The Thousand Year Prison Sentence

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3  And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Rev 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 

 

Go to jail, go directly to jail. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

The devil is guilty as hell itself. He has been sentenced and will doing time, serving long stint in the big house, the clink, the pen, joint, clink, up the river, in the slammer, the pen, on ice cooling his heels.

The Angel: This angel is a servant of the Most High is from Heaven. No doubt, he is very familiar with the devil. I imagine he is more than happy to carry out his assignment with great satisfaction.

*He served alongside of Lucifer in heaven for who knows how long until the devil was cast from heaven.

*He was an eye-witness to his constant accusations against the saints.

*When there was war in heaven, the devil and his demons vs Michael and the angels, this angel may have participated on the side of good.

He possessed the key to this bottomless pit as well as a great chain.

There are those who say that all this figurative because the devil cannot be fettered. But my question is how and why should it be figurative? I think there is a real bottomless pit, a real key, a real chain and a real devil (dragon) who is going to jail for just short of a thousand years.

The Dragon: This term causes us to conjure up images of feral ugliness, ferocity, fire-breathing, mean, disregard and hatred.

He is also called "that old serpent." There is no more feared, disrespected creature than a snake. From the Garden to now, his subtlety, cunning and venom are unmatched in malice.

He is the one who has deceived not only individuals, but nations for these 6,000 years. His tool box is more than adequately outfitted with the sharpest and most effective tools for damning souls, stealing glory, killing joy and destroying lives.

But now, as the devil goes to jail, the earth gets a break and Paradise is restored for 1000 years.

Parole: For certain, he is not getting a reprieve for good behavior. He is allowed to be loosed for a little season only that the plan of God may be fulfilled. Sides will be taken as the dragon is released and rounds up the Russian mob for one final fracas. The Lord will completely annihilate the rebels with fire from heaven and it will be over and done for the dragon and his followers.

Don't think for a minute that the devil doesn't know these verses as well as anyone. He has too much pride to think he can't do anything about it. But because of John's vision, he knows his time is short and he is as mad as heck. (Rev. 12:12) He has a job to do and he will give it his all while he has the freedom to do so. You can expect him to continue to deceive the nations, create war, cause havoc, damn souls and fight against God and all that is good.