Let’s begin by getting a brief outline of the events leading up to this capture and binding of Satan in prison.  The order of events in Revelation 19-20 is:

•  The marriage supper of the Lamb. (19:1-6)

•  Heaven opened and the Lord’s visible manifestation. (19:11-16)

•  The battle of Armageddon. (19:17-21)

•  The binding of Satan. (20:1-3)

•  The thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth. (20:4-6)

Let’s read Revelation 20:1-3, “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, 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.”  This speaks of that time when Satan is captured and bound in a bottomless pit so that he cannot deceive people during the time of Christ’s reign upon the earth.

Let’s continue reading in Revelation 20:4-5, “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.”  This directly speaks of that time when Christ shall return to the earth and establish his earthly millennial kingdom.  We see from the portion that this coincides with the binding of Satan.

Revelation 19:1 begins with the words, “After these things”, a phrase that is also used in Revelation 4:1, 7:1, and 18:1. In this instance, it refers to the things described in chapters 17 and 18…the fall of Babylon and the complete destruction of the whore and the system over which she presided.  These things occur during the seven-year Tribulation period.  Seeing all these things, we understand the proper order of:

The Rapture of the Church, the seven-year Tribulation Period, and the one-thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth during which time Satan will be bound.

Returning to Revelation, chapter 20, we read in verses 7-8, “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.”  At the end of this thousand-year reign, Satan will be set free and he will return to his evil plan to “deceive the nations” even as he first deceived Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  John 8:44 describes Satan as, “…a liar, and the father of it.”  From the beginning of time, he has sought to deceive people against the truth of God, and for a short period of time, he will continue his nefarious deeds.  He will gather unbelievers from the four quarters of the earth to do battle against the Lord, and “fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” (Verse 9). 

Then, in complete victory, the Lord will sentence Satan to an eternal torment as we read in Revelation 20:10, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

What a wonderful victory we are assured of when our dear savior casts this evil one into the lake of fire and we will dwell with our Lord forever!  I pray that you are ready for these events by placing your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior.  Do not wait until it is too late.  “Behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)  (CC)  (701.6)