Hello, and welcome to the Takeaway, where we teach through the Bible, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse, to help you understand God's Word so that you can have a more intimate relationship with Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Hello, and welcome again to the takeaway. I'm your host, Pastor Harry Barrens, and in today's episode, we're going to be looking at Revelation chapter 20. This will be the world we have all hoped and prayed for, and now we're going to see it. In chapters 17 through 19, we saw our Lord putting an end to all false religions and the corrupt commercial system. All of this was to make way for his coming kingdom that not only the book of Revelation has pointed to, but all of Scripture. When you understand this perspective, then all of Scripture will start to become clear to you. So many Christians spend their time looking to Scripture as if it's a self-help book. But the reality is it's a compass that points to Jesus. From beginning to end, it's all about Him, points to Him and prepares us for Him. What we need to remember is that we are the bride of Christ and that we are to be living a life that purifies us and prepares us for His coming. God makes it abundantly clear how He expects us to conduct ourselves as we represent Him. It's not that we don't benefit from this, it's just that this is the result of living for Him, not the reason we live for Him. God loves us so much that He wants us to enter into His blessings. And one of those blessings is entering into the kingdom age with Jesus. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 through 6. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he made us accepted in the beloved. And starting in verse one, we read, Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil in Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. Now there are many teachers out there that spiritualize this thousand years as if it's not literal, but as I have repeatedly taught, we are to take Scripture literally unless it clearly tells us that it means something else. In this case, a thousand years means a thousand years, and it's repeated, which helps to bring clarity to it. We also see that Satan will be bound during this time so that he will not be able to deceive the nations. If you remember back in chapter 9, we saw an angel that was given a key to open the bottomless pit, which released demons and all hell on earth as part of God's judgment. But now we are seeing yet another angel with the key to lock it up again. Not only that, but this time he locks up all the demons and Satan himself. During this time of our Lord's reign on the earth, there will be no more spiritual evil to deceive us. It will only be Jesus and the saints ruling with him that will have influence over the earth during this time. How wonderful is that! A world without deception, lies, or corruption. But notice in verse three Satan will be released at the end of the thousand years for a little while. Not only that, but it says he must be released. This indicates that God has a good reason for doing this, as we're going to see. Verses four to six. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded, for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years, but the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power. But they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. In verse four, notice it says, They sat on thrones. Who are they? Most likely this is speaking to the saints that have just returned with Jesus in chapter 19. Now they are taking their place by his side on their thrones to rule the earth just as we were promised. First Corinthians six, two and three. Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life? In the second part of verse 4, we see the souls of the saints who endured the tribulation, and they were also granted to live and reign with Jesus during the thousand years. This isn't just those who made it to the end, but the ones who were killed for their witness of Jesus. In verse five, we see this is the first resurrection. At this point, all the saints will have been raised from the dead and given their new body to be able to rule and reign with Jesus. Those who are a part of this first resurrection will never die again, as we see in verse 6. We will rule and reign as priests during this time. Can you imagine that? We are talking about millions and millions of priests who will probably be stationed all over the world to continue to teach the word of God during this time. There will be no other religions to contend with and no one to bring false teachings. The people of this world won't have to worry about whether or not the word being taught is true or not. Now, you're probably asking, why would the word have to be taught if Jesus is ruling and reigning during this time? And the answer is for the same reason we still teach the Old Testament today. Even though we are under a new covenant, we need to understand the old covenant to make sense of it. Not to mention there is still plenty of scripture that talks about this time on earth and still points to the new heavens and earth. The Bible story doesn't end with the tribulation, it ends with the new heavens and earth, as we will see in a couple chapters. There will still be a great need to teach those who are being born and living during this time period, as they will need to hear about all that God has done throughout history and where it's still heading. They will need to be made aware of their sin nature, and they will still have to put their trust in Jesus during this time, just as we have. The only difference is that they won't have to contend with Satan until the end of the thousand years. At that point, he will try to lure them away from the truth that he does today. The people of the world will need to be prepared for this time so that they don't waver from the truth when that time comes. So I'm sure you're asking the question, why would God release Satan again? First, we need to realize we can't fully understand God's ways. Romans 11 33. Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. Second, we need to realize that the bigger issue is sin and not Satan. Jeremiah 13 9. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Third, Satan has been nothing more than a tool used by God to judge the wicked and bring them to destruction. As believers who are in the Word and know the truth, Satan has no power over us. James 4, 6 to 10. But he gives more grace. Therefore he says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up. At the end of the day, God is just using Satan to draw the wicked to their destruction once again, just as he is doing today. Why God chooses to do it this way is beyond our own understanding, just as Paul says in Romans 11. All we need to be concerned with is that he has no power over us or our eternal destination when our lives are in Jesus. The bigger issue is that our hearts are deceitful and wicked. This is what ultimately leads people to follow Satan. We are always fighting the urge to be our own God. And at the end of the thousand years, there will be many people who once again desire that more than the one true God. Maybe the real reason God releases Satan is because he is the father of lies and was the first one to ever desire to be God. So he lets the people of the world who reject him have the God they are all asking for, the one who will lead them to their destruction from the one true God. Now, as we look at verse five, it said, But the rest of the dead did not live. These are those who never put their trust in Jesus and died in their sins. These will be resurrected at the end of the thousand years for their final judgment, where they will experience a second death, as we see in verse six. This will definitely not be a pleasant thing for them, as this will be the judgment that will send them to hell for eternity. Moving on to verses seven to ten, we read. They went up on the breath of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. Fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night, forever and ever. This will not be a battle like we saw at the end of the tribulation. This will be a quick destruction on those who come to battle. This will not be a seven-year period or a tribulation or persecution. This will just be the Christ-rejecting people of the world led by Satan to be destroyed. Fire will come down from heaven and completely devour them. Then Satan will once again be thrown back into the pit where the Antichrist and the false prophet are already locked up. This helps to clarify that this is a clearly a different point in time as only Satan is loosed. There is no indication that any other demonic powers were released and allowed to roam the earth. It is Satan and him alone that deceives the nations and brings them to destruction. Now in verse 8, we see Gog and Magog mentioned to describe the nations that come from the four corners of the earth. The only other time we see Gog mentioned is in Ezekiel 38 and 39. In Ezekiel, there is a description of a war that has not happened as of yet, and Gog and Magog are mentioned as a great many people that come from the far north. Ezekiel 38, 1 to 6, it reads, Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, set your face against Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meskah, and Tubul, and the prophets, and prophesy against him, and say, Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the Prince of Rosh, Mesh, and Tubul. I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. Persia, Ethiopia, Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet, Gomer and all of its troops, the house of Togomar from the far north, and all of its troops, many people are with you. Many scholars have debated over who Gog and Magog are, and there is no clear conclusion either. Many assume this is talking about Russia, as some of the nations mentioned made up some of the territory occupied by Russia at this time. However, it's entirely possible it's talking about Europe and the nations surrounding Europe. If we put it into context with Revelation 20, Gog and Magog is used as a description to describe God's enemies who are in far-off nations around the globe. It's possible that this description is of a spiritual entity that leads people to war against God and would make sense as these events are separated by more than a thousand years. It's also possible that these names have historical context of a nation or ruler we don't know about from history that points to a future leader or nation that is like the one from the past. The best evidence we have for this is how Babylon is used in this way throughout Scripture, particularly in Revelation. We know that Babylon is not the literal Babylon from the Old Testament, but a religious and commercial system that derives from Babylon, the mother of harlots. In either case, Gog and Magog point to a people and leader that reject and fight against God. Who they are or where they come from exactly doesn't really matter. If it did, God would have made it clear for us. What he did make clear is that these are a Christ-rejecting people that come to war against him. In the end, they are judged and destroyed. Now, many Christians think that when Jesus comes back, he will make all things new. But that is not the description we are given of his reign. We are told that people will once again live long lives and that the animal kingdom will be restored, but the earth will not be made new until the end of Jesus' reign on earth. In Isaiah 65, 20 it says, No more shall an infant uh from there from there live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days, for the child shall die one hundred years old, but the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed. In Isaiah 65, 25, the wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord. Even though many things will be restored during this time, some things