Abyss-the Bottomless Pit
who holds the key and chain?

The abyss or bottomless pit appears in the Bible as a holding place for the Devil and his horde of demons. From the Scriptures, we believe that God holds the final power over the Abyss. Why does God let the demons out of the Abyss to deceive the nations on earth?

Debate over Chapter 20

One of my antagonists who waits for failure said to me, “I don’t understand the reason that you are taking several years to write a book on Revelation. You could go to a bookstore and buy one like it for less than twenty dollars.”

As I stand on the threshold of chapter 20, I tend to agree with him. Chapter 20 stands as a monument to the different interpretations of Revelation. Many brothers and sisters in Christ quibble over what it means until their faces turn red. God must sit on his Throne and chuckle.

I understand that the Creator uses the many different viewpoints to give people hope. Many dear brothers and sisters in Christ have a different understanding of the 1,000 years than I do. This should not lessen our love for each other.

Jesus Christ is Lord, and what each of us believes about Revelation does not change this truth. He created the universe, and he created each of the different viewpoints for his own purpose. An interpretation about the end times, called the “pan out theory,” makes sense to me. People say, “In the end, it will all pan out. Only our Lord knows the beginning and the end.

I view the Revelation of Jesus Christ as apocalyptic writing best understood in light other Scripture. Because the Bible interprets itself, I shall continue with a symbolic understanding. Chapter 20 begins the last of the seven visions in Revelation. This vision, as part of the composite picture in Revelation, gives us another concept of the Gospel Age.

As an apocalyptic book, the Revelation of Jesus Christ contains numerous pictures and symbolism. Chapter 20 follows John’s pattern of images and illustrations about the abyss or bottomless pit.

¹And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. ²And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, ³And 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 (Rev. 20:1–3 KJV).

Abyss Who Controls the Pit

John saw … an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit. Is this an angel, or is this the Lord? Jesus holds the keys of death and Hades, and he holds the key of David (Rev. 1:18; 3:7). The Bible reveals Jesus as the only one who controls the key to the bottomless pit, even though; someone gave Satan a key to the Abyss in Revelation 9:1.

Jesus came to bind the strong man who represents Satan (Matt. 12:29; Luke 11:20, 21). By the cross, our Savior disarmed the power of the Devil, the authorities, and the demons (Col. 2:13–15; Heb. 2:14). Therefore, the angel who … laid hold on the dragon must represent Christ, the Power of God.

Abyss or bottomless pit waits to deceive prideful beings

Abyss waits for those who strut in pride

Christ the angel held a spiritual chain in his hand. The power of the long chain came from our Savior’s Resurrection and his shed blood on the cross (John 12:31–33). The great chain of large size and space indicated that Satan had a limited freedom to move about on earth. He could roam and harass until our prayers encourage the Power of God to jerk his chain back to the Abyss.

The spiritual chain keeps the Devil from deceiving … the nations until the 1,000 years near fulfillment. The nations indicate the gentile or Christian nations and people of the world. These verses point to the fifth trumpet where God permitted the Devil to let hordes of demons come out of the Abyss and roam the earth.

The risen Savior uses his mighty strength to seize … the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan and throw him into the Abyss. John uses four separate names in the Greek to describe the prince of evil. The names indicate: a fabulous kind of serpent, a cunning malicious snake or Satan, a false slanderer the Devil, and the accuser—Satan. Our Savior wants us to understand the cunning evil that he holds in the Abyss.

Text of, Abyss-the bottomless pit, from pages 283-284 of "Walking Through Revelation With a Common Man"