In this chapter we find three main things, two of which we will study today.  We find the chaining of the devil for a thousand years and we find the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ and his saints.  In the next lesson we will study the white throne judgment.

Chaining the devil 1-3 – an angel comes from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit [which is in the center of the earth, that’s why it has no bottom] – it is a compartment that is locked – thus there are three locked compartments in the heart of the earth – Rev 1:18 hell and death [which used to be called Abraham’s bosom Lk16, as long as Abraham and the Old Testament saints were there] – these give up their dead at white throne Revelation 20:13 – and then there is the bottomless pit

The angel comes with a chain – this is going to be some kind of chain when you consider that chains and fetters couldn’t hold a man possessed with the devil Mark 5:3 – Jude 6 calls these chains “everlasting chains” and 2 Peter 2:4 calls them “chains of darkness” – and they are strong enough to hold him

He gets the devil v.2 [12:3] and binds him 1,000 years – so all these prayers about binding the devil are ineffectual – he’ll be bound here – the 1,000 years are what we call “the millennium”

He’s cast into bottomless pit

He’s shut up – incarcerated but also silenced

He’s sealed – the Lord sets a seal upon him – when the Lord seals something it will not be opened until he opens it Ephesians 1:13

He deceives the nations no more till the 1,000 years are up – this is very interesting because he cannot be responsible or blamed for man’s rebellion during the millennium [Isaiah 26:10, 65:20] – in other words, not to defend the devil, but he gets blamed for a lot more than he causes and his lack of influence during the millennial reign of Jesus will make this abundantly clear

Then he’s loosed for a little season – to lead the final rebellion against Jesus at the end of the millennium

Reign of the saints 4-6 – John sees thrones – they are the ones in Matthew 19:28, Revelation 2:26, Luke 19:17, 19 – notice that the church age saints sit with the Lord in judgment over the world 1 Corinthians 6:2

He also sees the resurrected tribulation martyrs – they were be beheaded [like John the Baptist] – they were martyred for their witness of two things despised by the world: Jesus and his word Revelation 6:9 AND they were killed for something they didn’t do [they did not worship the beast and his image and they did not take the mark] – these live AND reign with Jesus 1,000 years

Notice church age saints are among those who reign, 2 Timothy 2:12, Romans 8:17 conditioned on suffering with Jesus

The rest of dead live not till the 1,000 years are ended – so the first resurrection is up to the beginning of millennial reign of Jesus

Benefits of being raised in the first resurrection are these: 2nd death has no power over you AND you get to reign as kings and priests with the Lord in the earth for 1,000 years Rev 5:10 – 1 Pet 2:5, 9 we are a royal [kings] priesthood [priests]

Release of Satan 7-10 – Satan loosed out of his prison – and returns to deceive the nations [12:9] – he gathers them together in innumerable multitudes to battle the Lord and his saints – the reference to Gog and Magog takes you to Ezekiel 39-39 and these point to Russia

They gather against the camp of the saints and the beloved city [Jerusalem Psalms 132:13 Ezekiel 48:35] – when they are gathered, fire destroys them instantly [like Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10 and the captains of fifty in 2 Kings 1, and Sodom & Gomorrah in Genesis 19]

The Devil is cast into the lake of fire forever with the beast and false prophet

Release of Satan 7-10 – Satan loosed out of his prison – and returns to deceive the nations [12:9] – he gathers them together in innumerable multitudes to battle the Lord and his saints – the reference to Gog and Magog takes you to Ezekiel 39-39 and these point to Russia

They gather against the camp of the saints and the beloved city [Jerusalem Psalms 132:13 Ezekiel 48:35] – when they are gathered, fire destroys them instantly [like Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10 and the captains of fifty in 2 Kings 1, and Sodom & Gomorrah in Genesis 19]

The Devil is cast into the lake of fire forever with the beast and false prophet

The Devil is cast into the lake of fire forever with the beast and false prophet