Satan is Bound then Released.
“He seized the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:2 NLT “When the thousand years come to an end, Satan will be let out of his prison.” – Revelation 20:7 NLT
The question arises, “Where is Satan during all this great manifestation?” Going back to Revelation 20:1-3 we read about the Devil during the millennium: “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” What an amazing scene! The Devil is bound for that thousand years and cast into the bottomless pit.
Fortunately, we do not have to speculate about the location of that bottomless pit. The Bible makes it very clear. The original Greek word for “bottomless pit” is “abussos,” from which we get our English word “abyss,” meaning “a deep place.” That same word is used again in the Greek version of Genesis 1:2: “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” The word “deep” here is the Greek word “abussos” which is translated as “bottomless pit” in Revelation 20:1. In other words, this earth was called the “abussos” after God formed it; before He called order and design out of it. Lying in disorganized darkness it was referred to as the bottomless pit.
During the millennium, this planet will revert to a similar state of desolation and chaos.
Jeremiah describes it in the very same words, “without form and void.” Again, it is designated by the prophet John as the “abussos,” or “bottomless pit.” Satan will be confined right here on this torn-up, destroyed world for a thousand years while the saints are in heaven.
What about the chain? Just remember that Satan is a fallen angel, and spiritual beings cannot be bound with literal chains. The Bible speaks about the evil angels being bound with chains of darkness. The purpose of the binding is “that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled.” The only possible way to accomplish this is to take Satan away from all the people, or take the people away from him. Even putting him into a deep, literal pit would not prevent him from deceiving the people, because he has millions of imps to carry on his work.
The fact is that the Devil will be bound by circumstances that forbid him access to any human being during the thousand years. Unable to deceive a single soul, he will inhabit this desolate planet for a thousand years contemplating the havoc his program has produced. The righteous are in heaven, the wicked are all dead, and he has no one to work on till the end of the millennium.
The Bible itself declares that he will be burned and brought to ashes. But v7 explains to us the dramatic developments which will mark the end of the thousand years? “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.” – Revelation 20:7.
This loosing of Satan is easy to understand when we read v5 again, “The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” All the lost of the ages will be raised out of their graves at the end of the millennium. This is what releases the Devil to begin his work of deception once more. John explains “And he shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.” – Revelation 20:8, 9.
Again, lucifer deceives the unsaved into thinking they can attack the New Jerusalem and capture it. That holy city descends from heaven, following the thousand years. “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” – Revelation 21:2. TBC