The Binding of Satan of Revelation 20
I. The Binding of Satan (Revelation 20:1-3)
A. Revelation 20:1 says, “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the Abyss, holding in his hand a great chain.
1. The angel is representative of either Jesus Christ or of an angel to whom God gives power over the devil. Either is plausible.
2. The chain is not literal, but it represents the power of God. Satan is a spirit being and a literal chain could not hold him (Hebrews 1:14).
B. Revelation 20:2 says, “He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent that is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
1. It is not a complete binding but is only for the purpose of no longer being able to deceive the nations. And it is only for 1000 years.
2. During Old Testament times the nations (Gentiles) were deceived but after Pentecost God sent the Church to the whole world.
3. The time of the binding is in Revelation 12:8-11a, which says, “But the dragon was not strong enough, and no longer was any place found in heaven for him and his angels. 9And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. 10And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down—he who accuses them day and night before our God.11They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.”
4. In a previous study we observed the other chronological Prophecies of the Bible. All of them say the same thing. They say that Christ is ruling and then returns, judging the world, destroying creation, and creating new heavens and a new earth.
5. This binding is the same as Matthew 12:29 which says, “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.” In this verse, the strong man is the devil; the stronger man is the Lord Jesus Christ. The strong man’s goods are the people of the world; and the strong man’s house is the world. Our Lord Jesus’ point is that the devil has the world spiritually blinded and bound in sin. Jesus cannot help the sinner unless he disables the activity of the devil from the man’s life first.
6. The time of the binding is in Revelation 12:8-11a, which says, “But the dragon was not strong enough, and no longer was any place found in heaven for him and his angels. 9And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. 10And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down—he who accuses them day and night before our God.11They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.”
7. The time of the binding in Revelation 12:5 is as follows, “And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was caught up to God and to His throne.” This is our Lord’s ascension.
8. The time of the binding is also in John 12:31 as follows: “John 12:31 says, “Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out.”
9. In John 12:20-21 above, Greeks had come to Philip wanting the Lord to receive them. Philip and Andrew went to the Lord and asked Him if He would receive the Greeks. He said that He must die for their sins first and rise again and then the world could come to Him. So, in the figure, the devil was cast out at the cross, paving the way for the salvation of the Greeks. And it was at the cross, the tomb of resurrection and the ascension of Christ into glory, that the devil was bound re. the Greeks.
10. The Greeks are a nation. Thus, they are part of the world. They are not Jews. So, at the cross the Lord bound the devil in respect to the Greeks and the rest of the world. Consequently, the Lord Jesus sent His disciples to the world (Matthew 28:19-20).
11. Notice that in Revelation 20:2 it is not a complete binding but only for the purpose of Satan no longer being able to deceive the nations.
12. Romans 11:30-32 says, “Just as you [Gentiles] who formerly disobeyed God, have now received mercy through their disobedience, 31so they [Jews] too have now disobeyed, in order that they too may now receive mercy through the mercy shown to you.32For God has consigned everyone to disobedience so that He may have mercy on everyone.” Truth is that every person in this world is born under sin. So, in that sense, every person is born bound.
13. So, the devil had the Gentiles bound in the Old Testament times and left many Jews bound in New Testament times (2 Corinthians 3:14-15). Note that the obedience of the Gentiles results from Jesus Christ’s removal of the blinding by Satan.
14. 2 Corinthians 3:14-15 says of the Jews, “But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed. 15And even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” Today, every person in the world is bound by sin.
15. God saved a moderate number of Gentiles in the Old Testament times. Acts 17:30 says, “Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent.” This means God is actively saving and soliciting Gentiles (from Pentecost on) during the New Testament times, not mostly Jews.
16. Hebrews 2:14-15 says, “Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Jesus, by dying for our sins, took away the power of death over the elect from the devil. So, this is the same as Jesus binding the devil in Revelation 20 so that Satan could no longer deceive the Gentiles to keep them from believing.
17. Jesus destroyed the devil’s hold on us by dying for our sins.
18. By His death for those for those who died with Him at the cross, the Lord dealt a death blow to Satan.
19. Colossians 2:13-15 says, “When you were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses, 14having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross! 15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
20. The Lord Jesus ‘ counts for all those who died with Him at the cross (2 Corinthians 5:15; Galatians 2:20). Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me…”
21. By His death for us, He forgave us all our sins. We no longer have a sin debt to God. Jesus assumed that debt and paid it to God His Father.
22. Our Lord Jesus disarmed the devil’s underling rulers. And He makes a public spectacle of them when He saves a soul by His cross. The public spectacle is the holy lives of those whom God has saved by His blood.
23. Revelation 12:11 says, “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” ESV It is characteristic of Christians not to love our lives more than we love God. If one loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15-17).
24. The event that frees us from sin, the world, and Satan is the blood of Christ. Jesus’ blood sacrifice satisfied God.
25. Though Jesus bound Satan for those who died with Him at the cross, He gave us the responsibility to overcome the devil. Satan still goes about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:7-8). Jesus evicted the devil from us by dying on the cross for us and by sending the Holy Spirit to us.
