Notes on Revelation 20

After the beast and false prophet are thrown into the fiery lake, likely an image John takes from the eruption of Vesuvius, an angel takes hold of the devil and casts him into chains for what is said to be 1,000 years. The number thousand is used in Revelation to refer to a vast amount of something, and like the other symbols, is not necessarily meant to be taken literally. 

For this same time period, those who have lived faithful Christian lives and have been martyred for it are brought to life to reign with Chrsit for the duration of the period. They do  not reign for part of the period, but for the entire thing.  

Although some have argued this is a picture of regeneration, it cannot be, as the people who are brought to life have already lived out a good Christian life and have been killed for it by the beast. The phrase that they have been brought to life, then, must refer to their physical lives, and therefore, resurrection. 

Gog and Magog are taken from Ezekiel 38-39, and perhaps, as they have developed in Second Temple Judaism, as the remaining hordes of people who were outside the empire that has now been destroyed. As in Ezekiel, these hordes are allowed to attack God's people, something that takes place after Revelation's thousand years, and are immediately destroyed for it. In Ezekiel, God says He does this to display His glory to the nations, which in Revelation would be the people from every tribe, nation, language, and people group He has acquired for Himself.

Thrones to rule over the hordes are set up for those who have been faithful to Christ so that they might judge and rule with Him.

The judgment of the dead takes place,  along with the places that once held the dead, the realm of death, the grave, and the sea. Hades here may refer more to the grave, and "death" to the realm of the dead as a spiritual state of existence. Nothing is dead anymore. Everything is brought back to either enjoy eternity or loathe it. 

 It is clear that by death and the grave being thrown into the lake of fire, that this includes the people themselves contrary to what some try to argue. Verse 15 makes that clear. 

The great judgment is according to works, as in the rest of the Bible, not because one is justified by works, but because one's federal head is proven by his allegiance manifested in not merely just a confession but also what he does. Hence, those who are written in the book of life were given robes that are their good deeds, but those not written in the Lamb's book of life have works that evidence no federal ties to Christ as their Lord. Instead, they are thrown into the same place as the devil, the beast, and the false prophet to display that their lords are found there. As they had more allegiance to them in life, they are aligned with them also in their eternal punishment. 

Chapter 20, then, spells the end of the wicked world and all of the chaos therein. 

As discussed before, this is likely to be understood as one scenario of the end like the other scenarios given in the book. It is not John's purpose to describe the details and timelines to God's people about how the wicked will be overthrown, but rather to argue that by all accounts they will be. The charge given by John, as throughout the book, is to remain faithful to Christ by taking one's thoughts off of the moment and placing them onto eternity. The lifestyle one displays now evidences the eternal home in which he sees himself, and thus, sets his mind there now.