Quoting from the linked article:
In this concluding section of the Apocalypse, the doom of Satan and his retinue and the renewal of creation are depicted. It begins with Satan's binding.
How was Satan bound during the time of Christ's first advent? On this question much confusion has arisen. On first glance, one could easily get the impression that Christ's Second Coming is being spoken of in these first three verses of Revelation twenty. Nonetheless, upon deeper reflection, these verses can be seen as clearly illustrating in symbolic form what occurred at Christ's first coming. On this question, many authors have added their valuable insights.
The coming of Christ brought also the coming of the proclamation of the Gospel: "The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the Kingdom of God is being preached" (Luke 16:16, NIV).
When Christ sent His disciples out, they returned saying:
"Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." He [Christ] replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:17b-20)
Author G. R. Beasley-Murray (pp. 284-285) ties this all together by saying:
Admittedly a great chain is used to bind the powerful enemy, but the chain is a symbol for the word of God, which reduces Satan to impotence. As with the hosts of evil (19:19ff) so with their leader: 'A word shall quickly slay him' (Luther)
The crucial question also arises: "If Satan has been bound all this time since Christ's first coming because of the preaching of the Gospel, why is there so much deception still evident in the world today?" There is more than one possible answer to this observation.
Chapter III: A.2.
What does the binding of Satan entail? First, we need to be sure we understand the
context of the statement. Siegbert W. Becker (p. 298) has this to say on the matter:
The context tells us that it is a chain which prevents the devil from deceiving the nations any longer, that is, it prevents, or hinders, the devil in his attempts to lead men astray into eternal damnation.
From the Bible we know of only one thing that can do this. It is the preaching of the gospel, the 'Good News" that the Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil (I Jn 3:8). This is to be proclaimed to 'every creature' (Mk 16:15) and to 'all nations' (Mt 28:19). What John said in his description of the sequel to the 'war in heaven' (cp 12:7-12) is surely apropos here, namely, 'They won the victory over him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony' (12:11). So long as the gospel is preached to the nations, the devil will be hindered in his attempt to deceive the nations. The more widely and the more purely the gospel is proclaimed, the shorter Satan's chain becomes.
Second,
it is needful to note that the word translated "nations" in Revelation 20:3 is ethna, the Greek word used for the non-Jewish peoples,
that is, the Gentiles. Here the thought is that now has come a time when the Gentiles would also be given the Word of God freely.
Such a time commenced at the time when Christ began the New Testament Church and it began to understand and fulfill Christ's directive in Matthew 28 to go into ALL the world and preach the Gospel.
Philip Edgcumbe Hughes' comments are helpful here:
Prior to the incarnation, the nations had been permitted to remain in the darkness and ignorance induced by Satan's deception. They had 'walked in their own ways' (Acts 14:16). In striking contrast to this, Israel alone of all the peoples on earth had been entrusted with the oracles of God (Rom. 3:2); they had the knowledge and the enlightenment that God's revelation brings. . . . No longer, then, are the nations left in the shadows of superstition; for
God's salvation has been 'prepared in the presence of all peoples' and Christ is the light of divine revelation to the nations as well as the glory of God's people Israel (Luke 2:30-32). And no longer are the people of God to keep themselves separate; for their commission is now to proclaim the gospel message to the farthest parts of the earth so that the fullness of the nations may be brought in (Mt. 24:14; 28:19f.; Rom. 10:12f.; 11:25).
When St. Paul went to Athens and stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus, after pointing to their altar TO AN UNKNOWN GOD, he makes this amazing statement: "
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, BUT NOW HE COMMANDS ALL PEOPLE EVERYWHERE TO REPENT" (Acts 17:30, NIV)
And in like manner to the Gentiles encountered by Paul and Barnabas at Lystra (who thought that Paul and Barnabas were gods come down in human form), the apostles told them: "
In the past, He [God] let all nations [the ethna the Gentiles] go their own way" (Acts 14:16)
St. Paul also goes into great depth in Romans eleven showing how God grafted the Gentiles in the "cultivated olive tree" (Rom. 11:24, NIV), after part of Israel proved itself unfaithful due to unbelief. ~
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