Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Revelation 20:2

"And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years," — Revelation 20:2 (ASV)

These verses are integrally related to 19:20–21. After the destruction of the beast and his followers and of the false prophet, Satan (the dragon, the ancient serpent) is dealt with. He is thrown into the Abyss to be imprisoned there for a thousand years (the third last thing). The Abyss is the demonic abode (cf. 11:7). The angel’s mission is to restrain Satan from deceiving the nations—hence the key, the chain, and the violent casting into the Abyss. That this whole action is not a recapitulation of earlier descriptions of Satan is evident from a number of points. In 12:9, Satan is “hurled” out of heaven “to the earth,” where he goes forth with great fury to work his deception and persecute God’s people (13:14; 18:23c). But in 20:1–3, the situation is different. Here Satan is cast out of the earth into a place where he is kept from “deceiving the nations.” The former period of Satan’s restriction to earth is described as a “short time” (12:9, 12), while the time here (20:1–3) of his binding is a thousand years. In the earlier references to Satan, he is active on the earth (2:10, 13; 12:17; 16:13, cf. 1 Peter 5:8); here he is tightly sealed in “prison” (v.7; GK 5871). The binding of Satan removes his deceptive activity among “the nations,” a term never used to describe the redeemed community (until ch. 21, after Satan’s permanent end).

From at least the time of Victorinus (d.c. 303), some have interpreted the binding of Satan as the work of Christ in the lives of believers. Thus Satan is “bound” for believers since he no longer deceives them, but he is still “loose” for unbelievers who are deceived. This explanation, however, does not take seriously the language of the Abyss and the prison in which Satan is confined, nor does it account for the releasing of Satan after the thousand years. The binding of spirits or angels is mentioned in Isa 24:21–23;Jude 6, as well as in Jewish literature. In all these references there is no question of the spirits being bound in some respects and not in others; it signifies a complete removal as to a prison, usually in the depths of the underworld.

In only one NT reference is there a question as to the limited binding of Satan. In Mk 3:27 Jesus refers in his parable to the strong man first being bound before his goods can be plundered. The reference is to Satan’s being bound by Christ and specifically relates either to the temptation of Jesus or to Jesus’ exorcisms. In any case, the binding of Satan by the ministry of Jesus did not totally immobilize the devil but struck him a vital blow. But does the reference in Mark provide a true analogy for the binding of Satan in 20:1–3, as Augustine claimed? A careful examination of this verse and Rev 20:1–3 leads to the conclusion that the two passages are not teaching the same truth. There is a sense in which, according to the Gospel account, Satan is in the process of being bound by the activity of Christ and the kingdom of God; but this is clearly an event different from the total consigning of Satan to the Abyss.

Finally, it may be noted that the thousand-year binding of Satan is concurrent with and inseparable from the thousand-year reign of the resurrected martyrs. For a thousand years on this earth, within history, the activity of Satan leading humankind into false worship and active rebellion against God and his people will be totally curbed under the authority of Christ in his kingdom. If that reign is yet future, the binding is future. If the binding refers to an earthly situation— which it clearly does—the thousand-year reign most naturally refers to an earthly situation.