The Devil in Chains and the Saints on Thrones Text: Revelation 20:1-6
Introduction: The War for the Future
We come now to a chapter that has, for centuries, been a sort of theological continental divide. This is Revelation 20, the famous millennium chapter. One wit once described the millennium as a thousand years of peace that Christians love to fight about, and there is more than a little truth to that. How a man reads this chapter will determine whether he believes the Church is fighting a losing battle in a world going from bad to worse, or whether he believes the Church is the conquering army of the victorious Christ, destined to take the world for Him before He returns.
Eschatology is not a trivial pursuit for theologians with too much time on their hands. What you believe about the end shapes everything you do in the present. It determines whether you build for the long haul or whether you are simply trying to rescue a few souls from a sinking ship before it goes under. A pessimistic eschatology, which is the default setting for much of the modern church, produces a defensive, timid, and ultimately retreating faith. It reads the newspaper to interpret the Bible, and so it sees every grim headline as another sign of the end, another reason to hunker down in the bunker. But a biblical eschatology, a robust and optimistic postmillennialism, reads the Bible to interpret the newspaper. It sees the turmoil of the nations not as the death throes of the Church, but as the death throes of the old pagan order that Christ is systematically dismantling through the power of His gospel.
This chapter is the bedrock of that optimism. It is not, as some would have it, a description of a future Jewish kingdom shoehorned into history after the Church has been "raptured" out. Nor is it a description of saints reigning in heaven while the world below goes to hell in a handbasket, which is the amillennial position. No, this passage, rightly understood, is a vision of the current age, the Church age. It describes the reality that was inaugurated by the death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus. It tells us what is happening now. Christ is reigning now, Satan is bound now, and the saints are on their thrones now. Let us therefore read it with confidence, not confusion.
The Text
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were finished. After these things he must be released for a short time.
Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their witness of Jesus and because of the word of God, and who also had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
(Revelation 20:1-6 LSB)
The Devil in Lockdown (vv. 1-3)
The vision begins with a decisive act of divine power against our ancient enemy.
"Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were finished. After these things he must be released for a short time." (Revelation 20:1-3)
John sees a mighty angel descend with the key to the abyss and a great chain. This is not a scene of struggle. The dragon, that ancient serpent, is summarily arrested. He is bound, thrown into the abyss, and it is shut and sealed over him. This binding is for a "thousand years," which in the symbolic language of Revelation signifies a long, complete period of time. It is the age of the Church.
Now, we must ask the crucial question: what is the nature of this binding? Many look at the state of the world and scoff. "Satan is bound? Have you looked outside?" But this is to misread the text. The text itself defines the purpose and effect of the binding. He is bound "so that he would not deceive the nations any longer."
Before the coming of Christ, Satan held the nations in a state of corporate, pagan darkness. They were, as Paul says, "without God in the world" (Eph. 2:12). The Gentile nations were deceived, blinded, and unable to see the light of the gospel. Satan's great work was to keep the nations as his own private pagan preserve. But the cross and resurrection changed everything. Jesus said, "Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out" (John 12:31). When Christ ascended, He gave the Great Commission: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19). This commission would be impossible if Satan were still free to deceive the nations as he had before.
The binding of Satan, therefore, is not the cessation of all his activity. He still prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8). He still tempts individuals. But his ability to keep the nations, as nations, locked away from the gospel has been broken. The chain is a gospel chain. The advance of the kingdom of God is now inexorable. The nations can be, and will be, discipled. This is the reality of the entire Church age. At the end of this age, we are told he will be loosed for a short season for a final rebellion, but for now, the warden has him in lockdown, and the work of the kingdom proceeds apace.
The Reign of the Victorious Martyrs (v. 4)
Next, the scene shifts from the abyss to the thrones of heaven.
"Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their witness of Jesus and because of the word of God, and who also had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years." (Revelation 20:4)
Where are these thrones? They are in heaven. John sees "souls." This is not a picture of resurrected bodies on earth. This is a vision of the intermediate state, the state of believers who have died and are now with the Lord. Specifically, he sees the martyrs, those who paid the ultimate price for their faithfulness. From the world's perspective, these are the great losers of history. They were beheaded. The beast defeated them. But from God's perspective, they are the true victors. They are seated on thrones, judgment is given to them, and they reign with Christ.
This is a profound statement of vindication. The very ones who were judged and condemned by the world are now the ones judging the world. Their reign is not something they are waiting for; they are reigning now, with Christ, during this same thousand-year period. This is what Paul meant when he said, "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" (2 Cor. 5:8). For the believer, death is not a defeat but a promotion. It is an entrance into a state of active, conscious, glorious rule with our ascended King.
This vision was given to encourage the persecuted church. It tells them that their faithfulness, even unto death, is not in vain. The emperor on his throne in Rome is a pathetic, temporary tyrant. The martyred saint on his throne in heaven is a true and eternal king. This is the reality of Christ's kingdom during this present age.
The First Resurrection and the Second Death (vv. 5-6)
The passage concludes by explaining the nature of this blessed state.
"The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years." (Revelation 20:5-6)
Here we have the key that unlocks the passage. What is this "first resurrection"? Our premillennial friends insist this must be a literal, bodily resurrection that kicks off a literal thousand-year reign on earth. But the text does not require this, and the rest of Scripture argues against it. The Bible teaches one general resurrection of the just and the unjust at the last day (John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15), not two resurrections separated by a thousand years.
The first resurrection is a spiritual one. It is the new birth. It is regeneration. The first resurrection is the resurrection of Jesus Christ Himself, in which we are made partakers by faith. Paul tells us that when we were dead in our trespasses, God "made us alive together with Christ... and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places" (Eph. 2:5-6). To have a part in the first resurrection is to be born again. It is to be united to the risen Christ by the Holy Spirit.
This is why it is contrasted with the "second death." The first death is physical. The second death is eternal separation from God in the lake of fire. If you have experienced the first resurrection (the new birth), the second death has no power over you. But if you are only born once, you will die twice. The "rest of the dead" are the spiritually dead, the unregenerate. They do not "come to life" in this spiritual sense during the millennial age. They remain dead in their sins, awaiting the final judgment.
So the blessed and holy man is the one who has been born again. He is a priest of God and of Christ, and he reigns with Him now. Our reign begins the moment we are united to the King. We reign in this life through grace (Rom. 5:17), and those who die in Christ continue that reign in heaven, awaiting the final, bodily resurrection at the end of all things.
Conclusion: A Gospel for the Whole World
So what does this mean for us? It means that the fundamental assumptions of pessimistic Christianity are wrong. The devil's leash is short. Christ is on the throne. The souls of the triumphant saints are with Him, reigning and vindicated. And the first resurrection is the ongoing power of the gospel to bring dead sinners to new life in Christ.
This is not a message of retreat. It is a charge to advance. Because Satan is bound from deceiving the nations, we are to go and disciple them. Because Christ is reigning, we are to proclaim His crown rights in every area of life. Because the saints are reigning, we are not to fear what man can do to us. And because the power of the first resurrection is at work, we are to preach the gospel with full confidence that God will continue to raise the dead until the knowledge of His glory covers the earth as the waters cover the sea.
This is the age of the kingdom. This is the millennium. We are living in it. The gospel is winning. The future is bright because the future belongs to Jesus. Let us therefore live like it.