Today we start chapter 20...slowly but surely we are getting through Revelation!
Revelation 20:1-3
The Thousand Years
1Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3and 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 1 John tells us he sees an another angel and it is coming down from heaven. This angel has a key in it's hand and it is a key to the bottomless pit which also has a great chain! This bottomless pit is not hell but a holding place for the devil. Verse 2 says this angel seizes Satan and binds him for a thousand years. Yes this is a literal thousand years! A thousand years of peace! Wow. Look at what Isaiah says about this:
Isaiah 11:6-9
6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
7The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
9 They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.
The angel throws Satan into this pit as we are told in verse 3 and shuts the pit and seals it over him so he may not deceive the nations until the thousand years are ended. We are then told he then must be released for a time.
To be honest I don't understand why Satan has to be released for a time. But this is God's Word and I believe it. I don't have to understand it! What I do understand is God is in control and can take care of Satan as He sees fit!
Tom
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