As an amazing gift to the wider Body of Christ, Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary are very kindly and generously making their entire 17 course lectures on eschatology available free of charge online. This course, taught by Dr. Sam Waldron, is outstanding, giving a comprehensive overview of the subject from both an historical and theological perspective. I recommend the series wholeheartedly and pray that God will use it to further the cause of His truth in the midst of much deception in our own day. – Pastor John Samson, King’s Church, Peoria, AZ

The first three lectures cover something of an historical overview of the Church concerning eschatology. This is a very helpful foundation for our understanding. To know that we are engaging in a conversation that has been going on for centuries, gives us a knowledge of the structure of the debate, setting the boundaries for what is and what is not to be regarded as ‘heresy’, as well as a right and appropriate sense of humility as we approach the Scriptures ourselves.

Lecturer: Dr. Sam Waldron is the academic dean of MCTS and professor of Systematic Theology. He is also one of the pastors of Heritage Baptist Church in Owensboro, KY. Dr. Waldron received a B.A. from Cornerstone University, an M.Div. from Trinity Ministerial Academy, a Th.M. from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. From 1977 to 2001 he was a pastor of the Reformed Baptist Church of Grand Rapids, MI. Dr. Waldron is the author of numerous books including A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, The End Times Made Simple, Baptist Roots in America, To Be Continued?, and MacArthur’s Millennial Manifesto: A Friendly Response. Dr. Waldron is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society.

This treatment of eschatology examines eschatological thought in Church history, as well as the major structural considerations for an understanding of redemptive history (including the already/not yet, the kingdom of God, and the millennium). Finally, special questions are treated, including issues such as the gospel age, the imminence of Christ’s second coming, the resurrection, and the eternal state.

Outline:

Part 1: Historical Introductions

Section 1: Eschatology in the Early and Medieval Church

Section 2: Eschatology in the Reformation and Modern Church

Part 2: Structural Considerations

1: The Two Ages
Section 2: The General Judgment

Section 3: The Eschatological Kingdom

Part 3: Special Questions

Section 1: The Gospel Age
I. The Intermediate State
II. The Earthly Prospects
III. The Church/Israel Distinction

Section 2: The Imminent Return
I. Pre-Tribulationism
II. Date-setting (or Calculationism)
III. (Hyper) Preterism

Section 3: The Bodily Resurrection
I. Of the Wicked [The Doctrine of Eternal Punishment]
II. Of the Righteous [The Doctrine of the Redeemed Earth]

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTIONS—THE GREAT CONVERSATION!

Lecture 1: Eschatology in the Early and Medieval Church

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Lecture 2:

ST27 02 | Doctrine of Last Things from CBTS on Vimeo.

Lecture 3: Eschatology in the Reformation and Modern Church

ST27 03 | Doctrine of Last Things from CBTS on Vimeo.

STRUCTURAL CONSIDERATIONS—ESCHATOLOGY MADE SIMPLE

Lecture 4: The Two Ages

ST27 04 | Doctrine of Last Things from CBTS on Vimeo.

Lecture 5: The Two Ages (Continued)

ST27 05 | Doctrine of Last Things from CBTS on Vimeo.

Lecture 6: The General Judgment

ST27 07 | Doctrine of Last Things from CBTS on Vimeo.

Lecture 8: The Eschatological Kingdom (Continued)

ST27 08 | Doctrine of Last Things from CBTS on Vimeo.

Lecture 9: The Eschatological Kingdom (Continued)

ST27 09 | Doctrine of Last Things from CBTS on Vimeo.

Lecture 10: The Eschatological Kingdom (Continued)

ST27 10 | Doctrine of Last Things from CBTS on Vimeo.

SPECIAL QUESTIONS—NEXT QUESTIONS PLEASE!

Lecture 11: The Intermediate State

ST27 11 | Doctrine of Last Things from CBTS on Vimeo.

Lecture 12:

ST27 12 | Doctrine of Last Things from CBTS on Vimeo.

Lecture 13: The Earthly Prospects & Church/Israel Distinction

ST27 15 | Doctrine of Last Things from CBTS on Vimeo.

Lecture 16: The Final Change & The Eternal State—The Doctrine of Eternal Punishment

ST27 16 | Doctrine of Last Things from CBTS on Vimeo.

Lecture 17: The Doctrine of the Redeemed Earth

ST27 17 | Doctrine of Last Things from CBTS on Vimeo.

