There has been much ink spilled over the many questions raised by these few verses. Who is the angel with the key and the chain? When does this 1000 year period take place? How can there be more than one resurrection?

Instead of getting down into the weeds, let’s take a step back and look at the big picture – what is the essential truth these visions are trying to communicate to us? At the very least this passage makes clear that God has absolute power over Satan – God can bind him and God is the One Who allows him to be active only for the time that God specifies. That’s good news for us, no matter how we understand the particulars of this passage – ultimately, we do not need to fear Satan or anyone that works for him.

That’s important because of a second obvious truth: during some definite times in history, Satan does manage to deceive people and cause lots of trouble for the Church. Verse 4 says that some Christians throughout history will be killed because of their faith, and that sort of opposition to the Church has been going on ever since the crucifixion of Christ.

When you put these two truths together, we reach the third and most important teaching of this passage, indeed of the whole of the Revelation: whatever persecution the Church is called to endure will only be for a short time. The good news is that eventually, those who trust in Christ will live and reign with Him, not only during the 1000 years described in this passage, but forever and ever. And whatever the second death means, those who trust in Christ will have no need to fear it.

So, no matter what opposition the world and the devil may bring our way, let us rejoice in the victory of Christ over sin and death, a victory that all who trust in Him share. And let us live in that victory, remaining faithful to the One Who has gained that victory at the cost of His own life.

Revelation 20:1-6 (ESV)

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.
2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.