Chapter 20 continues the defeat of God’s enemies. The beast and false prophet were dealt with in chapter 19; now the dragon himself is bound. An angel with the key of the abyss seizes the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and locks him away for a thousand years. The phrase the old serpent recalls the serpent in the Garden of Eden. John sees thrones and the souls of those who had been faithful to the testimony of Jesus and had not worshiped the beast. They lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power.
Christians have interpreted the thousand years in different ways. Some read it as a future earthly reign of Christ; others read it as a symbol of the present age of the church or of Christ’s victory already won. Revelation itself focuses on the meaning: God limits evil, and the faithful share in Christ’s reign. After the thousand years, Satan is released and gathers the nations against the beloved city, but fire comes from heaven, and the devil is thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation uses this image as a picture of final, complete judgment on evil.
Then comes the scene of final judgment. John sees a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the sky fled away. The dead, the great and the small, stand before the throne. Books are opened, and another book is opened, which is the book of life, and the dead are judged according to their works. Even death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire. Paul wrote that the last enemy to be destroyed is death, and here that promise is pictured as fulfilled, preparing for the new creation in chapter 21.