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This chapter is thought by some to be the darkest part of all this prophecy: it is very probable that the things contained in it are not yet accomplished; and therefore it is the wiser way to content ourselves with general observations, rather than to be positive and particular in our explications of it. Here we have an account, I. Of the binding of Satan for a thousand years, Re 20:1-3. II. The reign of the saints with Christ for the same time, Re 20:4-6. III. Of the loosing of Satan, and the conflict of the church with Gog and Magog, Re 20:7-10. IV. Of the day of judgment, Re 20:11-15, etc.

Analysis Of The Chapter

This chapter Revelation 20:1-15, like Revelation 16:12-21, Revelation 17-19, pertains to the future, and discloses things which are yet to occur. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, for the reason stated in the notes on Revelation 16:16, that much obscurity should hang over it, nor that it is difficult to explain it so as to remove all obscurity. The statement in this chapter, however, is distinct and clear in its general characteristics, and time will make all its particular statements free from ambiguity.

In the previous chapter, an account is given of the final destruction of two of the most formidable enemies of the church, and consequently the removal of two of the hindrances to the universal spread of the gospel - the beast and the false prophet - the papal and the Muhammedan powers. But one obstacle remains to be removed - the power of Satan as concentrated and manifested in the form of pagan power. These three powers it was said Revelation 16:13-14 would concentrate their forces as the time of the final triumph of Christianity drew on; and with these the last great battle was to be fought. Two of these have been subdued; the conquest over the other remains, and Satan is to be arrested and bound for a thousand years. He is then to be released for a time, and afterward finally destroyed, and at that period the end will come.

The chapter comprises the following parts:

I. The binding of Satan, Revelation 20:1-3. An angel comes down from heaven with the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand, and seizes upon the dragon, and casts him into the pit, that for a thousand years he should deceive the nations no more. The great enemy of God and his cause is thus made a prisoner, and is restrained from making war in any form against the church. The way is thus prepared for the peace and triumph which follow.

II. The millennium, Revelation 20:4-6. John sees thrones, and persons sitting on them; he sees the souls of those who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God - those who had not worshipped the beast nor his image - living and reigning with Christ during the thousand years: the spirits of the martyrs revived, and becoming again the reigning spirit on earth. This he calls the first resurrection; and on all such he says the second death has no power. Temporal death they might experience - for such the martyrs had experienced - but over them the second death has no dominion, for they live and reign with the Saviour. This is properly the millennium - the long period when the principles of true religion will have the ascendency on the earth, as if the martyrs and confessors - the most devoted and eminent Christians of other times - should appear again upon the earth, and as if their spirit should become the reigning and pervading spirit of all who professed the Christian name.

III. The release of Satan, Revelation 20:7-8. After the thousand years of peace and triumph shall have expired, Satan will be released from his prison, and will be permitted to go out and deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, and gather them together to battle; that is, a state of things will exist as if Satan were then released. There will be again an outbreak of sin on the earth, and a conflict with the principles of religion, as if an innumerable multitude of opposers should be marshalled for the conflict by the great author of all evil.

IV. The final subjugation of Satan, and destruction of his power on the earth, Revelation 20:9-10. After the temporary and partial outbreak of evil Revelation 20:7-8, Satan and his hosts will be entirely destroyed. The destruction will be as if fire should come down from heaven to devour the assembled hosts Revelation 20:9, and as if Satan, the great leader of evil, should be cast into the same lake where the beast and false prophet are to be tormented forever. Then the church will be delivered from all its enemies, and religion henceforward will be triumphant. How long the interval will be between this state and that next disclosed Revelation 20:11-15 - the final judgment - is not stated. The eye of the seer glances from one to the other, but there is nothing to forbid the supposition, that, according to the laws of prophetic vision, there may be a long interval in which righteousness shall reign upon the earth. Compare the introduction to Isaiah, section 7, III.((3)- (5).