An Interview with Dr. Sam Waldron:

Article “One Wrong Step Messes Up Your Eschatology” by Gary DeMar – original source: https://americanvision.org/posts/one-wrong-step-messes-up-your-eschatology/

The first time I read through the NT, beginning with Matthew’s gospel in 1973, I came across passages like Matthew 10:23, 16:27-28, and 24:34 that did not fit the popular end-time views of the day. At the time, in the early 1970s, Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth (TLGPE) was a massive best seller. “Despite some dated content, 28 million copies had sold by 1990.” In an off-handed way (so as not to be labeled a date setter) Lindsey predicted that the so-called “rapture of the church” would take place before 1988. Here’s what he wrote more than 50 years ago in TLGPE:

The most important sign in Matthew has to be the restoration of the Jews to the land in the rebirth of Israel. Even the figure of speech “fig tree”’ has been a historic symbol of national Israel. When the Jewish people, after nearly 2,000 years of exile, under relentless persecution, became a nation again on 14 May 1948 the “fig tree” put forth its first leaves. Jesus said that this would indicate that He was “at the door,” ready to return.

Then [Jesus] said, “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” (Matthew 24:34, NASB). What generation? Obviously, in context, the generation that would see the signs—chief among them the rebirth of Israel. A generation in the Bible is something like forty years. If this is a correct deduction, then within forty years or so of 1948, all these things could take place. Many scholars who have studied Bible prophecy all their lives believe that this is so.”[1]

Lindsey never mentioned any of these “many scholars.” The math was simple: 1948 (the year Israel became a nation again) + 40 (the number of years making a generation) = 1988. Johnny Cash sang a song about it in 1973: “Matthew 24 is Knocking at the Door.” In an interview published in Christianity Today on April 15, 1977, seven years after the publication of TLGPE and 11 years from the 1988 date, Lindsey told W. Ward Gasque:

“I don’t know how long a biblical generation is. Perhaps somewhere between sixty and eighty years. The state of Israel was established in 1948. There are a lot of world leaders who are pointing to the 1980s as being the time of some very momentous events. Perhaps it will be then. But I feel certain that it will take place before the year 2000.”

A 60-year generation would take us to 2008; a 70-year generation to 2018; an 80-year generation to 2028. Don’t be surprised if a generation is said to be 100 years. In the first edition of Tim LaHaye’s The Beginning of the End, which was published in 1972, he wrote, “Carefully putting all this together, we now recognize this strategic generation. **It is the generation that ‘sees’ the four-part sign of verse 7 **[in Matt. 24], or the people who saw the First World War. We must be careful here not to become dogmatic, but it would seem that these people are witnesses to the events, not necessarily participants in them. That would suggest they were at least old enough to understand the events of 1914-1918, not necessarily old enough to go to war.”[2]

Some prognostications changed in LaHaye’s 1991 revised edition of The Beginning of the End. The “strategic generation” was modified significantly. It’s no longer “the people who saw the First World War”: “Carefully putting all this together, we now recognize this strategic generation. It is the generation that ‘sees’ the events of 1948. We must be careful here not to become dogmatic, but it would seem that these people are witnesses to the events, not necessarily participants in them.” The change from 1917 to 1948 gave LaHaye another fifty years before this new generation passes away.[3]

In that same 1977 interview, Gasque asked Lindsey: “But what if you’re wrong?” Lindsey replied: “Well, there’s just a split second’s difference between a hero and a bum. I didn’t ask to be a hero, but I guess I have become one in the Christian community. So I accept it. But if I’m wrong about this, I guess I’ll become a bum.” He didn’t become a bum. He continued to write books like The 1980’s: The Countdown to Armageddon that was published 52 years ago.

But as I read Matthew’s gospel and came across the three passages I listed above, I began to question Lindsey’s claims. It was hard to disagree with him since most people (and I was one of them) put their trust in others who write authoritatively. I was a very new Christians. Could millions of people who read Lindsey’s book be wrong? Yes! Why did Lindsey and so many others get it wrong? Why do prophecy writers still get it wrong?

They ignored the first principle of Bible interpretation: Let the Bible interpret the Bible. “this generation always means the generation of Jesus’ day. Time words like “near,” “shortly,” “at hand,” “quickly,” and “about to” are used consistently in the Bible and often. There are more than 100 time-frame indicators. Once the interpreter says, “It can’t mean this; it must mean this despite what I’m reading and seeing,” the game is over. Consider the following from George Eldon Ladd, a respected Bible commentator, on the use of time words in Revelation, none of which are unusual:

These events are “soon to take place” [1:1] (cf. 11:18; 22:10). These words have troubled commentators. The simplest solution is to take the preterist view and to say that John, like the entire Christian community, thought that the coming of the Lord was near, when in fact they were wrong. Our Lord himself seems to share this error in perspective in the saying: “This generation will not pass away before all these things take place” (Mark 13:30).[4]

Ladd gives away the store. That generation of Christians understood “near” to mean “near,” but they were wrong in the same way Jesus was wrong. But Jesus can’t be wrong, more conservative writers agree, so what is clear to the reader must be reimagined to fit an already agreed-upon end-time system that demands a repeated set of events and actions. A temple has to be rebuilt, animal sacrifices reinstituted, and another great tribulation that will result in the death of, not just millions of Jews living in Israel, but billions more around the world.

