Posted by
ValiantForTruth on Thursday, July 30, 2009 7:36:24 PM
Christ is preeminent in all things, including His doctrine given to churches in the Gospels; He is the chief corner stone in the foundation of the Church. The apostles finish the foundation giving us authoritative commentary on His doctrine in their NT testimony. Finally, the NT gives us authoritative commentary on the OT. [Revelation 21:9-14]
Revelation 20 contains the doctrine that has become known as the millennium kingdom reign of Christ. The chapter begins with the binding of Satan for a period of 1000 years which is the duration of the millennium. So the millennium reign is coincident with the binding of Satan. For the comfort of the church, Revelation 20 gives us divine commentary on Christ’s doctrine of the kingdom revealed in the Gospels.
Satan Bound 1000 Years
‘Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 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.’ [Revelation 20:1-3]
This binding has to do with the restraint of Satan so that ‘he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished.’
Here is Christ’s doctrine…
“But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils” [Luke 11:20-22].
Christ says that a sign that the kingdom of God has come is that He has authority over Satan. In Mark 3:23 we are told that the binding of the strong man is a parable. We take the strong man to be Satan and the stronger man to be Christ. The spoils of the strong man are the redeemed men from every nation and generation.
Paul’s doctrine gives us more apostolic commentary regarding the coming again of Christ consistent with the binding and releasing of Satan in Revelation 20:1-3. This first statement is the death of preterism, and says that the Day of Christ will not come until the revealing of the evil one…
‘Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.’
Paul continues with his doctrine. The lawless one is now restrained, but the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. The lawless one is revealed when the restraint is removed.
‘…And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
Note that the work of the lawless one is deception.
‘The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved…’ [2 Thessalonians 2:1-12].
So what is the comfort of the church in the binding of Satan? Christ is restraining the forces of evil and exercising authority over Satan so that His people cannot be prevented from entering the kingdom. The gospel message goes forth and is effective according to the eternal purposes of God.