End to All Evil
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Claim - Satan’s war against the church is limited (bound) by God in this age (1000 years), and when he finally appears to get the upper hand (set-free), Christ will return and end all evil judge all evil doers forever.
Focus - Satan is bound, and even death as a martyr is a victory for Chritians, Satan will never win, and Jesus will return to end all evil.
Function - To educate about the ‘1000 years’ and convince us that evil is doomed.
PRAY
Life is a gamble.
We don’t know the future,
We don’t know which decisions we make will ultimately turn out to be best?
We all love to be on the wining side, but loosing is often unavoidable.
Can we afford this mortgage,
What GCSE’s/A-levels/degree should I choose.
Which school should our kids go to,
Should I pursue this career direction or that.
Which football team should I support.
Of course we can make educated guesses, but gambling it is non-the-less
We know it’s a gamble, because whenever we can, we tend to take out insurance to cover the risk!
car insurance,
income insurance
home insurance
pensions
tech cover,
medical insurance,
In fact, for most people, life itself is one big gamble.
Should i find out about this religion or that?
Is there life after death?
We all love to be on the wining side, but loosing is often unavoidable.
Even Christian’s might consider faith in Jesus to be a gamble.
Will good ultimately win against evil.
Will Jesus restore peace or not.
We all love to be on the wining side, but loosing is often unavoidable.
Rev 20
is here to give us a big picture overview of life.
And just like in a film review, if you don’t want to know the ending then you better leave now.
Chapter 20 is like a spoiler alert for the end of the world!
But unlike a good film, in life it is worth knowing the end!
It’s here to tell each and every person in this world:
You can be on the winning side - and there is no gambling involved.
We all love to be on the wining side, but loosing according to chapter 20 is your choice.
If you need hope,
Perhaps career or money gives you hope.
Will
if you need reassurance about life.
The chapter that has caused much debate in Christain circles.
If you need confidence
The chapter that has given rise to many weird and wonderful theroies about the end of the world.
If you need freedom from the losses of this life
Or freedom from fears about the next.
We know who will ultimately win and loose in life.
It’s not a gamble.
Well, then put your confidence in the king we spoke of last week in Chapter 19.
Put you hope in Jesus.
Much has been pondered about .
Many think this 1000 year binding of satan and rule of Jesus as being chronologically after chapter 19.
IE - after the return of Jesus to earth in judgement.
where Jesus will then reign for a literal 1000 years on earth,
with satan bound up, unable to act,
with the martyred saints of history being raised to reign with Jesus for that period on earth.
But with the rest of Christians already ‘raptured’ taken up, to heaven before it begins.
And then at the end of those 1000 years,
Satan will be freed from his chains (v3b)
for a terrible time of tribulation against the church
before the final final battle where Jesus will win!
The good thing about this view is that they absolutely agree - Jesus WINS!
Feel free to read the books, but don’t base your theology on them!
Use the bible for theology.
There are though few very difficult issues with this view,
I think the biggest problem being,
that if this section of revelation is so literal and so chronological,
(Rather than a different view of this present age - a different camera angle if you like on the repeated cycles we’ve already seen in Revelation,
then the question has to be asked,
Who is Jesus reigning over for those 1000 years?
Becasue at the end of chapter 19, all those who have rejected Jesus as King, have already been judged and faced death.
In fact, Satan and his schemes were also destroyed in chapter 19,
as symbolised by the fasle prophet and the beast being thrown into the lake of burning sulphur.
So why would he now need binding.
What actually appears to be going on in , is that
It is a very susinct summary, or reminder of all we’ve considered in Revelation so far.
it is a very succinct summary, or reminder of all we’ve considered in Revelation so far.
It is clearly intended to symbolic,
with chains and keys, and books,
and thrones, and the ancient cities Gog and Magog
all being used to illustrate what’s going on.
And so we’re going to take the 1000 years as symbolic (as was nromal in this type of literature anyway and as we have seen throughout Revelation)
It represent a ‘long-time’. Between Jesus ascending to heaven and his future return.
So, the question is, what is going on.
