Revelation 20:1-15 Part 3
REVELATION 20:1-15 Part 3
1) Then I saw a messenger holding the abyss key and a great chain in its hand coming down out of the heaven,
2) and it laid hold on the dragon, (the old serpent that is diabolos and the satan) and bound it a thousand years
3) and cast it into the abyss and locked and sealed over it so that it couldn’t further deceive the Gentiles until the thousand years is complete; afterward it is necessary to loose it a short time.
4) Then I saw seats; and the lives of those who had been stricken because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the Word of God and who did not adore the beast or its image and did not take its mark on their forehead or on their hand, sat on them; and judgment was granted to them; and they did live; and they prevailed with The Christ a thousand years.
5) The remaining dead did not live until the thousand years was completed. This is the first resurrection.
6) Blessed and hallowed is one having part in the first resurrection. The second death has no authority over them! They will be priests of God and The Christ and reign with Him a thousand years!
7) And when the thousand years is completed, the satan will be loosed from its confinement.
8) And it will come out to deceive the Gentiles in the four extremities of the earth (the gog and magog), the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9) And they arose over the breadth of the earth and encircled the fortress of the holy ones and the city of the beloved, and fire descended from the heaven and consumed them.
10) And the devil (the one deceiving them) was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone (where also are the beast and the false prophet), and they will be tormented day and night into the ages of the ages.
11) Then I saw a magnificent white seat, and One sitting on it at Whose appearance the earth and the heaven did vanish, for no place was found for them;
12) and I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the seat, and books were opened. Then the other book was opened which is of the living. And the dead were judged from what was written in the books according to their works.
13) And the sea did yield the dead in her; and death and hades did yield the dead in them, and they were judged according to their works;
14) then death and hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death (the lake of fire).
15) Anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
John says, “then I saw….” It was the first of seven shown to him. What he was shown first (which was about to be) was the appearance of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords seated on His white horse, the covenantal bow of Almighty God above Him; the diadems on His head, His eyes aflame, and the sharp Sword proceeding from His mouth.
And with Him (also seated on white horses) all of His “holy ones” whose blood had been poured out, and all of the elect of the twelve tribes of Jacob who were sought and found before the end of the age… many of whom had been pursued and persecuted and killed. They live! And they are His “warrior army”… His messengers.
His Kingdom is from the heaven. The messengers are “sent” with a message; and they are to deliver that message to the Gentile nations. And the message is the Sword of the mouth of God the Son that they are to deliver.
The Sword – the Word of God – is He Who does the work. It is His work; He does all of the work. And all of His work – in its fullness and finality – is revealed to John (and therefore to the Churches in this letter).
The messengers deliver the message from the One Who rules above all from the heaven; the message is the Sword of The Christ; and the Sword of Christ is His Word, and the Word is He Who does the work!
Here, you see, is the “appearance” of the One Who has dominion from the heaven… the “appearance” of the One Who has all authority… the One promised from the beginning! It is His Parousia at the end of the age; and His work is decreed and prophesied as “seven-fold”… complete!
The seven things shown to John indicate the fullness and completeness of the prophetic Word… its finality. From Jesus’ appearance to the eventual completion of His work, it’s decreed; therefore it is done.
Writing to the Churches in the (then) contemporary present, John writes from the perspective of God as complete. It’s all shown to John; and the seven things he was shown are the fullness and finality of all of Jesus’ work… proceeding from His Parousia. And the mighty shout from the entirety of God’s tabernacle fills the cosmos with the anticipation of the Savior of the World.
Now. The fourth thing that John is shown at the imminent Parousia of the Christ is the binding and loosing of the satan (the adversary), the dragon of old, in verses one through three here in chapter twenty.
You remember that there was a prophetic event that occurred (as recorded by Matthew in chapter twelve of his Gospel) in the confrontation between Jesus and the pharisees concerning demonic activity. During that exchange Jesus says,
“How can one enter into a strong man’s house, and rob his goods, except he first bind the strong man? And then he will plunder his house!”
This (prophetically) refers directly to what John is shown here in the fourth “then I saw….” It was prophetic of that which would occur at His Parousia! The chaining and imprisonment of this creature in Hades is the “binding” by the Word of Christ the King! The Word is delivered by messenger, and that which has already been bound in the heaven is bound on the earth!
