The American Wisdom Series

Presents
Pamphlet #4682

Revelation 20:1  ķAnd I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
My highlghted verses: 3  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.


John then gives this account of the actual incarceration:
[3] 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.
So as John reports,
for the next 1000 years Satan will be imprisoned
and not permitted to have any contact whatsoever,
either by person or by spirit, with anyone outside his confines.

However, we know from a related article submitted thousands of years ago
by reporting agent Isaiah that Satan will be visible throughout the Millennium
as a reminder to all of what can happen.

Here's part of Isaiah's transcript concerning Satan's casting into the pit:

Isaiah 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
[14] I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
[15] Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

[16] They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;

And so it shall be that people will walk by the "pit" during the Millennium,
on their way to Discipline Classes,
and shake their heads in unbelief to think that this poor slob
could have perpetrated worldwide religious deception and political control.

End of article.

Yes, it's fun to imagine how it might happen,
but happen it will!

We already knew who the dragon and that old serpent was.

We also knew from 2 Pet. 3:8 that 1000 years to the Lord is as one day,
so that the Day of the Lord is 1000 years.

But the one thing we didn't discuss is
"why will Satan be released at the end of the Millennium"?

I'm sure you realize if you've studied this Book of Revelation from the beginning with us
that Satan is coming to this earth disguised as Jesus Christ
(and I'll bet you know that he comes before the true Christ).

This final generation then will be tested by the false messiah, right?

Those who fail,
who do not overcome and who don't partake of the first resurrection,
will go through the Millennium and be taught of and with discipline for 1000 years,
which is how much time they have to get their act together.

After they have been taught there will be another test,
a final exam if you will,
which they must pass before they can receive their diploma of eternal life.

That test is Satan's release once again upon the world,
but this time without the political beast and the role of spurious messiah.

And no, it is not a second chance because they never came to a full knowledge of the truth
in this generation because of the "famine" (Amos 8:11),
and as such never had a prayer of a first chance.

Next we will learn what reward comes with being part of the first resurrection.


4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness 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.
5  But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
My highlghted verses: 6  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.
Rev. 20:6 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.
To be part of that first resurrection is a truly an Unfathomable Blessing! If you have SEEN the PICTURES of heaven and of the glory of our Father and His throne described so far, and if you will follow with us to the end of this great Book of Revelation and SEE the beauty of the NEW JERUSALEM coming down out of heaven, then you still cannot fathom the blessing of being part of the first resurrection. Our feeble brains just cannot imagine how wonderful it is!

Now read again verse 20. Since eternal life is granted to those who are part of the First Resurrection, then the second death, the lake of fire, does not apply to them!Their souls cannot be destroyed because they have already received the gift of eternal life. And they shall be PRIESTS and REIGN with Christ throughout the Millennium.

In our next study we will document from the Old Testament and see in greater detail the reign of these Priests of God and of Christ.But for now, just stop everything and take a deep breath and consider the following:

If you have eyes to see and ears to hear then you have been and will be reading about YOU, a participant in the first resurrection! And if you can only even briefly comprehend the enormous reality of all this, that it WILL HAPPEN TO YOU as it is written, then your faith will be greatly increased, your fears and anxieties will be greatly decreased, and you will be overcome with love and thankfulness for our Father who loves His children so much.


7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
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.
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.
My highlghted verses: 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.
[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 must 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).

11  ķAnd 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.
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.
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.
14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Now we'll discuss the last day of this earth age when the full God head comes to earth.
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!


AWS Editors Note: What is being said here is that even though you missed your opportunity to be saved by grace in this flesh age, all is not lost. You can still become part of the second resurrection at the end of the Millennium if you truly learn to tell the difference between what is Holy and what is profane and pass the final test when Satan is released for a short while at the end of the Millennium.

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, which takes place at the beginning of the Millenniumm, 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. still 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.
Otherwise you will be no more!

As for the rest of God's children whose names were written in the Book of Life?

They lived happily ever after!


 
 








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