26. 1 John 3:10 says, “By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”
27. Ephesians 1:19-21 says, “and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength, 20which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” The ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ brought about Stage #2 of His rule over the devil. Jesus rules him with a rod of iron; Satan, through enticing Adam to sin, took away Adam’s allegiance to God. Jesus, by obeying God as the last Adam, and by being joined in union with the elect, freed them from the bondage to sin and to Satan. Now, Satan can only do what the Lord Jesus allows him to do. See also Ephesians 1:22; 4:10; Acts 2:33-36; Colossians 2:10.
28. 1 Peter 3:22 says, “who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.” Our Lord rules and binds all the forces of hell. They can only do what the Lord allows them to do. Since His blood counts for those whom His Father gave to Him, they are free to believe the Gospel.
29. Matthew 28:18-20 says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” The basis for evangelism is the binding of the forces of evil. Our Lord has all authority, so He sends His disciples to the Gentiles.
30. Had the Lord Jesus not had power over the nations, the huge revival that followed His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension would not have occurred.
31. Is there power in the blood of Christ or is there simply provision in the blood of Christ? We all know the answer to this. It is the blood of Christ that freed us from our sins.
C. Revelation 20:3 says, “And he threw him into the Abyss, shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he could not deceive the nations until the thousand years were complete. After that, he must be released for a brief period of time.”
1. The Abyss is the bottomless pit. It is the picture of the place that illustrates that the devil is under the control of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. The abyss is a holding area for evil angels consigned there by our Lord Christ. Revelation 17:8 says, “The beast that you saw—it was, and now is no more, but is about to come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. And those who dwell on the earth whose names were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet will be.”
3. Luke 8:31 says, “And the demons kept begging Jesus not to order them to go into the Abyss.” So, the Abyss does not begin in the Book of Revelation.
4. Revelation 9:2 says, “The star opened the pit of the Abyss, and smoke rose out of it like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke from the pit.” So, the Lord Jesus can put evil angels in the abyss and let them out at will. Jesus can even use the devil to open the abyss, which He does in Revelation 9:2. The Greek word for “bottomless pit” in Revelation 20 is abussos. It is the Greek word from which we get the English word abyss.
5. The abyss is a holding place for fallen angels under the sovereignty of Jesus Christ. Revelation 11:7 says, “When the two witnesses have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will wage war with them and will overpower and kill them.” So, the confined beast will be let out of the Abyss at the end of the testimony of the Church and persecute the Church.
6. The big point here is that Satan cannot interfere in any way with the salvation of God’s elect people. He can come to us in an evil day, tempt us with false doctrine, solicit us to sin, attack our readiness to share the Gospel, shoot arrows of doubt at us, try to keep us from being saved, fight against the Word of God, and cloud up our prayers (Ephesians 6:13-18). But the devil cannot stop anyone from believing on Christ if they died with Him at the cross.
7. Ephesians 6:13-18 says, “Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18Pray in the Spirit always, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.”
8. So, Christians are in a war with the devil even though Satan cannot deceive us from becoming Christians. We must fight the war using spiritual weapons. We must use all God’s armor: truth, righteousness, readiness to evangelize, faith, assurance of salvation, the Word of God, and prayer. The devil can find our weaknesses and exploit them if we do not use them all.
9. Notice that the Lord Jesus bound the devil so that he could not deceive the Gentiles (nations). God saved very few Gentiles in the Old Testament times. Acts 17:30 says, “Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent.” This means God is actively saving and soliciting Gentiles (from Pentecost on) during the New Testament times, not mainly Jews.
10. Satan is like a vicious lion on a leash (1 Peter 5:7-8; Revelation 9:1-12). Though he is bound in respect to the Gentiles, he can do what God allows. The same Greek word ἀβύσσου, that is translated “bottomless” in Revelation 9:1, is translated “bottomless pit” in Revelation 20:1. In both cases there is a key. And in both cases the figure of the bottomless pit depicts God’s sovereignty over the devil. Satan is dangerous but chained in respect to Gentile salvation.
11. Before salvation we were under the control of the devil. Ephesians 2:1 says, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience.”
12. But when the Lord saved us, His blood satisfied God’s justice for our sins, and, in God’s eyes, we died with our Lord when He died. His death was our death to the world, the flesh, and the devil. God, then being free to save us, did so.
13. God cast the devil out of the world of those who died with Christ at the cross (John 12:31).
a. God does not reveal the identity of the elect ones. So, no one knows except for the Father the identity of those whom the Lord Jesus set free from Satan at the cross.
b. Revelation 11:3c says, “After that he (Satan) must be loosed for a brief period of time.” We may already be seeing the loosing of the devil and his minions, but we do not know for sure yet.
c. It will be at the end of the 1000-year reign of the saints, which is at the end of the Church Age (Revelation 9:1-11). The beast comes up out of the Abyss also (Revelation 11:7; 17:8).
d. Satan uses the brief period to deceive the nations.
e. And the Holy Spirit, who hinders the deception lets the devil out and permits him to deceive. 2 Thessalonians 2:7 says, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one who now restrains it, will continue until he is taken out of the way.” The restrainer is the Holy Spirit, who is presently preventing Satan and his evil angels from preventing salvation. The Great Tribulation will be a time of rampant evil.
