Currently there is a popular television program in which contestants are asked a series of questions, resulting in the increasing of a cash prize as a sequence of questions is answered correctly. As play continues, the amount of the prize becomes very large and the pressure on the contestant can be enormous. Prior to the contestant’s making a commitment to an answer, the host asks the question, “Is that your final answer?” Once the contestant says, “Yes” the singular final judgment of the answer is made. Contestants win or lose as a result of that one judgment.

Some see the Christian experience as one long struggle to maintain some level of righteousness as one is embattled in the conflict between the culture of this world and the culture of faith. However, God’s purpose is that this burden would be lifted from those who place their faith in Him. Rather than giving us a series of more difficult questions or onerous tasks to perform, God simply asks one simple question: “Do you love me?” (John 21:15 ff.) People are eternally lost or saved as a result of their answer to that one simple question. God will perform one final judgment at the end of the age, his verdict will be based every individual’s answer to this one singular and simple question.

Revelation 20 describes the final judgment in another of his metaphoric images. Because of a variety of interpretations of the symbolism used, this Chapter is considered by many to be the most controversial book in the Bible. Christians have used their interpretation of these verses to divide themselves into theological camps and by doing so are acting in disobedience to God’s basic purpose. Consider Jesus’ prayer, recorded in John 17:

John 17:20-21. “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me”

Instead of being united, many have alienated themselves into camps determined by their views of a historical millennium described in Revelation 20:1-6. The variety of interpretations of this chapter is great, but there are probably four predominant camps of thought, with many other opinions having characteristics similar to these:

Historic Premillennialism. Jesus’ return will be preceded by signs and followed with a period of 1,000 years when Jesus will reign on this physical earth as its reigning King. The return of Christ and the rapture are the same thing. (Papias, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, George E. Ladd, J. Barton Payne, Alexander Reese, Millard Erickson.)

Dispensational Premillennialism. Jesus will come for his church in the rapture, followed by a 7-year tribulation on earth among those who remain. Jesus will then again return to the physical earth with the church to earth to reign for 1,000 years. (J.N. Darby, C.I. Scofield, Lewis S. Chafer, John Walvoord, Charles Feinberg, Charles Ryrie.)

Postmillennialism. The millennium is the earthly period of increasing peace and prosperity as the gospel is taught through teaching, preaching, evangelism and missionary activities. This age will be followed with Christ’s return, and the end of the age. (Augustine, Loraine Boettner, S. Hodge, Charles Hodge, W.G.T. Shedd, A.H. Strong, B.B. Warfield, Daniel Whitby, James Snowden.)

Amillennialism. The millennium is a metaphor, not a literal event. We are living in the millennium as good and evil are growing in parallel. Jesus is reigning now in the hearts and minds of the faithful through his Word, his Spirit, and his church. Jesus’ second coming will terminate the age and immediately precede the final judgment. (Louis Berkhof, G. Berkouwer, William Hendriksen, Abraham Kuyper, Leon Morris, Anthony Hoekema, Reformed theology, Roman Catholic Church).

Each of these camps seeks to define the historical sequence of events that will take place at the end of the age based on these few verses of scripture. The firm establishment of such a historical sequence is not the intent of this text, and the paucity of literal details makes any attempt to determine the exact future simply impossible, necessitating grossly assumptive speculation. The context and content of the scripture does not focus on these matters, but rather on the basic truth of God’s purpose of judgment. Recall that John is writing to those who are in desperate need of encouragement following generations of seemingly fruitless persecution. They are wondering if the forces of evil, that seem to be totally in control of the world, will win. Will the persecution always continue? Will their faith be vindicated? What is God’s plan for the wicked? These are the questions that these verses address.

When it comes to millennial viewpoints, it is arguable that none of them are correct based upon (1) their mutually exclusive beliefs, (2) the lack of scriptural clarity concerning the sequence of events of the end times, and (3) Jesus’ declaration that the details of the end times are to remain hidden (Matt. 24:36). The only millennial view that is totally defensible is one that accepts on faith that God will do what He has promised to do in His own time and in His own way as He judges evil and vindicates the faithful. This view might be referred to as panmillennialism: it will all pan-out in the end.

