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"Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of
God..."
Part 219
THE BINDING OF SATAN
(continued)
“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, and cast him
into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he
should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be
fulfilled” (Rev. 20:1-3).
The
seer beholds an angel coming down out of heaven, carrying a key and a great
chain. With the chain he binds the
dragon. Then he opens the door to the
abyss, thrusts his prisoner in, locks the door over him, and, for extra
security, seals it, so that it cannot be secretly
Of
the dragon, the ancient serpent, it is expressly said that he is Satan. And he was now bound by the angel for a
thousand years. Let us place this
picture before us vividly, for John says he saw it; we therefore can also form
a living mental image of the same.
Therefore, right before his eyes, while John was viewing the picture,
the dragon, namely the devil, was actually being bound by the angel with the
chain, so that he could neither stir nor move.
This John sees! The fact that the
dragon was bound a thousand years could naturally only be communicated to John
as information revealed within himself by the Spirit; for the picture did not
last a thousand years. I have experienced
the same thing when the Lord has spoken to me in a dream or a vision and I
simply knew or inherently understood something about the vision that was not
communicated to me by anything I saw in the scenes shown me. If we ask — Was Satan actually being bound at
the precise moment in which John saw this?
Our answer is — No! For John was
not being shown a one-time event to transpire in the spirit-realm, either past
or future, but he was shown a great spiritual reality to be experienced in all
of the Lord’s people as they walk in the
spirit and grow up into Christ. It was
just a symbolic picture of that. And the
thing that matters concerning the picture, in so far as it is a revelation of
God’s working within us, is not just the binding itself, but the binding for a
thousand years! The deep mystery is that
this reveals to us not only the fact of Satan being totally bound in the abyss
of our earth, within our heart, but also the HOW of that binding!
Many
commentators place as much importance upon the binding of Satan as they do upon
the thousand years, since they place both out in the future, believing that so
far it cannot be perceived that Satan has ever been bound, therefore the
blessed time must still be in the future.
They paint themselves a picture of their future thousand-year kingdom in
a truly carnal manner, a kingdom of magnificent rest and blessed peace here
upon earth, free from every influence of the devil. Thus, as John sees the dragon lying
motionless before his eyes, bound with a chain, even so Satan would be bound in
reality, in somewhat of a physical and localized way, so that he could move
neither hand nor foot, and as a consequence, his devilish influence would have
to cease. The question follows — Would
just binding the devil make men
holy? And, if God was going to bind
the devil so there could be righteousness and peace on the earth, why then did
He allow the devil in the garden in the first place! Would it not have been better to just bind
Satan back there in that long ago beginning and save the world all the
heartache, pain, and treachery men have endured for six long millenniums! Has God now learned something from His
mistake in permitting the serpent into
The
thing we need to see in order to understand the deep mystery the Holy
Spirit is teaching those who have eyes
to see and hearts to understand is the great truth that God has had a divine purpose in Satan’s activity on
earth, in the lives of men; and when that purpose is fulfilled then Satan is bound. The same principle is true in our natural
lives. If I am building a house I will buy
certain tools to use in my work. But
when the house is finished, I will either lay aside, discard, give away, or
sell those tools. The job is done, they
have fulfilled their purpose, therefore there is a change in their status.
Did
GOD create the devil? Well, we know he
did not create himself! Nor did he “just
happen.” The reason some have held the
view that Satan was once a beautiful and powerful archangel in heaven who was
lifted up in pride and somehow turned
himself into the devil is because it seems to relieve God of the
responsibility for evil, sin, sorrow, and death in the world. That “all
things are of God” and that God Himself “created all things” is declared again and again throughout the
scriptures. Did not the Lord say to
Pharaoh, that wicked man of rebellion
against all that was of God, “Even for this same purpose have I RAISED THEE UP,
that I might show my power in thee, and
that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth” (
Why,
oh why can men not believe the simple, unvarnished word of God? Ah, we have God’s own word for it — His
positive statement that He creates all things, including all the so-called evil things as well as the good
things. “That they may know from the
rising of the sun, and from the west, that
there is none beside me. I am the
Lord, and there is none else. I form the
light, and create the darkness: I make peace, and create evil. I THE LORD DO
As
soon as this truth dawns within your enlightened heart, the knowledge of whence came the serpent will speedily
follow. The word of God is certain and
unmistakable! The inspired record
infallibly declares, “Now the serpent was
more subtle that any beast of the
field which THE LORD GOD HAD MADE” (Gen. 3:1).
