In my last blog, we covered the verses in Revelation Chapter 20 that told about Satan being released from his prison. Remember, Satan was bound for a thousand years following Jesus' wrath. At the end of Jesus' thousand year reign with His saints, Satan will be released. John wrote about it this way in Revelation Chapter 20, verses 7-9;
(7)"And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his
prison,(8) and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners
of the earth, Gog and Ma-gog, to gather them together for war; the number of
them is like the sand of the seashore.(9) And they came up on the broad plain of
the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire
came down from heaven and devoured them."
The only other reference to Gog an Ma-gog, in the entire Scriptures, is in the writings of the prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel wrote this in his 38th Chapter;
(1)"And the word of the Lord came to me saying, (2)'Son of man, set your face
toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and
prophesy against him,(3) and say, 'Thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I am against
you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.(4) And I will turn you about,
put hooks into your jaws,, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and
horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield,
all of them wielding swords;(4) Persia, Ethiopia, and Put with them, all of them
with shield and helmet;(6) Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the
remote parts of the north with all its troops-many people with you.(7) Be prepared,
and prepare yourself, you and all your company that are assembled about you, and
be a guard for them."
Satan, when he is let loose, will go again to the nations to gather their armies to come against the earthly Jerusalem and the heavenly Jerusalem, Mount Zion. You might wonder why all these nations would come against Jesus after the earth has been at peace for a thousand years. One thing to note is that all these nations are out of the area around Israel. The heavenly Jerusalem will be visible to all the people living in the nations surrounding Israel. They will see the glory of God in the mist of Jerusalem. We will see in Chapter 21 of Revelation that the heavenly Jerusalem is 150 miles wide, by 150 miles long, and 150 miles high. When is says that the heavenly kingdom will be a canopy above Israel, its measurements show that it will cover the area of land promised to Israel. All the nations that Satan will entice to come against Jerusalem when he is let loose, will have been out of the sight of the kingdom for a thousand years. None of these nations that will come with Satan are from the area around Israel.
During the thousand years, Demons and evil spirits may still be active on the earth. I have not read anywhere in scripture that says where the Demons and evil spirits are during the thousand years. The only two in the lake of fire at that time, as far as I know, are the beast and the false prophet. If the Demons and the evil spirits are still active in the earth, I am sure they are hanging out as far away from the presence of Jesus as possible. This is why it might be so easy for Satan to deceive these nations to come against Jesus. These will be counties that will lay in the remote parts of the earth, away from the presence of Jerusalem, that have been under the influence of these Demons and evil spirits, that have been waiting for Satan's release.
Ezekiel continues in verse 8;
(8)"After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into
the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from
many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its
people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them.
(9) And you will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering
the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you. (10) Thus says the
Lord God, 'It will come about on that day, that thoughts will come into your mind,
and you will devise an evil plan, (11) and you will say, "I will go up against the land
of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that live securely, all
of them living without walls, and having no bars and gates, (12) to capture spoil and
to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited,
and against the peoples that are gathered from many nations, who have acquired
cattle and goods, who live in the center of the world."(13) Sheba, and Dedan, and the
merchants of Tarshish, with all its villagers, will say to you, 'Have you come to
capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away
silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great spoil?'"
The areas of Sheba, and Dedan, and Tarshish have probably been interacting with Israel during the thousand years and know that Jesus and the saints have been ruling the area. When they see these people showing up from the remote parts of the earth to come against the Land, they are probably thinking that they are crazy, and know that they are doomed to be destroyed.
(14) Therefore, prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, 'Thus says the Lord God,
"On that day when my people Israel are living securely, will you not know it.?'
(15) And you will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you
and many people with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a
mighty army;(16) And you will come against my people Israel like a cloud to
cover the land. It will come about in the last days that I will bring you against My
land, in order that the nations may know Me when I shall be sanctified through
you before their eyes, O Gog."................(22) And with pestilence and with blood
I shall enter into judgment with him; and I shall rain on him, and all his troops,
and with the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones,
fire, and brimstone."
Ezekiel writes this about Gog in Chapter 39;
(4) "You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops, and the
peoples who are with you; I shall give you for food for every kind of predatory
bird and beast of the field......(6) I shall send fire upon Magog and those who
inhabit the coastlands in safety; and you will know that I am the Lord. (7) And
My holy name I shall make known in the mist of my people Israel; and I shall
not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations will know that I am
the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.
