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Revelation 20

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An angel ties up Satan for a thousand years, and the faithful reign with Christ. Then Satan is let loose, loses one last battle, and is thrown into the lake of fire. The dead stand before a great white throne, and the books are opened.

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In this chapterThe Big Question · Christians disagreeThe Millennium · after verse 15 The Big Question · Christians disagreeIs Hell Forever? · after verse 15

Satan Bound

¹Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the Abyss, holding in his hand a great chain. ²He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. ³And he threw him into the Abyss, shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he could not deceive the nations until the thousand years were complete. After that, he must be released for a brief period of time.

REV 20:1[PROPHECY]An angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon... and bound him for a thousand years → STILL TO COME
REV 20:1[MIRACLE]Angel binds Satan for 1,000 years
REV 20:2[NOTE]A THOUSAND YEARS. See The Millennium pages.

⁴Then I saw the thrones, and those seated on them had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

REV 20:4[DEMONIC]Martyrs who refused the beast's image reign with Christ

⁵The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years were complete. This is the first resurrection. ⁶Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

Satan Cast into the Lake of Fire

⁷When the thousand years are complete, Satan will be released from his prison, ⁸and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to assemble them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the seashore.

REV 20:7[PROPHECY]When the 1,000 years have expired, Satan will be released; he will go out to deceive the nations → STILL TO COME
REV 20:8[ALLUDES TO]Refers to ← EZK 38:2
REV 20:8[NOTE]GOG AND MAGOG. From Ezekiel 38 to 39. Here they stand for all the nations that rebel.

⁹And they marched across the broad expanse of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them. ¹⁰And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, into which the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

REV 20:9[ALLUDES TO]Refers to ← 2KI 1:10; EZK 38:22; 39:6

Judgment before the Great White Throne

¹¹Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them. ¹²And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne.

REV 20:11[PROPHECY]I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it... the dead were judged according to their works... anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire → STILL TO COME

And books were opened, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books. ¹³The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds.

¹⁴Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death—the lake of fire. ¹⁵And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

REV 20:14[NOTE]THE SECOND DEATH. See Is Hell Forever?

The Big Question · Christians disagree

The Millennium

A Thousand Years

Revelation 20:1 to 10 · Isaiah 65:17 to 25 · 1 Corinthians 15:23 to 25

WHAT JOHN SAID: An angel binds Satan for a thousand years. Those who were beheaded for Jesus and did not worship the beast came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years, 20:4. This is the first resurrection. Then Satan is released, deceives the nations one last time, and is thrown into the lake of fire. The Latin word millennium means a thousand years.
THE EARLY CHURCH: Papias, Justin Martyr about AD 155, Irenaeus about 180 and Tertullian expected Christ to reign on earth a thousand years after His return. Justin said that was what right minded Christians believed, but admitted many true Christians thought otherwise.
A CHANGE: Origen and Dionysius of Alexandria in the 200s pushed back against the earthly kingdom. About AD 380 Tyconius, and then Augustine in City of God book 20, taught that the thousand years is now, the time of the church, with Satan bound so the gospel can spread. That became the main view in the Catholic and Orthodox churches and among Lutheran and Reformed Protestants.
A HOPEFUL VIEW: In the 1700s Daniel Whitby and Jonathan Edwards taught that the gospel would win the world first, bringing a long golden age before Christ returns. It ran strong through the revivals and missions of the 1800s.
A RETURN TO THE FUTURE: In the 1800s many returned to the early church's future kingdom, and John Nelson Darby's dispensational teaching made it popular among evangelicals, with a special place for Israel. The next page gives every view.

