Revelation 21:15-21

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15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17 The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick. 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass. ~ Revelation 21:15-21

Today, we continue our study of our future home, the New Jerusalem. Today, we will consider the makeup of the New Jerusalem from the outside. Tomorrow, we will look at it from the inside.

Everyone wants to be whole, but who provides the most complete definition of wholeness. Wholeness is a complex issue because it involves all of what makes us human: body, soul and spirit. The biblical word for "wholeness" is holiness. And, when we let God define us, we will be wholly. In fact, when we read wholeness in place of holiness everywhere we find it in the Bible, we will be much closer to what God meant regarding what it means to be holy. 

Interestingly, these two cities that are being contrasted at the end of time, Babylon and the New Jerusalem, make the point in a contrasting way. When evil reaches its zenith, it forms a prostitute-city which destroys its inhabitants and itself. When righteousness reaches its highest point, it forms a bride-city that creates wholeness in its inhabitants which will endure forever.

In v.15 we read, "The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls."

When God measures something, He is declaring His ownership of it. The number twelve is used everywhere in today's text. The number twelve is the number for government or rule in Scripture. And, today's text reveals God's fulfillment to the promise in Isaiah 9:6 which reads, "The government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." 

The New Jerusalem will be a city of symmetry, just as long as it will be wide and just as tall as it will be long. It will be perfectly proportioned and wholeness will be known by all of its occupants! The New Jerusalem will illustrate there is no blemish in God. He lives in harmony with Himself. His disposition is what we all long for.  He is filled with joy, love and peace. He lives in wholeness. And He looks at us in our brokenness and says to us, "You, too, shall be whole."

In v.16 we read, "The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long."

The Apostle uses the Greek word "tetragon" translated "square" in this verse. A tetragon is a four-sided perfect cube. The New Jerusalem will be twelve thousand stadia cubed. That will make the city 1500 miles wide, 1500 miles deep, and 1500 miles tall. The distance from Florida to Maine is 1500 miles. And, as a result  the new Jerusalem will be able to house well over 20 billion people if only 25% of the city was given over to residents. 

In v.17 we read, "The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick."

This verse gives us the measurement of the thickness of the wall surrounding the New Jerusalem. A cubit is 18 inches, that's 72 yards or 216 feet. The New Jerusalem’s walls will be very thick: 144 cubits thick. The number 144, of course, is 12 times 12. Found 187 times in the Bible, the number 12 appears in Revelation 22 times. The gates and the wall will represent the rule of the redeemed, of both Israel and the church. This was His promise to both, to reign with Him in eternity. 

By the way, the angel used human measurement. The wall will not be there for protection. It will be there for adornment, illustration the completeness of the redeemed. 

In v.18 we read, "The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass."

Gold is opaque, not transparent or translucent. But, the gold in heaven, we will be able to see through. Radiating from the Lamb, there will be translucent, transparent gold on the streets with clear diamond-like walls. The transparency of the gold speaks of its purity. All things in heaven will be whole or holy or pure.

In v.19-20 we read, "19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst."

In the foundation, there will be a whole lot of colors. And notice, everything will have perfect symmetry, order, balance. The measurements and the materials of the new Jerusalem will describe God who is a God who brings order, symmetry, and balance. The New Jerusalem will be God's answer to humanity. In many ways, it will remind us of His crucified Son.

In v.21 we read, "The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass."

The gates will be made of big pearls. There will be twelve gates, each one will be a gigantic pearl. Pearls speak of beauty out of pain. Beauty comes from pain in an oyster. A pearl is formed when a tiny grain of sand gets inside an oyster's shell and the oyster becomes very uncomfortable. To relieve its discomfort the oyster covers the irritant with a soft lustrous nacre that hardens into a beautiful, glowing pearl. 

Each pearl will come from one pearl which describes beautifully how the redeemed come from the pain of the Lord Jesus. The pearls illustrate each believer who came out of the pain that the Lord Jesus suffered as He went through the anguish of the cross. The pearls will be for all of eternity a reminder to the redeemed of His pain and shame that He bore for us.

God determined in eternity past to heal man's brokenness and to make us whole again. And, He will remind us throughout eternity through these great gates that His Son is the whole One, and He has shared His wholeness with all those who willingly choose to be defined by Him.

