REVELATION
CHAPTER 20, “The Millennial Reign Of Jesus Begins”
By
Jim Bomkamp
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1.
INTRODUCTION
1.1.
In our last study, we looked at
chapter 19 and the wedding supper of the Lamb, plus the Glorious Appearing of
Jesus at the end of the 7 Year Tribulation.
1.1.1.
John told us about the Wedding Feast of the
Lamb that would occur before the Battle of Armageddon.
1.1.2.
The “Glorious Appearing” of Jesus
occurred as heaven was opened and Jesus came riding a white horse, followed by
the armies of heaven upon white horses.
Jesus descended and put an end to the Battle of Armageddon.
1.1.3.
Finally, we saw the stage set for the
Millennial Reign of Christ as the Antichrist and False Prophet are thrown into
the Lake of Fire that burns for eternity.
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to look at
chapter 20 and the events that occur as Jesus begins His Millennial reign upon
the earth.
1.2.1.
Satan is chained up for 1,000 years.
1.2.2.
The reign of God’s elect begins.
1.2.3.
The two resurrections is described.
1.2.4.
Satan is loosed at the end of the 1,000
years.
1.2.5.
The Great White Throne of Judgment occurs at
the end of the 1,000 years.
1.
VS 20:1-3 - “20:1 And I saw an
angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in
his hand. 2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the
devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the
abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he should not deceive the
nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things
he must be released for a short time.” - Satan is
bound for 1,000 years
1.1.
Notice here that it is not any special angel but just, ‘an angel’
that is able to bind Satan.
1.1.1. Satan is not equal to God,
nor as powerful, and in fact using God’s power and strength any angel is able
to bind Satan.
1.1.1.1.We Christians do not need to
fear Satan, nor what he can do to us, for Christ is so much more powerful than
any of His creations.
1.1.1.2.All of us as Christians have
been given authority over the Devil, and through our prayer and faith in Christ
we can bind His activities as we let the Lord lead us in prayer.
1.2.
Notice the extent to which John goes to show us with all certainty the
identity of this creature being apprehended by the angel. John makes it clear hat this is no impersonal
force of evil but rather a demonic personage.
He is identified as:
1.2.1. ‘The dragon’.
1.2.1.1.We saw a reference to this
title in Rev. 12:7-9, “7 And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels
waging war with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels waged war, 8 and they
were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in
heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is
called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to
the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”
1.2.1.2.He was also the ‘red
dragon’ of Rev. 12:3.
1.2.1.3.In Rev. 13:3, we saw that
John wrote that it was ‘the dragon’ which gave the Beast his power,
throne, and great authority.
1.2.2. ‘The serpent of old.’
1.2.2.1.This is a reference all the
way back to Genesis 3:1 and the temptation of Eve in the garden of Eden by the
serpent.
1.2.3. ‘The devil.’
1.2.3.1.The Enhanced Strong’s
Lexicon has the following entry which defines the Greek word ‘diabolos’
which is translated ‘devil’ here:
1228 διάβολος [ diabolos / dee· ab ·ol·os /] adj . From
1225 ; TDNT
2:72 ; TDNTA 150 ; GK 1333 ; 38 occurrences; AV translates as “devil” 35 times,
“false accuser” twice, and “slanderer” once. 1 prone to slander, slanderous, accusing falsely. 1a a calumniator, false accuser, slanderer,. 2 metaph. applied to a man who, by opposing
the cause of God, may be said to act the part of the devil or to side with him.
Additional Information: Satan the prince of the demons, the author of
evil, persecuting good men, estranging mankind from God and enticing them to
sin, afflicting them with diseases by means of demons who take possession of
their bodies at his bidding.
1.2.3.2.This is one of the most
common titles given to Satan in the scripture, and there are so many references
to this name, such as is found in 1 Pet. 5:8, “8 Be of sober spirit, be on
the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking
someone to devour.”
1.2.3.3.Likewise, James wrote using
this title in Ja. 4:7, “7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he
will flee from you.”
1.2.4. ‘Satan.’
1.2.4.1.Strong’s Enhanced Greek
Lexicon has the following entry for this Greek word ‘satanas’ which is
translated ‘Satan’ here:
4567 Σατανᾶς [
Satanas / sat·an· as /] n pr m . Of Aramaic origin corresponding to 4566 (with the
definite affix); TDNT 7:151 ; TDNTA 1007 ; GK 4928 ; 36 occurrences; AV
translates as “Satan” 36 times. 1
adversary (one who opposes another in purpose or act), the name given to. 1a the prince of evil spirits, the inveterate
adversary of God and Christ. 1a1
he incites apostasy from God and to sin. 1a2
circumventing men by his wiles. 1a3
the worshippers of idols are said to be under his control. 1a4 by his demons he is able
to take possession of men and inflict them with diseases. 1a5 by God’s assistance he is
overcome. 1a6
on Christ’s return from heaven he will be bound with chains for a thousand
years, but when the thousand years are finished he will walk the earth in yet
greater power, but shortly after will be given over to eternal punishment. 1b a Satan-like man.
1.2.4.2.This is another very common
title given to the Devil in the scriptures, as is used by Paul in Rom. 16:20,
“20 And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.”
1.3.
Satan is thrown by this angel into the ‘abyss’ for 1,000 years.
1.3.1. Strong’s Greek Dictionary
has the following entry for this word translated ‘abyss’ here: 12 abussos \{ ab’-us-sos\}
from 1 (as a
negative particle) and a variation of 1037; TDNT - 1:9,2; n f AV
- bottomless pit 5, deep 2, bottomless 2; 9 GK - 12 \{
a[busso" \}
1.3.1.1.1.bottomless
1.3.1.1.2.unbounded
1.3.1.1.3.the
abyss
1.3.1.1.3.1.the
pit
1.3.1.1.3.2.the
immeasurable depth
1.3.1.1.3.3.of Orcus, a very deep gulf or chasm in the lowest parts of the earth used as the
common receptacle of the dead and especially as the abode of demons
1.3.1.2.In Luke 8:31, the demons
which Jesus cast out were begging Him not to cast them into the ‘abussos’.
1.3.1.3.In Revelation 9, we saw the
scorpion like creatures which tormented the people come out of the ‘abussos’,
and in Rev. 9:11, we saw that they had a creature as authority over them in the
‘abussos’, “11 They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss;
his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.”
1.3.1.4.Interestingly in Rev. 11:7
and 17:8, the Beast is said to come out of the ‘abussos’ and take
authority over the earth.
1.3.1.4.1.This could be the place
where his spirit goes after he receives the fatal head wound from which he will
be miraculously raised from the dead and thus win the support of the world as
its leader (Rev. 13:3).
1.3.2. The ‘abussos’ is a place
in the center of the earth where fallen angels have been bound, and where Satan
is bound for this 1,000 years of time.
1.3.2.1.This is probably nearby in
the center of the earth, however not the same exact place as ‘Hades’,
which houses the spirits of departed souls of men who do not know the Lord, and
which at one time also contained Abraham’s Bosom where the departed souls of
God’s people dwelt.
1.4.
There are several different interpretations of this chapter which
people maintain which pertain to what the ‘Millennial Reign of Christ’
will be and when it will occur. At the
center of the discussion is the issue of what the ‘1,000 years’
mentioned or referred to thirteen times in this chapter refers. The three most prominent interpretations in the
church for the thousand year reign of Christ are:
1.4.1. A-millennial Position - ( or
‘no’ millennium ).
1.4.1.1.They believe that there will
be no literal 1,000 year reign of Christ upon the earth, but rather that since
there is so much symbolism in the book of Revelation that this period of time
is symbolic of perfection and refers to an eternity with Christ which awaits
the believer.
1.4.1.1.1.While it is true that much
in the book of Revelation is symbolic, it appears that the 13 references to the
length of this period indicates that it is a literal period of time which is
conveyed.
