Revelation 20:2-3

He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished.  But after these things he must be released for a little while.

• ·        Neither the strength of the dragon, nor the subtlety of the serpent, was sufficient to rescue him.  (MH)

• ·        The term of this confinement – a thousand years – after which he was to be loosed for a little season (MH)

Genesis 3:1  Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made….

Psalm 90:4  For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night.

Revelation 20:1

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

• ·        The final importance of Satan is perhaps indicated in the fact that it is not the Father who deals with him, nor the Christ, but only an unnamed angel.” (Morris)

• ·        This is a dramatic declaration that Satan is not God’s opposite or equal; and that God could easily stop Satan’s activity at any time. Yet God allows Satan to continue, because even in his evil, he indirectly serves the purposes of God. (DG)

Psalm 30:3  O LORD, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive that I should not go down to the pit.

Ezekiel 7:23  Make a chain, for the land is filled with crimes of blood, and the city is full of violence.

Revelation 19:21

And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse.  And all the birds were filled with their flesh.

• ·        “A lake of burning brimstone would not only be intensely hot, but malodorous and fetid as well.” (Mounce)

• ·        The lake of fire is what we normally consider Hell. It is real, and there is nothing more important than avoiding it.   (DG)

Exodus 22:24  and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows and your children fatherless.

Ezekiel 39:4  You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.