The messenger delivers the message of the One Who now reigns and rules over the world from the heaven. Christ – the Word of God made flesh – rules the entire created domain from the heaven. It was given to Him from the beginning. And in Him and by Him are all things bound and loosed. “Whatsoever is bound and loosed on the earth has been bound and loosed in the heaven; for His domain – the domain of the Word of God - is from the heaven!
It is the perspective shown to John, in a most graphic way, that the domain of the devil in the wilderness nations of the world would be plundered and spoiled! And that it is the Sword of the Christ that “binds” this creature, you see! The messenger delivers the message directly from the Word of God in the heaven; and the devil is completely, and thoroughly, bound by the message!
And then, subsequently, it is the Sword of the Christ that “looses” it. And this binding and loosing is shown to John and the Churches in such a manner here as to provide them with great assurance in the sovereign authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Word of God is unbound. That means it’s not bound. The Word of God – the Gospel of God – is the Power of God into salvation for those who are believing. And by its proclamation the alien seed that were “oversown” in the field are bound and made ready for destruction. And, at the same time, through its preaching there comes pardon, freeing (loosing) from iniquity.
While there is binding of men to unforgiven sin, the Gospel frees (looses) men from death and hades. While there is the binding of the satan (the adversary), apostolic preaching of the Word of God looses the Gentile nations. While there is a binding of the blind in the prison of darkness, there is also a loosing from satanic activity in all the Gentile nations!
Our Lord Jesus Christ has “loosed” the pangs and sorrows of death. He had entered into it and exited it to be King of the entire created realm… and, finally, in His completed work, the Creator of a new heavens and a new earth!
And, as He promised, He gave the “keys” of the Kingdom to His apostles. It was apostolic preaching and teaching of the Word of God! It is “the message”. And as they preached the Gospel of the Resurrected Lord, the portals of the Kingdom were opened wide to many in the Gentile nations so that those who were loosed in the heaven were the same as those loosed through the preaching of the apostles and the messengers.
And those whose names were not in the book were bound by that same preaching… having already been bound in the heaven!
Apostolic doctrine and preaching is “the keys” of the Kingdom. And it binds those who are already bound in the heaven, while loosing those having been loosed in the heaven.
While the Sword of the Christ was “unbound” in the nations, the satan was “bound”. It had previously been given domain among the Gentiles, but at the Parousia of the Christ it was to be bound while its domain was being plundered; and its domain is still being plundered! And then when it’s loosed, it will be loosed to its destruction.
The demons in Gentile Gadara asked Jesus whether He had come to “send them under”. So they already knew that God the Son would “bind” them and take what was His. So, as a sign of that which was to be at His Parousia, He sent them into swine; and they went under. And the Gentile city was loosed from their domain.
From God’s perspective here (as shown to John), it is the Sword of Christ the King, the Word of God, by apostolic preaching and teaching of His disciple/messengers, that binds the satan until the Lord Jesus Christ finishes His work among the nations. The old serpent can’t do anything about it, because it’s been bound in the heaven by the Sword of the Christ!
That which is bound on the earth has already been bound in the heaven; and that which is loosed on the earth has already been loosed in the heaven… which is exactly what John sees in this fourth “then I saw….”
Later we’ll also see it’s “loosing” to destruction, which has already been loosed in the heaven.
I promised you a more thorough examination of the revelation of this creature. It is, of course, God’s perspective, since it is revealed in His Word! And for the comfort and assurance of the Church of Jesus Christ, we are to gain His view of things!
And it is to be understood that the satan remains under the authority and dominion of the Christ; it belongs to Him, and it is still bound from deceiving the Gentiles until our Lord finishes His work among them. And He won’t be through until all of the nations acknowledge His Kingship!
He is Daystar, you see! And this is the “Day” of the Lord! The light of His Personnage will shine upon all the earth.
Remember… this is God’s perspective, now! And we have to receive it and “fit into” it. We have to accommodate ourselves to it; we have to become willing and eager participants in it! After all, in Whose Kingdom do we live!!
