Lucifer/Satan/the Devil - Part 1

---

John 8:44.     Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

     As the father of lies, the devil deceived our first parents with the lie that they would become “as gods” (Genesis 3:5) through obeying his word rather than God’s Word (Genesis 3:1-5). This lie of “humanism” – that men and women, as the apex of the evolutionary process, are the true gods of the world – has been deceiving and drawing people away from the true God of Creation ever since. It has assumed various forms in different times and places, but it is always essentially the same old lie of Satan “which deceiveth the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). Thus, he is author of the great lie of evolution, seeking to understand and control the world without its Creator. He has thereby deceived himself first of all, convincing himself that both he and God had evolved out of the primeval chaos (as in all the ancient mythical cosmogonies which he must have taught his own earliest human children). 

II Corinthians 11:14.     And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

     Satan originally was the highest of all the angels (see notes on Isaiah 14:12-15; and Ezekiel 28:12-15), and he still has great authority (Jude 9) and power to produce great “signs and wonders.” These, however, are “lying wonders” (II Thessalonians 2:9), intended, “if it were possible… (to) deceive the very elect” (Matthew 24:24). One must always test such pretenders by their faithfulness to the inerrant Word of God and the full deity and sinless humanity of Jesus Christ, as well as their genuine Christian character and behavior. It was such a false “angel of light” who has deceived many founders of false religions (Mohammed, Joseph Smith, etc). 

Luke 10:18.     And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

     This vision received by Christ was both a retrospective assurance that Satan had already been cast out of heaven when “iniquity was found” in him (Ezekiel 28:15,17) and also the renewed promise that he will eventually be cast completely out of any access to God at all (Revelation 12:7-10) and ultimately down to his eternal fate in hell (Isaiah 14:12-15; Revelation 20:10). The power of His disciples over the spirits was a token of this.

Ezekiel 28:12.     Son of Adam, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him: Thus says Adonai Yahuah; You seal up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

     This new section of the prophecy is directed against “the king of Tyrus” rather than “the prince of Tyrus” (Ezekiel 28:2), and the whole tenor of the prophecy indicates that a different personage is in view. In fact, the description of this person could not be applied literally to any human being, not matter how rich or powerful or proud. Yet the one is obviously in some sense an extension of the description of the human “prince.”

Ezekiel 28:13.     You have been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the caphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of our tabrets and of your pipes was prepared in you in the day that you were created.

     No one was in Eden, the garden of God, except Adam, Eve, and Satan. We are forced to conclude that this “king of Tyrus” is none other than Satan, personally possessing and controlling the willing body of the proud “prince of Tyrus.” Just as he possessed the body of the “king of Babylon” and the body of Judas (Luke 22:3), he was able to posses and control the Tyrian monarch. His strategy in first personally taking control of an earlier king of Babylon and then the prince of Tyre, rather than leaving them to lower powers in the demonic hierarchy, probably had to do with the great military influence developing in Babylon and the preeminent economic influence of Phoenicia. By controlling the leaders of these two world powers, he could largely control the world, firmly establishing his anti-God materialistic, pantheistic, evolutionistic religious system almost everywhere. In this, he had largely succeeded.

     The description of this Eden, emphasizing precious stones, seems quite different from the tree-filled garden described in Genesis 2; probably the earthly Eden was prepared by God as a terrestrial model of His own Eden in heaven. When He finally was forced to expel Adam and Eve from the garden, He left the cherubims there to guard its entrance.

     The mighty being addressed here was clearly of the angelic order, for he had been “created” not born. This statement could not have been true of an earthly king of Tyre.

Ezekiel 28:14.     You are the anointed cherub that covers; and I have set you so: you were upon the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

     The “anointed cherub” on God’s “holy mountain,” covering the heavenly Eden and God’s throne, was evidently the highest of the cherubim and, therefore, the highest of all God’s created angels.

Ezekiel 28:15.     You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, till iniquity was found in you.

     This being was of incomparable beauty and wisdom (Ezekiel 28:17), “perfect in all his ways,” causing his heart to be lifted up to attempt to displace His own Creator (Isaiah 14:12-15).

     When iniquity was found in this perfect being – evidently the sin of rebellion against God – he who had been Lucifer (“Light-Bearer”) became Satan (“The Adversary”), and has remained God’s greatest foe ever since.