In Revelation 20, verse 10, John wrote this about Satan's fate for deceiving the nations again;
"And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone,
where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and
night forever and ever."
Jesus' peace be with you.
Monday, June 24, 2013
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Revelation Chapter 20 - (Part 2) Satan Freed After 1,000 Years
At the end of Jesus' one thousand year rule over the earth with His saints, Satan will be freed from being bound during that period. Satan will then go out and deceive the nations again. How that happens baffles me. Here the earth has been as peace for one thousand years under Jesus rule, yet still Satan, again, is able to gather many nations to come against Jesus. It just lets me know how deceptively evil he is. The world today is upside down because of him, but don't worry, he is going to make it all better. Then after he makes it all better, with his false "Peace and Safety", he will go into his mass destruction mode. You might look at it like this.
It is like someone robs everything you have and you are thrown out into the street. Then someone comes along and says he knows who robbed you and he helps you find the robber and throw him in jail. Then the person who helped you find the robber, helps you off the street and into a house. After you are settled into your home you invite him over for dinner to thank him. After dinner he leaves and you and your family feel all secure in bed. In the middle of the night, while you are all sleeping, he comes back and burns down your house with all of you in it. You died not knowing that he was the one who robbed you in the beginning, and the one who he helped you throw in jail was about to offer you real help.
John continues Revelation Chapter 20 with this in verses7-10'
(7)"And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from
prison,(8) and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners
of the earth, Gog and Ma-gog, to gather them for the war; the number of them
is like the sand of the seashore.(9) And they came up on the breadth of the earth
and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down
from heaven and devoured them.(10) And the devil who deceived them was
thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet
are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."
So here he comes again. Satan was locked up, not only for deceiving the people of the world, but for destroying the earth and his murderous rage also. When Satan is let loose, somehow he again is able to deceive the nations into coming to war in Israel. He leads the nations to come against the camp of the saints, which is the heavenly kingdom that dwells above the area of Israel, and the beloved city, which is the earthly Jerusalem. The difference between the wrath at Jesus return and the judgment that will take place, at the end of Jesus' thousand year reign, is that it will be a swift judgment with fire coming down from heaven and devouring all of them. The only other reference to Gog and Ma-gog in the entire bible is found in the writings of the prophet Ezekiel. I will do my next blog on those passages.
Jesus' peace and grace be with you.
It is like someone robs everything you have and you are thrown out into the street. Then someone comes along and says he knows who robbed you and he helps you find the robber and throw him in jail. Then the person who helped you find the robber, helps you off the street and into a house. After you are settled into your home you invite him over for dinner to thank him. After dinner he leaves and you and your family feel all secure in bed. In the middle of the night, while you are all sleeping, he comes back and burns down your house with all of you in it. You died not knowing that he was the one who robbed you in the beginning, and the one who he helped you throw in jail was about to offer you real help.
John continues Revelation Chapter 20 with this in verses7-10'
(7)"And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from
prison,(8) and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners
of the earth, Gog and Ma-gog, to gather them for the war; the number of them
is like the sand of the seashore.(9) And they came up on the breadth of the earth
and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down
from heaven and devoured them.(10) And the devil who deceived them was
thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet
are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."
So here he comes again. Satan was locked up, not only for deceiving the people of the world, but for destroying the earth and his murderous rage also. When Satan is let loose, somehow he again is able to deceive the nations into coming to war in Israel. He leads the nations to come against the camp of the saints, which is the heavenly kingdom that dwells above the area of Israel, and the beloved city, which is the earthly Jerusalem. The difference between the wrath at Jesus return and the judgment that will take place, at the end of Jesus' thousand year reign, is that it will be a swift judgment with fire coming down from heaven and devouring all of them. The only other reference to Gog and Ma-gog in the entire bible is found in the writings of the prophet Ezekiel. I will do my next blog on those passages.
Jesus' peace and grace be with you.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Mount Zion - The Heavenly Jerusalem
We just got done reading in Revelation Chapter 20, that Satan will be bound for a thousand years and Jesus will rule with the saints over the earth for that thousand year period. The earthly capital during Jesus' thousand year reign will be the earthly Jerusalem. The heavenly capital, where Jesus will rule from with His saints, will be the heavenly Jerusalem, Mount Zion. The Old Testament has many references pertaining to this heavenly city. The New Testament has some mentions of this city and in Revelation, as we near the end of the book, we will see how John described the city. We have covered this before, but I will repeat it again to set up what we will see in the Old Testament about the heavenly city. Jesus told His disciples this in the gospel of John in the 14th Chapter, verses1-3;
(1)"Let not you heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.(2) In My
Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you;
for I go and prepare a place for you.(3) and if I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."
