Hello Mike, I’ve been struggling with seeing the ‘IS’ of the below verses.

Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 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. 
Seems like what I find at your site in this regard speaks on the Will BE of those verses. You are a great help. 
D____

Hi D____,

Thank you for your question.

You ask what is the present application of these words in Rev 20:

Rev 20:1  And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3  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.

I am presently going through the book of Revelation in our weekly Bible studies, and I have been emphasizing the fact that we are told in verse three of chapter one, right at the beginning of this prophecy, and again in verse seven of chapter 22, that we are to “keep the things written therein… keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book.”

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

It is obvious that chapter 20 verses 1-3 are part of “the things written therein” which we are to keep, and they are also words which have “proceeded out of the mouth of God” by which all men will live.

The question naturally arises, “How can God’s elect keep the the binding of Satan, the bottomless pit, the millennium and the little season after the thousand years, if all of these things are future”? The scriptures answer this question directly and in so doing demonstrate how quickly we revert to comparing a physical principle with a spiritual principle, all the while telling ourselves that we are keeping the things that are written therein and comparing spiritual with spiritual. We must acknowledge that the message of scripture is intended to be hidden by parables and cannot be understood unless we compare spiritual things with spiritual.

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

The only people who will understand God’s Words are those to whom the ability to compare spiritual things with spiritual is granted, as we are indeed told.

1Co 2:13  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

It certainly sounds foolish to tell a man that things to come are his and yet that is exactly what the scriptures tell us:

1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

So the ‘things written therein’ are all spiritual, and whether present or to come, they are “all ours.” Our natural man wants to place this book of judgment way out in the future while the very first verse of this book tells us that every word of this prophecy “must shortly come to pass.”

Rev 1:1  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

This is the scriptural answer to your question. This is how “this generation,” the generation reading these words, is caused to give an accounting of the blood of all the prophets and even the blood of saints yet to be killed. This is how all mankind is required to “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Mat 23:36  Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

Mat 24:34  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

… and this incredible verse:

1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

“Life or death, things present and things to come, all are yours” in Christ. It really is “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God,” which will be lived by every man who has ever lived.

In spirit we all live through our own time of having Satan hedged out of our lives while God blesses us, just as He did with Job. In spirit we are all then subject to having Satan released upon us just as did Job, and this is what Christ called “the beginning of sorrows” and what Peter called “judgment beginning at the house of God.”

Mat 24:7  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8  All these are the beginning of sorrows.

God does not place severe judgment on a babe in Christ, but if severe fiery trials do not come upon you, then it is only because God’s purging fiery work is not yet that far along in your life.

1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

I could go on demonstrating how the holy spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual, but I hope I have said something which helps you to see that living by every word of God is ours in and through Christ within us.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike