There are many terms found in the Apocalypse that are either found nowhere else in the Bible, or they are found in only one or two other places in Scripture. For example the term bottomless pit (G12; abussos) is found seven times in the Apocalypse, but only once in Luke and Romans, respectively. What does it mean, and how does abussos affect the interpretation of the texts in which it is found? The pagans believed that Orcus (we call him Satan), the god of the underworld, ruled the abussos (G12), which was also supposed to be the abode of demons. Whatever light the New Covenant text sheds upon this Greek word, they certainly would not embrace the pagan thought about Orcus, the god of the underworld, nor would it be the abode of demons, in the sense they would be evil spirit beings roaming about in an imagined underworld, to which one’s spirit goes when one dies. Nevertheless, this seems to be what many modern Christians perceive, when they imagine Satan to be the ruler of hell. Such doctrines are purely pagan and are not supported in the Bible.
Revelation 20:1 tells us that John saw an angel come down from heaven, which, in the context of the Apocalypse, simply means the angel came out of the Most Holy Place or the Holy of holies. In the angel’s hand was a key and a great chain. The great chain seems to refer to strong delusion, once we compare it with other verses in Scripture (2Thessalonians 2:1-12). Peter mentions chains of darkness, which he defines as punishment for the false teachers, and such delusion keeps those evil workers until the judgment.[1] The key, which the ‘angel’ had, was for the bottomless pit or, as some translations have it, the abyss or the great deep (G12)! But, what does the text mean, when it refers to the bottomless pit or the abyss (abussos – G12)?[2]
I do have a previous study about the bottomless pit, which I developed when we studied Revelation 9:1-2.[3] There we considered an angel (actually a human spiritual leader) who had the key to the bottomless pit. Certainly, the Apocalypse must be speaking metaphorically when using these terms. If the pit were physical and literal, where would it be, and how would a human leader open it? The ancients believed it was a very deep underground place, an immeasurable depth, hence its name.
Here in Revelation 20:1-2 we are introduced to another angel, meaning this one is not the fallen angel (or star; cp. Revelation 1:20) of Revelation 9:1. The angel of Revelation 20 laid hold of the dragon (called the serpent, Satan and the Devil) and locked him up in the bottomless pit. However, the fallen angel of Revelation 9:1 released whatever was in the pit or abyss, including the consequences of his act. Do we know for certain that Revelation 9:1 takes place before Revelation 20:1-2? In other words, if Satan was imprisoned in Revelation 20:1-2 (perhaps 6 AD), do we know for certain that he wasn’t released in Revelation 9:1 (perhaps 66 AD)? The Apocalypse certainly is **not** written in chronological order, for it is quite obvious, for example, that the events of much of Revelation 12 take place at least decades before the events of Revelation 11. Therefore, if Revelation 20:1-2 takes place before Revelation 9:1-2, what the fallen angel released in chapter nine of the Apocalypse (66 AD), may very well be what the angel imprisoned in 6 AD (Revelation 20:1-2).
Let’s put this in perspective. In Revelation 1:18, Jesus had the keys to hell and death. Since the bottomless pit (G12) is a synonym for death (Romans 10:7), then we can probably assume that one of the keys Christ possessed in Revelation 1:18 was that of the bottomless pit. Why would he give it to a fallen angel in Revelation 9, when he needed it to imprison the dragon in Revelation 20, assuming chronology puts the events of Revelation 9 before the event of Revelation 20:1-4.? Scripture is silent! It is easier to believe that one of the keys Jesus possessed in Revelation 1:18 was used in Revelation 20:1-2 to imprison the dragon. Then, after the time of the dragon’s imprisonment was fulfilled, the key to the bottomless pit was **given** to the fallen angel in Revelation 9:1. Therefore, if these things are logical and true, Revelation 9:1-2 represents Satan’s release in Revelation 20:7, which clearly would make Revelation 9 occur **after** the millennium, and the war that erupts there points to the war of Gog of the land of Megog in Revelation 20:7-10!
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[1] See my previous study in the Epistles of Peter: The Angels Who Sinned.
[2] According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, abussos (G12) means: “bottomless, unbounded, the abyss, the pit, the immeasurable depth, concerning … a very deep gulf or chasm in the lowest parts of the earth used as the common receptacle of the dead.” Thus, the ancients had the idea of it referring to the place where the spirits of those who have been buried in a grave have gone.
[3] See my earlier study: What Is the Bottomless Pit?
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