Here’s an example of how it’s been done. First, it was argued that the Greek genea is best translated as “race” as Scofield codified in a footnote in his The Scofield Reference Bible. This is an impossible translation (e.g., Matt. 1:17). Most prophecy writers have given up on this translation and logical absurdity. Now it’s “the generation that sees these signs will not pass away until all these things take place” even though Jesus told His present audience, “even so YOU too, when YOU see all these things, recognize that it is near, at the door” (24:33). What’s the “it”? Either the destruction of the temple, the tribulation, or the manifestation of the kingdom (Luke 21:31).

Others claim that what Jesus really meant was “this type of generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” The problem is in both cases, words must be added to Matthew 24:34 to get the desired meaning. If this is acceptable, then there is no telling what we can get the Bible to say and mean. We have a history of cults in the United States. They often begin by adding something so one of their pet doctrines has “biblical” support. Here’s an example from the JW’s unique translation of the Bible adding the word “other” to make Jesus a created being:

see: https://reachouttrust.org/nwt-translation-bias/

The seed idea for this article came about because of a comment I read on the Christian Post. By ignoring specific time indicators, the actual definition, number, and time of the many antichrists mentioned by John, the Bible reader is thrown off course because there’s a magnet in the cockpit affecting the compass needle. He’s headed north (the future) instead of south (the past) because time indicators are either ignored or they have been seduced by Ladd and others who argue that “[t]he problem is raised by the fact that the prophets were little interested in chronology, and the future was always viewed as imminent.”

Christian Post Comment:

The fourth kingdom, legs of iron are the kingdom of Satan, the angel of light. The iron of the feet is his son the angel, Apollyon who is responsible for killing Jesus. Genesis 3:15; Re 9:11. Apollyon, the angel, the son of Satan, is the anti-Christ, the beast from the bottomless pit that rises at the 5th trumpet as king of the locusts. It is he whose image is placed into the temple by the man, the clay of the feet, the false prophet. Anti-Christ rules for the last 42 months. The week of trumpets, the book in God’s right hand, Re 5:1, is Daniel’s 70th week. Da 9:24. It is 2520 days long. Seven 360-day lunar years.

Gary DeMar:

There is no gap between the 69th and 70th weeks of Daniel’s 70-weeks-of years prophecy (490 years). [Jesus is “cut off” in the middle of the 70th week and the gospel goes exclusively to the Jews for the last 3.5 years of the seven-year final week]. The book of Revelation never mentions “the anti-Christ.” There were many antichrists in the first century. John wrote that these many antichrists (most likely apostate Jews: Rev. 2:9; 3:9) in his day were evidence that it was “the last hour” (1 Jn. 2:18), most likely a reference to the lead-up to the destruction of the temple and judgment on Jerusalem that Jesus predicted would take place before their (“this generation”) passed away (Mt. 24:34). The feet of iron mixed with clay refers to first-century Rome (iron) and Israel (clay) colluding against believers against Jesus that we see in the gospels — “We have no king but Caesar” (Jn. 19:15) — and the book of Acts. The sea beast (Rev. 13:1) and the land beast (13:11) join forces against the people of God in the first century. But iron and clay do not mix. The Romans eventually turned on the Jews, demolished their temple as Jesus had predicted (Mt. 24:1-2), took thousands captive, and destroyed their city. “For the days will come on you,” Jesus said, “when your enemies will build an embankment against you, surround you, and hem you in on every side” (Lk. 19:43). This is why Jesus said, “But when YOU see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are inside the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city” (Lk. 21:20-21).

Once the time indicators are dismissed as not being relevant or the assertion that “the prophets were little interested in chronology, and the future was always viewed as imminent,” interpreting Bible prophecy is open to fanciful speculation and eventually great doubt.

[1]Hal Lindsey, The Late Great Planet Earth (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, [1970] 1971), 53‑54.

[2]Tim LaHaye, The Beginning of the End (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1972), 165, 168. Emphasis added.

[3]Tim LaHaye, The Beginning of the End, rev. ed. (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1991), 1993. Emphasis added.