Jesus told the disciples in John Chapter 13, verses 33 and 36;
(33)".........'Where I am going, you cannot come.'(36).........Where I go, you cannot
follow Me now, but you shall follow later.
The apostle Paul wrote this in his 1st letter to the Thessalonians in the 4th Chapter, verses 16-18;
(16)"For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
(17) Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and those we shall always be with the Lord.
(18) Therefore comfort one another with these words."
When Jesus was brought before Pilate, He told Pilate this, as recorded in the gospel of John, in his 18th Chapter, verse 36:
"My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom was of this world, then my
servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but as
it is, My kingdom is not of this realm."
To look at where this kingdom will be located during Jesus' thousand year reign, we can find some insight from the writings of the prophets in the Old Testament. The prophet Isaiah wrote this in his 2nd Chapter, verses 2-4;
(2)" Now it will come about in the last days, the mountain of the house of the
Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains, and it will be raised above
the hills; and all the nations will stream to it.(3) And many peoples will come and
say,
'Come let us go up to the mountains of the Lord, to the house of
the God of Jacob; that He might teach us concerning His ways, and
that we may walk in His paths.'
For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
(4)And He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many
peoples; and they will hammer their swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will
they learn war."
What we see here, is that the house of the Lord, the heavenly kingdom, will be raised above the hills. People of the nations will come to the earthly Jerusalem to see the heavenly kingdom above Israel.
Jesus will rule over the nations, making judgments an decisions between and for many people. They will come to learn from Him. It will be a rule of peace and no war. That is one of the reasons why He is called the Prince of Peace. He is also the Prince of internal peace of the soul.
Isaiah wrote this in Chapter 4, verses 3-6:
(3)"And it will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem
will be called holy-everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem.(4) when the
Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the bloodshed
of Jerusalem from her mist, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning,
(5) then the Lord will create the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies
a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flame of fire by night; for
over all the glory will be a canopy.(6) And there will be a shelter to give shade
from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain."
The ones who have been recorded for life in Jerusalem are the remnant who Jesus will bring back right before He returns. The heavenly kingdom will be a canopy over the area of Israel. It will provide its light and shade and protection from the elements.
Isaiah wrote this in his 10th Chapter, verse 12;
"So it will be that when the Lord has completed His work on Mount Zion and on
Jerusalem, He will say, 'I will punish the fruit of the king of Assyria and the
pomp of his haughtiness.'"
What this shows is what we have already covered. Right after Jesus calls his believers to be with Him in the Heavenly kingdom, Mount Zion, and gathers His remnant back to Jerusalem, then Jesus will remove the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria is the one who come against Israel with the power of Satan. When Isaiah wrote this, the city of Tyre was part of the Assyrian Empire. This is the king of Tyre.
The prophet Amos revealed this in his 9th Chapter, verse 6, when he wrote this;
"The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens, and founded His
vaulted dome over the earth,..."
The prophet Micah echoed the prophet Isaiah when he wrote this in his 4th Chapter, verses 1-3;
(1)"And it will come about in the last days that the mountain of the Lord will
be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills,
and the peoples will stream to it.(2) And many nations will come and say,
'Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the
house of the God of Jacob, that He might teach us His ways
and that we may walk in His paths.'
For from Zion will go forth the law, even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
(3) And He will judge between many peoples and render decisions for mighty,
distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their
spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation. and never
again will they train for war."
The prophet Zechariah wrote this in his 2nd Chapter, verses 10-13;
(10)"'Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and
will dwell in your mist', declares the Lord.(11) And many nations will join
themselves to the Lord in that day and will become my people. Then I will dwell
in your mist, and you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you.
(12) And the Lord will possess Judah as His portion in the holy land, and will
again choose Jerusalem. (13) Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord; for He is
aroused from His holy habitation."
The prophet Zechariah wrote this in his 8th Chapter, verse3;
"Thus says the Lord, 'I will return to Zion and will dwell in the mist of Jerusalem.
Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the Lord
of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain."
Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth because Jesus will be in the mist of Jerusalem. The mountain of the Lord of hosts is called the Holy Mountain because it is the heavenly kingdom in which Jesus dwells with His hosts, the New Creations, who will reign with Him.
May Jesus' peace and understanding be with you.
(1)"Let not you heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.(2) In My
Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you;
for I go and prepare a place for you.(3) and if I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."
Jesus told the disciples in John Chapter 13, verses 33 and 36;
(33)".........'Where I am going, you cannot come.'(36).........Where I go, you cannot
follow Me now, but you shall follow later.
The apostle Paul wrote this in his 1st letter to the Thessalonians in the 4th Chapter, verses 16-18;
(16)"For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
(17) Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and those we shall always be with the Lord.
(18) Therefore comfort one another with these words."
When Jesus was brought before Pilate, He told Pilate this, as recorded in the gospel of John, in his 18th Chapter, verse 36:
"My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom was of this world, then my
servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but as
it is, My kingdom is not of this realm."
To look at where this kingdom will be located during Jesus' thousand year reign, we can find some insight from the writings of the prophets in the Old Testament. The prophet Isaiah wrote this in his 2nd Chapter, verses 2-4;
(2)" Now it will come about in the last days, the mountain of the house of the
Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains, and it will be raised above
the hills; and all the nations will stream to it.(3) And many peoples will come and
say,
'Come let us go up to the mountains of the Lord, to the house of
the God of Jacob; that He might teach us concerning His ways, and
that we may walk in His paths.'
For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
(4)And He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many
peoples; and they will hammer their swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will
they learn war."
What we see here, is that the house of the Lord, the heavenly kingdom, will be raised above the hills. People of the nations will come to the earthly Jerusalem to see the heavenly kingdom above Israel.
Jesus will rule over the nations, making judgments an decisions between and for many people. They will come to learn from Him. It will be a rule of peace and no war. That is one of the reasons why He is called the Prince of Peace. He is also the Prince of internal peace of the soul.
Isaiah wrote this in Chapter 4, verses 3-6:
(3)"And it will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem
will be called holy-everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem.(4) when the
Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the bloodshed
of Jerusalem from her mist, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning,
(5) then the Lord will create the whole area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies
a cloud by day, even smoke, and the brightness of a flame of fire by night; for
over all the glory will be a canopy.(6) And there will be a shelter to give shade
from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain."
The ones who have been recorded for life in Jerusalem are the remnant who Jesus will bring back right before He returns. The heavenly kingdom will be a canopy over the area of Israel. It will provide its light and shade and protection from the elements.
Isaiah wrote this in his 10th Chapter, verse 12;
"So it will be that when the Lord has completed His work on Mount Zion and on
Jerusalem, He will say, 'I will punish the fruit of the king of Assyria and the
pomp of his haughtiness.'"
What this shows is what we have already covered. Right after Jesus calls his believers to be with Him in the Heavenly kingdom, Mount Zion, and gathers His remnant back to Jerusalem, then Jesus will remove the king of Assyria. The king of Assyria is the one who come against Israel with the power of Satan. When Isaiah wrote this, the city of Tyre was part of the Assyrian Empire. This is the king of Tyre.
The prophet Amos revealed this in his 9th Chapter, verse 6, when he wrote this;
"The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens, and founded His
vaulted dome over the earth,..."
The prophet Micah echoed the prophet Isaiah when he wrote this in his 4th Chapter, verses 1-3;
(1)"And it will come about in the last days that the mountain of the Lord will
be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills,
and the peoples will stream to it.(2) And many nations will come and say,
'Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the
house of the God of Jacob, that He might teach us His ways
and that we may walk in His paths.'
For from Zion will go forth the law, even the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
(3) And He will judge between many peoples and render decisions for mighty,
distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their
spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation. and never
again will they train for war."
The prophet Zechariah wrote this in his 2nd Chapter, verses 10-13;
(10)"'Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and
will dwell in your mist', declares the Lord.(11) And many nations will join
themselves to the Lord in that day and will become my people. Then I will dwell
in your mist, and you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you.
(12) And the Lord will possess Judah as His portion in the holy land, and will
again choose Jerusalem. (13) Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord; for He is
aroused from His holy habitation."
The prophet Zechariah wrote this in his 8th Chapter, verse3;
"Thus says the Lord, 'I will return to Zion and will dwell in the mist of Jerusalem.
Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the Lord
of hosts will be called the Holy Mountain."
Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth because Jesus will be in the mist of Jerusalem. The mountain of the Lord of hosts is called the Holy Mountain because it is the heavenly kingdom in which Jesus dwells with His hosts, the New Creations, who will reign with Him.
May Jesus' peace and understanding be with you.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Revelation Chapter 20 - Satan Bound 1000 Years
In my last four blogs, I covered Jesus' return with His Saints, the New Creations, as told in both the New and Old Testaments. A lot of what we saw were very devastating to the earth. We have to put things into perspective and realize that the God who spoke this world into existence in 6 days is the same God who judged it. He is also the same God who will speak back into existence that which He wills to be here on earth during His 1000 year reign over it. We will look a little bit at how that will look during Jesus' reign.
When we last finished in revelation Chapter 19, we saw the beast and the false prophet thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the place of the second death. It is an eternal death. Jesus is an eternal God. When Jesus created man, He created them to be an eternal being with an eternal existence. When all is completed, each person would have either chose to have eternal life or eternal death. The lake of fire was not intended for man. It was intended for Satan and his demons who rebelled against God. Satan continues to deceive and drag as many eternal souls as he can into the lake of fire with him. Remember this, that I repeat over and over again, from the apostle Peters' 2nd letter in his 3rd Chapter, verse 9, because this is the heart of God;
"The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some might count slowness, but is
patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish but for all to come to
repentance."
I think when Jesus conceived the concept of making a New Creation, He thought that many would love to have eternal life with Him. What He ends up finding is what he spoke is the gospel of Matthew in the 7th Chapter, verse 13 and 14;
(13)"Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads
to destruction, and many are those who enter by it.(14) For the gate is small, and
the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it."
The gate is narrow because their is only one way to gain eternal life and that is through Jesus. Satan has supplied many other ways, in mans mind, how they can achieve gaining eternal life or even just die and cease to exist. Apart from Jesus there is no life.
At the end of Revelation Chapter 19, verses 20 and 21, this is the reason why the beast and the false prophet are the first two to be cast into the lake of fire, where they will be a thousand years before anyone will join them;
(20)"And the beast was seized, and the false prophet who performed the signs in
his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and
those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire
which burns with brimstone.(21) And the rest were killed with the sword which
came from the mouth of Him (Jesus) who sat upon the horse, and all the birds were
filled with their flesh."
Revelation Chapter 20 begins with Satan being bound for a thousand years, when John sees this in verses 1-3;
(1)"And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss
and a great chain in his hand.(2) And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old,
who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,(3) and threw him
into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he should not deceive the
nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he
must be released for a short time."
You are probably wonder why Jesus is going to bind Satan for a thousand years and then release him again. Why not just throw him into the lake of fire with beast and the false prophet? Jesus wants to make sure that everyone understands that Satan is the great deceiver and will never change and that is why he deserves to be cast into the lake of fire. When Satan is released for a short time at the end of Jesus' thousand year reign, he again deceives the nations to rise up against Jesus. This is after everyone under Jesus' reign have been living in peace.
John continues with this in verses 4-6;
(4) "And I saw thrones , and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them.
And I saw souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus
and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his
image, and had not receive the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and
they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.(5) The rest of the
dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first
resurrection.(6) Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection;
over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of
Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
In these verses we start off seeing that there are a people who are sitting on thrones and judgment was given to them. We know From Chapter 19, that when Jesus returns to execute His judgment with the saints, that they are given white horses like His. These horses are the thrones on which those who overcame the devil by the blood of the Lamb and their testimony of Jesus, will sit as they execute the wrath of God with Jesus.
We read this in Revelation Chapter 12, verse11;
"And they overcame Satan because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the
word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death."
They were willing to die for Jesus, not rejecting the truth. They did not receive the mark of the beasts. This is the mark that the beast would require for anyone to be able to buy or sell and they did not worship the beast or his image. They were not afraid to give up what they owned or ever their lives to be faithful to Jesus. Their reward for their faithfulness to the truth is that they will come back to life and be caught up to be with Jesus in the air as we read in Paul's 1st letter to the Thessalonians Chapter 4, verses 16 and 17;
(16)"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
(17) Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord."
After the wrath is complete, the saints, the New Creations, are going to rule over the earth with Jesus for a thousand years. They will rule the earth from the heavenly Jerusalem, Mount Zion. This is the place that Jesus said that he was going away to prepare, when He said this in John's gospel, Chapter 14, verses 1-3;
(1)"Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.(2) In My
Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you;
for I go to prepare a place for you.(3) and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again, and receive you to Myself; that were I am, there you may be also."
