January 8 - Revelation 20

Revelation 20

NOTE COMMENTS BELOW THE BIBLICAL TEXT

New International Version (NIV)

The Thousand Years

20 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. ² He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. ³ He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

⁴ I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. ⁵ (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. ⁶ Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

The Judgment of Satan

⁷ When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison ⁸ and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. ⁹ They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. ¹⁰ And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

The Judgment of the Dead

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. ¹⁴ Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. ¹⁵ Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

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I share with you an excursis on Revelation 20 from the Commission on Theology and Church Relations of our LCMS

2. Revelation 20

The book of Revelation was written by John, who was exiled on the island of Patmos because of persecution (1:9), probably during the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian about A.D. 95. The purpose of the book is to strengthen the churches in Asia Minor in

their trials, to assure them of their victory in Christ who is Lord over all evil powers now assailing the world, and to increase in them true hope in Christ who will come in glory for them.

The book is written in apocalyptic language and therefore, as noted earlier, must not be interpreted literally. Sometimes John gives the interpretation of the symbolical elements in a vision (e.g., 1:20). At other times he does not. Usually the apostle's symbols are derived from the Old Testament so that one must be aware of their Old Testament background to understand his intention. In general, the principle should be followed that Revelation must be interpreted in the light of other clear, non- figurative parts of Scripture rather than the reverse.

A recognition of the repetitious character of chaps. 6 -20 has a significant bearing on how certain key texts are interpreted. John's prophecy concerns the things that will occur from Christ's ascension (chap. 5) to Christ's second advent. His prophecy is structured according to several repeating cycles which are parallel to each other. Each cycle describes the same period of time, from Christ's ascension to His second advent, but with differing emphases. These cycles consist of three earthly views (seven seals, 6:1-8:5; seven trumpets, 8:6 -11:19; seven bowls, 15:1-16:21) and two cosmic views (12:1-14:20; 20:1-15). That Revelation has this recapitulating character can be seen from the fact that the end of history is described five times with key features repeated:

6:12-17, sixth seal: earthquake, every mountain and island is removed; great day of wrath has come

11:15-19, seventh trumpet: the wrath came; time for the dead to be judged;  lightning, voices, thunder, earthquake, hail

14:14-20, the final harvest: the wrath of God

16:17-21, seventh bowl: "It is done!"; lightning, noises, thunder, earthquake;  God's wrath; every island and mountain fled

20:11-15, hail, great white throne judgment; earth and sky fled away; dead were judged

The studied arrangement of John's revelation outlined here has important implications for understanding chap. 20. Chapter 20 is parallel to 12:1- 14:20, both of which begin with Satan's defeat and end with judgment day. Chapter 20 summarizes history from Christ's first advent to His second, but it says nothing about the Jewish temple, people, or land. Rather, 20:1- 3 states that Satan is bound for 1000 years in a bottomless pit. If we allow the non-figurative parts of Scripture to help us interpret this passage, we see that this binding took place at Christ's earthly life, death, resurrection, and ascension.

Satan was cast out, judged and defeated at Christ's first advent (John 12:31; 16:11; 1

John 3:8; Luke 10:18; Heb. 2:14). The reference to "binding" Satan (deo) occurs only in

Matt. 12:24-29 and Mark 3:22-27, where it refers to Christ's first advent (cf. Luke 11:15-

22). This "binding" of Satan is parallel to Rev. 12:7-13 where he is cast out of heaven and no longer allowed to accuse the saints as He did in Old Testament times  (Zechariah 3; Job 1-2).

The text also says that he is bound in the sense "that he should deceive the nations no more" (20:3). He is no longer able to deceive the nations and prevent them from hearing the Gospel, as was the case in general in Old Testament times (cf. Acts 14:16; Matt.16:18). He is still "a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour" (1 Pet. 5:8), but he cannot prevent the Gospel from going to the ends of the earth (Matt. 24:14).

As is true generally with apocalyptic literature, numbers are symbolical, representing concepts (e.g., Rev. 5:6). The number 1000 represents completeness (10 [to the 3rd power]). It indicates the complete time period for the church to carry out its worldwide mission, not a literal 1000 year reign of Christ on earth.

In Rev. 20:4-6 John mentions the "first resurrection. " Again, the rest of Scripture helps us to define this phrase. The reference is no doubt to conversion, that is, being raised with Christ in baptism (cf. Rom. 6:2 -5,11; Col. 2:12-13; John 5:24; 11:25-26; 1 John 3:14; 5:12; Rev. 3:1; Eph. 2:1 -6). Those who share in this "resurrection" are no longer under the power of eternal death (20:6, 14-15). Rather, they are "priests of God and of

Christ" (20:6; cf. 1:6; 5:10).[57] All Christians "who had not worshiped the beast or its

image" already reign with Christ, a rule which does not end at temporal death nor will it ever end (20:4; cf. 5:10; 22:5; Rom. 5:17; Eph. 2:6).

Revelation 20:7 -10 describes in pictorial language the final intensified persecution of the church by the anti-Christian world (cf. Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21-22). Satan will be loosed for a "little season" to deceive the nations and lead them in an attack on the "camp of the saints and the beloved city," i.e., the church (20:9; cf. 21:2, 9). This final persecution against the church is also mentioned elsewhere in Revelation, usually pictured as a

battle (9:13-19; 16:12-16; 19:19). Armageddon, the "hill of Megiddo" in Hebrew, is the

specific term used for this battle and, as noted earlier, an allusion to the place where several famous battles occurred in the Old Testament (16:16). The term, however, does not refer to a nuclear war as some have opined but to an intensified persecution against the church. Nor does the apostle understand "Gog and Magog" to be representatives of modern political states (20:8). Drawing his imagery from Ezekiel 38-39, John is referring to the whole anti-Christian world.

Whether or not the church is already in Satan's "little season" is difficult to answer. Yet, one can certainly see that the anti-Christian world is persecuting the church today and that the church cannot carry out its mission in various parts of the world as freely as it once could. Although there have indeed been periods of severe persecution in the past, an intensification of the stress of the approaching end of history might well be upon us.