Revelations Chpt 20

[Cesyxn]

Can anyone explain to me Rev.20:1-8? , I’m having trouble understanding this. Thank you

 

[COPLAND_3]

The best explanation is given by St. Augustine, here is the link, just scroll down to chapter 7. newadvent.org/fathers/120120.htm

If you have difficulties with what he says, then by all means please ask, I will help clarify. Here is also a link to Chpater 20 of St. Bede’s commentary on Revelation, he is very good too! apocalyptic-theories.com/theories/bede/bedeiii20.html

Here is St. Victorinus’ explanation. 1-3.

“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a chain in his hand. And he held the dragon, that old serpent, which is called the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be finished: after this he must be loosed a little season.”] Those years wherein Satan is bound are in the first advent of Christ, even to the end of the age; and they are called a thousand, according to that mode of speaking, wherein a part is signified by the whole, just as is that passage, “the word which He commanded for a thousand generations,” although they are not a thousand. Moreover that he says, “and he cast him into the abyss,” he says this, because the devil, excluded from the hearts of believers, began to take possession of the wicked, in whose hearts, blinded day by day, he is shut up as if in a profound abyss. And he shut him up, says he, and put a seal upon him, that he should not deceive the nations until the thousand years should be finished. “He shut the door upon him,” it is said, that is, he forbade and restrained his seducing those who belong to Christ. Moreover, he put a seal upon him, because it is hidden who belong to the side of the devil, and who to that of Christ. For we know not of those who seem to stand whether they shall not fall, and of those who are down it is uncertain whether they may rise. Moreover, that he says that he is bound and shut up, that he may not seduce the nations, the nations signify the Church, seeing that of them it itself is formed, and which being seduced, he previously held until, he says, the thousand years should be completed, that is, what is left of the sixth day, to wit, of the sixth age, which subsists for a thousand years; after this he must be loosed for a little season. The little season signifies three years and six months, in which with all his power the devil will avenge himself under Antichrist against the Church. Finally, he says, after that the devil shall be loosed, and will seduce the nations in the whole world, and will entice war against the Church, the number of whose foes shall be as the sand of the sea.

4, 5. “And I saw thrones, and them that sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were slain on account of the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast nor his image, nor have received his writing on their forehead or in their hand; and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years: the rest of them lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.”] There are two resurrections. But the first resurrection is now of the souls that are by the faith, which does not permit men to pass over to the second death. Of this resurrection the apostle says: “If you have risen with Christ, seek those things which are above.”

1. “Blessed and holy is he who has part in this resurrection: on them the second death shall have no power, but they shall be priests of God and Christ, and they shall reign with Him a thousand years.”] I do not think the reign of a thousand years is eternal; or if it is thus to be thought of, they cease to reign when the thousand years are finished. But I will put forward what my capacity enables me to judge. The tenfold number signifies the decalogue, and the hundredfold sets forth the crown of virginity: for he who shall have kept the undertaking of virginity completely, and shall have faithfully fulfilled the precepts of the decalogue, and shall have destroyed the untrained nature or impure thoughts within the retirement of the heart, that they may not rule over him, this is the true priest of Christ, and accomplishing the millenary number thoroughly, is thought to reign with Christ; and truly in his case the devil is bound. But he who is entangled in the vices and the dogmas of heretics, in his case the devil is loosed. But that it says that when the thousand years are finished he is loosed, so the number of the perfect saints being completed, in whom there is the glory of virginity in body and mind, by the approaching advent of the kingdom of the hateful one, many, seduced by that love of earthly things, shall be overthrown, and together with him shall enter the lake of fire.

8-10. “And they went up upon the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil who seduced them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where both the beast and the false prophet shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”] This belongs to the last judgment. And after a little time the earth was made holy, as being at least that wherein lately had reposed the bodies of the virgins, when they shall enter upon an eternal kingdom with an immortal King, as they who are not only virgins in body, but, moreover, with equal inviolability have protected themselves, both in tongue and thought, from wickedness; and these, it shows, shall dwell in rejoicing for ever with the Lamb.

