24.4 A Great Chain
© 2017 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the abyss, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the peoples no more (Revelation 20:1-3).
I’m really coming to like this picture – a GREAT CHAIN. As you look across the earth, you might imagine that the evil one and all of his demons are seeing all sorts of things. They are not. They see only one thing. They see a great chain looming ever larger and ever closer.
Angels
It’s time that we saw that chain as well.
The question then might be – How do we bind the serpent with that great chain? And the answer is – we don’t. We don’t because God does not.
Here’s the thing about God. He likes to include everyone. God created angels for very specific purposes. They are servants of the sons of God, yes, but they are their own persons as well and very powerful. And God has assigned to angels the task of specifically binding angels with chains and casting them far away from mankind.
Michael and Joshua
The great chain is the opportunity God has given to angels to do their thing.
But let’s look at that a bit. I’m seeing a lot of similarity between Michael and Joshua. Michael is the one given the task by God to oversee the actual binding of the evil one and of all unclean spirits and casting them into a full separation from man. Yet he does not do it himself. Rather, he gives that greatest honor to another angel, an unnamed angel, at least so far.
All great leaders see their place as a servant to others, making sure that everyone gets his chance to shine. When Israel entered the land, Joshua was way back in line, allowing Salmon to lead. And when a new enemy attacked, he gave the responsibility to a young man, the son of his friend, Caleb.
Michael’s Focus
You see, it’s not just the serpent being bound, but all the angels of heaven who followed him into stupidity. Michael’s task, however, is to trust those in his ranks to do what is needed, BUT – Michael also keeps his eyes on us. We are the ones who give him his cue, who release him to do what God created him to do.
Here is what Michael is focusing his attention upon. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death (Revelation 12:11). Michael and all of his hosts are an extension of the fourth most important verse in the Bible.
An Appointment with a CHAIN
A great chain – and bound him. What that chain is or looks like doesn’t matter. What matters is that we SEE it as the only thing real regarding all demonic darkness seen now upon the earth. Satan and all of his demons have an appointment with a chain and they know exactly that.It is clear to me right now that demons that have not stalked this earth since the cross of Christ are being released. There are greater ones yet to come. And all of them are in a frenzy imagining that their fury can prevent this CHAIN. They are as delusional as ever.
Casting Down ALL Accusation
The critical thing is that you and I do not hear them. The prince of this world comes and finds nothing in Me. And how do we do that? First, we practice casting down ALL accusation.
Casting down accusation, no consciousness of sins, does not mean that we cease making mistakes and it especially does not mean that we no longer say, “I was wrong, please forgive me.” In fact, no consciousness of sins allows us to be honest with one another in all joy and with no shadow of falling short.
But here I want to bring back into your view the picture of Much Afraid, one walking between two. Read again Symmorphy I: Purpose – 13.2 Living in the Lamb.
The Words of Our Testimony
We overcome by the words of our testimony, by speaking Christ as our only life, by speaking all that God speaks made personal as Christ Jesus, the only life we are. And we speak those words, holding utterly to two companions, the Lamb’s blood in the one hand and the Lamb’s death in the other. We are made utterly clean every moment, and the cross has already removed from us all that opposes God.
And it is the stumbling heart of one who is Much Afraid, loving her Shepherd above all else, clinging tightly to Sorrow in the one hand and to Suffering in the other, taking each halting step forward all the way through – it is upon her that Michael keeps his eyes – for she is his guide, the words that she speaks.
Earth Is Our Home
What will life be without any unclean spirits among mankind nor any dark bands of power operating in the heavens? What will life be like when the false covering is gone and the true covering over all things, the true anointing oil flows without hindrance lighting the faces of all?
Earth is our home; earth is our joy and place. Earth is our inheritance. Yet earth is never without heaven, for they are one place.
I can assure you of this. Humans will still be humans, cantankerous and self-willed, for this is how God created us. Yet there will be no darkness beneath of all that, and no lasting ill will.
The Model Again
Let’s come back now to our model of this victory.
| VICTORY | First Day of Feast | Dwelling in Booths | Final Day of Feast |
| The Evil One - Defeated | Breaking the false image. | Nurturing the woman in the Spirit. | Binding with chains. |
| The World-Beast - Defeated | No husband; ending human leadership. | Providing for the woman in the natural. | Bringing to nothing. |
| Death - Defeated | Putting on incorruptibility. | Removing the beast skin, all that hides. | Putting on immortality. |
We see that what we have investigated in this session, full victory over the evil one, goes in two directions at once. First, that victory unfolds through the fulfillment of Tabernacles, God’s image now seen in His Church. And second, each one of the three levels of victory corresponds with a similar victory happening over the world and over death.
A Corresponding Pattern
Thus we see, going across the chart, an initial breaking on Day One, an ongoing supply of anointing oil through the time of dwelling in booths, followed by the final binding with chains as part of the Final Day of the Feast.
Then we see, going down the columns, that breaking the image of the serpent by the simple clarity of truth corresponds with eliminating all thought of “power over” and with placing incorruptibility, no consciousness of sins, upon ourselves and towards all.
We see that nurturing the woman with the continuous supply of oil to light her countenance as the image of God corresponds with providing for her in the natural against the deprivation of this world as well as teaching her to place the soul of Jesus upon her own soul.
Glory Covering All
Finally, we see that the final action of the serpent and all his demons being bound by chains corresponds, during the same fulfillment of the Great Day of the Feast, with our bringing all that the world exalts into nothingness and with that moment when we put immortality upon our bodies, as death is swallowed up by life.
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14).