We continue with,

The Millennium and the End of Sin

We continue with our look at Rev 20:1-3 as taken from the New Albany Notes on Revelation.

VERSE 2 and 3 “He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.”

WHO IS THE DRAGON?

In verse 2 appears the four-part name “dragon, serpent, devil and Satan.” This four-part name appears only in one other place: Rev 12:9. In our study of Chapter 12 (See, The Study of Revelation, Part 17) we determined this phrase to be a symbol of the CIVIL EMPIRE with Satan as its invisible backer. Pagan Rome was a valuable tool to Satan. With it he managed to control the world for two centuries without any major outbreak of hostilities.

Satan DOES like peaceable control over the earth. However, as Pagan Rome became challenged by the growth of the new religion called Christianity, Satan was not caught short. He absorbed [devoured] (Rev 12:4) the newly born religion and, ultimately, as Paganism declined, and the civil became subject to the religious, Satan had something new with which to rule the world: The Holy Roman Empire. The lesson for Rev. 20 is clear: the remains of civil power are yet around. Their old ruler is too. Thus, this name — dragon, serpent, devil and Satan — represents PRIMARILY the civil power, but not without its unseen spiritual head, the personal devil.

There were THREE symbols given to us in Rev 16:13. These symbols had their origins in Chapters 12 and 13: the DRAGON, the BEAST, and the FALSE PROPHET. The fact that all three are mentioned in 16:13 is a clue that we are to FOLLOW all three to their ends in the book of Revelation.

It is very important to note that TWO of these three (the beast and false prophet — the ECCLESIASTICAL two) meet their end in Rev 19:20 where BOTH are thrown in the lake of fire. This happens in the Harvest of the Gospel Age.

But where is the THIRD? Where is the DRAGON (civil power)?

He is the subject of Chapter 20. Notice how carefully Rev 20:10 details that this third enemy joins the other two in the lake of fire — but A THOUSAND YEARS LATER! It is based on this that brother Russell suggests that the challenge at the end of the Millennium (Rev 20:7-9) would be Satan’s attempt to start a new *civil government at the close of the reign of the Christ. Civil government (with the personal devil behind it) will have been “bound” for a thousand years. It will make one final reappearance and then meet its eternal end — along with its instigator.

*The phrase “Civil government” is synonymous with HUMAN GOVERNMENT, in contradistinction to a government by God, or the DIVINE GOVERNMENT.

At the end of the thousand years some (many) will attempt once again to establish a new civil or earthly government, instituted by men, a challenge to God’s new government through Israel, however this will come to not as have all the empires of men (designated as “beasts” in the scriptures), for God’s kingdom is to be forevermore the everlasting kingdom.

THE BINDING OF SATAN

Bible students, for convenience, refer to the “binding of Satan” — both the literal and the symbolic Satan (the civil and religious institutions through which he operates). The term is fine as a short cut as long as we remember that it IS a short cut. Verses 2 and 3 are specific in telling us that there is a FIVE PART restraint — something which apparently takes a period of time.

Note that the dragon is FIRST “laid hold of,” SECONDLY “bound,” THIRDLY “cast,” FOURTHLY “shut,” and FIFTHLY “sealed.” This may or may not reflect the FIVE-PART PRIDE of Satan shown in Isaiah 14:13, 14.

“For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’”

In any case, the binding process is a symbol for making the personal devil and his civil government deceptions POWERLESS for that part of the thousand years in which individuals will be judged.

It thus makes plausible the “binding of Satan” as having begun in the past as long as we remember that it is CIVIL POWER being bound here — not the personal being we call the Devil.”

 It is interesting to note the REASON the dragon is bound and cast into the “pit” the state or condition of powerlessness. It is so that he would be utterly incapable of deceiving the nations during the period of man’s restoration (the mediatorial stage of Christ reign). This is the echo of the Isa 35:9 promise. “No Lion will be there. Nor any vicious beast…” This section of Chapter 20 ends with the warning that the dragon (civil government, accompanied with its unseen head) must be released (reappear or attempt to do so) for a short time once the thousand years are ended.”

In our next post we will take a look at Verses 1-3 from Brother Shallieu’s perspective.