The Weekend, December 26 –
Welcome back. I hope your Christmas was full of joyful
celebration. Once again, we are reading
one time for both weekend days. Today’s
reading is from Revelation 20:4 – 15.
Please read the passage first and then come back as we look at it some
more.
Since it’s been a couple of days, let’s get the context back into our
minds. At the end of Revelation 19, the
Lord Jesus returns as conqueror over Satan’s army. Satan’s leaders – the Beast and the false
prophet were defeated and thrown in the lake of fire, and Satan’s army was
defeated – without firing a shot – it was Christ’s word that prevailed. As the chapter turns, the context doesn’t
change. John had introduced us with the
words “Then I saw” three times in the verses we read (20:1, 4, 11). First, John saw an angel imprisoning Satan in
a bottomless pit (abyss) for a thousand years (20:1 – 3). He hears that it is not permanent and he will
be released when the thousand years are ended.
It’s important to remember the context since chapter divisions are
artificial stops and not necessarily a reflection of a change in the narrative. Now, with the three sources of evil gone,
John again sees the throne room of heaven –
“Then I saw thrones, and seated
on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the
souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the
word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not
received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and
reigned with Christ for a thousand years” (20:4-5).
The thrones are plural. “Those” are seated on them. The natural question is who is the
“those”? Since the context is of
Christ’s victory over Satan’s army, it seems most plausible to be those who had
returned with Christ on white horses at the end of chapter 19. I believe it’s the saints who returned with
Christ who reign with Christ for the thousand years Satan is bound. This brings us to the controversial subject
of the millennium. In this short
devotional there is much more that needs to be said than I can here. The subject of the 1000 years, as well as the
first resurrection, have as many interpretations as just about any subject in
Scripture. The 1000 years is called “the
Millennium”, from the two Latin words, “mille” (thousand) and “annum”
(year). The translated word
“millennium” appears six times in the first seven verses. The
question theologians and bible scholars have wrestled with for two thousand
years is whether the number of one-thousand years is to be understood
literally, or symbolically. There are two
main interpretive positions (and a third minor one):
1) The first interpretation is that number one-thousand is symbolic and not
literal –a spiritualized interpretation.
The period of time from Christ’s ascension to today is spiritually the millennial
reign of Christ. Christ defeated Satan
on the cross, and in His ascension, he rules over the Church. The one-thousand-year reign is a symbolic
number to encompass the entirety of the church age. Amillennialism (A = No, and Millennial =
one-thousand) does not believe in a literal one-thousand-year period.
2) The other interpretation is that the number one-thousand is purposeful and
should be understood to represent a real time period to come. Millennialism takes on different forms, but
ultimately they believe John heard a real number of years. One major dimension is “Premillennialism”
(Pre – Before the Millennium). In this
interpretation, we are seeing Jesus return to the earth and his Kingdom rule is
now physically upon the earth. Satan is
bound for the one-thousand-year period, which means Satan is weakened but not
done with.
I find both positions have
their strengths and weaknesses. I do
believe Scripture always speaks in a way that is understandable, so, therefore,
I believe Christ will set up a literal kingdom upon his return – and it’s reasonable
that it is one-thousand-years long, except that it is not that Christ will
reign “only” one thousand years, as this is the beginning of the end. With charity and humility, I do believe there
is a real millennial age that awaits the saints who are resurrected and
received by Christ. The millennium is
the promise of the Old Testament prophets, and Jesus himself. The Old Testament prophets spoke of the
Messiah’s rule upon the earth (take a quick look at Isaiah 2:1-4, 11:1-9). Also recall that Jesus once told his
disciples – “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I
assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat
and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve
tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:28-30). Historically, a large portion of the early
church fathers believed in a Premillennial coming of Christ and His physical
return to the earth. It was not until the
Roman Catholic church arose with its hierarchy of Pope, Bishops, Priests that
they spiritualized the millennium, believing the Church was to be the agent of
change that would make it possible for Christ to rule.
I confess, there are lots of
variations upon those two main interpretations, and to be fair, all orthodox
positions believe that Jesus will come back again and His Kingdom will last
forever. It fulfills the prophecy of
Isaiah 9:6-7, a favorite Advent passage, when the prophet Isaiah wrote what God
revealed to him about the coming of the Messiah -
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall
be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his
government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over
his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with
righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of
hosts will do this” (Isaiah 9:6-7). It is the answer to Jesus’ prayer he
taught His disciples, and us – “Thy
Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
At the time of the millennial
reign, the resurrection of the saints who died will occur. There are two resurrections, and the first
one is those who were saved – redeemed by Christ (20:4). They are not resurrected because of their
works, but because of God’s electing grace and faith they accepted in their
life. The rest of the dead, i.e., those
who are not saved, will not occur until the millennium is over –
“The rest of the dead did not
come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first
resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first
resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests
of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years…” (20:5-7).
At the close of the Millennium,
Satan will be released, and soon return to his nature of evil rebellion against
God. A natural question that should be
asked is “why does God let him out?”
This is hidden in the purposes of God, for there is no reason
given. It is the same sort of question
that I have been asked hundreds of times – “why, if God is in control, does
he allow evil?” There are some
questions I have no answers for, except that God is sovereign and knows what he
is doing. Satan is released and takes no
time at all. He seems to have the seductive
ability of deceitfulness (remember the Garden of Eden) so that even some living
in the Kingdom rule of Christ will turn away to follow after Satan –
“And when the thousand years
are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive
the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather
them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they
marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the
saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed
them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire
and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be
tormented day and night forever and ever” (20:7-10).
The identity of Gog and Magog
are not clearly known. The two names
appear in Old Testament scripture as enemies of God’s people (Ezekiel
38-39). The armies march from all over
the earth, but there is no real battle for God strikes them from heaven and
destroys their rebellion (20:9). Now the
devil is finally removed as he is thrown into hell where the Beast and false
prophet had been put before (20:10).
The Kingdom of God, even at the
end, is full of the tension that exists between God and evil. It is true even today that as we pray “thy
Kingdom come, thy will be done” we also pray that God would “deliver us
from temptations, deliver us from the evil one”. We have the need for God’s help, and it is
the name of God – “Father in heaven, holy is your name” – that leads us
in our praying. When God lets the enemy
out at the end of all time a test comes upon the earth to see who will turn to
Christ, and who will turn to their self, and the enemy. The Bible says that our “hearts are
deceitful and desperately wicked” (Psalm 36:3; Jeremiah 17:9). I’m afraid that too many Christians are also
deceived that this is not true. We often
wonder how the enemy works. Well, here
it is – a deceiver and a liar who tells us God’s word is not trustworthy or
true. Martin Luther was correct in
saying that our selfish sinful nature shows up in battles against the world, the
flesh, and the devil. He was also true
in writing, “one little word will fell him”. We struggle in our fallen flesh, but one day
it will be over and our sin removed. We
will truly be redeemed through and through and there will be no more
temptations or deceit to resist. Until
then, be vigilant and strive for a holy lifestyle that seeks to please our
Savior more than anything else, including our own flesh.
Peace
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