POST OVERVIEW. In Mark 3:27 (also Matt. 12:29), Jesus tells of first binding the strong man in order to plunder his house. In Rev. 20:1-3, we see a vision of an “angel” binding the dragon (the devil, the serpent of old, Satan – 20:2) in the abyss for the thousand years. This study compares these two and shows these are talking about the same thing.

In Mark 3:27, in response to the accusations of the scribes that He is casting out demons by the power of Satan, our Lord tells a parable about how to plunder the strong man’s house.

But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house. – Mark 3:27

THE MEANING OF THE PARABLE

As a reminder, we know that a parable is a story from everyday life that pictures a spiritual reality. Thus parables need to be interpreted to understand their real meaning.

In the context, the meaning of this parable is quite clear. The “strong man” is Satan, “his house” represents those who are currently in the kingdom of darkness, the one who will plunder the strong man’s house (“he”) is the Lord Jesus, and “plundering his house” means “rescuing us from the domain of darkness and transferring us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13-14). In other words, Jesus is declaring that, rather than using the power of Satan (Mark 3:22), His mission is to ruin Satan and to plunder from Satan’s house all those who belong to Him. (See 1 John 3:8b.)

Now the question I want to ask is, “What does Jesus do just before He plunders Satan’s house?” The answer is apparent – He first binds Satan. Jesus first neutralizes Satan and effectively takes him off the playing field. Then Satan must watch helplessly as those who were in his camp are plundered away and joyfully swear allegiance to Jesus. This is what Jesus is here describing in this parable.

Having understood the meaning of this parable, we will now turn our attention to another passage that is similar to Mark 3:27. In Revelation 20:1-3, we read of an angel who binds Satan in the abyss for the thousand years.

¹ Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. ² And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; ³ and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. – Revelation 20:1-3

As a reminder, we know that Revelation is a book of the genre of biblical prophecy, where the elements of the visions have figurative and symbolic meaning. As a result, the visions must be interpreted carefully to understand their real meaning.

SIMILARITIES AND INTERPRETATION

Before we begin to interpret this vision, we should notice the obvious similarity between this vision in Revelation 20 and the parable in Mark 3. In both cases, we see Satan (“the dragon” and “the strong man”) being bound. It is significant that, in both cases, the original Greek for bind/bound is a form of the Greek verb δέω. This is a strong clue.

In Mark 3:27, we see Jesus binding Satan (“he” binds “the strong man”), while in Rev. 20:2, we see an angel binding Satan. This seems to be a dissimilarity until we realize that “the angel” in Rev. 20 represents the risen Lord Jesus. (Elsewhere I have shown that the “angel” in Rev. 20:1-3 is certainly the risen Lord Jesus. See Post #567, 9/9/2022.) So, at this point in our interpretation, we see that both the parable and the vision picture Jesus binding Satan.

THE PURPOSE OF BINDING SATAN

We will now explore the purpose for which Jesus binds Satan in each case. In Mark 3:27, Jesus binds Satan in order to rescue His own from the kingdom of darkness (see above). In other words, Jesus binds Satan so that He can save His chosen ones. We should note that this parable does not indicate when this will take place, it simply indicates that it will take place. Jesus will bind “the strong man” Satan, then He will plunder his house.

In Rev. 20:3 we read that Satan is bound in the abyss for the thousand years “so that (Greek ἵνα) he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed.” To understand the purpose of this binding of Satan, we need to interpret what is meant by “not deceive the nations any longer.”

NOT DECEIVE THE NATIONS ANY LONGER (REV. 20:3). The first thing we note is that “the nations” (τὰ ἔθνη) in Rev. 20:3 refers to the Gentile nations. In Matthew 28:19, the crucified and resurrected Lord Jesus commands His church to make disciples of all “the nations” (τὰ ἔθνη). This speaks of the same group. Now that Christ has come and has died and has been raised, the gospel is to be proclaimed to all “the nations” (τὰ ἔθνη).

The next thing we note is that Jesus bound Satan “so that he would not deceive the nations any longer.” This “any longer” must mean that, up until a certain point in time, Satan had been successfully “deceiving the nations.” But now that Jesus has bound him in the abyss, Satan can no longer “deceive” them. We suggest that, in this context, “deceive the nations” means “prevents them from coming to Jesus to be saved.”

Before Jesus was crucified and resurrected, there was no gospel to proclaim. With no powerful, saving gospel (Romans 1:16) to proclaim, it was easy for Satan to deceive the nations and keep them in darkness. Then Jesus was made flesh in Bethlehem. Then in Matthew 16:18, Jesus declared, “I will build My church and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” Then Jesus willingly went to the cross to die for sinners. And then He was raised on the third day to prove that His work had been perfectly accomplished and was fully acceptable to the Father. Then the Lord Jesus commissioned His church to go and proclaim the gospel to the nations.

But what is to be done about the great deceiver, the one who deceived Eve, the one who has been deceiving the nations since the Garden, the one who is a liar and the father of lies? How will the devil be prevented from continuing to deceive the nations while the gospel is being proclaimed? Remember in the parable in Mark 3:27 (above), Jesus had taught that he was going to bind Satan and then plunder his house. This parable in Mark 3:27 anticipates the binding of Satan that we see described in Rev. 20:3 when the risen Lord Jesus binds Satan in the abyss for the thousand years so that the nations will not be hindered as they come to faith in Jesus through the gospel. Thus this “binding of the dragon” in Rev. 20:2-3 is figuratively describing when Jesus neutralizes Satan and effectively takes him off the playing field for the thousand years of the gospel age. Being bound in the abyss, Satan must watch helplessly as those who were in his camp are plundered away and joyfully swear allegiance to Jesus. This is the meaning of the vision that John saw in Rev. 20:1-3.

SUMMARY

In the end, we see that Mark 3:27 and Revelation 20:1-3 describe the same event. Both Scriptures are telling of the time when the victorious Lord Jesus binds Satan in “the abyss” to prevent him from hindering the spread of the gospel and the growth of the church during the thousand years.

Soli Deo gloria            rmb                 2/2/2024                     #691