Rev. Don Campbell
Revelation 12-18
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, DECEMBER 30, 2019
“THE BINDING OF SATAN”
Perhaps the big attention grabber of today’s reading is the binding of Satan. The binding of Satan is in reference to one thing only: his ability to deceive the nations. This binding is absolute in the sphere intended, for Satan is sealed over. If we miss the meaning of “deceive the nations,” we will surely miss the meaning of the binding and loosing. There are three critical references to be considered in understanding this figure. The first is in chapter 12, verses 7-17. There a war is fought in heaven and the Devil, “who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” In chapter 13, verse 14, one of the devil’s dupes, the great beast, deceives those who dwell on the earth by performing false miracles. Finally, in chapter 19, verse 20, it is revealed that the false prophet also performed false miracles in order to deceive them that had received the mark of the beast.
“Those who dwell on the earth” would seem, on the surface, to be all mortal men living at the time these deceptions take place. But are the saints deceived? The terms “those who dwell on the earth” and “that had the mark of the beast” refer to the same group of people. These are those whose hearts and affections are earthbound. They are not those whose citizenship is in heaven, but those whose destiny is destruction, whose god is their stomach, whose glory is their shame, and whose mind is on earthly things, (Philippians 3:17-21). These described by Paul and John can be deceived. Even in this so-called scientific age, they can be deceived into idolatry. The deception spoken of here is not deception resulting from a lack of available truth or facts, but deception resulting from the rejection of the truth which sets one free. In a word, it is paganism, the worship of a god or gods other than the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
God declared the religions and idols of man to be nothing but wind and confusion (Isaiah 41:29). He then says: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations” (Isaiah 42:1, NIV). Isaiah wrote again: “Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising” (Isaiah 60:1-3). The darkness of deception did cover the world when Christ came. Or, as John puts it: “the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” (l John 5:19). However, just prior to this statement, he had said, “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him” (1 John 5:18).
If the wicked one cannot harm those born of God, he cannot deceive those born of God. This clearly refers to a time when those born of God literally live on the earth. Spiritually, they are seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). In Acts 14:8-18, Paul heals a man who had been lame from birth and the people of Lystra immediately proclaimed Paul to be the god Hermes and Barnabas to be the god Zeus. They were about to offer sacrifices to the two men when Paul rushed in and told them that God wanted them to turn from these vanities. In Acts 17:22- 31, Paul was moved in spirit as he observed the many idols at Athens. He urged them to turn from this ignorance because God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world by the resurrected Christ.
Lenski explains the binding of Satan: He in his own person as the dragon cannot still deceive the nations (20:3); he is restricted to the use of the two beasts and the whore. Now in 20:1-3 we have revealed to us in completeness, beyond the revelation recorded in 12:7-12, what the incarnation and the enthronement of Jesus did to the dragon. Once, as in Eden, he himself went forth to deceive; by the incarnation and the enthronement of Jesus he was chained, thrown, and confined, compelled to resort to beasts and to a whore. Judgment thus already rests upon him: “Now shall the ruler of this world be thrown out outside,” and included in this act of judging (κρίσις) is “this world,” John 12:31. [Lenski New Testament Commentary – The Interpretation of St. John’s Revelation.]
CONNECTIONS
1. Where is your citizenship?
2. Are you investing as much in your heavenly citizenship as you are in your earthly citizenship?