These verses tell us a lot of fundamental truths concerning what will ultimately happen to evil and those who live by it. How will God deal with the evil in the world, and how will He reward the faithful? These are the questions that John’s revelation provides answers to.

Rev. 20:1.

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

Herein John reintroduces us to more symbolic imagery.  It is easy to visualize the picture that John paints with words.  We see a messenger from heaven that is carrying a key to a great hole, and a chain.  What do the key, the abyss, and the chain represent?  A key represents sole authority of access.  Only when one has the key to a locked door, does one have the power to open it.  The Abyss also referred to as a bottomless pit, is referred to seven times in the Revelation, and as we will later see, refers to the lake of fire, the place where Satan, the Beast, the Antichrist, and the unfaithful people will be separated from God for eternity.  Other references describe the Abyss as a lake of burning sulfur.  To be thrown into such a lake would represent extreme torment and agony.  To be separated from God, surrounded only by the power of Satan for eternity is unimaginable.  We may think that the circumstances of this world are characterized by the torment and agony of sin and evil.  However, the evil of this world is still tempered by the power of the Holy Spirit in every place where God’s power is evident.

The messenger also carries a large chain, one that is particularly designed to bind someone.  The image gives us the clear impression that this messenger is coming with a clear purpose that involves the bottomless pit and the binding chain.  He has come to bind someone and place the prisoner in this bottomless pit, a location that is far removed, a place from which the prisoner has no influence, and cannot escape.

Rev. 20:2-3.

And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, ³And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

The binding of satan for a thousand years is the climax of the divine judgment.  The period of time here is referred to as the millennium of the messianic kingdom.  Originally the 1,000 years was interpreted to mean forever, or almost forever, a period of time beyond all imagining.  However, later ideas were that the earth is inherently evil, or is inherently temporal, and is therefore not suitable for the permanent kingdom.  The numerology of 1,000 has many various interpretations.  The number is the largest that was commonly used during this ancient period, and referred to an unimaginably large value.  In today’s culture we might consider a billion or trillion to be a similar unimaginably large value.  The metaphor of a thousand years certainly refers to a very long time.

If these thousand years is considered to be the same thousand years as in the verses that follow, the amillennialists and postmillennialists will have a hard time explaining how we could now be experiencing the millennium unless they somehow rationalize away the binding of satan that is described in the third verse.  During confinement in the abyss, Satan has no power to deceive people.  In the current age, it is the primary power that Satan wields. 

It is generally accepted by the other millennial views that Satan is bound during the millennium.  Note that it is not God, nor is it Jesus who binds satan, but rather it is God’s messenger, the angel.  The basic message here is that Satan is so powerless when confronted by the power of God that all it will take will be for one of God’s messengers to step into the scene to totally dominate and defeat satan, removing him in a such way that the faithful will no longer be tormented by him.  This idea emphasizes the true powerlessness of satan and his minions, a powerlessness that is in stark contrast to that which we might come to understand when we see him exercising his efforts on this earth to bring death and destruction. 

The abyss that is referred to here is described using a word that is similar to what the ancients believed was the lowest of three levels of Hades, the level that is reserved for satan and his demons, separated from God, a place where there is “great wailing, and gnashing of teeth.”  The abyss is first mentioned in the first woe of Revelation 9:1-2.  His coming back from the abyss is described in 11:7 and 17:8 wherein he comes out of the abyss only to experience his final destruction.  When these earlier verses are considered we find that satan is “set free” only so that his destruction can be witnessed since the final battle that brings about his demise is that in which he is destroyed by the word of God that comes from Jesus, the “rider of the white horse,”  (Rev 19:11 ff.)

Rev 20:4-6.

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. ⁵But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. ⁶Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

In these verses John gives the persecuted readers a word of special encouragement concerning those who had been martyred.  The people needed to know that their martyrdom was not in vain.  In fact, John’s description of their state shows that those who were faithful to Christ, even unto death are given a special place in the Kingdom.  They will be given authority to judge.  They will spend a special period of time with Jesus prior to the general resurrection when all of the dead are judged.

