Big Idea: In his sovereignty, God temporarily imprisons Satan for a time to keep him from deceiving the nations.

Understanding the Text

Following the return of Christ in 19:11–21, we read of the imprisonment of Satan in 20:1–3 in preparation for the millennial reign in 20:4–6. Throughout Revelation, Satan appears not as a “figure of power . . . but a figure of deception, and his only triumph is to deceive the ungodly masses into opposing God and worshiping the beast and himself.”1 The judgment of Satan occurs in two stages: his temporary imprisonment in the Abyss in the present passage, followed by his eternal torment in the lake of fire (20:10). The visions of Revelation 20 reaffirm God’s sovereignty, even as they signal Satan’s demise.

Outline

c. The temporary imprisonment of Satan…