The Finishing Details of This Present World

Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. Revelation 20:6

Revelation 20:1–15 – The Book of Revelation: Worship. Obey. Endure.
Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost – November 13, 2022 (am)

Today’s text has to rank among the most disputed in all the Bible, quite possibly at the top of that list. The question it raises that’s become so divisive is this: are we looking forward to a thousand-year reign of Christ on earth between this present world and the new heaven and new earth (21:1), or is Rev.20 describing one more recapitulation of the church age before the new heaven and new earth arrive? And quite honestly, you wouldn’t believe—or perhaps you would—how nasty the discussion can become between Christians as they attempt to answer this question!

For the record, I (we at GCD) believe we’re looking forward to a thousand-year reign of Christ on earth between this present world and the new heaven and new earth (21:1). However, I believe the distance between our view and that of many who answer this question differently is much narrower than we may think. The question just posed, for instance, gets at this point. The key difference between Amillennialism and Historic Premillennialism focuses in on Rev.20 asking whether it speaks of a new era or another recap of this present one. Let’s walk through c.20 now and see how this works. We’ll separate it into four parts.

The Final Preparations for the Millennium – 1-3

There are only so many ways to interpret this text. Some say this thousand years (2) isn’t a reference to time at all (e.g. Berkower [amillennialist]), but is symbolic of the victory of Christ over that ancient serpent, … the devil (2). But there’s nowhere else in apocalyptic literature where time is used as a symbol for something non-time. Time is routinely schematized for a neat rendering of history. And numbers are routinely symbolic. But there’s no precedent for time representing something that’s not time-oriented (Carson 1995).

Others say this thousand years (2) symbolically represents the entire period between Jesus’ ascension and His return (e.g. Hendrikson [amillennialist]). But look at John’s description of the uniqueness of this period: 1 [this] angel that was coming down from heaven, holding… the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain 2 … seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, … the devil…, Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and… sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. … Now, we have to grant that widely varying explanations have been offered to tell us what this passage means. But we also have to grant that the key question to answer is: what did John mean as he wrote it? And it surely sounds like he’s saying that the primary characteristic of this thousand-year period is that Satan is contained, bound and sealed from doing his evil work right up to and including his efforts to deceive the nations (3). This seems new to me. From c.8 on in this letter, John seems to be telling us that Satan is active during this church age, harassing and harming God’s people incessantly throughout it, to the full extent he’s allowed to do. So, I would be hard-pressed to explain how vv.1-3 are intending to describe that very same window of time.

But if this thousand years is a new period of time that falls between this present age and the new heaven and new earth (21:1), then the question becomes, what is its purpose? Our text isn’t clear on that point. But there are two possibilities. (1) Although God’s holiness demands His wrath, He still has a longer fuse than the saints. And He’s still providing opportunities for people to [come to] repentance (cf. 2Pe.3:9). Or, (2) this period provides for a vindication of God. Some might say: If we’d just had the opportunity to experience Jesus’ righteous rule, we’d have repented. Giving a thousand years to this very opportunity will dispense with that objection. And all that follows here (4-10) lends some credibility to this idea.

The Millennial Reign of Christ – 4-6

Vv.4-6 are the positive counterpart to vv.1-3. There, the [binding] of Satan is the focus. Here, it’s the reigning and blessing of true believers—their resurrection, [coming] to life to reign with Christ (4). But there’s also significant question about what John meant by this—what he wants his readers to understand from what he wrote in vv.4-6.

The answers here generally fall under one of three basic headings. Either this passage describes (1) a lengthy season during which the great commission proves successful in winning the world to Christ such that His enemies become His footstool (Psa.110:1) and the church experiences the joy and peace of life together honoring the principles of God’s Word as they await the still-future return of Jesus to take up His reign (Postmillennialism), or it describes (2) the spiritual reign of Christ along with His church during this age as both the gospel and the rebellion of the unconverted advance side-by-side awaiting Christ’s return to defeat His remaining enemies and usher in the new heaven and new earth (Amillennialism), or it describes (3) an extended season of life under the reign of Jesus that follows His return and His defeat of the beast (Antichrist) and false prophet (19:20) with their followers (19:21), and also following the first resurrection (5-6) and the establishment of His kingdom on earth prior to the new heaven and new earth (21:1) (Premillennialism).

