I was pondering a few things yesterday regarding eschatology, and a thought came to mind. No, really! Amillennialism would say that the reign of Christ began during the first advent. Whether that was at His birth, death (glorification), resurrection or ascension is one question I have. I imagine there are people who would agree with each of these answers, but that is not really my question at the moment. I’d like you to take a look at this first text of scripture, and then consider my question.
Revelation 20:1-3
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
If I am understanding this correctly, Satan has been bound with a great chain and thrown into a bottomless pit for a thousand years. The purpose of this is made apparent with the explaination that he should not be able to deceive the nations any longer. So my question is this: Is there a correlation between the binding of Satan and the giving of the Holy Spirit to the church?
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
I welcome any scriptural reasons to think that there may or may not be a link here. Also, I would appreciate it if any comments on this post could remain on topic. If you want to display your airtight case against Amillennialism, surely you wouldn’t want to unveil that case in some comment area!
Tags: Amillennialism, eschatology
Doug,
Looks like some spammer is messing around…
Weird. They are spamming the most recent post AND they linked back to me. Both of these are things that my spam filters are designed to watch for.
Either there is no correlation in the passages I have laid out, the correlation is so obvious that “everybody knows it” or mine is a blog that doesn’t attract many comments.
My guess is #3.
I wouldn’t be too dogmatic about the precise moment Christ’s reign began or when exactly Satan was bound. It is interesting, however, that Jesus was worshiped as a king from the moment he was born (Matt. 2:2), and that after his baptism he triumphed over Satan in the wilderness (Matt. 4).
I do know that during his ministry, Jesus spoke of both his reign and the binding of Satan as a present reality. In Matthew 12:28-29, he said, “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.”
I think the argument can be made that Satan was bound during Christ’s ministry, culminating with his death and resurrection. It was after he rose from the grave that he commanded his disciples to “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15). The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was a special annointing that made that possible.
I hope David Wayne answers…he knows his amil stuff.
We know that the call of Abraham included a promise that through his seed “all the nations will be blessed.” Through Moses, God declared that the earth “shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” How has that been manifested? Bible history reveals that God has been calling and gathering to Himself a kingdom. What is the true Israel? What is the true church? Was Peter the first church member, or was Adam?
After the fall of Judah, Israel looked forward to the coming of the Messiah and the restoration of the kingdom. But the kingdom woulld be a kingdom of a spiritual nature.
We must remember that Moses brought the Law of God to reveal sin, and to convince men that they could not gain salvation (Rom. 3:20; Gal. 2:16, 3:24). The failure of Israel teaches us that an earthly political kingdom also is impossible.
John the Baptist announced the Kingdom with a call to spiritual repentance. When Jesus began His ministry, even He declarred that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
When the disciples returned from their first evangelistic crusade, Jesus said that He saw “Satan fall like lightening from heaven” (Luke 10). When the Pharisees accused Jesus of doing miracles by the power of Satan, Jesus declared that that strongman had been bound (Mat. 12). Just before He went to the cross, He told His disciples that “the ruler of this world is will be cast out” (John 12:31).
He had already given “governing” authority to the disciples (Mat. 16:19). He had taught them how to handle discipline matters (Mat. 18). The office of the elder/shepherd had already been held over from Old Testament Israel. Therefore the basic ingredients, both spirtiual and physical, were in place before Christ went to the cross.
After His resurrection, His commision to the disciples, and to us, included a reference to His regal authority over His Church, and the command to go into all the world. So many people think that Israel, particularly Jerusalem, is the beginning and the end of the history of God’s people. It isn’t. Israel is just like Omaha Beach. God’s intention has always been the reclammation of the whole earth. His Kingdom shall reveal His glory, “as the waters cover the sea.”
Now, that should produce some guilt and shame in the hearts of His New testanent people. When Israel entered the promisd land, God told them to possess it. He had alread given it to them. When Christ gave the disciples the Great Commission, He was saying the same thing. “Go into the land that I have given you.” But just like ancient Israel, the NT church began strong, but began to doubt, and fear, and argue, and form alliances with wickedness, and compromise.
A true remnant remains. A spiritual kingdom remains. But in truth, that kingdom is supposed to have more positive influence in the world than we actually do.
It may sound as though I’ve defeated my own argument, but I do believe that the Kingdom of God has been established for 2000 years. We’ve fumbled the ball ourselves and we can’t blame it on Satan. Our failure continues to reveal our own inadequecy. “Without Christ, we can do nothing.”
Is there a correlation between the binding of Satan and the giving of the Holy Spirit to the church?
Jesus, Paul, and others spoke about the activity of Satan during their time. From what they said, it sounds like they did not believe that Satan was bound yet. Nor does it seem to me that Satan is currently bound.
I can’t nail down eschatology in terms of exactly what happens when in the future. But I rest in the hope that someday Satan will be bound and will no longer be able to bother the nations as he is doing today.