Two things are here revealed: the nature of the serpent is a beastly (sensual and ferocious) nature —
and GOD MADE HIM! Suppose that instead
of trying to explain this passage in harmony with some man-made creed, we let
all creeds go and wait upon the spirit of
We
flounder a bit in our understanding of these things, but as time passes and the
Holy Spirit takes the things of God and reveals them unto us, we begin to
understand that in all the universe a thing is a thing, and we understand what
it is, ONLY BECAUSE IT HAS ITS OPPOSITE.
Good without the knowledge of evil can scarcely be called good at all,
for it has no opposite to be contrasted with, and thereby understood. Who could possibly speak of the day if night had
Ah,
beloved, there is purpose in affliction. There is purpose
in trial. There is purpose in temptation. There is purpose
in suffering. There is purpose in pain. There is purpose
in darkness. There is purpose in evil. Yes, my brother, my sister, there is purpose in the existence and work of
Satan! Without this understanding all
the work of God throughout all the ages becomes a hit and miss, a trial and
error affair unworthy of our omniscient and omnipotent God! If we can realize that behind the acts of
Satan is the mighty hand of God to bring
forth the gold of His divine nature from our earthen vessels, we can rejoice
with Job who said, “He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold,” (Job 23:10), and
exclaim with David, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn
Thy statutes” (Ps. 119:7). When we
begin to see the good that comes from
the assaults of Satan in our lives, and the result of our warfare with him, we
are able to appreciate all the more the greatness of our God and the
A
boxer has his punching bags and sparring partners, with whom he spends hours
every day. These OPPOSING FORCES are
Satan
is not a physical being. Therefore, he
cannot be bound by any ordinary or physical means. Rocks and dirt cannot confine him inside the
earth, nor can he be drowned in the
depths of the sea. The fact that he has
continued since
In
the Revelation we see the same overcoming power operative within the saints,
within those who grow up unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ. “And I heard a loud voice saying
in heaven, Now is come salvation, and
strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the
accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God
day and night” (Rev. 12:10). This is
spoken in connection with the casting down of Satan in the lives of God’s manchild company, the manifest sons of God. Just as Jesus said of His own experience,
“Now is the prince of this world cast
out,” so His many brethren come to that place of salvation, strength, and kingdom
power where they too can confess, “Now
is the accuser of our brethren cast down!” Aren’t you glad! “Behold, I give you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the
power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Lk. 10:19). “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder:
the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet” (Ps. 91:13). “Greater is HE that is in you than HE that is in the
world!” (I Jn. 4:4). The binding of
Satan is a primary New Testament teaching, revealed and explained by the
firstborn Son of God Himself. It is too
precious and powerful to be laid in storage as a static creed to be fulfilled
in some limited time and on behalf of a “lucky” few people in some future
day. It’s NOT about some future date on
the calendar! It’s about the LIFE AND
Bear
with me for a moment while I point out that the carnal mind is adept at
“reading into” the scriptures many things that are not there. We must ask the question in relation to our
E.
Schuler relates the following history. The
year was 1941.
I
think of many people, maybe you, your guns are pointed in the wrong direction!
Millions of Christians have their guns pointed at a devil outside of
them, a devil who rides the air and roams the nations, attacking from
without. We have our guns pointed at this devil without
and right out of the jungle of the carnal mind he slips up on us from behind
and conquers us! If he doesn’t come
with the temptation to commit some gross sin of the flesh, or some weird
cultish religious
Someone
says, “But, brother Eby, this is not talking about God’s elect, it’s talking
about the devil deceiving the
nations.” If you consider with
reverent honesty the symbolisms of
this book of Revelation you will soon discern that the truth runs deeper than the
surface meaning. Actually, we find that
Satan’s deception works in three realms described as “the nations,” “the
world,” and “the earth.” “That he should
deceive the nations no more” (Rev.
20:3). “And the great dragon was cast
out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world” (Rev. 12:9). “And he shall go out to deceive the nations
which are in the four quarters of the
earth” (Rev. 20:8). Those who read
these lines must certainly see that the book of Revelation is sent to the church symbolized by the seven churches
of
Throughout
the book of Revelation we have encountered various realms where people live in
their spiritual experience — the abyss, the sea, earth, and heaven. And now we meet another term: “The great
dragon…deceiveth the whole world” (Rev.
