 4:8,9 Of that world-system he is prince # Joh 14:30 16:11 and god # 2Co 4:4 As "prince of the power of the air" # Eph 2:2 he is at the head of vast host of demons ¯ See Note "Mt 7:22" To him, under God, was committed upon earth the power of death # Heb 2:14 Cast out of heaven as his proper sphere and "first estate," he still has access to God as the "accuser of the brethren" # Re 12:10 and is permitted a certain power of sifting or testing the self- confident and carnal among believers # Job 1:6-11 Lu 22:31,32 1Co 5:5 1Ti 1:20 but this is strictly permissive and limited power, and believers so sifted are kept in faith through the advocacy of Christ # Lu 22:31,32 ¯ See Note "1Jo 2:1" At the beginning of the great tribulation Satan's privilege of access to God as accuser will be withdrawn # Re 12:7-12 At the return of Christ in glory Satan will be bound for one thousand years # Re 20:2 after which he will be "loosed for a little season" # Re 20:3,7,8 and will become the head of final effort to overthrow the kingdom. Defeated in this, he will be finally cast into the lake of fire, his final doom. The notion that he reigns in hell is Miltonic, not biblical. He is prince of this present world-system, but will be tormented in the lake of fire.
20:11 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.
[3] {great white throne} The expressions, "the judgment," or, "day of judgment," as the passages and their context show, refer to the final judgment of # Re 20:11-15
[4] {there was found no place for him} The "day of destruction" is that aspect of the day of Jehovah # Isa 2:12
¯ See Note "Re 19:19" (Summary) which visits final and eternal judgment upon the wicked. Three such "days" are included in the "day" of Jehovah, and are described in the references beginning with # Isa 34:1-9 ¯ See Note "Mt 25:32" # Re 20:11
20:12 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.
[1] {judged} The final judgment. The subjects are the "dead." As the redeemed were raised from among the dead one thousand years before (v. 5), and have been in glory with Christ during that period, the "dead" can only be the wicked dead, from the beginning to the setting up of the great white throne in space. As there are degrees of punishment # Lu 12:27,48 the dead are judged according to their works. the book of life is there to answer such as plead their works for justification, e.g. # Mt 7:22,23 an awful blank where the name might have been. The Judgments, Summary: Among the many judgments mentioned in Scripture, seven are invested with especial significance. These are: (1) The judgment of the Believer's sins in the cross of Christ ¯ See Note "Joh 12:31" (2) the believer's self-judgment ¯ See Note "1Co 11:31" (3) the judgment of the believers' works ¯ See Note "2Co 5:10" (4) the judgment of the nations at the return of Christ ¯ See Note "Mt 25:32" (5) the judgment of Israel at the return of Christ ¯ See Note "Eze 20:37" (6) the judgment of angels after the one thousand years ¯ See Note "Jude 1:6" and (7) the judgment of the wicked dead with which the history of the present earth ends.
20:13 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.
20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
