The "thousand years" mentioned six times in Revelation 20:1-7 relate to the limitations which God imposed upon Satan throughout the Christian age and have no reference at all to the so-called "millennium" of popular fancy. For what can move him in whom the visible glory of the Church, while the influence of evil is restrained, evokes no longing for communion with the Church's King? We'll send you an email with steps on how to reset your password. thousand years--As seven mystically implies universality, so a thousand implies perfection, whether in good or evil [AQUINAS on ch. earth and heaven fled away--The final conflagration, therefore, precedes the general judgment. . Death and Hades, as personified representatives of the enemies of Christ' and His Church, are said to be cast into the lake of fire to express the truth that Christ and His people shall never more die, or be in the state of disembodied spirits. Revelation 20:1-15 . Man created "to have dominion over earth" is to rejoice over his world with unmixed, holy joy. white--the emblem of purity and justice. The woman's bringing forth is followed by the casting of the dr… 1. And he laid hold on the dragon — With whom undoubtedly his angels were now cast into the bottomless pit, as well as finally "into everlasting fire," Matthew 25:41. Revelation 20 is the twentieth chapter of the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible.The book is traditionally attributed to John the Apostle, but the precise identity of the author remains a point of academic debate. for--Greek, "for the sake of"; on account of"; "because of." The rights which Rome as a harlot usurped, shall be exercised in holiness by the Bride. In hell the ancient form of death, which was one of the enemies destroyed by Christ, shall not continue, but a death of a far different kind reigns there, "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord": an abiding testimony of the victory of Christ. As the bliss of these is eternal, so the woe of Satan and the lost must be. Christ will reign with His transfigured saints over men in the flesh [AUBERLEN]. hands--Greek, "forehead . The 1,000 years symbolically represent an era of full victory for Christian people. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a … This text is the most controversial in the book of Revelation, and interpreters debate the credibility of various millennial views. As the history of the world of nations ended with the manifestation of the Church in visible glory, so that of mankind in general shall end with the great separation of the just from the wicked ( Revelation 20:12 ) [AUBERLEN]. As sin loses its power, decay and death will decrease [AUBERLEN]. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a … Contrast "hateful" in Babylon ( Revelation 18:2 , Deuteronomy 32:15 , Septuagint). Calvin, though, was an amil, and Dutch Calvinism, after a postmil start, has tended to be amil. 2. As the Church began at Christ's ascension, so the kingdom shall begin at His second advent. Proud member
The glory of the transfigured saints shall be felt by men in the flesh with the same consciousness of blessing as on the Mount of Transfiguration the three disciples experienced in witnessing the glory of Jesus, and of Moses and Elias, when Peter exclaimed, "It is good for us to be here"; in 2 Peter 1:16-18 , the Transfiguration is regarded as the earnest of Christ's coming in glory. When He has done that, He shall give it up.to the Father, "that God may be all in all," coming into direct communion with His creatures, without intervention of a Mediator, for the first time since the fall. The books of God's remembrance, alike of the evil and the good ( Psalms 56:8 , 139:4 , Malachi 3:16 ): conscience ( Romans 2:15 Romans 2:16 ), the word of Christ ( John 12:48 ), the law ( Galatians 3:10 ), God's eternal counsel ( Psalms 139:16 ). We'll send you an email with steps on how to reset your password. . of
These will be the subjects of a general conversion ( Revelation 11:15 ). For "quarters" the Greek is "corners." "In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bare … Revelation 20 – Satan, Sin and Death are Finally Eliminated A. Satan bound for a thousand years. General Comments on Revelation Revelation - Overview and Flow of the Book Go to Revelation Chapters 1-5 Go to Revelation Chapters 6-10 Go to Revelation Chapters 11-15 Go to Revelation Chapters 16-19 Appreciation - Many thoughts and references are … But works are appreciable by all. for ever and ever--Greek, "to the ages of the ages.". This is the humiliation of the modern civilized nations, that nations which they despise most, Jews and uncivilized barbarians, the negro descendants of Ham who from the curse of Noah have been so backward, Cush and Sheba, shall supplant and surpass them as centers of the world's history (compare Deuteronomy 32:21 , Romans 10:19 , 11:20 , &c.). But A omits the words. But ANDREAS omits "the.". The godly who were transfigured and reigned with Christ during it, shall also be present, not indeed to have their portion assigned as if for the first time (for that shall have been fixed long before, John 5:24 ), but to have it confirmed for ever, and that God's righteousness may be vindicated in the case of both the saved and the lost, in the presence of an assembled universe. The millennial reign on earth does not rest on an isolated passage of the Apocalypse, but all Old Testament prophecy goes on the same view (compare Isaiah 4:3 , 11:9 , 35:8 ). The Jews are our teachers even in New Testament times. "The veil" shall be taken off Israel first, then from off "all people." Skip from the Verse-by-Verse commentary on Revelation to Who is Modern, Prophetic Babylon?. Fundamentalism of the last 150 years has tended to be premil. 