What does this passage mean to John’s readers? What comfort does it give them?
They are the ones who will rise from the dead and reign with Him in heaven for a “thousand years.” For them, the war is over. For them, Satan is bound. He cannot “deceive the nations.” What could this mean – deceive the nations?
The Beast and false prophet have already been thrown into the Lake of Fire. They’ve been annihilated. But the Dragon is only in the Abyss, chained up but not gone. Some say that this “deceiving the nations” refers to emperor worship. Satan will not be able to deceive the nations into bowing down to a king and worshipping as they did with the Beast. That paradigm is gone forever. I suppose that is one possible explanation of this passage. It would have meaning to John’s readers and bring them comfort.
As we look back through history and see the ways believers have been persecuted and martyred, we cannot very well identify with this interpretation. Satan always rears his ugly head and comes up with some other diabolical scheme. And the cycle repeats itself. The throne room of heaven continues to be populated by more and more who have overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. The Dragon is released for a little while and deceives the nations again. But in the end, John lets his readers know that the Dragon will ultimately and finally be defeated once and for all and will join the Beast and the false prophet in the Lake of Fire.
This is the point in the vision where the consummation of all things begins to take shape.
They are the ones who will rise from the dead and reign with Him in heaven for a “thousand years.” For them, the war is over. For them, Satan is bound. He cannot “deceive the nations.” What could this mean – deceive the nations?
The Beast and false prophet have already been thrown into the Lake of Fire. They’ve been annihilated. But the Dragon is only in the Abyss, chained up but not gone. Some say that this “deceiving the nations” refers to emperor worship. Satan will not be able to deceive the nations into bowing down to a king and worshipping as they did with the Beast. That paradigm is gone forever. I suppose that is one possible explanation of this passage. It would have meaning to John’s readers and bring them comfort.
As we look back through history and see the ways believers have been persecuted and martyred, we cannot very well identify with this interpretation. Satan always rears his ugly head and comes up with some other diabolical scheme. And the cycle repeats itself. The throne room of heaven continues to be populated by more and more who have overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. The Dragon is released for a little while and deceives the nations again. But in the end, John lets his readers know that the Dragon will ultimately and finally be defeated once and for all and will join the Beast and the false prophet in the Lake of Fire.
This is the point in the vision where the consummation of all things begins to take shape.
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