And cast him into the bottomless pit
Or deep, into which the devils desired they might not be sent,
and which they dreaded as a torment, it may be, because a place
of confinement, ( Luke 8:31 ) ( Matthew 8:29
) for this is called a prison, ( Revelation
20:7 ) and is distinguished from the lake of fire, into which
the devil is afterwards cast, ( Revelation
20:10 ) .
And shut him up;
that so he might not rove about in the air, nor go to and fro in
the earth, nor walk about like a roaring lion, seeking to
affright, disturb, or devour:
and set a seal upon him;
or upon the door of the pit, for further security, as was upon
the stone at the mouth of the lion's den, ( Daniel 6:17 ) and of
Christ's sepulchre, ( Matthew
27:66 ) . The Jews F21 make mention of a stone they call
"Shetijah", with which the Lord of the world "sealed the mouth of
the great deep", or bottomless pit, at the beginning; but here
not that, but Satan in it, is sealed. The Alexandrian copy reads,
"and sealed him firmly", so that it was impossible for him to
break out: the end of this apprehension, binding, imprisonment,
and security of Satan is,
that he should deceive the nations no more;
that is, by drawing them into idolatry, false worship, and false
doctrine; and by exciting them to make war against the saints, or
to persecute them, as appears from ( Revelation
20:8 ) as he had done before; and it is notorious enough that
he has deceived them both these ways; he deceived the Pagan
nations not only before, but since the coming of Christ, to
worship the Heathen deities; and the Papists, who are called
Gentiles, or nations, ( Revelation
11:2 ) to fall down to idols of gold, silver, stone, and
wood; and the nation of the Jews to entertain a false and deluded
notion of the Messiah; and all of them, in their turns, to
persecute the people of God, as the Jews at the death of Stephen,
and afterwards; the Pagan emperors for the first three hundred
years after Christ; the Papists from the rise of the beast, who
had power given him to make war with the saints, and overcome
them; but now he will be under such restraint, and in such close
confinement, that he will not be able to move the wicked nations
to anything of this kind, as he will when he is loosed at the end
of the thousand years; nor will he be able so much as to tempt
any of the saints, during this term of time, nor give them the
least molestation or uneasiness.
Till the thousand years shall be fulfilled;
or ended, the whole space of them run out:
and after that he must be loosed a little
season;
a small space of time, in comparison of the thousand years; how
long it will be exactly, cannot be said; and this "must" be, not
because he cannot be held any longer, or through any weakness in
Christ; but because of the decree of God, who has so appointed
it, for the glorifying of himself, in the salvation of his
people, and in the final destruction of the devil, and the Gog
and Magog army.