“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:1-4.
The above has been retained to maintain context.
“But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” Revelation 20:5-6.
The rapture of the church which occurs before the beginning of the tribulation, involves both the dead and those alive at that time.
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 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. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.
Though it is confusing, the rapture of the church (the bride of Christ), is seen as part of the first resurrection which is concluded with the resurrection of the dead martyrs from the tribulation.
The first resurrection consists of only those who have come to God with the faith of Abraham as in the Old Testament or by faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross. These shall not see the second death.
You have to understand death; we see only physical death, and that is bad enough, but it is the unseen death, spiritual death that men must fear.
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins…” Ephesians 2:1.
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…” Ephesians 2:4-6.
Those who have rejected Christ as Savior and died in their sins have endured physical death and now reside in hell. Their second death will be on judgment day when they are cast into the lake of fire.
The true meaning of death is eternal separation from God.
There are those who are in the throes of deep depression because of loneliness and the uncertainties of life they have been taught that there is no God to comfort. Yet He is always with us if only we would call out to Him.
“For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.’” Isaiah 57:15.
Humble: lowly; modest; meek; submissive (not to the extent of being a doormat); opposed to proud, haughty, arrogant.
“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6b.
Contrite: broken-hearted for sin; deeply affected with grief and sorrow for having offended God.
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart – these, O God, You will not despise.” Psalm 51:17.
The above definitions were taken from the on-line KJV Dictionary. They are definitions of English words found in the King James Bible not the Greek or Hebrew.
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell [Sheol abode of the dead], behold, You are there.” Psalm 139:7-8.
God is everywhere, omnipresent, everywhere but the lake of fire, the second death.
“Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of Heaven and devoured them.” Revelation 20:7-9.
During the millennium the Christians will have children, grandchildren and great grandchildren; it is not who your parents are that determines whether you will go to heaven or not, it is your choice.
And as you can see, many will choose not to receive Christ as their Savior. So in spite of a perfect environment and godly parentage people will still choose to rebel.
Revelation 20:7-9 is an uncanny reminder of man’s first rebellion also in a perfect environment. Read Genesis 1:1 to 9:19 to see another perfect environment which failed to turn the hearts of men to God. Riches, beautiful surroundings and easy living have no effect on the human heart which still remains rebellious.
This is proof that socialism or communism cannot, will not make the world a better place, just the opposite in fact, death, misery, famine and disease will become the norm as we are already seeing today.
As a result of their rebellious hearts these children will move as far away from Christ’s throne as possible, to the four corners of the earth, the four points of the compass.
These distant settlements are referred to symbolically as Gog and Magog; the idea being conveyed by these names is one of godless rebellion.
Do not confuse this with the Gog and Magog who invade Israel near the beginning of the tribulation (see Ezekiel 38 and 39), they are not the same. The passages in Ezekiel are also discussed in Revelation 18:1, Part 2 posted on 10-22-22.
These rebellious hearts have stewed in silence for most of a thousand years; all that is needed is a catalyst to unite the people of Gog and Magog to battle the One who sits on the throne. This innumerable army surrounds the camp of the saints and the beloved city Jerusalem.
Try to imagine this peaceful people who have not seen war for a thousand years suddenly surrounded by this rabble, no guns, and no swords, defenseless.
“He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.” Micah 4:3-4.
The following psalm is about David’s temptation to run from his enemies, yet He writes about his trust in the Lord (YAHWEH). The portion selected here describes God’s response to the wicked so closely to Revelation 20:9 last sentence that it has been included to see the mind of God.
“The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain coals, fire and brimstone and a burning wind; this shall be the portion of their cup.” Psalm 11:4-6.
For nearly one thousand years the Lord has pondered the people of Gog and Magog.
His eyes narrow as He looks upon their love of wickedness and violence. His wrath is held in check until they march on to destroy His Kingdom. Only then does God’s wrath fall unabated upon the wicked army to give the ungodly the full allotment of their overfilled cup.
It is God who defends His defenseless ones and the war comes to nothing when fire descends from heaven and devours the adversaries.
Revelation 20:5-9 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 3-13-17, updated on 11-20-22.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.