Here it is not those who are alive when the Lord comes who will reign with him.  John believes there will be no survivors of the faithful on earth; all will have suffered martyrdom before the day of the Lord comes.  And, it is not all who have "died in the Lord" who are to share in his reign with him.  Only the martyrs will have this particular reward, given for their loyalty.  It is these who are given authority to judge. 

In 6:11 each of the martyrs is given a white robe while they wait for their roll to be complete, again a metaphor for one’s being clothed with the righteousness of God.  Here the roll is complete and the host of martyrs rises in the first resurrection, in which the rest of the dead take no part.  This concept is peculiar to John's writing, and illustrates John's focus on persecution and martyrdom.  Note that the martyrs are referred to as priests of God and of Christ.  This may imply a special function assigned to the martyrs.  It also indicates a particular reward for the martyrs as they will be with Jesus, at peace, for a very long time.  They will have a time of special fellowship with Jesus.

The Mark of the Beast

 Note that the martyrs are those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands.  When we approach the mark of the beast in a literal sense, we tend to assign these actions to the wicked in the end times.  However, the martyrs of whom John refers date back all the way to the crucifixion of Jesus.  From this we begin to get a picture of what the mark of the beast truly is.  If the early martyrs did not take on the mark of the beast, it is evident that they had the opportunity to.  Therefore, the mark of the beast is not exclusively eschatological, that is, indicative only of the end times.  Recall that God said of the faithful that his word would be as a frontlet before their eyes (Deut 6:8,11:18, et. al.).  What is the mark of a Christian?  What one trait marks every Christian for all ages?  The mark of a Christian is the seal of the Holy Spirit, manifested in agape-based fruits in a Christian’s life.

 The marks of the beast parallel this same point.  Just as the faithful are characterized by God’s word in what they see, say, and do, the unfaithful will be characterized by rebellion against God in what they see, say, and do.   What is the one trait that marks every lost person for all ages?  It is the lack of the Holy Spirit in their lives.  They never accepted God due to their life-long rebellion against Him.  Therefore, it is that rebellion that is the mark of the beast.  That is, the mark of the beast is a lifetime of rebellion against God that will serve as the testimony in the final judgment.  Their names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life.  Furthermore, rebellion in action is idolatry, a concept consistent with the Babylon passages of the revelation.  The mark of the beast is that evidence of a spirit of Babylon, a spirit of idolatry, a spirit of rebellion against God.  The metaphor for this rebellion, the number 666 that characterizes the mark, is simply another way of expressing this same thought as idolatry is also evidence of the lack of the Holy Spirit in an individual’s life.

 According to these verses, if this book is taken in sequence, the first resurrection involves the coming of Christ and the resurrection of the martyrs.  The second death is the death at the end of the Messianic kingdom after the Last Judgment, as distinguished from the physical death which is experienced by all humanity.   The first death is physical death, and the second death is spiritual death, the same death that Adam and Eve experienced after their rebellion.

Rev 20:7-10.

And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, ⁸And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. ⁹And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. ¹⁰And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

The vision of the End of the Messianic Kingdom.

At the end of the millennium, Satan is loosed and re-attempts to organize the nations against God.  He is cast into the lake of fire where already the Beast and the False Prophet have been cast.  Many have interpreted Gog and Magog to be specific world countries, always the enemy of the interpreter.  Gog is from the land of Magog in Ezek 38:2.  In Gen. 10:2 his is called Magog, son of Japeth.  Elsewhere they are both leaders in battle against God and Messiah.  Consequently, here they may represent all of the faithless upon the earth.

What would a message like this communicate to those first-century Christians who saw no end of the success of evil in their world?  They see that God will defeat Satan utterly and with finality.  What will God use to defeat satan?  Recall that satan is defeated by the power of God’s Word (Ch. 19), the two-edged sword that comes from the mouth (or voice) of the rider of the White Horse, Jesus.

Rev 20:11.

And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

The Last Judgment.

Here we see a great white throne representing a seat of judgment, a single throne that stands out. White represents purity, so the judgment that will take place at this throne will be pure, holy, and just. This is quite a contrast to the courts that the persecuted Christians have experienced.