In Chapter 21 we will see a description of this heavenly Jerusalem, the real 'city of peace'. In my next blog I am going to show in the Old Testament where it talks about this heavenly city and how it will dwell above the earth during the thousand year reign of Jesus.
After the first resurrection, when the faithful are caught up to meet Jesus in the air, there will be a second resurrection a thousand years later. Those who take part in the first resurrection are blessed and holy(set apart) and will not take part in the second death, the eternal death of the soul, in the lake of fire. After the thousand years are complete, there will be a second resurrection where all the rest who have died will be resurrected. Then there will be what is know as The Great White Throne Judgment, where Jesus will make judgment on those who did not participate in the first resurrection.
When Jesus takes over rule of the earth from Satan, He will rule in righteousness for a thousand years. The earth will be different then it has ever been. The prophet Isaiah wrote about how it will be in those days, where in his 11th Chapter, verses 6-9;
(6)"And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with
the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy
will lead them.(7) Also the cow and the bear will graze; their young will lie down
together; and the lion will eat straw with the ox.(8) And the nursing child will
play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned will put his hand in the vipers den.
(9) They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full
of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."
Again in Isaiah in his 65th Chapter, verses 17-25, it describes this;
(17)"For behold I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will
not be remembered or come to mind.(18) But be glad and rejoice forever in what
I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing, and her people for gladness.
(19) I will also rejoice in Jerusalem, and be glad in my people; And there will no
longer be heard in her the voice of weeping and the sound of crying.(20) No longer
will it be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live
out his days; For the youth will die at the age of a hundred and the one who does
not reach the age of a hundred shall be thought accursed.(21) And they shall build
houses and inhabit them; They shall also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
(22) They shall not build and another inhabit, they shall not plant and another eat;
For as the lifetime of a tree, so shall be the days of my people, and my chosen ones
shall wear out the work of their hands.(23) They shall not labor in vain, or bare
children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the Lord, and
their descendants with them.(24) It will also come to pass that before they call,
I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.(25) The wolf and the
lamb shall graze together, and the lion shall eat straw with the ox; and dust shall be
the serpent's food. They shall do no harm in all My holy mountain, says the Lord."
I know that the blogs that I have written pertaining to Jesus return, to stop Satan from destroying the earth and judge those who made the choice to reject His offer of eternal life, might not sound like a good thing, but it will result in a great thing.
Jesus' peace and understanding be with you.
When we last finished in revelation Chapter 19, we saw the beast and the false prophet thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the place of the second death. It is an eternal death. Jesus is an eternal God. When Jesus created man, He created them to be an eternal being with an eternal existence. When all is completed, each person would have either chose to have eternal life or eternal death. The lake of fire was not intended for man. It was intended for Satan and his demons who rebelled against God. Satan continues to deceive and drag as many eternal souls as he can into the lake of fire with him. Remember this, that I repeat over and over again, from the apostle Peters' 2nd letter in his 3rd Chapter, verse 9, because this is the heart of God;
"The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some might count slowness, but is
patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish but for all to come to
repentance."
I think when Jesus conceived the concept of making a New Creation, He thought that many would love to have eternal life with Him. What He ends up finding is what he spoke is the gospel of Matthew in the 7th Chapter, verse 13 and 14;
(13)"Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads
to destruction, and many are those who enter by it.(14) For the gate is small, and
the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it."
The gate is narrow because their is only one way to gain eternal life and that is through Jesus. Satan has supplied many other ways, in mans mind, how they can achieve gaining eternal life or even just die and cease to exist. Apart from Jesus there is no life.
At the end of Revelation Chapter 19, verses 20 and 21, this is the reason why the beast and the false prophet are the first two to be cast into the lake of fire, where they will be a thousand years before anyone will join them;
(20)"And the beast was seized, and the false prophet who performed the signs in
his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and
those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire
which burns with brimstone.(21) And the rest were killed with the sword which
came from the mouth of Him (Jesus) who sat upon the horse, and all the birds were
filled with their flesh."
Revelation Chapter 20 begins with Satan being bound for a thousand years, when John sees this in verses 1-3;
(1)"And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss
and a great chain in his hand.(2) And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old,
who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,(3) and threw him
into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he should not deceive the
nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he
must be released for a short time."
