Revelation Now :
Daily Devotional Bible Studies in Revelation
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Christians Come to Life : Day 74 
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. I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (Revelation 20.1-4)
The Key to the Abyss
The abyss was a vast subterranean cavern beneath the earth, sometimes the place where all the dead went, sometimes the place where special sinners were kept awaiting punishment. It was reached by a chasm reaching down into the earth and this the angel locks in order to keep the Devil in the abyss. It was the abyss which the devils feared most of all.In the story of the Gerasene demoniac the request of the devils was that Jesus would not command them to leave the man and to go out into the deep, that is, the abyss (1).
The seal is set on the chasm to ensure the safe-keeping of the prisoner, just as the seal was set on the tomb of Jesus to make sure that he would not escape (2). The Devil is to be kept in the abyss for a period of a thousand years. In the first resurrection, only those who have died and suffered for the faith are to be raised from the dead. The general resurrection is not to take place until after the reign of Christ upon earth. There is special privilege for those who have shown special loyalty to Christ.
Privileges of the Christians
For Christians, death has been utterly vanquished. The second death has no power over them. Physical death for them is not a thing to be feared, for it is the gateway to life everlasting. They are to be the priests of God and of Christ.
The Latin for priest is "pontifex", which means "a bridge-builder." The priest is the builder of a bridge between God and humans; and he, as the Jews saw it, is the one with the right of direct access into the presence of God. Those who have been loyal to Jesus Christ have the right of free entry into the presence of God; and they have the privilege of introducing others to Jesus Christ.They are to reign with Christ. In Christ even the most ordinary person becomes a monarch.
At the end of the thousand years, the Devil is to be loosed, but he has learned no lesson; he begins where he has left off. He will assemble the nations for the final attack on God. A final attack on Jerusalem by the hostile nations is one of the standard pictures of the last times in Jewish thought.
The Final Judgment
Now comes the final judgment. God, the Judge, is on his great white throne which symbolizes his unapproachable purity. The picture in the New Testament is that Jesus Christ is judge. Jesus said, "The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son." (3) In the Parable of the Sheep and Goats it is the glorified Christ who is the judge (4). In Paul's speech at Athens it is said that God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world by Jesus (5). Jesus is the one who is about to judge the living and the dead (6).
Words to meditate on
What difference will knowing that Jesus is King of Kings make to you today?
Words to pray
"King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Glory, Alleluia.
Jesus, Prince of Peace, Glory, Alleluia." (7)
Notes
(1) Luke 8:31 (2) Matthew 27:66 (3) John 5:22 (4) Matthew 25:31-46 (5) Acts 17:31. (6) 2 Timothy 4:1 (7)
"The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place."
