Revelation 20:3, commentary and pictures

The bottomless pit is this earth reduced to darkness, confusion and desolation after Christ's second coming has destroyed the wicked and left no living person upon it.
To be bound, shut up and sealed means Satan is confined alone to that ruined earth with his evil angels, cut off from other worlds and deprived of his work because there is no one left to tempt, deceive or ruin.
There he wanders over heaped cities, moved mountains, scattered rocks and uprooted trees where the wicked lie dead, bearing as the scapegoat the sins he caused God's repentant people to commit, facing the curse of his rebellion and looking forward with terror to his final punishment.
After the thousand years are fulfilled he must be loosed for a little season, when the wicked dead are raised and his power to deceive returns so that he rallies them against the camp of the saints before fire destroys him with all the wicked and blots out sin forever.
The verse rejects any temporal millennium of peace and worldwide conversion before Christ returns, so there is no extra time to come and the work of warning and preparation must be done now.

Meaning of the Binding

The bottomless pit is the earth itself reduced to confusion, darkness, desolation and a chaotic, broken state. The binding takes place after Christ's second coming and the destruction of the wicked, when no people are left alive on earth. The sentence of confinement to this earth was imposed after Satan seduced Adam and Eve, was partly carried out at the crucifixion, and will be fully executed at the beginning of the thousand years. To be bound, shut up, and sealed means to be limited to the desolate earth alone, cut off from other worlds and from the work of deception and ruin, because there is no one left to deceive, tempt, or exercise power upon.

He cannot range to other planets to tempt and annoy those who have not fallen, and he is deprived of his power to tempt and deceive. Confined there with his evil angels, he wanders up and down over the ruined surface with its heaped cities and villages, moved mountains and large caverns, scattered rocks and uprooted trees, while the wicked lie dead. There he is powerless and must face the ruin caused by his rebellion against God's law and government, seeing the curse he has caused and enjoying its effects. Left to reflect on the part he has acted since his fall, he suffers extremely and looks forward with trembling and terror to the dreadful future when he must suffer and be punished for all the evil he has done and for all the sins he has caused to be committed.

When Christ completes His work as high priest in the heavenly sanctuary, the sins of God's repentant people are placed upon Satan, as represented by the scapegoat sent away from Israel's congregation; confined on the desolate earth he bears responsibility and guilt for the sins he caused God's people to commit. His being shut up so he can deceive and tempt no more causes triumphant rejoicing like ten thousand musical instruments from angels and redeemed saints, because they will no more be annoyed and tempted by the Devil and the inhabitants of other worlds are delivered from his presence and temptations. Until he is shut up his power to tempt and deceive keeps increasing and will keep increasing; since his fall he has not been stupid and careless but has been learning and grown more artful, laying deeper plans covered with a religious garment to hide their deformity, so that power is now ten-fold greater than in the days of the apostles, and his wrath and hate grow stronger as his time to work draws near its close. Mesmerism comes from the Devil out of the bottomless pit and will soon go there with those who continue to use it.

Prophetic Setting and Aftermath

The thousand years are still future, not already past, and therefore the 144,000 cannot be those who were raised at Christ's resurrection. The idea that the thousand years had already taken place is an error. The vision connected with this binding belongs to the thousand-year period after Christ's second advent, with the scene described taking place at the close of those thousand years.

The binding and confinement in the bottomless pit for a thousand years comes after the beast and the false prophet are cast into the lake of fire. That thousand-year period is then followed by the resurrection of the wicked, the final destruction of Satan as the instigator of rebellion against heaven, the destruction of all the wicked, and Christ's final triumph and reign on earth.

After the thousand years are fulfilled Satan must be loosed for a little season, for when the wicked dead are raised his power to deceive and lead them in rebellion returns, and he rallies them to attack the camp of the saints and the New Jerusalem. Confined to the desolate earth for the thousand years bearing responsibility and guilt for the sins he caused God's people to commit, as the scapegoat sent away from Israel's congregation bore their sins when Christ completes His work as high priest in the heavenly sanctuary, he will afterward suffer the final penalty when fire destroys the wicked. That destruction blots sin and sinners from existence and completes the eradication of sin.

False Millennium and Present Duty

The binding for a thousand years so that the nations are deceived no more refutes any temporal millennium of peace and prosperity and worldwide conversion before Christ returns. There will be no converted world before He comes, and to teach a thousand years of peace beforehand is false doctrine and false assurance that lulls souls into spiritual danger. The hope of a united religious movement converting the world and ushering in the millennium is part of that deception, in which professing Christians and the ungodly unite through Spiritualism while holding a form of godliness without its power. The same passage was at one point understood as such a temporal millennium before Christ's coming, until the expectation of His near return challenged that belief.

Preaching about the millennium in a way that soothes sinners who do not want to leave sin helps turn people from God, because truth mixed with error misleads. While probation still continues every person is choosing either eternal good or ruin, and Satan works to distract minds from God and His truth. There is no temporal millennium providing extra time in which to warn the world; the work of warning must be done now before the sudden change in God's dealings with sinful people. That urgency calls for present work and spiritual preparation and speedy preparation for service rather than delaying in prolonged study.

The promise that the deceiver will be shut up so he can tempt and lead astray no more awakens longing for Jesus to come and end sin. When He comes, sin and the devil's tempting work will end, and God's people will enjoy sanctification without being led astray or troubled by temptation among the redeemed.