I.       Is Satan Bound Today?

Revelation 20:1-3 (NIV)
 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain.
 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

 One objection raised if one believes that the millennial period refers to the here and the now: "then how do you explain all the wickedness in the world if Satan is supposed to be bound?" How do you explain all the weakness in the world? And these are legitimate questions. They’re important questions. But in order to answer the questions we have to look at a couple of things first.

1.      What Revelation 20 does not say. It does not say that evil is gone from the world. Revelation 20 doesn’t say that anywhere.

By the way, most of the evil that you do, the devil doesn’t have anything to do with it. It’s the world in the flesh. Satan is an actual being, but he is not omnipresent. God is omnipresent. Satan is not omnipresent. Satan can only be in one place and one time and here’s a little news flash you’re probably not important enough for him to bother with you personally. Don’t mean to bust your little bubble okay?

Here’s the other issue.

2.      Your flesh does enough of a number on you that the devil doesn’t have to worry about you at all.

You can’t overcome your own flesh. Paul says that self-control is a fruit of the Spirit, meaning without the Spirit in control, you can’t control yourself. Peter says the corruption in the world is due to man’s corrupt desires. James says people covet, murder, lust, and war because they don’t get their own way. Don’t think you need Satan personally. You’re flesh.

So Revelation 20 doesn’t say that the flesh is gone; it doesn’t say sin is gone, it doesn’t say evil is gone.

3.      It doesn’t say Satan is completely powerless.

It simply says “… and threw him into the pit and shut it and shielded over him”. Why? So that “he might not deceive the nations any longer”. In other words this binding of Satan has a very specific and particular application, and that specific and particular application has to do with the deception of the nations. That’s all, nothing else is mentioned out of all the stuff that Satan does. This binding of Satan for a thousand years and the one thing that’s mentioned is deceiving the nations.

4.     Satan is bound but still nations without Christ.

There are others who would still object that “okay, Satan is bound so that he can’t deceive the nations but there are still nations out there where he’s not.” “Where Christ is not known.”

 The text doesn’t say that every nation will receive the gospel. That’s not what the text says. The text does not say Satan is bound so that every nation will receive the gospel. And again the word “nations” here is the same word from which we get our word “ethnicity”. What Revelation 20 does say is that the binding is specific and limited, not comprehensive.  

This is another issue that I have with the idea of Jesus having an actual earthly reign physically and personally ruling the world with a rod of iron and the only thing that Satan’s not doing is deceiving the nations. But later on that.

5.      Satan’s ability to blind the nations is limited.

This implies that the gospel has room to thrive among the nations, which is exactly what has happened during this age. From the time Jesus rose from the dead and the Holy Spirit came, the gospel has thrived among the nations. We do not have to go to Israel to find God’s people. The gospel has thrived among the nations. Just in the book of Acts and remember we have to keep this in context when we’re talking about the nations. Usually what we’re talking about is Israel versus the nations or the Jews versus the gentiles so we’re talking about the gospel proliferating among the gentiles, among the non-Jewish nations of the world.

Acts 9:15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel”

Acts 11:18 And when they heard this, they quieted down, and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.”

Acts 13:48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. NASB

Acts 14:27 And when they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to report all things that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

Acts 15:3 Therefore, being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all the brethren. NASB

Acts 15:7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. NASB

Acts 28:28 “Let it be known to you therefore, that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen.” NASB

Why will they listen? Because Satan is bound from deceiving the nations and the gospel is going forth and the kingdom of Christ is expanding and extending during this age where he reigns here and now in and through his church, that’s why. Paul to a Gentile church:

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

6.     What does the rest of the New Testament say?

It gives us insight into this. First of all Satan is defeated but he still fights. Don’t we see this? Satan is a defeated foe and yet he still fights. So it wouldn’t be inconsistent that Satan would be bound and that we would still see evidence of his work and his evil in the world.

Colossians 2:13-15 And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

So the rulers and authorities have been disarmed and Christ has triumphed over them and put them to shame so that means they don’t do anything, anymore right. You know better than that. So why does Revelation 20 have to mean that Satan didn’t do anything anymore especially when Revelation chapter 20 is much more specific than Colossians chapter 2? Colossians chapter 2 is much more comprehensive in what has happened not just to Satan but to all spiritual opposition as a result of what Christ has accomplished on the cross.

7.      The war still rages.

So why is it that we can look at Colossians chapter 2 and understand that this victory has come, this triumph has come, and yet the war still rages on for now? Already—not yet—but when we get to Revelation chapter 20 we see something that’s much more limited and we can’t understand why there would still be satanic influence? Satan is bound but he’s still active.

Luke 11:22 but when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied [trusts], and distributes his plunder. NASB

This is what Jesus was doing to Satan.

John 12:31 “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out.”

Jesus said that now, during His time.

Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”

 They’re cast out of heaven and yet they’re active.

8.     Satan is powerless to stop the proclamation of the gospel.

Luke 10:17-20 And the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” 18 And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 “Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall injure you. 20 “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

What’s the context here? That of the gospel going forth. These 72 go out preaching the gospel and there is great authority as they go out and preach the gospel. Why? Because the kingdom has come.

Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. “

This relates directly to this issue of Satan being bound concerning the deception of the nations during this particular period. Jesus says, “all authority”. This leaves no room for anyone else to have any authority in heaven or on earth.

Jesus gives this great commission before his ascension. Now if the binding of Satan so that he doesn’t deceive the nations doesn’t happen until some future time after the so-called church age then how is the great commission accomplished? It seems to me that Jesus makes it very clear that Revelation 20 is the reason that Matthew 28 can be accomplished. Because of the binding of Satan specifically during this period of His reign in and through His church so that the nations can be evangelized.