1 - Satan bound - Jesus wins
1 - Satan bound - Jesus wins
If I just make it to CEO, or partner, or director, or site supervisor?
Perhaps it’s children or family,
If I can just make my spouse exactly how I’d like them, or
Satan bound
First up we find out that Satan is bound by a chain for a thousand years.
And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
rev 20 1
And we’re told what he is bound from doing.
IE - what it is that the chains stops him from doing:
He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations any more until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.
Now, if you really know Revelation well then you’ll know that ‘deceiving’ is what Satan has been accused of throughout history.
So it may seem odd that we’re now saying satan cannot deceive in this world,
because he’s been stopped, bound by heaven.
But look more closely at what he is actually bound from, it is given a context.
He’s bound from deceiving the ‘nations’ - a way of saying the whole world.
And look what happens when satan is freed from the chains - what’s he immediately do - v7-8
rev 20 7-9
and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore.
The New International Version Chapter 20
7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves.
The implication of his chain, is not that he cannot deceive anyone,
but that he is chained from deceiving the whole world,
all nations, the 4 corners of the earth, collaboratively,
in order to actually bring enough persecution against the church, God’s people, to defeat them
In other words he cannot stop the truth and good news of Jesus extending.
He cannot win,
He cannot stop the christian faith.
Satan is like the dog on-the chain from the kids slot.
He’s dangerous and deceiving, but is very much limited in his ability to mobilise a worldwide offensive against Jesus and his followers.
In other words, the 1000 year binding of Satan is a different camera angle on all that we know from Revelation and the NT already.
There are strong similarities between this chapter and the events of chapter 11 and 12.
Where the church depicted as a woman is continually pursued by the dragon - described exactly like he is here
,
the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan
But satan continually fails to catch her!
The ground opens up to swallow him,
the woman finds a refuge in the dessert and so on.
Satan is bound from victory,
The message is that Jesus wins - he is stronger than Satan - even now.
It’s why Jesus told the story of strong man in Luke 11v21-22
“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.
The evil and sadness in this world,
in your own life so often may reflect the strength of Satan’s grip on the world,
but he isn’t even worth considering putting a bet on.
The binding is to stop what he eventually does (well almost does) but
Jesus is stronger -
Satan is bound - Jesus wins
2 - Saints Alive - Jesus wins
2 - Saints Alive - Jesus wins
rev 20v4
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
So here we have martyred Christians - people who have died for maintaining faith in Jesus - people who didn’t take a foolish gamble on Satan and trusted Jesus will win - but died as a result.
Humanity Judged
Infact, it seems likely this is really about all Christians who have died in history who are awaiting Jesus to bring final judgement on the world.
All those who have committed to Jesus against the devils lives in this world.
So have they lost out, have they been defeated by death,
should they have given in to Satan’s deception in this life, for they died anyway?
Should we give up on Jesus, for we will die nonetheless?
No, is the point here,
Saints
Christians who have died throughout history,
In some way are already alive in Christ.
They reign with him from their death into all eternity.
We gain thrones in heaven in 4.
How extraordinary!
Physical death, even through persecution, is not the worst thing that can happen.
In fact - you will entre joyful eternity, you will gain a throne..
The next thing you know is the joyful and eternal rule of Christ for ever!
Your physical death is, if you like, your first resurrection, as put here.
It’s not the end it’s the beginning!
I’m not sure this nessicerily means that martyred saints are looking down from heaven right now with Christ ruling from on high.
Other NT passages suggest that once we die physically, the next thing we know is judgemnt day and forgiveness in Christ.
But certainly, our souls are not lost, they are not finished - death for the Christian is the beginning of eternal rule with Jesus
Saints alive - Jesus wins.
But certainly the point is that there is no fear for those who die in Christ, for their souls and safe in Christ for all eternity.