Ezekiel 28:16.     By the multitude of your merchandise they have filled the midst of you with violence, and you have sinned: therefore I will cast you as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 

Ezekiel 28:17.     Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty, you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness: I will cast you to the ground, I will lay you before kings, that they may behold you.

     Satan’s incomparable wisdom became corrupt when he deceived himself into thinking he could become God. He has attempted to deceive men and women ever since, persuading them (as he did Eve) that they also could be “as gods” (Genesis 3:5), but he had deceived himself most of all. His corrupted wisdom somehow persuaded him that he and God were the same type of being and, therefore, that he could displace God by leading a revolt of the angels under his command. This plan could be rationalized only by his assuming that both he and God had by some unknown process evolved out of the primeval waters which had been the environment of his first consciousness, when God created him. This is suggested not only from Genesis 1:2, but in all the most ancient pagan cosmogonies (Sumeria, Egypt), for which Satan must have been primarily responsible. Thus, Satan’s corrupted wisdom devised the primeval system of pantheistic evolutionism with which he has been corrupting and deceiving the world ever since.

     When he rebelled against God in the heavenly Eden (sometime after the six days of creation, for everything in heaven and earth was still “very good” at that point in time – Genesis 1:31-2:3), God “cast him to the ground – that is, “to the earth” – where He allowed him to test Adam and Eve in their earthly Eden, to see whether they also would rebel against God’s Word, and seek to be gods themselves. 

Isaiah 14:12.      How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

     “Lucifer” means “shining one” and is rendered “day-star” in some translations. This is the only time it occurs in the Bible, but clearly seems intended as a name for Satan and has been so used throughout history. Many New Age and pantheistic cults have adopted Lucifer as their “god.”

Isaiah 14:13.     For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

     The “stars” here are evidently angels (compare Job 38:7). Although Lucifer had a throne as God’s “anointed cherub” (Ezekiel 28:14), he aspired to reign over all God’s holy angels, all of whom have been created to serve God and to become ministers to those who would be “heirs of salvation” (Hebrews 1:14).

Isaiah 14:14.     I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

     Lucifer desired not only to rule over the angels but to be like God Himself, no doubt ultimately aspiring to displace God. This absurd ambition on the part of a created being – thinking himself capable of defeating His own Creator – can only be rationally understood if Satan did not really believe God had created him. That is, since his earliest awareness would be in the watery cosmos of the primeval deep (Genesis 1:2), and his only knowledge that he had been created was God’s word, he could have chosen to doubt God’s word and to believe instead that both he and God had somehow “evolved” out of the primeval waters. This, in fact, is exactly what is implied in the cosmogonies of the Sumerians, Egyptians and other ancient nations. Thus, Satan (or Lucifer) was the first “evolutionist,” and the root of all subsequent sin is in doubting God’s revealed word concerning His creation.

Isaiah 14:15.     Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

    Because of his rebellion, Satan was expelled from his exalted position in the angelic host (Isaiah 14:12; Luke 10:18: Ezekiel 28:17) and will eventually be cast into the bottomless pit of Hades and finally into the eternal lake of fire (Revelation 20:2,3,10). However, he evidently persuaded a third of the angels to follow him (Revelation 12:3-9). They must also have chosen to believe either in their own evolution or that Lucifer had created them. Ever since they have served as his demonic hierarchy, ever seeking to deceive men and lead them away from God.

Revelation 12:3. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 

     Here is yet another sign in heaven. This is another symbolic enactment which John must understand if he would comprehend fully the great cosmic drama which had been taking place in heaven and earth since the very foundation of the world. In the protevangelic promise of Genesis 3:15 were two principal characters – the woman and the serpent. Likewise the two great miraculous signs (the words “miracle” and “sign” are both semeieon in Greek, as is “wonder” in these verses) which John now observed in the heavens centered on, first the woman, then the serpent.

     The serpent is identical with the great red dragon, of course (see verse 9), and there is no question that he represents Satan. The fabled dragon of antiquity appears in the New Testament only in the Book of Revelation, but is mentioned often in the Old Testament (Psalm 91:13; Isaiah 34:13) and was evidently considered a real animal. There is an increasing amount of scientific evidence today that the great reptiles known as dinosaurs survived into fairly modern times (some marine dinosaurs may even survive today in the inaccessible depths of the oceans and deep lakes of the world), and it is likely that these provided the prototype animal to which to relate the great symbol of Satan seen by John in the sky.

