 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. The Defeat of Satan 7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Judgment Before the Great White Throne 11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Meditation The reign of King Jesus has already broken into history, though it is not yet fully established. In Mark 3:27 Jesus explains His own ministry by saying, “But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man….” Jesus commanded and exorcised demons, demonstrating total authority over dark powers while exhibiting His authority over the devil day after day in His ministry. The reign of King Jesus has already come. Turning to today’s reading, we begin with a spoiler alert: There is no real dragon in the center of the earth. The image is representative, and so is the number 1,000 (on par with the OT use of the number, indicating a large number rather than a precise quantity). The battle we read about is a reprise from Revelation 16 and Revelation 9. Rather than another final battle scene we have apocalyptic parallelism, emphasizing the reality of Christ’s already kingdom authority- Satan is bound (1-6) and Satan will be ultimately defeated (7-10) before the final judgement (11-15). In a world of difficulty, Christians live in victory- Christians must not grow complacent or live in despair. Christianity is growing globally. While only 1% of the world’s population were Christians at the end of the first century, by the end of 2022 there were more than 2.5 BILLION people identifying as Christians! Over a quarter of the world’s population acknowledges Jesus as Lord and Savior because Satan is bound and Jesus rules, though not yet fully establishing His reign. Come Lord Jesus! Richly Dwelling -This is a very difficult chapter with several different interpretations. Why is it important to see the connection between Jesus’ authority in His earthly ministry and the imagery represented in today’s reading? -Do you live in fear of the devil who is already bound OR do you live in freedom from the victory of King Jesus? -If Satan is bound then the nations will receive the gospel, the good news of King Jesus life, death, and resurrection on our behalf. Knowing Satan is bound by the authority of Jesus, to whom do you need to share the good news of the gospel with? Comments are closed.
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