1.4.1.1.2.While much in the book of
Revelation is not meant to be looked at as being sequential in occurrence,
there is some that appears to be sequential, namely from chapter 17 to the end
of the book.
1.4.1.1.3.This position does not take
into account that in the scriptures there is a distinct period of time
mentioned in which Christ has His ‘rod of iron’ rule upon a rejuvenating
earth, and this period is distinct from that period of time also mentioned in prophesy
as the time of the ‘new heavens and earth’.
1.4.1.1.4.This position takes great
liberty in interpreting much of the prophesies of the scripture in a
allegorical interpretation, including most prominently that of making all of
the promises given to the nation of Israel in the Old Testament as being
fulfilled by the church.
1.4.2. Post-millennial
Position - (Christ is to return after the period of the
millennium).
1.4.2.1.This position is the view
that when Christ ascended into heaven, the 1,000 year reign of Christ began,
and thus all of us in the ‘church age’ era are now living in the
Millennium.
1.4.2.1.1.The first problem with this
view is that more than 1,000 years has elapsed since Christ ascended to heaven.
1.4.2.1.1.1.Some Post-millennialists have
countered this by adopting the position that 1,000 year reign of Christ is not
meant to be a literal 1,000 years in duration.
1.4.2.1.2.The second problem with this
position is that in this chapter we see that Satan is bound so that he cannot
deceive the nations, and thus with him held powerless the earth can be reigned
by Christ in peace with complete submission.
1.4.2.1.2.1.As someone has written, ‘Satan
must have been bound with a very long chain’, for the Post-millennialist’s
view to be true.
1.4.2.1.2.2.Many of the New Testament
scriptures point us to the fact that the Christian has a very real and active
enemy with whom he must do warfare in this life, and we have already seen
Peter’s exhortation to is in 1 Peter 5:8, “8 Be of sober spirit, be on the
alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking
someone to devour.”
1.4.2.1.3.The third problem with those
who hold this position is that in their believing that Satan is right now bound
and unable to interfere with our lives, they have held some very strange teachings
including for some the belief that the true believers are ‘manifest sons of
God’ and thus cannot die but are immortal right now.
1.4.2.1.4.The fourth problem with this
position is the same one that the ‘A-millennialist’ position has, namely
they have taken great liberty in interpreting much of the prophesies of the
scripture in a allegorical interpretation, including most prominently that of
making all of the promises given to the nation of Israel in the Old Testament
as being fulfilled by the church.
1.4.3. The Pre-millennial
Position - (the ‘church age’ precedes the
Millennial Reign of Christ).
1.4.3.1.This view takes a literal
interpretation of the prophesies of scripture concerning the second coming of
Christ and the establishment of His Kingdom, and thus they believe that Christ
will come for His Church prior to His Millennial Reign. At that time He will setup a 1,000 year reign
upon the earth, after which time the Great White Throne Judgment of
condemnation for unbelievers will occur.
Then, He will create new heavens and earth where believers will live
with Him for eternity.
1.4.3.1.1.Critics of this position
have held that this view is of modern origin and was not the view of the church
all during the dark ages and therefore could not be correct.
1.4.3.1.1.1.However, many have shown
that this view actually did exist even as early as the first century. Tim Lahaye in his Revelation commentary
writes about this, “Many of the detractors of the premillennial position
suggest that it is a relatively new theory, having come on the scene during the
days of John Darby and others. The truth
of the matter is that premillennialism held sway during the first three
centuries of the early church and was know as “chiliasm.” Dr. Pentecost quotes from Lewis Sperry
Chafer’s Systematic Theology: “Chiliasm,
so named from …(chilioi)—meaning “one thousand”—refers in a general sense to
the doctrine of the millennium, or kingdom age that is yet to be, and as stated
in the Encylopedia Britannica (14th ed., S.V.) is “the belief
that Christ will return to reign for a thousand years…” The distinctive feature of this doctrine is
that He will return before the thousand years and therefore will
characterize those years by His personal presence and by the exercise of His
rightful authority, securing and sustaining all of the blessings on the earth
which are ascribed to that period. The
term chiliasm has been superceded by the designation premillennialism;
and…more is implied in the term than a mere reference to a thousand years. It is a thousand years which is said to
intervene between the first and second of humanity’s resurrections….In this
thousand years…every earthly covenant with Israel
will be fulfilled…The entire Old Testament expectation is involved, with its
earthly kingdom, the glory of Israel,
and the promised Messiah seated on David’s throne in Jerusalem.”
