Let's explore
Revelations 20 which is often called the Millennium Chapter,
because the events
that are being described are happening
during and after
the 1000 year reign of Christ
and His saints
which commences with the sound of the 7th Trump.
We learned in
Rev. 20:6 that those who are part of the first resurrection
will be Priests
of God and shall reign with Christ during the 1000 years.
But once again,
as we have seen
throughout Revelation,
this is not new
knowledge if you are familiar with all of God's Word.
You see, the
last 8 chapters of the Book of Ezekiel
contain more
information about the Millennium than does the Book of Revelation.
And so we can
read even more detail about the 1000 year reign of God's elect,
who are called
the "zadok" in Hebrew,
which means the
"just" or "justified ones" (Rom. 8).
Here's Ezekiel's account in chapter 44 concerning the Priests during the Millennium:
Ezekiel 44:23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
Those being taught
by these priests
obviously couldn't
discern between the false messiah and the true Messiah,
the profane and
the holy,
while they were
still in their flesh bodies,
before the 7th
Trump sounded,
could they?
[24] And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.
Rev. 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them... and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
But here's some
detail that we didn't learn of in Revelation.
And it answers
a very common question often asked:
"Will we recognize
our loved ones in the Millenium?"
The answer is
yes, of course.
(After all,
we were created
after the image of God and the angels,
the host of
heaven, the sons of God, i.e. ourselves.
So we will all
look like "ourselves"
after which we
were created in the image of.)
[25] And they shall come at no dead person to defile themselves: but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves.
Again, how many
times must we realize that these "dead" people are alive
and going to
discernment classes during the Millennium?
They are "spiritually
dead".
Even your loved
ones
if you are unfortunate
enough to have some who don't make the "first cut" at the 7th Trump,
are called "dead",
again because
they have mortal souls
and are liable
to die the second death.
Let's return to
chapter 20 of the Book of the Unveiling,
the book that
let's us SEE behind the VEIL!
We are now going
to be taken behind that veil
to the End of
the Millennium,
and we must "transport"
our minds
to that time
with the understanding of those things which have been revealed to us thus
far.
Remember, everyone is now in an incorruptible, spiritual body.
Christ and His
zadok have been reigning for the 1000 years
during which
time Satan has been imprisoned.
Everyone now fully
understands God Word
and they have
been taught the "difference"
and how to "discern"
between the unclean (Satan's ways)
and the clean
(God's way).
They have all
seen many times the video replays of the flesh age
and the results
of following the unclean path.
So you would think
that most everyone would SEE
and desire in
their hearts to follow God
and love Him
and live the clean way of life
that produces
happiness and joy.
That is our Father's
desire,
but there is
some sad news in the next two verses.
Rev. 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
It is soon
time for the Great White Throne judgment of God.
Christ now
let's Satan loose to test those who followed after him before.
[8] 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 so Satan shall
once again run "to and fro" and "up and down"
in the earth
gathering together all who will still follow him,
although as you
will recall he will not be afforded
the one world
political system or his former role as spurious messiah.
This beast and false prophet were destroyed for ever and ever (Rev. 19:20).
But as incredible
as it may seem,
and as sad as
it is,
the reality is
that there will still be a lot of people
who will follow
Satan,
the number of
whom is as the sand of the sea.
So this verse
documents the justification
and the reason
for the release of Satan and the "testing".
All one can say
is that the heart of the wicked
and the kenite
is a very hard thing to change.
The statements
"in the four corners" and "Gog and Magog"
simply mean all
those nations outside the Holy City.
Remember we are
at the end of the Millennium
and this Gog
and Magog is not to be confused
with the pre-millennial
Gog and Magog of Ezekiel 38 and 39.
Here it means
in both directions,
East and West,
from Jerusalem into all the earth, i.e. into all four corners.
(For
further documentation see notes in the Companion Bible on Rev. 20:8 and
Ezek. 38:2)
[9] 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.
When Satan has
gathered all who will join him
and they have
compassed Jerusalem then it's lake of fire time for them.
No need to even
open up the book of works on these folks
for they have
totally and completely failed the final exam.
They will not graduate into eternity.
[10] 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.
Here we come to
the favorite verse of Dante,
who gave us graphic
descriptions,
complete with
illustrations,
of an everlasting
Burning Inferno,
known as Dante's
Inferno,
where poor souls
who didn't repent
weep and wail
and writhe in pain and agony and torment forever and ever
while the saints
sitting on the clouds with their harps look upon them and sing the refrain
"Burn, suckers,
burn, we told you so, we told you so"!
Some concept
of heaven, eh?
Well it ain't so!
First of all,
it is documented
time after time after time in the Bible
that the fate
of the wicked is to PERISH,
to die the second
death,
which is the
DESTRUCTION OF THE SOUL!
We've already
quoted John 3:16 in the last study
as well as Christ's
own words in Mat. 10.
But let's read
again His words:
Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
And how about
Satan's soul?