V. The final judgment, Revelation 20:11-15. This closes the "earthly" scene. Henceforward Revelation 21-22 the scene is transferred to heaven - the abode of the redeemed. The last judgment is the winding up of the earthly affairs. The enemies of the church are all long since destroyed; the world has experienced, perhaps for a long series of ages, the full influence of the gospel; countless million have been, we may suppose, brought under its power; and then at last, in the winding up of human affairs, comes the judgment of the great day, when the dead, small and great, shall stand before God; when the sea shall give up its dead; when death and hell shall give up the dead that are in them; when the records of human actions shall be opened, and all shall be judged according to their works; and when all who are not found written in the book of life shall be cast into the lake of fire. This is the earthly consummation; henceforward the saints shall reign in glory - the New Jerusalem above, Revelation 21-22.

In order to prepare the way for a proper understanding of this chapter, the following additional remarks may be here made:

(a) The design of this book did not demand a minute detail of the events which would occur in the consummation of human affairs. The main purpose was to trace the history of the church to the scene of the final triumph when all its enemies would be overthrown, and when religion would be permanently established upon the earth. Hence, though in the previous chapters we have a detailed account of the persecutions that would be endured; of the enemies that would rise up against the church, and of their complete ultimate overthrow - leaving religion triumphant on the earth - yet we have no minute statement of what will occur in the millennium. A rapid view is taken of the closing scenes of the earth's history, and the general results only are stated. It would not be strange, therefore, if there should be much in this that would seem to be enigmatical and obscure, especially as it is now all in the future.

(b) There may be long intervening periods between the events thus thrown together into the final grouping. We are not to suppose necessarily that these events will succeed each other immediately, or that they will be of short duration. Between these events thus hastily sketched, there may be long intervals that are not described, and whose general character is scarcely even glanced at. This results from the very nature of the prophetic vision, as described in the introduction to Isaiah, section 7, III.((3)-(5). This may be illustrated by the view which we have in looking at a landscape. When one is placed in a favorable situation, he can mark distinctly the order of the objects in it - the succession - the grouping. He can tell what objects appear to him to lie near to each other, and are apparently in juxtaposition. But there are objects which, in such a vision, the eye cannot take in, and which would not be exhibited by any description which might be given of the view taken. Hills in the distant view may seem to lie near each other; one may seem to rise just back of another, and to the eye they may seem to constitute parts of the same mountain, and yet between them there may be deep and fertile vales, smiling villages, running streams, beautiful gardens and waterfalls, which the eye cannot take in, and the extent of which it may be wholly impossible to conjecture; and a description of the whole scene, as it appears to the observer, would convey no idea of the actual extent of the intervals. So it is in the prophecies. Between the events which are to occur hereafter, as seen in vision, there may be long intervals, but the length of these intervals the prophet may have left us no means of determining. See these thoughts more fully illustrated in the Introduction to Isaiah, as above referred to.

What is here stated may have occurred in the vision which John had of the future, as described in this chapter. Time is marked in the prophetic description until the fall of the great enemy of the church; beyond that it does not seem to have been regarded as necessary to determine the actual duration of the events referred to. Compare Prof. Stuart, Com. ii. 353, 354.

(c) These views are sustained by the most cursory glance of the chapter before us. There is none of the detail which we have found in the previous portions of the book - for such detail was not necessary to the accomplishment of the design of the book. The grand purpose was to show that Christianity would finally triumph, and hence the detailed description is carried on until that occurs, and beyond that we have only the most general statements. Thus, in this chapter, the great events that are to occur are merely hinted at. The events of a thousand years; the invasion by Gog and Magog; the ultimate confinement and punishment of Satan; the general judgment - are all crowded into the space of twelve verses. This shows that the distant future is only glanced at by the writer; and we should not wonder, therefore, if it should be found to be obscure, nor should we regard it as strange that much is left to be made clear by the events themselves when they shall occur.

