Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Revelation. Tonight is study #2 of Revelation chapter 20 and we are going to read Revelation 20:1-3:
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: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Last time we were commenting on the thousand years which represented the completion of Satan’s binding. In actual time, it worked out to be 1,955 years, from 33AD to 1988AD. Satan was bound during this time, as God established the church age and established His Word by sending the Bible all over the world. God brought in the firstfruits that were mentioned in Revelation 14; they were the 144,000, the firstfruits unto God, and they were all the people saved during the church age and we do not know the actual number that were saved, but there were many more saved than during the Old Testament days. However, it was not as many people as one might think, as God saved the best until last in regard to salvation during the “little season” of the Great Tribulation.
That “little season” is also mentioned in verse 3, where it said that Satan had been shut up in the bottomless pit and a seal was set upon him, “that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled.” The word “fulfilled” means to “fill up” or to be “finished,” until the set time that God had established. Again, it was not a literal thousand years, but the number “thousand” is being used just like the number “ten” or “hundred” or any multiple of “ten” to point to the completeness of whatever is in view. In this case, it is the completeness of Satan’s binding and then it says at the end of Revelation 20:3:
... and after that he must be loosed a little season.
This takes place after the church age which was the period of the early rain when the firstfruits were gathered. Then came the time for Satan’s loosing. It also says in Revelation 20:7:
And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
God is consistent in stating this. Satan is bound a “thousand years” and at the end of that time he would be loosed. If we continued on into verse 8 of this chapter, Gog and Magog go out to gather the nations to battle. In other places where we read of Satan’s loosing and his ascension from the depths of the bottomless pit, he comes against the camp of the saints. We can see in Revelation 11 and Revelation 13 that he overcomes the saints and all the language of Satan’s victory over the corporate church occurs only after he was loosed. He could not overcome the churches completely until God permitted it. God kept him sealed up and would not permit it until the proper point was reached in God’s program of times and seasons.
Again, it says at the end of Revelation 20:3:
… and after that he must be loosed a little season.
Here we have the Greek word translated as “little,” which is “mikros” and it is Strong’s #3398. You can hear the similarity between the word “mikros” and “micro,” like our word “microscopic.” We also have the word translated as “season,” which is “chronos,” and it is Strong’s #5550. It is a word from which we get our word “chronology” and it relates to time. As far as I can tell, these two words are only found together four times in the New Testament. It may be more because I looked up each word individually and this was all I was able to find. If you find them together elsewhere, please let me know.
By the way, anyone listening to these studies can send an email to info@ebiblefellowship.org and you can comment or criticize and you can say, “You were not right and here is why.” You can offer correction with a Bible verse. If you do find another place where these two words (mikros - chronos) are used together in the New Testament, I would appreciate it if you would send an email to us.
Anyway, here are the four places I found these two words used together. One of the places is here in our verse in Revelation 20:3 where the “little season” identifies with Satan’s loosing. Therefore, when we put all the Biblical information together, it is referring to the Great Tribulation, the time at the end of the church age. The Bible indicates that the time after Satan is loosed is called the Great Tribulation and the Great Tribulation is identified with the “little season.” So we could say the Great Tribulation is the “little season” or we could say the “little season” is the Great Tribulation.
Another place these two words are found is in John 7:33:
Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while…
The words “little while” are a translation of those same two Greek words. Again, it says in John 7:33:
Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me.
Christ is speaking and the context of John 7 is regarding the Feast of Tabernacles. At one point Christ said that His time was not yet full come to go to the feast, but then He does go. Just a few verses later, Jesus will make reference to “the last day” of the Feast of Tabernacles and it is at that point He says, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.” So the context leads into the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, which identifies with the last day of time on this earth. The last day of Tabernacles relates to the last day on which God will raise up His people in the resurrection and the rapture and, spiritually, that is what Christ had in view when He said, “For my time is not yet full come.” The spiritual fulfillment of the last day of Tabernacles is the end of the world and the time of the resurrection and the rapture. It is significant that in the language leading up to verse 37, the phrase “the last day” is where we read that Christ says he is with them for “a little while” or a “little season.” That is true and very accurate, spiritually. During the “little season” of the Great Tribulation Christ was with His people. He was in the world and He was actually extremely active in the world as He brought forth the Latter Rain outside the churches and congregations and saved the great multitude out of the nations of the world. So, yes, Christ was present during the “little season,” and then let us read verse 33, again, as well as the next verse. It says in John 7:33-34:
Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me. Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.
The Great Tribulation came to an end on May 21, 2011, after the 23 exact years and the 8,400th day and then God brought Judgment Day and the Spirit of Christ left the world insofar as salvation was concerned. God ceased to evangelize the earth and to save sinners and the light of the Gospel ceased to shine in the world. That is why it says in Matthew 24:29: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.” There is no more Gospel light. So, here, Christ is saying, “I am with you for the little season, but then I go to Him that sent me.” Then it says in John 7:34:
Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.
