Wednesday, November 13, 2019

The Coming Kingdom of God-Revelation 20:1-6


Historically, kings and kingdoms have been a mainstay in the consciousness of the world population. Though some rulers and regimes proved inspired and inspiring (Israel under David, King Arthur and Camelot) others were disappointing and tyrannical (Ahab and King George at the time of our nation’s founding). Though world kingdoms differ in size and scale, style and sovereignty, they share something in common: they are imperfect and led by imperfect people. This is not so with what replaces the evil regime of the Antichrist following the tribulation. In Revelation 20:1-6 we read a lengthy description of an often-debated period of history—the millennial kingdom. While the minutia of this coming empire might prove complex, what it will reveal about God is simple and profound. Today we are going to examine TWO ELEMENTS of the millennial kingdom as described in Revelation 20:1-6 and learn what this coming age says about our great and awesome God.

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1. The Preparation of the Millennial Kingdom-20:1-3

As the theme of victory persists in what follows the epic battle described in 19:11-21, there is one more character that needs expelling from the face of the earth—Satan. Having already removed the Antichrist and the false prophet (see Rev. 19:11-21), there is a special Satan-removal service that is called upon to eradicate this wicked pestilence and the infestation of evil that he brings. This special Satan-removal service is introduced as follows—“then I saw an angel coming down from heaven holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand” (20:1). Though many have speculated on the identity of this angel, the best view understand him to be a special heavenly intermediary commissioned for this particular task (Thomas, Revelation 8-22, 406). This helps promote the theme of the inferiority of evil. Satan’s expulsion from the face of the earth is a task that God delegates to a heavenly servant. This demonstrates, once again, that Satan and his evil is small potatoes compared to God and his good. Just as Michael, the archangel, had expelled Satan from the divine realm in Revelation 12:7ff, here, another angel brings Satan even lower.

This angel comes prepared with a key to what is referred to as “the abyss” and a chain to tether the devil to his temporary cell. Interestingly, this is the fourth passage involving “keys” in the book. You have “keys of Death and Hades” in 1:18, the “key of David” in 3:7, and the “key to the shaft of the abyss” in 9:1. This lattermost key and the abyss that it lock/unlocks is what is in view here in 20:1. The abyss mentioned here was also introduced in 11:7 and 17:8.

Revelation 11:7, 17:8-“When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them… The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction.”

The abyss is comparable to a “prison house of demonic spirits” (Osborne, Revelation, 699) as it is out of the abyss that the Antichrist emerges and the place where Satan is confined here. This location is different that the lake of fire that is described in 19:20 and 20:10. The lake of fire is more severe and is a permanent place of punishment while the abyss is a temporary holding cell. The abyss might be compared to a jail and the lake of fire a maximum-security prison full of those serving a life sentence without the opportunity for parole.

This angel/warden of the abyss is said to have “laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan” (20:2a). Though the verb simply refers to holding onto some object, in this context it carries the added connotation of arresting and placing into custody. The arrestee’s description (wrap sheet) is extensive—“dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil, and Satan” (20:2a). There is something important to learn from each of these titles/labels/aliases for this fallen angel. First, “dragon” is the term most used of this figure in Revelation (12:3, 4, 7, 13, 16, 17; 13:2, 4, 11; 16:13) and highlights his most recent infractions against God and his people during the tribulation—i.e. calling forth the beast of the sea (Antichrist) and the beast from the land (false prophet), and leading the unholy trinity in its insurrection against the redeemed (see Rev. 12:13ff). “Serpent of old” references a very early crime in Genesis 3—the crime of deceiving Adam and Eve into disobeying God, thereby introducing sin and death into the earth. Therefore, in both the beginning as a serpent and at the end as a dragon, this criminal is guilty of introducing chaos and death. “Devil” (diabolaV) means “slanderer”/speaker of lies (see Jn. 8:44) and “Satan” identifies him as the adversary who stands for nothing and will stop at nothing to oppose God’s program and will.

Therefore, upon Satan’s arrest we might hear something like the following: “Lucifer, you are being placed under arrest for conspiracy to kill God’s people with an evil world empire (“dragon”), for accessory to deception in the case of Adam and Eve (“serpent of old”), for multiple counts of slander and character assassination (“devil”/”slanderer”), and for inciting violence and disturbing the peace (“Satan”/”adversary”).  

After this arrest the text reads that this arresting angelic officer “bound him for a thousand years; and threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him” (20:2b-3a). Notice to what lengths the text goes to accentuate the degree to which Satan has been “put away.” First he is said to “be bound” (tethered to something—no doubt with the chain that the angel was carrying earlier). Then he is thrown into a different domain (“the abyss”)—again, a demonic jailhouse separated from the earth. The opening to this abyss is then shut and then sealed (no doubt with the key that the angel was said to possess in verse 1). These actions are further emphasized by the emergence of the aorist tense (contrasting the participles used earlier in the chapter), illustrating the definitive and completed actions taking place.

The purpose for this arrest and imprisonment is presented in the remainder of verse 3—“so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed” (20:3b). In other words, following the tribulation period, there will be a time in which Satan will have no sway on the world’s stage. There will be no demonic and/or Satanic influence during this period that the Bible refers to as “a thousand years.”

However, though Satan is removed from the scene and placed in custody, the text predicts that one day he will be let out temporarily—“after these things he must be released for a short time” (20:3c). At this point, he will lead one final insurrection against God and the people living on the earth. This is described in greater detail in verses 7ff and will be discussed in the exegesis of those verses later.
That said, what we do know for now is this: Satan will be expelled from the earth for a long period of time following the tribulation. His arrest and imprisonment will come by means of a capable angel who will apprehend the devil and lock him away along with his influence for a thousand years. This is thousand year period is what many call “the millennial kingdom.”

