Revelation 20

1 And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of deepness, and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he caught the dragon, the old serpent, that is the Devil and Satan; and he bound him by a thousand years.
3 And he sent him into deepness, and closed, and marked on him, that he deceive no more the folks, till a thousand years be filled [And he sent him into deepness, and closed, and signed, or sealed, upon him, that he deceive no more folks, till a thousand years be fulfilled]. After these things it behooveth him to be unbound a little time.
4 And I saw seats, and they sat on them, and doom was given to them. And the souls of men beheaded for the witnessing of Jesus, and for the word of God, and them that worshipped not the beast, neither the image of it, neither took the character of it in their foreheads, neither in their hands [or in their hands]. And they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 And others of dead men lived not [The others of dead lived not], till a thousand years were ended. This is the first again-rising.
6 Blessed and holy is he, that hath part in the first again-rising. In these men the second death hath not power [In these the second death hath no power]; but they shall be priests of God, and of Christ, and they shall reign with him a thousand years.
7 And when a thousand years shall be ended, Satan shall be unbound of his prison;
8 and he shall go out, and shall deceive folks, that be on four corners of the earth [that be in four corners of the earth], Gog and Magog. And he shall gather them [together] into battle, whose number is as the gravel of the sea.
9 And they ascended up on the broadness of the earth, and environed the castles of saints, and the loved city. And fire came down of God from heaven, and devoured them [And fire came down from God from heaven, and devoured them].
10 And the devil, that deceived them, was sent into the pool of fire and brimstone, where both the beast and false prophets shall be tormented day and night, into worlds of worlds. Amen.
11 And I saw a great white throne, and one sitting on it, from whose sight earth fled and heaven [from whose sight earth flew away and heaven]; and the place is not found of them.
12 And I saw dead men, great and small, standing in the sight of the throne; and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and dead men were deemed of these things that were written in the books, after the works of them.
13 And the sea gave his dead men, that were in it; and death and hell gave their dead men [and death and hell gave their dead], that were in them. And it was deemed of each [And it is deemed of all], after the works of them.
14 And hell and death were sent into the pool of fire [And death and hell be sent into pool of fire]. This is the second death.
15 And he that was not found written in the book of life, was sent into the pool of fire.

Revelation 20 Commentary

Chapter 20

Satan is bound for a thousand years. (1-3) The first resurrection; those are blessed that have part therein. (4-6) Satan loosed, Gog and Magog. (7-10) The last and general resurrection. (11-15)

Verses 1-3 Here is a vision, showing by a figure the restraints laid on Satan himself. Christ, with Almighty power, will keep the devil from deceiving mankind as he has hitherto done. He never wants power and instruments to break the power of Satan. Christ shuts by his power, and seals by his authority. The church shall have a time of peace and prosperity, but all her trials are not yet over.

Verses 4-6 Here is an account of the reign of the saints, for the same space of time as Satan is bound. Those who suffer with Christ, shall reign with him in his spiritual and heavenly kingdom, in conformity to him in his wisdom, righteousness, and holiness: this is called the first resurrection, with which none but those who serve Christ, and suffer for him, shall be favoured. The happiness of these servants of God is declared. None can be blessed but those that are holy; and all that are holy shall be blessed. We know something thing of what the first death is, and it is very awful; but we know not what this second death is. It must be much more dreadful; it is the death of the soul, eternal separation from God. May we never know what it is: those who have been made partakers of a spiritual resurrection, are saved from the power of the second death. We may expect that a thousand years will follow the destruction of the antichristian, idolatrous, persecuting powers, during which pure Christianity, in doctrine, worship, and holiness, will be made known over all the earth. By the all-powerful working of the Holy Spirit, fallen man will be new-created; and faith and holiness will as certainly prevail, as unbelief and unholiness now do. We may easily perceive what a variety of dreadful pains, diseases, and other calamities would cease, if all men were true and consistent Christians. All the evils of public and private contests would be ended, and happiness of every kind largely increased. Every man would try to lighten suffering, instead of adding to the sorrows around him. It is our duty to pray for the promised glorious days, and to do every thing in our public and private stations which can prepare for them.

Verses 7-10 While this world lasts, Satan's power in it will not be wholly destroyed, though it may be limited and lessened. No sooner is Satan let loose, than he again begins deceiving the nations, and stirring them up to make war with the saints and servants of God. It would be well if the servants and ministers of Christ were as active and persevering in doing good, as his enemies in doing mischief. God will fight this last and decisive battle for his people, that the victory may be complete, and the glory be to himself.

Verses 11-15 After the events just foretold, the end will speedily come; and there is no mention of any thing else, before the appearing of Christ to judge the world. This will be the great day: the Judge, the Lord Jesus Christ, will then put on majesty and terror. The persons to be judged are the dead, small and great; young and old, low and high, poor and rich. None are so mean, but they have some talents to account for; and none so great, as to avoid having to account for them. Not only those alive at the coming of Christ, but all the dead. There is a book of remembrance both for good and bad: and the book of the sinner's conscience, though formerly secret, will then be opened. Every man will recollect all his past actions, though he had long forgotten many of them. Another book shall be opened, the book of the Scriptures, the rule of life; it represents the Lord's knowledge of his people, and his declaring their repentance, faith, and good works; showing the blessings of the new covenant. By their works men shall be justified or condemned; he will try their principles by their practices. Those justified and acquitted by the gospel, shall be justified and acquitted by the Judge, and shall enter into eternal life, having nothing more to fear from death, or hell, or wicked men; for these are all destroyed together. This is the second death; it is the final separation of sinners from God. Let it be our great concern to see whether our Bibles justify or condemn us now; for Christ will judge the secrets of all men according to the gospel. Who shall dwell with devouring flames?

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION 20

This chapter contains the binding of Satan, the saints' thousand years' reign with Christ, the loosing of Satan again, the destruction of him, and the Gog and Magog army, and the last judgment: the angel that is to bind Satan is described by his descent from heaven; by his having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand; and by the use he made of them, laying hold on Satan, binding him, casting him into the bottomless pit, and then shutting it up, and setting a seal on him; by all which he will be prevented from deceiving the nations for the space of a thousand years, Re 20:1-3. After this thrones are seen, with persons on them, to whom judgment is given; who are said to be such as had been martyrs for Jesus, and had not worshipped the beast, or professed his religion; whose happiness is represented by living and reigning with Christ a thousand years, when others will not; the second death will have no power on them; they will be the priests of God, and Christ, and reign with him during the said term, having a part in the first resurrection, Re 20:4-6. At the expiration of which term Satan will be loosed, and go out of prison, deceive the nations, and gather Gog and Magog to battle; who, being exceeding numerous, will cover the breadth of the earth, encompass the camp and city of the saints, when fire will come down from heaven and destroy them, and Satan will be cast into the lake of fire, where the beast and false prophet are, and be tormented for ever and ever, Re 20:7-10. And next an account is given of the general Judgment; and the judge is described by the throne he sat on, a white cloud, and by his majesty, which is such, that the heavens and the earth flee from before him, Re 20:11. And next the persons judged are described by their common state, the dead; by their age or condition, great and small, and by their position, standing before God; and then an account of the procedure, or rule of judgment; the books are opened, and the execution of judgment according to what is found in the books, Re 20:12 in order to which the sea, death, and the grave, give up the dead in them, and the two last are cast into the lake, and with them those who are not in the book of life, Re 20:13,14.

Revelation 20 Commentaries

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.