Faith
Wednesday March 27, 2013
Hartsville News Journal
Page 2C
FAITH COMMENTARY
Revelation Chapter 20 Being Revealed

Revelation Chapter 20 Being Reveled takes us to a future point in time. God has John revealing this point in time to us; it is a time when Satan is here and Christ is arriving.
Writing this chapter, John invites us to join him and being curious is enough to have us do that.
Revelation means to reveal, to make something known and Chapter 20 is a good example of God doing that. We begin by taking on the first eight verses.
Revelation 20:1 (KJV) shows John telling what he sees; he sees Michael coming down from Heaven.

1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

Satan has been here five months when Michael lays hold on him. Locking Satan in the Bottomless Pit takes away any threat of him deceiving and/or influencing us for a thousand years:

2. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

Satan in the pit and Christ returning has us shedding our flesh bodies but this taking place will in no way affect our outcome; life continue in spiritual ones.

And Michael seals Satan in the pit for good reason; Christ is vying for our attention as He reigns for a thousand years.

3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Satan loosed for a little season bears watching; God is testing us. He has to find out whom may have benefited from Christ having reigned and taught each of us a thousand years.
We, having left our flesh bodies, only have the Second Death to face at this time, the death of our souls. But prior to being raised in Christ, we remain spiritually dead.
Verse 4, taking center stage, sheds a little light on the First Resurrection:

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Interpreting the Mark of the Beast gets top priority. Worshipping the beast and receiving his mark are figures of speech; they have to be interpreted.
Not receiving Satan's Mark upon their foreheads causes one to ask: What is inside their foreheads? The answer is their brain; their brain is what they use to think; they not receiving the Mark are telling us that Satan is unable to influence their thinking.

 

 

 


 

 

And not having the mark in their hands poses a second question: What are their hands used to do? Everyone knows that their hands are used to do their work. So, not having the Mark in their hand is saying to us; they have not been doing Satan’s work.
Prior to being resurrected, we all are spiritually dead. Is Satan’s Mark reflected in your life?
Whether good, bad, or ugly, before we are resurrected, we cannot be raised; Verse 5 shows the First Resurrection raising some of the dead, the rest of the dead living not again until the thousand years were finished:

5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

Readying for the First Resurrection are those returning with Christ, those born whom have since died along with and including us in the flesh whom have not. Whether in spiritual bodies or getting ready to enter them; we all are spiritually dead; no one is raised.
The First Resurrection is where it begins; it is instantaneous, taking place when Christ returns. Those raised in Christ are no longer dead, spiritually speaking. But the rest are; not raised at this time, they remain dead for a thousand years.

6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

He that hath part in the First Resurrection doth so because he has rejected everything Satan has to offer. The second death has no power over him; he is blessed and raised.
Those not taking part in the First Resurrection must wait a thousand years at which time they face Satan and the death of their soul; the next verse shows them exposed:

7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

The Little Season arrives! Satan confident, has God turning him loose on the world. The world is the spiritually dead, the ones taught by Christ and maybe you. Now facing Satan, they all are candidates for the Second Resurrection.
Gathering them together to battle numbers of whom is as the sand of the sea, Satan continues deceiving; he continues presenting himself as God:

8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

Is it realistic to think that so great a number of people, facing their second death, are in any way connected to those earlier mistaking Satan for Christ, when he came, claiming to be Christ?

Do you anticipate our next visit when we attempt interpreting the remaining verses in this chapter?

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Pastor Billy Johnson can be reached by email at billy@lakeshorebible.info or viewed online at www.lakeshorebible.com