Let's Study Revelation (Chapter 20) by E. G. Cook

CHAPTER 20     By the time we reach chapter 20 we have seen the church age come and go. We have seen Satan attempt to take over our Lord's true churches, but in chapter 17 we have seen the utter destruction of all his attainments concerning the churches. We have seen the terrible wrath of God being poured out upon this old wicked, God hating world. We have seen the utter and complete destruction of the fighting power of this old world at Armageddon. We have seen the Lord of Glory just say the word and the commanding officers of all the mighty armies of the world, their aides and all that pertains to them are slain by that Word. We have seen the beast and the false prophet rise up and perform their wicked and evil work. Then we have seen them being taken and cast into the lake of fire alive.
    In chapter 13 we saw Satan giving his power, and even his throne to the beast and the false prophet. Now it would appear that when these two are cast into the lake of fire they still have Satan's power. In chapter 12 we saw that it took Michael, the archangel, and his angels to subdue Satan and cast him down to the earth. But now we see in verse 1 of the chapter before us that an angel comes down from heaven and binds old Satan. This angel is not called an arch-angel neither is he called a mighty angel, but rather just an angel. Nothing is said about his having any help in the matter of binding this once mighty foe of God and of His people. The anointed cherub of Ezekiel 28:14 who, no doubt, was honored above any of his fellow angels is now being bound by just an angel.
    We are told that this angel has the key to the bottomless pit. In 9:1 we see this key being given to the fallen star who is none other than old Satan himself. This word "key" (KLEIS) as we have already said in chapter 9 usually means authority. In fact, I know of no place in the New Testament where this word means a small metallic instrument used to unlock a door, or to turn on the ignition in a car. This angel here in verse 1 simply has God-given authority over this bottomless pit.
    This great chain in the hand of this angel is from HALUSIS which can mean a cord, or a chain as we know chains, but it also has the meaning of restraint or to restrain. So, could this chain speak of God's restraining power? He who spake the word and the universe came into being, He who restrains the innumerable bodies in the universe that they neither get off their prescribed course nor change their prescribed speed can also say the word and Satan will be more securely bound than all the material chains in the world could bind him. Enemies of the Bible make light of the idea of binding a spirit with a chain. And we must admit that they have a point if we contend that this great chain is a literal chain. This angel could not tie this chain around Satan's neck, because he has no neck. He could not tie it around his body, because he has no body. But if we contend that this Greek word HALUSIS here in this particular Scripture means God's great restraining power, these enemies of the Bible can take it, or leave it.
    The enemies of the Bible also hoot at the millennial reign of our Lord because they do not find the word "millennium" in the Bible. Some of them do this through ignorance. Others of them do it maliciously. Just as the word century means one hundred years, the word "millennium" means one thousand years. Six times in this short chapter we see the expression "thousand years," and you can substitute the word "millennium" in every one of those six places and you would not change the meaning of the Scripture one iota. So if you deny the millennial reign of Christ on the grounds the word "millennium" is not found in the Bible, please remember you either do it through ignorance, or you do it with malicious intent.
    In verse 3 Satan is cast into the bottomless pit where he is shut up and the pit is sealed. This seal does not mean that the mouth of this pit is sealed up with mortar and stone. Some thing of this nature would not deter old Satan in the least. You will recall that the seal that protects the hundred and forty-four thousand during the great tribulation will be the name of their God upon their foreheads. So this seal may very well be a statement to the effect, "Beyond here Satan cannot go." We would not try to put words in God's mouth, but I do believe this seal will consist of some statement of God's choosing.
    The thing that rejoices our hearts here in this verse is the fact that Satan will not be able to deceive any one during this glorious millennium. Though there will be millions, yea, billions of lost people living upon this earth during that glorious age, still not one person will be deceived during that time by him who has been the arch deceiver through the ages.
    Also in this verse we see that which may puzzle some of us. No doubt, many of the saints through the centuries have wondered why God does not cast Satan into the Lake of fire along with the beast and the false prophet and be finished with him. But God still has a task for Satan to do. It may look as if Satan has done his dirty work all on his own, but let us re member, it was all done according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. There are those who say that Adam thwarted God's plan and purpose for mankind when he fell in the garden of Eden. But I say unto you that if Adam had not fallen into sin in that Garden, he would have completely wrecked God's plan and purpose for mankind. It was not accident or happen so that Adam fell. In Revelation 13:8 we learn that our Lord was slain from the foundation of the world. The fall of Adam did not bring about a crisis in God's economy. There was no need for God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit to call a council to determine what should be done in this emergency, for there was no emergency. The council had already determined what was to be done way back in the eternity of the past long before there was an Adam. But in due time Adam was brought on the scene, and he played his part perfectly.
