THE COMING MILLENNIUM by Allen Moon

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Nov 18, 1913

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 40, No. 44.

THE COMING MILLENNIUM

By Allen Moon

What Takes Place During the Thousand Years? — How Is Satan Bound in That Time?

The Bottomless Pit into Which He Is Cast

By ALLEN MOON

"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years." Rev. 20: 1, 2.

It is evident that the event foretold in this scripture follows in chronological order those outlined in a former study; namely, the harvest of the parable of the wheat and the tares; the gathering of the elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other, and the gathering of the wicked into the great wine-press of the wrath of almighty God. The elect are caught up to meet the Lord in the air, according to 1 Thess. 4:17; and the wicked meet destruction on the earth, according to Rev. 19:17, 18.

Let us follow the elect after they are caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord, during the thousand years. The revelator says: "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." Rev. 20: 4.

Inspiration does not leave us to doubt or speculate in matters so vital to the child of God. In this scripture it is emphatically stated that the saints are with Christ, and that they live during the one thousand years, which proves that they are immortalized. Some of them at least sit upon thrones, and judgment is given to them. The Saviour told the twelve that they should "sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Matt. 19:28. The saints, when caught up to meet the Lord, are taken with Him to heaven, and their employment for a thousand years is a work of judgment.

The presence of the saints in heaven is accounted for by the statement, "This is the first resurrection." Rev. 20: 5. Their judgment was past. Their names had been found written in the book of life when the Saviour came and restored life to all the righteous. "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." Rev. 20: 5. The wicked of all ages are still in their graves. The living wicked, at the second coming of Christ, are cast into "the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of almighty God," and are dead. The punishment to be meted out to them has not yet been determined, but the saints join in the work of judgment during the thousand years. Hear Paul as he says: "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?" 1 Cor. 6: 2, 3.

The revelator proceeds with the scene in heaven, saying: "And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." Rev. 20: 11, 12.

In these accounts we have the great white throne of the Eternal, and other thrones on which the saints sit in judgment. The wicked dead are said to stand before God, but this is by means of the record found in the books. They are judged while they are dead, according to the twelfth verse, and they live not again until the thousand years are finished.

It may be well, now, to turn our attention to this earth and its condition during the thousand years.

Satan, when bound, was cast into the bottomless pit, and a seal set upon him, that he should deceive no more for a thousand years. "Bottomless pit," or "abyss" (R.V.), means a place of darkness. The wicked of earth are all dead; the saints are in heaven. Satan was cast out of heaven to the earth when Jesus ascended on high after His resurrection, and he can not return to heaven. The earth has been the theater of his acts of rebellion and deception. It is to be his place of punishment. The prophet, looking forward to this time, exclaimed: "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by His fierce anger." Jer. 4: 23-26. What Jeremiah saw in vision was also in accord with God's own promise, by another prophet, saying: "I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord. I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord." Zeph. 1: 2, 3.

The state of desolation described in these passages is the result of the curse that followed the introduction of sin into the world; and therefore when God is about to restore the dominion of the earth to Christ and His seed, according to His promise, He brings the earth, which is cursed by sin, to a state of chaos, and Satan, the author of sin, is chained amid the darkness—which is "the bottomless pit," or "abyss"—when the Lord has made the earth again void. "For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end." Jer. 4: 27.

Satan, sin, and the curse will finally depart; and the sinner, being found in sin, will likewise cease from off the earth. Of Satan it is said:

"Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness. I will cast thee to the ground [earth], I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more." Eze. 28: 17-19.

This decree will form a part of the judgment rendered in heaven during the thousand years of the reign of the saints and the imprisonment of Satan in the abyss. The new earth and the new heavens that will come forth from the state of chaos will be in fulfilment of the promise, "Yet will I not make a full end." Jer. 4: 27. The infallible promise of God will not fail though the heavens be no more and though the earth may be dissolved; yet the Word says: "For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." Ps. 37: 10, 11. A concluding study on this subject will relate to this promise.