Revelation to John Unsealed

Chapter Twenty

Satan is Bound 1,000 Years

20

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

The dragon was bound by an angel for 1,000 years when Yeshua takes control of the prison Hades. After his crucifixion, Jesus continues his ministry onto Hades in the spirit for three days and three nights according to Matthew 12:40 where Yeshua says, "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

One purpose for this three day ministry inside Hades can be understood in 1 Peter 3:18-19, "For The Messiah also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to GOD, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit; 19 in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison". This was necessary for Noah was not sent to preach to the people as many claim, but was instructed to construct an ark. It is true that Noah was a man of righteousness, but that doesn't mean he was evangelizing as we know it today.

This is made clear in Genesis 6:13, "And GOD said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh; for the earth is filled with violence through them; behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch." Contrary to Christian belief Noah was not sent to preach to the inhabitants of the earth during the creation of the ark. Yeshua preached to the spirits who drowned during the flood days in Hades in order to eliminate any excuses during the Judgment of the Nations spoken of in Matthew 25:31.

As a result, Yeshua has the keys of the prison Hades and Death, which is proven by Revelation 1:18 "and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades." Why would Yeshua take over Hades and the angel of Death without first subduing Satan and becoming a warden of the prison himself? Yeshua said in Matthew 12:29, Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.

This is what Yeshua did, plunder the devil's house, the prison Hades and took control of the angel of Death. The dragon was to not taken but imprisoned because he was to be loosed after a thousand years to continue his deceiving works upon the nations of the earth.

After this 1,000 year imprisonment the dragon is prophesied to be released to prepare the nations for the Gog and magog war against Jerusalem on earth for the last time, where he will stand in the "sand of the sea", between the first and second beasts. The term Gog and magog gives us a placement in time, for these eastern kings launch a global invasion against Jerusalem during the 3 ½ years of the Great Tribulation. This means that Satan must be loosed for a little while before this period to deceive the nations, not after. Current events today prove Satan has been loosed preparing the nations.

The 1,000 Year Reign of the Martyrs: The First Resurrection

20: And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

The Judgment of the Nations: The Second Resurrection

20: But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

We can see the judgment of the nations in Matthew 25:31-43, where the sheep and the goats are separated for judgment, which are people who have rested since the beginning of mankind. When Jesus said the first will be last and the last will be first in both Matthew 19:30 and 20:16, he meant that the great tribulation population will be the first to either enter heaven or be condemned to the lake of fire before the presence of GOD in heaven.

Satan is Released

20: And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Judgment Day and the Second Death

20: And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.