You are probably wonder why Jesus is going to bind Satan for a thousand years and then release him again. Why not just throw him into the lake of fire with beast and the false prophet? Jesus wants to make sure that everyone understands that Satan is the great deceiver and will never change and that is why he deserves to be cast into the lake of fire. When Satan is released for a short time at the end of Jesus' thousand year reign, he again deceives the nations to rise up against Jesus. This is after everyone under Jesus' reign have been living in peace.
John continues with this in verses 4-6;
(4) "And I saw thrones , and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them.
And I saw souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus
and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his
image, and had not receive the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and
they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.(5) The rest of the
dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first
resurrection.(6) Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection;
over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of
Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
In these verses we start off seeing that there are a people who are sitting on thrones and judgment was given to them. We know From Chapter 19, that when Jesus returns to execute His judgment with the saints, that they are given white horses like His. These horses are the thrones on which those who overcame the devil by the blood of the Lamb and their testimony of Jesus, will sit as they execute the wrath of God with Jesus.
We read this in Revelation Chapter 12, verse11;
"And they overcame Satan because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the
word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death."
They were willing to die for Jesus, not rejecting the truth. They did not receive the mark of the beasts. This is the mark that the beast would require for anyone to be able to buy or sell and they did not worship the beast or his image. They were not afraid to give up what they owned or ever their lives to be faithful to Jesus. Their reward for their faithfulness to the truth is that they will come back to life and be caught up to be with Jesus in the air as we read in Paul's 1st letter to the Thessalonians Chapter 4, verses 16 and 17;
(16)"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
(17) Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord."
After the wrath is complete, the saints, the New Creations, are going to rule over the earth with Jesus for a thousand years. They will rule the earth from the heavenly Jerusalem, Mount Zion. This is the place that Jesus said that he was going away to prepare, when He said this in John's gospel, Chapter 14, verses 1-3;
(1)"Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.(2) In My
Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you;
for I go to prepare a place for you.(3) and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will
come again, and receive you to Myself; that were I am, there you may be also."
In Chapter 21 we will see a description of this heavenly Jerusalem, the real 'city of peace'. In my next blog I am going to show in the Old Testament where it talks about this heavenly city and how it will dwell above the earth during the thousand year reign of Jesus.
After the first resurrection, when the faithful are caught up to meet Jesus in the air, there will be a second resurrection a thousand years later. Those who take part in the first resurrection are blessed and holy(set apart) and will not take part in the second death, the eternal death of the soul, in the lake of fire. After the thousand years are complete, there will be a second resurrection where all the rest who have died will be resurrected. Then there will be what is know as The Great White Throne Judgment, where Jesus will make judgment on those who did not participate in the first resurrection.
When Jesus takes over rule of the earth from Satan, He will rule in righteousness for a thousand years. The earth will be different then it has ever been. The prophet Isaiah wrote about how it will be in those days, where in his 11th Chapter, verses 6-9;
(6)"And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with
the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy
will lead them.(7) Also the cow and the bear will graze; their young will lie down
together; and the lion will eat straw with the ox.(8) And the nursing child will
play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned will put his hand in the vipers den.
(9) They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full
of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."
Again in Isaiah in his 65th Chapter, verses 17-25, it describes this;
(17)"For behold I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will
not be remembered or come to mind.(18) But be glad and rejoice forever in what
I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing, and her people for gladness.
(19) I will also rejoice in Jerusalem, and be glad in my people; And there will no
longer be heard in her the voice of weeping and the sound of crying.(20) No longer
will it be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live
out his days; For the youth will die at the age of a hundred and the one who does
not reach the age of a hundred shall be thought accursed.(21) And they shall build
houses and inhabit them; They shall also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
(22) They shall not build and another inhabit, they shall not plant and another eat;
For as the lifetime of a tree, so shall be the days of my people, and my chosen ones
shall wear out the work of their hands.(23) They shall not labor in vain, or bare
children for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the Lord, and
their descendants with them.(24) It will also come to pass that before they call,
I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.(25) The wolf and the
lamb shall graze together, and the lion shall eat straw with the ox; and dust shall be
the serpent's food. They shall do no harm in all My holy mountain, says the Lord."
I know that the blogs that I have written pertaining to Jesus return, to stop Satan from destroying the earth and judge those who made the choice to reject His offer of eternal life, might not sound like a good thing, but it will result in a great thing.
Jesus' peace and understanding be with you.
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