1Therefore I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also share in the glory that will be revealed: 2shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily; not for dishonest gain, but willingly; 3not as lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock. 4When the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the crown of glory that doesn’t fade away.
5Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility and subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 6Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, 7casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.
8Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings. 10But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
12Through Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand. 13She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, greets you. So does Mark, my son. 14Greet one another with a kiss of love.
Peace be to all of you who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Satan was bound and cast into the abyss for a thousand years. The elements of this part of the vision begin with an unnamed angel coming to Earth from Heaven. The abyss seen here is the same one locust-like creatures came out of in Chapter 9. It is the prison house of demons. The angel with the key in Chapter 9 was named. This angel is not. Since angels are spirit beings, the chain should be understood as symbolic rather than literal. The point is that by whatever works on spirit beings, Satan will be captured and bound by this powerful angel.
The multiple epithets make clear that Satan himself is captured and bound. The length of his sentence is given as a thousand years. Many interpreters see this as symbolic language, along with the other elements of the vision. Rather than understanding that Satan will be bound a thousand literal years, some take it to mean the church age or an indefinite time. Premillennialists and Dispensationalists, on the other hand, understand this to be a literal thousand years. The number “thousand” is not used figuratively anywhere else in Scripture. Satan is not presently bound or imprisoned, but active on the planet (1 Pet 5:8). The thousand years will entail the time of Christ’s Messianic rule over all the earth.
Satan’s restriction will deny him access to the nations and their people. He will be released after the thousand years and deceive people once more, but only for a short time. How long the “short time” will be is not given.