The 1,000 years of Revelation. #5 How is Satan Bound Now when there is so much Evil in the World?

"The obvious objection to this is:
How can Satan be bound now when there is so much evil in the world?

"What about all the iniquity that surrounds us?

"Satan tempts us; he goes around as a roaring lion seeking those he may devour (I Peter 5:8);

"he blinds the minds of those who believe not (II Cor. 4:4).

"He appears as an angel of light (11:14), who uses false teachers and false doctrine to lead the church into apostasy.

"He is called the “God of this world” (4:4).

"He stirs up ungodly rulers to persecute the church.

"You can even see this in the book of Acts.

"So how can the devil be bound?

"Here I remind you of what I said at the start of this article about the binding of Satan: the binding of Satan means that he cannot unite all the nations together at one time to persecute the church and wipe her out until the thousand years are ended (Rev. 20:3, 8).

"The binding of Satan does not mean that he does not tempt or stir up persecution against the church.

"The binding of Satan means that he does not unite all the nations from the four quarters of the earth to destroy the church at one time.

"So far this all-out assault upon the people of God has not happened.

"Why not? Because Satan is bound, for Christ bound him at his death and resurrection.

"Revelation 20 was written, in part, lest anyone would have doubts, that maybe all the nations will unite to wipe out the church at some point before the Antichrist.

"What does the vision say?

"Satan is bound; he is bound by a great chain; he is bound by a great chain by an angel from heaven and cast into the bottomless pit.

"What a wonderful thing!

"You understand, of course, that these things are figurative.

"You can not bind Satan with a chain; he is a spirit.

"The trap door, locked with a key, is likewise part of the vision.

"The point is that Satan can not get out; he can not unite all the nations against the church to wipe her out until God wills to loose him in the days of the Antichrist.

"This teaches us something very important about the millennium,
the thousand years of Revelation 20.

"It teaches us when the millennium begins.

"It begins at the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ,
which results in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

"This is the power that binds Satan.

"The binding of Satan, then, occurs at the beginning of the millennium or thousand years spoken of frequently in Revelation 20, the beginning of the New Testament age."