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Satan is Bound, October 26
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.
Revelation 20:1, 2
.
The revelator foretells the banishment of Satan and the condition of
chaos and desolation to which the earth is to be reduced, and he declares
that this condition will exist for a thousand years. After presenting the
scenes of the Lord’s second coming and the destruction of the wicked, the
prophecy continues: “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, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him
up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till
the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a
little season.”
Revelation 20:1-3
.
That the expression “bottomless pit” represents the earth in a state
of confusion and darkness is evident from other scriptures. Concerning
the condition of the earth “in the beginning,” the Bible record says that it
“was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.”
Genesis 1:2
. Prophecy teaches that it will be brought back, partially at least,
to this condition. Looking forward to the great day of God, the prophet
Jeremiah declares: “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.”
Jeremiah 4:23-26
.
Here is to be the home of Satan with his evil angels for a thousand years.
Limited to the earth, he will not have access to other worlds to tempt and
annoy those who have never fallen. It is in this sense that he is bound: there
are none remaining, upon whom he can exercise his power. He is wholly
cut off from the work of deception and ruin which for so many centuries
has been his sole delight.
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