Is Satan Bound Today?

I have been studying Bible prophecy over the last year in some depth. I have observed that after each prophecy is given that Satan has consistently been trying to thwart God's plan of redemption for man kind. God tells Adam and Eve the Redeemer will be on the seed of the woman and that he will crush the serpents head and the serpent will bruise his heal. Very soon after that 'the sons of God'(fallen angels) corrupt their seed by taking the daughters of men and impregnating them so the Messiah would not come. The next messianic prophecy is that the redeemer would come through the line of Shem. As soon as God picks a specific line of people I believe Satan influenced the false religion and unity of Babel by bringing all the races of the world together so there would be no distinction of nation, therefore, God's promise could not come about and God would be a liar. God goes on to be even more specific by choosing the Messiah to come from the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Throughout the Old Testament we see how Satan has always come against Israel, not only trying to destroy her through men like Haman but through apostasy and deception and even by dispersing them into conquering nations to loose their identity as a people. These things are the traces of Satan's influence in the world. But when Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins did all this end? Is Satan bound?
The traditional Amillennial view of Revelation 20 is that Satan '1has been prevented from "deceiving the nations" by preventing the spread of the gospel.'
Obviously this view comes with the question 'How can Satan be bound with so much evil and trouble in the world?' Anthony Hoekema explains, '2This does not imply that Satan can do no harm whatever while he is bound. It means only what John says here: While Satan is bound he cannot deceive the nations in such a way as to keep them from learning about the truth of God. Later in the chapter we are told that when the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations of the world to gather them together to fight against and, if possible, to destroy the people of God (verses 7-9). This, however, he cannot do while he is bound. We conclude, then, that the binding of Satan during the gospel age means that, first, he cannot prevent the spread of the gospel, and second, he cannot gather all the enemies of Christ together to attack the church.'
I see two problems with this statement. Firstly, is this what the text is saying? Is the deception that Satan brings the prevention of the gospel being spread and the church being under attack? And secondly, do we have evidence that the gospel is not being prevented from being spread today and the Church not coming under attack, thus Satan is bound?
Let us first look at the text in question.
Revelation 20:1-10 'And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgement was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness1 of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever'
As we can see by the context of the passage the deception described here is not the deception against the gospel but about leading nations against Israel. It is evident that in verses 8 and 9 that Satan will gather an army and attack Jerusalem. Satan has always tried to destroy Israel by deceiving the nations, even more so since Christ came Rev 12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
We also find in the context of Revelation chapter 20 that the thousand years begin at the second coming of Christ and not the first coming of Christ. We read in Chapter 19 that Jesus comes back with his bride after the tribulation and defeats the beast. Then Chapter 20 continues with the events and describes to us how Satan is bound.
Why does Satan want to destroy Israel? Because God ties His integrity to it and made a promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob making a covenant with them 'forever' and God will never give up on Israel. The Bible also prophecies that in the last days the Jews will be back in the land of Israel and Satan will be defeated in Jerusalem. That is why Satan is trying to get the Jews out of the land now! He knows his time is short.
So, is Satan bound from deceiving the nations to come against Israel today? The best examples I can give are in recent history is Islamic nations like Iran who are bent on destroying Israel. We also remember the Holocaust, which many are denying now happened. The plot to destroy Israel is something Satan has done throughout the course of history both in Old and New Testament times through the means of a world conquering empire or a diaspora. So we can conclude that Satan is not bound today and hasn't been for the past 2000 years meaning this is a future event in conjunction with Christ's rule on earth and Satan will not be able to deceive the nations until the end of the thousand years. Because Satan is bound up for a literal 1000 years we know Christ will reign for a literal 1000 years.
The other question that the Amillennial view poses to me is there evidence that Satan is bound from preventing the gospel from being spread amongst the nations and is the church protected from it's enemies? If so we must come to the natural conclusion that Anthony Hoekema comes to '3We see then that the binding of Satan described in Revelation 20:1-3 means that throughout the gospel age in which we now live the influence of Satan, though certainly not annihilated, is so curtailed that he cannot prevent the spread of the gospel to the nations of the world. Because of the binding of Satan during this present age, the nations cannot conquer the church, but the church is conquering the nations'
The church conquering the nations? Which nations? The Amillennial view here is far from reality and can easily be very misleading and even offensive. The gospel today is being prevented to be preached in many nations that soon it will be illegal to say Jesus is the only way to get to heaven. Not only is the gospel being prevented from being preached to the nations but also being prevented to be preached in churches. Many churches worldwide have stopped preaching the gospel. All of this due to 'doctrine's of demons' and Satan's influence in the world. But what really offends me about this teaching is that nations cannot conquer the church? Have they not read Fox's Book of Martyrs? I guess the thousands of Christians being persecuted in Muslim countries are not the real church as the real church is conquering nations!
Not only is this Amillennial view not a reality it's also not backed up by the rest of scripture. Did the apostles teach Satan was bound? Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica in 1 Thessalonians 2:18 Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us.
Peter also wrote about the reality of Satan attacking the believer and warns us in 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
Yes, ultimately the gospel will always be preached and the church will remain until the rapture occurs but not because Satan is bound it's because of the Lord's grace. Throughout history Satan has always tried to thwart God's plan, and visibly still is, but he has always failed and will continue to fail. He still continues to persecute the church and destroy Israel. He still brings apostasy and he still tries to separate God's people to loose their identity in the world.
So what happened at the cross and how was Satan defeated there? Hebrews 2:14-15 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage
The word for 'destroy' here is katargeō and it means 'to be rendered useless'. To put this verse in context the author of Hebrews was writing to a group of Messianic Jews that were being persecuted and wanted to go back under the law to no longer be persecuted because they feared death. In verse 14 the author notes that Jesus too became flesh and blood and experienced death to take away the power of death from Satan that we may no longer fear death (thanatos)
Satan is not yet bound but he no longer has the 'power of death'! We should not fear death! Satan will persecute you, he will hinder you but you have nothing to fear. He will try and deceive you with doctrines of demons and with fleshly temptation but if you follow the instructions of Peter and resist the devil in faith, being faithful to Jesus Satan will flee from you. Peter goes on to say 'To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.'
Some one once said that Satan's greatest deception was that people believe he doesn't exist; then maybe the second greatest deception is that he is bound up and no longer 'deceiving the nations'.
1Wikipedia 'Amillennialism' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amillennialism
2Anthony Hoekema 'The Interpretation of Revelation 20v1-6' http://www.the-highway.com/amila_Hoekema.html
3Anthony Hoekema 'The Interpretation of Revelation 20v1-6' http://www.the-highway.com/amila_Hoekema.html