The identity of the judge is not identified here, but is clearly Christ from his other similar attributes.

Early Jewish thought stated that all things would be destroyed and replaced anew. By heaven and earth fleeing away, this could be the concept that some of these would understand. Some argue, it could also be than in light of the Glory of the throne, and the significance of the judgment about to take place, they were of no consequence and went unnoticed. Some argue that the earth and sky were unholy and not fit for God’s presence. However, God created the earth and sky, and when His creative act was complete, how did God describe his creation? (Good.)

It is not implied that the earth and sky are cast into the lake of fire and destroyed. What seems to go unnoticed by so many escatological experts seem to miss this point. All of these theories miss one simple truth. The earth and sky make up the cosmos, the entire universal creation that we now experience. It is this earth and sky that God created in seven days. When the end of the age comes, this physical cosmos will not be taken up into heaven because it is not eternal. It will no longer be needed. Regardless of what God’s plan is for the cosmos after the second coming of Jesus, there will be no place for the physical components of the cosmos in heaven.

Rev 20:12-15.

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. ¹³And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. ¹⁴And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. ¹⁵And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Who is being judged?  Some argue that only the wicked dead are judged here.  Others argue that all, including the faithful and the martyrs are judged here.  A close look at the scripture makes this question relatively easy to answer:  All of the dead are implied here. 

Hades was believed to be the intermediate state of the righteous, so those who argue that only the faithless will be judged have to explain away this usage.  It is Hades, or “Abraham’s Bosom,” that was where the patriarchs of the faith were traditionally held, along with all other faithful prior to the coming of Christ. 

The sea may again refer to the worldly state as it has previously in this book.  If so, it may refer to those people who are still alive.  (Are there any?).  Death may refer to sheol, the state of the wicked dead.  Each person is judged here.  If anyone in all mankind is not judged here, it might be the martyrs, since this is the second resurrection in the sequence of this text. 

All of the deeds done in the flesh, good and bad, are judged.  Some have a hard time resolving this concept with God’s promise of forgiveness.  Perhaps we do not love deeply enough to understand how one can fully forgive another   God is omniscient.  That is, He knows all things.  It is impossible for God to literally forget anything.  It is what God does with his knowledge that makes Him the Just, Merciful, and Holy God.  We will be held accountable for every willful act of disobedience, every idle word and deed; we will be accountable for all of the ministry that God has called us to do and have willfully refused.  If this is so, why is there no evidence here of a punishment for the accounting that takes place when the books are opened?  Your sins are forgiven.  You will not be punished for them.  There is only one punishment for sin, and what is that?  (Death.)  We all deserve to be thrown into the lake of fire, so this is the only punishment available to God.

Death and Hades are utterly destroyed, since there will be no need for the experience of death, or the use of the grave once the spirit of a person has passed on to eternity.  There will be no more need for a state to be placed between physical death and spiritual resurrection.  It is even implied that these places are unclean, not fit for the glory of God's kingdom.  It is also clear, that like the earth and sky, there is no longer a need for them.  However, condemnation is not based upon the judgment of deeds, but rather upon the singular contents of the Lamb's book of life that contains the identification of those in Christ, those who have been sealed by the Holy Spirit at the point of their salvation.

Christians have no need to fear the final judgment.  Most likely when the books are opened, we will see what we have missed because of our disobedience, and some scriptures imply that our heavenly state will be affected by the level of our obedience.  Certainly we see the faithful martyrs given places of special honor.  However, the only thing to be feared is the lake of fire, the eternal separation from God, the eternal spiritual existence with Satan and his demons who, free from the power of the Holy Spirit, will reign over the wicked eternally.  (Not a good place to be.)  It is this that should be feared, and we should see that every lost soul around us is facing this final judgment, from which there is no escape.

Let us praise God for his grace and mercy, as He has chosen to reach down to us and save us through the vicarious death of Jesus.  Then, let us seek to be obedient to God, and to be available to him in service to His kingdom so that, through us, more people can be saved.

¹Source: H. Wayne House (1992) Charts of Christian Theology and Doctrine. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House. Pgs. 133-136.