The Revelation of John 20

¹And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

² And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

³ 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.

⁴ And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

⁵ But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

⁶ Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

⁷ And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

⁸ And 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.

⁹ 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.

¹⁰ And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

¹¹ And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

¹² And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

¹³ And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

¹⁴ And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

¹⁵ And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

The Problem of Multiple Judgments

Revelation chapters 19–20 present a sequence of events that, at first glance, appears to follow a logical flow: the return of Jesus, the destruction of evil, a 1,000-year period, the release of Satan, and finally, the ultimate judgment. However, when we analyze the details of these chapters, several inconsistencies emerge that raise serious questions about their coherence.

Two Overlapping Narratives in Revelation 19–20

One of the most obvious aspects is that Revelation 19 and Revelation 20 seem to describe two different versions of the end of the world, which are not entirely compatible.

The Version in Revelation 19: Complete Destruction of Evil

• Jesus returns in glory, riding a white horse, leading the armies of heaven.

• All the kings of the earth and their armies gather against Him but are destroyed.

• The beast and the false prophet are captured and thrown into the lake of fire.

• The rest of the wicked are killed “with the sword coming out of His mouth” (Revelation 19:21).
  This appears to be the final judgment, as no wicked are left alive.

The Version in Revelation 20: A New Rebellion After 1,000 Years

• After all the wicked are destroyed in Revelation 19, Satan is bound for 1,000 years.

• After this period, he is released and finds “nations as numerous as the sand of the sea,” whom he deceives into a final rebellion.

• This army is destroyed by fire from heaven, and Satan is cast into the lake of fire permanently.
  The problem is clear: if all the wicked were already destroyed in Revelation 19, who is left on earth to be deceived after 1,000 years?The two chapters don’t appear to describe a natural continuation, but rather two overlapping versionsof the same events, arranged in a way that creates confusion.

The Problem of Multiple Judgments

Another issue that complicates the interpretation of this passage is the fact that Revelation 20 introduces two distinct judgment moments:

The First Judgment – The Resurrection of the Martyrs (Revelation 20:4–6)

• Only a select group of people (the martyrs and those who did not worship the beast) are resurrected.

• They reign with Christ for 1,000 years.

• The rest of the dead “do not come to life until the 1,000 years are finished.”
  This seems to be a partial judgment, intended for a specific group.

The Second Judgment – The Final Judgment of All People (Revelation 20:11–15)

• After the 1,000 years, all the other dead are resurrected and judged.

• The judgment is based on the Book of Life and each person’s deeds.

• Anyone not found in the Book of Life is thrown into the lake of fire.
  This fragmentation of judgment does not appear anywhere else in the Bible. In all other biblical passages that speak of the end of the world, judgment is a single, universal event.

The Unique Judgment in the Rest of the Bible

When compared with other biblical texts, Revelation 20 stands alone in presenting a two-stage judgment:

• Matthew 25:31–46 – The Judgment of the Sheep and Goats
  Jesus comes and all nations are judged at once.
  There is no 1,000-year gap between different phases of judgment.

• John 5:28–29 – Universal Resurrection and Judgment
  All the dead come out of their graves at the same time: some to eternal life, others to condemnation.

• 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 – The Resurrection of the Faithful
  At Christ’s coming, all who died in Him are raised together.
  There is no separate resurrection just for martyrs.

All of these passages suggest that judgment is a single, final event, not a two-step process separated by a 1,000-year interval.

What Do These Discrepancies Mean?

These inconsistencies in Revelation 19–20 raise several questions about the coherence of the narrative:

• Why are there two moments of destructionfor the wicked?

• If everyone is killed in Revelation 19, who is left to be deceivedin Revelation 20?

• Why are there two distinct resurrections?
  Elsewhere in the Bible, all the dead are raised simultaneously, but here only martyrs are raised first.

• Why is the final judgment separated by 1,000 years?
  In the rest of Scripture, judgment follows resurrection immediately.

These discrepancies suggest that Revelation 20 does not follow the traditional biblical modelof the end, but instead introduces a different, more complex vision that is harder to harmonize with other biblical texts.

Is Revelation 20 a Later Addition?

Some of these issues have led scholars to speculate whether Revelation 20 was originally a separate section, later incorporated into the narrative of Revelation. Arguments in favor of this hypothesis include:

• Chapter 19 already offers a complete ending, where evil is destroyed and Christ is victorious.

• Chapter 20 introduces a new stage without a clear transition, almost like an alternative scenario.

• The concept of the millennium is not found elsewhere in the Bible, suggesting it was not a central doctrine.

