NOTES for Rev 20:1-15

Now, looking from the Throne, John sees not only earthly history, but also the history of the Church somewhat differently. It is revealed to him as a process of universal resurrection consisting of two stages. The first stage, called the "first resurrection," stretches over a certain (obviously symbolic) period of a thousand years, which, evidently, precedes the final defeat of Satan and his supporters (vv. 1-5). Apparently, this stage begins after the Savior's death on the cross, when the first righteous people were raised (Matt 27:51-53). At first glance it may seem difficult to speak of the "binding of Satan" (vv. 1-3) in relation to the age we are living through; meanwhile, if we recognize that the "first resurrection" began on the day of the Savior's death, that conclusion will be the only possible one. And yet, upon closer examination, we will have to agree with such a vision of the situation.

Indeed, none of the Christians of the early Christian era doubted that the Savior's resurrection itself became Satan's defeat, and a strategic defeat at that, after which his war against God and the forces of light can be considered lost, although the final battle still lies ahead. And the very unfolding of the Kingdom in a world permeated by evil and sin would have been impossible if the devil's freedom of action in it had not been limited, if he had not, in the apostle's words, been "bound." If the situation were otherwise, none of us, quite possibly, would have any choice between the Kingdom and life according to the laws of the untransformed world: the forces of darkness, if only they had been allowed, would gladly have deprived us of every choice, cutting fallen humanity off from any spiritual influence from the forces of light. In short, if Satan had not been "bound," our world would long ago have turned into hell, which differs from it above all in this: unlike our transforming but not yet fully transformed world, the breath of the Kingdom does not reach hell at all.

But the forces of darkness, of course, throughout the entire history of the "millennial kingdom," do not stop trying to turn our world into hell, striving to minimize the manifestations of the Kingdom in it as much as they are able. Paul, who spoke of the "mystery of lawlessness," understood perfectly what is happening in the world after the coming of Christ (2 Thess 2:7), just as John did, who sees the witnesses killed for their testimony by none other than the "beast," who, it would seem, should appear on earth only at the end of time. In reality, however, he is evidently opposing God throughout the whole time of the "millennial kingdom." It is no surprise that the apostle calls "blessed" all who have a share in the "first resurrection" (v. 6): for they have already gained that fullness of the life of the Kingdom which still lies ahead for the rest, and for some of them is also in question.

The fate of these others is decided after the final battle ends (vv. 7-10), at that Judgment of which the prophets spoke more than once (vv. 11-15). The outcome of the Judgment is that neither death nor the devil's kingdom has any place left in the world; they end up in the "lake of fire" together with those who are not written in the "book of life." The verdict seems excessively harsh, and it really would be so if we forgot that enrollment in this book was open throughout the whole history of the "millennial kingdom" and even later, right up to the day of Judgment. Everyone had a chance, and everyone made his own choice.

It is no surprise that those who refused to accept God's love found themselves face to face with His power, which was revealed to them as a purifying fire. If they could have turned and repented, the fire would have become for them the transforming breath of the Kingdom. But repentance and conversion depend not only on God, but also on the person, whose freedom God values infinitely, and the refusal to repent makes the fire that burns him the only form of communion with God available to the sinner, from which there is now no escape as there was before: for the world has become the Kingdom, having been completely delivered from everything that formerly hid the face of God from those living in it. And the "lake of fire" turns out to be a kind of reverse side of this Kingdom, the "outer darkness," into which, however, God banishes no one: everyone who ends up there is there solely as a consequence of his own choice.