[4]George Eldon Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1972), 22.

Article: “The Binding of Satan” by Dr. Kim Riddlebarger (original source – https://www.kimriddlebarger.com/the-riddleblog/the-binding-of-satan)

The Binding of Satan — Background and Introduction to the Controversy

In Revelation 20:1-3, John is given a remarkable vision:

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.” In verse 7, John adds, “and when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison.”

The binding of Satan as depicted in this passage raises several obvious questions, especially in light of the on-going debate between amillennarians and premillennarians about the timing and character of the millennial age. This is the only biblical text which specifically mentions a thousand year period of time in which Satan’s power and activity are curtailed (the millennial age). The two most obvious questions raised by John’s vision are, “what does it mean for Satan to be bound in such a manner?” and “are the thousand years a present or a future period of time?” Amillennarians and premillennarians take quite different approaches to this passage and offer conflicting answers to these questions.

Amillennarians believe that the binding of Satan is but another way of speaking of Jesus’ victory over the devil during our Lord’s messianic mission. The thousand years are not a literal period of time, but refer to the entire age between Christ’s first and second coming (the inter-advental period). If true, the binding of Satan begins with our Lord’s death and resurrection, continues throughout the present age, and ends with the release of Satan from the abyss (abussos) shortly before Jesus returns at the end of the age when Antichrist is revealed during a time of final apostasy (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12). This brief apostasy is followed by the final consummation which includes: the general resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; 1 Corinthians 15:50-57), the final judgment (Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 20:4-6, 11-15), and the ushering in of a new heavens and earth (2 Peter 3:4).

Premillennarians, however, contend that the thousand years are a literal period of time commencing with Christ’s second advent, who then establishs his physical rule over the earth in a millennial kingdom (Revelation 20:1-7). During this time, Satan is bound. The thousand years ends with Satan’s release from his imprisonment so as to lead the nations in a final revolt against Jesus’ rule, immediately before the final judgment at the end of the millennial age (Revelation 20:7-10). I address the serious problems with this understanding of redemptive history here: Evil in the Millennial Age? A Huge Problem for Premillennarians.

To summarize, amillennarians understand the binding of Satan to be a present reality, while premillennarians see this scene as an entirely future event. In this essay, I will consider and evaluate the biblical background to John’s vision and then respond to the premillennial challenge, “when and how is Satan is bound?” And “why is there so much evil in the world if he is?” These are two important questions which merit response.

The Redemptive Historical Background to John’s Vision

There is significant biblical background which provides context to help us understand what John sees, and which ought to be considered before we turn to the details of the vision given John as recorded in Revelation 20:1-3, 7. The scene depicted in Revelation 20 occurs in heaven (where the thrones are) and actually makes much sense in light of Old Testament imagery and events, especially when these are interpreted in light of the dawn of the messianic age in which Jesus triumphs over the devil and his legions. Since the context behind John’s vision is important and often overlooked in this debate, I will endeavor to trace out these images and events to aid us in our interpretation of the binding of Satan in Revelation 20. There are three categories of biblical events which give us considerable aid in understanding and interpreting John’s vision.

First, we consider Satan’s influence upon the nations. We start with the obvious fact that Satan was instrumental in the fall of our race during a time of probation in Eden (Genesis 3:1-24). A fierce adversary is introduced into the biblical narrative from the very beginning, although it is foretold that this adversary ultimately will be defeated by the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15). According to the subsequent chapters of Genesis, Satan managed to deceive much of the world soon after Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden, although an elect line did remain—the line of Seth, as recounted in Genesis 4:26. The first city was built by Cain in the land of Nod, and named for his first born son, Enoch. The Cain-Enoch genealogy in Genesis 4:17 ff. implies that the city became a center of unbelief and opposition to the purposes of God. Then we read of the Nephilim (Genesis 6), followed by YHWH’s judgment upon “the world that was” in the form of the flood (Genesis 6:9-9:29). No sooner did Noah and his family leave the safety of the ark, we read of the rise of two more cities hostile to God’s purposes and his people, Nineveh (Genesis 10:11-12) and Babel (Genesis 11). The early course of redemptive history is characterized as a period of increasing human wickedness, manifest in city-states hostile to God due to the spiritual darkness of satanic deception (Genesis 6:5).