3. shut him--A, B, Vulgate, Syriac, and ANDREAS omit "him." beheaded--literally, "smitten with an axe"; a Roman punishment, though crucifixion, casting to beasts, and burning, were the more common modes of execution. A surer seal to keep him from getting out than his seal over Jesus in the tomb of Joseph, which was burst on the resurrection morn. 4, 5. they sat--the twelve apostles, and the saints in general. and--so Coptic and ANDREAS. This harvest from Christ to the beheaded dead constitutes "the first resurrection." Gog is by some connected with a Hebrew root, "covered." From Revelation 6:9 , I infer that "souls" is here used in the strict sense of spirits disembodied when first seen by John; though doubtless "souls" is often used in general for persons, and even for dead bodies. 2. that old--ancient serpent ( Revelation 12:9 ). From the series of the whole book, representing one continued chain of events. again--A, B, Vulgate, Coptic, and ANDREAS omit it. . d. in his commentary on The Book of Revelation, New International Commentary Series, Robert H. Mounce, says, "Judging from the amount of attention given by many writers to the first ten verses of chapter 20, one would judge it to be the single most important segment of the book of Revelation. 1. A and Vulgate omit it. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. Revelation 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. A new time of revelation will begin by the outpouring of the fulness of the Spirit. Satan is bound, but not destroyed, and released after a thousand years of peace and righteousness. Men will be willing subjects of the transfigured priest-kings, in the day of the Lord's power. The millennial new heaven and earth are but a foretaste of this everlasting state when the upper and lower congregations shall be no longer separate, though connected as in the millennium, and when new Jerusalem shall descend from God out of heaven. "When Christianity became a worldly power under Constantine, the hope of the future was weakened by the joy over present success" [BENGEL]. Please enter your email address associated with your Salem All-Pass account, then click Continue. Salem Media Group. The privilege of "our high calling in Christ" is limited to the present time of Satan's reign; when he is bound, there will be no scope for suffering for, and so afterwards reigning with, Him ( Revelation 3:21 ; compare Note, in the present age and in the pale of the Christian Church who does not also reign with Christ hereafter, the necessary preliminary to which is suffering with Christ now. But the literal sense need hardly be departed from: all the different regions wherein the bodies and souls of men had been, gave them up. Revelation 20:6(NASB) Verse Thoughts. Click here to download Revelation 20 Keynote presentation: https://www.icloud.com/keynote/0g9pPTCZnvSDEhf7-VvVrfpYQ#Revelation_20Click here to … The New Testament Church insists on inward renewal, but leaves its outward manifestations free. SATAN BOUND, AND THE FIRST-RISEN SAINTS REIGN WITH CHRIST, A THOUSAND YEARS; SATAN LOOSED, GATHERS THE NATIONS, GOG AND MAGOG, ROUND THE CAMP OF THE SAINTS, AND IS FINALLY CONSIGNED TO THE LAKE OF FIRE; THE GENERAL RESURRECTION AND LAST JUDGMENT. Compare Psalms 49:11-15 . Perhaps we ought to translate, ". The resurrection of the body is a blessed biblical truth, that is often overlooked or misunderstood. opened--( Daniel 7:10 ). The flower of Shem, the representative of spiritual life, is Israel, even as the flower of Israel is He in whom all mankind is summed up, the second Adam ( Genesis 12:1-3 ). the beast and the false prophet are--( Revelation 19:20 ). A tradition in the house of Elias, A.D. 200, states that the world is to endure six thousand years; two thousand before the law, two thousand under the law, and two thousand under Messiah. This also accords with 1 Corinthians 15:23 , "They that are Christ's at His coming." neither--"not yet." In 1 Corinthians 15:23 1 Corinthians 15:51 , 1 Thessalonians 4:14 we find that all "in Christ" shall share in it. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. The living are not specially mentioned: as these all shall probably first (before the destruction of the ungodly, Revelation 20:9 ) be transfigured, and caught up with the saints long previously transfigured; and though present for the confirmation of their justification by the Judge, shall not then first have their eternal state assigned to them, but shall sit as assessors with the Judge. So Revelation 1:7 , Greek, "and the which," or "and such as," particularizes prominently among the general class those that follow in the description [TREGELLES]. Heretofore Christ's Prophetical mediation had been prominent in His earthly ministry, His Priestly mediation is prominent now in heaven between His first and second advents, and His Kingly shall be so during the millennium and at the general judgment. Postmillennialists maintain Christ will return after a long period of blessing on earth, hence the prefix post, meaning “after”: Christ will come after the millennium. 