(d) The "end" is triumphant and glorious. We are assured that every enemy of the church will be slain, and that there will be a long period of happiness, prosperity, and peace. "The eye of hope," says Prof. Stuart, beautifully, "is directed forward, and sees the thousand years of uninterrupted prosperity; then the sudden destruction of a new and fatal enemy; and all the rest is left to joyful anticipation. When all clouds are swept from the face of the sky, why should not the sun shine forth in all his glory? I cannot, therefore, doubt that the setting sun of the church on earth is to be as a heaven of unclouded splendor. Peaceful and triumphant will be her latest age. The number of the redeemed will be augmented beyond all computation; and the promise made from the beginning, that 'the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head,' will be fulfilled in all its extent, and with a divine plenitude of meaning. The understanding and pious reader closes the book with admiration, with wonder, with delight, with lofty anticipations of the future, and with undaunted resolution to follow on in the steps of those who, through faith and patience, have inherited the promises, and entered into everlasting rest," vol. 2, pp. 354, 355.

An angel binds Satan a thousand years, and shuts him up in the bottomless pit, Revelation 20:1-3. They who were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, who have part in the first resurrection, and shall reign with Christ a thousand years, Revelation 20:4-6. When the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, shall go forth and deceive the nations, and shall gather Gog and Magog from the four corners of the earth, Revelation 20:7, Revelation 20:8. These shall besiege the holy city; but fire shall come down from heaven and consume them, and they and the devil be cast into a lake of fire, Revelation 20:9, Revelation 20:10. The great white throne, and the dead, small and great, standing before God, and all judged according to their works, Revelation 20:11, Revelation 20:12. The sea, death, and hades, give up their dead, and are destroyed; and all not found in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire, Revelation 20:13-15.

INTRODUCTION TO Revelation 20

This chapter contains the binding of Satan, the saints' thousand years' reign with Christ, the loosing of Satan again, the destruction of him, and the Gog and Magog army, and the last judgment: the angel that is to bind Satan is described by his descent from heaven; by his having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand; and by the use he made of them, laying hold on Satan, binding him, casting him into the bottomless pit, and then shutting it up, and setting a seal on him; by all which he will be prevented from deceiving the nations for the space of a thousand years, Revelation 20:1. After this thrones are seen, with persons on them, to whom judgment is given; who are said to be such as had been martyrs for Jesus, and had not worshipped the beast, or professed his religion; whose happiness is represented by living and reigning with Christ a thousand years, when others will not; the second death will have no power on them; they will be the priests of God, and Christ, and reign with him during the said term, having a part in the first resurrection, Revelation 20:4. At the expiration of which term Satan will be loosed, and go out of prison, deceive the nations, and gather Gog and Magog to battle; who, being exceeding numerous, will cover the breadth of the earth, encompass the camp and city of the saints, when fire will come down from heaven and destroy them, and Satan will be cast into the lake of fire, where the beast and false prophet are, and be tormented for ever and ever, Revelation 20:7. And next an account is given of the general Judgment; and the judge is described by the throne he sat on, a white cloud, and by his majesty, which is such, that the heavens and the earth flee from before him, Revelation 20:11. And next the persons judged are described by their common state, the dead; by their age or condition, great and small, and by their position, standing before God; and then an account of the procedure, or rule of judgment; the books are opened, and the execution of judgment according to what is found in the books, Revelation 20:12 in order to which the sea, death, and the grave, give up the dead in them, and the two last are cast into the lake, and with them those who are not in the book of life, Revelation 20:13.

XX.