     This dragon was fiery red in color, perhaps anticipating the flames of his ultimate destination. However, this dragon, or dinosaur, was no ordinary dragon. Like the Gorgon of Greek mythology, it was a hydra-headed serpent, and thus all the more fearsome. Its seven heads all wore crowns, indicating kingly power. These are later interpreted (Revelation 17:10) as seven kingdoms of the past. The ten horns are interpreted (Revelation 17:12) as ten kings of the end times. A somewhat similar vision was seen by Daniel, except that the beast of his vision had only one head with ten horns (Daniel 7:7, 20, 24).

     For the identification of these kings and kingdoms, see the exposition of chapter 17. For the present, it is enough to say that they do represent the kingdoms of this world and that such kingdoms by and large are indeed under the domain of Satan. Since the number seven throughout Revelation is used to symbolize completeness, it would seem that this vision confirms that all Gentile kingdoms of past and present have been largely under the control of Satan. He is the one “which deceiveth the whole world” (verse 9).

     This, of course, was the very claim of Satan when he tempted Christ. “And the devil taking him up onto an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil, said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it” (Luke 4:5, 6).

     It is sobering to realize that all governments of men are ultimately controlled by the devil, even though God Himself ordained the powers that be (Romans 13:1) and commands Christians to submit to their ordinances (1 Peter 2:13). There have been many godly men in positions of political power and these have had a restraining influence. Furthermore, to the extent that a government is founded upon law rather than men, and to the extent that these laws are based on the laws of God as revealed in Scripture, to such an extent will the government be in conformity with God’s purposes rather than Satan’s. There have been periods in the history of Israel, as well as in the history of England, the United States, and other nominally Christian nations, when this seems to have been largely the case. Sad to say, however, Satan’s claim was so nearly the full truth that Christ Himself did not bother to refute it. John also had said in his epistle: “We know that . . . the whole world lieth in wickedness” (1 John 5:19). Practically all the past kingdoms of the world, symbolized by the seven heads, and the ten main final kingdoms of the world, represented by the ten horns, are organically united with the guiding spirit of the great fiery dragon.

Revelation 12:4.  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered; for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

     The dragon has not only controlled the nations of the earth. He has even dragged the stars of heaven down to the earth.

     As John observed this amazing phenomenon, he no doubt recalled his Lord’s words. “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke 10:18). With all his power, Satan was inevitably to be defeated, for God had already cast him out of heaven, and his fall was so rapid as to be compared to lightning.

     This is also the scene behind Isaiah 14:12-15 (“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!”) and Ezekiel 28:16, 17 (“I will destroy thee, O covering cherub . . . I will cast thee to the ground.”). It had long been known that Satan had a host of angels under his control. Christ Himself had spoken of “the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). Here, for the first time, we learn that these satanic angels constituted a third of all the angels. That the stars in the sign correspond to the devil’s angels is evident from verses 7-9. When Satan was cast to the earth out of his position at God’s throne, the great host of angels who followed him in his rebellion were also forced to follow him out of heaven, thereby all becoming “the rulers of the darkness of this world” (Ephesians 6:12). They are now “the principalities and powers” who were “spoiled” at the cross by the Lord Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:14, 15).

     When Satan was cast to the earth, he quickly gained victory over Eve but then God had pronounced his own coming destruction by the seed of the woman. This initiated an agelong effort by Satan to thwart the fulfillment of the prophecy, either by destroying any who could possibly be the promised seed as soon after birth as possible or else by preventing the birth altogether.

     He implanted his own seed in Cain’s heart, and then led Cain to kill Abel. “Cain . . . was of that wicked one, and slew his brother” (1 John 3:12). When Lamech made what seemed to be a Messianic prophecy concerning his son Noah (Genesis 5:29), Satan made a bold attempt to poison the whole human race with his own deadly seed. “The sons of God came in unto the daughters on men, and they bare children to them” (Genesis 6:4). The context of this remarkable passage indicates that this was a tremendous outbreak of demonic possession. Satan’s angels were able to indwell and control the minds and bodies of great numbers of the antediluvian men and women and then also their progeny.

     In Abraham’s time, Satan was apparently able to prevent even the conception of the son promised to Abraham until God intervened miraculously. The events that almost destroyed Jacob and that caused the rejection of Jacob’s first three sons and the slaying of Judah’s first two sons are further examples. At the time of Moses’ birth, Satan became bold enough to seek, through Pharaoh, to destroy all the make children in Israel. The many attempts of Saul and others on the life of David, the repeated efforts either to corrupt or destroy the successive kings of Judah and their families, and finally the almost-successful campaign of Haman to destroy the entire Jewish nation when they were in captivity in the days of Queen Esther were the continuation of Satan’s efforts to destroy the line of the promised seed before He could come into the world.

