Is Satan Bound?
Why does this matter? Because there is not and has not been Christian theological consensus on such for centuries. Meaning, the Church is divided on this issue. It is a division that has and continues to have adverse effects. How? On the individual level, belief in Satan’s binding today lulls many into sleep when in fact he is on the move against them, rendering them defenseless. At the corporate level, belief in such binding has divided the battlelines of the Church against Satan and his dark forces, eliminating a united and powerful front.
So, how did we get here? It starts with a differing interpretation on the following passage from Revelation:
“2 And [an angel] laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. 4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand year.”
-Revelation 20:2-4
This is known as the Millennial Reign of Christ, where Christ and a portion of His followers reign with Him for 1,000 years, during which, Satan is bound concurrently and unable to deceive anyone.
So, is Satan bound? Literary context matters here greatly. Revelation 20 proceeds descriptions of the end of the age, along with a variety of other apocalyptic descriptions. Much of these descriptions is up to interpretation, and for good reason. Imagine trying to explain with your own eyes something in the future that is to come to pass. Would you be able to understand what your eyes saw if you saw a few thousand years (at minimum) into the future? Probably not. And nor do we almost two thousand years later since the Apostle John received this Revelation. Yet, Revelation 20 is quite explicit in denoting time and its placement in Revelation after many sequence of events denoted earlier matters greatly. That is, Revelation 20 is literarily after apocalyptic descriptions of wars, famine, natural disasters, and much more (i.e., the Great Tribulation). And directly after the description of The Coming of Christ (Revelation 19). Meaning, literarily speaking, these things occur prior to Satan’s binding.
So, again, is Satan bound? Well, it depends on how one interprets the sequence of events in Revelation that lead up to Revelation 20, as well as how one interprets the description of time (i.e., 1,000 years) described in Revelation 20. What do we mean? Three major theological camps, with varying degrees of subcamps, have developed as many have tried to understand Revelation:
Premillennialism
Amillennialism
Postmillennialism
Premillennialism suggests that Christians will experience the tribulations described in Revelation, then reign with Christ for 1,000 years, see Christ destroy Satan, and then see God bring down New Jerusalem and restore Earth.
Does anyone want to experience the tribulation described in Revelation? Apparently not, or we may not have two other perspectives on the issue.
Amillennialism sees the millennium as a symbol of the church age or a spiritual millennium of sorts, so Christ’s return and establishment of New Heaven and Earth happen concurrently.
Does this perspective jive with Revelation literarily? Doesn’t seem to.
Postmillennialism sees the millennium as the golden age of evangelism, so the church age contains this era, culminating in Christ’s return and New Heaven and New Earth.
Is this too triumphant for humanity without Christ returning? Potentially.
Each of these perspectives attempts to understand Revelation, and each perspective reveals differing theological lenses for viewing such (suffering, symbolism, triumph).
We find more merit with Premillennialism as it fits more with the contents described in Revelation, as well as the totality of Scripture before. It is our view also that when you have to overlook or disregard other passages of Scripture for a theological perspective to work, then you have done theological gymnastics, and as such this theological perspective is inaccurate.
So, finally, is Satan bound? Our answer is no. Notwithstanding a literary reading of Revelation 20 that suggests that the Millennial Reign of Christ is proceeded by the 19 chapters described previously. We also have a tough time reading other passages of Scripture and coming to the conclusion that we are in the Millennial Reign of Christ already (amillenialist camp) or that the golden age of evangelism will usher in the end of the age (postmillennialist camp). A few passages of note to this end:
“Taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
-Ephesians 6:16
“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
-1 Peter 5:8
We have a tough time reading Ephesians 6:16 and being told that the evil one (Satan) will shoot us with arrows that we are supposed to catch on our shields of faith and believe that he is bound today. We have caught many such arrows on our shields, and some have gotten past and done great damage.
We also have a tough time reading 1 Peter 5:8 and being instructed to stay vigilant because the devil (Satan) is prowling around us like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour and believe that he is bound. We have felt such teeth. They hurt. They draw blood.
Satan is on the move today! He is loosing arrows in your direction and he is seeking to sink his teeth into you to devour you. One need only look at one’s life or the world around to see that Satan is actively deceiving many, devouring many, and destroying many. He is wreaking havoc. Further, the Church doesn’t appear to be in any sort of golden age. The Church is dying in the West (i.e., Europe and North America) painting a picture of an absent Christ, instead of a picture of reigning with Christ.
Yes, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. It is accessible to us. It is invading. Yet, much of the earth remains. This is where already, but not yet theology comes from. And we believe it holds the totality of Scripture without overlooking or disregarding any passage of Scripture to make the theological lens work. In this specific case, such theology views Christ’s second coming as the initiation of the thousand-year reign and Satan’s binding as described in Revelation 20.
And since we believe that Satan is unbound, we believe this reality must be taken more seriously and we must do everything we are instructed to do in God’s Word to stay battle-ready and fight Satan for every inch of ground he has taken over the last two millennia. If we don’t, the consequences will have eternal impacts for us and those around us. It will continue to divide the battle lines of the Church. And it will continue to lull many Christians into the belief that they don’t have to worry about Satan at all. This can’t stand!