Revelation 21:9-14

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9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. ~ Revelation 21:9-14

Today's passage provides a description of our future home. It's described from the outside in. At this point, the rapture is over, the tribulation is over, the judgments are over, the millennium is over, and a new heaven and a new earth have been created. We are now in eternity, outside of time.

In his book, The Last Battle, C.S. Lewis wrote, "I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now...Come further up, come further in!" We all long for home, we all long for that place of complete comfort and safety. We all long for heaven.

In v.9-10 of today's text we read, '"9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God."'

Here, the Apostle uses a metaphor to describe the place where the followers of the Lord Jesus will spend eternity. One of God's favorite names for His children is His bride. Marriage is the closest possible relationship on earth, and it is the metaphor that God chose to describe His relationship with His people. This means God desires intimacy with us. He doesn't want distance between us. He wants meaningful interaction. 

Trust is at the heart of intimacy. The more we trust someone, the closer we let them get to us. The degree to which trust is compromised in a relationship is the degree to which intimacy evaporates.

In John 14, the Lord Jesus told us that He was going to prepare a place for us. Now, there had to have been a place already existing for Him to go to and prepare a place for us. It would make sense then that this New Jerusalem is the Father's house and that if we were to die right now, we would go to this place that He went to when He ascended back to the Father. And this, our new home will come down out of heaven as a bride walks down the isle in a wedding. 

In v.11 we read, "It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal."

The Jasper was the last stone on the breastplate of the High Priest in the Old Testament. Perhaps, God is highlighting the idea that the least will fit in to this magnificent city. Of course, that which will make us all fit in is the precious blood of the Lord Jesus.

The first characteristic highlighted here about our future home will be "the glory of God." This will mean that her brilliance will be like a most precious stone. The Greek word used in this verse translated "brilliance" describes something in which light is concentrated and from which light radiates.  

In Revelation 21:23 we read, "The city had no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light." 

Rather than reflecting the rays of the Sun like the moon or rather than the sun generating light by combustion, the source of light in our future home will be the Lamb. It's God Himself and His light will radiate into all of eternity. And, to John, it looked like a crystal clear jasper stone.

In v.12-13 we read, "12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west."

The high wall of the city speaks of intimacy and separation. Intimacy with the Lord and separation from evil. The wall will shut out all other things and people. No intruders will be able to ever enter. The whole of Scripture with one voice speaks of God's desire to have what he calls "a people for my own possession." 

Everything created is his possession. But those bought by the precious blood of His Son will be peculiarly God's own possession. That is because He has made us to correspond to Himself. He can share with us the deepest things in His life and heart. We will satisfy Him and fulfill Him just as a bride satisfies and fulfills her husband.

Our future home will have four sides and it will be laid out like the tabernacle in the Old Testament where there were three tribes on each side with three gates with the names of the tribes of Israel all centering toward God who is in the center on the throne. 

The foundations of the gates had the names of the twelve apostles on them. And, angels will be there to welcome us. In Hebrews 1 angels are described as servants of God's children and they'll be standing at the gates.

In John 10:9 we read, " I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture." 

This verse portrays the widespread ministry of believers throughout the eternal ages. The new universe will surely be bigger than it is now. Billions of galaxies, far larger than our own galaxy of the Milky Way, will fill the heavens as far as the eye can see by means of the greatest telescopes we have, and still we have not reached the end. That means that there will be new planets to develop, new principles to discover, new joys to experience. Every moment of eternity will be an adventure of discovery. The gates will be named for the tribes of Israel as a perpetual reminder that "salvation is of the Jews." Access to the city will be through Israel. The Messianic age was predicted and promised to Israel. The prophets came from Israel. The Old Testament and the New Testament are so combined, the foundation of the New Testament is the Old, and God had a unique covenant with the twelve tribes of Israel. And to show our spiritual heritage for all of eternity, there will be the tribes of Israel inscribed on the gates of the New Jerusalem.

In v.14 we read, "The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb."

Now, this verse celebrates the covenant relationship God has with the church. The covenant is the New Testament. In fact, in Ephesians 2 we read, "Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints, members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles." 