     In the days of Isaiah, the primeval promise concerning the woman’s seed had been made crystal clear: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). Finally, at the promised time in the promised place through the promised family, the chosen virgin gave birth to the promised seed. As he had in the days of Moses, Satan once again undertook, this time through Herod, to find and slay the child by slaying all the male children in the region of Bethlehem, hoping thereby “to devour her child as soon as it was born.” As always he failed, since God cannot fail.

     Many times, Satan attempted to destroy Christ before He could go to the cross. When he was unable to destroy His holiness at the temptation, he attempted again and again to slay Him, but always without success. But when the proper hour had come, Jesus went to the cross, “that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).

     Through all the ages, Satan had attempted to prevent this promised mission of the seed from its fulfillment, continually standing before every woman in the line of promise from Eve to Mary, seeking to slay her man-child before he could accomplish God’s mission. His failure has made him more bitterly angry than ever, and he continues in every way he can to persecute the symbolic woman and all her seed.

Revelation 12:7.  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels.

     Even though Satan had long ago fallen from his exalted position at God’s throne in heaven, he and his angels are still allowed to function as “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2) and as “the rulers of the darkness of this world,” “spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). They roam and rule the earth’s atmospheric heavens, with free access to all the kings and kingdoms of the world. They may still have access in some degree to the sidereal heavens, as suggested by their occasional designation in Scripture as “the host of heaven,” a term also applied to the stars.

     In particular, Satan himself has regular access to the very heaven of God’s presence, appearing there as accuser against God’s people on earth. The familiar scenes in Job 1:6-12 and 2:1-7 give graphic descriptions of Satan’s direct activity in the function of our “adversary” (the meaning of “Satan”) and “slanderer” (the meaning of “devil”). He is “the accuser of our brethren . . . which accused them before our God day and night” (verse 10). He also is shown appearing before God against Joshua the high priest (Zechariah 3:1, 2). Furthermore Satan is not the only fallen angel who, at least occasionally, appears in God’s presence. There was a “lying spirit” there in the days of King Ahab, for example (2 Chronicles 18:18-22).

     But this situation is now about to be ended. No longer will Satan and his host befoul the heavens. “The heavens are the Lord’s (Psalm 115:16). Satan and his angels have been allowed to continue there for thousands of years, by God’s grace and for man’s testing, but the time has come to expel them. This battle probably began when the Lord and His holy angels descended from heaven to set up His judgment seat in the atmospheric heavens where the demonic powers had held sway for ages (I Thessalonians 4:16, 17; Revelation 4:2). Long before, when the archangel Michael had attempted to come to Daniel, he had encountered serious resistance from a satanic principality whom he called “the prince of Persia,” also mentioning “the prince of Grecia” (Daniel 10:12, 13, 20). Almost certainly the devil and his angels would offer strong resistance (but unsuccessful) to the great rapture of believers and the translation of God’s throne to Earth’s atmosphere, and this great “war in heaven” would become more intense than ever when Satan makes a last-ditch effort to destroy Israel and any remaining earthly believers. God had allowed him to send forth his demonic hordes from the great abyss on to the earth for a time, but these also were gone now, and Satan must engage in direct warfare with the heavenly hosts of Michael.

Revelation 12:8.  And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

     God could, of course, have destroyed Satan and his angels merely with a word, but He instead will allow His faithful angels to battle the wicked angels. Long restrained from this vengeance, Michael is finally permitted to enter into direct conflict with his ancient rival.

     They had met before, not only in heaven but on earth. “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee” (Jude 9). Now Satan’s privileges in the three heavens are to be withdrawn, however, and he is to be limited exclusively to the earth. Michael and his angels are commissioned to carry out this great expulsion and purification of the heavens, and they will gladly and vigorously enter into the battle, anticipating the time when even earth itself will finally be purged.

     With what weapons and by what tactics this heavenly warfare will be waged is beyond our understanding. Angels cannot be injured or slain with earthly weapons, and such physical forces as we know about are not able to move spiritual beings. But these beings do operate in a physical universe, so there must exist powerful physico-spiritual energies of which we yet can have only vague intimations, energies which can propel angelic bodies at superluminary velocities through space and which can move mountains and change planetary orbits. It is with such energies and powers that this heavenly battle will be waged and the spectators in heaven (including John) will watch in awe. When Michael finally prevails, and Satan is forced forever out of the heavens, a tremendous cry of thanksgiving will resound through the heavens. 

