Max's Weekly Musings
Vol. 10, No. 14, for the week of April 29 - May 5, 2007
Revelation 20

 

Things have really gotten interesting in Israel these past couple of days.  A government-appointed commission, called the Winograd Committee, has just released their findings after investigating last summer's Second Lebanon War.  Prime Minister Olmert, Defense Minister Peretz, and former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz came in for some fiery criticism.  According to published reports today, members of Olmert's Kadima Party are beginning to distance themselves from the Prime Minister.  Some within the Knesset are talking about an all-old revolt against Olmert's government if he should not resign within the next few weeks.  Already two likely opponents are being to come to the fore: Foreign Minister Tivi Libni (Kadima Party) and Benjamin Netanyahu (former Prime Minister and leader of the Likud Party).  Elections could be called for within the next couple of months.  Now you might be asking how does all this affect Israel and the Middle East.  As you might imagine, the Palestinian and Arab leaders are almost salivating at the internal disarray within Israel.  Israel appears to be very weak right now.  That means that at the negotiating table Israeli officials have little bargaining power.  Will Hamas and Hezbullah strike while they think Israel is weak?  Will Syria continue arming the border regions of the Golan?  Will Israel create a war to show itself strong once again?  Ah, those are the unanswered questions.  But, friends, you need to keep your eyes fixed upon Israel and the Middle East these next few weeks and months.  I believe what is happening is just another sign that the end is near.  I will try to keep you posted as I hear from my friends within Israel.

 

Now for some really exciting news!  Our study this week brings us to Revelation 20.  This is a chapter that a person cannot hurry through for it contains so many essentials for us to ponder.  Now it is important to note the timing of the events of this chapter.  They follow the events in Revelation 19, and you might remember that the closing events of that chapter included the Battle of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ to claim His throne in Jerusalem.  Then follows an event we know as the Millennium - a thousand year reign of Christ here upon the earth. 

 

We do not have time this week to go into all the details of the Millennium - we shall save that for next week.  But I would like to give you an overview of the Millennium and then focus upon the first important aspect of the Millennium.  How should we define the Millennium?  It is interesting that there are only six verses in the entire New Testament that describe the Millennium - Revelation 20:1-6.  Yet, the Millennium is the second most prophesied event in the Bible, ranking next to the Second Coming of Christ.  That can only mean that most of the teachings on the Millennium come from the Old Testament - and there is an abundance of them.  Over the course of the next few weeks we shall examine several of them.  Further, I find no reference to the Church during the time of the Millennium.  I believe that can only mean that our participation during the Millennium is something other than earthly.  We shall also look at that in the coming weeks.  So, how can we define the Millennium?  The definition that I relate to my students is: The Millennium is an Old Testament event that occurs at the end of the New Testament era.  The focus is not upon the Church but upon Israel.  Jesus Christ reigns not as Savior but as Sovereign. 

 

Furthermore, I believe in the literal one thousand year reign of Christ.  There are some who hold to an Amillennial position.  These people do not believe in a literal one-thousand year reign of Christ.  For them, the Millennium has been the time since Christ's ascension until His return.  St. Augustine believed in this as did John Calvin and Martin Luther.  The problem I have with this view is the binding of Satan, which we shall talk about in just a moment.  A second view is called the Post-Millennial View, stating that Christ will come after the Millennium.  Those who hold to this view believe that the Church will bring in the kingdom of Christ by preaching of the gospel, thus creating a much better world until the world is ready to have Christ as King.  The problem I have with this view is that the world does not seem to be getting better.  The Church has been ministering for near two thousand years, and the world has not changed much.  So, I will stay with my Pre-Millennial View, meaning that I believe Jesus Christ will come before the Millennium begins.  Seems to fit what is described in Revelation 19 and 20. 

 

Now for that first major event of the Millennium.  It is described for us in Revelation 20:1-3.  It is the binding of Satan for one-thousand years and casting him into the bottomless pit.  According to Revelation 9:2, the bottomless pit is the habitation of demons.  (You might remember that it was from the bottomless pit that the plague of locusts came).  What I find amazing in this passage is the awesome display of the power of God.  Notice that when God speaks, Satan's power is so diminished that even an ordinary angel becomes his jailer and leads Satan away captive.  Furthermore we read that Satan was bound.  Question: is this a literal chain that is used to bind Satan?  This is the same word that is used in  Mark 5:3 (demon-possessed man was tied down by chains), in Acts 12:7 (Peter fastened in prison by chains), and in Acts 28:20 (Paul fastened in prison by chains).  It has been argued that spirit beings cannot be chained by literal chains.  Since spirit beings are real beings, they can be chained by real chains.  So, the angel takes a real chain and binds Satan and casts him into the bottomless pit for one thousand years. 

 

What is God's purpose in binding Satan this way for a defined amount of time?  It begins the testing of mankind, those who have survived the conflagration of Armageddon and are now part of Christ's earthly reign.  With Satan bound, sin ceases to exist.  With the tempter cast aside, sin natures have no way of giving expression to sinful desires.  And, as we shall see in the next few weeks, God will create, not only a perfect spiritual environment, but also a perfect physical environment for mankind for one thousand years.  Will man pass the test?  Stay tuned....

 

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: There isn't much fun in medicine, but there's a great deal of medicine in fun.  (Prescott Courier)