Our faith is built upon the doctrines, the teachings, the eyewitness accounts of the apostles who physically spent more than three years with the Lord Jesus Christ. From a human standpoint, what God provided through them is the foundation of the faith. In Acts 2 they taught the church the apostles' doctrines. And, for all of eternity in our future home, the foundations of the city will have the names of the twelve apostles whom God will honor.

Revelation 21:5-8

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5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” ~ Revelation 21:5-8

We continue our study of the book of the Revelation, and, today, we will consider our eternal state. Our anticipation of heaven is the only reality that can make life here and now have any lasting meaning. And as we come to the conclusion of the Bible, we come to God's description of heaven. God closes out His book with a dramatic presentation of the unbelievable reality of heaven.

After the thousand-year millennial reign of Christ on the earth, and the time when God will judge all the ungodly at the great white throne, and Satan is finally rendered null and void, and the universe will be destroyed, God will make a new heaven and a new earth. 

In v.5-6 of today's text we read, "5 He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!' Then he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.' 6 He said to me: 'It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life."'

God brackets this book with, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End." Everything in between comes from Him. These are words of truth that help us to believe in Him. On the cross, the Lord Jesus said, "It is finished," and man's redemption was settled and was made complete.

For the statement, "It is finished," John uses one word in the Greek, tetelestai, which literally means "PAID IN FULL." The Lord Jesus Christ achieved what no one could: He paid, in full, the penalty for all of mankind's sin. 

In today's text, John, the Apostle, describes two classes of people: the occupants of heaven and the non-occupants of heaven. These occupants of eternity are described in two ways. The first is described as "the thirsty." The second are described as "unbelieving." In order to get into heaven we have to be thirsty. That is, you have to see your need to drink from God's well. 

The Lord Jesus said to the woman at the well, "whoever drinks of this water will thirst again but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give will never thirst. The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." 

And then the Lord Jesus said to the Jews in the temple in Jerusalem, "if anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink." Those who have a parched enough soul and admit it, will be those who will be in heaven.

In v.8 of today's text we read, "But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

The second group is described in such a way that they are defined by their evil desires which have become practices. Cowards don’t confess the Lord Jesus as their Savior. And, since they have no personal relationship with Him, they will have no saving faith. The only saving faith is the faith that has as its object the Lord Jesus Christ. And, these, the second group, will be defined by their evil deeds, the evil deeds of their flesh. The difference between the two will be: the group that gets into heaven are in Christ and are being defined by Him. They are not perfect, they are not earning anything. It's a gift for the receiving. The second group just wasn't willing.

Revelation 21:1-4

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1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” ~ Revelation 21:1-4

The lighter our grip on the things of the earth, the greater our anticipation of heaven. The greater our grip on the things of this world, the less we will think about heaven. The American culture of wealth, comfort, self-gratification and indulgence, has stunted the church spiritually.

The home of the believer in Christ is heaven which is mentioned 55 times in the book of Revelation. In Revelation 4:1 we read, "After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, "Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this." 

After this, from the vantage point of heaven, the Apostle John writes about the Tribulation all the way through to the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we come to Revelation 21. This is after the Second Coming, after the millennial reign of Christ on the earth for a thousand years. In fact, we have switched dimensions here in Revelation 21. We have left time and now we are in the eternal dimension. 

In v.1 of today's text we read, "Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea."

It is obvious that God will create a new heaven and earth. "And there will no longer any sea." One of the biggest reasons that God created this world with a salty sea is because it is a great antiseptic to cleanse the earth and make life possible for us on the earth. Were it not for the salty ocean, life on this planet would have ceased a long, long time ago. It is the salty ocean that purges, cleanses, and preserves the earth. The sea is an antiseptic in which all the pollution and filth that man pours into it is absorbed and cleansed. But, in the new earth and the new heaven, there will be no more pollution, no more filth, no more need for cleansing. 

Currently, we live in a very watery world. Two-thirds of the earth is water. Most of our bodies are water. Most of plant and animal life is water. Ours is the only planet in the universe that we know of that has the amount of water needed to sustain the biosphere that we have that is dependent on water. If we don't drink water, we will die. They say we need 8 glasses a day, otherwise we risk dehydration. So we are dependent upon the use of water. 

