The Millennium (Rev. 20:1-10)
Call to Hear
Let me begin by reading those verses for us.
Revelation 20:1–15 NKJV
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.
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.
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. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
I want you to know that this is one of the most difficult chapters of the Revelation to fully understand. What we will cover this morning has caused some of the most well-educated on this subject to scratch their heads in confusion. What we will cover today has also been the cause of many arguments among Believers even splitting churches over differing interpretations of this chapter.
I come against that right now, in the Name of Jesus.
I stand in agreement with Daniel Akin on this matter,
this is not a doctrine we should divide over. We should discuss it. We should debate it. But we should not divide over it. 1
And for that reason, as Leon Morris so appropriately stated,
It is necessary to approach the chapter with humility and charity. 2
3 Views of the Millennium
Before we break down this chapter, I want to give a very brief summary on the three major views of the Millennial Kingdom found in Revelation 20, which is the only chapter in scripture that presents this doctrine. In their book, Across the Spectrum, Gregory Boyd and Paul Eddy lay out a general timeline for when the three major views were most popular.
Premillennial
According to Boyd and Eddy, premillennialism was the dominant view during the “first few centuries of the early church.”3 The premillennial teaching, pre meaning before, sets forth a case for a literal thousand-year period to take place after Jesus returns to earth at which time the Church will be raptured away.
Daniel Akin explains it this way,
The millennial kingdom is the thousand-year period in which Jesus Christ will rule over the earth as the promised Messiah, the seed of David (2 Sam 7:14–16). This kingdom will be inaugurated at His second coming and therefore at the end of the tribulation (Rev 19:11–21). The millennium is an intermediate kingdom of a thousand years before the establishment of the eternal state (Rev 20:1–6; 21–22).4
Here are a few noteworthy premillennialists: Ignatius, Tertullian, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr and even Sir Isaac Newton held to this view.
Postmillennial
An opposing view is post-millennialism. Post, meaning after.
“[P]ostmillennialists,” such as early evangelists and revivalists George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, and even Charles Finney, “believe that Christ will return after the Christianization of the entire world”.5 Again, Boyd and Eddy say that this view began to gain ground sometime after the Reformation.6 “Many Protestants came to believe that a thousand-year reign of peace was coming but that it would not be preceded by Christ’s return, as premillennialists hold. Rather, the church itself would usher in the thousand-year reign of peace by evangelizing and transforming the world.”7
Amilliennial
Finally, there is amillennialism. A, meaning without or against. Amillennialists, like Augustine, Calvin and Luther, hold to a belief of symbolism when it comes to the mention of a thousand years in Revelation 20. This view, says Boyd and Eddy, arose “with Augustine in the early fifth century...” and “it remained the dominant view throughout the Middle Ages.”8
Again, Daniel Akin is most helpful on this subject. He states that,
The millennium or kingdom reign of Christ and His saints is in existence for the period of time between Christ’s first and second coming. We are in the millennium right now.9
There will be no future reign of Christ on the earth prior to the new heaven and new earth, and the word thousand is a symbolic number indicating a long period of time.10
Even though supporters of these three views may differ on when Christ will return, they are in total agreement that He will return! Furthermore, they also agree that those who have been faithful to the Lamb will reign with Him at some time in the future. So again, discussing or even debating this is fine. We must not allow it to divide us as God’s people.
Now, let’s talk about more important things from this chapter which I believe will be more helpful to us than our personal millennial view.
In chapter 19, John witnessed how the Faithful and True One was worshiped as shouts of hallelujah rang out because “the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!” (Rev. 19:6). He heard the blessing pronounced on “those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!” (Rev. 19:9) as well as the judgement upon those invited to the “supper of the Great God” (Rev. 19:17). Chapter 19 closes with the defeat of the beast and the false prophet who had been deceiving people by the working of signs. These two are captured and cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. Those who have taken the bait of these deceivers have suffered alongside of them in their rebellion as they are slain with the sword that proceeds from the mouth of Him who sat on the white horse (Rev. 19:19-21).