Remember what our Lord told the pharisees: if the demons that had infested the holy land reacted to Jesus’ authority, then the Kingdom had come upon them! It had been prophesied, you see.
And this is exactly why the creature – diabolos – was so desperate to cut off the Kingdom of our Lord. The “Day” of the Lord had come. The “Daystar” had arisen. And His “Light” would shine on all of God’s creation…”loosing” all that is “bound” in the prison of darkness and bringing the light of His “day”.
He is Light, and Life; and at some point all the earth will bask in the light of His glory. This is the Gospel of God concerning His Son Jesus; and we are to rejoice in it and anticipate it. And remember what He said to His disciples… you don’t receive because you don’t ask!
The satan is “bound” at the coming Parousia of the Christ; it’s what John is shown here. It’s bound from stopping it. Apostolic doctrine and preaching is the Word… the Sword of the Christ, the message delivered to the nations. And whatsoever has been loosed and bound in the heaven is loosed and bound on the earth. It’s loosed and bound by Jesus Christ the Word of God; and His dominion is FROM the heaven!
As John watches (and writes), the Day has dawned; and all the earth will be “Day”… enlightened to the Kingship and Lordship of Jesus Christ. Slowly, but surely, the darkness will disappear in the nations as the Light of the Daystar has dawned… and lights up the world.
And then there will be no need of a sun and moon in this paradise (like there was in God’s paradise – Israel); for the light of the glory of the Christ will enlighten all. Nothing at all will be bound in darkness! “And all the earth will be full of the glory of the Lord, as the water covers the sea.” (Isaiah 11:9)
That’s all yet-to-come in the text.
But, for now, let’s review what we know about the creature called (variously) the dragon, the serpent of old, diabolos and the satan. John hears its names (its appellations), and so brings all of the Biblical data to this place in the text.
All we know about the existence and nature and activity of this accuser/adversary is what is revealed prior to the Parousia/appearance of Jesus Christ. We only learn what its post-Parousia status would be here at the end of The Revelation.
But that, you see, is the critical point in our understanding! So let’s hear that again.
All we know about this creature up to this point is revealed prior to the Parousia of our Lord. And that means that all of the instances in which it is revealed in God’s Word are prior to its being bound by apostolic doctrine and preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Its appearances in the texts of the older Scripture, its appearances in the texts of the Gospels, and the references to it in the letters of the apostles, are all prior to our Lord’s Parousia at the end of the age. Therefore they all have to be read in their own contexts.
Although it is proper to conclude that the binding of the satan began at the birth and death and resurrection and ascension of The Christ, the texts of Scripture are all prior to its binding regarding the Gentile nations. And they have to be read in that light.
But let’s see what we know….
The satan is a “creature” of God (fairly easy place to start); it has no procreative capability, so there is no male or female “gender” as we use language to write the names. We can only translate its names. The name “satan” is indeclinable. The neuter gender is used much of the time in the original texts; some other times (such as in describing its activities) the language bears the masculine. But just realize that there is no “sex” to the creature. It is not male; it is not female; it is not neuter. It has no sex. It’s almost always referred to by God in His Word as a “beast” of some sort.
Although at one time it was a created member of God’s glory cloud/sanctuary, brought into existence for a purpose, flashing forth from the mouth of God to do His will. (No wings, of course), but a beautiful creature; a creature endowed by God with great power. No “inherent” power, naturally…”endowed” is the key word there. That changed.
Subsequent to its rebellion, and subsequent to its having been cast down from God’s tabernacle, the clear impression that we receive from the written Word is that God then perceived this creature as unlovely in every conceivable way. Although allowed to retain its power, from the viewpoint of God in His sanctuary it is not beautiful. Instead, it is referred to in God’s Word as hideous and grotesque; and in referring to it by name, the language (as you’ll see in a little while) could sometimes be listed in the category of the “profane”.
It’s even referred to in the older Scripture as “the great beast”, having raised up four beasts in its image from the sea of Gentile humanity.
In the early texts it is called a “serpent” and “leviathan” and “behemoth”… beasts that tried to cut off the seed promised in the garden. But in every case, the great beast was used by God to manifest His Own and to bring forth the promised seed at the end of the age.