There is much water on our earth now, and, in the millennium, there will be an abundance of water, but we're told here there will be no sea. So the new heaven and the new earth will not operate on the principal of water. There will not be the demand in our celestial bodies for water as there is in the bodies that we have now. Also, we know that seas separate people from one another. In our new home, there will be no separation. 

In v.2 of our text we read, "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband."

The new Jerusalem will be the capital city of eternity. It will be God's headquarters. Later in this chapter, we are given  the dimensions of The New Jerusalem. It will be 1500 miles cubed, just a little smaller than the moon. And, it will be a bride prepared for her husband. And, though it will be a place, it is described in terms of its populace. It will be a bride city. The people of God will inhabit it. And it will be greatly adorned. It will be most beautiful, just like a bride on her wedding day.

In v.3 we read, "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God."

It has always been God's heart to hang out intimately with His people, but there's always been something in the way. That something is sin. In the Old Testament, God set up a tabernacle where His presence dwelt in the middle of the twelve tribes of Israel. Then there was the temple and the Shekinah glory of God dwelt within that place. When God sent His Son into the world, John tells us, "He tabernacled among us and we saw His glory." In heaven, there will be no more separation. God will relate directly with His people in intimate fellowship. 

We know today that the present universe in its farthest reaches (even farther than the Hubble telescope can show us), is governed by the same laws. One of them is the Second Law of Thermodynamics, the law of entropy, which says this present universe is running down. It is all decaying; losing its energy and growing cold. But in the new heavens and the new earth the law of entropy will be reversed. Instead of running down, the universe will gain energy and manifest a unity, stability, symmetry and a beauty that the old heavens and earth never had.

In v.4 we read, "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

The Apostle John can’t really comprehend something what he is being told. And, like him, we can’t comprehend this. So, John has to tell us what it won’t be like and use what we know as a starting point, and back off from there.

There will no longer be any tears in heaven. We will experience nothing sad there. There will be nothing disappointing. There will be nothing unfulfilling. There will be nothing lacking. There will be nothing wrong. There will be nothing to fear. 

Death will be gone. Nobody will ever die. And there will no longer be any mourning. There will not be anything to get depressed about. There will not be anything to get distressed about, because, on the cross the Lord Jesus Christ, took away our sin and our sorrow and death. 

In heaven, we will have new and perfect bodies -- bodies that will never age or become weak or die, because they will be like Christ’s glorious body after His resurrection. We will be in God’s presence forevermore, and no sin can exist in His presence. God is absolutely holy and pure; as the Bible says, “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing” (Habakkuk 1:13).

Revelation 20:11-15

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11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. ~ Revelation 20:11-15

Today, we come to one of the great questions ever: What will happen to us after we die? We all live, most will die, and all will be resurrected. But, not everybody lives the same way. Not everybody dies the same way. And, not everyone will be resurrected in the same way. 

In v.11 of today's text we read, "Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them."

The earth and the heavens will flee from the presence of its maker. In John 5:22 the Lord Jesus said, "The Father has committed all judgment to the Son." So, it will be the Lord Jesus who will sit upon this throne of majesty and He will gather all the dead before Him. There will also be some living people from the millennium who will be there as well for it needs to be determined as to whether their names are in the book of life or not. When the Lord looks at those who have trusted in Him, He will see His righteousness applied. But, for those who did not trust in Him, when He looks upon them, they will yet be in their sin because their sin will not have been atoned for.

It is needless that anyone goes to the lake of fire. No one is thrown into it against his or her will. They will have chosen the lake of fire by refusing the free offer of salvation through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is and there will be no other choice. If your name is written in the book of life, you will enter into eternal life with God for eternity. If your name is not written in the book of life, then your ultimate fate is the lake of fire for eternity. This is the second death of which John wrote about earlier in this chapter.

In v.12-13 we read, " 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done."

In the Bible, God uses different words for the word "life." The first is bios and another is Zoe. Bios means the material world that is around us, standard of living, and possessions. It focuses on the externals. The New Testament rarely uses this word when it mentions real life. It's used, but rarely, and almost always negatively. 