As the course of redemptive history continues to unfold throughout the balance of the Old Testament, we read of repeated instances of various nations and empires arising and persecuting the people of God. The list is long, but includes the Egyptians and its Pharaoh, followed by the various Canaanite tribes, most notably the Moabites, then the Assyrians and the fall of the northern kingdom (Israel), before Nebuchadnezzar conquers Judah and destroys the city of Jerusalem and its temple. Although Jerusalem and the temple were rebuilt in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, the people of God now find themselves as tenants in their own land, living under the rule of a series of pagan Gentile empires. These are nations who fell under Satan’s sway, did his business, and marshaled their resources against the people of God. This extensive evidence from the biblical narrative points in the direction that Satan’s influence upon the nations during their opposition to God’s purposes is very likely in the background of John’s vision when he refers to nations being freed from satanic manipulation.

A second factor to be considered is Satan’s power of deception, which often takes the form of idolatry and the worship of pagan deities is expressed in continual apostasy among the Israelites, seen initially in the wilderness of the Sinai, and then more openly once the Israelites have conquered the promised land of Canaan. The Canaan narratives inform us that like Adam, Israel never fulfilled the commission given them in Isaiah 49:6, “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” Because of Israel’s rank unbelief seen in the nation and the idolatry of successive kings evident in their persistent disobedience to YHWH’s covenant, Israel comes under the covenant curses and repeatedly ends up as subjects of godless Gentile nations and their foreign gods. Israel’s witness to the Gentile nations regarding YHWH’s gracious promise of future restoration, coupled with the hope of a final redemption from sin, was largely absent. In the absence of such a witness which chases away satanic error, Satan continues to deceive the nations and is able to keep them walking in darkness.

Third, we fast forward to the New Testament era, where much more information is given us about the devil, his intentions, and the extent of his power. He is called Satan, which comes from the Hebrew for “accuser.” He is also called the devil, (diabolos—the Greek translation of the Hebrew satan). We learn of two names given to Satan, Belial and Beelzebul. He is variously identified as the Adversary, the Dragon, the Enemy, the Serpent, the Tester, and the Wicked One.[1] Satan is said to rule a host of fallen angels (Matthew 25:41), and he has been given control of the world (i.e., Luke 4:6), which indicates that Satan’s actions are limited by God’s providence, a point well captured by Martin Luther’s famous dictum, “the devil is God’s devil.”

Satan dominates non-Christians (John 8:44; Colossians 1:13), he is destructive of life and property (Luke 8:33), and he must be resisted (1 Corinthians 7:5). He is said to be exceedingly cunning (2 Corinthians 2:11), he tempts people to sin (Ephesians 6:11), and he opposes those who preach the gospel (1 Thessalonians 2:18). Especially important for our discussion, recall that Jesus responds to a hostile crowd by declaring, “you are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Satan is, therefore, the progenitor of lies and deception, and will do anything in his power to oppose the proclamation of the gospel. We see his opposition to the gospel at work when Jesus tells Peter, who implores our Lord not to go to Jerusalem to suffer and die, “get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you [Peter] are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Matthew 16:23).

An important theme running throughout the New Testament is the repeated references to Jesus’ triumph over Satan and the curtailing of his deceptive powers through our Lord’s death and resurrection. Jesus appeared in the fullness of time (Galatians 4:4-5), but his public ministry did not commence until after he had resisted Satan’s temptations in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). In an unexpected turn of events, Jesus’ messianic mission appeared to come to an end with his death by crucifixion on Good Friday. But by Easter Sunday, it was abundantly clear that Satan’s victory over the promised Messiah was actually a complete and total defeat. By orchestrating the death of Jesus, ironically Satan ensured his own demise.

Our Lord completes the redemptive mission which Adam and then Israel failed to accomplish, when he fulfills all righteousness through his own personal obedience to God’s commandments, thereby providing a justifying righteousness for his people, while bearing the guilt of our sin in his own flesh. The accuser can no longer accuse if the guilt and power of sin is removed from those whom he would otherwise incriminate. Paul encourages struggling Christians in Colossae by reminding them of Satan’s complete and total defeat. “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” ( (Colossians 2:13-15). Satan is a thoroughly defeated foe whose end is certain, which echoes what Paul had previously told the Romans. “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20).

Of great significance for our discussion is that in foretelling of his coming death and resurrection, Jesus speaks of “binding” the Devil and destroying his works (cf. Matthew 12:27-29, Mark 3:22-27, Luke 11:14-23). Our Lord’s victory over Satan sets the stage for the command for God’s people to make disciples of “all nations” (Matthew 28:19). After Jesus tells his disciples that the gospel must be preached as a witness to those same nations before he returns (Matthew 24:14), he promises to be with his people until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). Jesus also informs his disciples that the gates of Hell will not prevail against his church (Matthew 16:18), words which are an obvious reference to limits to be placed on Satan’s power. Initially, Jesus sends out the twelve to preach the gospel, but they are followed by the commissioning of seventy-two disciples to do the same (Luke 10:1 ff.). Upon their return, when they report to Jesus that demons are subject to them, Jesus tells the returning preachers that through their preaching he saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven. Satan has been “cast down” to earth (Luke 10:18), a point also made in John 12:31, when Jesus speaks directly to the matter of the binding of Satan. “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.” As we will see momentarily, the same thing is also affirmed in Revelation 12:7-17.

