Transcript
Katie (0:00)
Welcome to A Year in the Bible With Daily Grace. My name is Kristen and my name.
Kristen (0:04)
Is Katie and we want to spend a few minutes a day with you walking through the New Testament one chapter at a time. This year we will fix our gaze upon Christ so that we may know him not only with our minds but with our hearts.
Katie (0:17)
Together we will learn that who Jesus is changes everything. Hi friends, welcome back to A Year in the Bible Daily Grace. My name is Katie and together we are walking through Revelation in our year long study of the New Testament. Today we are studying Revelation 20. As always, you can follow along with the behold studies in the Daily Grace coast shop or with the reading plan linked in the show Notes. Friends, today we are studying one of the most debated passages in Revelation. We'll read about the millennium while we will briefly cover a few of the most common views. Unfortunately we do not time to go into a lot of depth in them today. But if the different millennial views intrigue you, I highly suggest that you explore more on your own. As we study these different views, we want to remember to keep the main things the main things what is John communicating here? What is the hope found in this chapter? Spoiler alert. There is so much hope found for believers in today's chapter. Yesterday the Antichrist or the beast and its false prophet were destroyed. Today we will read about the demise of Satan, the final good riddance of evil from earth before God restores and redeems it. This chapter opens up with an angel holding the key to the abyss. This is likely the same angel we are familiar with from Revelation 9 and the fifth trumpet. The angel seizes Satan, the dragon, the ancient serpent and the devil and binds him in chains in the abyss for thousands of years. The abyss is closed and sealed. Here is where debate sparks around the topic. Some scholars believe that the thousand years here is a literal thousand years. The viewpoint is called premillennialism. Jesus will return before the millennium and for this period he will reign with saints with no interference from Satan. Satan will then be released after the set time and his final defeat will occur then. Others believe that this thousand years is symbolic, much like the other numbers we've seen in Revelation. Those camps are called Amillennialism and post Millennialism. Amillennialists believe that Satan is currently bound or limited in his ability to deceive the nations and that we are currently currently living in the millennium. Jesus is reigning currently in heaven and the Gospel is spreading throughout the world. At the end of the millennium, Satan will be released to deceive the nations and create an army to rise up against Christ. Ultimately, Satan will be defeated at Christ's return. Post millennialists, like all millennialists, believe that the thousand years is an indefinite amount of time. But they believe that there will be an increase in in the church's influence, where Christian values will spread throughout society and usher in Christ's second coming. Both amillennialists and postmillennialists believe that Jesus will return after the battle of Armageddon. They also believe that there will be one resurrection and one judgment. After Satan's binding, John sees people reigning who were martyred, who did not worship the beast and who did not receive his son. They come to life and reigned for a thousand years with Jesus as a first resurrection at Jesus second coming. This is another place where millennial views differ. Premillennialists would believe that the saints will be resurrected at the beginning of the millennium and the unbelievers will be resurrected at the end of the millennium, where they will be judged. All millennialists and post millennialists believe that the first resurrection will be a spiritual resurrection, possibly meaning the moment of their conversion or perhaps when their souls meet Jesus upon their death. And then at the end of the chosen time. Believers will then resurrect bodily at Christ's return. No matter what belief you may find yourself leaning towards, it's important to zoom out and remember what's true, no matter your position. The second death or the final destruction of Satan and those who reject Christ will have no power on the saints. Instead, we will reign with Christ as priests and children of God. After Satan's binding, he will then be released to deceive the nations and form an army against God. John references Gog and magog in verse 8, a callback to Ezekiel 38:39. Ezekiel prophesies that Gog, king of Magog, will command a mighty army of many nations, an army that will attempt to attack Israel. In Ezekiel 38:16, God declares that he will bring Gog against his land so that the nations may know me when I am proved holy through you before their eyes. The Lord's anger will burn hot against Gog and Magog and the judgment God describes in Ezekiel. This reminds us a lot of the seals, the trumpets and the bowl judgments. The moral of the story Satan's army will not stand. Fire will consume them and the devil will be thrown into the same lake of sulfur and fire to be tormented alongside the beast and its false prophet. Do not miss that Satan is defeated once and for all here. This is huge news. I can imagine John's audience cheering and feeling a weight lifted off their chest. Evil will be defeated once and for all, and we can be certain of it. This chapter ends with a scene of judgment. Those whose names are written in the Book of Life are saved. These are Christians, Christians who have placed their faith in Christ and persevered by his strength. These names will finally enter their true home. They will enter into Christ's kingdom with all peace and all joy. However, those who have rejected the gospel and chosen to worship the world will be judged according according to their deeds. They too will be thrown into the lake of fire. God's righteous judgment communicates his justice and his grace. Although the works of the Book of Life are now known, they are forgiven, not counted against the saints. Jesus has wiped our slates clean and forgiven our debts. We are welcomed by God as beloved, righteous and honored. However, apart from Christ, those who reject him are tormented forever alongside Satan I don't know about you, but I have close friends and family who do not currently love Jesus. This chapter is joyful to me in so many ways, but it's also a sobering reminder that eternal punishment is real. I pray that this reality wakes us up to share the hope that we found in Jesus with our loved ones. I pray that this reality reminds us to keep praying and to keep faithfully living our lives in a way that points others to Christ. That's what gets us to what we behold about Jesus today. Evil is defeated. Jesus is conquered. The serpent has been crushed. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords reigns forever and ever. We have hope. Friends, no matter what you are facing today, no matter what evil seems to be overwhelming in the world right now, you, Child of God, can look forward. You can turn your eyes to Jesus and know that he will triumph. Jesus Victory bolsters our endurance I cannot wait until we read tomorrow's chapter. Together. We read John's account of the new heaven and the new earth when God will finally come to dwell with man, when all that is broken will be restored. Go in hope today, friends. The best is yet to come.