Have you ever put together a jigsaw puzzle? Puzzles come in many shapes and sizes and have varying degrees of difficulty. Young children begin with those large wooden cut-out puzzles with only about ten pieces, but as they grow up they can progress to the novice 100 piece puzzle, the moderate 500 piece puzzle, and eventually tackle the challenging 1000 piece puzzle. But how many of you have ever tried the most difficult of all puzzles—the dreaded double-sided jigsaw puzzle? These puzzles have different pictures on opposite sides of the puzzle pieces. Revelation 20:1-6 is like a double-sided jigsaw puzzle. It is complicated, challenging, and confusing at times. Many able people have attempted to interpret this passage, but no one has solved this puzzle without problems. It presents us with a picture of the millennium—the 1000 year reign of Christ, and it is the most debated part of the Book of Revelation.
Throughout the ages, biblical scholars have tried to put this puzzle together three different ways. These views are represented by the terms: Premillennialism, Amillennialism, and Postmillennialism. Premillennialists believe that when Christ returns to earth, he will literally establish his kingdom on earth, and physically rule for a thousand years, and everyone will experience peace and righteousness. This view was predominant in the early church and is held by most Baptist, Pentecostal, and non-denominational churches today.
Amillennialists believe that there is no actual reign of Christ on earth, but the 1000 years is a symbol for Christ’s reign from the time of his resurrection until his triumphant return. This would mean that we are living in the millennium right now. This was the leading view throughout the middle ages and is held by most Presbyterian, Congregational, Anglican, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic churches today.
Postmillennialists believe that the kingdom of God is being extended through, preaching, evangelism, and missionary activities. The whole world is to be evangelized and will result in a long period of peace and prosperity called the millennium, and afterwards Christ will return. The kingdom of God is viewed as a present reality rather than a future event. This view was popular during the American Great Awakenings, but almost no one holds this view today.
So, which one of these views is correct? Well, like a two-sided jigsaw puzzle, the final picture of the millennium depends on which way you turn up the pieces at the beginning. And in this case, it depends on whether the 1000 year reign of Christ is meant to be understood literally or figuratively? A literal interpretation leads to a premillennial view; a figurative interpretation leads to an amillennial view.
Personally, I believe that a figurative interpretation of this passage makes better sense biblically and historically. Therefore, I hold to the amillennial view, and that is the view that I am going to present to you today. I know that a number of you have been taught and believe the premillennial view, and that is fine, I would just ask that you keep an open mind about it. Well, now that we have turned the pieces over, let’s see if we can put some of this millennial puzzle together!
The Binding of Satan (1-3)
The passage begins with John seeing another angel coming down out of heaven. He is holding the key to the abyss in one hand and a large chain in the other hand. Both of these items are symbols of God’s power and authority. Just as a police officer would carry a pair of handcuffs to bind a criminal and a key to lock him up in a prison cell, so the angel is given authority to bind Satan and lock him up in the abyss which is a spiritual holding cell or a prison for demonic spirits.
“The key of the abyss” is probably the same as “the key of death and of Hades,” which Christ holds in Ch. 1 because he has overcome death through his resurrection (1:18). There the “keys” figuratively connote Christ’s sovereignty over the realm of the dead. The same “keys” are referred to in Ch. 3 to show that Christ has authority not only to raise the dead at the end of the age but also to impart spiritual life in the present age. Likewise, “the key of the shaft of the abyss” in Ch. 9 represents God’s ultimate authority over demonic powers dwelling in the realm of death (9:1-2).
What does this binding of Satan actually mean? Some people interpret the binding and sealing as a complete incapacitation where Satan cannot do anything, but that is not what the passage says. It does not say that he is restrained from all evil, but he is restrained from deceiving the nations any longer. The devil is not able to deceive the nations about the truth of God during the millennium the way that he formerly did.
Throughout the millennial period Satan’s sinister operations are still being carried out through his evil henchmen, the beast and the false prophet, the other two demonic spirits who make up the antichristian trinity, and all of the other demons who are loose on the earth. Satan is like a mob boss who has been physically incarcerated, but even behind bars he still directs the actions of his agents and wields incredible influence on the outside.
Let’s think about this historically for a minute. Specifically, let’s think about the difference between the Old Testament and New Testament. How many nations knew about the one true God and the coming Messiah in the Old Testament? Only one, Israel! Before Jesus’ resurrection, Satan had the ability to directly deceive individuals and whole nations away from the true God, but Christ’s resurrection restrained Satan from directly deceiving the nations.
And what do we see in the New Testament? Christ’s resurrection has broken Satan’s hold over the world. The gospel is going out to the nations! Therefore, seeing the millennium as the period between Christ’s resurrection and return makes the most sense.
Let me see if I can summarize this for you! When Jesus rose from the dead he began his millennial reign in heaven and the church age on earth. He restrained Satan’s ability to deceive the nations as he did in the Old Testament. Now throughout the church age the gospel is spread throughout the world. This will continue until the end times when God releases Satan and allows him to deceive the nations again for a short period of time. After this, he will be thrown into the lake of fire and will be tormented forever.
There are two implications of this that I would like to highlight for you. First, while Satan’s deceptive power is limited, we have an incredible opportunity to share the gospel with the nations, starting with the people in our personal circles of influence. Second, we must always be ready for Satan’s release from prison. Even though we don’t know exactly when, the day is coming when he will personally try to deceive the world again.
The Reigning of the Saints (4-6)
In verse 4 the focus shifts from what has taken place in the Abyss to what has happened in heaven as a result of the binding of Satan. John sees thrones in heaven and seated on them were the souls of faithful Christians who had suffered and died. The Christians who suffered on earth are vindicated by coming to life and sitting on thrones in heaven, which are symbols of authority and rule. He sees only their souls because they have not yet received their glorified bodies, which they will receive when Christ’s kingdom is consummated at the end of the millennium.
These saints who are ruling with Christ in heaven are described as those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. This is a metaphor for Christians who have remained faithful to Jesus Christ despite persecution and suffering on earth. They are described further as the ones who had not worshipped the beast and has not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. This is a metaphor for remaining faithful to Jesus despite temptation and pressure to adopt the values of the Satan-influenced world. This is called the first resurrection, and it protects believers from the second death, which is a reference to judgment and hell. On the other hand, “The rest of the dead” refers to unbelievers who have died during the church age. They will experience their resurrection when Jesus returns to earth. He will bring them back to life to face final judgment and punishment in hell.
So, when faithful Christians die, they experience an immediate spiritual resurrection and will reign with Christ in heaven. At the end of the millennium, these faithful saints will transition from their present state of reigning to their consummated state of serving Christ and reigning with him forever.
When unbelievers die during the church age, they are held in an intermediate state. At the end of the millennium, they will be physically resurrected and brought to judgment. Then they will experience the second death by being cast into the lake of burning sulfur. These two end results ought to make us think seriously our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, as I mentioned earlier, Revelation 20:1-6 is complicated, challenging, and can be confusing, but I hope that as a result of our time today, you can see at least one side of the millennial puzzle a little clearer!