Note the recapitulation of events already covered in the 1st 19 chapters. Pay close attention.
20 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.
[Revelation opens with Jesus having the keys to Hades/Bottomless Pit/Abyss. Here we see Him coming down with the power to “bind” Satan . Paul tells us that Jesus had become a “life-giving” Spirit. And Jesus had previously told his disciples that the Holy Spirit would give the power to “bind.” Notice that this particular binding BEGINS the millenium. Therefore, the millenium had to start with the Holy Spirit coming down. Keep in mind that it also has to start AFTER Jesus obtained the keys to Hades – that is, after He left it. Therefore, the millenium started sometime between the resurrection of Jesus and Pentecost.]
2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
[Here we see what “binding” means – so that the gentiles’ eyes would be open to the gospel. We know that the millenium cannot start future to us in 2025, because the gentiles’ eyes have long been open to receiving the gospel, indeed far moreso than the eyes of the Jewish people. Paul, way back in Romans, was establishing Gentile churches in the 1st century, and lamenting the rejection of Christ among his own Jewish people]
4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God,
[Here we see a recapitulation of the souls under the altar from chapter 6: “When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”]
and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands.
[Here we see the additional martyrs that were to come in, also found in chapter 6 in the immediately following verse: “Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.”]
They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
[this summarizes chapters 7-19, where we see the victory of Christ over the great beloved city: the city that symbolically was called Sodom and Egypt – where our Lord was slain, and mysteriously called Babylon the Great – responsible for the blood of the prophets. The destruction of this city and the physical temple where they were slain is the very vindication for which the martyrs under the altar were pleading. This is proven in chapter 8. Notice how the prayers of the saints are collected and judgment is hurled upon Judea, Jerusalem, and the physical temple: “Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.]
7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.
[Here we see the gathering of the nations to surround Jerusalem. This is spoken of in the 6th trumpet and 6th bowl. Notice the trumpet description: “Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind. The number of mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand; I heard their number. And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions’ heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths. By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths.” Note the mention of the Euphrates, the large army, and the presence of fire in the destruction. Now look at the 6th bowl description: “The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”) And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.” Note the deception to gather the army against Jerusalem. Also note the giveaway language of the 2nd coming of Christ: “thief in the night.” There cannot be a 2nd coming in judgment at both at the 6th bowl and ALSO at the end of a SEPARATE millenium. These have to be the same, unless you want to teach a 3rd coming of Jesus.]
9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints [holy ones-Israel] and the beloved city, but [greek is Kai, interpreted in this very chapter as “and” over 30x] fire came down from heaven and consumed them,
[Here we see what city is destroyed with fire after the surrounding by armies – none other than Jerusalem. It’s also what we see in the 7th bowl judgment in chapter 16, which we know is concurrent with the 7th trumpet, as evidenced by the descriptions of the 6th of each: “The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.”]
10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
[Here we see the ultimate “Yom Kippur,” the very judgment spoken of in Daniel 12, and outlined at the 7th trumpet, concurrent with the 7th bowl. See the 7th trumpet description for proof: “Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God,17 saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but [kai] your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.” Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.” Note here the presence of the rage of the nations, the earthquake and the hail – all referenced in the 7th bowl, further driving home the point of concurrent trumpets and bowls.]
In conclusion, it is clear that Revelation 20 is a summary chapter of events already discussed within the book. It is NOT a chronologically bran new series of events.