Satan Chained for 1000 Years

[Nelka]

Revelation 20: 1-3 Then I saw an angel come down from heaven with the key of the Abyss in his hand and an enormous chain. He overpowered the dragon, that primeval serpent which is the devil and Satan, and chained him up for a thousand years. He hurled him into the Abyss and shut the entrance and sealed it over him, to make sure he would not lead the nations astray again until the thousand years had passed. At the end of that time he must be released, but only for a short while.

What is the Church’s view on this?

Is it from the time of Christ’s death to stop him ravaging the Church or something else?

Thanks.

 

[thistle]

Revelation 20: 1-3 Then I saw an angel come down from heaven with the key of the Abyss in his hand and an enormous chain. He overpowered the dragon, that primeval serpent which is the devil and Satan, and chained him up for a thousand years. He hurled him into the Abyss and shut the entrance and sealed it over him, to make sure he would not lead the nations astray again until the thousand years had passed. At the end of that time he must be released, but only for a short while.

What is the Church’s view on this?

Is it from the time of Christ’s death to stop him ravaging the Church or something else?

Thanks.

Read the D-R Bible, Haydock Commentary on this:

haydock1859.tripod.com/id306.html

 

[COPLAND_3]

Here is a link to a complete look at the mainstream view of the Church and other ancient positions, lined up side by side. Augustine’s view is pretty much exactly how the Church understands it. sites.google.com/site/aquinasstudybible/home/revelation/rev-1/rev-2/rev-3/rev-4/rev-5/rev-6/rev-7/rev-8/rev-9/rev-10/rev-11/rev-12/rev-13/rev-14/rev-15/rev-16/rev-17/rev-18/rev-19/rev-20

 

[dailey]

I took a look at the links. Still kinda confusing. Anyone care to break this down for those of us who aren’t that good at deciphering such things?

 

[TimothyH]

We are in the 1000 year reign. Christ has chained the devil through the ministry of his Church which makes Christ present for us through the sacraments.

-Tim-

 

[COPLAND_3]

Basically what this means is that before Christ came, Satan had a lot more power to deceive the nations, as you can see that God’s people were a small group in the Middle east. But when Christ came and once the Church was established, power was taken from Satan which allowed God’s people to spread throughout the ends of the earth, which never happened before. Obviously Satan still has lots of power, but it is limited to where he does not prevent the Church to grow and be spread abroad throughout the world. And near the end of the world Satan will be given back his control for a short period of time and the Church will face heavy persecution like never before and then Jesus will come again and defeat him once and for all.

 

[Mike_Dye]

If the Devil is chained in the world today I believe some one forgot to tell him about it. It looks like he is running wild to me.

 

[COPLAND_3]

Compared to what he did before Christ came and near the end of the world its mild now. If he still had that power then every Christian would be hiding underground. But many of us wake up Sunday morning and freely walk into Church without the threat of death. But there is going to be a day when Christians will be on the run.

 

[Nelka]

So it’s not so much that he is chained to stop him doing bad things but chained to stop him attacking the church?

 

[Megan7]

If the Devil is chained in the world today I believe some one forgot to tell him about it. It looks like he is running wild to me.

Yep, I agree, he did not get the memo… Thanks for your post.

Lord have mercy on us.

 

[COPLAND_3]

So it’s not so much that he is chained to stop him doing bad things but chained to stop him attacking the church?

Let me use the words of the Church Fathers in a very concise manner…

Now, this quote from St. Nerses makes an extremely important point, especially for those who say Satan “didn’t get the memo.”

St. Nerses says, “**bound. **Satan was then bound when he was mocked on the Cross, and mankind received authority from Christ to walk on that same serpent as on one bound, those whom he was unable to harm.”

That authority given to the Church to walk on the serpent was something that was never done before until Christ came. This is what people need to realize about the difference between Satan’s power before the first advent verse Satan’s power after His advent.

St. Augustine says… "But the binding of the devil is his being prevented from the exercise of his whole power to seduce men, either by violently forcing or fraudulently deceiving them into taking part with him. If he were during so long a period permitted to assail the weakness of men, very many persons, such as God would not wish to expose to such temptation, would have their faith overthrown, or would be prevented from believing; and that this might not happen, he is bound. For the Almighty does not absolutely seclude the saints from his temptation, but shelters only their inner man, where faith resides, that by outward temptation they may grow in grace. And He binds him that he may not, in the free and eager exercise of his malice, hinder or destroy the faith of those countless weak persons, already believing or yet to believe, from whom the Church must be increased and completed; Now the devil was thus bound not only when the Church began to be more and more widely extended among the nations beyond Judea, but is now and shall be bound till the end of the world, when he is to be loosed. Because even now men are, and doubtless to the end of the world shall be, converted to the faith from the unbelief in which he held them. "

 

[dailey]

Basically what this means is that before Christ came, Satan had a lot more power to deceive the nations, as you can see that God’s people were a small group in the Middle east. But when Christ came and once the Church was established, power was taken from Satan which allowed God’s people to spread throughout the ends of the earth, which never happened before. Obviously Satan still has lots of power, but it is limited to where he does not prevent the Church to grow and be spread abroad throughout the world. And near the end of the world Satan will be given back his control for a short period of time and the Church will face heavy persecution like never before and then Jesus will come again and defeat him once and for all.

Very helpful, thanks!

 

[Rezinunts]

A little confused, how can we be in the 1000 year reign if it began at the establishment of the church? That would put us almost another 1000 years past the 1000 year reign, wouldn’t it?