THE MILLENNIUM.—Some few introductory words on this most difficult chapter are needful. The outline of incidents described is very simple. An angel descends, lays hold upon the dragon, binds him, and imprisons him in the abyss, where he remains for a thousand years, after which he is loosed for a short time. During this thousand years the martyrs, and those who had not received the mark of the beast, live and reign with Christ. At the close of this period the dragon is loosed; the nations are once more deceived; the camp of the saints is threatened by the dragon, and those whom he has reduced to his service; but the fire from heaven destroys the adversaries, and the dragon is cast into the lake of fire. The general judgment follows. Simple as the vision appears, every interpretation is beset with difficulties. These difficulties are too numerous to be treated of here. Our space will only allow us to indicate the view adopted, though with the greatest hesitation, in this Commentary. (1) The millennium vision is, like so many of the apostolic visions, an ideal picture; it exhibits a state of things which is possible to mankind at any time; for, to use the language of Hengstenberg, “If the earth were to watch and pray for a thousand years, Satan would have nothing on it.” Like the vision of the first seal, it shows us that the victory of Christ was a real victory, and has put into man’s hand the promise of security against the wicked one’s devices. The defeat of Satan (inflicted by redemption) is described as “a fall from heaven” (Luke 10:18), as “a casting out” (John 12:31), as “a judgment past,” “the Prince of this world has been judged” (John 16:11). The ideal picture corresponds. “Satan is chained in the abyss, as the angels said by St. Peter to have been delivered into chains of darkness” (2Peter 2:4). (2) But the rejection of Christ’s power and victory postpones the realisation of this picture; the sullen refusing of the King’s Son, “We will not have this man to reign over us,” interposes a barrier against an immediate fulfilment of the vision. But the fulfilment is not utterly lost; the vision is for an appointed time; it will have its realisation, though man’s waywardness and unbelief occasion its delay. (3) The vision has its approximate fulfilment as the Church of Christ, in the faith of the reality of her Lord’s victory, carries on her warfare against the prince of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places. That this approximate fulfilment is not unreal may be seen in the fact that Christendom has replaced heathendom, Christ has taken the throne of the world, the prince of this world has been judged, the ascendency of Christian thought and Christian principles has marvellously humanised and purified the world. To an Irenæus, a Polycarp, a Justin Martyr, a Tertullian, the picture of the world during the Christian centuries would have the aspect of a millennium, when contrasted with the age of Pagan domination and Pagan persecution. In their eyes, accustomed to the darkness of heathenism, the world as influenced by a widely diffused Christianity would seem to be a world in which Christ ruled. They would see in the acknowledgment of apostles and martyrs and confessors the wondrous resurrection power of God’s truth; they would see how those who fell for Christ had stepped from their forgotten graves to sit down with Christ in His throne. The apostles, the martyrs, the faithful do reign with Christ. The sovereignty of the world belongs far more to St. Paul and St. John than to Nero and Galba. But though thus the saints rise and reign with Christ over Christendom, we can see that this is only an approximate realisation, and falls short of the ideal picture. Christendom established and heathendom overthrown would be a millennium in the eyes of an Ignatius; but the Church of to-day looks for a further and higher fulfilment. Is she justified in this expectation? If the principles laid down elsewhere (see Note on Revelation 6) be correct, the Church is justified in looking for the full realisation of the vision in a future age. She can accept the first-fruits of God’s promises, but she will not mistake them for the harvest; she can rejoice in the growth of her Lord’s kingdom, but she looks for the day when the powers of evil will be more effectually curbed, and the gospel will have freer course. Then the fulness of Christ’s victory will be more clearly seen.

CHAPTER 20

Revelation 20:2. ὁ ὄφις ὁ ἀρχαῖος. So A, Lach., Tisch. The accus. (B, א, Elz.) appears to be a modification.

According to A, B, min., the art., which is wanting in the Rec. before διάβ., and before σατ., but occurs in א in both these places (so Tisch. IX.), belongs only in the latter place (Lach., Tisch.).

Revelation 20:3. The αὐτὸν after ἔκλεισεν (Elz.) is spurious (A, B, א, al., Verss., Beng., Lach., Tisch. [W. and H.]). The present πλανᾷ (Griesb., Tisch.) is not sufficiently attested by B, and, besides, appears suspicious as an interpretation. Lach., also Tisch. IX. [and W. and H.] have properly maintained the Rec. πλανήσῃ according to A (א: πλανήσει).