This is the first ressurection we’er told in v
3 - Evil Ended - Jesus Wins
3 - Evil Ended - Jesus Wins
The binding of the dragon means that throughout this period, until just before the end, Satan cannot hold the nations in darkness, blinded to the gospel; specifically, lie cannot assemble an organized, worldwide conspiracy to attack the church through violent persecution. The "resurrection" and reigning of the souls of the martyrs from heavenly thrones dramatizes the reality that Christ's faithful witnesses, though apparently conquered and killed by their persecutors on earth, are those who have conquered and who live with (god in heaven.
Dennis E. Johnson. Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation (Kindle Locations 3069-3072). Kindle Edition.
(1) What is the historical-chronological relationship between the physical second corning of Christ and the age designated the thousand years in John's vision? Will Jesus return in person before or after this long period of time? (2) What general conditions on earth should be expected to characterize the thousand years?
Dennis E. Johnson. Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation (Kindle Locations 3073-3075). Kindle Edition.
Of course all this Jesus wins is forward looking,
SYMBOLIC PROOF
The multiplication of visual features-key, chain, hand, dragon, throwing, ing, locking,` and sealing-underscores the symbolic genre of the entire tire vision, since John's audience knows well that Satan is not a literal dragon who can be hound with a physical chain or locked away in a physical pit.26
In the end, Jesus wins.
Dennis E. Johnson. Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation (Kindle Locations 3081-3083). Kindle Edition.
But that does affect the now!
Remember Jesus is not a gamble.
His victory is so certain that whatever it looks like now, he is WINNING.
For he is being patient with humanity,
to hear and respond to his call of love.
Repent, follow me as king.
I love you, I want to rule you in greatness and give you thrones by my side!
But his patience in this life, will have to end
Jesus is not WINNING if he does not ultimately end all evil and WIN!
And that is what reminds us in those last verses between 7-15.
We’ve already seen what satan will do when at the end of this age,
just as Jesus is returning he will be released from his chains of deceiving the world
and for a short time he will appear to gain the upper hand.
When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore.
When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison
rev 20 7
How long this time will be we don’t know. It’s what is often called the great tribulation.
In reality I don’t think we will see it coming - becasue we know no-one can predict the return of Jesus,
But we do know how quickly it will be over!
They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
rev 20
In 9 words, satan and his armies are defeated and the church, God’s people are eternally victorious!
I think Jesus describes exactly the book of Revelation when he spoke to his disciples in
Get people to turn there
Jesus starts speaking of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, that would happen about 40 years ofter he died,
CLIPPING
5 Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, 6 “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”
He is speaking of the destruction of the Temple that would happen about 40 years ofter he died,
But he is using that imagery to describe his ultimate return still yet to come.
7 “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”
8 He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived.
Sound familiar to Satan's work?
For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them.
9 When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.”
This is Revaltion - wars, rumours terribel time - this is the time we live in, the 1000 years, Satan is at large but he is bound - but it's not the end, YET!
10 Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
Sound familiar to the world we live in?
12 “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13 And so you will bear testimony to me. 14 But make up your mind
not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 Everyone will hate you because of me.
Here is the bit we need today to be ready to stand up for Jesus..
not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 Everyone will hate you because of me.
This was the call of the disciples back then, but the forward looking call to all who would be persecuted for their faith.
Many have died, many still will, but somehow Jesus is still able to say:
18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 Stand firm, and you will win life.
Isn't that extraordinary - it's identical to Revelation - physical death isn't the end, not a hair will be harmed - it's the beginning!
You will win life - ressurection eternal!
20 “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. 22 For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. 23 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
It will be a terrible moment - the moment Satan is unbound, but just as all seems lost,
Just as defeat seems imminent - Jesus followers will realise
Satan has only been relased in order to gather all evil to himself
- so that the real victor, can demonstrate to all,
Jesus wins!
CLIPPING
But he is using that imagery to describe his return.
2(1:3). In the context of the drama of Revelation, this purpose statement makes clear that the historical-chronological referent of "the thousand years" in which the dragon is "bound" must precede the battle that John just saw, in which the rider vanquished the beast, the false prophet, and all their followers (19:11-21). The millennium must occur before the second coming and the last battle for several reasons.
The Worse this world gets, the higher we lift our heads if we know and love the Lord Jesus.
