Eschatology, the study of the “last things” in theology, was a periphery concern of mine for many years. I self-identified as “pan-mil”, i.e. holding that everything would “pan out” in the end when Jesus came back and I left the details to the end times preachers and scholars.
Recently, I’ve found a fascination and interest in this realm of Scripture’s teaching. And I’ve realized how much Scripture actually addresses the “last things”. For years I believed the book of Revelation was the go-to source for everything about the end times. I’ve come to see that the entire Bible is eschatological in the sense that it all points to the consummation of our blessed hope: the second coming of Christ. Furthermore, the details of the last things are taught across both the Old and New Testaments including OT prophecy, epistles, biblical poetry, the Gospels, etc.
I’d like to use this platform to write about some of the things I’m learning and thinking through. One thing I’ve found is that there is so much that Scripture says about the last things. I believe that writing about such things here will help me clarify and organize things in my own mind. So consider this the dawn of a new series of articles: Our Blessed Hope. This series will examine the last things (i.e. eschatology). And yes, I have every intention of finishing the series on Leviticus 14. But that isn’t keeping me from starting this.
Context: Four Views of Eschatology
Rather than trying to provide a systematic overview of eschatological issues, I’m just going to jump in and start touching on specific points of what Scripture presents regarding the last things. And perhaps we’ll come back around and systematize them in a nice orderly way later.
That said, a brief introduction should be made for context.
There are three to four major views on the second coming of Christ within orthodox Christian theology. I say three to four because, as I’ll layout below, premillennialism has two camps that share some core ideas but also have enough distinctions to make them two separate theologies. I’ll briefly outline them here so as to provide some context for the overarching framework of understanding the main focus of this article: the binding of Satan.
All four views share the key root word: millennialism. This refers to Revelation 20:1-6.
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 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. 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. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 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.
Revelation 20:1-6, ESV
PREMILLENNIALISM views this thousand-year reign of Christ as occurring after His second coming. HISTORIC PREMILLENNIALISM posits that Christ will return and set up His earthly Kingdom in Jerusalem and reign for a thousand years before the final resurrection of the unbelieving dead and the judgement which then leads to the establishment of the New Heavens and the New Earth. PRE-TRIB (or DISPENSATIONAL) PREMILLENNIALISM holds the same teaching but differs from historic premil in the timing of the rapture and whether or not the church will be on earth during the tribulation. These two views are distinct enough in regards to many eschatological issues but for the purposes of the issue of the binding of Satan, they hold enough in common that we can lump them together for now.
POSTMILLENNIALISM posits that Christ will return after the Millennium, not before. Postmillennialists believe that the church will grow, the Gospel will advance, and the majority of the world will be converted. They believe that this advance of the Gospel will lead to the “Christianization” of culture and government, leading to a global “golden age” that will culminate in the return of Christ.
AMILLENNIALISM is formed from the root word “millennialism” and the prefix “a” meaning “not” or “no”. So literally, amillennialism means “no millennium”. However, the amil position is not that there is no millennium but instead that the millennium referenced in Revelation 20 refers to the entire period of time between the ascension of Christ and His second coming. Amillennialists believe that Christ is reigning now, in Heaven, and that His Kingdom described in Revelation 20 is “already, but not yet”. That is, that it has been inaugurated but will not be consummated fully until Christ’s second coming.
I will say this: currently, based on the study I have done, I hold to the Amillennial position as the best way to understand what the whole counsel of Scripture teaches regarding the last things. I believe you can hold to any of these four views and still be a faithful Christian. I have dear friends who hold to different views. And of course, since this all has to do with things yet to happen, none of us can be convinced 100% with no room for changing our understanding. The best course is to read and study Scripture faithfully and to humbly love others who disagree with us on this issue as long as that disagreement does not blatantly contradict or disregard Scripture.
The Binding of Satan
With that said, in this article I will examine the “binding of Satan” referenced in Revelation 20.
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 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.
Revelation 20:1-3
Here we read of Satan being bound and cast into a pit for a thousand years. Amillennialists maintain that this binding of Satan has already happened, at the start of Christ’s heavenly reign. What Scripture leads us to this conclusion? Isn’t Satan still very active in the world today? How can we say that he is bound?