Revelation 20:4. The art. τὰ before χίλ. ἔτη (Elz.) is properly (A, א, min.) deleted already by Beng.

Revelation 20:8. τὸν πόλ. So A, B, א, 7, 8, 9, al., Lach., Tisch. cf. Revelation 19:19.

Revelation 20:9. ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, which occurs also in א1, al., before ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ (Elz.), but in other witnesses stands last (Beng.), while still others transpose the positions of the prepositions ἀπὸ and ἐκ, belongs probably (cf. Revelation 21:2) in no way to the text (A, 12, al., Lach., Tisch. [W. and H.]).

Revelation 20:14. Read οὗτος ὁ θάν. ὁ δεύτερός ἐστιν, ἡ λίμνη τοῦ πυρός (A, B, al., Verss., Lach., Tisch. [W. and H.]). The last words are lacking in the Rec. א modifies: οὖτ. ὁ δεύτ. θάν. ἐστ., ἡ λ., κ.τ.λ.

Already has judgment been executed upon the harlot,[4140] upon the beast and his accomplice the false prophet,[4141] and upon the dwellers on earth who worshipped the beast; now follows the judgment upon the proper first enemy, Satan himself, who[4142] has used all those antichristian powers only as his instruments. The judgment upon Satan, decreed from all eternity, is executed in Revelation 20:10. But previous to this, there is the binding of Satan for one thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3), during which time they who are to partake of the first resurrection are to reign with Christ (Revelation 20:4-6), and an attack upon the camp of the saints on the part of Gog and Magog, excited by Satan, who is let loose again for a short time, which is terminated by fire falling from heaven and consuming those nations (Revelation 20:7-9); but, on the other hand, there is, after the final casting of Satan into the lake of fire, the proper judgment of the world (Revelation 20:11 sqq.) at which all men appear, and they who are not written in the book of life are cast into the same lake of fire as that wherein are the beast and the false prophet already since Revelation 19:20, into which Satan also has been eternally cast (Revelation 20:10) before the final judgment of the world, and wherein now also at that final judgment death and hell are cast (Revelation 20:14).

It is, therefore, to be noted: (1) with respect to the succession of the individual judgments, that this is the reverse of the succession in which the antichristian forms are presented; for the description of the latter begins (ch. 12) with the original enemy, then proceeds to the beast and his accomplice, viz., the second beast or the false prophet (ch. 8),[4143] and finally shows the woman carried by the beast, i.e., the definite city of the world (ch. 17), ay, the individual sovereigns in whom the beast is embodied (Revelation 17:11); while, on the contrary, the judgment descends first upon the city (Revelation 18:1, Revelation 19:10), then upon the beast, together with the false prophet, and the mass of dwellers on earth worshipping the beast (Revelation 19:11-21), and, finally, upon Satan (Revelation 20:10, cf. Revelation 20:4 sqq.). (2) Nor is the kind of judgment without natural distinctions: the city perishes in a terrible conflagration, and the beast and false prophet, as well as Satan, are cast alive into the lake of fire of hell; while the dwellers on earth, after having suffered bodily death (Revelation 19:21, cf. Revelation 20:9), are again awakened at the final judgment (Revelation 20:11 sqq.), and not until then cast into the lake of fire for eternal torment.

[4140] Cf. chs. 17–19.

[4141] Revelation 19:20.

[4142] Cf. on ch. 12.

[4143] Where also the relation of the dwellers on earth to the beast is shown.

Re 20:1-15.

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.

1. The destruction of his representatives, the beast and the false prophet, to whom he had given his power, throne, and authority, is followed by the binding of Satan himself for a thousand years.

the key of the bottomless pit--now transferred from Satan's hands, who had heretofore been permitted by God to use it in letting loose plagues on the earth; he is now to be made to feel himself the torment which he had inflicted on men, but his full torment is not until he is cast into "the lake of fire"

(Re 20:10).