Revelation 20:1
Καὶ εἶδον ἄγγελον καταβαίνοντα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ἔχοντα τὴν κλεῖν τῆς ἀβύσσου, καὶ ἅλυσιν μεγάλην ἐπὶ τὴν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ.
And I saw an angel descending out of heaven having the key of the abyss and a great chain on his hand.
Paraphrase: Then I saw another vision of the end; this time, I saw how God destroyed the great dragon. Here’s what I saw. First, I saw the Angel of YHWH coming down from heaven. In His hand, He had the key to the abyss which leads directly to the bottomless pit. (Revelation 9:1) Over His shoulder, was a massive manacle. These massive chains were used to place people under arrest and to bind them. I watched closely…
Comments:
Seiss argues (p267) that the angel here is Christ.
For manacle, see article on chain, bonds on p173.
Revelation 20:2
καὶ ἐκράτησεν τὸν δράκοντα, ὁ ὄφις ὁ ἀρχαῖος, ὅς ἐστιν Διάβολος καὶ Ὁ Σατανᾶς, καὶ ἔδησεν αὐτὸν χίλια ἔτη.
And he grasped the dragon, the old serpent, who is the Devil or Satan and bound him a thousand years.
Paraphrase: …and saw him arrest the dragon and bind him with the manacle which he carried. (Matthew 12:28-29; Luke 10:17-18; John 12:31-32) He then took the dragon, whom we call the Devil or Satan, and imprisoned him for a millennium.
Comments:
Revelation 20:3
καὶ ἔβαλεν αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον, καὶ ἔκλεισεν καὶ ἐσφράγισεν ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ, ἵνα μὴ πλανήσῃ ἔτι τὰ ἔθνη, ἄχρι τελεσθῇ τὰ χίλια ἔτη. μετὰ ταῦτα, δεῖ λυθῆναι αὐτὸν μικρὸν χρόνον.
And he cast him into the abyss and locked and sealed over him in order that he might not deceive any longer the nations until the thousand years might be completed. After these things, it is necessary that he be loosed a short time.
Paraphrase: Yes, he imprisoned that dragon in the abyss f0r 1000 years. He locked the door tight and sealed it with his own seal in order that he would no longer be free to deceive (2 Corinthians 11:3, 14; John 8:44; 1 John 3:8; Revelation 12:9; 20:10) the peoples of the earth. When the millennium is finished, God has decreed that he will be loosed for a small period of time to do his worst.
Comments:
Revelation 20:4
Καὶ εἶδον θρόνους, καὶ ἐκάθισαν ἐπ’ αὐτούς, καὶ κρίμα ἐδόθη αὐτοῖς, καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν πεπελεκισμένων διὰ τὴν μαρτυρίαν Ἰησοῦ καὶ διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ οἵτινες οὐ προσεκύνησαν τὸ θηρίον, οὐδὲ τὴν εἰκόνα αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἔλαβον τὸ χάραγμα ἐπὶ τὸ μέτωπον, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν χεῖρα αὐτῶν. καὶ ἔζησαν καὶ ἐβασίλευσαν μετὰ τοῦ χριστοῦ χίλια ἔτη.
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them, and the souls of the beheaded ones, on account of the witness of Jesus and on account of the word of God and which did not worship the beast, neither his image and did not receive the mark on the forehead and on their hand, and they lived and reigned with Christ 1000 years.
Paraphrase: Then I looked again, and I saw the heavenly courtroom. There were many thrones (Daniel 7:9) and sitting on these thrones were all those who had been killed because they refused to deny Christ. During their life, they testified boldly that Jesus is Lord. They refused to do anything which contradicted the Bible. They refused to worship the beast and to receive his brand (Revelation 13:16-17); and therefore, they were cut down by the sword (Romans 13:4) of Roman justice. Immediately their souls were taken up by the angels (Luke 16:22) and brought to God in heaven. Here they were given their life back and were seated on these throne with full authority to judge the peoples of the earth. (Revelation 3:21) For a full millennium, they sat with Christ at God’s right hand. (1 Peter 3:22)
Comments:
Leon Morris notes that John uses the word throne forty-seven times in Revelation; and except for Satan’s throne (Revelation 2:13) and that of the beast (Revelation 13:2; 16:10), all are in heaven. See his commentary on this verse.
This is the only mention in all of Scripture of a millennium. It is clear from this chapter (Revelation 20:12), that the final judgment takes place after this millennium, contrary to the premillennialists who believe that the millennium is pre– or before the second coming of Christ.
The word soul ψυχὰς can refer to a complete person body and soul but not here. Here, it is a reference to a person apart from his body. The New Testament regularly makes this distinction. (Matthew 10:28; Acts 2:27; Revelation 6:9; cf also Romans 8:10; 2 Corinthians 5:8; 12:3)
The resurrection spoken of here “…καὶ ἔζησαν…” is not receiving our physical body back again. It is not a bodily resurrection such as is spoken of later. (Revelation 20:12) This “living” refers to God giving His martyred people life in heaven where they will reign with Christ throughout the millennium. (Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8) This is called the intermediate state. Seiss writes (p306):
There is a resurrection of the bodies of dead men, but there is no such thing as the resurrection of the spirits of dead men. For living men there may be a spiritual resurrection from the death-state of sin, but there is no such spiritual resurrection for dead men.
He is correct but misses another option. Dead persons are said to live when they are in heaven; Jesus speaks about the dead patriarchs as living. (Luke 20:37-38).
Perhaps the number 1000 here is to be understood in contrast to the time of suffering given in Revelation 11:2-3, 12:6, 13:5.