12:9). It is the Greek word kosmos meaning “orderly arrangement” or
“system of things.” It refers to the
present order or system of things upon earth — the world systems of man. It includes such things as culture, religion,
politics, economics, business, education, law enforcement, military, science,
government, entertainment, and various other institutions and orders that
govern the lives of men and nations. The
Holy Spirit testifies that “we know that we are of God, and the
whole world lieth in the wicked
one,” and “the great dragon was cast out…which deceiveth the whole world.”
Can we not see by this that everyone
who lives by the standards of this present world system and order is deceived!
Does that mean they are all bad people? Not at all!
There are millions of decent, honest, hard working, law abiding, good,
loving, even God-fearing people who live by the norms of their culture,
education, religion, ethics, and society.
They live and think on an earthly, carnal, worldly plane and have
The
religious systems are deceived. The educational systems are deceived.
The political and governmental realms are deceived. Even the world of
science and technology is deceived! I can prove these points and many more,
but that is not our purpose at this time.
Suffice it to say, the carnal mind, which is the seed of the serpent,
with all it produces, is deceived! But what does this mean for the church,
for the body of Christ, for the bride of the Lamb and the sons of God? It means that all of the Lord’s people who
are worldly minded are deceived.
All who are earthly in
their living are deceived. And
all who identify with the nations rather
than with the heavens are deceived.
And it is right here within our thinking, in our living,
and in our sense of identity that Satan must be bound! There is no doubt about it — when God’s
great plan and purpose for mankind is fully consummated Satan shall be bound in
the heart of every man everywhere. What
a glorious expectation! But at this
present time God is first working out His purpose in His FIRSTFRUIT
COMPANY. All that shall ultimately be
wrought out in all men must first be accomplished in the firstfruits of His redemption. The “world,” the “nations,” and the “earth”
in which Satan is being bound today is
within God’s sons in every nation under heaven throughout the whole world and
in all the earth! Oh, the wonder of it!
It
is interesting to stand in the still darkness of the early morning and watch
the
The
disciples were greatly perplexed when Jesus died. But then He arose the conquering Christ! The fact of the Christ’s resurrection is
historic. The man who disputes it
disputes the best established fact in history.
He was seen by those who had despaired of His existence. He ate with them. He drank with them. He walked with them in a bloodless body. He talked to the despondent and
broken-hearted apostles, the eleven, for nearly forty days. It was impossible to be deceived. He spoke, and was seen and heard on one
occasion by five hundred, the most of whom were living at the time that
The
Day dawned, the shadows were fleeing away, darkness dispelled. We would but deceive ourselves were we to conclude
that the conflict of the ages between the seed of the woman and the seed of the
serpent, between Christ and Satan, between truth and error, between light and
darkness, between life and death has ended.
The second thousand years is drawing to a close since Jesus came, died,
conquered death, and poured out His life-giving Spirit and, blessed be His
name! He pursues His mission still and reigns in majesty over His kingdom by
entering into these temples of clay, and filling our spirits and souls and
bodies with His own eternal presence and power, making us one with Him, members
of His very own body, of His flesh, and of His bone, and of His blood. He is redeeming a vast company of sons in
whom He is raising up His mighty Spirit, inworking His glorious mind and
nature, inscribing upon the heart His Law of Life. And the hour is wonderfully nigh at hand when
there shall be a
A
new Day has dawned! Thank God, a few of
His chosen ones have arisen to behold the dawn and to drink in the intoxicating
freshness of the morn. A new age has
arrived. When the age of Law ended, a
new Day was born and the church appeared from the womb of the morning. Now the age of the
This is the angel come down from heaven,
having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand! This is
the angel with the chain who lays hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which
is the Devil and Satan, and binds him a thousand years! This is
the angel which casts him into the bottomless pit, and shuts him up, and sets a
seal upon him, that he should deceive the
nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled! Blessed promises of a mighty
The
message is just this — the serpent, the dragon, the strong man, must be truly bound in our earth before the sons can go forth and “spoil
his kingdom,” in this new Day, bringing blessed
As
the Father unfolds these truth to the inner man, we are able to see that our
Elder Brother, the Lord Jesus Christ, first bound the devil within Himself
before having power to destroy his works in others. “For
the prince of this world cometh, and hath
nothing in me” (Jn. 14:30). The
devil had no place, no base of operation, no foothold, no claim; he had nothing
in Christ because He had bound the
strong man of flesh and carnality within Himself. He is the pattern and example for all those
manifest sons of God who shall reveal and manifest what it means to bind Satan
on this earth! In our
I
hope that we all have become aware that the symbolism of Satan being bound and thrown into the abyss does not
predict a single future event, nor a single past event. It is not a picture of Jesus single-handedly
and eternally defeating the devil on the cross, because for the past two
thousand years the devil has been alive and well within man’s experience. Nor does the binding of Satan point to a
future single and instantaneous event by which Christ will bind Satan on behalf
of all creation. The binding of Satan is
intensely personal and on-going.
