Revelation 20
The Thousand Years
The time of the beginning of the thousand years is discussed below.

1	An angel with the key
1p	Qualified to destroy Satan
2	That old serpent
3a	Captured, bound, cast down, shut up, and sealed !
3c	Bottomless pit
4	Reigning with Christ — clarification of the text
6	Different roles for the beheaded and the resurrected
6a	Pattern of deaths and resurrections
6b	Have we already seen the kings and priests?
7	Satan released to gather the nations
9a	The camp of the saints
9b	Fire came down
10a	Tormented day and night
10b	Satan joins his friends
11	The great white throne
12	The books were opened
13	Up from the sea and into the fire
m	The millennial judgment elsewhere in the Bible
chi	Seven scenes surruonding the thousand years
x	Fates of two goats
t	Time sequence of millennium events (table)
n	Chapter overview

Revelation home	Chart of 13 time lines in Revelation		Commentary home
Sequence The natural reading of the text shows this chapter to follow Chapter 19 in time. For internal evidence that this is so, notice that the beast and the false prophet were captured at 1920 in defeat as they made war against the One on the white horse. The dragon, the third of the three enemies of God (of 1613ff), is bound at the beginning of Chapter 20. Realizing that the original text did not have chapter breaks, we see that 19:20 to 20:2 is a block of text that shows how God handles all three enemies. Then at 20:10 the beast and the false prophet are seen still in the lake of fire as the dragon (or devil) is cast in with them.
How God brings an end to evil People often ask why God allows the devil to promote the evil that has caused so much suffering in this old world.  Here in Chapter 20 we see a good part of the answer.  Satan had claimed his way was better than God's is1412; ge0301.  Step-by-step, as he demonstrates his real character before the universe and the questions about God's fairness are removed, his authority is withdrawn.  At the end of this chapter he meets his end.
Next chapter - 21	Chart of chapter 20 time lines	Browse by verse context