Revelation 20:5
Οἱ λοιποὶ τῶν νεκρῶν οὐκ ἔζησαν ἄχρι τελεσθῇ τὰ χίλια ἔτη. αὕτη ἡ ἀνάστασις ἡ πρώτη.
The rest of the dead were not raised until the thousand years is complete. This is the first resurrection.
Paraphrase: All the other people who were dead and in the grave, both the righteous and the wicked will receive their bodies back again after the millennium. (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28-29; Revelation 20:11-13) But pay careful attention, dear people of God, to what I say. This resurrection in heaven of all the martyred children of God is the first resurrection. I know that your persecutions are many and very painful. Sometimes it appears as though the entire world is against you, but be encouraged!
Comments:
Jesus teaches that the judgment of the righteous and wicked is in the same hour and not separated by a millennium. (John 5:28-29)
Revelation 20:6
μακάριος καὶ ἅγιος ὁ ἔχων μέρος ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει τῇ πρώτῃ! ἐπὶ τούτων ὁ δεύτερος θάνατος οὐκ ἔχει ἐξουσίαν, ἀλλ’ ἔσονται ἱερεῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ βασιλεύσουσιν μετ’ αὐτοῦ τὰ χίλια ἔτη.
Blessed and holy the one having part in the first resurrection! On these, the second death does not have power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and they will reign with Him a thousand years.
Paraphrase: How blessed and privileged you are who are counted worthy to participate in this first resurrection! You may think that the terrible dragon has won the victory, but you are wrong. On the contrary, hell and all its devils have no power over you. The children of God will be priests of the almighty God and of our Savior, Jesus Christ. They will sit with Christ at the Father’s right hand and judge the nations for the entire length of God’s millennial reign.
Comments:
second death = hell (Revelation 20:14-15)
Revelation 20:7
Καὶ ὅταν τελεσθῇ τὰ χίλια ἔτη, λυθήσεται ὁ Σατανᾶς ἐκ τῆς φυλακῆς αὐτοῦ,
And when the millennium is complete, Satan will be loosed out of his prison.
Paraphrase: Now when the millennium is complete, the door of the abyss will be opened, Satan’s manacle will be removed, and he will be set free.
Comments:
Revelation 20:8
καὶ ἐξελεύσεται πλανῆσαι τὰ ἔθνη τὰ ἐν ταῖς τέσσαρσιν γωνίαις τῆς γῆς, τὸν Γὼγ καὶ Μαγώγ, συναγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν πόλεμον, ὧν ὁ ἀριθμὸς αὐτῶν ὡς ἡ ἄμμος τῆς θαλάσσης.
And he will go out to deceive the nations, those in the four corners of the earth, the Gog and Magog, to gather them into the war, the number of them being as the sand of the sea.
Paraphrase: Then Satan will go charging out into the world. He will go to every place, even to the farthest corners of the globe. With great power of rhetoric and persuasion, he will spread his lies far and wide. He will gather all the enemies of God’s people together into one place and equip them for war. There will be so many of them; their number will be more than the sand on the seashore.
Comments:
Revelation 20:9
Καὶ ἀνέβησαν ἐπὶ τὸ πλάτος τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐκύκλευσαν τὴν παρεμβολὴν τῶν ἁγίων καὶ τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἠγαπημένην. καὶ κατέβη πῦρ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ κατέφαγεν αὐτούς.
Revelation 20:10
καὶ ὁ διάβολος, ὁ πλανῶν αὐτοὺς, ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν λίμνην τοῦ πυρὸς καὶ θείου, ὅπου καὶ τὸ θηρίον καὶ ὁ ψευδοπροφήτης· καὶ βασανισθήσονται ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων.
Revelation 20:11
Καὶ εἶδον θρόνον μέγαν λευκὸν, καὶ τὸν καθήμενον ἐπ’ αὐτόν, οὗ ἀπὸ τοῦ προσώπου ἔφυγεν ἡ γῆ καὶ ὁ οὐρανός, καὶ τόπος οὐχ εὑρέθη αὐτοῖς.
Revelation 20:12
καὶ εἶδον τοὺς νεκρούς, τοὺς μεγάλους καὶ τοὺς μικρούς, ἑστῶτας ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου, καὶ βιβλία ἠνοίχθησαν. Καὶ ἄλλο βιβλίον ἠνοίχθη, ὅ ἐστιν τῆς ζωῆς. καὶ ἐκρίθησαν οἱ νεκροὶ ἐκ τῶν γεγραμμένων ἐν τοῖς βιβλίοις, κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν.
Paraphrase:
Comments:
Walvoord says that this judgment is only the judgment of the wicked dead who are not resurrected until after the millennium and who will have no part in what is called the first resurrection. BKC on this verse.
Revelation 20:13
καὶ ἔδωκεν ἡ θάλασσα τοὺς νεκροὺς τοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ· καὶ ὁ θάνατος καὶ ὁ ᾅδης ἔδωκαν τοὺς νεκροὺς τοὺς ἐν αὐτοῖς· καὶ ἐκρίθησαν ἕκαστος κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν.
Revelation 20:14
Καὶ ὁ θάνατος καὶ ὁ ᾅδης ἐβλήθησαν εἰς τὴν λίμνην τοῦ πυρός. οὗτος ὁ θάνατος ὁ δεύτερός ἐστιν ἡ λίμνη τοῦ πυρός.
Revelation 20:15
καὶ εἴ τις οὐχ εὑρέθη ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ τῆς ζωῆς γεγραμμένος, ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν λίμνην τοῦ πυρός.