Faith
Wednesday April 3, 2013
Hartsville News Journal
Page 2C
FAITH COMMENTARY
Revelation Chapter 20 Revealed Continued

After revealing the first eight verses of Revelation 20, we continue with completing the chapter. The Thousand Years is over and we face Satan as he tests us for A Little Season.
After serving a thousand-years in the Pit, Revelation 20-09 KJV shows Satan and his followers attempting to convince God’s Elect that he is Christ:

09 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

Satan’s goal, in the short time God gives him, is to take God’s Elect away from Christ. He compassing the Camp of the Saints shows him having the confidence to do it.
But with God, this is the last straw; He does away with Satan and his False Prophets.
What they attempt with the Saints can be connected to what they attempted doing in Matthew 24:24-26 (KJV). It is just before Christ returns and like here, they demonstrate to God’s Elect that Satan is Christ:

24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

And God reminds us that He has previously warned that this will happen:

25 Behold, I have told you before.

Most everyone is deceived:

26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

Believe it not because Satan is the one here; Christ is yet to appear!
Returning to the twentieth chapter of Revelation, we see Satan and his False Prophets being rewarded:

10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

And finally this Heaven and Earth Age have ended. God has restored and rejuvenated our Earth; Satan is no more.

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

The previous Heaven and Earth Age have served their purpose; we now find ourselves in the last ones.
Verse 12 takes us to a spiritual moment where John and we join the dead standing before God; those spiritually dead are preparing to see what God has written about them in His Books:

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was


 

 

 


 

 

opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

It is not until Judgment Day that we learn which of His Books include us. What we do know now is that our works will dictate which one, the Book of Life or the other.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

The “Sea” is all the people in the world. The people of the world deliver up its dead to be judged.
They, remaining spiritually dead, were taught by Christ for a Thousand Years and then facing Satan once again, find themselves not Raised in Christ.
So, after being taught by Christ a Thousand years and yielding when Satan tempts them during his Little Season, death and hell deliver them up to be judged according to their works.
Knowing that Revelation talks to us through metaphors and figures of speech , Revelation 17:15 (KJV) allows us to observe “Waters”, along with “where the Whore sitteth”, showing themselves used in a manner similar to the way “Sea” is used in the previous verse:

And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

Taking on figures of speech, “Waters” stand for peoples, multitudes of peoples and Nations and languages.
Additionally, Revelation 17:18 (KJV) show “Whore” or “Woman” to stand for Israel.

And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

Figure of speech in Chapter 20, completing its job, tells that the Kings of the Earth are the ten horns of the beast, ten world leaders; they think alike when sharing a passionate dislike for the whore, Israel.
Returning to the chapter we are reviewing, Verse 14 introduces the Second Death; it follows the Second Resurrection, a time that many find themselves facing, a time when those not Raised in Christ are cast into the Lake of Fire:

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Those not Raised in Christ are not written in the Book of Life. They come from a large number of people who have previously received the Mark of the Beast. This imaginary Mark is received the moment one begins believing that Satan is Christ.
This review of Chapter 20 closes with Verse 15 showing what happens to those not found written in the Book of Life:

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Is this in-depth study of Revelation Chapter 20 helping you to plan and prepare for the Second Coming of Christ?

Does learning about the Ten Kings hating the Whore, Israel, help you to determine where you are in time?

Is it good knowing that there still may be time for you to be included in God’s Book of Life?

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