For example, the Lord Jesus said there was the seed that fell among thorns. It was choked up by the pleasures of this life. The biological life choked up the spiritual life. Everybody has biological life. But, not everyone has eternal life. The Lord Jesus said unless you are born again you will never see the kingdom of God. It comes by the new birth, by being born spiritually from above. But, the question is not do I have eternal life; the question is where will I spend my eternal life? Everybody will live forever. The human soul goes on and on. But death is real. Death is mentioned 394 times in the Bible. 

So, there is something worse than physically dying. It is called the second death. Death simply means separation when you die physically. Your soul and spirit is separated from your body but there's a further separation called the second death. That's the separation from the presence of God forever. It's the worst.

In the Garden, before man sinned, God said, "In the day that you eat of this fruit, you will surely die." The death Adam and Eve brought into this world is the corruption that makes us die physically. What most fail to see is the first death came with a second death. And, after the thousand years of Christ's reign on earth ends, there will be another resurrection. It's the resurrection of all the lost, all the unsaved, all the ungodly from the fall of man onward. 

In v.14-15 we read, "14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire."

All live, most die, and all will be resurrected. The word resurrection is used about 40 times in the New Testament. It literally means a rising of a corpse from the grave. When the Lord Jesus said, "Lazarus, come forth," and when he came forth, it was a literal rising from the dead. When we die, our soul will leave our body. The body will be left to decay but the soul, the real us, will continue in a conscious state of being. If you're a believer in the Lord Jesus, you will spend your eternity with the Lord. If you're an unbeliever, you will spend your eternity in hell. Our destiny will depend on what we did when we were faced with the gospel of Jesus Christ as the provision for our sin. 

We all live, most will die, and all will be resurrected. But there will be a big difference in how we are resurrected. We all have life but not everybody has been born again to spiritual life. We all die but we do not have to face the second death. If we are born once, we will die twice, and, if we are born twice, we will die just once. 

Revelation 20:7-10

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7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. ~ Revelation 20:7-10

Since Satan will be confined to the abyss for a thousand years, his temptations will cease. As a consequence the earth will be greatly improved. Men will live together in harmony and peace. There will be no more war. But, sin will still be present, even when the devil is gone. A thousand years of peace and blessing will demonstrate, beyond question, original sin. This means all people are born into sin and each one has an evil nature. Man is not a sinner because he sins, he is a sinner and therefore he sins.

During the Millennium, it will be obvious "The heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked." This is why everyone needs salvation. Without the Lord Jesus, we are all desperate and hopeless.

At the end of the Millennium, according to v.7-8 of today's text, "Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore."

The only people who will enter the Millennial Kingdom will be those who have made the decision to trust the Lord Jesus as their Savior. And, we will have glorified bodies, and, we will have the ability to carry out God's will perfectly. And, God will release Satan from the abyss to give man free choice. In fact, how will anyone have free choice unless there are two ways to choose. 

Now, everyone who enters the thousand year reign of Christ, the Millennium, will be righteous, will be a believer. It seems, the Bible indicates, that the day of the Lord, the tribulation period, takes care of all of the wicked. By the time the Tribulation has ended all of the wicked upon the earth will have been destroyed. Isaiah 60 informs us "all of Your people be righteous and will possess the land forever." 

Only believers will enter but many of them, of course, will still be in their physical bodies, and, in the Kingdom, they will have children. Their children will have to confess Christ to be saved, like anybody in this current age would. But, many of them will reject Christ, showing the depth of original sin.

Though, during the Millennium, righteousness will rule, and peace will prevail, the human heart will still be present and will still be able to choose. And, ultimately, some will rebel. The point is this: people reject the Lord Jesus Christ not because of their environment but because of their nature. We sin because we are sinners by nature and by choice. Not because of environment.

This final revolt of society will be the result of Satan deceiving the nations throughout the earth. Once he is released, he will organize an army and he will yet again deceive many. When the Lord Jesus came the first time, man rejected Him, because they loved their sin too much. They loved darkness rather than light. 

In v.8 Gog and Magog are mentioned. Gog is typically seen as a ruler. Magog was the grandson of Noah. Magog was the second son of Japheth. Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Japheth’s second son, the grandson of Noah was Magog. So, Magog was the child of Japheth, and he created a great kingdom north of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. In ancient times, it was known as Scythia. Today, it is known as Russia. After the release of Satan from the abyss, there will be a rebellion, and, this could be the battle that is described in Ezekiel 38-39. Many debate that point.