1.4.3.1.2.This view however seems to
hold most closely to what the New Testament writers prophesied, and it is the
most obvious way of interpreting the many promises made to the nation of Israel in the
Old Testament.
1.4.3.1.3.Under this view, there are
those who hold to a pre, mid, and post tribulation views concerning the timing
of the rapture of Christ’s church to Himself, as well as a pre-wrath position
which holds that Christ will rapture the church to Himself early during the
Tribulation Period but before His wrath is poured out upon the rebellious
inhabitants of the earth.
1.5.
The Old Testament prophets wrote about what life will be like during this
Millennial Reign of Christ upon the earth when the earth itself is being
rejuvenated and the Devil and all evil spirits are bound, with the only evil
remaining upon the earth being that which resides in people’s old sinful
nature:
1.5.1. Isaiah 65:17-25, “17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things
will not be remembered or come to mind. 18 “But be glad and rejoice
forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing And her people
for gladness. 19 “I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; And there
will no longer be heard in her the voice of weeping and the sound of crying. 20
“No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days,
Or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age
of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Will be thought
accursed. 21 “They will build houses and inhabit them;
They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 “They will
not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the
lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones
will wear out the work of their hands. 23 “They will not labor in
vain, Or bear children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those
blessed by the Lord, And their
descendants with them. 24 “It will also come to pass that before
they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. 25
“The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw
like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm
in all My holy mountain,” says the Lord.”
1.5.1.1.Tim Lahaye believes that
these verses teach those who are believers in Christ during the Millennium will
live through the entire age, however if a person didn’t receive Christ in his
life by age 100 then he would die, and thus be considered ‘accursed by the
Lord’.
1.5.2. l Zephaniah 3:11-13, “11 “In that day you will feel no shame
Because of all your deeds By which you have rebelled against Me; For then I
will remove from your midst Your proud, exulting ones, And you will never again
be haughty On My holy mountain. 12 “But I will leave among you A
humble and lowly people, And they will take refuge in the name of the Lord. 13 “The remnant of Israel will do
no wrong And tell no lies, Nor will a deceitful tongue Be found in their
mouths; For they will feed and lie down with no one to make them tremble.””
1.5.3. Zechariah
9:9-10, “9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your
king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and
mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will
cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; And the bow of war will be cut
off. And He will speak peace to the nations; And His dominion will be from sea
to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.”
1.5.4. Zechariah
14:16-21, “16 Then it will come about that any who are left of
all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to
worship the King, the Lord of
hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17 And it will be that
whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on
them. 18 If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain
will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the Lord smites the nations who do not go up
to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the
punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of
Booths. 20 In that day there will be inscribed on the bells
of the horses, “HOLY TO THE LORD.” And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the bowls
before the altar. 21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem
and in Judah
will be holy to the Lord of hosts;
and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there
will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts in that day.”
1.6.
John writes here that at the end of the 1,000 year reign of Christ that
Satan will be released for a short while.
1.6.1. God will seek to reveal once
and for all that man himself is sinful since even in the absence of external evil
and a tempter for 1,000 years, while under the very reign of the perfect and
holy Son of God, when Satan is released just for a short time he is able to
round up a considerable number of people who are willing to come and try to
overthrow the Lord and His kingdom.
1.6.1.1.It is very important for us
as Christians to get to the place in our lives where we realize that sin dwells
within us and that we don’t even need a tempter in our lives in order to devise
the most horrible of sins.