    So it is with Satan. God's foreordained plan and purpose requires that Satan be turned loose for a little season at the end of the thousand year reign of our Lord. In verse 7 we see him being turned loose upon the world. And in verse 8 we learn why God foreordained that he should be turned loose upon the world. There will be untold numbers of people living on this earth during the millennial reign of Christ who are lost people. They will be outwardly subject to Christ's rule because of two things. One of these things will be the rod of iron in the hand of our Lord. The other thing is the fact that during this time Satan is bound in the bottomless pit, therefore, he is utterly unable to lead this great host of people to oppose the Lord.
    God could destroy this great host of lost people in any way He chose to do so. And He has chosen the way He plans to destroy them. Satan is turned loose upon them. He goes out to deceive this great host of people. His spirit of opposition to God enters them, and they follow old Satan like the Pied Piper's mice to their destruction. We see them gathered together to battle against the Lord and His saints. We are told that the number of old Satan's army is as the sand of the sea. It may very well be that when this vast army has completely surrounded the saints and the city of Jerusalem some of the saints may say as Elisha's servant said in the long ago, "Alas, my master! how shall we do?" II Kings 6:15. But just as God smote those Syrians with blindness, He will devour this vast army with fire from heaven.
    In verse 10 now that Satan has performed the task that he alone is fitted to do, he is cast into the lake of fire where the beast and the false prophet are. Please note, this is where these two men still are. They are to be cast into this lake of fire at the beginning of the thousand year reign of our Lord. Then at the end of that thousand years the old devil is to be cast in there where they still are. These three great buddies will have plenty of time to talk about their saint killing days. but their saint killing days are over when this time comes. We see that old Satan is to be tormented for ever and ever. These people who talk about hell being a place where the wicked are consumed will certainly wish it were that way when they find themselves in there with these three diabolical characters.
    We have purposely skipped over verses 4-6 in order that we might trace Satan's trail to his eternal destination. So now let us go back and consider these verses which deal with an altogether different subject.
    In verse 4 John saw thrones with those who are to reign with Christ sitting upon these thrones. Authority is given to them that they may administer justice. In 5:9 we learn that the redeemed are to reign as kings in the earth. So here John sees them taking their seat upon their thrones. Then, too, John saw the souls of the ones who had been beheaded because of their witness of Jesus, and their faithfulness to God's Word. Sometimes there is danger of our thinking that the soul and the spirit are one the same. But that is not true. In Hebrews 4:12 we find that the soul and the spirit can be divided, or separated. That could not be true if they were one and the same thing. Then too, they are from altogether different Greek words. Soul comes from PSUCHE whereas spirit comes from PNEUMA. The word PSUCHE means life, persons or individuals. In Acts 2:41 we read, "There were added unto them about three thousand souls." Every one must admit that the word "souls" here means people, and it comes from the same Greek word PSUCHE. So John saw the people who had been beheaded because of their faithfulness to Jesus and to the Word.
    Then John saw these souls (people) come to life, that is, he witnessed their resurrection. But remember, these are the people who refuse to worship the beast, or his image. Therefore, they are of necessity the saints who are slain during the terrible tribulation time. During this age in which we live this beast will not come on the scene to be worshipped. So this resurrection that John sees here takes place at the end of the tribulation period. There are two phases of the first resurrection just as there are two phases of our Lord's second coming. The first phase of this first resurrection takes place at the end of this church age before the tribulation period begins, I Thessalonians 4:16. In fact, it is the thing that separates the church age and the tribulation period. And though seven years separates these two phases of the first resurrection, they are both termed the first resurrection because they have to do with the saints. These who are resurrected at the end of the tribulation are also given to reign with Christ during the thousand years.
    In verse 5 we see that which those who teach a general resurrection must either ignore or outright deny. It is utterly impossible for anyone to believe what we see here in this verse and at the same time believe that the saved and the lost will be resurrected at the same time. In verse 4 we saw the tribulation saints being resurrected and reigning with Christ for a thousand years. And here in verse 5 we are told plainly that "the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." Even I have sense enough to see that this teaches, beyond any possible doubt that the wicked dead must remain in their graves until the saints have reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
    In verse 6 we are told that blessed (or happy) and holy is the person who has part in the first resurrection. This is true whether this person is raised before the tribulation begins or whether he is raised after the tribulation is ended. It applies to both phases, and, therefore, it applies to all the saints who have been raised and to those who have been changed at His coming. We are told that over such, that is, over all the saints of God, "the second death hath no power (or authority)." We shall (our Lord willing) deal with this second death when we come to verse 13. Then we see that these (all the saints) over whom the second death has no authority are to be priests of God and of Christ, and that they are to reign with Him a thousand years. Verse 4 speaks only of the tribulation saints reigning with Christ, but verse 6 brings in all the rest of the saints.
