Revelation 20:2

Revelation 20:2. And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan. This dragon we have already met at chaps. Revelation 12:3; Revelation 12:9; Revelation 13:2; Revelation 13:4; Revelation 16:13. He is the first of the three great enemies of the Church, who gives his authority to the beast, and is worshipped by the ungodly. The description corresponds to that at Revelation 12:9, the only difference being that now we read not that he ‘is called' but that he ‘is' the devil. Whether this change may be owing to the fact that by this time Satan has been made known in his actual working, whereas then he was only introduced to us, it may be difficult to say; it is of more importance to observe that the last mention of him identifies him with the first.

And bound him a thousand years. The ‘binding' is more than a mere limitation of Satan's power. It puts a stop to that special evil working of his which is in the Seer's eye. The meaning of the thousand years we shall afterwards inquire into.