1.6.1.1.1.James wrote about this in
Ja. 1:13-15, “13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by
God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is
accomplished, it brings forth death.”
2.
VS 20:4 - “And I saw thrones,
and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of
those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of
the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and
had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they
came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” - The reign of God’s elect during the
Millennium
2.1.
It was uniquely promised to Christ’s apostles that they would sit on
thrones and judge the nations in His kingdom in Matt. 19:28, “28 And Jesus
said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration
when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon
twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
2.2.
Likewise, in Dan. 7:9 Daniel prophesied that ‘thrones’ would be
setup when God established His kingdom and judged the nations, “9 “I kept
looking Until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow, And the hair
of His head like pure wool. His throne
was ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire.”
2.3.
In 1 Cor. 6:2, Paul wrote to the Corinthians that they (and thus all
believers) would one day judge the nations, “2 Or do you not know that the
saints will judge the world? And if the world is judged by you, are you not
competent to constitute the smallest law courts?”
2.3.1. It appears that this judging
of the world by all Christians refers primarily to the ruling over the world,
which involves acting as a judge.
2.4.
John writes that the Christians ‘will come to life’ in order to
reign with Him and act as judges, and in the next few verses he explains that
this is really the resurrection from the dead by the Christians (we will talk more about this later).
2.5.
Again we see the time period as specified to be 1,000 years, which
seems again to lead naturally to a literal interpretation for the duration of
the Millennial Kingdom of Christ.
2.6.
John encourages those who had and would suffer persecution for their
faith by telling them that some of those who were ruling and reigning had
suffered a martyr’s death.
2.7.
John also enumerates that those who would be excluded from those who
ruled and reigned with Christ would be those who worshipped the Beast and
received his mark upon them.
3.
VS 20:5-6 - “5 The rest of the
dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the
first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first
resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be
priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” - The “Two Resurrections” and the “Two Deaths”
3.1.
There are several places in the Bible where a resurrection for the
righteous as well as for the wicked is mentioned.
3.1.1. Daniel in the Old Testament,
Dan. 12:2, prophesied that there would
be two different resurrections, “2 “And many of those who sleep in the dust
of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace
and everlasting contempt.”
3.1.2. In John 5:28-29, Jesus
likewise promised that there would be two different resurrections, “28 “Do
not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs
shall hear His voice, 29 and shall come forth; those who did the good deeds to
a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of
judgment.”
3.1.3. In Acts 24:15, Paul preached
of two different resurrections, “15 having a hope in God, which these men
cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the
righteous and the wicked.”
3.2.
The first resurrection happens for the believer.
3.2.1. Some Christians believe and
teach that the ‘resurrection’ of the believer occurs when he receives
Christ as his Lord and Savior and is born again and regenerated to new life.
3.2.2. Other Christians believe and
teach that the Christian will receive a resurrection body when he leaves this
earth to be with the Lord, or if alive when Christ returns, at that time.
3.2.2.1.1 John 3:2 has been quoted
by many to support the idea that if a Christian goes to be with the Lord that
he must be resurrected in order to do so, “2 Beloved, now we are children of
God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He
appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.”
3.2.3. Other Christians believe and
teach that the Christian will go to be with the Lord at death in their spirit
only, and then when Christ returns at the Second Advent, they will receive
their resurrected bodies.
3.2.4. Still other Christians
believe and teach that the Christian will receive only a temporary body when he
goes to be with the Lord, and it will only be when Christ decides to return to
the earth that the temporary bodies of Christians will be resurrected as
Christ’s own body (in power and glory).
3.2.5. Regardless of when and how a
Christian will be resurrected in body, 1 Thess. 4:16 promises that when Christ
returns all Christians will have resurrected bodies, “16 For the Lord
Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.”
3.2.6. John writes that everyone
who partakes of this resurrection will be ‘blessed’ and be ‘holy’.
3.3.
The Second Resurrection is for the unbeliever and is a resurrection
unto damnation.