I believe this third description is what John wants his readers to hear. To hold the postmillennial view, we need to grant that Rev. was written prior to AD 70 and that all it describes up through c.19 was already completed by that date. But I truly believe John wrote this letter in the 90s.

To hold the amillennial view, we must grant that c.20 is a recapitulation of the church age (like cc.12-13) and a retelling of the final battle (recapping c.19, as Eze.39 recaps 38 [Beale 1999 979]). But I believe there are key indicators here that lead us to believe this chapter isn’t a recap but describes a whole new future era. I see three indicators favoring this option (cf. Ladd 259-261).

1. The first takes us back into vv.1-3. It just doesn’t seem to me that John’s descriptions of the work of Satan in this letter lead us to believe that he’s been bound, shut [in], sealed, and kept from deceiving the nations (3) during this age (2). I grant that Jesus stated in His teaching about His casting out demons (Mat.12:22-32) that one cannot enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man (Mat.12:29), referring to Satan. Jesus also said that Satan had already been defeated, [thrown down] like lightning from heaven (Luk.10:18). But thrown down is also the language that is used to describe Satan’s expulsion from heaven in 12:9; the earth was his destination at that point, and his angels were thrown down with him (12:9); in that passage he was called the deceiver of the whole world. And that section finishes with a loud voice in heaven saying… woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows his time is short! (12:10, 12) So, it just doesn’t seem to me that what we read in vv.1-3 describes what the church is experiencing of Satan in this age. That seems better described by passages like:

Eph.6:12 … we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the… cosmic powers over this present darkness, [and] the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Eph.2:1 … you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

2Co.4:4 … the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ…. He’s deceiving the nations.

1Pe.5:8 … Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour, right now, today.

1Jo.4:4 … he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. … And 5:19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

I believe these passages describe better what we see today. Also, this [binding] of Satan (2-3) just can’t refer to the victory Jesus won over the enemy at the cross. Otherwise, what could John mean when we read that 7 … when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations… again? Is John saying that Jesus’ victory at the cross will be set aside, or temporarily suspended? (cf. Ladd 263) Surely not! This [binding] must be looking toward a future season during which Satan’s activities will be limited even beyond what Jesus initially secured for us at the cross.

2. I believe v.5 is speaking of a bodily resurrection of those we’ve identified as conquerors, not just the literal martyrs who lose their lives for their proclamation of the gospel, but also those who walk faithfully with Christ through all forms of persecution—4 … those who have been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. … These conquerors will be raised to life and given a resurrection body in order to reign with Christ during this glorious period of world history (5, 6). The NT storyline just seems to resonate with this view rather than the idea that this refers to the spiritual resurrection believers experience when they receive Christ as Savior. This is the resurrection promised in 1Co.15:51-52 and 1Th.4:16. Then the second resurrection comes down in v.13 where we read: 13 … the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. So, again, what John is describing here is still future.

3. The flow of recent chapters suggests that this thousand-year period is a new era—a progression, not a recap. We see this progression through the last three chapters. C.18 tells of the destruction of Babylon; c.19… of the beast and the false prophet; and c.20… of Satan himself (Ladd 261). This sequence could surely be retelling the same victory three successive times with a different focus each time—first Babylon, then the beast and the false prophet, then Satan. That would be consistent not just with apocalyptic generally, but with much of what we’ve seen so far in this letter, especially through the trumpets and bowls judgments. But placing this thousand-year period between the final destructions of the beast and the false prophet and of Satan, then also between the first and second resurrections, seems to be calling us to recognize these as similar but separate events on each end of the millennium, not as the same events retold.

The Final Defeat of Satan – 7-10

There are reasons why we might believe this description of Satan’s final defeat (9), after he’s been released from prison and has come out to deceive the nations, is a retelling of the battle just mentioned in 19:17-21. This brief reference to Gog and Magog (8) on the heels of having recalled that story with the invitation to the birds to come, gather for the great supper of God (19:17; cf. Eze.39:17), is one such reason. The similar descriptions of their gathering for battle (8) on the broad plain of the earth (9; cf. 19:19; cf. 16:16) is another. And the quick work that was done to defeat these enemies is a third, even though here the means of victory is a bit clearer: 9 … fire came down from heaven and consumed them! Quick aside: this also recalls Gog and Magog, that mysterious ruler and land identified by Ezekiel (Eze.38-39) as the end times opponent of Israel that God will defeat in order to vindicate [His] holiness before their eyes (Eze.38:16) and make [Himself] known in the eyes of many nations, [that] they may know that [He is] the Lord (Eze.38:23).

