Revelation 20: 1,000 Years of Peace

                “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having they key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:1-2) Satan is bound for 1,000 years and peace comes during the Millennium.

Satan is cast; “…into the bottomless pit, and shut… up… 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.” (Revelation 20:3) Here we learn that for one thousand years we will have peace and the world will be free from corruption. We also learn that Satan truly has no power, all the power he has is given to him and can be stopped at any time by God. But, as the scripture mentions, He must be released again for a season. John explains that he sees judgment being given to the nations of the world and those who were; “…beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God…lived and reined with Christ a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:4) These were the ones who died for the testimony of Jesus Christ and will be part of the first resurrection, where they shall “…be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:6) Then Satan will be released from prison one last time to deceive the world and to gather those who turn their hearts away from God one last time for a battle at; “…Gog and Magog…” (Revelation 20:8)

Since the beginning of time the outcome of the battle has been determined; Satan loses. After the battle is complete the dead will gather and come forth to be judged; this is the Second Resurrection. John describes this judgment;

                “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were 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. And 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.” (Revelation 20:12-13) We learn that everyone great and small will be judged by the Lord through their works during their own lives. Everyone will regain their bodies and will be judged in the flesh. Those who are not found in the book of life, were; “…cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15) In other words, those who did not have good works in their life and instead chose wickedness will not be found in the book and will therefore be cast down to hell (or a lesser kingdom) according to their individual judgment by the Lord.