3.3.1. This resurrection is a
resurrection unto ‘eternal death’, which is a spiritual quality of life
that will last for eternity.
3.3.1.1.Romans 6:23 says the ‘wages
of sin is death’.
3.3.1.1.1.This death involves the ‘physical
death’ that every man will endure at the end of his life, and this is the ‘first
death’.
3.3.1.1.2.This death involves ‘spiritual
death’ which is the separation from God which sin brings to people.
3.3.1.1.3.This death involves ‘eternal
death’ which is an eternity of separation from God, and this is the second
death.
3.3.1.2.The unbelievers will have their
body resurrected, and it is that same earthly body, not a glorified and
powerful body, that will spend eternity in the fires of hell, yet not be
consumed.
3.4.
John promises us that everyone who is a believer will partake of the
first resurrection, and they shall then be ‘priests’ of God and of
Christ.
3.4.1. John had already promised us
that in Rev. 5:10: “10 And Thou hast
made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the
earth.”
3.4.2. Paul also taught of the
priesthood of all believers in Christ.
3.5.
Again John reiterates the duration of the reign of Christ and His
people upon the earth as being 1,000 years.
4.
VS 20:7-8 - “7 And when the thousand years are completed, Satan
will be released from his prison, 8 and will come out to deceive the nations
which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them
together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.” - Satan is loosed at the end of the 1,000 year
reign of Christ
4.1.
We saw in the first part of this chapter that Satan had been bound in
the ‘abussos’ (bottomless pit) for the 1,000 years, and now he is
released.
4.2.
The people who have lived upon the earth were evidently not all saved
at the beginning of the Millennial Reign of Christ, and they have born
children, and some of them have come to salvation through Christ but many of
them have not come to know the Lord, and so now Satan appears to shortly be
able to deceive the unsaved ones into rebelling against the Lord.
4.2.1. As I mentioned at the outset
of this chapter, God seeks through the Millennial Reign of Christ to persuade
men once and for all that even under the best of circumstances and an ideal
environment, man proves himself to be depraved in nature due to indwelling sin.
4.2.1.1.The folly of man again assumes
that even despite the tremendous failure of the first attempt to battle God at
the Battle of Armageddon, that they will be successful should they attempt to
overthrow Christ at this time.
4.2.2. This is not a small group assembled
against the Lord, for their number is described as being as numerous as the
‘sand on the seashore.’
4.3.
Though the identities in this battle, Gog and Magog, are identical to
those who start the Ezekiel 38 and 39 battle, this is not the same battle mentioned
there, for the time periods, motives, and results are different between the two
accounts.
4.3.1. As I mentioned earlier in
the book, the timetable for the Ezekiel 38 and 39 battle is probably either
just before the 7 years of Tribulation in the book, or at the early part of
that time.
5.
VS 20:9 - “9 And they came up on the broad plain of the earth
and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down
from heaven and devoured them.” - The result
of the ‘last insurrection’ against the Lord
5.1.
The great army that Satan assembles to overthrow Christ comes up and
surrounds the city of Jerusalem,
where Christ’s kingdom is centered.
5.2.
As with the Battle of Armageddon, this battle is over before it begins,
however here fire comes down from heaven and consumes the entire insurrection.
5.2.1. Paul prophesied this time in
2 Thess. 1:6-9, “6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with
affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted
and to us as well when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His
mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not
know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 And these
will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord
and from the glory of His power.”
6.
VS 20:10 - “10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into
the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also;
and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” - The devil is now thrown into the Lake of Fire
6.1.
We saw in chapter 19 how that the ‘lake of fire’ is actually the
place referred to as ‘hell’ most commonly in the New Testament and by
Jesus, and the Greek word ‘gehenna’ is most commonly used to refer to
it.
6.1.1. Even though many Christians
believe that literal fires are not going to be found in this place, it is also
the case that if the symbol for and description of this place is that of
horrible burning fires, the reality of it must be at least as bad as the
symbols and description of it.
