John says that he saw still another “angel coming down out of heaven.” He will have the knowledge of the Abyss which he will hold in his strength. He will take hold of the ancient serpent, Satan, and cast him into the Abyss sealing him in for a span of one-thousand years. During that time Satan will be unable to deceive the nations of Earth. But after the one-thousand years are over, he must be loosed for a little while (REV 20:1-3).
During his millennial reign on Earth, the Lord rules as King from Jerusalem as all of the prophets predicted would occur at some point in the future. Even before all of the citizens of Mystery Babylon have been placed in their graves due to their cancerous sores Zechariah reports (ZEC 14:12-13).
Even while those few last ones with the mark are withering away from their own ignorant following of a faulty worldly system, Jerusalem becomes strong in the stronghold which her enemies had established for her. Even while the ones who suffer from their ways of greed grasp at one another’s throats, fighting at one another, blaming one another for their being lead into a system which will mean their ultimate doom, those who know the Lord will find peace and safety in the plans their God has made. Even while the wicked ones’ livestock rot while still standing from the the product codes by which they were marked; even while Jerusalem’s gates are being pounded upon by the unbelievers to be let in who must be forced back by the city’s gate keepers; even then shall “The wealth of all the surrounding nations…be collected” (ZEC 14:12-15).
Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain. If Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The Lord will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.
(ZEC 14:16-19—NIV)
The survivors; the Gentile Christians; those who had believed that Jesus is the Christ through the past two millennia and who grasped onto that faith through the catastrophe of the mark of materialism; these will all receive their promised rest. There will also be those who will have refused to take the mark because they just did not “feel” it was right; or they were too remote to be readily reached and the catastrophe struck too quickly. But after the terror is over, Zechariah said, “the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.” (ZEC 14:16:19—NIV)
Regardless of the fact that what prophecy describes as being Jesus’ iron fisted rule of Earth during the millennium it is none the less, necessary if any of its citizens are to survive (MAT 24:22). Here it is extremely necessary for one to recognize the fact that the one-thousand year period which is spoken of as the time which Jesus rules Earth with an iron rod refers to a basic unity of time in prophecy. “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years,” said Peter, “and a thousand years as one day” (2PE 3:8). True, this scripture verse has often been used to show the irrelevancy of time to the Creator; however it can also be used to show a specific period of time.
If this is true then it can be said that the Lord took six-thousand years to create this planet and its surrounding physical universe and all that is in it (GEN 1), and then during the seventh millennium he “rested” (GEN2:1-3). Now, understandably, this statement could be upsetting to those few literalists who have gotten to this point in this book not realizing that the basic presumption on which this book has been built is that the whole of the Bible is somewhat prophetic and thus is it all based upon the figurative language of prophecy. However, at the same time, this should make the statement of how the universe was formed in six days more understandable and acceptable to those who are scientifically minded.
Following this pattern we see that during the present millennial week since the creation of the physical universe the first two days were since people were forced out of the Garden of Eden until shortly after the time of the worldwide flood. It took about another two-thousand years for the world to see another direct intervention by its Creator into its affairs by the birth of Jesus. It has since been two thousand more year-days and the events can be easily seen to be pointing towards another intervention into human affairs by “outside” forces.
This time when the intervention comes the Lord will establish a strong kingdom where if obedience is not freely given it will be demanded by force. The reason for this is not because of vengeance or anger, but rather due to the fact that it is time to enter into the Universal Millennial Sabbath and the Earth must comply or be destroyed. During this time the Lord says:
“I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”
(ISA 66:12-13—NIV)
But in order to establish this period of universal peace it will be necessary, due to people’s fallen sinful state of being, for Jesus to set things right in the world. Isaiah said:
When you see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass; the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, but the fury will be shown to his foes. See, the Lord is coming with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind; he will bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For with fire and with his sword the Lord will execute judgement upon all men, and many will be slain by the Lord.
(ISA 66:14-16 — NIV)
Thus even while it seems that the Jews are surrounded by massive nations with destructive technologies which forces Israel to befriend her enemies; once it says no to the slavery forced upon it by other nations and refuses the mark of the international economic nation then will the Lord be freed to fight the battle for her.
The onslaught of unidentified flying objects from space which will bring a quick end to the attacks which has been occurring against Israel for the past two-thousand years and more. And those who accept that this inexplicable military power from the sky which comes to the aide of the Jews just before what will seem to be their ultimate defeat is in reality Jesus returning with the saints and angels to do battle for them as has been promised. Then will the Earth enter into its millennial rest as has been prophesied.
This is the reason we have this period of time where Satan is prevented from doing his work instead of just destroying him. The Universe is about to enter another Millennial Sabbath and all shall, necessarily either by free will or by force. People will either be in God’s Heavenly Kingdom and experiencing this Sabbath with him, or be put in places where they cannot prevent the celebration of life to be enjoyed to its fullest.
