IS SATAN BOUND?

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of 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, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years were ended.  After that he must be loosed for a little while (Revelation 20:1-3).

The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened (Matthew 13:33).

The prophecy of Genesis 3:15 was fulfilled in the ministry of Christ.  In the days of Noah, satan had nearly unrestricted freedom so that every imagination of the hearts of man were wicked so that the earth was filled with violence and corruption (Genesis 6:5&11).  Perhaps satan has never had complete freedom as the book of Job testifies that God limited what satan could do to Job (1:12 & 2:6).  Jesus described his ministry in Luke 4:18-19 as the fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1-2. He could not "set at liberty those who are oppressed" until satan had been bound to some degree: But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man; then indeed he may plunder his house (Mark 3:27).

If satan is bound, one might argue that there is certainly a great amount of evil in the world.  In response it could also be argued that, yes, while there is a great amount of evil in the world, it is not like the days of Noah.  My argument is that the binding of satan is a relative term.  Because of his binding, the kingdom of heaven has penetrated the world in many ways, as the kingdom parable suggests.  Think of the influence Christ has had on the laws, arts and sciences of the modern world--do some personal research on this.  This kind of penatration could have never happened if satan was not restricted in some way.  And, it should go without saying, millions and millions have been able to receive the gift of salvation because satan's activities have been restricted.

What do you think satan's loosing will mean?

Grace&Peace,
Tom