6.1.2. Here John describes the
eternity of the lost as being ‘tormented day and night forever and ever’.
6.2.
This verse defeats the misconception by some of the idea of ‘soul
sleep’ for unbelievers for eternity, for here we find that after the 1,000
year Reign of Christ, the Beast and False Prophet are still found there.
6.2.1. At the end of the last
chapter which marked the end of the 7 year Tribulation Period and the beginning
of the Millennial Reign of Christ, we saw that the beast and false prophet were
thrown into the lake of fire.
7.
VS 20:11 - “11 And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat
upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found
for them.”
- The Great White Throne Judgment of Christ
7.1.
The following graphic provided by Tim Lahaye and his Revelation
commentary shows non believers standing before Jesus for judgment and the books
that will be opened on that day ( please
be patient as it will take a couple of minutes to load ) :
7.2.
At the end of the Millennial Reign of Christ, the dead who have not
been God’s people during their stay upon earth are resurrected for a day of
judgment unto condemnation.
7.3.
This Great White Throne judgment is a judgment for non-believers
according to their works. All of God’s
judgments are judgments for works.
7.3.1. For non-believers at the
Great White Throne judgment, Christ’s atonement will not be applied for all of
the wrong they have committed.
Therefore, it will be a judgment only of condemnation for all who
appear.
7.3.2. The Bema Seat judgment for believers
in Christ will be a judgment of works, but it will be a judgment of rewards
with no condemnation for sins committed.
7.4.
This final day of judgment before God Almighty will be introduced by the
destruction of everything that God has created to this point.
7.4.1. This fleeing away of heaven
and earth is not meant to be interpreted allegorically as if really something
else is intended here.
7.4.2. This is what Peter wrote
about in 2 Peter 3:7,10-12, “7 But the present heavens and earth by His word
are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of
ungodly men. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the
heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with
intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. 11 Since all these
things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in
holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of
God, on account of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the
elements will melt with intense heat!”
7.4.2.1.We would all be wise to heed
this exhortation of Peter’s here to be ready to meet the Lord when He returns
since after all it is inevitable that one day this day of judgment to
condemnation for unbelievers will occur, and that none shall be able to escape.
7.4.3. Jeremiah likewise had a
glimpse of this day in Jer. 4:23-25, “23 I looked on the earth, and behold,
it was formless and void; And to the heavens,
and they had no light. 24 I looked on
the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, And all the hills moved to and
fro. 25 I looked, and behold, there was
no man, And all the birds of the heavens had fled.”
7.4.4. Jesus also told us that one
day ‘heaven and earth will pass away’ in Matt. 24:35, “35 “Heaven and
earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away.”
8.
VS 20:12 - “12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing
before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is
the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written
in the books, according to their deeds.” - The books are opened and another book, the ‘book
of life’
8.1.
John sees here all of those who have ever lived upon the earth who were
not God’s people, and there no matter what their particular station in this
life was they stand shoulder to shoulder to one another all awaiting their own
turn to be judged.
8.1.1. We all need to realize that
God is not a respecter of persons, and that when He judges, He judges all based
upon His unchanging standards of righteousness and holiness.
8.2.
We do not know the nature of the ‘books’ that were opened here,
whether they are contained on microchips, etc., however they appear to contain
a record of all of the things that we have done in our life here upon this
earth, every good or bad deed.
8.2.1. Certainly if we today can
create massive memory storage devices, the Lord can store all of the works of
mankind somehow.
8.3.
It also appears to be the case that everyone present will see and hear
the full account of everything that that each person ever done, and there
before God and all who are present, no one will have a single excuse that they
can give that will justify any of the wrongs that they have committed.
8.3.1. Jesus revealed to us in
Matt. 7:21-23 that many will try in vain to give excuses for their sins on this
day, “21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom
of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. 22 “Many
will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and
in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 “And
then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who
practice lawlessness.’”
8.4.