In v.8 we read, amazingly, “In number they are like the sand on the seashore.” I find it so tragic that there will be a massive number of people who will join Satan’s rebellion, even after it has been proven that God is good and can be trusted.

During the Millennium, there will be a population explosion. People will live long lives, conditions will be perfect. There will no natural enemies. Diseases will not proliferate. As a result people will know wholeness like never before. Yet, even during these conditions of health and safety and peace, Satan will deceive and gain followers.

In v.9-10 of today's text we read, "9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever."

Hell was designed for the devil when he fell. It was not designed for people. The Lord Jesus referred to hell as an "everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels". Sadly, many will decide to go yet again with Satan. And, to God's credit, they will be given free choice, and He will honor their free choice. He will have to, to be equitable and loving. This is the devil's last stand and with his demise, sin and death will be no more.

Revelation 20:4-6

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4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They 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 a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. ~ Revelation 20:4-6

In our text for today, there are three distinct groups mentioned: Those seated on thrones, the Martyrs of the Tribulation and the unbelieving dead from the Tribulation.

Those that are seated on the thrones are those "who had been given authority to judge." 

In Daniel 7:18 we are told the saints of the Most High shall receive and possess the kingdom forever and ever. Then in Daniel 7:22 we see that when the ancient of days came, time came for the saints to possess the kingdom. Then in Daniel 7:27 we learn the kingdom and dominion and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. 

Also, it was the Lord Jesus who said in Matthew 19:28, "I tell you the truth, at the restoration of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." 

The disciples of the Lord will, with Him, judge the twelve tribes of Israel! So the Old Testament saints and the twelve apostles were all promised a position of ruling and reigning with the Messiah in His coming kingdom.

But, there's more. In 1 Corinthians 6 the Apostle Paul informs us the Church will also judge the world. And, in 2 Timothy 2:12 the Apostle also tells us that those who endure we shall reign also with Him. Then, in Revelation 5, there is the song that is sung before God and before the throne and the Lamb. The church sings, "You have made us kings and priests to our God and we shall reign on the earth." 

So we've got Old Testament saints, we've got twelve apostles over twelve tribes of Israel and we've got New Testament saints ruling over the world. They will all be included in this group who will reign with the Lord. 

The second group mentioned in v.4 of today's text is made up of those "those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands." 

This is the same group we saw in Revelation 6-7 who were put to death because of their faith in Christ. They refused to bow before the authority of the antichrist or to worship him. They will live again, we are told, and reign with Christ a thousand years. 

Then there is this third group. "The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended." 

This is a reference to the unbelieving dead, who will appear before the Great White Throne which is described at the end of this chapter. These will come back to life when the Millennium is over.

In v.6 of our text we read, "Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years."

John clearly establishes the fact that there is more than one resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15 the Apostle Paul writes of the Lord Jesus that He was "the first fruits from the dead." So the first resurrection reaches back to include the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and those raised with him at that time. 

Matthew 27:52-53 tells us that at the time the Lord Jesus was raised "many of the bodies of the saints came out of the tombs." They, too, were part of that group of the first fruits which was offered to God as the initial installment of the first resurrection.

Then, in 1 Corinthians 15:23 we read, "then, when he comes, those who belong to him will be raised." When Christ returns, to catch the church up to himself, that will be the next segment of the first resurrection. Over 2000 years lie between, but time is no factor in any eternal event. 

Then, 1 Corinthians 15:23 reads, "then the end will come." This is referencing the final resurrection before the Great White Throne will happen. 

So, there are clearly two resurrections taught in Scripture. In John 5:29, the Lord Jesus Himself referred to a "resurrection of life" and a "resurrection of judgment." The "first resurrection" involves only those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. These will be resurrected to life for they know the forgiveness of their sins. Thus John says, "Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years."

Sadly, there will be those who will be resurrected to face the judgment of God. They will do so because they rejected the free gift of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. On the other hand, the Lord Jesus Christ is not one of many ways to approach God, nor is He the best of several ways; He is the only way, because He is the only one who has ever overcome sin and death by resurrecting from the dead.