Revelation Chapter 20

This chapter begins to deal with the millennial reign of Christ. For the believer the scriptures include some of the most wonderful promises during the millennium.

The Millennium will begin seventy days after the blowing of the seventh trumpet, seventy-five days after the close of the seventieth week of Daniel. When Satan's rule over the earth is taken from him, God will then "set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms [of Satan], but it will itself endure forever" (Dan. 2:44). Note that when Christ sets up His kingdom there will never be an end to it. Why then is it referred to as the thousand-year reign of Christ? Because once a thousand years has past, Satan is let loose for a season to try and deceive the people that have been born during the first thousand years of Christ's rule. This is done so that Satan can be judged and cast into the lake of fire and will never influence people again. But this kingdom that is set up will never come to an end. Don't forget that because I want to share something with you in a little while that maybe you have never heard before.

We are told in Jer. 30:9, that the Lord will raise up David to rule over Israel. Similarly Ezk. 37:24, tells us that David will be king over Israel.

The governing chain of command is seen in a passage in Ezekiel, where the Lord declares, "Then will I set over them [Israel] one shepherd, my servant David and he will feed them; he will feed them Himself and be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them; I the Lord have spoken" (Ezk. 34:23,24).Thus David will rule solely over Israel, whereas Christ will rule supremely over all the earth (including Israel) from His throne in the temple which Christ shares with the Father in the center of the great and expansive holy area on the summit of Mt. Zion.

The other nations of the world will serve and glorify God, they will also serve His chosen nation Israel, rather then afflict them as they had for thousands of years (see Isa. 49:22,23).

Where will these nations come from? There will be a remnant of the Gentile nations that will survive the wrath of God and who "will come trembling out of their fortresses; to the Lord our God they will come in dread, and they will be afraid before Thee" (Micah 7:17) at the sheep and goats Judgment of Christ on the first day of the Millennium, on His holy mountain. Those who survive Christ's judgment of the nations (Matt. 25:31) will become citizens of the non-Jewish nations that go into the millennial kingdom on earth that will be ruled by Christ.

Rev. 20:1-3.

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

2 He laid hold of the 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 set a seal on him, so 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.

We see an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and with a great chain in his hand as he comes to lay hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil. Satan will be bound and cast into the bottomless pit for a thousand years, not able to be active on the earth during the Millennium. While sin will still exists in individuals, it is no longer possible for it to be a power forming a fellowship, and thus making a kingdom of sin and Satan. After the thousand years he will be loosed for a little season.

Notice that it says that he will deceive the nations no more, teaching without any doubt that there will be nations (human people) on earth during the reign of Christ.

So the first event at the beginning of the Millennium is the binding of Satan. We know that the purpose and plan of Christ the Redeemer in part was to reverse the consequences of the Fall--when mankind and all the rest of creation were corrupted because of Adam's sin. That corruption allowed Satan to have limited but powerful authority over the earth.

In reversing those consequences, Christ will restore all things as they were before the Fall. Before the Fall, was there any death? No. Death came as a result of the Fall. Adam, therefore was created to live forever without dying. Keep this truth in your spirit for when we get to the close of the thousand years when death is done away with.

Although Satan's forces under Antichrist will have been totally destroyed at Armageddon, Satan will have to be neutralized for a thousand years because God's plan is not to send him eternally into the lake of fire until the end of the Millennium (Rev. 20:10). So Satan is bound immediately after the millennium begins--that is the first event of the first day.

Rev. 20:4,5,6.

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned 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 the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

The second event on the first day of the millennium is that the judging of the Sheep and Goats were given to the ones that sit on the thrones, this judgment is not the White Throne Judgment that occurs at the end of the millennium.

Read Matt. 25:31-40 to see how Jesus describes the Sheep and Goats judgment in the Olivet Discourse.

From this passage many things are evident. First, the Lord makes clear that He will personally oversee the judgment from His throne, which is in the temple in the center of the holy area on top of elevated Mount Zion. Second, "all the angels [will be] with him" (v.31)--which seems to indicate that the angels (who have been His reapers during the day of the Lord) will again be a part of this final judgment. Third, "all nations [peoples] will be gathered before" Christ to undergo judgment (v.32). It is important to note that the Greek word used here for "nations" is ETHNOS, which can be translated as "nations," "heathen," or simply "peoples"; it was used by the Jews to refer to any non-Jewish people. The Sheep and Goats Judgment, therefore, refers to all those non-Jewish people who may survive the day of the Lord, rather than to "nations" in the modern sense of independent political entities. However, no Jews will be judged at this Sheep and Goats Judgment. As already seen, every Jew that survives the seventieth week has already entered into a relationship with their Messiah and King, Jesus Christ, three days after the close of the seventieth week.