In the last days (before our Lord’s Parousia) this creature was making life very difficult for all of the newborns who had been baptized into the body of the risen and glorified Christ.
Pentecost had occurred (30AD); and so our Lord’s Church was almost forty years old as John writes the things that he saw and heard. The tens of thousands of His elect from the house of Jacob, having exited Israel, had “loaded up” the little Churches in the nations; and they were all under intense pressure (satanically provoked), sustaining persecution, imprisonment, torture and death from judaists and from Rome.
And those who remained in Jerusalem and Judea until the last were fleeing (as Jesus had commanded and prophesied) (fleeing) the Roman armies that had already laid waste to much of Israel, and were now surrounding the city for what would turn out to be a three-and-a-half-year siege. And the whole world would seem to be descending into complete chaos.
The apostle Paul even advised young Christian men and women not to be married during these days; for marriage for a young couple was going to get very difficult, especially should there be a pregnancy or babies to care for. For extreme hardship and persecution and pain and suffering and turmoil were in store as this dragon would destroy a nation and torment the Lord’s Church with the objective of interrupting and cutting off the covenant promises of the Savior of the world.
That’s what we see as John writes to the Churches regarding that which was “near”.
But let’s go to some Scripture passages and learn what we can about the creature from its names. Here first is our Lord speaking directly to some of Israel’s leadership, as recorded in John’s Gospel, chapter eight:
“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, because I came from God and I am here. For I didn't come on My own; but He sent Me.
Why don't you understand what I say? Because you can’t hear My word.
You are of your father diabolos; and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of liars.
And because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.
Who among you can convict Me of sin? If I tell the truth, why don't you believe Me?
The one who is from God listens to God's words. This is why you don't hear, because you are not of God."
Diabolos; the murderer; the liar; the father of liars. The false shepherds of Israel were the “seed” of the serpent rather than the seed of the woman! They were the “offspring” of the serpent. Although this serpent/beast had no copulative capabilities, it spawned liars in its own image!’”
Then, in Paul’s first letter to Timothy we hear of some warnings about the operation of diabolos there in the last days. The Church of Jesus Christ (before His Parousia) was in the domain of this beast. And it roamed that domain seeking those who it might devour! This comes at the beginning of chapter three:
“Faithful is the saying: If a man seeks the office of an elder, he desires a good work.
However the elder must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, orderly, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
no brawler, no striker; but gentle, not contentious, no lover of money;
one who rules his own house well, having his children in subjection with all gravity;
(for if a man doesn’t know how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the assembly of God?)
not a novice, lest being puffed up he fall into the condemnation of the devil (diabolos).
Moreover he must have good testimony from those who are without, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”
And from Jude’s short letter to all the Churches in advance of our Lord’s Parousia, we read this:
“Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the holy ones.
For there are certain men crept in privily (even they who were of old written of beforehand unto this condemnation), ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Now I desire to put you in remembrance, though you know all these things from before, that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that didn’t believe.
And angel/messengers that kept not their own principality, but did forsake their proper place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, having in like manner with these, given themselves over to fornication and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire.
Yet in like manner these also defile the flesh in their wandering minds, and demean dominion, and rail at dignities.”
We see here from Jude that the messengers that rebelled are covenantally bound in darkness unto their final judgment. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t “useful” in God’s providence; but that God keeps them in their own character, which is “darkness”. They have been “bound” in darkness from the beginning. But here in our chapter twenty text, the satan has been “bound” from deceiving the Gentiles!
Now, I’ll give you a number of “titles” in the Bible that I think capture the nature and character of satan fairly well. The “names” by which it is represented bear testimony to the character to which it is covenantally bound (which is “darkness”).
Here’s the apostle Paul again, this time writing to the Christians in Corinth – the second letter, chapter six. And he provides the Church there with a “name” – a “title” for the one who is the exact opposite of the Christ. Listen:
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness (which is the character of Satan).
What accord has Christ with belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?
What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God;
“Belial” is the appellation given to the “worthless one”, the one that epitomizes that which is worthless… an opposite of The One Who is of supreme worth. The character of “belial” is darkness; the character of The Christ is “light” and life. Beliel – the beast - has no “worth” of its own, but is only “used” to manifest that which belongs to the Lord.”