You will seek Him, but not find Him. That is saying a lot. Remember what the Bible said in the Book of Isaiah: “Seek the Lord while he may be found.” God is saying that you must seek God in the time when He may be found. To put it another way, you must seek the Lord because there is a “day of salvation” in which you could possibly have become saved. God did provide a time in the world when He was saving sinners and He encouraged people to call upon Him and to seek Him then. God said in Zephaniah 2:2-3:
Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of JEHOVAH come upon you, before the day of the JEHOVAH'S anger come upon you. Seek ye JEHOVAH, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the JEHOVAH'S anger.
He repeats the word “before” three times. Do not bother to seek Him after the “day” pass. You must seek JEHOVAH will He may be found and in John 7:33 Jesus says, “Yet a little while am I with you.” During the “little season” of the Great Tribulation was the time He was referring to spiritually. It was the time before Judgment Day would come and before the door to heaven would be shut and the Light of the Gospel would go out, ending God’s salvation program. Jesus was saying He would be in the world for a little while and then He would go unto Him that sent Him. He would leave, in the sense that He had accomplished the purpose for which God sent Him to save a people for Himself. Then He is “gone” because the day of salvation has concluded.
Yet, people are still living on the earth, living in the world in the Day of Judgment. That is exactly what has happened since May 21, 2011, but churches continue to encourage people and other ministries outside of the churches still encourage people to go to God: “Go to Him because He is very merciful.” Because they still see a physical “sun” in the sky and the 24-hour periods go on, they wrongly assume it is still the ‘day of salvation.’ They falsely tell people that God is still saving. They give false encouragement to people to seek the Lord after the “little season” of the Great Tribulation is over. But this is Christ’s response to the churches or any ministry or individual that tells people to seek the Lord today: “You will seek me. There are those that are knocking on the door. You will seek me and shall not find me and where I am, you cannot come. You will seek me, but not find me because the day of salvation has ended.” There is no way that people can open up the door that God has shut. You cannot change God’s program of times and seasons. You cannot turn the Day of Judgment into the day of salvation. You cannot make the days after the Tribulation into the days of the tribulation. We are living in a different era or a different time period and it is one in which God has ended His program to save sinners.
This verse that says, “Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me,” is similar to what it says in Revelation, chapter 9. Early in that chapter, the Lord spoke of the sun being darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit, immediately after the Tribulation or the “little season.” That is when the “sun” was darkened. In that context of God speaking of the locusts bringing torment for five months, He says in Revelation 9:6:
And in those days…
Remember it says in Mark 13:24: “In those days after that tribulation,” and that fits perfectly with the account here which is speaking of the time when the sun is darkened and the sun is darkened after the Tribulation. Again, it says in Revelation 9:6:
And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
If you substituted the word “Christ” for “death,” it would match with what we read in John 7:34, where it said, “Ye shall seek me, and not find me.” But, here, it is saying that men shall seek death and shall not find it. Actually, we can make the substitution of Christ because one thing men are very good at finding is “death.” This is because the wages of sin is death and men find death all the time. If anyone thinks there will be a time when men cannot find physical death, it is not in this world. People can find death very well and they find it every day in a thousand different ways. People seek it with drugs and alcohol and their sinful lifestyles. They are seeking death and some actually do commit suicide. They are able to do so and, therefore, it cannot be that God is speaking of man not being able to seek a physical death. Spiritual death is in view and that relates to Romans 6:3-5:
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Salvation brings identification with Christ’s death because if we have become saved it means we were “in Him” from the foundation of the world. Our sins were laid upon Him and He died for us and, therefore, we are completely identified with His death. This is the death that Revelation 9:6 refers to when it says, “And in those days shall men seek death.” They are seeking identification with the death of Christ and they shall not find it. It is saying exactly the same thing as John 7:34, where He said, “Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me.” It is because the “little season” is over and now we are “in those days after that tribulation,” wherein Christ cannot be found in regard to salvation.
We have talked about this before, but let us look again at something in John, chapter 9, and see how it fits with what we are learning now. It says in John 9:3:
Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
Christ is speaking of a blind man after they asked Him the question, “Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus responded that he was born blind so the works of God could be made manifest in him as Christ gave him sight. It is a picture of salvation. The “works of God” are explained in John 6:29: “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” The work of God is “belief” or “salvation.” It is the work of Christ that saves. Then Jesus goes on to say in John 9:4:
I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day…
It is the work of salvation. You must seek the Lord while He may be found. When can He be found in regard to salvation? It is “while it is day” when Christ is still performing the work of saving sinners. Then it goes on to say, in John 9:4:
… the night cometh, when no man can work.
Who is the “man” that cannot work because it is (spiritual) night? The “man” is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one that does the work of the One that sent Him while it is “day,” and that “day” is the “day of salvation.” But there is coming a time after the “little season” of the Great Tribulation, where it says in John 7:33-34:
Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me. Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me…
When Christ left after the “little season” was over, it then became “the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” He was the “Light of the world” for as long as He was in the world as the light of the Gospel. That light of the Gospel shone brightly and saved sinners during the day of salvation until the Great Tribulation ended. Then God put out the light of the Gospel and ended salvation. The “sun” was darkened immediately after the Tribulation and the “moon” did not give her light and the “stars” fell from heaven and there was spiritual night time, a time when Christ would no longer work.
There are two more references to the “little season” that we will look at in our next study.