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Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the
bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil,
and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 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.
Now we see the devil who we also know as Satan, bound for 1000 years. We may
wonder why God doesn't bind him forever at this point. The purpose of the 1000
year reign of Jesus Christ is to show the world that is living at that time,
what it is like to have a righteous government. This will be a time when there
is peace, no war, no famine, no suffering and even the animals are at peace.
There are natural people living who have not yet been saved but will have that
chance during this time. For babies will be born during this time and they will
need to hear the gospel. They will not be deceived by Satan and will have
understanding of what the gospel is.
Here is a description of this time in Isaiah.
Isaiah 65:19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and
the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
Isa 65:20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that
hath not filled his days: for the child shall die a hundred years old; but the
sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed.
Isa 65:21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant
vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
Isa 65:22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and
another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect
shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
Isa 65:23 They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they
are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.
Isa 65:24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and
while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
Isa 65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat
straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not
hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.
So we see that there will be death but not any tragic deaths or any that die
ahead of time. The people seem to have a free will to choose to believe or not
for it says that a if a sinner dies at 100 years old he is accursed. As long as
we are in our natural bodies, we will have a free will to say yes or no to
Christ even during the 1000 year reign. The ones who are ruling with Christ who
have already received their new bodies will of course are not affected by any
death again.
Rev 20:4 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 worshiped 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.
The first resurrection and those that were raptured without dying will be judged
at this time. They will live and reign with Jesus Christ. If saints are reigning
with Christ then it stands to reason that there will be natural people still
living upon the earth for believers to rule over.
We know that no one who had received the mark of the beast will be among these
for they would have been judged by God according to previous chapters so these
are people that were not affected by the kingdom of the beast. They were not
previously born again believers to else they would be among those reigning
having been raptured or martyred for their faith so they had to be people that
were not in the vicinity of the anti-christ's reign of terror. Perhaps his reign
was not world-wide as we usually think but only within the confines of the Old
Roman Empire territory. If he rules all the earth we might assume that in 3 and
1/2 years he did not have time to force the mark upon every single person.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years
were finished. This is the first resurrection.
We see that there are 1000 years between the 1st and 2nd resurrection. Our goal
should be to make the first one.
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.
This is why it is important to get ready spiritually now and make sure that we
are in the first resurrection. If we ignore the gospel now and think to accept
Him during the tribulation period it is a very foolish idea. If we can't stand
for Christ now, how can we make it with the treat of death, torture or
starvation? We might hope we are in a remote part of the world that escapes the
reign of this anti-christ but what if his rule is world-wide and we do not
escape?
Whoever makes the rapture or is martyred during the tribulation, is safe for
eternity. When the devil is released they can't be tempted anymore, suffer
hunger, thirst, death or sickness. They have new bodies that will last for ever.
The devil can't tempt them or touch them and upon them the second (eternal)
death has no power.
Old Testament saints are also included. The angel who spoke with Daniel promised
him that he would be among those here.
Daniel 12:12 Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three
hundred and five and thirty days.
Dan 12:13 But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in
thy lot at the end of the days.
Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out
of his prison,
Rev 20:8 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.
There will be some that live on the earth during the reign of Christ who will
not desire to live righteous and holy. They will rebel when Satan is loose to
deceive them. This will show who is of the truth and who is not. The devil will
deceive them into thinking they can win and take back over the world. I'm sure
Satan knows that he can't win but he desires to take with him every last one he
can deceive.
Believe it or not, some will desire the old ways of the flesh. Some will miss
the lust, filth and sin of the past which was suppressed when Satan was bound
but will come to the surface when he is released. When Noah and His Sons started
all over after the first world was destroyed by the flood, we see that the evil
perished in the flood but it did not take long to start up again.
Now is the time to escape all these things and stand before the throne of God
safe and secure for all eternity. The blood of Jesus can cleanse us from all sin
and make us safe in the shelter of His salvation. We do not have to be lost and
miss the first resurrection. We can be partakers of His holiness by receiving
His salvation this day. Why take a chance and wait? Now is the day of salvation.
John 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and
cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Joh 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly
shall flow rivers of living water.
God's got something better than the hate, misery, lust, corruption and filth
that Satan offers us. Satan promises us liberty but in reality we are children of
bondage. We can be free of that bondage by just simple child like faith in Jesus
Christ.
Rev 20:9 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.
All their efforts to take over the world and return the world to the sinful
state it was in before the return of Jesus is in vain. They are all devoured and
destroyed suddenly and all rebellion will at last be put down.
Rev 20:10 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 forever and ever
Notice that the anti-christ the and the prophet who exalted the anti-chirst by
deceiving people into worshipping him are in this lake of fire where they were
placed 1000 years previous to this time. This shows us that our souls are
eternal. We will spend eternity somewhere either in torment or in peace.
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 day that all will dread whose name is not written in the lamb's book
of life. If the blood of Jesus does not cover our sins and we are not clothed
with His righteousness by our faithfulness to Him, we will be judged for every
single time we have ever broken every last commandment in the law of God.
Every lie, every deed and every thought will be brought before the judgment of
God. Christ died for our sins so that we would not have to face this day of
judgment. He died that we might have eternal peace and joy with bodies that can
never die again. We do not have to stand before this white throne judgment if we
only come to Christ now and do not hesitate.
All we have to do is pray with sincerity, "Lord please forgive me and cleanse me
of all sin so that I can become your child and enter into eternal life with
you." "I believe that you died for my sins, I believe that you rose again so
that all who believe in you can also rise and reign with you." I'm tired of
living my own life and please cleanse me and fill me with your Holy Spirit."
Rev 20:12 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.
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.
The bodies were dead but the souls were in hell or Hades awaiting the final
judgment of God. The soul does not physically die but exists in some form at
some place. No matter whether their bodies were burned, drowned at sea or
buried, they are resurrected to face this judgment if they did not make the
first resurrection.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the
second death.
As Satan, the anti-christ and the false prophet are here and alive so will all
those that ignored God's free gift of salvation and chose to keep their sin and
follow Satan. They will go where he goes. This is what he has wanted. He knows
this is his fate and wants to take everyone he can with him. We do not have to
follow him to this place. Jesus Christ made a way to escape. Come and learn of
Him and be saved from sin this day.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire.
This is a sad ending but beloved, it doesn't have to be a sad ending for you.
Nothing we are trying to hold onto is worth it. Once you come to Christ you then
learn to love Him and we now serve Him because we love Him, not because of any
fear of hell. That fear may get us moving in the right direction but then when
we meet Him who saved us by His grace, we serve Him because we love Him. Even if
there was no hell and no eternal death, after knowing Jesus Christ, I would
still love Him and want to follow Him. I will not promise riches in this life, a
good job or success in business. I will not promise a life without pain, sorrow
or disappointment. but I will promise a life of love, joy, peace and continual
fellowship with Jesus as we walk in the spirit that He gives to those who ask
Him. I will promise that no day will come that you ever regret receiving Jesus
Christ into your life.
Revelation 21
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