Well you see what you see, but all I can see in the above is more than a little eisegesis, and it naturally ignores the purpose given in Revelation 20 for casting Satan into the pit.
Well... I could not have shown you more clearly that Rev 20 shows TWO DIFFERENT BEASTS.
One WHILE Satan is bound in the Bottomless Pit
One AFTER Satan is loosened from the Pit.
Are you actually telling me YOU CANNOT SEE THIS REALITY?
Rev 20:1-2
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of 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,
Rev 20:7-8
And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 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.
The thousand years when Satan is bound in the Pit represents the THIRD BEAST or the Christian Kingdom of the Church Age...
this is when the Saints "lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years" during the AMillennial Kingdom.
AFTER that thousand years, AFTER Satan is loosened is the FOURTH BEAST... also known as (1) the Revelation Beast
and (2) the Great Tribulation and (3) the reign of the Anti-Christ during (4) Satan's "Little Season".
I suspect your PROBLEM is you do not understand the CONTEXT of Scripture is there are FOUR BEASTS
(1) The Pre-Flood Kingdom (Adam to Noah)
(2) The Jewish "Kingdom of Heaven" [Mat 22:2]
(3) The Christian "Kingdom of Heaven" [Mat 13, in 7 verses]
(4) The Great Tribulation "Kingdom of Heaven" [Mat 25:1]
When you do not understand the CONTEXT of the History of Man...
you will not be able to understand the MEANING of Scriptures because
you will CONFLATE the different "Beasts".
In any case, Rev 20 shows TWO BEASTS... one WHILE Satan is bound and one AFTER he is loosened.
If you cannot "see" that reality then you can never understand Rev 20.
Ephesians 2:2 tells us about Satan's influence over the societies of this world, this age. Satan is called the god of this age in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 where Paul states that "even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing, among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God."
Satan being "bound" in the Bottomless Pit demonstrates a LIMITATION.
It does not mean that Satan is in a PHYSICAL PIT with PHYSICAL CHAINS...
It means Satan cannot prevent all of "His Sheep" from being found and saved
during the Great Commission of the Church Age.
You cannot just ASSUME you can DEFINE the way the Bible uses words...
that is ridiculous. You must HARMONIZE ALL RELATED PASSAGES before
you can PRETEND to understand Biblical Truth.
Ephesians 2 harmonizes with what I explained above.
Your "interpretation" of Ephesians 2 is contradicted by MANY passages.
Jesus called Satan "the ruler of this world" and the New Testament calls him "the prince of the power of the air who works in the sons of disobedience",
Satan is the ruler of this world... during the Church Age.
But he is NOT the ruler of those "Sheep" that "overcome" by the Blood of the Lamb.
Are you telling me you cannot differentiate between those Satan rules and those who "lived and reigned with Christ"
during the Great Commission of the Church Age (the THIRD BEAST on earth)?
You REALLY cannot differentiate between the saved "wheat" in the church and the unsaved "tares" in the church..
and all the lost souls OUTSIDE the church? REALLY
are told will give the beast and false prophet his seat, power and great authority (Revelation Chapter 13).
Sigh...
Once again I will remind you that you cannot understand the MEANING of passages when you cannot discern their CONTEXT.
The False Prophet... (1) the Revelation Beast, (2) Daniel's Fourth Beast, (3) the Great Tribulation, (4) the RULE of the Anti-Christ
(5) DURING SATAN'S "LITTLE SEASON"... these all happen AFTER Satan is "loosened" from the Pit.
The Great Commission of the Church Age, when the Saints "lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years"
represents the THIRD BEAST on earth.... this happens WHILE SATAN IS BOUND
Are you telling me that you cannot comprehend the DIFFERENCE between these TWO DIFFERENT BEASTS?
One WHILE Satan is in the Pit and one AFTER Satan is released? Really... you cannot "see" the difference?
The saints are warned to be weary of his wiles and to resist him, and to put on the full armor of God because "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood" ( John 12:31; 1 Peter 5:8-9; Ephesians 6:11-12; Revelation 2:9-10 & Revelation 2:13; 1 Thessalonians 2:18; James 4:7 ).
Yes, of course the Saints are warned about the spiritual warfare during the CHRISTIAN KINGDOM of the THIRD BEAST.
However the NATURE of the FOURTH BEAST is that (1) it happens AFTER all the Saints are "sealed" (saved) - Rev 7:1-3
and (2) the Anti-Christ and Satan RULE over the Saints... hint: Great Tribulation.
Dan 7:21-2
I beheld, and the same [Little] Horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High;
and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
Dan 7:25
And he [the Little Horn] shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High,
and think to change times and laws: and they [the Last Saints] shall be given into his hand [he RULES OVER THEM]
until a time and times and the dividing of time. [3.5 "times" = the duration of the Great Tribulation]
There is also nothing in the entire Bible that points us to two different beasts being spoken of in Revelation 13:1-10; Revelation 19:19-21 and Revelation 20:4.
No... there is nothing in the Bible that teaches two different Beasts in Rev 13 and Rev 19.... I never said there was....
you are constructing a STRAWMAN argument which proves NOTHING.
However, the Bible certainly DOES teach of two different Beasts in Rev 20...
ONE BEAST while Satan is bound in the Pit for one thousand years and the Saints "live and reigned with Christ"... in the THIRD BEAST
ONE BEAST after Satan is loosened from the Pit to RULE over the Saints during the FOURTH BEAST
Go back and read the top of this comment again and again and again
if you (honestly) cannot differentiate between the TWO BEASTS of Rev 20
'
The only way you have managed to do so is by adjusting your thesis to fit in with an Amillennialist understanding of Revelation 20. I've been attempting to follow what you believe regarding the identities of Daniel's four beasts but you lose me completely when you add Amillennialist statements to what you re saying so that your four beasts comply with Amillennialism.
The A-Millennial Kingdom is the thousand years when the Saints "lived and reigned with Christ".
This is NOT a NEW TEACHING. The Protestant Church has understood the Millennial Kingdom = the Church Age
since the Reformation. The Catholic and Orthodox churches have always taught this reality since they began,
because the A-Millennial position is the ONLY position that is Biblically valid.
Jim
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