It is true that Satan is active in the world today (1 Pet. 5:8, 2 Cor. 11:3-4, 2 Cor. 4:4, Eph. 6:11, 1 John 5:19) but this does not necessarily rule out his being bound. Does Revelation 20 teach the literal binding of Satan? Here we must read Revelation as it’s meant to be read: a symbolic book. Amillennialists are often accused of “spiritualizing” the book of Revelation and not “taking the Bible literally”. But is Revelation meant to be taken “literally”? Do we take the description of the Shulamite bride in Song of Songs 4 literally? Were her eyes actual doves? Of course not. That’s biblical poetry and we read it accordingly. There are a number of genres in Scripture. Some we read literally and others we don’t. I read the Gospels literally. I believe in the virgin birth and Christ’s resurrection.
So are we to assume that the binding of Satan is literal? Is Satan a literal dragon bound by a literal chain and thrown into a literal pit somewhere that has no bottom? I think it is safe to say that this is a symbolic image that John, the author of Revelation, sees. So if this is a symbol, what is meant by it?
John clarifies what is meant by the binding of Satan when he says that the binding prevents Satan from “deceiving the nations”. This is a very specific binding. It does not prevent Satan from operating on the earth. It does however open the world up to the spread of the Gospel through the nations beyond Israel. Up until Christ’s commissioning His disciples in Matthew 28, God was the God of Israel. With a few exceptions throughout history (Melchizedek, the people of Ninevah, etc.) the peoples outside of Israel were under Satan’s dominion. The blessings of the Gospel were confined to the nation of Israel. But in Matthew 28 Christ commissions His disciples to bring the Gospel to “all nations”. This is closely connected with His ascension which is referred to in Daniel 7. Thus, the entirety of Revelation 20:1-6, the binding of Satan and the reigning of Christ, fit together with Christ’s ascension and the spread of the Gospel to all nations.
What Does Scripture Say?
Of course, this argument means nothing if Scripture doesn’t make it. So what does Scripture say about the binding of Satan, outside of Revelation 20?
We can go to a few places in the Gospels that make the case that Satan’s binding occurred during and immediately subsequent to the earthly ministry of Christ.
And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.
Mark 3:26-27
Jesus is responding to the Pharisees’ claim that He casts out demons by the power of Satan. Jesus clearly demonstrates that Satan cannot cast out Satan but he goes on to speak of the necessity of binding a strong man in order to plunder his house. This refers to Jesus binding Satan and plundering his “house” (i.e. the world). It should be noted that the word for “binds” is the same word used in Revelation 20:2.
And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Luke 10:18
Here Jesus is making a comment in response to the seventy-two disciples returning from their ministry and reporting to Jesus that even the demons were subject to them in His name. Yet another example of Jesus “plundering the strong man’s house” through the casting out of demons and this being tied to the falling of Satan like lightning.
Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
John 12:31-32
Perhaps in this passage we see the binding of Satan from deceiving the nations being played out most explicitly. The context of this passage is Andrew and Philip coming to Jesus to report that there are Greeks seeking Him. In response, Jesus speaks of His death and then refers to the “judgement of the world” when the “ruler…[will] be cast out”. It is noteworthy that the Greek word for “be cast” shares its root with the “threw” in Rev. 20:3. Once again, note that this casting out is coupled with Christ drawing all people to Himself through His death, resurrection, and ascension.
Finally, though it doesn’t directly deal with the binding of Satan per se, the spread of the Gospel to the Gentiles is identified with Christ’s ascension to the Davidic throne in Acts 15:
After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,
Acts 15:13-17
“‘After this I will return,
and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;
I will rebuild its ruins,
and I will restore it,
that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,
says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’
Here James quotes Amos 9 and applies it to the spread of the Gospel to the Gentiles that Peter, Paul, and Barnabas reported. Once again, this doesn’t directly reference the binding of Satan but it does deal with the closely-connected reality of Christ’s reign over the throne of David, something that premillennialists say is still in the future, after Christ’s return.
How Should We Then Live?
How are we to live in light of the binding of Satan?
We are to live in victorious confidence of the spread of the Gospel. Satan cannot prevent the Gospel from spreading to all peoples, tribes, and tongues. He is bound in that regard right now! Satan continues to (falsely) accuse Christians, he continues to attack them, he continues to deceive people, and he continues to bring tribulation to Christ’s bride: the church. But he is no longer able to keep the Gospel of the Kingdom from spreading across the globe. Christ’s victory on the cross has stripped him of his power and has cast him down. John saw this reality symbolized through the binding of Satan, which he related in Revelation 20.
We can share the Gospel confidently that it will win hearts from Jerusalem to Johannesburg to Jamestown.