This, then, is the redemptive historical context through which we must attempt to understand John’s vision of the “binding of Satan” in Revelation 20:1-3, 7. Satan being bound and cast into the abyss is not an isolated event yet to occur and still off in the distant future. Jesus is the light to the nations and protector of his people. The truth of his gospel overcomes the darkness and deception of the devil’s lies. The biblical evidence reveals to us that the devil is currently bound as the direct result of Jesus’ messianic mission, his cross, and the empty tomb. Satan is bound, says our Lord, through the preaching of the gospel. When we survey the biblical data regarding Satan’s binding before giving careful consideration to John’s vision in chapter 20:1-3, 7, it becomes apparent that the binding (or “casting down”) of Satan is a reference to the success of the gospel now that Satan’s power to deceive the nations has been broken.

What Does John Mean When He Speaks of Satan Being Bound in Revelation 20:1-3, 7?

John’s visions in Revelation are given in the language of apocalyptic symbolism. John does not intend for us to understand these things literally, but rather to read them in light of the Old Testament, where these symbols and images appear previously. The symbolic nature of the vision is obvious. How can an angel bind an immaterial spiritual being (Satan) with a real chain? How can a spiritual being be locked away in a pit? This is apocalyptic symbolism plain and simple.

First up is the matter of the proper identification of this particular angel and then determining the meaning of the symbolism of the key to the abyss and the chain. The answer to the angel’s identity is tied to the use of “keys,” which are mentioned throughout the Book of Revelation. In Revelation 1:18, Christ holds the keys of Death and Hades in his hand. In chapter 3:7, the Holy One has the key of David which opens and shuts. In Revelation 9:1-2 we read that “the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss.”

Given the symbolism of the keys prior to this vision, we already possess the “key” (pun intended) to interpret correctly the symbols mentioned by John in Revelation 20:1-3, 7, with some degree of certainty. The abyss is a reference to Death and Hades–the realm with which Satan is most closely associated in the Book of Revelation. Having been cast of out heaven (according to Revelation 12:7-9), John sees an angel (who is either Jesus, or an angel exercising the Lord’s authority) confining Satan to the abode of the dead. Satan has been cast from heaven where he had been making accusations against the saints (i.e., Job 1:6-12; Zechariah 3:1-10). According to verses 2-3 of Revelation 20, which are repeated here, the angel “seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.”

John’s vision should be interpreted in light of the background we have previously established. But we must also give due consideration to what John specifically says of this “binding.” Satan is bound to the abyss–the realm of Death and Hades–for a specified time (a thousand years). He is bound for a specific purpose—he is prevented from “deceiving the nations” until the thousand years are over. The imagery of the devil being bound restates in apocalyptic symbolism the biblical data considered previously. Satan has been “cast down” and “bound.” After Jesus’ death and resurrection, Satan is prevented from deceiving the nations en masse. This is unlike the prior period of redemptive history (considered above) when the devil was able to mobilize pagan Gentile powers to oppose and assault the people of God until his defeat on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. John is describing the age of the gospel, in which that gospel is to be proclaimed to all the nations. Therefore, the correct reading of Revelation 20:1-3 is that Satan is currently bound by the preaching of the gospel. His lies are exposed and his powers of deception are greatly diminished in the new covenant era. It is the proclamation of Christ crucified and risen which “binds” the devil.

But to be clear and avoid misconception as much as possible, the binding of Satan does not in any sense mean that all of his evil activities cease during the thousand years. In fact, John has already warned us in Revelation 12:12 that after Satan is cast out of heaven, “woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” Like a sick or wounded animal sure to die, Satan is more dangerous now than he was when he had free access to heaven–even while confined to the abyss. Satan has been defeated by Christ’s death and resurrection. His doom is assured. One little word shall fell him. The truth of the gospel exposes his lies for what they are. But with the time he has left, Satan rages against the people of God trying to muster his increasingly feeble power. The gospel of Christ crucified is to Satan what kryptonite is to Superman.

