Revelation Chapter Twenty Breakdown

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

John sees the angel from chapter nine. The angel of the Bottomless pit. This angel also was now carrying a large strong chain.

2 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.

The angel put his hands on the Satan, and bound him with the chain for 1,000 years. Satan was then cast into the bottomless pit where he was sealed off for the 1,000 years. This prevented him from deceiving the nations. Then there is a warning given. After the 1,000 years, Satan will be released.

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

John sees thrones in which they sit on. Judgement was committed to them. John sees the souls of men and women who were beheaded because they kept the faith in Yeshua and the word of YHWH. These people were beheaded because they did not worship the beast. They did not worship the image nor did they accept the mark of the beast.

Consider this, the only people in the world today who are literally beheading Christians and Jews, who are the people who keep the faith of Christ and the word of God, are the Muslims. Islam literally commands the murder of Jews and Christians, whether that is through the Quran or a Hadith, does not matter. It is taken seriously enough that it is happening regularly even today.

Because these people did not accept the mark and kept the word of God, they lived and reigned with Christ for the 1,000 years.

5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

Everyone else does not raise from the dead until the thousand year reign ends. The first resurrection is when those who will reign with Christ, those who believe in Christ testimony, and those who kept the Law of God are raised up.

6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

Those who do take part in the first resurrection will be considered blessed. The second death will have no power over these men and women and they will be considered priests of God and of Christ.

7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.

John goes into an even later, future prophecy. After the 1,000 year reign, Satan is released and will go out to do the very same thing again. He gathers together many nations to fight Yeshua. There are literally millions of men who come to fight against Yeshua at the very end. This shows, during the millennial reign, there will be people outside the walls of New Jerusalem.

Zechariah 14:16-19

And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.

Even though these people do not live amongst New Jerusalem, they will be required to come to worship Yeshua and take part in the feast of Tabernacles. This also begs the questions, if we are expected to keep the feast days during the millennia, then why are we not expected to keep them now? The feast days were expected before Christ and during His reign, so can we really believe they aren’t expected now?

 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.

These nations will surround the army of the saints and YHWH will send fire down on then and completely destroy them.

10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

At this point, Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire where the false prophet and the beast are. They will be tormented for all eternity. The lake of fire is what we consider in modern Christianity to be hell.

11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.

John then sees the great white throne of YHWH.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.

John then sees the dead. There are several books opened, then a third, the Book of Life. Could these books be the Old and New Testaments? The dead are literally being judged by YHWH according to the deeds and how those deeds aligned with His Word.

13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.

At this time, all those who died at sea are spit out, and all those who were in Hades, which is a holding place for the dead, are spit out. They too are judged according to their works.

Again, if we are all to be judged according to our works, why would we not want to keep the Law of God, His instructions for us?

14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Death and Hades are then thrown into the lake of fire as well. The second death comes at this point. Some will be resurrected to be judged and die again.

15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Anyone not found with their name written in the Book of Life will be thrown into the lake of fire. This is very sobering.