Revelation 20 explained: The Thousand Years and Final Judgment

Satan locked away (vv. 1-3)

An angel chains Satan, also called the dragon and the snake of long ago (recalling the snake in Eden), and seals him in the Abyss, a deep prison, so he cannot deceive the nations for a thousand years. Some read the thousand years as a literal future age, while others see a symbol of a long, complete era, often the present time between Jesus' first coming and his return.

The faithful reign (vv. 4-6)

People killed for their witness to Jesus, who refused to worship the beast (the hostile world power of earlier chapters, often linked with Rome), come to life and reign with Christ as priests. Some read this first resurrection as a bodily rising before the rest of the dead, others as the faithful dead already alive with Christ. Either way, the second death cannot touch them.

Satan's last revolt (vv. 7-10)

Once released, Satan gathers nations from every corner of the earth, called Gog and Magog after a vast enemy in Ezekiel 38 and 39, and they surround God's people and the city dear to God. Fire from heaven consumes them, and the devil is thrown into the lake of fire with the beast and the false prophet, to be tormented day and night forever.

The great white throne (vv. 11-13)

Earth and sky flee from the one seated on a great white throne, and all the dead, powerful and ordinary alike, stand before him. The sea, and death and Hades, the realm of the dead, give up everyone they hold, and each person is judged by what they did, as written in books.

Death and the lake of fire (vv. 14-15)

Death and Hades are themselves thrown into the lake of fire, called the second death, which pictures death ended for good, and so is anyone whose name is missing from the book of life, God's list of those who belong to him. This is one of the Bible's starkest scenes. Most churches, including the Catholic and Orthodox churches, have taught that it means endless punishment. Some Christians read it as final destruction, and a minority hope all will finally be restored.

Key verse: Revelation 20:12

Where Christians differ

Christians genuinely differ on the thousand years: many evangelical Protestants expect a literal future reign of Christ on earth after he returns, Catholic, Orthodox and many other Protestant churches read it as a symbol of Christ's reign now, between his first coming and his return, and some expect a long golden age before he returns.

Something to think about

Does the idea that even the most powerful will one day answer to God, by the same standard as everyone else, feel more like a threat, a relief, or neither to you, and why?