Read Revelation 20 at Bible Gateway.
Revelation 20, Babylon defeated
At the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, at the point of battle with Babylon the Great, all the nations of the earth gathered together to battle against God: this is the pouring out of the seventh bowl of the wrath of God, which causes the fall of Babylon the Great. In one day, His wrath is poured out. The Lord Jesus Himself treads the winepress of His wrath, and inflicts death on the Roman beast.
No more will mankind be ruled by a man lording it over other men, at the head of an empire which enslaves everyone to labor to provide for his own wealth and the wealth of the ruling elite. This is how we live today. At the return of the Lord, and the establishment of His kingdom, peace will reign, justice will reign, righteousness will reign (Mat 20:25-28). Widows and orphans will be provided for, and the meek will inherit the earth (Psa 37:10-11). Rights and honor will no more be trampled underfoot. There will be no more war (Isa 2:4).
For one thousand years the Lord Jesus will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords from Jerusalem. What will happen to us? Well, those of us who are alive at His coming, will be transformed, and we will reign with Him (1 Cor 15:51-53, 1 The 4:15-17).
For those of us who perished before His coming: it seems that in the beast’s war with the two witnesses, death will be inflicted on the saints by beheading (Rev 20:4). The false prophet already inflicts death on its enemies in this way today. Interestingly enough, during the French Revolution, the last great earthquake, the guillotine was the primary instrument of execution, which inflicted death by beheading. If the tenth horn reinstates the guillotine as a means of execution, I would not be shocked.
These are the saints who will be raised from the dead at the Lord’s coming. They will reign with Him for one thousand years. The rest of the dead will not be raised until the end of the thousand years.
Now the dragon, Satan, who Mystery Babylon rode, he will be imprisoned during the millennium of the Lord’s reign. The Lord’s reign will begin at the start of the seventh millennium and will be a true millennium of rest! (Adam was created nearly 6000 years ago, and for six millennia, the earth has labored under the burden of the curse on creation and sin. When the Lord’s saints labor for six days and rest on the seventh, as the commandment states, they are proclaiming their agreement with the prophecy, that the Lord Jesus is returning to rule and reign in peace and justice for the earth.)
So this is not heaven. People will still be born, live, get married, raise families, grow old, and die, generation after generation. Only the Lord’s saints, who were alive at His coming, and who were martyred in the course of the beast’s war on them, will be changed and raised and will have immortality. These are the ones who will reign with Him.
My conjecture as to what life will be like during the millennium, is that Jesus will reign as King of kings from Jerusalem. The earth will be like it is today. Every people and language group will continue to live in their territories, and they will work to provide for their families, only as justice will reign, I daresay life will be very much easier. People will die of old age, not war, not famine, not disease. The Lord’s resurrected and immortal saints will have governing authority under Him wherever it is needed — over communities, territories, and nations (Luk 19:11-27). They will rule benevolently, in order to protect, take care of and serve those under them.
I imagine a vast campaign to clean the earth and its oceans and ground water of poisons will get underway. Genetically modified seeds and cloning and all such “science” will end, and these things will be destroyed. Innovations in energy, technology, farming and every other thing will abound. The lion will lie down with the lamb (Isa 65:25). It will be a true golden age of peace and prosperity for the earth.
All nations will go up to the house of the Lord to learn of Him and His ways (Isa 2:1-3). There will not be competing religions practiced in the earth — only truth. All people will obey the King, serve Him, and worship God according to all His ways. He Himself will teach us His ways. He is the Prophet like Moses (Deu 18:15), who taught YHVH’s ways to Israel.
At the end of the millennium, the dragon will be released, and he will deceive the nations again, just as he did at the Tower of Babel, and just as he did through the reigns of the four beasts, Mystery Babylon with seven heads and ten horns. The nations will marvel at him, because he was, was not (as he was imprisoned for 1000 years) and was again (Rev 17:8). This is Gog and Magog, we are told (Rev 20:8, Eze 38). So the battle involving Gog and Magog is not the same battle as Armegeddon. Armegeddon was the great battle which brought about the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, at the start of the Lord’s millennial reign (Rev 16:12-16). The Gog and Magog battle takes place at the end of the millennial reign.
The end result will be, the dragon will be cast into the lake of fire, to join the beast and the false prophet. Then all the dead will be raised, and judged before the Great White Throne according to their works. All those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, will not be judged and will pass into life. They pass into life, in fact, in this life, on this side of the Great White Throne. They are the only ones who can be judged favorably, because for all others, their violations of Torah speak against them. Those who are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, join the beast, the false prophet, the dragon, and all his minions and servants in the lake of fire. Lastly, death and Hell are cast into the lake of fire, and finally, the sin of Adam will be undone, and the work of the serpent will be undone. God will dwell with man as in the Garden.
Now why has the LORD revealed all this to us? It is not His wish that anyone be cast into the lake of fire (2 Pet 3:9), but only those for whom it was created: the beast, the false prophet, Satan, death, and Hell. If we, who have the freedom to choose, are forewarned, then let us choose JESUS today and choose LIFE today!
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” Jesus, Joh 11:25
How do we know the vision is true? Because almost 2000 years ago, it was shown to John what would take place in history from his time to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we have seen history bear out the prophecy, even down to being able to identify the nine horns of the beast who have so far lived. Since God, who has told the end from the beginning, has so told us, then let us this day get right with Him! He is standing at the door, knocking, and to anyone who opens the door, He will come in to eat (live, dwell, fellowship, become friend and family) with him, and he with Him (Rev 3:20).
Revelation 20, Chiastic structures
Christine’s book The Revelation of Jesus Christ Revealed, based on these studies but greatly expanded, is now available from Nothing New Press. You may also be interested in reading the Book Extras and joining in on the Discussion.
As well, Revelation in Chiastic Structure is also available.
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