1 - The binding is to stop what he eventually does - collects the kings of the 4 corners of the earth (everyone) for the final battle. IE - Satan cannot gather a complete worldwide assult on the church - that is until the end - when - as we see in 19 (and else where) he gathers all but Jesus turns up and wipes him away.
2 - The binding of Satan (pre-millenial) would be pointless - as in 19v18 - there is no-one left to deceive. It is clearly no supposed to be chronological
3 - It is another vision (angle) on what has already been said… Only at the conclusion of that period could the beast from the abyss attack, overcome, and kill them (11:7). So we have three visions-the sions-the two witnesses (11), the heavenly woman and the dragon (12), and the binding of the dragon (20)-which together affirm the divinely imposed restraint that hinders the dragon from fulfilling his desire to destroy the church. The visionary imagery is different, admittedly. mittedly. In fire proceeds from the witnesses' mouths to consume anyone who presumes to assault them before the completion pletion of their mission. In the ground swallows tip the torrent from the dragon's mouth, so Messiah's mother cannot be destroyed stroyed during her 3X-year sojourn in the wilderness. And in Revelation lation 20 the dragon is bound and imprisoned so that, until the thousand sand years are completed, his mouth cannot utter the lies that will gather the nations to besiege the camp of the saints. Yet these are three windows on the same stage in the conflict-the age in which the ftith- ful church is both suffering and spiritually safe, which began with the sacrifice and exaltation of Christ the seed of the woman and which will conclude just before his return.
So - what is the beginning of the binding (the chain) - it is the ressurection of Jesus, Satan is no longer able to fairly universally restrain the gentile world from receiving the belssing of God, or casusing the gentile world to have all out attack on the church. EG - Acts 17v30-31, Eph 2v1-2, 11-12, Matt 12v29, Mat 4v14-16, luke 2v32, 4v18, Acts 14v15-17 (particularily acts 14v16). Now Jesus’s resurection begins the binding of satan bringing ‘good-news to the nations’ Acts 13v47, rev 7v9-10. The church will make it!
So - why get the viison after the final judgement of 19? Becasue despite the fact that final judgement may look imminent, doe to the rising/ongoing/changing persecution of the church int he world, the actualy end is not predicatble, and will be a long time! MARK 13v7-8
Much of what John sees "must soon take place" (, ), but that does not mean that the first-century Asian churches are to be living in a state of eschatological hysteria. Their present persecutions are painful, but they are "light" when compared with the intensity of the tribulation to come at the end. Now the dragon is chained and locked away, prevented from pulling together a worldwide conspiracy to obliterate the church. However severe their present or imminent persecutions secutions may be, Christ's followers could take courage from this assurance. surance. "Though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet." At the end, when the dragon is released to pull together his evil conspiracy, it will seem as if all is lost-the witnesses slain and the godless less world celebrating (11:7-9), the camp of the saints surrounded by a countless army that fills the breadth of the earth (20:8-9). But even in that dire moment, the church's divine Protector will defend and vindicate his own.
Moreover, the end is not necessarily as near as their present pain may lead them to hope. The complementary visions of and strike the same balance that we see often in the New Testament's expectation regardingJesus' second coming. On the one hand, God does not needlessly delay () but rather hastens to the relief of his saints (; ). On the other, suttering saints were not to assume that "the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately- (), but rather they angst endure patiently and alertly, even if their Master seems to delay (). In the language of John's visions, the age bracketed by Jesus' two comings is brief-only three and a half years, half of a sabbatical batical sequence. Yet the same age is very long-one thousand years. Paradoxically, the time until the second coming will prove to be shorter than it now seems and longer than we may have expected-prolonging the martyrs' wait for vindication (: 1O) but also long enough for the gathering of God's children from all the world's nations, cultures, and tongues (7:9).
Dennis E. Johnson. Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation (Kindle Locations 3141-3147). Kindle Edition.
Dennis E. Johnson. Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation (Kindle Locations 3135-3141). Kindle Edition.
Dennis E. Johnson. Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation (Kindle Locations 3109-3116). Kindle Edition.
