The events described in ch. 20 follow immediately upon those portrayed in ch. 19.

Or, “upon his hand,” perhaps indicating that the chain was hanging from the angel’s hand.

A symbol of restraint. No literal binding with a literal chain is here prefigured.

 Gr. abussos (see on ch. 9:1). This is a symbolic vision. The bottomless pit is not some subterranean cavern or some yawning chasm elsewhere in the universe. John is describing the prophetic picture that unfolded before his wondering eyes. In vision he saw an actual pit, but the shutting up of the dragon in the pit was merely a symbolic way of showing that Satan’s activities would be brought to a halt. This is made clear by the statement showing the purpose of his confinement, “that he should deceive the nations no more” (ch. 20:3).

 How Satan’s activities will be brought to a halt is clear from the context and from other scriptures, which show that the earth will be utterly depopulated at the second coming of Christ. According to ch. 19:19-21 the wicked are all destroyed in connection with the coming (see comment there). At the same time the righteous are “caught up ... in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess. 4:17). Paul’s language shows that at His second coming Christ does not establish His kingdom on earth; else why would He remove the saints from the earth? Its establishment takes place after the close of the millennium, when the New Jerusalem comes down (Rev. 21:1-3). That Jesus removes the saints from the earth at His coming is further implied in John 14:1-3. In comforting His disciples in their sorrow concerning His departure, Jesus informed them that He was going to His Father’s house, where He would prepare dwellings for them. Then He would return and take them to be with Him. Compare John 13:36; 17:24. The dwellings are doubtless in the New Jerusalem, which is not transferred to this earth until the close of the millennium (see on Rev. 21:1-3).

 The group that is caught up to meet the Lord in the air includes both the righteous dead, who are raised at the time of the advent, and the righteous living, who are “changed” (1 Cor. 15:51; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17). The company of resurrected saints thus includes all the righteous who have ever lived upon the earth. There are but two main resurrections, the “resurrection of life” and the “resurrection of damnation” (John 5:29; Acts 24:15). At these resurrections, “all that are in the grave ... shall come forth” (John 5:28, 29). Some have insisted that the phrase “dead in Christ” (1 Thess. 4:16) includes only the Christians who have died, and that the OT saints are not included. But the above scriptures show that all the righteous come forth in the resurrection of the just. The phrase “dead in Christ” need not exclude the OT saints, for they died with their hope fixed on a Messiah to come. Their resurrection is dependent upon the resurrection of Christ, for only “in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22). The resurrection of the righteous is further described as the “first resurrection” (Rev. 20:5, 6).

 Much confusion has been brought into the millennial doctrine by those who fail to recognize that promises to ancient Israel were conditional on obedience. Many fanciful theories are advanced by those who attempt to fit a fulfillment of these ancient promises into the eschatological picture of the NT. This is more than the NT writers attempt. Inspired by the Spirit of God, they present a consistent picture of last day events. They show how events that might have met a different fulfillment had the Jewish nation accepted their divine destiny, will be fulfilled with respect to the NT church. They show the true position of the Jew in NT times and accord no special place to the Jews as a nation. In one of His parables Jesus clearly revealed that when the Jewish nation rejected Christ “the kingdom of God” was taken from them “and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (see on Matt. 21:43). The Jew now stands in the same relationship to God as the Gentile (see on Rom. 11). For an extended discussion of the role of the Jews in Bible prophecy and of the conditional nature of the prophecies made concerning them see Vol. IV, pp. 25-38. A careful survey of all the evidence shows that the Jews as a nation play no special role in millennial events. As individuals, those who through the centuries of the Christian Era have accepted Jesus Christ are saved as members of the Christian church. Along with other saints they rise in the first resurrection and are translated. Those who persist in their rejection of the Messiah rise in the second resurrection (see on Rev. 20:5).

 The removal of all the saints to heaven and the destruction of all the living wicked (see above) leave the earth totally depopulated. Furthermore, the fearful convulsions of nature connected with the seven last plagues (see on ch. 16:18-21) leave the earth a scene of utter desolation. Dead bodies lie strewn over its surface (see on ch. 19:17-21). It is not unreasonable to see in the abussos a symbol of the desolated earth to which Satan will be confined during the millennium. In the LXX of Gen. 1:2 abussos translates the Heb. tehom, “deep,” the word that describes the surface of the earth as it appeared on the first day of creation, “without form, and void.”

The fact that an angel carries the key shows that Heaven has complete control of events. The dragon will be unable to avoid being cast into the pit.

Literally, “coming down.” John saw the angel not already on the earth, but in the act of descending.