Nevertheless, John reports in his prior visions that since Satan has nothing to lose, he wages war on the saints and at times, appears to overcome them. This is why Peter speaks of Satan as our enemy who “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (I Peter 5:8). This is why Paul can speak of Satan as “the god of this age, who blinds the minds of unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 4:4). You can put a vicious dog on a chain, but you sure don’t want to get within the radius of the chain, or you’ll still get mauled!

At no point does John say or imply that Satan ceases all activity during the thousand years. In fact, Scripture warns us that the devil’s rage increases because he knows the end is coming. But John does say that Satan is prevented from deceiving the nations so as to organize them against the people of God (Christ’s church) as he once did during the Old Testament era. Is this not what John has been reporting from the very beginning of his Apocalypse? The beast was already manifest in John’s day in the form of the Roman empire (the fourth empire of Daniel’s vision—cf. Daniel 7). But Christ has defeated the Roman Caesar, evident in the fact that we can go to Rome today and walk among the ruins of a once great persecuting empire.

Rome’s Antichrist emperors have come and gone, relegated to the annals of history. Indeed, beasts in many forms have come and gone throughout the age, persecuting the church for a time, only to be overcome by the testimony of the saints and the blood of the Lamb. Hitler’s thousand year Reich lasted less than fifteen years. Stalin’s great socialist utopia collapsed before our eyes. Even though nations who persecute the church come and go, they are prevented from organizing against the church as a whole and destroying it as the Assyrians and Babylonians did to the divided kingdoms of Israel. Inevitably these empires all come to an end–often times a bloody end brought about by the providential intervention of God.

That said, in verse 7 John reveals that one day Satan will be released from the abyss at the time of the end. No longer bound, Satan will again organize the nations against Jesus Christ and his church, only to be crushed by Jesus on the day of his second advent when our Lord delivers his people once and for all, when we are raised from the dead, final judgment is meted out, and the new heavens and earth appear, the home of everlasting righteousness.

How Then Ought We Understand Jude 6 and 2 Peter 2:4?

Some interpreters connect the binding of Satan in Revelation 20 to Jude 6 (cf. 2 Peter 2:4), in which fallen angels are said to be kept in everlasting chains in darkness awaiting the final judgment. Does this have any relevance for interpreting Revelation 20. Likely not. The reference in 2 Peter 2:4-6 to angels being kept in chains in Tartarus (ESV, “hell”) until the judgment has a time reference, “when they sinned.” This would place the binding of such angels at the time of Satan’s fall, or else as Peter indicates in verse 5, at the time of Noah and the flood, which is “the destruction of the world that then existed” (2 Peter 3:6). Jude likewise speaks of these angels being bound until the day of judgment, which is possibly the subject of Isaiah 24:21-22, where we read: “On that day the Lord will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth, on the earth. They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit; they will be shut up in a prison, and after many days they will be punished.” Other than this scant mention, there are no others texts which speak to this. So, at the time of Satan’s fall, or at the time of Noah and the flood, a number of fallen angels were bound and are presently awaiting the time of final judgment.

Does this binding of fallen angels relate to Revelation 20 and to John’s reference to the binding of Satan? Probably not directly, although the reference to fallen angels also might be in the background of John’s vision. Whether or not Jesus is the angel who is said to bind Satan in Revelation 20:1-3, it is our Lord’s resurrection which gives him the keys (authority) over Death and Hades, which is the abode of the Dragon (Satan), as well as the key to the chains of Tartarus.[2]

A Response to Objections to the Present Binding of Satan

The most compelling and common argument against the amillennial interpretation of the binding of Satan is the painfully obvious fact that evil and unbelief flourish throughout the present age. The reality of such evil supposedly proves that Satan is not yet bound, therefore John’s vision must refer to a future event which occurs after Christ’s second advent. This is the standard premillennial objection to the amillennial interpretation and is, at first glance, quite compelling.

But this objection mistakenly assumes that the binding of Satan requires the complete elimination of evil, which is not the case. Furthermore, this observation, while true, overlooks the extensive biblical context for John’s vision as set forth above. It should be pointed out that this objection is merely an observation about the present age, and not an effort to interpret the vision in light of the biblical context which tells us what John actually means. When we place the vision in its biblical context, it is clear, if not obvious, that John is referring to the inevitable success of the missionary enterprise, not the elimination of all satanic activity. As previously noted, satanic resistance actually increases during the “thousand years,” yet is now too impotent to stop the progress of the gospel.

It is also probably worth noting that given the effects of the fall upon the human race, it is not as though there would be no sin and evil apart from satanic activity and temptation. Our hearts our filled with deceit (Jeremiah 17:9), our thoughts are continuously evil (Genesis 6:5), we are darkened in our understanding (Ephesians 4:18-19), and we are prone to all sorts of evil desires (James 3:9). I could go on, but the point is made. There would be great evil in the world even if there were no devil.

