Sound The Trumpet : Revelation 20:1-10

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“Revelation 20:1-10”
by Art Sadlier
November 6th, 2011

God’s Final Dealings with Satan

“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season”(Revelation 20:1-3).

Review

I – The harlot church has been judged and destroyed at the mid-tribulation point.

2 – The marriage of the Lamb has taken place in heaven.

The true bride of Christ is not married to the Lamb until after the counterfeit bride is destroyed at the mid-tribulation point.

3 – The destruction of the economic/political Babylon has taken place at the end of the tribulation period (Rev. 18).

4 – The Lord has come out of heaven with His armies (Rev. 19).

We see the church as an army in Ephesians 6:11, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

We also see the angels as an army. The Lord is called the “Lord of Hosts” or the “Lord of armies.” There are many references to angels as an army.

5 – The battle of Armageddon has taken place in Revelation 19.

The judgement of God has fallen on the rebellious nations. Compare Revelation 14:18-20 with Revelation 19:15, where we have the same scene.

6 – The great supper of Almighty God has taken place.

Revelation 19:17-18, describes what takes place after Armageddon. That awful scene reminds us how much God hates sin.

7 – The doom of the beast and the false prophet are seen in Revelation 19:20.

The two satinically indwelt men are cast into hell and are still there a thousand years later as seen in Rev. 20:10. (Whatever you do, do not go to hell. Salvation is available to all who will repent of sin and trust the Saviour.)

That leaves us with some unfinished business- Satan. We now see God’s final dealing with Satan. Remember in chapter 20 we see the millennium in relationship to Christ, Satan, man, the tribulation saints, the resurrections, the earth, and the great white throne judgment.

In verses 2-3 we have a period of 1000 years. The word “millennium” is a Latin word that refers to a period of 1000 years. Because the earthly rule of Christ will last a 1000 years, we call it the millennium.

The kingdom of God on earth is a constant theme of scripture.

“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Mat. 6:10). “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen” (Mat. 6:13). Acts 1:6, “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?”

See also Isaiah 11:1-10.

Satan Bound

Verse 1, “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.” Notice a “key,” a “bottomless pit,” a “great chain.” Notice the key came from “heaven.”

Verse 2, “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.” Satan is carefully identified. Satan is now so diminished that all it takes to bind him is one ordinary angel. God has terminated Satan’s powers. The great experiment is now over. The results are now in. Satan couldn’t govern the earth in God’s place. Satan is bound for a 1000 years.

The Location

Verse 3, “And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” The location is the “bottomless pit” or the "abyss."

Isaiah 14:12, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” Satan’s career is described as, “fallen from heaven” – “down to the ground” – “into the bottomless pit.” From the moment Satan rebelled it was all downhill for him, down from hovering over the throne of God’s glory, down to the stellar heavens, down to the earth (at mid-trib). Down! Down! Down! At this point there is one more step down to come, that step is down into the lake of fire.

Question

Why didn’t Satan go into the lake of fire with the beast and the false prophet? (Revelation 19:20). The answer is that God is not finished with Satan at this point. When you look at Satan, realize that he is but an instrument to accomplish God’s purposes. That does not excuse Satan for his evil and rebellious heart; God foreknows all things and He uses all things to glorify His own name. The same applies to men and women. God lets men and women choose whether they will be instruments for His glory by obedience and faith or by disobedience and unbelief.

Ephesians 1:12, “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.” All men must choose whether to be to the praise of the glory of God’s grace in heaven or to the praise of the glory of His justice in hell. All creatures are ultimately to God’s glory, God says "you choose."

Satan has one more task to perform then he will go into the lake of fire forever. His remaining task, “After that he must be loosed a little season.”

The purpose of the 1000 years of Satan’s incarceration

God has in His wisdom decided that man must be tested in every situation. God intends that man may know and understand that there is no situation in which man can produce righteousness apart from the grace of God.

Man was tested under the rule of law and failed the test. Man has been tested in the age of grace and failed the test. The millennium will be a time when man will be tested in a righteous environment. We read about that environment in Habakkuk 2:14, “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”

Man has already been tested under innocence, under conscience, under human government, under promise, under law and under grace. The final dispensation of God’s program will test man under the rule and reign of Christ in righteousness.

We see the results of that test at the end of the millennial period. Verses 7-9, “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.”

The millennium begins with only believers on earth, believers in their natural bodies. They procreate a multitude of men and women who will again populate the earth. They will live and be raised in a perfect environment. Open sin will not be tolerated as Christ will rule over the world.

Isaiah 11:3-4, “And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.” We see a righteous environment imposed.

Verse 5, “And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.” How will men respond in that environment? Some will sin and die. Most will outwardly go along but inwardly they will be rebelling.

At the close of that time God will send the test. Man must always be tested by God. Revelation 20:7, “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.” Here comes God’s ignorant and unwilling servant. Notice what he does in verse 8; “And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.”

What a story there is in this verse! It is a replay of man’s testing over the last 6000 years. It reminds me of Josiah’s day. Josiah was a great king and a great leader. He led Israel in what seemed to be a time of great revival. Great reforms took place. Outwardly it seemed like a great turning to God. But Jeremiah 3:10 reveals a different story; “And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD.”

That is what is taking place all through the millennium. God sees it and He will expose it.

Satan will be God’s instrument to draw the truth out of those hypocrites.

Verse 9,” And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” Doom comes quickly and completely.

Now God is finished using the wicked and rebellious heart of Satan. Satan voluntarily made his choice to rebel against God. God used his rebellion to carry out God’s purposes.

Now we have Satan’s final doom, Verse 10, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

Lucifer, you made a bad choice! You got on the wrong train way back in the beginning of time. You rode that train all the way into the station. The station is the lake of fire.

Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13