Satan Chained for 1000 Years In Bottomless Pit
Re 9:1, Re 20:1 — Key of the bottomless pit.
Verses 20:1-2 are important when determining whether Revelation 20 continues the sequence from Revelation 19. Revelation 19 concludes with the beast and the false prophet being cast into the lake of fire, while Revelation 20 begins with Satan being bound for 1,000 years in the bottomless pit. These two acts share the same thematic movement: the coming of Christ’s kingdom and the removal of the principal adversaries. This continuation also places the first resurrection (20:4) within the 1,000 years following Satan’s binding, meaning it is woven tightly into the period after these adversarial removals.
This is important because it appears to distinguish the group in Revelation 15:2 from the first-resurrection group in Revelation 20:4. The group in 15:2 is portrayed as already standing in heaven before Jesus comes “as a thief” (16:15), and that thief-like coming is then marked by His visible appearance on the white horse before the principal adversaries are removed (19:11–21). This suggests a gap in time between those seen in heaven in 15:2 and the first resurrection described in 20:4, meaning that when 15:2 occurs, the dead are not yet raised first.
If Revelation 15:2 is connected to the events described in 2 Thessalonians 2:1 and Matthew 24:30–31, this sequence becomes more coherent, because neither of those external texts places the resurrection as the central point of emphasis when the saints are gathered after the beast’s rule during the tribulation. Also, those in Revelation 15:2 and 20:4 are described distinctly as people connected to the tribulation; the language is largely specific to those who endured the beast’s persecution. This is important because it excludes those who died before the final seven years and before the beast appears, leaving room for an unexpected resurrection of those prior saints who had died in the Lord — that is, a resurrection that occurs before the "first resurrection".
Now, it is important to understand that just because Revelation labels the resurrection in 20:4 as the “first resurrection,” this does not necessarily limit the number of resurrections that may occur before that point. The term “first” is best understood within the immediate context of the two resurrections that bookend the 1,000 years. If “first” were taken absolutely, meaning the first resurrection of any kind in all of biblical history, then it would create an unnecessary contradiction, since the two witnesses have already been raised before the first resurrection of Revelation 20:4. Therefore, the “first resurrection” appears to refer to the first resurrection of its kind within the given context: a mass resurrection after judgment, not a prior resurrection before judgment.
Living Saints Rule and First Resurrection
Important Note: The living in heaven are seen on thrones as a first group BEFORE the dead are raised. The second group is described as having died. These dead were NOT reaped at the 7th trumpet. These are also distinct from the ones already on the throne and are already glorified. This resurrection comes after the first group given thrones. This is the reverse order of what Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 15:52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18. The second group is only resurrected after the sea beast is cast into the lake of fire, and Satan is cast into the bottomless pit, and the living are enthroned. This is well after the 7th vial plague.
Also, in Revelation 20:4, the dead are not described in explicit terms as overcoming or having victory over the beast. In context, the beast has already been dealt with, so there is no need for the passage to frame their vindication as a present-tense "victory over him." We may naturally think in those terms—and that may be a sound inference—but the text itself does not emphasize it the way earlier passages do.
By contrast, Revelation 12 and Revelation 15 speak in defined, overt language of salvation, victory, and overcoming. Those scenes feel like triumph. They read like the testimony of people who are on top of the conflict, not merely crushed beneath it.
The living saints are already ruling on thrones, the dead are mentioned next.
The word translated “beheaded,” πεπελεκισμένων, comes from πελεκίζω, to execute with an axe; it occurs only here in the New Testament.
This verse binds the end of Revelation 19 with the start of Revelation 20. Here, the forty-two months of the beast’s limited rule come to a close, and those associated with him by their death are seen raised. Thus, the passage bridges the beast’s fall with the raising of these saints.
Re 6:9, Re 20:4
Re 15:2, Re 20:4
This "first" resurrection is clearly positioned within this portion of Revelation, not the whole book, as we have already seen the resurrection of the two witnesses in 11:11. So, this first resurrection does not need to include the resurrection of 1 Corinthians 15:52.
1000 Year Ends and Satan Loosed From Bottomless Pit
Important Note: Here we see that Jerusalem, the beloved city, is still in existence, so it is not Mystery Babylon, as that city is never seen again.
