Reading: Revelation 20:1-10

Alright. We have reached the point in the book that many of you have been wondering about. This is the section where we read about the “millennial reign of Christ”. What is that? I’m going to take my best guess, but to be clear, nobody truly knows. Now. We’ve invented words to be able to label people and what they believe about it. There’s the premillennialist, and postmillennialist, and amillenialist. Additionally. When you combine these viewpoints with another made up word (that being “rapture”) you get all kinds of differing opinions. I heard one pastor say, with regards to all this, “The millennium is the thousand years of peace that Christians like to fight about.”

Ok. So. Regardless of where you land on the 1000 years, here’s what we can all agree on: Jesus wins. Like. God’s plan cannot be thwarted. So (to me) for people to divide over this doctrine—it’s silly. Now. Are there doctrines we should divide over? Absolutely. Things like the inerrancy of Scripture. Or. Salvation through Christ alone. Or. The Trinity. Those cannot be compromised on. But the millennium isn’t that big of a deal. That said, here’s why I want you trying to understand it. Because if you don’t, you’ll allow yourself to live differently than you should.

Now. This thousand years (vs 2) and the binding of Satan can actually best be understood in light of three teachings of Jesus. First, in Matthew 12 there’s this crazy story of some folks bringing a demon-possessed man to Jesus, and Jesus heals him, gives him is sight back, and the Pharisees are like, “It’s by the power of demons that this man casts out demons.” And Jesus says that popular sentence, that politicians have used, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” But then. Jesus continues, “Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?”

Who’s Jesus talking about? Satan. Satan is the strong man that must be bound up, so that Jesus can plunder his goods. Ok. Remember what we learned in Revelation 12. Satan, the great dragon, is thrown down to the earth, and a third of his angels with him. What’s Jesus say in Luke 10? “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” (Lk. 10:18). Our boy John in John chapter 12, writes “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world the strong man will be cast out.” (12:31).

Here’s what I’m trying to help you see—here’s the arc of Revelation—here’s the story of the human race: God creates the world perfectly. Satan, and his minions are cast to earth. Revelation 12. God plants a garden where he dwells with humanity. Satan the deceiver, does his namesake and deceives humanity. He does it for thousands of years. Which. Why does God allow it? No idea. I’m not God. But probably because God wanted human beings (who are made in His image) to have free will. Plus, if you study this idea of the Nephilim and nations being founded, you’ll discover that the sons of God—who I would say are cast out of heaven—help create nations like Babylon, and ancient Egypt. It’s why God creates a covenant with His nation, Israel, and why He commands them to destroy those other people.

But. For a period of time, Satan was free to deceive. Then. Christ comes. He pays the penalty for man’s disobedience. His blood. And the enemy is no longer free to bring accusation against the saints. Furthermore, Christ has taken his place of rulership in heaven, and sent his Spirit to empower His people. As a result, the work of Satan is now greatly hindered, and the good news of the gospel will be preached to every nation. See. The binding took place two thousand years ago, and will be in effect for a symbolic period of one thousand years.

Now. People say, if it’s symbolic why does it say thousand years, then? Well. Here’s a better question: Why are there any numbers? Because this was written to Jewish people and they largely had a different understanding of numerology. We’ve talked about this. How seven, is the number of God and of completion. A week is 7 days. It’s complete. Thus the “seven spirits” of chapter 1 actually refer to the totality of the Spirit. And the sets of seven judgments (seals, trumpets, bowls) express the completeness of God’s judgment. Or. Four is the number of the earth (the four rivers of Genesis). Thus the four winds and the earth’s four corners of chapter 7 refer to something with worldwide impact. And the four sets of seven judgments express God’s complete judgment on the earth.

How about twelve? Twelve is the number of government expressed through God’s people. We’ve got the 12 tribes, and the 12 disciples. Then one thousand expresses an indefinitely large number. Thus the 144,000 of chapters 7 and 14 refer to the entire people of God throughout the ages (12 tribes x 12 apostles multiplied by 1000). Babylon, by contrast, appears six times, six being the number of man. Because man was created on the sixth day. So the number 666 alludes to this false trinity: the dragon, the beast and the false prophet. I told you before what God creates, Satan counterfeits.

But. When you look at it as a whole, the question is: why do people interpret all other numbers symbolically except this one?Additionally. One of the other issues people raise is: if Satan is bound—why are things getting worse? Well. The text never says, evil is gone. It never says sin is gone. It says he’s bound, and the binding has a very specific and particular application. Did you catch that? verse 3: so that he cannot deceive the nations.

Furthermore, it says there, verse 3, he’ll be released for a little while. So. If you get nothing else, please get this—here’s how I interpret this text: Jesus comes to earth, borne of a virgin—all that. Christmas. Yay! But. Satan is bound. Start the clock. 1,000 years. This is why the Gospel spreads so rapidly early on. Thousands of souls at a time. Satan can’t deceive. Again. Doesn’t mean evil is gone. Doesn’t mean sin is gone. It means the Gospel can spread unimpeded. People still get to decide whether or not they believe it. But then. Year, whatever, Satan is unbound. He’s deceiving the world again. Which is where we find ourselves. Which is why it’s so important that you spread the gospel and live righteously.

With Gratitude,

pLJ