He is coming, He is Winning,
Dennis E. Johnson. Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation (Kindle Locations 3088-3090). Kindle Edition.
THRONES - same as daniel
Satan and his armies will be thrown in to the eternal lake of fire,
John sees a second vision concerning the thousand years (), and this vision gives a new perspective on the condition of the martyrs, whose "How long?" lament is being answered. John first sees thrones and then gradually the identity of the rulers occupying the thrones is revealed (20:4). This parallels his opening glimpse of God in heaven (4:2) but even more explicitly echoes Daniel's vision of the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man: "I kept looking until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took His seat.... The court sat, and the books were opened.... The Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom" (, ). As in Daniel, so in Revelation the thrones appear before their royal occupants: "I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them" (). The wording of the last clause ("judgment was given to them") so closely resembles LXX that we should probably translate it, as in Daniel, "judgment ment was given on their behalf"-the verdict of the heavenly court came down in their favor and against their persecutor (see )."
So the choice is which side we will be on,
First Resurrection
for all humanity will be judged according to their lives.
Either regenration of which Christ is the first fruit - or it is physical death - that frees (gives new life) to those in a fallen world who belong to the next - they have risen to new life while the ‘first’ things still exist - awaiitng the second resurection.
They enjoy the rest from en- enmies promised to those blessed by God, with the assurance that their deeds of faith and faithfulness accompany them (14:13). But their first resurrection also includes the priestly privilege of worship in God's presence (7:9-17) and the assurance that even now, as they await final vindication through the resurrection of their bodies and judgment of their enemies, they participate in the Lamb's reign through the ongoing going fruit of their testimony in their words, their life, and their death."
All humanity will be judged according to their lives.
Dennis E. Johnson. Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation (Kindle Locations 3200-3203). Kindle Edition.
Dennis E. Johnson. Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation (Kindle Locations 3147-3154). Kindle Edition.
THE FINAL BATTLE - TAKE 2 v7-10
Symbolic great books in v12 will be opened containing every thought and action you have ever done.
Both descriptions of the last battle (; ):7-10) connect nect it with the Lord's war against the aggressor Gog, of Magog, prophesied esied in . In echoes of Ezekiel are heard in the slaying of God's eneinies by the sword and the consumption of their corpses by birds of prey, summoned by God to this gruesome feast. Now the enemies are explicitly called "Gog and Magog," and their destruction by fire () likewise fulfills Ezekiel's prophecy: "And I will send fire on Magog and those who inhabit the coastlands in safety; and they will know that I am the 1-0m)" (). "1 will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with hinm, a torrential rain, with hailstones, tire and brimstone" (). Both scenes of the last battle pick up the combination "tire and brimstone" stone" from Ezekiel's prophecy to characterize the lake of perpetual destniction into which God's enemies-beast and false prophet (), dragon (20: 10), and all their followers (20:15) will be cast.
And it will be compared to the glorious and perfect nature of God.
Dennis E. Johnson. Triumph of the Lamb: A Commentary on Revelation (Kindle Locations 3208-3213). Kindle Edition.
rev 20 12
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
But, there is another book,
LAST JUDGEMENT v11-15
One in which the names of all those who have repented and sought to worship Jesus win this life.
A book that does not contain a list of our actions and thoughts,
for that would condemn us,
A book that simply contains enough information to identify us as loved by Jesus our saviour.
Nothing we have done is judged, for Jesus took that upon himself,
What’s in this book - the book of life>
Just your name.
That’s all you need for salvation, if for Jesus to know your name.
rev 20
If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
It’s the end of all evil -
What a day that will be for those who trust and follow Jesus in this life.
What a future to behold and we’ll consider that future next week in chapt 21.
For now -
Think about how Jesus Winning might affect your everyday life - the situations and challenges you face.
Perhpas you need to repent and let him know you’d like your name in that book thorugh repentacne and choosin got follow him from now on.
Or perhaps as a cHristina already you need the visctory of Jesus to impact some area of your life,
take a moment now to think,
PRAY
They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
rev 20