If Revelation 20 is a later insertion or a compilation of different traditions, then it must be interpreted with caution, keeping in mind that it does not perfectly alignwith the rest of the Bible.

Premillennial Incoherence

The premillennial interpretation of Revelation 19–20 claims to resolve the apparent complexity of these chapters by introducing a 1,000-year period, known as the "millennium,"during which Christ physically reigns on earth, and the saints govern alongside Him. At the end of this period, Satan is released for a short time and manages to gather a global rebellion, the number of rebels being described as “as the sand of the sea”(Revelation 20:8). This revolt is crushed by God, followed by the final judgment.

Although this model may initially seem to harmonize the events described in Revelation 19–20, a deeper analysis reveals a series of fatal contradictions that cannot be coherently explained.

1. The Problem of Christ’s Effectiveness During the Millennium

Premillennialism assumes that for 1,000 years, Christ personally reigns on earth with absolute authority. During this time, people are subject to divine laws, and the glorified saints rule the world with Him. But a major problem arises: at the end of the millennium, the moment Satan is released, people rebel en masse. The biblical text does not say that just a few individuals are deceived—it clearly says their number is “like the sand of the sea”(Revelation 20:8).

This detail raises an essential question: How is it possible that a 1,000-year period under the perfect rule of Christ produces a greater spiritual failure than the 2,000 years of Christianity, where people believed in Him without His physical presence? If today millions of people choose to remain loyal to God without Christ being physically visible and without a theocratic government, how can it be explained that after 1,000 years of direct reign, the majority of the world sides with Satan? This is a major contradiction within premillennialism: the millennium should not produce a greater spiritual failure than the current era of the Church.

2. The Problem of Free Will and the “Final Test”

Premillennialists argue that the release of Satan serves to “test people’s loyalty” after 1,000 years of peace and Christ’s rule. But this explanation raises more problems than it solves:

• If people have lived under Christ’s perfect government, why is another test needed?

• How can Satan have such influence in such a short time after 1,000 years of divine order?

• If the majority of the world chooses evil, what does that say about the effectiveness of the millennium?

The Bible already shows us that humanity is being tested now. Humans have been subject to free will since creation, and history has already demonstrated mankind’s corruption. What purpose does a final "exam" serveif humanity has already had every possible chance?

3. An Unnecessary Stage in God’s Plan

If we remove the premillennial framework, the order of events in Revelation 19–20 becomes much clearer:

• Christ returns and destroys evil (Revelation 19)

• There is one universal resurrection and one final judgment(Revelation 20:11–15)

• The new heavens and new earth are established (Revelation 21)

In contrast, premillennialism introduces an unnecessary intermediary phase that changes nothing about the final outcome, but creates multiple contradictions. If people rebel anyway after 1,000 years, then the millennium brings no real benefit in God’s plan.

Conclusion

The premillennial interpretationof Revelation 19–20 may appear at first glance to be a clear solution for organizing end-time events. In reality, it creates a greater theological paradox than the problems it tries to solve.

The idea of a literal millennium introduces an unnecessary stage, creates a fundamental contradiction regarding the effectiveness of Christ’s reign, and fails to logically explain why the majority of people would rebel after a perfect government.

Thus, the premillennial interpretation is not only unconvincing—it collapses under its own incoherence.

The Text and Its Fundamental Problem

The Absence of Any Reference to Revelation 20:1–7 in the Writings of Irenaeus

Irenaeus of Lyon, in the 2nd century, is one of the earliest theologians to support the idea of a literal millennium, based on Jewish traditions and interpretations of the Old Testament. However, in his work Against Heresies, although he discusses a 1,000-year reign of Christ, he never cites Revelation 20:1–7. This raises a fundamental question:

• If this passage existed in its current form, why doesn’t Irenaeus use it to support his theology?
• If he didn’t have access to it, this suggests that the passage about the Millennium is either a later addition, or it was not included in all copies of Revelation circulating in the 2nd century. It is worth noting that the earliest existing manuscripts of Revelation today date from the 4th century.

Conclusion
Revelation 20:1–7 introduces a series of clear contradictions with other biblical passages, both regarding the final judgment and the overall order of eschatological events. More seriously, its absence from the early writings of Christian theologians, including Irenaeus, suggests that this passage may be a later interpolation, created to support a developing millenarian theology.

If the passage had been original, Irenaeus would have had every reason to cite it—especially since he was one of the most prominent advocates of a literal millennium. The fact that he doesn’t indicates either that the text did not exist in its current form, or that it was not recognized as part of Revelationat that time. This discrepancy raises fundamental questions about the authenticity of the textand the way in which the biblical canon was formed and modifiedover time.