Every View · The Case Each Side Makes

Revelation 20:1 to 10 · Matthew 12:29 · John 5:25 to 29 · Psalm 110:1

PREMILLENNIAL: Christ returns before the thousand years and reigns on earth, then the final judgment. Historic premillennialists hold the early church's view; dispensational premillennialists add a rapture and a special future for Israel. Best case: chapter 20 follows Christ's return in chapter 19, and came to life in 20:4 sounds like a bodily resurrection.
AMILLENNIAL: No future earthly kingdom: the thousand years is a symbol for the whole time between Christ's first and second coming. Satan is bound now, Matthew 12:29, and the saints reign with Christ in heaven. Best case: Revelation is full of symbols, and the rest of the New Testament speaks of one return, one resurrection and one judgment, John 5:28 to 29.
POSTMILLENNIAL: The gospel will spread until most of the world is Christian, a long golden age, and then Christ returns. Best case: the mustard seed and the leaven, Matthew 13:31 to 33, and the great commission backed by all authority, Matthew 28:18 to 20.
WHO HOLDS THEM: Most early writers who mention it were premillennial. Most churches through history have been amillennial. Many American evangelicals are premillennial. The Catholic Catechism, 676, rejects any earthly kingdom before the end.
WHAT ALL SIDES AGREE ON: Jesus reigns now at God's right hand, Psalm 110:1. He will return in person. Satan is defeated and will be thrown into the lake of fire. The dead will be raised and judged. And God will make all things new.

The Big Question · Christians disagree

Is Hell Forever?

The Lake of Fire

Revelation 14:10 to 11 · 20:10 to 15 · 21:8 · Matthew 25:46 · Mark 9:48

WHAT JOHN SAID: The smoke of their torment rises forever and ever, 14:11. The devil, the beast and the false prophet will be tormented day and night forever and ever, 20:10. Death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire; this is the second death, 20:14. Anyone not found in the book of life is thrown in too, 20:15.
WORDS FOR HELL: Hades or Sheol is the place of the dead. Gehenna, the valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem, was where children had once been burned to Molech, Jeremiah 7:31; Jesus used it for final judgment, Mark 9:43 to 48. Revelation calls the end the lake of fire and the second death.
THE EARLY CHURCH: Most early writers taught endless punishment. Origen, in the 200s, hoped that in the end all, maybe even the devil, would be restored, and Gregory of Nyssa hoped so too. A council at Constantinople in AD 553 condemned Origen's teaching. Arnobius, about AD 300, thought the wicked would finally be destroyed.
AUGUSTINE TO TODAY: Augustine, City of God book 21, taught that hell is endless and conscious, and almost every church followed: Catholic, Orthodox and the Reformers.
MODERN DEBATE: In the 1800s and 1900s some evangelicals argued that the lost will be destroyed, not tormented forever: Edward Fudge, The Fire That Consumes, 1982, and John Stott, who said in 1988 that he held it tentatively. Seventh day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses also teach it. Some, like Rob Bell in Love Wins, 2011, revived the hope that all will be saved. The next page gives every view.

Every View · The Case Each Side Makes

Matthew 10:28 · Matthew 25:46 · 2 Thessalonians 1:9 · Colossians 1:20 · 1 Corinthians 15:22

ENDLESS CONSCIOUS PUNISHMENT: The lost suffer forever, aware of it, cut off from God's goodness. Held by most churches through history. Best case: Jesus puts eternal punishment right next to eternal life, Matthew 25:46, and Revelation says forever and ever, 14:11 and 20:10.
CONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY: Only God has immortality, and He gives eternal life to the saved; the lost are finally destroyed, body and soul, Matthew 10:28. The fire is eternal in its result, not in torment. Best case: the Bible's words are death, destruction and perish, John 3:16, and the lake of fire is called the second death, 20:14.
HOPE FOR ALL: In the end God will win back every person. Best case: as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive, 1 Corinthians 15:22; God will reconcile all things, Colossians 1:20; the city's gates are never shut, 21:25. Most churches reject it because of 14:11, 20:10 and Matthew 25:46.
PURGATORY IS DIFFERENT: Catholic teaching on purgatory is about believers being made clean before heaven, not about the lost escaping hell.
WHAT ALL SIDES AGREE ON: Judgment is real, and it is fair: each is judged by what he has done, 20:12. Hell is not God's wish for anyone, 2 Peter 3:9. Jesus took God's judgment on Himself so we would not have to. And the warning is meant to send us to Him now.

Revelation 20

Satan Bound

Satan Cast into the Lake of Fire

Judgment before the Great White Throne

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