According to Revelation 20, in the millennium Satan is bound. According to the Gospels, this binding occurred during Jesus’ epiphany, his appearance and earthly ministry. Among the commonplace occurrences of Jesus ministry were various miracles, including casting out demons. Jesus’ enemies and detractors claimed he cast out demons by the power of Satan. Jesus countered: “If Satan drives out Satan, he’s fighting against himself. . . But if the Spirit of God helps Me drive out demons, then God’s kingdom has come to you. How can anyone go into a strong man’s house and take away his goods unless he first binds the strong man? After that he’ll rob his house. (Matthew 12:26-29, Mark 3:22-27, Luke 11:18-22) Interestingly, here Jesus compares Satan to a strong man and Jesus Himself as a binder and plunderer–raiding and robbing Satan’s house and those he holds captive. So the binding of Satan, referred to in Revelation 20 as the millennium, is a kingdom that begins at Jesus’ first coming, two thousand years ago.
“Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
Matthew 12:25-28
Extending His Kingdom
According to Revelation 20:3 the purpose of the binding of Satan for the symbolic thousand years, the millennium, was so that he might not deceive the nations any longer. The key word here is “nations.” The Greek word is ethnay, from which we get the English word ethnic, which refers to a distinct people group. The key characteristic of the millennium is that God is now extending His kingdom beyond Israel to reach all ethnicities or nations, which previously Satan had pretty much to himself.
All The Nations of the Earth Shall Be Blessed
This was always God’s ultimate intention–not to have a Chosen people from one nation but from many nations, indeed all ethnicities, focused on and instituted by Christ, the Messiah. “God so loved the world . . .” “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” (John 3:16, Matthew 2:19) Indeed, when God first called Abraham, God began by promising: “I will make you a great nation,” but ended by saying: “In you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3) Conclusion: Christ’s millennial kingdom began with the first coming of Christ, has become a worldwide phenomenon and continues today, and will conclude with His Second Coming at the end of the age.
Take Special Note
The popularized teaching of a future millennium teaches the exact opposite: that it is a future event that is focused on one Jewish nation headquartered in one earthly place, and reinstituting a temple and sacrificial system that Jesus fulfilled and His cross made obsolete and unnecessary. (Hebrews 7-10) So popularized preaching is the exact opposite of God’s intention and description of the millennium according to Scripture in general and the New Testament in particular, including Revelation 20.