But, again, John’s separation of the two resurrections to either end of the thousand years makes it seem more likely that his similar separation of the judgment of the beast and the false prophet (19:20) from that of Satan (10) was equally intentional, and particularly discernible when we read that 10 … [Satan] was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet already were…—different events.

The Judgment of the Unsaved – 11-15

Finally in this chapter, and finally in this letter before John’s vision of the new heaven and new earth (21:1), comes the resurrection of the unconverted to face the judgment of God before the great white throne (11). 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. All people will ultimately answer to God.

And once that has happened: 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, eternal death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. And thus ends the Bible’s telling of the story of this present world.

Conclusion

Let’s finish with one additional clarification then one final application.

Clarification

Many believe this thousand-year period is a Jewish state in which promises to OT Israel that are believed to remain unfulfilled will finally be delivered. But I don’t believe it’s best to understand this period in that way. Rev. is not written to address the destiny of the Jews but the destiny of the church, the new covenant community from all the nations. This is made most evident as this letter is explicitly addressed to seven mostly Gentile churches (1:4), but also as unbelieving Israel is twice called a synagogue of Satan (2:9; 3:9).

If we want to understand the relationship between Jews and Gentiles in Christ, Rom. is the letter for us. Gal. is also quite helpful. So is Eph. (especially cc.1-3). Embracing the good news of Israel’s Messiah by faith [breaks] down the dividing wall of hostility between believing Jews and Gentiles, creating one new man in place of the two, so making peace (Eph 2:14-16).

Paul also uses the image of an olive tree, suggesting a Jewish root which has both Jewish and Gentile branches (Rom.11:16-24).

There’s one new covenant people of God, the church, the body of Christ, His Bride (19:7; cf. 21:2, 9). It includes Jews and Gentiles together just as God promised to Abraham when he was called to be the father of [many] nations (Gen.17:5; cf. Gen 12:3). Both Jews and Gentiles enter into this fellowship by faith in Jesus, and they form the one people of God when they do.

Old covenant Judaism will not return in the end times. The Law was never intended to save, nor is it able to do so. Animal sacrifice is obsolete now that Jesus has come. We see all this when Jesus curses the temple (clarified to be such by Mark’s anchoring it to his cursing of the fig tree [Mar.11:12-26]), then again when He prophesies the temple’s destruction (Mar.13:1-2). Israel will turn to Christ in the last days (Rom.11:26), but they’ll turn to Christ! And all God’s promises to them are fulfilled in Him.

Application

This comes to us in the language of the fifth of seven blessings in this letter. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection—those who [have] not worshiped the beast or its image and [have] not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands! (4) That’s you and me, each of us who has trusted Christ as Savior. We enjoy the approval of God and look forward to the future blessing that comes as this present world draws to a close. Over such people the second death has no power, but [we] will be priests of God and of Christ, and [we] will reign with him for a thousand years. Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow!

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Resources

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                  , ed. 1977. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. The Book of Revelation, by Robert H. Mounce. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

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Carson, D. A., R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham, eds. 1994. New Bible Commentary 21st Century Edition. Revelation, by George R. Beasley-Murray, 1421-1455. Leicester, Eng.: InterVarsity.

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Hendriksen, William. 1940. More than Conquerors. Grand Rapids: Baker.

Ladd, George Eldon. 1972. A Commentary on the Revelation of John. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Longman III, Tremper, & David E. Garland, eds. 2010. Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 9, Matthew-Mark. Matthew, by D. A. Carson, 23-670. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

                  , eds. 1981. Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 13, Hebrews-Revelation. Revelation, by Alan F. Johnson, 571-789. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

MacArthur, John. 1999. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary. Revelation, 2 vols. Chicago: Moody.

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Mathewson, David L. 2020. A Companion to the Book of Revelation. Eugene, OR: Cascade.

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                  , & Roy B. Zuck, eds. 1983. The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Revelation, by John F. Walvoord, 925-991. Wheaton: Victor.

Next Week’s Sermon:
 Acts 13:13–33, History, Sovereignty and the Gospel - Sharing the Gospel with Jews, Eitan Kashtan