It is now nearly time for the 120th year of Jubilee since man fell from that glorious place in God’s garden. Before the great flood Jehovah told Noah, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years” (GEN 6:3). Even “as it was in the days of Noah,” said Jesus to his disciples, “so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away” (MAT 24:36-39). Even as Noah had 120 days to prepare his ark; so has there been 120 days (Years) of Jubilee for God to prepare the believer’s ark of salvation off this planet.
The Jewish people were promised that after two days (2000 years) he would revive them; on the third day (the third thousand years) he would restore them, that they may live in his presence. The Jews have been already restored to their homeland, but their temple to God is yet to be restored. That temple will be rebuilt. After nearly 2000 years of exile, the Jewish people are now nearly totally restored to their homeland awaiting the promised millennium. Those who have or will accept Jesus as the Messiah will receive it.
No one then will be left on the planet who does not believe the Truth. The ones who will be martyred because of their testimony for Jesus and refusal to worship the beast or accept the economic mark will be among those who arise from the dead when the third angel with the vial of God’s wrath begins to pour it out on the Earth. “They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years” (REV 20:6). This shall be the first resurrection which shall be made up of the “Blessed and holy” and who will have no part in the second death; for they did trust Jesus, the Christ, into eternal life and thus shall they receive their reward. But the rest of the dead shall remain in their graves until the Millennial reign of Christ is over.
4.20.1 Satan’s Doom
John then says that, “When the thousand years are over, Satan will be release from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners (all directions) of the earth – Gog and Magog – to gather them for battle.” Satan, the angel, god of fear, will go out of the Abyss and once again attempt to persuade the multitudes of people that Jesus is still not truly the Christ. He will try to persuade those born during the millennium that there must be a better way than following this one from, seemingly, another world. Multitudes not soundly grounded in their faith will follow this spirit’s deception and they will march across the breadth of the Earth and surround the camp of God’s people, the city he loves, Jerusalem. They will, in fact, attempt to seize it.
But at that moment fire will come down from heaven and a ministry of angels will devour those approaching the camp with Satan. And Satan, who will have deceived them, will be cast into the lake of fire where the beast and false prophet had been thrown. Then, due to no one ever again worshipping them, are they tormented day and night. They had been dug up from the ancient records of the past; but they shall be destroyed by a ministry, and a fire from heaven more destructive than man had ever conceived possible.
4.20.2 The Dead are Judged
Then John says that he saw the great, pure planet on which the Christ sat while he was having the vision. The Earth and the sky had no place there, they were too far away to be seen. All the dead who had not taking place in the first resurrection stood there awaiting the judgement by he who had been assigned to be their judge. The sea, death, and the grave had all given up the dead which were in them. Each person is to be judged according to their own works at this judgement, except those who had arisen through the role-call of the Book of Life.
Through this second resurrection will be all those not already arisen or alive; thus will all mankind be made alive as promised (1CO 15:22). But those who were found guilty of sin and not covered by the sacrifice which Jesus gave upon the cross; those who are found guilty of breaking the Universal Laws of Life as they knew them (for they will be judged by that which they knew if not covered by the righteousness of Christ – LUK 12:47) will then be judged.
Unlike one popular belief which claims that all one must do is to claim Jesus as Lord to be saved, even many of those who have said, “Lord, Lord” may sadly find themselves, surprisingly, being unable to enter the eternal kingdom with the sound of his words echoing in their ears as he says, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (MAT 7:23)!
Though a person should not expect to get to Heaven through good works alone, the Apostle James said that “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (JAM 2:17). It will be through the believer’s actions, whether they be helping the starving child or refusing the economic mark, that will be the determining factor as to whether the Lord agrees that the professor of Christianity or the lowly foundry worker, the president of a massive corporation or the destitute farmer of Nigeria, or anyone else truly know him.
Those whose names are not found written in the Book of Life and whose works do not prove that the Spirit of Christ lives in that person shall be thrown into the lake of fire, and, they too, will suffer the second death which death is eternal and not a metaphor for sleep. But those who are judged as having on the righteousness of Jesus shall receive eternal life. Thus “the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 6:23).
Navigation (Table of Contents)
Table of Contents
REVEALED
What the Righteous Desire to See
Chapter 1 – John Receives His Instructions+
Chapter 2 – Christ’s Letters to the Churches+
Chapter 3 – The Last Three Churches
Chapter 4 – The Throne in Heaven
Chapter 5 – The Scroll and the Lamb
Chapter 8 – The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer
Chapter 9 – More Trumpets are Blown+
Chapter 10 – The Angel and the Little Scroll
Chapter 11 – The Two Witnesses
Chapter 12 – The Women and the Dragon
Chapter 14 – The End of an Age+
Chapter 15 – Seven Angels with Seven Plagues
Chapter 16 – The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath
Chapter 17 – The Woman on the Beast
Chapter 18 – The Fall of Babylon
Chapter 20 – The Thousand Years
Chapter 21 – The New Jerusalem
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