But the nagging question lingers. How can deception of the nations persist if Satan is “bound?” The answer is that Satan is presently bound in the sense described above (through the preaching of the gospel). Jesus and the authors of the New Testament are clear that the devil is already defeated and cannot organize empires and nations to stop the missionary activities of the church during the present age, as he was able to do with Adam and Israel, before his ultimate defeat at Calvary and the Garden Tomb. No doubt, Satan will certainly attempt to thwart the progress of the gospel and the kingdom of God, but ultimately he will fail. Being bound does not prevent Satan from trying to deceive. But is does prevent him from succeeding.

Our contemporary world is rife with examples of nations which openly oppress God’s people and seek to silence them (i.e., The People’s Republic of China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, the Islamic Republic of Iran). Yet, reports abound that many people become Christians in these nations despite the efforts of these governments to stamp out Christianity and prevent its spread. The kingdom of Jesus Christ will grow and thrive all the while persecution and political conditions appear to be getting worse (cf. Revelation 11 and the account of the two witnesses). The spread of Christ’s kingdom is a consequence of the proclamation of the gospel and tied to the effectual call of God’s elect–which John describes as a multitude so vast they cannot be counted (Revelation 7:9). But the relentless advance of Christ’s kingdom does not necessarily translate into corresponding economic, cultural, and religious progress as our postmillennial friends insist. In some cases, there is a corresponding positive effect upon the culture. But in many cases there is not. Preaching the gospel often results in persecution, hardship, and even martyrdom. Jesus says world conditions will be the same until his return, as they were in the days of Noah (Matthew 24:37). Yet, the gospel still accomplishes God’s purpose in the face of persecution, bringing his elect to faith and establishing congregations of believers.

According to John’s vision, Satan will be released for a short time before the end (Christ’s second advent), when the devil will be allowed to deceive the nations for one final outbreak of an organized political, economic, and military attack against Christ’s church (Revelation 20:7-10). Meanwhile, the gospel will go to the ends of the earth, even as Satan rages like a wounded animal. He is enraged precisely because he knows his time is short and his end is already determined (compare 1 Peter 5:8 with Revelation 12:12).

Summing Up

In Revelation 20:1-3, 7, John sees a vision of Satan as bound during this present age so that he cannot deceive the nations as he was able to do prior to Jesus’ death and resurrection, the basis of Satan’s defeat. The answer to the question, “how can Satan be bound even as evil continues?” is found by considering the context of the vision and then looking to John’s explanation as to what he means when he says that Satan is bound and cast into the abyss. Once confined, Satan can no longer “deceive the nations” until the thousand years are over. John even warns us that as a defeated foe, Satan’s rage is at its greatest before the Lord returns. But the devil’s power to deceive is broken through the proclamation of the gospel. Satan cannot stop the spread of the gospel, try as he will.

Therefore, when viewed against the backdrop of redemptive history (culminating in Christ’s saving work), the binding of Satan is directly tied to the success of the missionary enterprise. Satan was bound when his power of deception over nations and empires was broken by Jesus’s death and resurrection. John is not referring to the absence of all evil and unbelief as premillennarians contend. The amillennial interpretation is the correct one.

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[1] Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988) s.v. “Satan.”

[2] I refer you to the discussion of this in G. K. Beale, Revelation, New International Greek Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), 984-991.

Excerpt:

A similar line of argument is attempted by the skeptic Tim Callahan in Bible Prophecy?: Failure or Fulfillment? “Obviously,” Callahan writes, “the gospel had not been preached to the entire world by 70 C.E., even if we interpret the whole world as being nothing more than the Roman Empire.”[1] He makes a mistake by mistranslating the Greek word oikoumenē in Matthew 24:14 as “world.” Some of the confusion on this issue is because of some less than helpful translations found in the King James Bible where the Greek word aiōn (“world” instead of “age: Matt. 24:3) and oikoumenē (“world” instead of “inhabited earth”: Matt. 24:14).

Oikoumenē is a word that illustrates limited geography. The gospel only had to be preached as far as Rome could tax since the same Greek word is used in Luke 2:1. Had the gospel been preached throughout the Roman Empire before that generation passed away? The Apostle Paul tells us that the gospel had been preached “to every creature under heaven” (Col. 1:23). In other places where we read that the gospel was “being proclaimed throughout the whole world” (Rom. 1:8: here the Greek word kosmos is used) and had been “made known to all the nations” (16:26).

Full article: https://americanvision.org/posts/christians-give-up-the-faith-because-of-this/