Revelation 20:1-15
Please read your Bible text: Rev 20:1-15
‘…but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years.’ Rev 20:6b
Towards the end of the 2nd half of the Great Tribulation, Israel (God’s people) will be attacked by a vast army of several nations that were instigated by Satan, and the antichrist (as seen in the sixth bowl judgment). Amid the height of the battle, the Lord Jesus will come as the Messiah, the Deliverer of His people—Israel. Jesus Christ will come and wipe out the enemies, Satan, and his cohorts and including the nations that were antagonistic towards Israel. He will establish His Kingdom rule. This is the 1000-year rule (Bible scholars call it—the Millennium). The entire Jewish nation would be wiped out, had the Lord Jesus not returned on time.
Commentary on the 1000-year rule
The 1000-year rule of Christ on earth is to fulfill the ancient Old Testament prophecies that of his kingdom (the Davidic Kingdom) there shall be a perpetual continuity and Christ Jesus, who is also the son of David is ‘the Messiah’ – who has come to deliver His people (the Jews) and establishes the Davidic kingdom (the Kingdom of God).
The millennium rule of Christ will be one of peace – where there will be no war and no weapons of mass destruction. There will be one government from Jerusalem where the Lord Jesus Christ will rule all the earth, in wisdom, with justice, and with an iron scepter of firmness. There will not be any disparity of need or riches, neither any manipulation of authority. There will be a booming economy mustered by the all-wise King Jesus – that will benefit all. There will be no longer any poor and destitute on earth. There will be perfect health – there will be no sickness, and there will be longevity among the people of the Earth. All will worship the one God Almighty by heart conversion or by default. There will be the restoration of nature – of plants and animals – even the lion will lay down with the lamb, and a child can play with the snake and not be hurt. All these happen by the power and wisdom of the King Jesus in an environment where the Devil – the father of deceit and destruction is removed from the earth and bound in the abyss.
The Lord Jesus Christ will reign with His saints. These saints are the overcomers including the Old Testament saints who will be resurrected at the rapture (prior to the bowl judgments). And here in Rev. 20 – the saints who will be resurrected to rule with the Lord Jesus also include the martyred saints in the Great Tribulation, who stayed faithful by refusing to worship the Antichrist nor succumbed to the mark of the beast. All these saints are described as part of the first resurrection – who will rule with the Lord Jesus Christ on earth as priests of God in the 1000-year rule of Christ on earth. They have supernatural bodies and will not die anymore nor will they ever sin again.
But the Devil will be released from the abyss after 1000 years, and he will once again deceive the people of the earth to rebel against the King, Jesus. There will still be people of the Earth who survived the Great Tribulation and who will enter into the millennium. These are the people (both Jews and Gentiles) who remain alive through the ordeal of tribulation. They will still marry and produce children and populate the earth during the millennium. In fact, in a world under such a perfect environment, there will be a population explosion. But these generations are born with sinful nature and must believe and accept the finished work of Christ on the cross. The Devil who is released from the abyss will deceive some of these people – the nations from every corner of the earth to rebel and to war against Jerusalem. The Confederacy of the northern nations against the beloved city of Jerusalem is led by Satan. Satan intends to wipe out the entire Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem. But fire from heaven came down and consumed them. Satan is then thrown into the eternal Lake of Fire.
There will be a second resurrection of the dead – all the unbelievers for all generation’s past will be resurrected to stand under the Great White Throne of God and will be judged based on their deeds and all those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be cast into the Lake of Fire.
Here are some devotional thoughts:
The Devil is Doomed – vv.1-3, 10
The Devil is doomed on three counts. The first is when Jesus Christ defeated him on the cross and rose from the dead. Now the Devil no longer has the power of death because Jesus Christ had conquered it. The second count is when the Devil is bound in the bottomless pit (the Abyss) for 1,000 years (vv.1-3). The third count is when he is cast into the lake of fire that burns with unquenchable Sulphur and brimstones for all eternity (v.10). Are you glad that the Devil is doomed? The Devil is also known as the ‘accuser of the brethren’ – he always wants to accuse the saints of their bad behavior to put them into condemnation and guilt. Do not let him, because he is doomed already. The next time the devil reminds you of your pasts – you may tell him of his future!
The Saints is Blessed
In Rev. 1:6 – we who are saints in Christ are made to be unto God, His kingdom, and priests. What a blessed place to be! We will be reigning with Christ in the millennium on earth. Paul wrote in the epistle – that we may even judge angels! In the millennium and then for all eternity – we who are the saints in Christ would have been blessed with supernatural bodies like that of the resurrected Jesus Himself. A body that will never die or age or subject to sickness. No more wrinkles, not even a pimple or grey hairs! It will be a body that will transcend matters and most welcome – a body that can still eat and enjoy food. Most important of all, it will be a body that never stops to worship the King – Jesus.
We who are saints are also blessed to part of the first resurrection (v.6) because the second death (which is in the lake of fire – v.14) has no part for us. The first resurrection is for all the saints – resurrected to sit under the Judgment ‘Bema’ seat of Christ and to rule with Christ. The second resurrection is for all unbelievers (vv.12-15) – resurrected to stand under the Great White Throne and be judged before God. For those of you who belong to Christ – so blessed are you now for you will soon participate in the first resurrection. May we as Christians (believers) rejoice and be glad in it.
The Lord Jesus is King
Yes, Jesus Christ – the Messiah is coming to rule the earth. He will establish His throne in the city of Jerusalem. This will be the Kingdom of God on earth. The 1000-year of the millennium is not fiction, but it will be a physical reality. Whether Jesus is going to rule in an ancient traditional garb or in modern-day 3-piece suits – it does not matter. The fact is that we will all see Jesus in person and in His magnificent glory and majesty. All the earth will worship God through Jesus Christ. Will King Jesus travels around on a white horse or will he use the modern-day luxurious limousine – I will leave this to your own imagination. The Bible is silent on this. But it will be a highly industrialized and purely democratic world booming in prosperity. The Kingdom Jesus established would be far more glorious than King Solomon of old.
The Final Judgement before the Great White Throne
The total depravity of human nature can be seen even in the millennium rule of Christ. Given the slightest temptation by the Devil, they will still sin and fall. While many will believe and serve the King Jesus in true sincerity, there will still be many who will merely follow Jesus without a pure heart. The sinful nature of many will still breed in their hearts and when the Devil is released from the abyss – the breeding ground of sin in their heart will manifest in open defiance and rebellion against the rule of Christ. The multitude of people that rebel is enormous, as John put it – “as numberless as the sand along the shore (v.8). The Devil will be finally cast into the Lake of Fire forever, but the multitude of people who rebel in the millennium and had died will be raised and subsequently judged before finding their destinies in the Lake of Fire.
All unbelievers of all ages in the past since the beginning of times will be resurrected bodily before the Great White Throne to be judged by the One and Only, the Almighty God. God is a just judge. He can only sentence anyone after they have been judged base on their works (v.12). However, their works will fail to qualify their names to be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and will be cast into the Lake of Fire (vv.14-15). And finally, death and Hades will be thrown into the Lake of Fire.
All believers will be part of the first resurrection that will find their eternal destiny in God whereas all unbelievers will be part of the second resurrection that will see their eternal destinies in the Lake of Fire (which is the second death – v.14).
Think:
The 1st Resurrection for Believers raised unto the Millennium and the Bema seat of Christ. The 2nd Resurrection for Unbelievers raised unto the Great White Throne Judgment and the Lake of Fire.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you that you will keep your promise in John 14 – that You will come back for us, so that where you are – there we may be also. May we, by your grace be found faithful at our post, watching. Amen.
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