Revelation 12:9.  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

     Appropriately enough, this is the very middle verse of the Book of Revelation, and the event it describes marks again the middle of the tribulation period. The rapture of the two witnesses, the breaking of the Jewish temple treaty by the beast, the flight of Israel, the casting out of Satan and the appropriation of world power by the beast must all occur within a few days of each other at this midpoint of the tribulation.

     The repetition of the names and titles of the wicked one in this verse is striking – the great dragon, that old serpent, the Devil, Satan. There can surely be no doubt as to his identity. The old serpent in Genesis is the great dragon in Revelation, as well as the Satan who tested Job and the Devil who tempted Christ. He is the great enemy of God and of God’s people through the ages. He often appears deceptively as an angel of light and a minister of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:14, 15), but he is really a hissing snake, and a fiery dragon, and a devouring lion (1 Peter 5:8).

     Note especially the amazing assertion that he has been the deceiver of the whole world. Educated and ignorant, king and pauper, male and female, Jew and Gentile, strong and weak, young and old, black and white – all are deceived by him. All the world’s high-sounding philosophies, conceived ever so brilliantly by profound thinkers –whether pragmatism, idealism, gnosticism, determinism, hedonism, materialism, transcendentalism, existentialism, deism, or any of countless others, and regardless of the eminence of the geniuses with whose names they are associated – Aristotelianism, Platonism, Hegelianism, Marxism, Maoism. Confucianism, Buddhism, Kantianism, Freudianism – all are man-originated, man-centered, and man-honoring, rather than God-originated, God-centered, and God-honoring. They are all merely varieties of humanism, rather than theism, exalting man rather than God and thus helping to carry out Satan’s attempt to dethrone God.

     Furthermore, they are all based on a denial of God’s Word as supreme – true and final. They assert man’s reason in judgment upon God’s Word. “Yea, hath God said . . . ?” was Satan’s first deception, as he tempted Eve, and he has followed the same procedure ever since. If he can persuade men to question, to doubt, to modify, to allegorize, to compromise God’s Word, and then finally to disobey, reject, and destroy God’s Word, he will thereby defeat God’s purposes in creation, and God Himself will then no more be God.

     But how can he thus deceive the whole world into rejecting God’s Word and believing the lie of humanism? The answer, clearly, is by persuading men that God is not the ultimate reality, and that the universe itself is the only eternal entity. Space, time, matter, energy, motion – these are the only eternal absolutes, and all other systems (organic or inorganic, cosmic or atomic, physical or spiritual) are in a perpetual state of evolutionary flux, ever changing and always relative.

     Thus all the beliefs and philosophies of men are humanistic philosophies, denying the absolutes of God and His Word, and all humanism is based on the grand deception of evolutionism. Small wonder that all religions and philosophies of men, ancient or modern, naïve or sophisticated, are fundamentally evolutionary systems, the only exceptions being those based on God’s word, the Bible.

     The Devil has effectively deceived the whole world, therefore, utilizing the same monstrous deception with which he has deceived himself. He apparently believes, that, since matter is the only ultimate reality, rather than the God who claimed to have created him, he can somehow succeed in dethroning God and placing himself on God’s throne. This is the conflict of the ages.

Revelation 12:10. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

     When the heavens are finally cleansed of all the demonic powers and Satan himself is gone, this will be the signal for a glad cry of victory from all the multitudes assembled at the throne in the heavens. Probably this very throne will have been the objective of the attack by hell’s angels, since it was this throne that Satan coveted, but now it is fully secure and the attacking hosts are gone.

     The coming of God’s kingdom and the reign of Christ, already celebrated a number of times by the redeemed throng in heaven, is again the object of their thankful praise. This time probably the celebration is more exciting than ever, since it has been demonstrated in direct conflict that not only the omnipotent God but even the holy angels are able to defeat Satan and his legions. Truly Satan is a defeated foe.