    Then when we come to verses 11-15 we see that which we, while still in these bodies of ours, cannot delight in. We say that what we see here is just and right. And to the best of our ability we believe this to be true. But still we simply can not delight in it. But when that time comes we will be in our glorified bodies, and to some extent we will be able to see sin as God sees it. Then, and then only, will we be able to rejoice at seeing the wicked cast into hell.
    In verse 11 John saw a great white throne. And not only that, he saw the One who was seated on that throne. This One on this throne is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 5:22 we read, "The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son." So this One from whose face the heaven and the earth flee away is God the Son. There will be no place for the earth or the heaven at this terrible time. All attention is riveted to the task at hand. Eternal destinies occupy the thinking of every one present. There is no time nor any desire to think of earthly things.
    In verse 12 we find that not only does John see the throne and Him who sat upon it, but he "saw the dead, small and great, stand before God." These dead people are not lying around before God, they are standing before Him. This certainly means that these people are not dead physically, but rather they are those who are dead spiritually. In Acts 10:42 and I Peter 4:5 we learn that our Lord is to judge both the living (saved people) according to their works. This has nothing to do with our being saved or lost. A person cannot so much as be present at this judgment unless he or she is al ready saved. This judgment has to do with our rewards, not with our eternal destiny. In I Corinthians 3:15 we see that those whose works are all burned up are still saved. They are saved simply because they are on the foundation, verses 11-12. But here in Revelation 20:12 we see these people are already dead (spiritually) before they are judged. Just as a person has to be saved in order to be in the judgment in I Corinthians 3:11-15 and in II Corinthians 5:10 so a person has to be lost in order for him to be here, at this white throne judgment.
    We see the books are opened and also the Book of Life is opened. The books here contain the record of the things these lost people have done. And these lost people are judged according to the things that have been written in these books. There are those who seem to think that all who go to hell will suffer just alike. But there are two things that convince me that this is not true. These people are judged according to their works. If all suffer alike, this would be a mockery. People do not come before this awful white throne to find out whether they are lost or saved. They are condemned already, John 3:18. It is true that a great host of these lost people will try to convince God that He has made a mistake in their case, but it will avail them nothing, Matthew 7:22-23. Then my other reason for believing that the lost will not all suffer alike is that God is a just God. And justice demands that these lost people suffer according to their works. For the lost person who has lived a moral life, who has never been guilty of stealing, robbing, killing and all such things to suffer as much as a Hitler, the beast or the false prophet would be the height of injustice. So it behooves the lost person to live a good moral life. He will be glad he did throughout all eternity. I do not want anyone to get the idea that hell will be a pleasure resort for any lost person. Neither do I want any one to get the idea that I believe all lost people will suffer alike.
    In verse 13 we see that the sea will give up the dead who are in it. Also that death and hades (not hell) give up their dead. One of the puzzling things about our King James translation is why the translators rendered the word HADES as hell. The word "hell" comes from GEENNA and is found only twelve times in the New Testament. Our Lord used this word eleven times in Matthew, Mark and Luke. Then it is found one other time in James 3:6. Other translations on the verse be fore us say "death and HADES." Hades is no more the ultimate hell than the county jail is the penitentiary. Hades is the place where the wicked dead are confined awaiting the great white throne judgment. When this verse says "the sea gave up the dead which were in it" it is talking about the bodies of the dead which are in the sea. There is to be a resurrection of the wicked dead at the end of the millennial reign of our Lord. The lost people are to be given immortal bodies. And by that I mean they are to be given bodies that can never die again. Oh, how they will wish throughout all eternity that they could die, but their resurrected bodies will last as long as ours, that is, for ever and ever.
    In verse 14 we see two things that I did not see for many years. Since there is to be no more death at least, as we know death, we see death being cast into the lake of fire. Now that all the wicked dead have been brought up out of Hades, there is no further use for this place. But since it has been the place where the wicked dead have been kept throughout all the centuries, it is so contaminated with sin that our Lord just flings it over into the lake of fire as you would fling a stinking dead rat from your presence.
    Then I once thought that the second death was the lost person's being cast into the lake of fire. If we follow our Authorized version alone, we would have to say that our Lord's casting death and Hades into the lake of fire, would be the second death. But, after a closer study on the subject I am persuaded that the lake of fire itself is the second death.
    In verse 12 we saw that the Book of Life was present at this awful judgment It will not be there for the purpose that the other books will be. No one here will be judged out of the things written in this Book. This is the Book in which the names of our Lord's elect ones were written way back before the world was, Revelation 13:8. No one will be cast into the lake of fire because of his works. He will suffer in this awful place according as his works have been. But there is one, and only one reason why these people are cast into this place. And that reason is because their names are not in the Book of Life. That is why this Book is to be at this awful judgment. If a person cannot find his name in this wonderful Book, he has no other recourse.