The books will be opened. The
scriptures tell us that there are a few books that the Lord has:
8.4.1. The ‘Book of Life’ mentioned contains
the name of everyone who is ‘being saved’ by the Lord, however none of
these present here at this judgment throne have their name written in that
book.
8.4.1.1.There are a couple of places
in the scripture that talk about a person’s name being blotted out of the ‘book
of life’, which seems to indicate that initially everyone who has ever
lived originally had his or her name in the book.
8.4.1.2.The Psalmist wrote of this
in Ps. 69:28, “28 May they be blotted out of the book of life, And may they
not be recorded with the righteous.”
8.4.1.3.John in Rev. 3:5 wrote this,
“5He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will
not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name
before my Father, and before his angels.”
8.4.2. The ‘Lamb’s Book of Life’
appears to have everyone’s name written in it whom Christ has applied His blood
in procuring their salvation.
8.4.3. Another book is a ‘Book
of Human Works’ which contains for each person each of the works they have
done, and whether or not those works were good or bad.
8.5.
As I mentioned previously, all of God’s judgments will be according to
a person’s works, for his works reveal his true nature and in the case of those
who profess belief in Christ, the real nature of their faith.
8.5.1. The judgment for Christians
which will occur after the rapture of the church during the Tribulation Period,
will also be based upon works because as James wrote, our faith produces works
as its nature outcome, and faith without works is ‘dead’
(non-existent). However, that judgment
will be a judgment of rewards not condemnation, as I mentioned, for Paul wrote
in Rom.
8:1 that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”.
9.
VS 20:13 - “13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it,
and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged,
every one of them according to their deeds.” - All of the unbelieving dead everywhere
found are collected together for this judgment
9.1.
At the end of their life, some people had died or been buried at sea,
therefore their body could not be resurrected up out of a cemetery, therefore
it must be resurrected up out of ‘the sea’.
9.2.
Some were alive upon the earth when this judgment began, therefore they
die when all the elements that matter is made up of explode, and for them they
must be resurrected up out of ‘death’.
9.3.
The spirits of all those who have died and are not God’s people are
being contained in Hades, and therefore the spirit bound in Hades is joined to
the resurrected earthly body, and thus of ‘Hades’ it is said that it gives
up the dead in it.
9.4.
Finally, John reiterates here that the dead are judged at this time ‘according
to their deeds’, whether good or bad.
10.
VS 20:14-15 - “14 And 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.” - The final and eternal
destination of all those who do not know the Lord
10.1. Death and Hades, that is,
all of those beings which came to this judgment from ‘death and Hades’,
body and soul, are finally thrown into the ‘lake of fire’.
10.2. Everyone whose name is not
found in this ‘book of life’ is thrown into the lake of fire.
10.3. The first death was the
physical death that all must suffer because of being sinners, for the ‘wages
of sin is death’ (Rom. 6:23), however the ‘second death’ is eternal
separation from God in the torments of the lake of fire.
10.4. My question to you the
reader (or listener) is, “Is your name written in the book of life?”
10.5. If for you the answer to
this question is, “no”, then it will be you who will one day be standing
before the Lord at this throne and having all of the deeds of your entire life,
good or bad, shown to the whole world, and it will also be you who will have no
excuse for your sin and will be thrown in the lake of fire!
10.5.1.Wouldn’t it be better to
have the sin issue dealt with here in this life and let Christ’s
substitutionary death be the full payment for the ‘second death’ which
shall be your eternal fate?
10.5.2.In an instant, a moment of
time, you can place your faith in the Son of God whose death is full payment
for all of your sins, and you can once and for all time be ‘justified by
faith’ in Him, and declared for all eternity to be innocent of all wrong
you will ever do!
10.5.2.1.This is what it means to be
saved through the grace of God, Eph. 2:8-9, “8 For by grace you have been
saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not
as a result of works, that no one should boast.”
10.5.3.Run to Christ and let His atonement
of sin be your covering before a holy, just, and righteous God, and forever He
will see only in you the imputed righteousness of Christ.
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