Did we just read
that Satan will be tormented for ever and ever?
No we did not,
because we read
an idiom of another language
translated into
our English which completely lost the meaning.
It would be like
translating the English expression
"She got cold
feet", meaning "She lost her nerve" to do something,
into French.
But in the French
language
there is no such
expression
and so the best
the readers of the expression
can determine
is that the actual temperature of her feet much approach that of ice!
The root of the
word "torment" in verse 10
is the Greek
word basanos
from where we
get our word "basis",
and it means
(through the notion of going to the bottom).
But the whole
expression together simply means
that Satan will
be consumed,
debased, gone,
day and night (for all eternity),
forever and ever
(to be no more).
For further documentation,
let's look at
a second witness,
another account
of Satan's ultimate fate,
found in the
28th chapter of Ezekiel.
Here's how he
DIES!
He perishes by
fire!
Ezekiel 28:18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
Always remember
from the last
verse in Hebrews chapter 12
that our Father
is a consuming fire.
He will destroy Satan and turn him into ashes forever and ever.
Does that mean he'll burn for ever and ever?
Of course not.
[19] All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.
Satan will BE
NO MORE!
You just read
it!
His very name
in Greek is "Apollyon" which means PERISH.
That is why he
is called the "Son of Perdition",
i.e. the son
who will perish!
Do you realize
that Satan
has succeeded
in taking a few mistranslated verses
and created
an almost universally accepted Christian doctrine
so heinous
that it even defies the nature of human love.
We have laws in
human society against torturing both animals and people.
Even a parent
of a child who became a despicable evil murderer
could not imagine
nor accept
and would certainly
never decree
that the child
be heinously singed with fire, poked with hot coals, and roasted in an
oven.
What parent, brother
or sister could look upon one of their own being treated as such?
They could perhaps
accept the humane execution of the child,
to put him or
her out their torment for ever and ever,
for the protection
and good of society.
And guess what?
God says in Jer.
32:35
that He never
ever thought of torturing children in fire!
Such is the doctrine
of Molech!
NEVER EVER!
And yet today
it is a doctrine in most Christian churches.
But it is a tradition of men like Dante and not of God's Word!
And as it is written,
Death is exactly
the punishment God decrees for the murderer in the flesh body,
and as it is
written,
Death is exactly
the punishment God decrees for the wicked in the spirit body.
And just as we
don't have to put up with the evil (flesh) person
anymore on earth
when they are executed (the first death),
so we will not
have to put up with the wicked anymore for all eternity
when they are
executed (the second death).
Rev. 20:11 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.
This is the last
day of this earth age
and the full
God head comes to earth.
We'll read of
it in detail in the next chapter.
And this verse
should remind us of that which we read in Rev.
6:14
"And the heaven
departed as a scroll when it is rolled together;
and every mountain
and island were moved out of their places."
It is the end
of this present heaven and earth age,
the 2nd heaven
and earth age,
and the beginning
of the 3rd which is for all eternity.
[12] 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.
Do dead people
stand?
This is not talking
about resurrection,
this is the coming
before the Judge!
Stand up and
approach the bench please!
Remember where
we are?
We are at the
end of the Millennium.
There are no
people in flesh bodies
nor are there
any souls in the ground.
The "dead" referred
to here are the spiritually dead
who are about
to be judged from the books
and receive their
rewards according to their actions!
And their last
actions recorded in the books
just before the
Millennium were to worship the beast and his image!
God will pick
it up from there.
And so it is more
than obvious that these books
that are opened
are the Books of Works.
You see,
Almighty God
keeps perfect records of all His children's activities?
Thank God
for this dispensation of grace
and for repentance
whereby we can have our "activities",
our sins, deleted
from the books.
Also, remember
that those of the first resurrection
are not subject
to the judgment of the second resurrection
and/or the second
death.
We read that
in verse 6.
Notice too that
the Book of Life was also opened.
This book
already has the names of God's elect in this generation written in it.
In fact, their
names were written in that Book of Life a long time ago,
before the foundation
of this world.
Remember we read
of it in Rev. 13:8?
All those of
this generation whose names are not written in it will worship Satan as
Jesus.
Rev. 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Let's return to the judgment.
Rev. 20:13 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.
This verse simply
says what the last phrase makes obvious.
That every single
person on earth who is spiritually dead,
i.e. has a mortal
soul and is subject to the judgment,
will be brought
forth and judged according to their works.
There will be
no "plea bargaining" and no "defense attorneys"
will be permitted
in the courtroom
except when it
is their turn to stand before the Judge to defend themselves!
(That ought to
be really something when they try to parse and redefine the Word). NEXT!
[14] And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
That's right.
It's all over,
all death and dying,
and all the evil
rudiments and wicked people will be consumed by the consuming fire,
and they will
be gone forever and ever.
As Paul would say:
1 Cor. 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The only victory comes from having your name written in the Book of Life!
Rev. 20:15 And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake
of fire.
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