will not. Just as God's judgment on the earth after the flood left evidence, so will this judgment. For the entire thousand years, people will see the evidence of God's judgment all around them to remind them that sin has its penalty. No doubt that over time the earth will begin to heal and beauty will be restored just as it has since the flood. And during this time, people will once again begin to doubt that God really did those things. And instead, they will reason with themselves how these things came to be and once again start to turn from God. The scars of God's first judgment are all over this earth, and there will certainly be scars from the second judgment, piles of rubble where mountains once stood, huge cracks in the earth from the earthquakes, and the burial place of the armies from Armageddon for all to visit and see. The reminders will be all around the people of the world, just as they are now. But because of the hardness of hearts, we have become blind, and we have reasoned away all of God's judgments as if they have never happened or will ever happen again. At the end of the day, none of us have a good excuse for our ignorance, and neither will the people at the end of the thousand-year reign. The big difference between the world then versus now is that they will not have Satan to deceive them until the end. The world will be without war and a wonderful place to live. In fact, there are many verses in the Bible that talk about this period of time and just how wonderful it will be. Here are just a few to help us understand. Isaiah 65, 21 to 24. They will build houses and dwell in them, they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people. My chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. They will not labor in vain, nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune, for they will be a people blessed by the Lord, they and their descendants with them. Before they call, I will answer. While they are still speaking, I will hear. Isaiah 2 4. He shall judge between the nations and shall decide disputes for many peoples, and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Micah 4, 1 to 2. It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills, and people shall flow to it, and many nations shall come and say, Come, let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways, and that we may walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. There are so many things written about the coming king and his kingdom that this is what confused the Jews two thousand years ago when Jesus came the first time. They didn't comprehend that the Messiah would first be killed and then reign. They didn't understand that there were two events being described. They saw the Lord coming to make all things new, and they saw themselves as the suffering servant and not Jesus. Luke 22, 37. Jesus says about himself, For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in me, and he has numbered, he was numbered with the transgressors, for the things concerning me have an end. This is taken from Isaiah 52, 13 to 53, 12. That describes Jesus as the suffering servant and is one of the most profound Old Testament prophecies of our Lord. In fact, if you read those versions, the verses, not knowing that they come from the Old Testament, you would think they were from the New Testament. They describe the life of Jesus perfectly, as if it were written after the fact. But the Jews read this scripture as if this applied to them and not a single individual. This caused them to miss their Messiah 2,000 years ago. This just goes to show that whenever we think scripture is about us, we become blinded from the truth, just as they did. When we remember that all scripture is about our Lord and His coming kingdom, then we can easily fit all the pieces where they belong. We understand that He created us for His pleasure. We are just a part of His plan for His pleasure. We are not the main character in this story. Jesus is and always will be. Let's never forget that and praise Him, that He allows us to take part in His joy when we live a life that glorifies Him. Now moving on to verses eleven to 15. Then I saw a great white throne, and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were open, and another book was open, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, the death and Hades delivered up the dead who are in them, and they were judged, each one according to his works. Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, and any one not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. In John 5, 22 to 27, we read that the Father has committed all judgment to his Son Jesus. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Most assuredly I say to you He who hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself, and has given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man. In verse twelve, we see all people, small and great, standing before him to be judged. This is not a trial where they can defend themselves, but their sentencing. The judgment has already been made and has been written down. They will now hear their sentencing and the evidence to support it. God doesn't just send people to hell without a reason, even though he could. Not only will they burn for eternity, they will know why and have no excuse for it. Can you imagine such torment? Knowing you have no recourse, no hope for early release, just an eternity living in torment, knowing exactly why you were there, with no way to justify yourself. In verse 25, we see the sea gives up the dead, representing the place of unburied bodies. Everyone who has not accepted Jesus throughout all history will be raised to this judgment. Back at the beginning of the chapter, we saw the first resurrection, which were all the saints, and whom we were told would not take part in the second resurrection, and therefore death had no power over them. This resurrection will be to bring every knee to bow to Jesus, as we are told in Philippians 2, 9 to 11. Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father. Everyone will be made to bow and then hear the judgment against them. But the ones who are raised for this resurrection will be put to death a second time and be cast into hell forever, whose names are not found in the book of life. In verse 14, we see that death in Hades will also be cast into the lake of fire. Hades, we are told, is a hellish holding ground for the waiting of this resurrection. Currently, those who have died in their sins are not in hell but in Hades. This is a place that is called Abraham's bosom, as we read in Luke 16, 22 to 26. So it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And he being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and said Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus his evil things. But now he is confronted, and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us. This is not heaven and hell, but a place in the earth that people are waiting for judgment to come, sort of like being put in a jail cell waiting for trial. Then after you are convicted, you are thrown into prison. The difference between when Jesus told this story and now is that the paradise side has been emptied. Ephesians 4, 7 to 10. But to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gifts. Therefore he says, When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. Now this, he ascended. What does it mean, but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. So what is our takeaway from this chapter? I would say that is the fulfillment of promise. It's God doing everything he said he would do, from redeeming his chosen people Israel, dealing with the wicked, restoring all things, setting up his kingdom on earth, giving us a place by his side, and much, much more. When we study scripture closely, we start to see that there is more information in the Bible about the millennium than any other period in Scripture. From Genesis to Revelation, we can find something written about the Lord reigning and restoring. He is indeed our redeemer, and we are a part of his plan if we will give our lives over to him. Psalm 44 26. Rise up, be our help, and redeem us for the sake of your loving kindness. Psalm 1914. Isaiah 43 1. But now, thus says the Lord, you creator, O Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel, do not fear, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. At the end of the day, we are either a part of God's pleasure or his judgment. Only you could decide that. My encouragement is that you decide to live for his pleasure, because part of his pleasure is allowing you to take part in it. As a father myself, I get no greater joy than to bring joy to my children. When they were younger, I would take them to new places, just so that I could watch the amazement of them discovering new things. Even though it wasn't new to me, I was able to enjoy it as if it was new through their excitement. I believe this is part of what God gets from us. When we get excited about the new things He shows us, He is pleased as any father would be. The millennial reign of Jesus will indeed be full of this, not only for us, but all those who are born during his time. God will be on display in a big way through his Son Jesus, and we will be the ones pointing to him. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of him and cried out, saying, This was he of whom I said, He who comes after me is preferred before me, for he was before me, and of his fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is of the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for your word, for your revelation, for your truth. I know this is hard for many to understand that this time period is going to be a wonderful time, but that there are still going to be many people that need to hear the gospel message. Many people will need to know the truth to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, just as they do today. It seems almost unbelievable that Jesus will be reigning on this world in a perfect state with no corruption, no war, that us as believers will be priests in this world, that we will get to share the gospel in a perfect way. We will be the bride of Christ. We will rule and reign with Him. What an amazing time this will be. And there's no other way to take this other than literally. So, Father, we thank you that you give us this perspective, this truth, that we can set our minds and our hearts on this and not worry about this world today. This is all leading to this. We know that your judgment is coming, God, and that you're going to set all these things aside and you're going to make all things new once again, and that we have a part to play in that because it brings joy to you. Lord, we love you and we thank you. In your precious name we pray. Amen. Now I want to thank you for joining us today. And I hope this message helped you take a step closer in your relationship with Jesus and that you have a better understanding for just how much God loves you and wants you to know Him. In our next episode, we will be moving on to chapter 21 that talks about the new heavens and the new earth. As great as the millennial reign of Jesus will be on this earth, it's still not a completely restored earth. In the next chapter, it will be. Time itself will no longer exist and eternity begins. We will forever be with God and all those who follow Him. Before we go, I want to encourage you to visit us at thetaway.faith. On our website, you can find out more about who we are and sign up to receive emails to get notifications on new episodes and ministry updates. This also makes it easy to share our podcast and allows you to use it as a resource to help others. On our website, you can easily send us a message, a word of encouragement, questions, or comments. We would love to hear from you and encourage you to send us a message soon. God bless, and we'll see you next time on the Takeaway.