     A special object of thanksgiving is the fact that Satan no longer will have personal access to God, which privilege he has abused for ages by continual accusations against the redeemed. Of course, when such accusations are made (no doubt often justified in part, though probably also distorted and magnified), the Lord Jesus Christ is our intercessor and advocate (Hebrews 7:25; 1 John 2:1), and His blood is a perpetual offering and cleansing agent for our sins (1 John 1:7, 2:2). Nevertheless, Satan’s repeated presence and disturbing charges against fellow believers still on earth constitute an intensive irritant in heaven, and great will be the exultation when he is finally deposed completely.

Revelation 20:1.  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

     Apparently this event will follow immediately after the destruction of the assembled armies. With all the human rebels and their leaders vanquished, only the demonic hosts remain opposed to the will of the conquering Lamb of God. Now they also must be dealt with and the decision is to bind them in Hades for the time being, along with all the other spirits of rebellious men and angels already there.

     As previously noted (see on Revelation 9), various groups of fallen angels had long ago been locked in various compartments in the great cavity at the center of the earth. There were still legions of evil spirits free to do their master’s bidding, however, and they had been especially active during the years of the tribulation. They had long feared being cast into the abyss (translated “deep” in Luke 8:31), but finally the dreaded time had come for them also to join their fellows in Hades (note Matthew 8:29). Although these malevolent spirits are not mentioned specifically in this passage, the binding of Satan necessarily assures that all those under his command will be put away as well.

     The angel who accomplishes this mission is not identified by John except that he has the key of the bottomless pit. There is a possibility that the angel is Christ Himself, once again assuming the form of an angel (note on Revelation 8:3; 10:1). Christ had uniquely claimed to have the keys of Hades (Revelation 1:18) and it would be fitting for Him to dispatch Satan there directly and personally. On the other hand, He had on at least one occasion (Revelation 9:1) given the key to another angel, and there does seem a contextual intimation that “him that sat upon the horse” (Revelation 19:21) and the “angel come down from heaven” (Revelation 20:1), being mentioned in two successive verses, are probably two different persons. If the angel is not Christ, it may possibly be the great angel Michael, who had long been a particular enemy of Satan’s (Jude 9; Revelation 12:7). He and his angels had cast the Devil and his angels to the earth at the middle of the tribulation; it would be appropriate for them now to thrust them all the way to Hades.

     In addition to the keys to the abyssal pit, the angel held a great chain in his hand; with which to “bind the strong man” (note Mark 3:27). This chain is obviously not a physical chain, since a spirit could hardly be restrained merely by a chain of iron. Whatever its nature, it will suffice to keep the Devil restrained in Hades throughout the millennium. 

Revelation 20:2.  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.

     There is no doubt as to who is being bound. It is the dragon, the persecutor of Christ and of God’s people (Revelation 12:17). It is the same old serpent who had tempted Eve (2 Corinthians 11:3). It is the Devil (“accuser,” “slanderer”), the originator of sin (1 John 3:8). It is Satan (“adversary”), the wicked prince of darkness who has tried by every means to destroy the work of Christ (Mark 1:13). He had been identified before by all four of these names (Revelation 12:9), where he also had been acknowledged as leader of a third of the created angels, who had followed him in his rebellion (Revelation 12:4). But now he is finally to be bound.

     Here is the first explicit reference to the “thousand years.” The most obvious reason for taking this term literally is that there is nothing in the context to indicate otherwise. The word “thousand” or “thousands” is used frequently in the New Testament, but never before in any kind of symbolic sense. Occasionally it is used in an indefinite way, for the purpose of conveying the idea merely of a large number rather than that of a precise count, but never in such a figurative sense as would be required by the amillennial view. If the latter interpretation is followed (that is, if the millennium corresponds to the Church Age), the “thousand years” has already become almost two thousand actual years.

     Furthermore, this period is said to be “a thousand years” no less than six times in this passage (Revelation 20:2-7). It is as though John (and the Holy Spirit) wanted us to know as emphatically and plainly as possible that Satan was to be bound, and Christ and the saints to reign on earth, for a real chronological period of a thousand years!

     Furthermore, the “binding” of Satan hardly squares with the nonmillennial viewpoint. For the two thousand years of Christianity, it would seem that Satan has been more active than in all previous history, attempting, often very successfully, to hinder and thwart the preaching of the Word and the strengthening and spiritual growth of God’s people. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). This warning surely gives no suggestion that Satan is presently bound and powerless. Neither are his wicked hosts, with whom we must “wrestle” constantly (Ephesians 6:11-13) in order to “stand against the wiles of the devil.”

Commentary by Dr. Henry M. Morris