Catholic understanding of revelation chapter 20

[Michie]

Revelation 20

Satan bound for 1000 years. Christian martyrs reign with Christ for 1000 years. Satan is released after 1000 years and his final revolt. Then the judgement at the great white throne.

What is the Catholic understanding of these events? I rarely hear Catholics discussing Revelation except when comparing the heavenly worship described in the book to the worship at Mass.

Can anyone clue me in?

 

[Rhamiel]

generally the 1,000 year reign of Christ and the Devil being bound is seen as the age we are in now
with Christ ruling through His Church

then chapter 20:7 talks about Satan being unbound and deceiving the nations
this can be seen as the Great Apostasy and the rise of the Anti-Christ

 

[Michie]

Is there s Catholic source I can refer to? I'd like more detail.

generally the 1,000 year reign of Christ and the Devil being bound is seen as the age we are in now
with Christ ruling through His Church

then chapter 20:7 talks about Satan being unbound and deceiving the nations
this can be seen as the Great Apostasy and the rise of the Anti-Christ

 

[LivingWordUnity]

Excerpts from St. Bede, The Explanation of the Apocalypse (circ. A.D. 710-716), ISBN 978-1500524357:

4. judgment. He indicates that which is done in the thousand years in which Satan is bound. For the Church, which in Christ will sit on twelve thrones to judge, now sits and judges, seeing that she has obtained to hear from her King, “whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.”

souls. That which he is to say afterwards is understood, “they reigned with Christ a thousand years.” The Church therefore reigns with Christ in the living and in the dead. For “to this end,” as the Apostle says, “Christ died, that He might be Lord both of the living and the dead;” and for this reason he has mentioned the souls of the martyrs alone, that they chiefly reign after death, who even unto death have contended for the truth.

worshipped. We ought to understand this both of the living and of the dead. For they who are still alive in this mortal flesh, as well as they who are departed, even now reign with Christ, through all the interval which is signified by the number of a thousand years, in a certain manner which is congruous with this present time.

5. the rest. Whosoever have not heard the voice of the Son of God, and passed to life from death, during all that time in which the first resurrection takes place, that is, the resurrection of souls, in the second resurrection, which is the resurrection of the flesh, will assuredly pass with the flesh itself into the second death, that is, into eternal torments.

first resurrection. That certainly is the first resurrection in which we rise again through baptism, as the Apostle says, “If ye have risen with Christ, seek the things which are above.” For as the first death in this life is through sins, since “the soul that sinneth, it shall die,” so also the first resurrection is in this life through remission of sins.

6. Blessed. That is, he who has kept the state of being born again.

saints. Another version has “priests of God and of Christ,” and it is not said of bishops only and of presbyters, who properly are called “priests” in the Church. But as we are all called Christs because of the mystical chrism, so are we all called priests, because we are members of the one Priest, of Whom the Apostle Peter says, “a holy people, a royal priesthood.”

reign. The Spirit when He wrote this, declared that the Church would reign a thousand years, that is, unto the end of the world; and a doubt might arise from this. For that it is concerning a perpetual kingdom is manifest.

7. finished. By “finished” he intended a part by the whole. For he will be loosed in such a manner that there will remain the three years and six months of the last conflict. But apart from this figure, the time is rightly said to be ended. For so small a remnant is not to be taken into account, when seven hundred years, and as many as God wills, are called by the Apostle “an hour”.​

 

[Linet Kihonge]

Enough!!!

 

[Michie]

What's with the sarcasm?

JESUS!!! If that is true then that means,

• The first resurrection has happened: Revelations 20:5 - are you sure there are missing bodies in the grave and DON'T Tell me it was Spiritual; If the LORD resurrected in his Glorified body and Up to DATE there's still no evidence of his physical body then it should be the same with the resurrected ones.
• People have received the mark of the Beast! So what is the Mark of the BEAST!!! (Oh, it 's invisible)
• The Sun stopped giving its light! No wonder the sun stopped SHINING!
• The Moon is Brighter than ever before.
• There should be Christians who were caught up in the air when Jesus Came!
• Stars fell from Heaven (or was it famous people)

Oh MY! I MISSED IT!!! DAm!!!

 

[Rhamiel]

I just kind of skimmed through this
but maybe this will help

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10307a.htm

 

[Hank77]

generally the 1,000 year reign of Christ and the Devil being bound is seen as the age we are in now
with Christ ruling through His Church

This is amillenniumism which I do believe as well.