 

[ryanoneil]

Rev 20:1-6 is the “Church Age.” We have been in it since Christ’s first advent. Verses 7-8 describe the short time when Satan is released before the final battle, at the end of time.

Peace,

Ryan

 

[Fidelis]

Here is an excerpt from the Navarre Bible Commentary on Revelation (note there is no “s” in the name of this book) Chapter 20:

1-3. The victory of the Lamb is manifested by the fact that Rome, the great harlot, has been destroyed (chap. 18); then the beast and its prophet are overcome (chap. 19); there remains the dragon whom we saw in chapter 12 and whose defeat marks the final outcome of the war referred to in that chapter.

The battle between Satan and God is described in two scenes; the first tells of how Satan is brought under control and deprived of his power for a time (vv. 1-3); the second describes his last assault on the Church and what happens to him in the end (vv. 7-10). Between these two scenes comes the reign of Christ and his followers for a thousand years (vv. 4-6). At the end of the second scene comes the General Judgment, with the reprobate being damned (vv. 11-18) and a new world coming into being (21:1-8).

The bottomless pit, or abyss, refers to a mysterious place, different from the lake of fire, or hell. Satan is also called the “ancient serpent” because it was he who seduced our first parents at the dawn of history (cf. Gen 3:1-19).

The period during which Satan is held captive coincides with the reign of Christ and his saints–one thousand years (cf. v. 4)–and contrasts with the “little while” during which he is given further scope to act. This contrast is very significant and it may simply be a symbolic way of showing that Christ’s power is vastly greater than Satan’s and that the devil’s power is doomed to perish even though on occasions it may emerge with unsuspected force.

4-6. The power to judge belongs to Jesus Christ in his own right because he has been given it by the Father (cf., e.g., Jn 5 :22; 9:39; Acts 10:42). However, our Lord gives a share in his power to the Apostles, whom he promised would sit on twelve thrones judging the tribes of Israel (cf. Mt 19:28). All other Christians will also share in Christ’s power (cf. 1 Cor 6:2-3).

Various interpretations have been offered for this “thousand years”. The “millenarian” interpretation, supported by some early writers, takes the passage literally and says that after the resurrection of the dead Christ will reign on earth for a thousand years; the Church has never accepted this interpretation. Like the other numbers mentioned in the Book of Revelation, the number of one thousand should be taken as more symbolic than arithmetic. It may be a reference to the period that runs from the incarnation of Christ to the end of time. It is also possible to see this millennium as a reference to a world of the future after the second coming of Christ; or simply as a symbolically long time contrasting with the “little while”. It could also be that the author is fusing two notions current in Judaism in his time–one which saw the end of time as a messianic kingdom on earth, and the other which saw that End as a future which transcends this world, with the new appearance a new world–a new heaven and a new earth.

Our Lord Jesus Christ depicts the establishment of the messianic Kingdom as happening in two stages–his first coming, in which he demonstrates his power over the devil and inaugurates the Kingdom of God; and his second coming at the end of time, when that kingdom will be established in its full finished form. That is why we see St Augustine’s explanation of the millennium as the most satisfactory. According to him, this millennium covers the time between the incarnation of the Son of God and his coming at the end of the world.

Continued…

 

[Fidelis]

Continued from above…

During this period the activity of the devil is to some degree restricted; he is in some way enchained. Christ reigns fully in the Church triumphant and he reigns in the Church militant in an incomplete way. The power of the devil is no longer sovereign, which means that man is able to elude him. So, although “he desires to do us harm, he cannot do so because his power is subject to another’s power …]. He who gives him the ability to tempt, also gives his mercy to the one who is tempted. He has restricted the devil’s ability to tempt people” (St Augustine, “Dei Serm. Dom. In Monte”, II, 9, 34). In fact, the Cure of Ars used to say, “the devil is a big dog on a chain, who threatens and makes a lot of noise but who only bites those who go too near him” (“Selected Sermons”, First Sunday of Lent).

