Living in the Last Days

“The Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment”

Revelation 20:1-15 “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 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. 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 worshipped 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. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second…”

I. Intro

Chapter 19 ended with the Second Coming of Christ and the Battle of Armageddon. Now, in chapter 20, we come to one of the most strongly debated chapters in the Bible. However, lets just take it as it is written and see what God has to say, beginning with.......

II. The Millennium

John sees an angel coming down from Heaven, with something in his hand. He has the key to the abyss, and a great chain in his hand. The angel seizes the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan and binds him for 1,000 years. He throws him into the Abyss, then shuts and seals it so he cannot deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years are finished. After that, Satan must be released for a little while. Revelation 20:2-3 “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 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.” The word ‘millennium’ is Latin for 1,000 years. These verses are among the most controversial in Revelation. (1) Premillennialists believe Christ will return before the millennium. They believe the millennium is a future event and will include resurrected believers reigning with Christ. (2) Postmillennialists teach that Christ will return after the millenium and then rule for 1,000 years. (3) Amillennislists believe the 1,000 years are symbolic of the present church age and there is, therefore, no [a] literal millennium. The Premillennium view takes the most literal approach to the entire book and is the view I hold personally. Next, John sees thrones and those seated on them who have been given authority to judge. This probably refers to the 24 elders, who represent the church. This is because of the truth revealed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:2 “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?” The Bible doesn’t explain how the saints, who are coheirs with Christ-will participate in judging the lost world. John also sees the souls of those who have been beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God. These have not worshipped the beast or its image, nor received the mark of the beast on their forehead or hands. Along with believers of all time, they have been resurrected to reign with Christ a thousand years. However, John comments that the rest of the dead will not be resurrected until the thousand years ends. Revelation 20:5 “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.” Then, he writes, “This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection.” If you are only born once, you will die twice. You will be part of the second resurrection and will suffer the second death. If you are born twice, you will be part of the first resurrection and only die once. These are also blessed because they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. When the 1,000 years end, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to decieve the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth. The four quarters refers to the four main points on a compass-north, south, east, and west. As stated in verse three, Satan will be set free at the end of the Millennium to deceive the nations. Who are those who are deceived by Satan? They are probably the descendants of those who survive the Tribulation and enter the Millennium in their natural bodies. Satan will gather those he deceives, called Gog and Magog. Revelation 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.” The name ‘Gog’ is used in Scripture as a title for an enemy of God’s people. (Eze. 38-39) This battle and the one described in Ezekiel have practically nothing in common except the names. Gog is used in verse 8 to describe the human leader of Satan’s forces. Magog refers to the people from all nations who rebel against Christ. Magog is a huge army, numbering as the sand of the sea. John sees Gog and Magog surround the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city, which is Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be the capital of Christ’s government throughout the Millennium. After the destruction of his armies, the devil, who deceived them, is cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are. The unholy trinity meets their “waterloo”where they will be tormented day and night for eternity. Revelation 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 for ever and ever.”

III. The Great White Throne Judgment

The end of the Millennium and the beginning of eternity are marked by the judgment before the great white throne. The word ‘great’ (megas) [meg-as] refers to the greatest judgment of all time. White denotes purity, righteousness, and justice. The one that is sitting on the throne is most likely Christ. John 5:22 “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:” The earth and sky flee from the throne and Him seated on it. This means they are destroyed to prepare for the new heaven and the new earth. 2 Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” John sees the dead, small and great, stand before God. This is the second resurrection-for the unsaved dead. The books, which probably record each person’s life, are opened. Also opened is the Book of Life, which records those who have been saved. The dead are judged based on the things written in the books, according to their works. What they have done in their lives will determine the degree of their eternal punishment. Matthew 11:24 “But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.” The book of life is at this judgment only to show that noone standing before the throne has his or her name written in it. This judgment is NOT a balancing of good and evil works, because a person’s destiny is decided in this life, not in the life to come. Only the degree of punishment is decided at the great white throne judgment. The lost dead are retrieved from three places: the sea, death, and hell. The sea refers to the unburied dead. Death refers to the bodies of those who have died, whose bodies have decayed into dust. God will resurrect their bodies, but what about their spirits? They have been in hell awaiting the second resurrection. The word translated ‘hell’ in this verse is the Greek word “Hades”, which is the intermediate residence for lost spirits prior to their pernament doom in hell, which is a different Greek word, (Gehenna) [geh-en-nah] as in Matthew 23:33 “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” He apparently has given them to an angel so this final judgment can take place. the phrase ‘death and hell’ refers to everybody whose body has been dead until the second resurrection and whose unrepentant spirit has been in Hades. They refused to believe in Christ during their earthly lifetimes. These are the ones cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. Eternal punishment in hell has always been a problem to many, including some Christians. However, the Bible is clear. The word translated ‘hell’ (Gehenna) is found twelve times in the NT. Eleven of those times it comes from the lips of the Lord Jesus. Jesus, who is the epitome of love, spoke more about a literal hell than anyone else in the Bible. Gehenna is the NT word for the valley of Hinnom, located southwest of Jerusalem. It was jerusalem’s garbage dump, which burned constantly. This is an earthly picture of eternal hell. Revelation 20:15 “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”