 

[Rhamiel]

Stars fell from Heaven (or was it famous people)

well that part is true, we have had many famous and influential people fall into Heresy and Apostasy
dragging others, sometimes entire nations, with them

 

[Rhamiel]

This is amillenniumism which I do believe as well.

that is the view of the Catholic Church
I believe that the Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutherans agree with the amillennialist view
but I can not really speak for them

 

[Sword of the Lord]

JESUS!!! If that is true then that means,

• The first resurrection has happened: Revelations 20:5 - are you sure there are missing bodies in the grave and DON'T Tell me it was Spiritual; If the LORD resurrected in his Glorified body and Up to DATE there's still no evidence of his physical body then it should be the same with the resurrected ones.
• People have received the mark of the Beast! So what is the Mark of the BEAST!!! (Oh, it 's invisible)
• The Sun stopped giving its light! No wonder the sun stopped SHINING!
• The Moon is Brighter than ever before.
• There should be Christians who were caught up in the air when Jesus Came!
• Stars fell from Heaven (or was it famous people)

Oh MY! I MISSED IT!!! DAm!!!

Sounds like one of my drunken rants.

 

[LivingWordUnity]

There's also a really long explanation of it in my Ignatius Catholic Study Bible. It's too long for me to type out on here. But here's another commentary on it: The Revelation to St. John (The Apocalypse)

 

[Linet Kihonge]

Revelations 20: 4-6, "I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

Wrath on those that Worshipped the Beast
Revelations 16: 18 - 21 "Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath.20Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. 21From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds,a fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.

The largest hailstone ever recorded was about 5 pounds!!!

Christians will have to rise from the Dead as Christ
I Corinthians 15: 20-24, "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.23But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.

Christians who will be in the LORD will participate in his Second Coming

1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18, "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Lord's Promise to the Apostles

John 14:1-4, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God ; believe also in me.2My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.4You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Where the LORD is

Hebrews 4:14, "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess."

There must be something supernatural that has happened before this TIME!

 

[Linet Kihonge]

Sounds like one of my drunken rants.

THANKS!!!

 

[Michie]

Seriously. Join the conversation respectfully. There is no need for the rancor in your posts. It would be much more interesting that way.

Revelations 20: 4-6, "I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

Wrath on those that Worshipped the Beast
Revelations 16: 18 - 21 "Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath.20Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. 21From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds,a fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.

The largest hailstone ever recorded was about 5 pounds!!!

Christians will have to rise from the Dead as Christ
I Corinthians 15: 20-24, "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.23But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.

Christians who will be in the LORD will participate in his Second Coming

1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18, "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Lord's Promise to the Apostles

John 14:1-4, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God ; believe also in me.2My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.4You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Where the LORD is

Hebrews 4:14, "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess."

There must be something supernatural that has happened before this TIME!

 

[Linet Kihonge]

Seriously. Join the conversation respectfully. There is no need for the rancor in your posts. It would be much more interesting that way.

I'm very SORRY! I just thought that the end has already come doesn't sound like the end times I Know

 

[LivingWordUnity]

I'm very SORRY! I just thought that the end has already come doesn't sound like the end times I Know

Catholics aren't supposed to believe that the end has already come. Here's something that I think explains it:

Thoughts to Make One Lose Sleep by Dr. Scott Hahn: St. Thomas on Jerome in the introduction to his commentary on the Psalms: “Prophecies are sometimes uttered about things which existed at the time in question, but are not uttered primarily with reference to them, but in so far as they are a figure of things to come. Therefore, the Holy Ghost has provided that when such prophecies are uttered, some details should be inserted which go beyond the actual thing done so that the mind may be raised to the thing signified.”

So the destruction of the Temple is the type of the end of the world. Israel’s Old Testament history becomes a proto-type of the history of every nation. The pattern: conversion, renewal, subsequent lapse, apostasy, and eventual judgment and destruction. This will happen to every nation, including our own! Thus, in verse 11, 12 and 13, within the judgment of the Old Testament Kingdom, there is a foreshadowing of the judgment of all nations. The incident points beyond itself to the end of the ages. Thus, there is a jump from middle history to the end of history.

(Source)
.​

 

[Linet Kihonge]

Please don't throw any stones, I DELETED THE MESSAGE!!!

 

[Michie]

I'm very SORRY! I just thought that the end has already come doesn't sound like the end times I Know

I don't think anything posted says the end has already come. So what your view?

 

[Linet Kihonge]

Catholics aren't supposed to believe that the end has already come.

How comes?