According to this interpretation, the “first resurrection” should be understood in a spiritual sense; it is Baptism, which regenerates man and gives him new life by freeing him from sin and making him a son of God. The second resurrection is the one which will take place at the end of time, when the body is brought back to life and the human being, body and soul, enters into everlasting joy. The “rest of the dead” are those who did not receive Baptism. They too will rise again on the last day, to be judged according to their deeds.

On the priesthood referred to in v. 6, see the note on 1:6.
[1:6. Not content with setting us free from our sins, our Lord gave us a share in his kingship and priesthood. “Christ the Lord, high priest taken from among men (cf. Heb 5:1-5), made the new people ‘a kingdom of priests to his God and Father’ (Rev 1:6; cf. 5:9-10). The baptized, by regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are consecrated to be a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, that through all the works of Christian men and women they may offer spiritual sacrifices and proclaim the perfection of him who has called them out of darkness into his marvelous light (cf. 1 Pet 2:4-10)” (Vatican II, “Lumen Gentium”, 10).]

11-15. Now that the devil, the root of all evil, is removed from the scene, we are shown (as we were after the previous battle) the resurrection of the dead and the General Judgment. The white throne symbolizes the power of God, who judges the living and the dead. Other New Testament texts tell us that the supreme Judge is Christ, who has been charged with this task by the Father (cf., e.g., Mt 16:27; 25:31- 46; Acts 17:31; 2 Cor 5:10). The “flight of earth and sky” mean that they disappear (for even non-rational created things have been contaminated by sin: cf. Rom 8:19ff) to make way for a new heaven and a new earth (21:1; cf. 2 Pet 3:13; Rom 8:23).

The author then turns his attention to the resurrection, when all men will be judged according to their works. He describes this by using the metaphor of two books. One of these records the actions of men (as in Daniel 7:10 and other passages of the Old Testament, cf., e.g., Is 65: 6; Jer 22:30). The second book contains the names of those predestined to eternal life (an idea inspired by Daniel 12:1:cf. also, e.g., Ex 32: 32). This is a way of showing that man cannot attain salvation by his own efforts alone: it is God who saves him; however, he needs to act in such a way that he responds to the destiny God has marked out for him; if he fails to do that he runs the risk of having his name blotted out of the book of life (cf. Rev 3:5), that is, of being damned. By using this metaphor, the author of Revelation is teaching us two truths which are always mysteriously connected–1) that we are free and 2) that there is a grace of predestination.

Regarding Hades or hell, it should be pointed out that this does not refer to hell in the strict sense, but to “sheol”, the name the Jews gave to the gloomy abode of the dead.

The Last Judgment is a truth of faith concerning which Paul VI says: “He ascended to heaven, and he will come again, this time in glory, to judge the living and the dead each according to his merits; those who have responded to the love and compassion of God going to eternal life, those who have refused them to the end going to the fire that is not extinguished …]. We believe in the life eternal. We believe that the souls of all those who die in the grace of Christ, whether they must still be purified in purgatory, or whether from the moment they leave their bodies Jesus takes them to paradise as he did for the Good Thief, are the people of God in the eternity beyond death, which will be finally conquered on the day of the Resurrection when these souls will be reunited with their bodies” (“Creed of the People of God”, 12 and 28).

 

[COPLAND_3]

I have since done a work on this passage, it is available here

litteralchristianlibrary.wetpaint.com/page/The+1000+Year+Reign-Millennium.

Here are commentaries well worth reading that you will find if you scrolls down the page of the link I gave above.

St. Augustine 354-430
St. Bede 672-735
St. Victorinus 270AD
St. Hippolytus 170-236
Oecumenius 6th century
Various Ancient Commentators mostly 6th century
Nicholas of Lyra 1270-1349