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Scapegoat: Satan Bound -- Plain-English Summary

A Plain-English Summary

The binding of Satan in Revelation 20:1-3 is the most DOA-specific passage in the entire Revelation series. Every structural element of the scapegoat ceremony from Leviticus 16 has a corresponding element in Satan's binding. This study examined the scapegoat typology, the nature and duration of the millennium, and how the thrones and first resurrection complete the Day of Atonement sequence.

The Scapegoat Fulfilled

On the Day of Atonement, after the high priest completed the atonement with the slain goat's blood, he brought the live goat -- the scapegoat -- and laid both hands on its head, confessing "all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins" (Leviticus 16:21). The scapegoat was then led by a designated man into the wilderness, bearing the sins of the community away from the camp.

Every element of this ceremony has a corresponding element in Revelation 20:1-3:

  • A living creature -- The scapegoat was taken alive, not killed. Satan is seized alive, not destroyed.
  • A designated agent -- The "fit man" (ish itti) of Leviticus 16:21 is unnamed and performs no other function. The angel of Revelation 20:1 is similarly unnamed and performs a single task.
  • A desolate destination -- The scapegoat goes to the "wilderness" (midbar), to a "land cut off" (erets gezerah). Satan goes to the "abyss" (abyssos), which the Greek Old Testament uses 30 times to translate the Hebrew tehom (the deep, formless void).
  • Post-atonement timing -- The scapegoat was sent out only AFTER the atonement was completed (kalah, "when he had made an end," Leviticus 16:20). Satan is bound AFTER the judgment is completed (gegonen, "it is done," Revelation 16:17).
  • Sin returned to its originator -- The three categories of sin confessed over the scapegoat (iniquities, transgressions, sins) represent comprehensive guilt returned to the one who originated rebellion.
  • Removal from the community -- The scapegoat was removed from the camp. Satan is removed from the nations.

The scapegoat ritual is the most DOA-exclusive element in the entire Levitical system. No other ceremony features two goats, one killed and one sent alive into the wilderness. This is not general sanctuary imagery -- it is exclusively Day of Atonement.

The Millennium

The thousand-year period during which Satan is bound represents the interval between Christ's second coming and the final judgment. During this time, the saints reign with Christ: "I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them" (Rev 20:4). This fulfills Daniel 7:22: "judgment was given to the saints of the most High."

The saints serve as "priests of God and of Christ" and reign "a thousand years" (Rev 20:6). The priest-king promises that began in Revelation 1:6 ("hath made us kings and priests unto our God") and were affirmed in Revelation 5:10 find their fulfillment here. During the millennium, the resurrected saints review God's judicial records -- "the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished" (Rev 20:5) -- participating in the judgment process that Paul anticipated: "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?... Know ye not that we shall judge angels?" (1 Corinthians 6:2-3).

The First Resurrection

"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power" (Rev 20:6). The first resurrection is the resurrection of the righteous at Christ's second coming. The second death -- the lake of fire (Rev 20:14) -- has no authority over those who share in this resurrection. The overcomer promise to Smyrna is fulfilled: "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death" (Rev 2:11).

Satan on a Desolate Earth

While the saints reign in heaven, Satan remains bound in the abyss -- the desolate earth emptied of its living inhabitants. The imagery of a barren, formless wasteland echoes Jeremiah 4:23-26, where the prophet saw the earth "without form, and void," with no man and all cities broken down. The scapegoat was sent to a "land cut off"; Satan is confined to a world cut off from all human contact for a thousand years.

Based on the full technical study available in the Conclusion tab.