1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. As before he ceased by Christ's ascension to be an accuser in heaven, so during the millennium he ceases to be the seducer and the persecutor on earth. Chapter 20: The Binding of Satan; the Millennial Kingdom of Elohim on Earth; the Final Judgment. The papacy is a false anticipation of the kingdom during the Church-historical period. He will not be, as now, "the god and prince of the world"--nor will the world "lie in the wicked one"--the flesh will become ever more isolated and be overcome. This is the second death--"the lake of fire" is added in A, B, and ANDREAS. Rather, the Son, to whom "the Father hath committed all judgment." The tendency of many interpreters at this point is to become apologists for a particular … Their power is that of attraction, winning the heart, and not counteracted by devil or beast. John tells us that, instead of the devil, the transfigured Church of Christ; Daniel, that instead of the heathen beast, the holy Israel, shall rule the world [AUBERLEN]. Paul was beheaded, and no doubt shall share the first resurrection, in accordance with his prayer that he "might attain unto the resurrection from out of the rest of the dead" (Greek, "exanastasis"). reigned with Christ--over the earth. 15. If we fail to lay hold of the crown, we lose all, "the gift of grace as well as the reward of service" [DE BURGH]. Compare Matthew 25:31 Matthew 25:32 Matthew 25:40 , "these My brethren." 12. the dead--"the rest of the dead" who did not share the first resurrection, and those who died during the millennium. Ezekiel's Gog and Magog come from the north, but those here come "from the four corners of the earth." He had thought to destroy God's people on earth by Antichristian persecutions (just as he had thought previously to destroy Christ); but the Church is not destroyed from the earth but is raised to rule over it, and Satan himself is shut up for a thousand years in the "abyss" (Greek for "bottomless pit"), the preparatory prison to the "lake of fire," his final doom. The wicked who had died from the time of Adam to Christ's second advent, and all the righteous and wicked who had died during and after the millennium, shall then have their eternal portion assigned to them. Besides the general book recording the works of all, there is a special book for believers in which their names are written, not for their works, but for the work of Christ for, and in, them. Out of seven years every seventh is the year of remission, so out of the seven thousand years of the world the seventh millenary shall be the millenary of remission. Revelation 20:1-15. Ἡ πρώτη, the first) Many, even of the ancients, have admitted this first resurrection. Becoming a harlot, the Church ceased to be a bride going to meet her Bridegroom; thus millennial hopes disappeared. Next shall be those who have not bowed to the world power, but have looked to the things unseen and eternal. Regardless of what others may teach about this abyss, Scripture is not perfectly clear about what this place is. John saw them not only when restored to life, but when in the act of reviving [BENGEL]. where--so Coptic. of the [holy] land." Chapter 22: More Details about Life in New Jerusalem; the Conclusion of Yahovah’s Endtime Prophetic Word. book of life--( Revelation 3:5 , 13:8 , 21:27 , Exodus 32:32 Exodus 32:33 , Psalms 69:28 , Daniel 12:1 , Philippians 4:3 ). The whole Bible. Then shall our present defective governments give place to perfect governments in both Church and State. Please enter your email address associated with your Salem All-Pass account, then click Continue. The guillotine in revolutionary France was a revival of the mode of capital punishment of pagan imperial Rome. Revelation 20:6 What Does Revelation 20:6 Mean? Compiled & Edited by BibleStudyTools Staff, Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Complete), California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Christ sets up the millennial kingdom, followed by the final rebellion, and the great white throne judgement. Dispensational premillennialists take it a step further and teach that God has a plan for Israel that is separate from the Church. lake of fire--his final doom: as "the bottomless pit" ( Revelation 20:1 ) was his temporary prison. Satan shall not be permitted to enter this Paradise regained, to show the perfect security of believers, unlike the first Adam whom Satan succeeded in robbing of Paradise; and shall, like Pharaoh at the Rod Sea, receive in this last attempt his final doom. day and night--figurative for without intermission ( Revelation 22:5 ), such as now is caused by night interposing between day and day. Electing grace has singled them out from the general mass. hand." Christ, with Almighty power, will keep the devil from deceiving mankind as he has hitherto done. Even nature and the animal world will share in the millennial blessedness. He never wants power and instruments to break the power of Satan. Chapter 21: New Jerusalem Descends to The New Heaven and New Earth . the books . Introduction The events of chapter 20 logically follow those of chapter 19. to battle--Greek, "to the war," in A and B. It was reached by a chasm reaching down into the earth and this the angel locks in order to keep the Devil in the abyss. At the end of chapter 19, Christ had returned to utterly destroy all those who had opposed Him. Jesus, while opposing the carnal views of the kingdom of God prevalent among the Jews in His day, does not contradict, but confirms, the Old Testament view of a coming, earthly, Jewish kingdom of glory: beginning from within, and spreading itself now spiritually, the kingdom of God shall manifest itself outwardly at Christ's coming again. Compare "We must ALL appear," &c. Romans 14:10 , 2 Corinthians 5:10 . The saints having been first pronounced just themselves by Christ out of "the book of life," shall sit as assessors of the Judge. 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