As we look out at what’s going on in our world today, the constant fighting among nations and neighbors; Russia and Ukraine; Israel and Palestine; America and China and Mexico; Hazara and Pashtun; The growing immigration battle, the wealth gap, the education gap, discrimination in all of its varied forms, The constant fight to suppress the truth and eliminate God from all sectors of life and the fight to keep our freedom to speak openly about the God who has demonstrated His love for us through the death of His Son, Jesus. All of these things can stir up fear in the heart. If we allow it, it can drive us to the brink of insanity and cause us to question the presence and power of God. And that’s why I am excited about what God’s word says in Revelation 20.
There are three vital things that we can learn from this chapter. First, Satan is serious. He’s not just trying to get you to have a bad day. He wants you to have a bad life. He wants you to lose hope. He wants you to completely abandon your faith in God. Second, God is sovereign. He has not fallen asleep. For those who have placed their trust in Him, He is working all things out for our good. Third, the Church is secure. God has not abandoned us, so do not abandon Him.
In his book, On Being Black and Reformed, Anthony J. Carter said that,
“When we speak of God’s sovereignty, we are speaking of his kingly rule over all creation. There is no place to which this sovereignty does not extend and no activity or affair in his creation over which he is not governor.”11
This includes the events of Revelation 20.
Do you believe that? Listen, it is paramount that we, as God’s people, commit to trusting this fact, that God is sovereign! And reminding ourselves of this truth on a regular basis. We can find strength for believing this in Revelation 20.
This chapter, which some believe to be a continuation of chapter 19, opens with a profound and incredibly encouraging scene.
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.
As we read these first three verses, you might pick up on a few key words that speaks to the sovereignty of our God and the inferiority of our Adversary. These words are laid out in ascending fashion.
He is laid hold of and bound. He is cast into the Abyss. Shut up and sealed. He is kept from anymore deception. And he is released, at a predetermined time, for a little while. Notice here that an angel, not Jesus, nor a single member of the Godhead, deals with Satan directly.
Leon Morris says that,
The final unimportance of Satan is perhaps indicated in the fact that it is not the Father who deals with him, nor the Christ, but only an unnamed angel.12
As Chuck Swindoll so adequately states, Satan is “insidious and invisible, but he’s not invincible.”13
You see, we serve a God who is Almighty. Our God has all authority. He is omnipotent. The mere mention of His Name makes demons tremble in fear (James 2:19).
For a thousand years, whether that’s literal or symbolic, Satan will no longer be able to wield his most effective tool - deception.
This is how he got Eve to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. When God questions Eve about what happened in the Garden, she replies by saying,
Genesis 3:13 NKJV
13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
The Apostle Paul confirms this in his letter to the church in Corinth and warns us against falling victim to his deception.
2 Corinthians 11:3 NKJV
3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
If you were here for the Chinese New Year celebration then you may have seen Rachel and Wei performing their magic show. It’s always a big hit! Wei showed us what appeared to be two hollow cylinders and then he preceded to pull out one glass and about 8 bottles out of those two “hollow” cylinders. Our minds were blown! Most of us knew that this was just a trick. It was deception, even though we couldn’t explain how it happened, we knew that there was trickery involved.
The sad reality is that too few people approach Satan with the same skepticism. Unbelievers and Believers alike.
1 John 4:1 NKJV
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Oftentimes, instead of testing every spirit, we settle for testing God and walking away steeped in our skepticism. However, we will be more trusting of what the world presents to us as truth and completely miss the fact that we are being deceived.
“[Satan is] the ultimate shyster who preys upon the unrepentant, but also upon ‘cultural Christians,’ whose faith is more tied to folk theology and cultural traditions than to God’s Word.”14
Satan will be bound for a thousand years and held captive in the Abyss. This will usher in a time of peace like the world has never known since before the Fall. Can you imagine what that will be like? No more war. No more fallen pastors. No more divorce. No more corrupt leaders.