It is a parabolic description of the very thing Jesus promised
to His disciples, and which clearly reveals the process. “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on
earth, shall be bound in heaven…” (Mat. 16:19). “And He said unto them, I beheld Satan as
lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and
scorpions, and over all the power of
the enemy…” (Lk. 10:18-19).
Before
closing this message let us
The
next thing we need to see in order to understand the mystery the Spirit would
now unfold in our consciousness is the truth that Satan is not destroyed
by the “thousand years” of being shut up in the abyss while the sons of
God reign upon their thrones. He is only
bound. There
is a vital difference! To be bound and shut up in the pit signifies a restraint
and this restraint is the work of the Holy Spirit. It renders helpless all the works of the
devil making him inactive, limited, and ineffective in our earth, in the abyss
of our heart. The full and final work of
the Holy Ghost fire of God will in due time deal with the devil until there is
no devil anywhere in God’s vast universe, but that is a story which must be
told later. Having bound the devil, the
angel “cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up.” The “bottomless pit” in no way suggests to us
that there is any fire or suffering or torment there, but signifies only the restrictions
and restraints that are imposed upon the satanic activity. Satan is still Satan in the pit, but he is
hedged in by the limits and bounds which the “bottomless pit” represents. He is no longer able to deceive us! And that is no small accomplishment! He was seen cast out of our heavens in
chapter twelve, but now he is effectively bound in our earth — no longer able
to deceive us out of our carnal minds or
fleshly hearts. He is like a vicious dog
on a strong leash securely anchored, or like the angry sea, to which God says,
“Hitherto shalt thou come but no further, and here shall thy proud waves be
stayed” (Job 38:11). He has lost his
deceiving power over us. My, what a
wonderful accomplishment of God that is in our lives! If you, precious friend of mine, are still fearful of being deceived, then Satan
has not yet been bound in your life!
Vast multitudes of Christians have
misunderstood this whole picture of the binding of Satan for a thousand
years. They have assumed that the
thousand years is a literal time period out in the future somewhere, and just
prior to its beginning Jesus would come back to earth and all by Himself grab
hold on Satan and bind him in the pit.
We were going to have nothing to do with it, and then He was going to
give us some marvelous power to rule over the nations. Jesus is the one who does it, true. But He does it working in and through His body
of which we all are members in particular.
The wonderful fact is, Jesus does not today do anything that He does not
do in and through His body! Just as your
head formulates your plans, your body carries them out. Your head does not do anything that it doesn’t
do working through your body. Just so,
Jesus our Head has the plan and the purpose, but He is carrying it out in and
through His body, yea, it is working in and through His body that He binds Satan and casts him into the pit! Binding Satan and shutting him up in the
bottomless pit for a thousand years means nothing other than the sons of God,
the body of Christ, being so filled with revelation, knowledge, understanding,
truth, and the anointing, power, and authority of the Christ, that by the power
of the Christ within we uncover and bring to light every hidden thing in our
earth, every satanic thing that is lurking and hiding in our heart, and by the
wisdom of God crown the Spirit Lord over them all!
Again
— what is the bottomless pit? It is the
unregenerate part of your being, the old
You
see, my beloved, to the natural man the power of fear and sin and death is very
real and strong. But I pray that the
truth and force of what I now proclaim will grip your believing heart! Before the law of the spirit of life in
Christ Jesus the power of sin and death is as nothing. With what ease the angel binds the dragon,
casts him into the pit, shuts him up, and locks him away with the key in his
hand! There is no struggle, no
wrestling, and no battle. Did you not
notice it? How speedily and effectively
it is all performed! O, child of God,
have you not considered that darkness has no power except that which we give to it? “Give no place to the devil.” When
I was a child in south
My
beloved brethren, know ye not that ye are
the light of the world? Brother
Bennie Skinner once gave the following illustration. What if I came into your house at night and
it was totally dark, and I found you standing in the corner saying, “I curse
this darkness, I rebuke this darkness, I command this darkness to go!” I come in and you say, “Brother Bennie,
please join me in prayer. We’re going to
curse this darkness together. We’re
going to
Now,
we have not deviated from our subject.