In Matthew chapter nine, Jesus is going about reversing the terrible condition of the people, a condition brought about by the false shepherds of the sheep and the demon infestation of God’s paradise. And He encounters a man who is demon-oppressed; and he is “mute”… he couldn’t speak. Listen to it:
“As they were going away, lo, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him.
And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, ‘Never was anything like this seen in Israel.’
But the Pharisees said, ‘He casts out demons by the prince of demons.’”
So, here the pharisees of Israel called satan “the prince of demons”. The term “prince” means the “leader” – the “ruler” of demons.
Some time ago we heard all that John saw and heard as recorded in Revelation nine. Listen to that once again:
1) Then the fifth messenger trumpeted, and I saw a star having fallen from the heaven into the land, and the key of the shaft of the abyss was given to it.
2) And the shaft of the abyss was opened, and smoke as smoke from a great furnace arose out of the shaft, and the sun and the atmosphere was darkened by the smoke from the shaft.
3) Then locusts came forth into the land from the smoke; and power was given to them the same as the capabilities the scorpions of the land have.
4) And it was said to them that they should do no harm to the grass of the land nor any green plant nor any tree, but only the men having no seal of God on their foreheads.
5) And it was given to them that they not kill them but that they should be tormented five months, and their torment as the scorpion torments when it has stung a man.
6) Then the men will seek the death in these days and will not find it; they will long to die, but the death flees from them.
7) The appearances of the locusts like horses having been made ready into battle; upon their heads as crowns like gold; their faces as men’s faces;
8) they had hair as women’s hair; their teeth were as lions’;
9) they had breastplates as iron breastplates; the sound of their wings as chariot sound from many horses running into battle;
10) they have tails and stings like scorpions, their ability to harm the men five months in their tails.
11) For their ruler they have the messenger of the abyss, the Hebrew name: Abaddon, the Hellenic name being Apollyon.
So in Revelation nine the satan is the “messenger of the abyss”. It’s called Abaddon (Hebrew: destroyer) and Apollyon (Greek: destroyer); the worthless one, the prince of the demons, the messenger who opens the shaft to loose the demons, whose work is that of destruction in an attempt to cut off the Kingdom (as is evidenced by what was done to Israel when it released all of its demon-followers for a time from the abyss). And please note that the key to the shaft was “given” it. And the purpose was a flood of torment upon all remaining in the land.
In Matthew chapter twelve we hear the name Beelzebul. Formerly the name was Beelzebub, but listen to Matthew’s text:
24) But when they heard, the Pharisees said, “This fellow isn’t casting out demons except by Beelzeboul chief of the demons.’
25) But knowing their thoughts He said to them, ‘Every kingdom, when it is divided against itself, is brought to ruin; and every city or house, when it is divided against itself, will not stand.
26) And if Satan is casting out Satan, he has been divided against himself! How, then, shall his kingdom stand?
27) And if I, by Beelzeboul, cast out demons, your sons – by whom are they casting them out? For this they shall be your judges!
28) But if, by the Spirit of God, I am casting out demons, then the Kingdom of God has advanced upon you.
29) How is anyone able to enter into the house of the strong and snatch away his goods unless first he bind the strong? And then he shall thoroughly snatch away his goods.”
Those in the older Scripture had heard of, and they spoke of, Beelzebub (which is a combination of “baal”, an idol god, and “zebub” – the flies. So the chief, or prince, of demons was known as “lord of the flies”.
However, Matthew writes “beelzeboul” in the conversation between Jesus and the pharisees. The pharisees accuse Jesus of casting out demons by the power of beelzeboul! And I’m using the rules of pulpit decorum here when I say that beelzeboul means lord of the “dung”. It just wouldn’t be genteel in this setting to use the word that best fits the text.
I would understand from this that beelzeboul, lord of the flies and the dung, the prince of the demons, the destroyer, is the ruler of the age and prince of the world order – the one that rules over all opposition to our Lord’s coming Kingdom over all the nations – from the beginning, and in the last days. That’s the context, you see… in the last days prior to our Lord’s Parousia!