What is this judgment based upon? I believe primarily this judgment will be based upon their individual treatment of Israel--that is the treatment "of these brothers of Mine (V.40). In other words the way in which the "nations treat the Jews will be considered the same as their treatment of Christ Himself (vv.40,45; Gen. 12:2,3).

As would be expected, the witnesses at this trial will be the survivors of Israel themselves--the very people that the world has so long ridiculed and persecuted (see, Isa. 54:17). These witnesses will not be a part of Christ's judgment of the nations, but rather, after "all the nations have gathered together" and Christ permits "them [to] present their witnesses that they may be justified," God then declares that "you [Israel] are my witnesses" (Isa. 43:9,10). Those who have done Israel harm in any way will be condemned. "Then He [Christ] will...say to those on His left [the goats], 'depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels'" (v.41).

It is important to note that some who believe they have no claim to salvation will be saved. Thus some astonished "sheep" whom the Lord calls "righteous" will say to Him with great wonder, "Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? And the King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me'" (vv.37-40). Similarly, those Gentiles who refuse to worship the beast or take his mark, who will not directly have opposed or harmed the Jews but nonetheless will have stood by indifferently, permitting others to persecute them, will be ranked with the "goats." These will have had many opportunities to help the Jews, but will not have done so. To them the Lord will say, "'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me,' And these will go away into eternal punishment" (Matt. 25:45,46).

If you don't know Christ as your personal Savior and you die in your sins, you will not have a part in the first resurrection, (resurrection unto life). You will be a part of the second resurrection, a part of the rest of the dead that will not be resurrected for another thousand years, (resurrection unto judgment). At that judgment you will be cast into the lake of fire which is the second death (v.14),you will be eternally separated from God. I urge you to accept Christ as your Savior now, before it is to late.

The question is, are the souls that John sees here the fifth seal martyrs? I would say yes. Notice that the phrase " I saw " is in italics, meaning that these words are not in the original Greek documents that this verse was translated from. Literally the verse reads: And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands, they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Now, can it be said that the sentence "This is the first resurrection" means that this resurrection happens at this time, on the first day of the Millennium? I think not. If it did happen at this time we have a problem, being that when Christ comes, the dead in Christ will rise. These fifth seal Martyrs were killed before the rapture of the Church because they were killed during the great tribulation. Therefore they are a part of the group that are dead in Christ therefore, they will be resurrected at the rapture of the Church. The Bible says that the dead in Christ will rise first; they are dead in Christ; they will rise when He comes.

There is nothing in verses 4, 5, or 6 to indicate that "This first resurrection happened at this precise time. In chapter 6, John sees the souls under the altar, here they are not under the altar but about to live and reign with Christ a thousand years. Verses 1-3 of Rev. 20 talks about Satan being bound for a thousand years and then released for a little while. In verse 7 the same thought is talked about again. In verses 4, 5, and 6we have a complete different subject being talked about. What John sees, are the ones who died for the sake of the gospel, who came through the great tribulation about to rule and reign with Christ. Notice that v.5 does not say that the rest of the dead did not live again until exactly a thousand years later, but that they did not live until the thousand years were finished. What John sees is the first resurrection, the one that took place when God cut the great tribulation short for the elect's sake when He came to rapture His Church. He is reflecting back on their being in the great tribulation, and being killed during that time because they refused to worship the beast or his image and for refusing to take his mark in their foreheads or their hands. Then he sees them ready to reign with Christ for a thousand years.

The fifth seal martyrs were told to wait for a little while until the rest of their brethren were killed as they were. John sees them here with their waiting over after being resurrected at the rapture, about to rule and reign with Christ.

We know for a fact that when John talks about what these martyrs went through; their being killed for their witness to Jesus and for the Word of God; not having worshiped the beast; not having worshipped the image of the beast; not receiving his mark in their hands or their foreheads, did not happen at this precise time (the first day of the Millennium). When was it they did not do these things? During the great tribulation! John is also talking about them being resurrected at the first resurrection; the resurrection that takes place when God cuts the great tribulation short for the elect's sake and comes to rapture his elect. Yes the fifth seal martyrs, will be a part of that great multitude that suddenly appears in heaven which prompted the question, from where did they come? The answer was, these are they which came out of the great tribulation.

Verse 6 then talks about he who has part in the first resurrection (all who have died in Christ Jesus prior to the great tribulation), the same resurrection as in v.5, over which the second death has no power and they also will reign with Christ for a thousand years. Yes the fifth seal martyrs, are resurrected when Jesus comes along with the rest of the dead, because all the dead in Christ will rise at that time.

The book of Revelation does not go into what takes place during the Millennium. In these first six verses of this chapter it tells us three things that take place on the first day concluding with the fact that the ones who are a part of the first resurrection will rule and reign with Him for a thousand years. Then it omits what takes place during the thousand years and jumps to after the thousand years have expired.