 

[COPLAND_3]

A little confused, how can we be in the 1000 year reign if it began at the establishment of the church? That would put us almost another 1000 years past the 1000 year reign, wouldn’t it?

1000 years are symbolic for a long period of time. Its typical for Scripture to use that sort of metaphoric language.

 

[patrick457]

If the Devil is chained in the world today I believe some one forgot to tell him about it. It looks like he is running wild to me.

Think of Satan being like a rabid dog on a leash.

 

[tabycat]

Think of Satan being like a rabid dog on a leash.

And getting more rabid as time goes by.

 

[mikekle]

I still think its very strange that Satan seemed to gain power once he fell…but this wouldnt make any sense, and why just him, why arent the other 1000s of fallen angels just as powerful as satan is? If he gained power and abilities at the time of his sin against God, why wouldnt the other fallen angels also gain when they fell?

Also Satan committed a sin that NO human can possibly commit, as we cannot even attempt to overthrow heaven…only human souls that can even get in the door are meant for Heaven, so I doubt one of those would try what Satan did.

I just find the entire story of Satan and the other 1/3 of the angels falling to be highly suspect, it doesnt make sense since God is a just ‘god’…rewarding a fallen angel with more power or abilities would not be just in my opinion.

 

[WonderAndAwe]

And getting more rabid as time goes by.

And as the rabies will eventually kill the dog, so too will the devil one day cease to be a problem for mankind.

Also, my take is that the 1,000 years a thing the ancients used to denote a really long period of time. It’s not really a millennium, but a nondescript length of time that culminates with Jesus’ returning to finally unload a holy shotgun on that mutt.

But yeah, it’s not like the ancient world didn’t use big numbers in a non literall way. 70x7 doesn’t mean “forgive someone 490 times and then that’s it,” but rather “never stop forgiving.”

 

[patrick457]

I still think its very strange that Satan seemed to gain power once he fell…but this wouldnt make any sense, and why just him, why arent the other 1000s of fallen angels just as powerful as satan is? If he gained power and abilities at the time of his sin against God, why wouldnt the other fallen angels also gain when they fell?

Also Satan committed a sin that NO human can possibly commit, as we cannot even attempt to overthrow heaven…only human souls that can even get in the door are meant for Heaven, so I doubt one of those would try what Satan did.

I just find the entire story of Satan and the other 1/3 of the angels falling to be highly suspect, it doesnt make sense since God is a just ‘god’…rewarding a fallen angel with more power or abilities would not be just in my opinion.

I said this on the other thread, and I think it’s also pertinent here.

I believe the only thing the Church has declared concerning the fall of Satan is that (from the fourth Lateran Council): “The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing.” That’s pretty much it; the actual specifics are left purposely open. The popular story about Satan’s fall you often hear is just that - a popular story. And one that owes more to stuff like John Milton’s Paradise Lost than to actual Scripture.

In any case, you got it backwards. Satan is supposed to have been one of the higher angels (at least, that’s what many theologians thought), so naturally he would have been superior in a number of regards compared to other angels. It’s not so much that he gained power after his fall, IMHO he’s just (ab)using his native power, whereas the good angels would be using their power at God’s disposal.

 

[patrick457]

Also Satan committed a sin that NO human can possibly commit, as we cannot even attempt to overthrow heaven…only human souls that can even get in the door are meant for Heaven, so I doubt one of those would try what Satan did.

That’s the point really. Satan is not human. Angels - fallen or not - are not humans, so you can’t accurately judge them by human standards. If you’re a pet owner, you’ll know what I mean here, but many people tend to anthromorphize animals, especially their pets - say dogs or cats. We often explain and judge their behavior according to our human standards (‘Hey look, that dog’s happy!’) but as any animal expert will tell you, we’re ascribing qualities to creatures that are not humans, and so do not ‘think’ or move the same way we do. The same thing holds true with angels.

Angels are creatures much different from humans, just as humans are different from dogs or algae or bacteria. According to the standard explanation, angels are immortal, bodiless spirits, whereas humans both have a physical body and an immortal soul. Humans have relatively limited intellect and have to continually grow up and learn things throughout their lifetime, whereas the angels were created in full possession of their natural gifts from the very beginning. So it’s natural that the fallen angels’ sin is not necessarily something that humans can commit, because we’re talking about two different types of creatures.

In any case, you got it backwards. Satan is supposed to have been one of the higher angels (at least, that’s what many theologians thought), so naturally he would have been superior in a number of regards compared to other angels. It’s not so much that he gained power after his fall, IMHO he’s just (ab)using his native power, whereas the good angels would be using their power at God’s disposal.

Actually I would say that maybe it’s just our impression that Satan is ‘powerful’. There’s this saying, “90% of the trouble is caused by 10% of the population.” Satan and demons are in many ways more powerful than us humans, yes, but I think many times they are just bluffing, making themselves appear more powerful or intimidating to people than they actually are. The old scare tactic. In any case, God’s more powerful than any of these demons.

You know what I think? I think Satan has two tactics up his sleeve. One is to lull people into a false sense of security by making them think that he doesn’t exist. The other is to make people paranoid and drive them to despair by making them see him everywhere. That’s why I think that both the mindset that dismisses Satan as fiction and the mindset that gives him more credit than he is due (i.e. seeing the Devil’s hand in just about each and every human affair) are dangerous. One underestimates the Devil, the other overestimates him. It’s easy to fall into one of these two pitfalls.