The Thousand Years
20 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 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, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.
4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They [Or God; I also saw 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 a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
The Judgment of Satan
7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for 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 God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
The Judgment of the Dead
11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, 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 each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
Footnotes
Revelation 20:4
NOTES:
20:1–6 Like the other numerical values in this book, the thousand
years are not to be taken literally; they symbolize the long period of time
between the chaining up of Satan (a symbol for Christ’s resurrection-victory
over death and the forces of evil) and the end of the world. During this time
God’s people share in the glorious reign of God that is present to them by
virtue of their baptismal victory over death and sin; cf. Rom 6:1–8; Jn
5:24–25; 16:33; 1 Jn 3:14; Eph 2:1.
20:1 Abyss: see note on Rev 9:1.
20:2 Dragon…serpent…Satan: see notes on Rev 12:3, 9, 10, 15.
20:4 Beast…mark: see Rev 13 and its notes.
20:6 Blessed: see note on Rev 1:3. Second death: see note on
Rev 2:11. Priests: as in Rev 1:6; 5:10; cf. 1 Pt 2:9.
20:7–10 A description of the symbolic battle to take place
when Satan is released at the end of time, when the thousand years are over;
see note on Rev 20:1–6.
20:8 Gog and Magog: symbols of all pagan nations; the names
are taken from Ez 38:1–39:20.
20:9 The breadth of the earth: Palestine. The beloved city:
Jerusalem; see note on Rev 14:1.
20:11–15 A description of the final judgment. After the
intermediate reign of Christ, all the dead are raised and judged, thus
inaugurating the new age.
20:12 The book of life: see note on Rev 3:5. Judged…scrolls:
see note on Rev 14:12.
20:13 Hades: the netherworld; see note on Rev 1:18.
20:14 Second death: see note on Rev 2:11.
BACK TO:
Copyright © 2020 by Ekklesia Katholes (Acts 9:31)
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission from the publisher
No comments:
Post a Comment