“And he laid hold on the
dragon…and bound him a thousand
years.” The “thousand years,” as we
have previously explained, is a code-word signifying THE DAY OF THE LORD. “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one
thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand
years as one day” (II Pet. 3:8).
The day of the Lord is the illumination of the presence, glory, and
knowledge of the Lord! Isaiah the
prophet spoke of the day of the Lord, saying, “Arise, shine; for thy light is
come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the
earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and
His glory shall be seen upon thee. And
the nations shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising”
(Isa. 60:1-3). Just as cockroaches
scurry away to hide in darkness when the light is turned on, so the emotions of the soul and the works of the
flesh disappear from before the presence of the glory of the Lord as He arises
in the dawn of His new Day within us. So
long as we are walking in the light of the Lord, which is the day of the Lord;
so long as we are walking in the new creation and as the new creation; so long as we are walking in the life of
Christ within ourselves, we then have no trouble at all from the serpent, no problem
whatsoever with the devil! All who have
experienced wonderful seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, when
the glory of God literally floods our lives with billows of love, joy, power,
blessing, and revelation know experientially that the allure of the world, the
demands of the flesh, and the power of the devil are neutralized, controlled,
subdued, overpowered, confined, fettered, restrained — bound — by the influence of the light and the life of the day of
the Lord within! It is
God is love.
Love always plans for the best
for those who are loved. God so loved us, and God so loved the world that He gave His
Son! Through the marvelous work of
Christ provision has been graciously and fully made whereby every man may be
It
is good for a believer to suppress the dragon within, but far better to have
him destroyed! A family had a favorite
dog. This dog was getting old and
cross. He had been faithful and was
dearly loved by all the family. He was
extremely vicious toward visiting children.
To keep him from biting children who were playing in the yard, they put
a large wooden crate over him to suppress and control him, but he would growl
on the inside. One day he became so
agitated that he escaped from the box and bit one of the children. That night the family had a long consultation
about what to do with old Rover. At last
it was decided — as much as it grieved them — that old Rover must be put to
death. He was taken out into the woods
and shot. He
It
is a sad fact according to experience that many regenerated saints do not
always suppress the dragon. They, at
times, succumb to his stirrings and fall into carnality, or sin, or build some
edifice of religious
If
you want to see this angel that John saw you’re not going to see him with your
natural eyes, you must see him as John saw him, in the spirit and by the
spirit. An angel is a spiritual
messenger and the vision stands for a message, a word, a living expression and
manifestation of God’s Christ. This
angel comes down from heaven, signifying that this word is not the word of man,
for it comes down from above, out of the spirit of the Lord. There is a spiritual message and ministration from above coming down to affect
our earth. This is the spiritual ministry of God’s Christ, Head and body, and
this angel or ministry has a great chain
in his hand. There is a ministry coming down from the heavens of the
Spirit with so much truth, so much authority, so much power,
that it literally binds the dragon!
John saw this happening, and I know the reality of it, because it has
happened in my own experience! Satan
doesn’t hinder my life anymore. There is
a manifestation and fullness of Christ that restrains and binds all the power
of the wicked one! It means that the
activities of lies, deception, accusation, religion, torment, sin, strife,
sorrow, and death are bound in the earth realm of my life. And yet, I do not deceive myself, I cannot become
complacent, presuming that the old dragon could not ever be let out of his
prison. So I follow on that I may see the
end of this dealing of God in my life
to raise us up into the full resurrection power and glory of the Christ!
Thank
God, this wonderful victory is even now being established in the experience of
a people apprehended of God. How we long
for such a day as this for all people and all nations! And it will come in our Father’s appointed
time. Through past decades we have heard
much of “
The
ultimate warfare lies in that deep inner
realm where the source of all things is found. As long as we content ourselves to deal with
We
do not deal with people in their outer form or with manifest problems — we deal
with spirit. We are not called to reform a person, we
are not called to change the outward activity of a human body. We are called to minister the living
Presence, to impart mercy, love, understanding, grace, faith, and power. Then the hearts of men will respond! “The
grace of God that bringeth salvation has appeared to all men.” That is what we are called to do! Redemption lays the ax to the root of the
tree, binds the strong man who sits enthroned in the nature, crushes the head
of the serpent, and casts the dragon into the lake of fire and brimstone! Those are the wonderful spiritual scenes we see here in the twentieth chapter of the
Revelation! Men must rise to this place
of understanding, consciousness, and authority in the spirit wherein the ax is
laid to the root — not to some
To be continued… J. PRESTON EBY
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