Rev. 20:7-10.

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

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

9 They 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 where the beast and the false prophet are

Here we are at the end of the thousand years and Satan is released from his prison and will attempt to deceive the nations. The Greek word for deceive here is PLANAO, and it means "to cause to wander or to go astray." During the Millennium, millions of humans on earth will have had that period of time to accept Christ as Savior and truly submit to God. Having retained their fallen nature they will still be able to be influenced by Satan when he is loosed. The expression "Gog and Magog" refers to Gentiles who will side with Satan at this time, those who have a Spirit of rebellion against God and righteousness. Satan, who still is deceived to the point that he believes he can still defeat God, will be allowed to deceive those in whom is the spirit of rebellion which according to verse 8, number as the sands of the sea. This will be the last rebellion ever against God.

These will go up and surround the saints and the beloved city, and fire comes down from God and devoured them. Now notice, at this time, every person on earth that had a rebellious spirit against God is deceived by Satan and is gathered to war against God. This is not a war fought by men against men, this will be probably be the shortest battle that was ever fought. God destroys them with fire from heaven. Satan is then cast into the lake of fire, and his sentence is for eternity. He will never be able to deceive people any more as he did Adam in the garden.

This is why Satan is let loose at the end of the thousand years, to weed out any and all people who has rebellion in their heart toward God. Now God could have gotten rid of these people without Satan by just killing them. But being a loving and just God, He allows them to make their own choice as to whom they will follow, therefore, no one can accuse Him of being unjust.

Now, every bit of rebellion against God is gone. Everybody on earth is in total obedience and subjection to God and does not desire for it to be any other way. People now are as Adam was prior to the Fall, depending totally on God for their existence, without the possibility of anyone or anything being able to tempt them to sin because, now there is no tempter and there will never be one for all of eternity.

Adam was created to live forever, God did not create him to die, death, the last enemy will be destroyed (v.13). Christ came to restore all things as they were, that means that everything will be restored as it was before the Fall. Human beings who have lived through the Millennium and sided with Christ, will live forever in their human bodies as Adam would have done had he had not sinned and brought death into the world.

Let me ask you a question. Do you think that when all is said and done that Satan will have more of God's crowning of His creation (people) in the region of the lost with him than God has in His kingdom?

If I were to create a thousand people and you were my enemy and able to infiltrate into this group and entice 800 of the 1,000 to turn against me and follow you, who would be the victor in this case. You would be because you not only have the most people with you, you have most of the people with you and you didn't even create any of them. I created them; they were mine, now most of them are yours, you are clearly the victor.

Do you think that God is going to have less of His creation on His side than His enemy, Satan will have on his side? You may say, "well brother, the bible says so, oh yes, look right here in Matt. 7:13,14, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way which leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." Yes this is true, but these verses are referring to the time of Adam until the time that Satan is destroyed. It is not referring to the time after the destruction of Satan when death is destroyed.

Now, if, as we have been led to believe, at the end of the Millennium all the humans that remain are given a resurrected body (which is not taught anywhere in scripture) who would end up having the most people, God or Satan? Remember that according to Matt. 13, most people travel the broad road, and at the end of the Millennium when Satan is let loose, he deceives a people as numbered the sands of the sea to side with him (Rev. 20:8). It would have to be Satan, that would make him the victor because he ends up with most of the loot. No, a thousand times no, the number of people that Satan takes with him will only be a speck in a million-gallon drum as to the number of people God will have on his side. Because those who make it through the Millennium will live for eternity as humans in the new earth, which is by the way created at the end of the Millennium and will never be destroyed. We will see this as we go through the last two chapters.

And by the way, Daniel says that the kingdom that God sets up will be a kingdom without end (Dan. 2:44). If the resurrected saints are going to rule as kings and priests in this kingdom forever, whom are they going to reign over if all the earthly bodies of the Millennium people are going to be changed into a resurrected body? If everybody has a resurrected body then everybody is as Christ is, not needing anybody to rule over them.

Rev. 20:11-15.

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

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.

13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.

14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Here we have the Great White Throne Judgment. This judgment is where the unsaved of all ages will be judged and condemned because of their lack of faith in God. This is the judgment of all ungodly people including the ones that are dead, for they will be brought back to life for this judgment.

At this time the secrets of men--their idle words, their works, thoughts, and all their actions--will be judged. Before man is condemned and punished, he stands trial and understands clearly the reason for his judgment. There will be no excuse offered against or criticism of the sentence. His conscience will divulge his sins, the law will be clear and the Gospel will be a significant basis for the judgment. The book of Life is opened and they can see for themselves that God is a righteous judge in passing their sentence, for their names are not written in the book of Life. Death and hell are cast into the lake of fire, and also those whose names were not written in the book of Life were cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death.