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Apocalipse 20

BLIVRE · Chapter 20/22

1E eu vi um anjo descendo do céu, tendo a chave do abismo; e uma grande corrente em sua mão;

2E ele deteve ao dragão, e à antiga serpente, que é o diabo e Satanás, e o amarrou por mil anos.

3E o lançou no abismo, e ali o prendeu, e o selou sobre ele; para que não mais enganasse às nações, até que se completem os mil anos; e depois disto é necessário que ele seja solto por um pouco de tempo.

4E eu vi tronos, e se assentaram sobre eles, e foi concedido a eles o julgamento; e [eu vi] as almas daqueles que tinham sido degolados por causa do testemunho de Jesus, e por causa da palavra de Deus; e que não tinham adorado à besta, nem à imagem dela; e que não receberam a marca [dela] sobre suas testas, e sobre suas mãos; e eles viveram e reinaram com Cristo por mil anos.

5Mas os outros mortos não reviveram, enquanto não se completassem os mil anos. Esta [é] a primeira ressurreição.

6Bendito e santo [é] aquele que tem parte na primeira ressurreição; sobre estes a segunda morte não tem poder; mas sim, eles serão sacerdotes de Deus e de Cristo, e com ele reinarão por mil anos.

7E quando se completarem os mil anos, Satanás será solto de sua prisão.

8E ele sairá para enganar às nações, que estão nos quatro cantos da terra; a Gogue, e a Magogue, para os ajuntar em batalha; dos quais o numero [é] como a areia do mar.

9E eles subiram sobre a largura da terra, e cercaram o acampamento dos santos, e a cidade amada; e desceu fogo do céu [vindo] de Deus; e os consumiu.

10E o diabo, que os enganava, foi lançado no lago de fogo e enxofre, onde [estão] a besta e o falso profeta; e serão atormentados dia e noite para todo o sempre.

11E eu vi um grande trono branco, e o que estava assentado sobre ele; do rosto dele a terra e o céu fugiram, e não foi achado lugar para eles.

12E eu vi os mortos, grandes e pequenos, estarem de pé diante de Deus; e os livros foram abertos; e outro livro foi aberto (que é o [livro] da vida); e os mortos foram julgados pelas coisas que estavam escritas nos livros, segundo as obras deles.

13E o mar entregou os mortos que nele havia; e a morte e o Xeol entregaram os mortos que neles havia; e foram julgados cada um segundo as obras deles.

14E a morte e o Xeol foram lançados no lago de fogo; esta é a segunda morte.

15E todo aquele que não fosse achado escrito no livro da vida foi lançado no lago de fogo.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Satan is bound for a thousand years while the faithful reign with Christ, but after that period he is released briefly to deceive the nations before being permanently thrown into the lake of fire. The chapter culminates in the final judgment before the great white throne, where the dead are judged according to their deeds recorded in the books.

Explanation

The 'thousand years' period (often called the millennium) mentioned six times in this chapter is one of the most debated topics in all of Christian theology, with different traditions interpreting it literally or symbolically regarding its exact duration and nature. Satan's brief release after this period, followed by his final and definitive defeat, reinforces a pattern in the book: even when evil seems to get one last chance, it is decisively destroyed by God's power, without exception. The scene of the 'great white throne' and judgment by the open 'books,' including specifically 'the book of life,' emphasizes that God's final judgment is based both on recorded actions and on relationship (whether or not one's name is written in the book of life). Today's application is living with the awareness that history has a final purpose and a point of accountability, which gives moral meaning to present choices.

Fun facts

  • The different Christian interpretations of the 'millennium' (premillennialism, postmillennialism, and amillennialism) represent some of the most enduring theological divisions within Christianity, having been debated continuously for nearly two thousand years without universal consensus among denominations.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Apocalipse 20:1The number one thousand also appears elsewhere in the Bible, as in Deuteronomy, to express a long and complete period, not necessarily an exact count of calendar years. Christian traditions read this period in very different ways, and the text does not settle this discussion.
  2. Apocalipse 20:2The angel seizes the dragon, already identified in chapter 12 as that old serpent, the Devil and Satan, binding him for a symbolic period of a thousand years.
  3. Apocalipse 20:3The seal over the abyss keeps him from continuing to deceive the nations during this period; the mention of a future release already sets up the final confrontation that comes later in the chapter.
  4. Apocalipse 20:4This same debated image continues here: different traditions place this reign at different points in the book's sequence of events, without any consensus among them.
  5. Apocalipse 20:5The expression “the first resurrection” and the thousand-year period are read in very different ways by Christian traditions throughout history, without the text settling this discussion here.
  6. Apocalipse 20:6This is the last of the seven blessings in the book, promising whoever shares in this “first resurrection” protection from the “second death” (a concept already introduced in chapter 2) and a priestly role alongside Christ.
  7. Apocalipse 20:7After the appointed period, Satan is loosed again, resuming the activity that had been interrupted at the start of the chapter.
  8. Apocalipse 20:8These names come straight from the prophecy of Ezekiel 38–39, about a great hostile coalition attacking God's people. Here they are reused as a symbol of a final, failed rebellion, not as a specific nation.
  9. Apocalipse 20:9The final battle, using the biblical names Gog and Magog (drawn from the prophecy of Ezekiel 38–39) to describe a hostile coalition, ends abruptly with fire coming down from heaven, with no prolonged fight.
  10. Apocalipse 20:10The devil receives the same fate already given to the beast and the false prophet in chapter 19, gathering the book's three great adversaries in the same place of eternal punishment.
  11. Apocalipse 20:11Open books in a judgment scene also appear in Daniel 7, a courtroom image, like a formal record being read aloud for a final reckoning.
  12. Apocalipse 20:12The final judgment scene uses the image of open books, a reference already used in Daniel 7, with one specific book, the “book of life,” determining who is spared.
  13. Apocalipse 20:13Even those who died at sea, traditionally without a proper burial, are included in this final judgment, showing that no form of death escapes this reckoning.
  14. Apocalipse 20:14The text itself defines the term here: the second death is explicitly the lake of fire, different from the ordinary physical death mentioned elsewhere in the book.
  15. Apocalipse 20:15Closes the judgment scene with the decisive criterion: only a name written in the book of life avoids the final fate of the lake of fire.

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