요한계시록 Chapter 20

Translation: ESV

1

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.

Key Message

God possesses absolute authority to bind Satan, and exercises that authority through an angel.

▸A vision of an angel descending from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.

A vision of an angel descending from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. The bottomless pit (abyss) is the abyss where evil spirits are imprisoned, and the chain symbolizes binding. The key appeared also in 9:1.

Related Verses

He was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment.
2

And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,

Key Message

Satan operates under various names and strategies, but is ultimately bound before the authority of God.

▸All four names of Satan are mentioned: the dragon (power and destruction), the ancient serpent (the tempter in Eden), the devil (the slanderer), and Satan (the adversary).

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.

Key Message

Satan's activity is restricted under God's sovereignty, and all things occur within God's plan.

▸Satan is thrown into the pit and sealed.

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.

Key Message

Martyrs and the faithful receive the glory of reigning with Christ during the millennium.

▸The reign during the millennium is described.

5

(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.

Key Message

The first resurrection is the privilege of those in Christ — the resurrection of life and of reigning.

▸The parenthetical content informs that the rest of the dead — the unbelievers — do not rise until the thousand years are complete.

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.

Key Message

Those who participate in the resurrection with Christ are free from eternal death and enjoy the glory of eternal reign.

▸The blessing of those who share in the first resurrection is declared.

7

And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison

Key Message

Satan's final release is a providential permission for God's final victory and judgment.

▸When the thousand years end, Satan is released from the abyss.

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.

Key Message

Even in the last age Satan's deception is powerful, but God's people can be certain of victory.

▸Satan is released and deceives the peoples of the whole world to stir up a final battle against God's people.

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,

Key Message

Even the final assault against God's people is defeated by God's immediate intervention.

▸The coalition of evil surrounds the camp of the saints and 'the beloved city' (Jerusalem or the community of God's church).

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.

Key Message

The eternal punishment of the evil trinity — Satan, the beast, and the false prophet — confirms God's final victory.

▸Satan is thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet already are (19:20).

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.

Key Message

God's final judgment is carried out with absolute justice and purity, and even the present world order bows before it.

▸The scene of the Great White Throne judgment begins.

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.

Key Message

God's judgment is complete and fair; all people's deeds are recorded, and the book of life is the standard for the final verdict.

▸All the dead — regardless of status and rank — stand before the throne.

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.

Key Message

God's judgment includes every kind of death without exception, and all people are judged fairly according to their own deeds.

▸The sea and Death and Hades each give up their dead.

14

Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

Key Message

Through Christ's victory, death itself is abolished, and only the second death (eternal separation) remains as the final reality.

▸Death and Hades themselves are thrown into 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.

Key Message

Having one's name written in the book of life — faith in Christ — is the sole basis for eternal life.

▸This is the final verdict of the last judgment.