20:1. And I saw an Angel come down [from Heaven].—The Messenger of the Covenant at His Second Advent.—Mal. 3:1.
Having the key of the [bottomless pit] ABYSS.—Only Infinite Wisdom could provide the key to the solution of present difficulties in the earth. Here is a system of superstition and crime two thousand years old, and the praise and service of it ingrained into nearly every human being. All literature is poisoned with it. Public opinion is for it. The educated, the refined, the wealthy, the powerful are all for it and all against any change that would give the lower strata of society a fair chance. To overcome conditions like this is a task for Divinity itself.
And a great chain in His hand.—The TRUTH, as contained in the Seven Volumes of Scripture Studies. This chain of Truth has been forged, link by link, over a period of forty years. Each volume has made it more certain that old systems can never hope to stand against it.
20:2. And He laid hold on the dragon.—The iniquitous system of civil government which has associated with it the principle of holding the masses in subjection by preying upon their fears beyond this life. The subject of special condemnation in this regard, the masterpiece of Satan, is the old Roman Empire, still living in the Papacy and the Church-State governments of Europe. This system is about contemporaneous with the (seven) Times of the Gentiles (2520 years ending in Oct., 1914), which began in the Fall of 607 B. C., or, as we would say, at the beginning of 606, Jewish Time. Rome was already well started on its upward path at that time. “Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, fifth legendary king of Rome, 616-578 B. C., appointed guardian to the sons of Ancus Marcius, he succeeded in supplanting them on the throne on their father's death. He laid out the Circus Maximus, instituted the great games, built the great sewers, and began the construction of the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol. He removed from Tarquinii in Etruria to Rome by the advice of his wife, the prophetess Tanaquil. Tanaquil was famous for her shrewdness and prophetic gifts, which enabled her to foretell the future greatness of her husband.” (Brit.)
That old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan.—“While the name Old Serpent includes Satan, ‘the prince of devils,’ it is here evidently used as a synonym for all the sinful agencies and powers which had their rise in him.” (S. 32.) “Our Lord's declaration that Satan is the great Adversary, not only of God, but of humanity, is by no means a fancy sketch, but the plain truth. Satan alone is the wilful, intelligent plotter and schemer who uses a superhuman intelligence and, so far as permitted, superhuman powers, in opposing righteousness and truth and those who are of the Truth. The inspired record asserts, persistently and consistently, that Satan began the rebellion against the divine law, and seduced our first parents into disobedience, through his own ambition for power; and that since man's fall this same Adversary has been the implacable opponent of God, of righteousness and of truth; and not only the ensnarer of mankind, but the opposer of the great Plan of Atonement which God devised and is prosecuting through Christ. From the Scriptural account it does not appear that Satan had any sympathizers or associate conspirators amongst the angels at the time of his secession and attempt to establish a lordship or dominion of his own in the earth.”—F. 611.
And bound him.—“ ‘The god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.’ (2 Cor. 4:4.) God wills that all should be so saved from all the train of evils following Adam's sin and curse, that they may come to a knowledge of the Truth. Why does He will this? To the intent that having a clear knowledge of the Truth they may make the very best possible use of the new trial for life secured for them by their Redeemer's Ransom-sacrifice. It is for the carrying out of this, God's will, that the Redeemer will inaugurate His Millennial Kingdom, which will first bind Satan (restrain all outside evil influences) and then release man from his blindness;—as it is written, ‘the eyes of the blind shall be opened.’ (Isa. 35:5.) For the same reason, viz., that the new trial shall be most favorable for man, it is the Divine arrangement that its work shall be done gradually and require a thousand years.” (E. 480, 470.) “The Millennial Day is dawning, with its change of earth's rulership from the control of the ‘prince of this world’ and his faithful, to the control of Him ‘whose right it is’ (by purchase) and His faithful saints. We have seen that though the result of this change will be a great blessing; yet the time of the transfer, while the present prince, the ‘strong man,’ is being bound and his household driven out of power [pg 301] (Matt. 12:29), will be a time of intense trouble.” (C. 341.) “In reference to it Jesus said, ‘No man can enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his house.’ (Mark 3:22-27; Luke 11:22.) This effective binding of Satan is accordingly shown to be the first work of the New Dispensation.” (A. 68.) “The Adversary's every deceptive and misleading influence will be restrained—so that evil shall no longer appear to men to be good, nor good appear undesirable, evil. Truth shall no longer appear to men untrue, nor falsehoods be caused to appear true.” (D. 519.) “The words of inspiration give us to understand that Satan's struggles to retain control of mankind will be especially desperate at its close.”—S. 78.
