AM Dec 29th Rev 20

December 29^th               Revelation 20                The 1000 yrs

1: And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2: And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3: 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. 4: 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. 5: But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6: Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 7: And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 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. 9: And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 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.

Christ’s Judgement begins –      The Judgement day

11: And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12: And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13: And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14: And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15: And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

This little chapter of only 15 verses describes the whole era of the Millennium and period of 1000 years. The first thing that John describes is the binding of Satan and of his restriction in the Abyss. The next thing is that John sees thrones and to those who sit there is given authority to judge. He also sees again the souls of those who had been beheaded by the Antichrist live. They were raised from the dead and they reigned with Christ for a 1000 years. But the rest of the dead were not raised until the end of the 1000 years. So there will be two resurrections separated by the 1000 year Kingdom of Christ on earth. At the beginning, the resurrection of the righteous and at the end the unrighteous. At the end of the Millennium Satan is released again and he starts a rebellion again but Christ confronts him defeats him and sends him to the Lake of fire. Then we have the establishment of the Great White Throne. Here the wicked who are in hell are raised from the dead and stand before Christ in judgment. They are judged according to what they have done and the book of life is consulted. Those not recorded in the book of life are cast alive into the lake of fire. Death and hell are cast into the lake of fire too. And so we see that all who have ever lived will live forever, either in blessedness of Christ’s presence or in the lake of fire.