“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 for ever and ever.
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” - Rev 20:7-15
The range of time covered in the Book of Revelation dwarfs that covered in the book of Genesis.
The book of Genesis begins with the creation of the Earth and goes all the way to 2000 BC (We are in 2000 AD now). Genesis ends with Israel – numbering 70 people, going down to Egypt), and Exodus picks up the story 400 years later when Moses leads them out (approx. 1500 BC). The rest of the Old Testament covers a span of 1100 years (till Malachi) and then there is a pause for 400 years till Christ is born. The events upto the Book of Revelation are in the Gospels (Life of Christ), Acts, and the letters of the Apostles Paul, Peter, James, Jude, and John.
The Book of Revelation starts with a message to the 7 churches (Chapters 1- 3) that were around in the apostle John’s lifetime (approx..80 AD). It then talks about the events that we have seen occur over the last 1900 years – false prophets/deceptive doctrines, wars, famines, disease & persecution of Gods people – in Chapter 6 – the first 5 Seal Judgements, and we have previously remarked that we have not yet seen the 6th seal opened. We are 2000 years and counting already!
At a time in the future, the 6th seal is opened, and that unleashes a barrage of events that occur over a human lifetime –( we see people mentioned at the time of the 6th seal that are sealed on their foreheads (Rev 7:3)– and we see those persons referred to at the time of the 5th trumpet (Rev 9:4)). When things begin to happen, they begin to happen with a rapidity that is absolutely amazing! Within this lifetime, there is a last 7 year period between trumpets 5-7 where persecution is greatly intensified under a one world government and an enforced commercial and religious system. At the end of this period Christ comes for His elect and there is great joy in Heaven
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Immediately after these events, Christ returns to claim His earthly kingdom (we saw that last week) and Satan is bound for a 1000 years. The Book of revelation compresses the events of that time into just a few verses in Rev 20:1-6. It then picks up the events after that 1000 years, and then gives us a glimpse into Eternity!
Wow! What a blessing to be able to see so far into the future! Indeed, the Book of Revelation promises a blessing to those that keep the words of this prophecy, and this is one of them! This week, lets dig a little deeper into the texts we started with.
The period of the 1000 years (or the Millenium) is a source of controversy today. Some scholars take the position that it began with Christ’s Ascension and the reign of the Spirit (and we are still in it), some (like us) hold to the position that it is yet to come.
There are other esoteric positions that view that it started when Christ was born - he makes reference to binding a strong man before taking down his house in Matt 12:29 & Mark 3:27 – leading some to believe that Satan was bound before He began His ministry. Of course, this flies in the face of the simple logic that Christ was tempted by Satan in the Wilderness – do they believe that Satan was Skyping from the bottomless pit? Just letting you know that they are out there…
Simply put, the Millennium is a time when Israel will rule over the Nations with Christ seated on the Throne of David as promised, prophesied and predicted in countless prophecies in the Old Testament. The fact that he needs to rule with a rod of iron (people will not willingly obey him) is because, even though its hard to believe, there will be survivors on Earth from all the nations. Christ’s 3rd coming wages a war against the ARMIES and not PEOPLE’s of the earth. These people, and their descendants, will live in a perfect one-world government, but some will never completely be happy with their lot. They are the perfect targets for Satan to come out one last time, and try to rally man against God. Of course, it doesn’t work.
The point of the Millennium is show all creation that Sin, left unaddressed, is so pervasive, that even when the environment is perfect (no bad politicians, no bureaucracy, perfect justice) – it still foments rebellion, and has to be completely dealt with, which is what we see happening.
Revelation Chap 21 should actually be called Genesis Book 2, because God starts over – but before then, there is some housekeeping to be done – and it will offer us a great insight into an objection against Christianity – why is Christ the only way, and what happens to people who died before Christ came?
The Great White Throne judgement scene peeps forward some 1000 years and shows us ALL the dead standing before God. They come from two places – the Sea, Death and Hades (mentioned together). The Sea refers to the nations – it is difficult to rationalize that people who die at sea(literal) are held in a separate place from the rest of unsaved humanity that is in Sheol/Death/Hades awaiting judgement. BTW – Solomon makes it clear that there is nothing for a man to do in Sheol – we can only work our works here on earth (so our lifetimes are precious indeed!)- it’s a place of waiting. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” – Eccl 9:10
All the dead, great and small, that are “unsaved” – are standing before God. Books containing their actions are opened (“books”), and the BOOK, the book of Life is opened – and as we remarked last week, SURPRISE – a number of those standing there now are to be found in the book of Life!
These could be people that obeyed their conscience and lived their lives to the best they could. They could even be devout (in the sense of loving god and man) people from other religions! We get some backing from this argument from the Apostle Paul who says “…after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:” (Ro 2:5-10) – What’s our point?
As we have said in our “Our you Saved” video, Jesus saves whether you have heard of him or not! Salvation is a sovereign act of God, who in His Grace applies His Son’s blood to our Sin Debt, and credits us with His righteousness – Atonement and Justification – because only HE can do this, He can do this to whomever He pleases – and is NOT constrained by our petty viewpoints of space, time and deservedness. It is His glory and majesty that He chooses us earthen vessels to be channels and participants with us in this endeavor – for our growth and His glory! He doesn’t need us friends… it’s a privilege to be called!
So, your nice yet-unbelieving friends may get to go to Heaven after all – but they are going to wait some 1000 years to get there! We have a further warning that God overlooked the times of ignorance, but in this day, when the Gospel is so freely available, He tells us that He is commanding everyone to repent. He will judge us based on the light that we had as humans.
Isn’t that great? Isn’t that awesome? Doesn’t that show you why John 3:16 says – For God -SO LOVED- the world – Not just Christians! Doesn’t that show forth His absolute righteousness!
The saving is by being written in the Book of Life (that’s the only criteria for avoiding the lake of fire), and the judging – is rewards or punishment based on works. Nobody’s works save or condemn them – it is the sovereign decision of God! You may not like it friend, but it’s His Universe, and He makes the rules!
A lot to chew over, but it will totally change your attitude to the people in your life. You will no longer classify them as “Christian-saved” or “Heathen-damned” based on the labels they happen to be wearing, but will see them as creatures created in God’s image whom He loves – and judge them based on the fruits they are displaying. You may be surprised to find some so-called Christians missing in the millennium but showing up at the final judgment, and people you were firmly convinced were hell-bound, actually written in the Lambs book of Life – even though they had to wait for a 1000 years to get there. For a more detailed exposition, definitely check out the “Are You Saved” video on this page, it may rock you, but you will be the better for it – we guarantee it!
Hallelujah and Glory to God for His righteousness and Grace!