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The Kingdom Come, His Will Is Done - Revelation 20:4 - 15

 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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