“This age” (quote-unquote) “this age”, and “this world order” are terms in the Bible that stand for the entire realm of Gentile demon possession while, at the same time, Israel filled up its sin against God and His covenant salvation – all provoked by the “prince of demons” – beelzeboul.
And Jesus Christ was born into this age and this world order (as defined by the context at that time); and at His Parousia He has brought in a “new age” in which His elect from the house of Jacob are “freed” from the demons; and in which the ruler and prince of the demons in the Gentile nations is “bound” by His Word. Satan no longer has free reign in the nations as Word and Spirit invade its house and snatch away its goods.
Satan is ruler of “the age” and prince of “the world order” (in the last days); that is, he is the dung god - the one who rules over the demons; not the one that rules over the world, but the one that rules the demons of the (then) world order! Opposition to the Lord’s kingdom; interrupting the blood line; cutting off the covenant continuity; and provoking a beastly world tyrant to destroy Israel – all the while deceived by God into doing what it does, in order that His mighty Providence for the salvation of the world takes place as covenantally decreed! And, even so, it takes place at the appointed time.
And please understand that this is what John sees in the heaven from the perspective of the sanctuary. And it is all in the context of the last days. And note carefully that our present context is not in view here! Everything we’re hearing from John’s letter was taking place nineteen hundred and forty some-odd years ago. For, as Jesus Himself said to John, all of this is to take place quickly, for the time is near.
And remember that all the apostolic letters to the Churches were written post-resurrection, post-Pentecost, and pre-Parousia. And we have the apostles writing to the Christians in the nations about this creature.
Here’s the apostle Peter in the fifth chapter of his first letter:
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your anxiety upon him, because he cares for you. Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil walks about as a roaring lion, seeking who he might swallow; stand steadfast in your faith against it, knowing that the same sufferings are accomplished in your brethren who are in the nations. And the God of all grace, who called you unto His eternal glory in Christ, after that you have suffered a little while, shall Himself perfect, establish, strengthen you. To Him be the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”
Peter says “our adversary the devil.” The satan is the one that opposed the people of God in an attempt to stop our Lord’s Kingdom. It is this creature that brought all the war and turmoil and unrest and suffering being endured by the Lord’s people there in the last days. And please note that Peter says that diabolos is seeking those who it might “swallow”… a reference to leviathan in the flood.
This is the “dragon” that was cast from heaven as the text of Scripture tells us, while Genesis 3:15 tells us that the Christ of God will crush the “serpent”… same creature!
1st John chapter three… same apostle who heard and saw all these things in the heaven just before the last days Parousia of our Lord. It is the first of his three letters to the Churches, written around the same time as The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Listen carefully as I read a very strict translation… one without all of the flourishes of “dynamic equivalence”; chapter three beginning at verse four:
“Every one who is doing the sin, the lawlessness also he does do, for the sin is the lawlessness, and you have known that He was manifest that our sins He would take away; and sin is not in Him. Every one who continues in Him does not sin; every one who is sinning has not seen Him or known Him. Little children (newborns), let no one lead you astray; he who is doing the righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous. He who is doing the sin, he is of the devil, because from the beginning the devil does sin; for this was the Son of God manifest, that He may break up (loose) the works of the devil; every one who has been begotten of God does no sin, because His seed does remain in Him; for He is not able to sin, because He has been begotten of God.”
In this are the children of God and the children of the devil manifest; every one who is not doing righteousness and not loving his brother is not of God.
“In this”… the children of God and the children of diabolos are manifest!
In considering the Biblically revealed character of this creature, think of it as a dragon/beast that is imitated by others in beastly demeanor (for it is their covenantal father), and as the worthless one, the prince of demons, the destroyer, the lord of the flies and the dung, the adversary, the one who was cast from the heaven, the crushed serpent; and now, lastly, the dragon bound in the abyss until our Lord finishes plundering (or snatching away) its goods.
All of this is God’s perspective of this creature and its purpose; and it only does what has been purposed for it to do. For by it, our Lord manifests those who belong to Him, and manifests those whose father is the devil.
We have a lot more to do here; and we’ll continue it next Lord’s Day.