The Millennial Kingdom Part 2
Revelation 20:1-6
Revelation 20:1–6 (NLT) — 1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. 2 He seized the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years. 3 The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterward he must be released for a little while. 4 Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their forehead or their hands. They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 This is the first resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.) 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. For them the second death holds no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years.
The Removal of Satan
The key v:1
This is mentioned somewhere else.
Revelation 9:1 (NLT) — 1 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. (Abyss)
This signifies that God has delegated his authority.
The angel (Micheal the Archangel?) has the power to open the bottomless pit.
Then you to shut it casting Satan inside.
From last week’s study we see that is a big deal.
The Great Chain
Revelation 20:1 (ESV) — 1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.
Heavy – enormous
Greek = megas,
Matthew 27:60 (ESV) — 60 And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.
The metaphor of binding demons with a chain also appears in Jude 6.
Jude 6 (ESV) — 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—
Also 2 Peter 2:4 (ESV) — 4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;
This passage is interesting.
A warning against false teachers comparing them to the angels that “left their proper dwelling” and bound by chains.
We will chase this rabbit in a minute.
This chain is a great one, because of Satan’s greatness and power as the highest created being.
Ezekiel 28:14 (ESV) — 14 You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.
You can see the power that Satan has. We are no match without the power and authority of Christ.
The angel was given that power and authority. (See Jude 9)
The rabbit hole.
Notice two things
Jude 6 says “who did not stay with their position of authority”
2 Peter says “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned”
What’s the sin?
What sin would cast them out of the heavenly realm and be cast in the bottomless pit and bound up in chains?
Some scholars think it is “the sons of God” narrative in Genesis 6:1-4
Genesis 6:1–6 (NIV) — 1 When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. 5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.
Two clues
Sons of God.
Nephilim (giants) Numbers 13:33
Are these the angels in Jude 6 and 2 Peter?
Here’s another clue.
This is called extrabiblical writings.
1 Enoch 6:1-2
And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. 2 And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.
More than a rabbit hole some background to what is in the bottomless pit.
Remember Jude is comparing these false teachers to these angel/demons.
Angels/demons that committed such sin that they are bound never to be free.
The mighty Satan in bound in heavy chains with these demons.
The names of Satan
There is a lot in a name
First, he is called the dragon, a title given him twelve times in Revelation.
(cf. 12:3, 4, 7, 9, 13, 16, 17; 13:1, 2, 4; 16:13).
It emphasizes his depraved nature, his ferociousness, and his oppressive cruelty.
The title serpent of old hearkens back to the Garden of Eden and Satan’s temptation of Eve.
Describes his deception and lies.
2 Corinthians 11:3 (NLT) — 3 But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent.
Diabolos (devil) means “slanderer,” or “malicious gossip” (1 Tim. 3:11; 2 Tim. 3:3; Titus 2:3)—an appropriate title for the “accuser of our brethren” (12:10).
Revelation 12:10 (NLT) — 10 …For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth— the one who accuses them before our God day and night.
Satan is a malignant liar; in fact, he is “the father of lies” John 8:44
The word Satan means adversary. He opposes God, Christ and the believers.
Pray for God power and protection as you study things that are evil!!!