Chuck Swindoll says,
The good news is that the book of revelation promises a golden age in which all weapons of warfare will be fashioned into implements of peace. Prosperity will be shared. Peace will be the banner of all people. The light of justice will illumine every corner of the world. This condition will not be achieved through educational funding, political change, social programs, cultural awakening, or even religious revival. As promising as some of these things may be in the short term, fallen humanity ultimately foils all efforts at self-reformation.15
This brings us to Revelation 20:7-10. We’ll come back to verse 4-6 later.
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. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics,
Seventy percent of prisoners released in 2012 were arrested again within five years...The recidivism rate is over 80% for prisoners with juvenile records.16
And what we find here in God’s Word, as it pertains to Satan, is no less true.
Proverbs 26:11 NKJV
11 As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly.
For a thousand years Satan will be left alone with his thoughts. When he has served his time and is released from captivity, he is not reformed. He has no change of heart. He is as stubborn as when he was first arrested and he goes back to his old tricks of deception. That’s why Peter tells us to be sober-minded and alert because the Deceiver is roaming around looking for someone to devour (1 Pt. 5:8).
Too many in our world are being deceived at this very moment. Deceived by the sensational reports on the news. Deceived by politics and political leaders. Some are being deceived by their own increasing achievements and wealth and by their own intelligences.
2 Timothy 3:7 NKJV
7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
What’s probably the most heartbreaking part of the whole matter is that many of those who are being deceived are right here in the church. You are being led astray because of your ignorance of the Word of God. But those who know the truth they shall be set free from Satan’s deception (Jn. 8:32).
Here in Revelation the task of the saints is not to take the battle into their own hands but to encamp before the Lord and trust him. 17
Call to Respond
Again, what we see in Revelation 20, is the unrivaled sovereignty of God. None of this catches Him by surprise. And none of this is out of His control. Although Satan gathers an army to fight against the Church, as Grant Osborne so succinctly puts it, this is “virtually a nonevent.”18
And church, if we want to come out on the winning side, our responsibility in this fight is simple.
Psalm 46:10 NKJV
10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
Trust in the Lord. Remain faithful to Him. Hold fast to your profession of faith.
This is our hope, church! This is how we fight our battles against Satan.
We serve “...the God of all grace”.
We serve the One “who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus.”
We serve the Almighty One who perfects and establishes us. The Faithful One who strengthens and settles us after we’ve suffered for a little while.
To Satan there will be torment forever and ever, but glory and the dominion be to our Redeemer forever and ever. Amen (1 Pt. 5:10-11).
Church, we’re going to be alright, it doesn’t matter what the world and Satan may throw at us. Our future is secure because the Lord God Almighty is our Defender!
Don’t be fearful. Be faithful.
Tre Clark
Exported from Logos Bible Study
11:12 AM February 13, 2025.
Works Cited
1. Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in Revelation, ed. Daniel L. Akin, David Platt, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2016), 306.
2. Leon Morris, Revelation: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 20, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1987), 222.
3. Gregory Boyd, Paul Eddy. Across the Spectrum, p238
4. Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in Revelation, ed. Daniel L. Akin, David Platt, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2016), 303.
5. Gregory Boyd, Paul Eddy. Across the Spectrum, p242
6. Gregory Boyd, Paul Eddy. Across the Spectrum, p238
7. Gregory Boyd, Paul Eddy. Across the Spectrum, p238
8. Gregory Boyd, Paul Eddy. Across the Spectrum, p238
9. Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in Revelation, ed. Daniel L. Akin, David Platt, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2016), 304.
10. Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in Revelation, ed. Daniel L. Akin, David Platt, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2016), 304.
11. Anthony J. Carter, On Being Black and Reformed, p24
12. Leon Morris, Revelation: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 20, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1987), 223–224.
13. Chuck Swindoll, Revelation, p281
14. J. Scott Duvall, Revelation, p279
15. Chuck Swindoll, Revelation, p282
16. https://usafacts.org/articles/how-common-is-it-for-released-prisoners-to-re-offend/
17. Osborne, Revelation, p714
18. Osborne, Revelation, p714
