The Loosing of Satan - Part 1: When the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed.
Revelation chapter 20 covers the entire New Testament Era that began on the day Christ was crucified and the veil of the temple was rent in 33 A.D., and will end on the Last Day of the world. Through the teachings of Harold Camping, (who I began listening to in 1987), I came to understand that God imprisoned Satan in the bottomless pit on the day of Christ's crucifixion. I also came to understand that the purpose for his imprisonment was to allow the New Testament Church to grow and flourish with less interference from the powers of Satan. Revelation chapter 20 begins with the binding of Satan.
Rev 20 1-3: “1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 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.”
The angel with the key to the bottomless pit is the Lord Jesus; He holds the keys of hell and death, (Rev 1:18). He came down from heaven with a great chain in his hand and laid hold of Satan, and cast him into the bottomless pit where he is to be bound for a thousand years. I wondered why God used the adjective “great” to describe the chain that was used to bind Satan, and I found an interesting account in Mark chapter 5.
Mark 5:1-9 “And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains; because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces; neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion; for we are many.”
What impresses me about this account is that it gives us a glimpse of how powerful demons can be; that “no man could bind him, no, not with chains". But God has the power to bind Satan in chains in the bottomless pit because Satan is completely subservient to the will God. Anything that Satan has ever been able to do in the history of the world was possible only because God allowed it. We know that Satan is the bitter enemy of God and of God's kingdom. In the book of Genesis we read about the enmity that would exist between Satan and the seed of the woman.
Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
The seed of the woman that would bruise the head of Satan is the Lord Jesus. The head is the most important part of the body, whereas the heel is the least important. It would be in 33 A.D. that Satan's head would be bruised and the pinicle moment when Satan would be cast and chained into the bottomless pit for a thousand years, which signifies the purpose for a complete number of years.
Moving onto verses 4 through 6, we read:
Rev 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. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 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.”
In verse 4, John sees thrones and they that sat upon them, and souls that were beheaded. A distinction is being made here between those that are sitting on the thrones, and the souls of those that were beheaded. Those who are sitting on thrones are ruling over something. The souls of them that were beheaded are souls of true believers that have already died and are living in their soul existence. Both those who are sitting on thrones and those who are living in their soul existence, are living and reining with Christ for the thousand years that Satan in chained in the bottomless pit. But who are “the rest of the dead” that are mentioned in verse 5? We know that that they are being classified as “dead” and it says that they “lived not again” until the 1,000 years has come to its conclusion. We know that God separates people into only two categories; the saved and the unsaved; the sheep and the goats; the wheat and tares, etc. Therefore now we can conclude that there are two categories of people that are being described in this passage; Those that will live and reign with Christ for 1,000 years, which are the Elect of God, and "the rest of the dead”. It is very important to notice that this passage tells us that "the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." In other words, God is telling us here that when the thousand years are finished, "the rest of the dead" will live again. The passage then goes on to tell us; "this is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power."
Moving on to verses 7 and 8 we read;
Rev 20:7-8 "And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 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."
This passage gives us 2 reasons why Satan is loosed from his prison; #1. "To decieve the nations of the earth." and #2. "To gather them together to battle". But what does deceiving the nations of the earth have to do with gathering people to battle? I will try to answer this question in Part 2 of this study. May God richly bless you and I pray that the Lord will continue to open our spiritual eyes.
Rev 20 1-3: “1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 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.”
The angel with the key to the bottomless pit is the Lord Jesus; He holds the keys of hell and death, (Rev 1:18). He came down from heaven with a great chain in his hand and laid hold of Satan, and cast him into the bottomless pit where he is to be bound for a thousand years. I wondered why God used the adjective “great” to describe the chain that was used to bind Satan, and I found an interesting account in Mark chapter 5.
Mark 5:1-9 “And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains; because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces; neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion; for we are many.”
What impresses me about this account is that it gives us a glimpse of how powerful demons can be; that “no man could bind him, no, not with chains". But God has the power to bind Satan in chains in the bottomless pit because Satan is completely subservient to the will God. Anything that Satan has ever been able to do in the history of the world was possible only because God allowed it. We know that Satan is the bitter enemy of God and of God's kingdom. In the book of Genesis we read about the enmity that would exist between Satan and the seed of the woman.
Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
The seed of the woman that would bruise the head of Satan is the Lord Jesus. The head is the most important part of the body, whereas the heel is the least important. It would be in 33 A.D. that Satan's head would be bruised and the pinicle moment when Satan would be cast and chained into the bottomless pit for a thousand years, which signifies the purpose for a complete number of years.
Moving onto verses 4 through 6, we read:
Rev 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. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 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.”
In verse 4, John sees thrones and they that sat upon them, and souls that were beheaded. A distinction is being made here between those that are sitting on the thrones, and the souls of those that were beheaded. Those who are sitting on thrones are ruling over something. The souls of them that were beheaded are souls of true believers that have already died and are living in their soul existence. Both those who are sitting on thrones and those who are living in their soul existence, are living and reining with Christ for the thousand years that Satan in chained in the bottomless pit. But who are “the rest of the dead” that are mentioned in verse 5? We know that that they are being classified as “dead” and it says that they “lived not again” until the 1,000 years has come to its conclusion. We know that God separates people into only two categories; the saved and the unsaved; the sheep and the goats; the wheat and tares, etc. Therefore now we can conclude that there are two categories of people that are being described in this passage; Those that will live and reign with Christ for 1,000 years, which are the Elect of God, and "the rest of the dead”. It is very important to notice that this passage tells us that "the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." In other words, God is telling us here that when the thousand years are finished, "the rest of the dead" will live again. The passage then goes on to tell us; "this is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power."
Moving on to verses 7 and 8 we read;
Rev 20:7-8 "And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 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."
This passage gives us 2 reasons why Satan is loosed from his prison; #1. "To decieve the nations of the earth." and #2. "To gather them together to battle". But what does deceiving the nations of the earth have to do with gathering people to battle? I will try to answer this question in Part 2 of this study. May God richly bless you and I pray that the Lord will continue to open our spiritual eyes.
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