A thousand years.—The Millennial Day, the Day of the Lord's rest, following the six thousand years of evil which ended in 1874. “One Day is with the Lord as a thousand years.” (2 Pet. 3:8; Psa. 90:4.) “It was the claim of the Papacy that the thousand years of Christ's Reign, the Millennium, promised in Scripture to follow Christ's Second Advent, began in the year 800 A. D., under Pope Leo III., who claimed to be the representative of Christ, His vice-gerent, to begin Christ's Reign in His stead. In that year the ‘Papal states’ were ceded to the Church by Emperor Charlemagne. Their ‘Millennium’ ended, it was claimed, in the year 1799, when Napoleon confiscated the territories granted to the Church and took the Pope, Pius VI., a captive to France, where he died. The succeeding freedom from Papal persecution, and the widespread circulation of the Bible in the languages of the people, was declared by the Papal leaders to be the ‘little season’ (Rev. 20:3) to follow the thousand-year Reign of Christ on earth; and they are hoping that soon they will regain their former power and prestige and once more reign supreme, and that their rule will be permanent. This Papal Millennium is known in history as the ‘Dark Ages.’ During those dark centuries millions were tortured, exiled and murdered for refusing to bow to the mandates of the apostate Church, under the leadership of Popes, Bishops and priests. Agents and spies were employed to apprehend and bring to punishment any who were found to express sentiments contrary to the Papal hierarchy, or who failed to bow in abject submission to their authority. Thus were the nations of Europe paganized, and steeped in error and superstition and in reverence for men who falsely claimed to be the special and authorized representatives of God on earth. They presumed to have authority to alter the Laws of God when it seemed advisable to them to do so, and [pg 302] thought to change the time for the Reign of Christ as we have shown.” (Dan. 7:25; Z. '16-181; B. 354.) “ ‘Those who lived next to the Apostles, and the whole Church for 300 years, understood them [the “Thousand Years”] in the plain literal sense.’ According to Jewish theology, as collected from the Talmud, Messiah is to gather in from the Dispersion all the scattered descendants of the Tribes, to discomfit their foreign oppressors, and from Jerusalem as a centre to rule over the whole earth which is to be a scene of temporal enjoyment and prosperity. Thus R. Salomon writes: ‘It is fixed that the world shall stand for 6000 years, according to the number of the days of the week; but on the seventh Day is the Sabbath, and during the seventh Millennium the world has rest.’ ”—Cook.
20:3. And cast him into the [bottomless pit] ABYSS.—Oblivion. In this instance it signifies Satan's enforced idleness, which will surely be oblivion for him after the busy time he has had during the past six thousand years. How small he will feel when he sees the Lord Jesus undo in one thousand years all that he accomplished in six thousand!
And shut him up, and set a seal upon him.—The Spirit of Truth in the hearts of men; the desire to win the favor of earth's new King, will deprive Satan of all his subjects. All his evil companions, human and angelic, will be destroyed in the Time of Trouble. Alone, idle and humiliated constantly for a thousand years, is a punishment he richly deserves.
That he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled.—“Some have become so deluded by the sophistries of Satan, by which he has deceived all nations, that they do not believe that there is a God; others believe in Him as a great and powerful adversary, without love or sympathy, ready and anxious to torment them to all eternity; others are confused by the Babel of conflicting reports that have reached them, concerning the Divine character, and know not what to believe; and, seeking to draw near unto God, are hindered by their fears and by their ignorance.” (E. 19, 18.) “The trial, or judgment, of the overcomers of the Christian Dispensation and of the Dispensation that preceded it, has been much more severe than the trial of the world will be in its judgment day; for these have had to withstand Satan, the prince of this world, with all his wiles and ensnarements, while in the world's judgment day Christ will be reigning, and Satan will be bound, that he may not deceive the nations. These have suffered persecution for righteousness' sake, while then men will be rewarded for [pg 303] righteousness, and punished only for unrighteousness. These have had great stumbling blocks and snares in the way, which will be removed when the world is placed on trial. But though the trial of these two special companies has been much more severe than the trial of the world will be, the rewards are correspondingly greater.”—A. 146.