2. The Parameters of the Millennial Kingdom-20:4-6

During this millennial kingdom there will be thrones—“then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them” (20:4a). While there are many views as to what these thrones and their occupants represent, the view that John promotes in Revelation is best—that these thrones are tribunal offices occupied by the faithful ones who will share Christ’s future reign.

Revelation 2:26-28-“He who overcomes, and he who keeps my deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations,…”

Revelation 3:21-“He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne,…”

Revelation 5:10-“”You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

Such a view also has precedent in 1 Cor. 6:2--“Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world?...” (see also Matt. 19:28).

That the saints are the ones seated on these thrones ruling in this age is consistent with what has just transpired in the context. “It is an unvarying principle that those who win a war become the ones who assume the rulership over the conquered entity” (Thomas, Revelation 8-22, 414). Therefore, these occupants of the thrones are most likely the saints who rode behind Christ in victory during the second coming.

In addition to the victorious saints now seated on thrones ruling alongside Christ are “the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God” (20:4b). Though the world under the control of the beast and the dragon sought to silence the people of God through spiritual genocide, here the persecuted and martyred are shown alive and well during this millennial kingdom. This, in many ways, fulfills the promise given to the persecuted church at Smyrna—“…be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (2:10b).

A third group witnessed are “those who had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand” (20:4c). These are those who refused allegiance to the beast and were willing to give their lives to remain faithful to the one true God and his Christ.

These who paid the ultimate price “came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years,…” (20:4c). In other words, those killed for Christ during the tribulation (i.e. tribulation martyrs) join the ranks of the church who followed Jesus on horseback from heaven during the final battle and both groups (the church and tribulation saints who died for their faith) reign alongside Christ during this millennial kingdom.

But this begs another question: Who exactly will we, the church and the martyrs of the tribulation, be ruling with Christ? The answer is those who survived the tribulation in Christ. The faithful who miraculously escape death during the tribulation will immediately be ushered into Christ’s kingdom on the earth and be allowed to live, marry, and have children who have children who have children on the earth. These will live under the existential rule of Christ and his fellow governors with no satanic influence on the earth for a thousand years. These millennial kingdom citizens will not yet be glorified (as we will be following our resurrection).

Both the church that returns to the earth with Christ and those followers of Christ who were killed during the tribulation are glorified here at the beginning of this thousand year period—i.e. their bodies are rejoined to their souls. It is at this moment that they become like Christ was following his resurrection—a glorified body.

1 John 3:2-“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”

The text goes on to explain that “the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed” (20:5). Who are the rest of the dead? Well if the God’s people already in heaven have been identified and the saints who gave their lives during the tribulation have already been counted, “the rest of the dead” refers to any and all who have died in history without a relationship with Christ. In other words, there are going to be two resurrection events: 1)The resurrection of the saved at the beginning of the millennium that will result in glorified bodies for those who rule alongside Christ the King. (this is what verse 5 calls “the first resurrection”) and 2) the resurrection of the lost at the end of the millennial kingdom.  

“Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years,…” (20:6). This is the 5th beatitude of the book. In it the text celebrates those who are resurrected in the first round of resurrections because these will never die again. Instead, their glorified bodies will remain through the millennial period and on into the final state described in chapters 21-22. The encouragement given to Smyrna earlier in Revelation foreshadows this.

Revelation 2:11-“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.”

Those who are not pat of the first resurrection—(those who die without a relationship with Jesus)—are raised after the millennial kingdom only to then experience a second death that will leave them totally separated from God forever.

Though there are multiple views on the millennial kingdom and whether or not it corresponds to a literal thousand-year period, it is interesting to note the repetition of “thousand years” in this passage. The phrase occurs six times in the first seven verses of chapter 20, perhaps indicating that this is a duration of time that needs to be understood more literally than figuratively. But why this period anyway? Why not just move from the tribulation to the eternal state/heaven? Why do we need chapter 20 to begin with? The answer involves the Jews. God will make good on his promises to Abraham for land, blessing, and descendants that bless the world here in this millennial kingdom (see Gen. 12:1-3; 15:18-21). Jesus will serve as the geopolitical ruler/Messiah over a world kingdom, the likes of which was promised to David and was expected by many Jews to take place during Jesus’ first coming (2 Sam. 7:11-16). This is an important period of time complete with fulfilled promises to God’s people given all the way back in the Old Testament. In fact, something of the purpose of this epoch is hinted at in Luke 22:30 when Jesus promises the disciples (those who would establish the church)—“that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging [i.e. ruling—judging in the book of judges sense of the word] the twelve tribes of Israel.”

So What?

Beyond the theological debates and complicated details often associated with this passage, there are several important attributes of God that this text celebrates that ought to inspire the redeemed and challenge the lost today. First, God is shown to be fare greater than Satan and his wickedness. For the redeemed this means victory, for the lost this spells defeat. What have the faithful to fear in Satan? Ultimately he is an easily captured criminal who will be forcibly removed from the earth to make way for the perfect King! What have the lost to fear in Christ? Judgment and expulsion from his glorious presence forever. Second, God is shown to be faithful to his promises made to his people—promises made to both his Old Testament (Abraham and David) and New Testament people (disciples, and others like the church in Smyrna). For the redeemed, this means we can always count on God to keep his word to us. For the lost this means there is no future worth looking forward to. “Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years,…”.

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