Revelation 20 is silent
about an earthly reign of Christ over Planet Earth
during the one thousand year millennium. However, after the millennium the
Scriptures describe a beautiful city and new earth in which God and His Son will
rule. Revelation's plagues will literally destroy earth's ecological systems;
vast earthquakes, fires and pestilences will level cities, and every island will
disappear. All sea and fresh water will be destroyed. The whole planet will be
brought to devastation and ruin, and will need to be totally recreated.
Two probing questions need to be asked: 1) If the Messianic reign occurs on
earth, imagine just how successful the rebuilding and beautifying of the planet
would be by the end of one thousand years; why would God then destroy His great
handiwork by fire at the end of the millennium? 2) If Jesus promised that He
would go and prepare a place for His saints (New Jerusalem), and that He would
come (at His return) and receive us to Himself that where He is (in Heaven)
there we would also be (John
14:2), why would He relegate the saints to a war-torn, dusty planet
without the New Jerusalem we could call home for one thousand years?
The New Jerusalem is the hope of the saints (Hebrews
11:10,
16;
13:14). So real is this hope that, according to God's Word, the true saints
are called "aliens and strangers on earth,"
Hebrews 11:13, and they long for a "better country--a heavenly one.
Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city
[New Jerusalem] for them,"
Hebrews 11:16. "An inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept
[reserved] in Heaven for you who through faith are shielded by God's power until
the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time,"
1 Peter 1:4-5.
At the coming of Messiah the
world will be bombarded by fire and brimstone.
Jeremiah saw the vast devastation that would be left behind (4:23-29),
and he wrote, "I looked at the earth, and it was formless and empty; and at the
heavens, and their light was gone . . . I looked and there were no people; every
bird in the sky had flown away . . . all the towns lay in ruins before the Lord,
before His fierce anger."
The General Resurrection
Once the thousand years have
expired, the universal resurrection will arrive. At the voice of God the sea
(great bodies of water) will expel all the dead found in them, and hell (Greek:
"hades", meaning the "grave") will release their lifeless victims-- all the dead
of all ages who had not come forth in the first resurrection will rise up from
the sleepy abodes (Revelation
20:13).
8. Who are
included in this general resurrection (John
5:28-29)?
Those who have done good and
those who have done evil. Jesus taught a specific time of separating the
righteous and unrighteous in the parables of the tares and the net (Matthew
13:37-43;
47-50).
9. How does
Paul support the idea of a general resurrection of both good and evil persons (Acts
24:15)?
The Great White Throne Judgment
Revelation 20:11-12 takes us to the point of judgment when the great court
will be called into session. The large group of all nationalities and social
standing come up before Almighty to receive according to those things done in
their earthly bodies.
Both the Lamb's Book of
Life--all the names of the redeemed, and the Books of Remembrance; which is to
say, the daily thoughts, decisions and actions done in this lifetime. The sins
of each individual will either be repented of and blotted out (Acts
3:19), or, because of unbelief, their sins will remain in the books to
condemn.
12. What
additional obligation does Christ expect of those who know Him personally, that
will be considered when it comes time for the judgment (Matthew
10:32; Luke 12:8)?
13. What
happens to the individuals whose names are not found in the Book of Life, along
with death itself and all graves (Revelation
20:14-15)?
All sinners will be
destroyed. Death will never enter homes or families again in God' kingdom.
Graves will never be dug. All three will be gone and forgotten. There will be
no dark spot in the universe, as many suppose, where anguishing fires torture
our unsaved loved ones for billions and billions, upon billions and billions of
years, where Satan and fallen angels rule.
"Surely the day is coming;
it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be
stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire, says the Lord
Almighty. Not a root or a branch will be left to them . . . then you will
trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the
day when I do these things, says the Lord Almighty,"
Malachi 4:1-3.
Satan's Doom
The Great White Throne
Judgment brings all mankind to our knees. "Every knee will bow before Me, says
the Lord, every tongue will confess to God… each… will give an account of
himself to God,"
Romans 14:11-12. "At the name of Jesus every knee should bow… and every
tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father,"
Philippians 2:10-11.
The righteous will inherit
the City of God while the unrighteous will be left out. This vast multitude of
all ages, spread out around the globe as the sand of the sea, know they have
been condemned. They see the saints within the city, and they are without.
Their hearts scream of all they have lost forever.
Now Satan sees his
opportunity to prepare for a last mighty struggle for supremacy. He will go
about to deceive the nations spread around the globe (Revelation
20:7-10). He will marshal all the armies of the lost under his banner, and
through them, endeavor to execute his plans. In rejecting Christ they have
accepted the rule of the rebel leader. They are ready to receive his suggestions
and to do his bidding. His miracles inspire, and his energy and spirit raises up
a vast army of faithful who follow him to the camp of the saints, the City of
God. The unnumbered millions, including kings, generals and valiant armies who
once conquered nations, believe that they may indeed overthrow the rich city and
save their souls.
At last the order is given,
and the countless host moves on--a vast army such as was never summoned by
earthly conquerors, the combined forces of all ages since war began on earth, an
army never before equaled. The armies surround the Holy City and make ready for
the onset of war. The command is given and they surge forward. They march
across the breadth of the earth, but in order to save the City and those within,
fire will come down from heaven and devoured them (Revelation
20:9).
Please kindly report any non-working links, grammar goofs or misspellings to the
email link below. Thank you!
Focus On The Prophecies Ministry 5815 S.W. 29th Street Topeka, Ks
66614
