Revelation 20:2

Revelation 20:2

Satan Bound 1,000 Years

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, ^ahaving the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

2 He laid hold of ^athe dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;

3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and ^aset a seal on him, ^bso that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

The Saints Reign with Christ 1,000 Years

4 And I saw ^athrones, and they sat on them, and ^bjudgment was committed to them. Then I saw ^cthe souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, ^dwho had not worshiped the beast ^eor his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they ^flived and ^greigned with Christ for a thousand years.

5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such ^athe second death has no power, but they shall be ^bpriests of God and of Christ, ^cand shall reign with Him a thousand years.

Satanic Rebellion Crushed

7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison

8 and will go out ^ato deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, ^bGog and Magog, ^cto gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.

9 ^aThey went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.

10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone ^awhere the beast and the false prophet are. And they ^bwill be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The Great White Throne Judgment

11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face ^athe earth and the heaven fled away. ^bAnd there was found no place for them.

12 And I saw the dead, ^asmall and great, standing before¹ God, ^band books were opened. And another ^cbook was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged ^daccording to their works, by the things which were written in the books.

Commentaries:

Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)

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He laid hold on (ekrathsen). First aorist active indicative of kratew, to seize.

The dragon (ton drakonta). Accusative after ekrathsen instead of the genitive as in Revelation 2:1. He has been behind the beast and the false prophet from the start. Now he is seized.

The old serpent (o ofiv o arxaiov). Precisely the description in Revelation 12:9, only the nominative is here retained, though in apposition with the accusative ton drakonta, a frequent anacoluthon in the Apocalypse (Revelation 1:5, etc.). Swete calls it a parenthesis.

Which is (ov estin). The relative here relieves the construction and takes the place of o kaloumenov in Revelation 12:9 before Diabolov kai o Satanav.

And bound him (kai edhsen auton). First aorist active indicative of dew.

For a thousand years (xilia eth). Accusative of extent of time. Here we confront the same problem found in the 1260 days. In this book of symbols how long is a thousand years? All sorts of theories are proposed, none of which fully satisfy one. Perhaps Peter has given us the only solution open to us in II Peter 3:8 when he argues that "one day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day." It will help us all to remember that God's clock does not run by ours and that times and seasons and programs are with him. This wonderful book was written to comfort the saints in a time of great trial, not to create strife among them.

**Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing Revelation 20:2:**

Revelation 2:13
Revelation 11:18
Revelation 12:3
Revelation 12:9
Revelation 20:7
Revelation 20:7
Revelation 20:10

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Revelation 20:3 >>

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