Below are some preliminary questions to assist in the study of this passage. For a comprehensive study of the passage, download the Study Guide (PDF download).
1. According to Revelation 20:1-3 (printed below), what happens to the devil? Why is this done to him? See Revelation 20:7-8 (printed below)
I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the abyss and holding a great chain in his hand. (2) He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. (3) He threw him into the abyss, shut it, and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations any more until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be released for a short time. (Revelation 20:1-3)
When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison (8) and will go out to deceive the nations that are in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them together for the battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. (Revelation 20:7-8)
In verses 1-3 Satan is described as being bound and cast into the pit for “the thousand years,” this is expressly done in order to prevent him from “deceiving the nations.” Verses 7-8 define this “deceiving of the nations” as Satan’s act of gathering the nations together for the final battle of Armageddon. Verses 1-3 do not mean that Satan is not active throughout this New Testament age (note Revelation 12:12 and 1 Peter 5:8); what is meant is that Satan is prevented from prematurely gathering the nations to their final cataclysmic destruction before the appointed time.
2. At the conclusion of “the thousand years,” what is the devil permitted to do? See Revelation 20:7-9 (printed below) What is the devil’s final end? See Revelation 20:10 (printed below)
When the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison (8) and will go out to deceive the nations that are in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them together for the battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. (9) They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints, the beloved city. Then fire came down out of heaven and consumed them. (10) The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Revelation 20:7-10)
When the “thousand years” are finished, Satan shall be permitted to gather the nations to the battle of Armageddon. In the historical fulfillment of this prophecy, what starts out to be a universal military campaign against Israel (such appears to be the meaning of the statement, the armies “surrounded the camp of the saints, the beloved city;” the term “saints” being used here in the sense of “those who are set apart for God” to be redeemed by Jesus the Messiah), turns out to be a day of universal destruction for the hostile armies, as the nations turn against one another (cp. Ezekiel 38:21-23), and universal judgment (Revelation 20:9b). On that day the devil, together with “the beast” and “the false prophet,” shall be consigned to the lake of fire. Here is the eternal judgment and the final fate of the archenemy of God and His people, as well as the eternal judgment and the final fate of the demonically-inspired kingdom of man, together with all of its philosophy and propaganda.
3. Describe the scene of the final judgment as it is reported in Revelation 20:11-13 (printed below)
Then I saw a great white throne, and him who was seated on it. The earth and the sky fled from his presence, but there was no place for them to go. (12) And I saw the dead, the prominent and the insignificant, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. (13) The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and every man was judged according to what he had done. (Revelation 20:11-13)
John sees “a great white throne, and him who was seated on it.” Here is the purity and awesomeness of God revealed on the day He judges the world in righteousness. John goes on to report that “the earth and the sky fled from his presence, but there was no place for them to go.” The whole creation is shaken and collapses before the presence of God, and finds no place to hide before His awesome presence. Then John declares, “I saw the dead…standing before the throne.” “Books were opened” and the dead were judged based upon the things that were written in the books. The “books” contain the written record of each man’s deeds and they become the evidence by which each man is judged.
4. According to Revelation 20:15 (printed below), who is spared from the judgment? Note, also, Revelation 13:8 (printed below)
If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15)
All peoples who dwell on the earth will worship him (i.e.; the beast)—everyone whose name has not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb who has been slain from the creation of the world. (Revelation 13:8)
According to verse 15, anyone whose name was not found written in “the book of life” was thrown into the lake of fire that is defined as “the second death.” As Revelation 13:8 indicates, “the book of life” contains the names of God’s redeemed: those whom He has given to Christ, those who receive Christ as their Savior and remain faithful to Him.
5.How does John describe the “new Jerusalem” (i.e., the kingdom of God) in Revelation 21:2-3 (printed below?)
I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. (3) I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Look! The tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them. They shall be his peoples, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” (Revelation 21:2-3)
In verses 2-3 John is given a revelation of the “new Jerusalem.” In the Old Testament era the city of Jerusalem was the place where God caused His temple to be built and where He met with His people. All of Israel was invited and commanded to come to Jerusalem three times a year for feasts of worship and fellowship with the Lord their God. Life in Old Testament Israel, especially the yearly feasts at Jerusalem, was a model of what life will be like in the new creation: the Lord calling His people into His immediate presence to worship Him and to fellowship with Him. Life in the new creation will re-establish what life was like in the original creation (cp. Genesis 3:8a, where we learn that the Lord walked with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden), but that spiritual life will be elevated to an indescribably higher plane.