"Expired" points to a clear countdown of time, not an allegorical or idiomatic time.
If Mystery Babylon is Jerusalem, then how do we see this city, Jerusalem, still standing?
The expression “the beloved city” occurs explicitly only in Revelation 20:9 (τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἠγαπημένην), yet the concept is rooted in the Old Testament portrayal of Zion/Jerusalem as the object of God’s מיוחדת love and delight (Ps 78:68; 87:2; Isa 62:4), providing the canonical background for its identification.
Re 11:2, Re 20:9
Re 1:5, Re 20:9
Perdition.
Re 19:20, Re 20:10 — It is important to understand that Revelation tells us the beast and false prophet are already in the lake of fire at the end of the 1000 years, meaning they have been there for 1000 years when Satan is cast into it. This places the beast and false prophet's entrance into the lake of fire before the first resurrection in Revelation 20:4.
White Throne
Here it says "the dead stand". This is a way of saying, the dead are resurrected. That is, this is the next resurrection after the first in the context of this portion of the book of Revelation. Also, the demonstrates a Revelation is not always explicit about how it describes a resurrection. This leaves room for an interpretation of 12:11 as a possible resurrection, given its phrasing of the dead in the passage as those who "overcome".
Re 9:20, Re 14:13, Re 18:6, Re 20:12-13, Re 22:12 — The "works" mention in 9:20, 14:13, 18:6, 20:12-13, 22:12 seems related to those of the seven churches in 2:2, 2:9, 2:13, 2:19, 3:1, 3:8, 3:15.
Re 9:20, Re 14:13, Re 18:6, Re 20:12-13, Re 22:12 — The "works" mention in 9:20, 14:13, 18:6, 20:12-13, 22:12 seems related to those of the seven churches in 2:2, 2:9, 2:13, 2:19, 3:1, 3:8, 3:15.
Second Death
Re 14:10, Re 20:15
Important Note: All instances of the 1000 years are phrased in a literal sense. Revelation always used specific amounts of time, like 42 months, 5 months, 1260 days, in a literal sense. When an idiom is used, it is made plain like 1000 times 1000. When the text says “a thousand years,” it is being literal; Revelation already has an idiom for countlessness, “1000 times 1000,” so if we were to expect this to be a countless number as well, then it would have said “1000 times 1000 years”. But, it does not. It says exactly 1000 years. And, not just one time in this way, but every time, 6 in total. This means 1000 years means 1000 years.
As an example of an idiom, in John 6, we see the idea of “the last day,” and in 2 Peter 3:8, we see “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Because “the last day” in John is flexible in its characteristics as it is used as a title, “the last day”, it is not limited to a 24-hour day. But, for “a thousand years,” it is not titled until it is first defined as a literal amount of time. It is possible, then, that 2 Peter 3:8 corresponds to “the last day” of roughly 1000 years, and that “the last day” also likely includes the 7 years of tribulation. Mainly, Revelation confirms this through the way Jesus speaks of the last day in John and what the prophecy of Revelation reveals about it. That “the last day” is 1000 years.
The early church might have understood this concept of a literal 1000 years. For example, Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.28.3 or the Epistle of Barnabas 15.4–5. Epistle of Barnabas 15.4–5, “Notice, children, what He means by the words He completed them in six days. He means this: in six thousand years the Lord will make an end of all things; for, in His reckoning, the “day” means “a thousand years.” He is Himself, my witness, when He says: Behold, a day of the Lord is as a thousand years. Therefore, children, in six days—in the course of six thousand years—all things will be brought to an end. 5 And He rested on the seventh day. This is the meaning: when His Son returns, He will put an end to the era of the Lawless One, judge the wicked, and change the sun, the moon, and the stars. Then, on the seventh day, He will properly rest” Here we see the author, thought not known to truly be Barnabas, Barnabas writes of an expected 6000 years leading up to the end and then a last 7th day for rest. Or, the end comes at the 6000th year. And then “the last day” as John 6:39 describes, “And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” And now, in Revelation 20, we see further fulfillment of that word, if not already begun in Revelation 14:1 and 7.