Devotional 29 April 2025

April 29, 2025 • Steve Torres

Revelation 20:1-3.jpg

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.” (Revelation 20:1-3, ESV)

The Apostle John, in apocalyptic vision, sees an angel descend from heaven—an image resonant with authority and finality. In hand, the angel carries not only a key but a chain, symbols of divine permission and restraint. The target: “that ancient serpent,” the deceiver of old, Satan himself.

Jesus alluded to this moment during His earthly ministry. In Matthew 12:28–29, He declared that the kingdom had come upon the people, and then added, “How can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?” Christ bound Satan at His first coming, making way for the church’s advance. This isn’t a future hope alone—it is a present reality. Christ, crucified and risen, has already triumphed.

This binding is not annihilation. It is restriction, “so that he might not deceive the nations any longer,” it is a contrast to the Great Commission of the Church, to “disciple the nations” (Matthew 28:19-20). The great lie that once blanketed the earth has been pierced by the light of the gospel. Satan is not free to deceive at will—his reign is curtailed, his power diminished, his defeat sealed.

And yet, the battle rages on. The kingdom of Christ moves like Israel through Canaan, armed not with swords of steel, but with the Word of God—the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). The church is not retreating; she is advancing. “The gates of hell shall not prevail” (Matthew 16:18). Gates are defensive structures, but they cannot withstand the siege of Christ’s church.

There are no innocent bystanders in this war. Romans 1 reminds us that people suppress truth, not from ignorance, but rebellion, a restatement if Jesus’s words, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Matthew 12:30).

Violence, persecution, and slander are the last resorts of an already-bound enemy. Where the truth of Christ is proclaimed, evil is undone. As Isaiah 54:17 declares, “No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed.” The dragon is bound, the chains are divine, and the advance of the gospel is unstoppable—until the fullness of God’s plan is revealed.

-steve