Soon!

Here is a link to last week’s series, Soon!

“Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.”

Revelation 20:6 (ESV)

Chapter nineteen may sound woeful in many ways. But it is a reminder that God was the victor from the beginning of time.

Believers should approach Revelation without fear or apathy. God has shared so much with us, and this wonderful book transports its readers from inertia to anticipation.

Anticipation of:

• seeing the Lord Jesus in the Throne room of Heaven at the rapture
• joining Jesus at the marriage feast
• coming back with Him at His victorious second coming
• receiving our white stone from God with our new name, which only He and the believer will ever know¹

There are many more wonderful moments that will just be the beginning of the believer’s eternity.

Here is the timeline of chapter twenty:

The binding of Satan for 1,000 years.

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

Revelation 20:1 -3 (ESV)

Jesus will rule the Millennial Kingdom. This is a fulfillment of prophecy. Jesus is the last King of Judah, a covenant He promised to keep with David.

During the Millenium there will be peace and prosperity. But there will still be sin even though Satan will be bound in Hell. That is because new babies will be born and they will have to either accept or reject Christ, just as we did. The only people who will not sin are believers who were raptured, martyrs who were redeemed during the tribulation, and people who believed in and followed God before Christ came.

The fact that sin will still exist without Satan roaming the Earth, is proof that mankind chooses sin over God even without Satan’s temptations.

Thrones and Judgement

Then I saw thrones and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also, I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 

Revelation 4 (ESV)

Most Bible scholars seem to believe that the ones seated on the thrones were saints of old who will have some authority with Christ. Of course, they are not to be worshipped. The ones beheaded for the testimony of Jesus are martyrs from the tribulation and are likely ones who will keep their physical bodies for the 1,000 years and will have children. It is their children who will have to profess Christ to be redeemed. All of that is something that we can wait to know for certainty.

The rest of the dead

The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 

Revelation 20:5 (ESV)

The rest of the dead in verse five are those who died during the tribulation without Christ. They are not in purgatory. They are in Hell. But, they will be at the Great White Throne Judgement at the end of the 1,000 years.

The Defeat of Satan

And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Revelation 20:7-10(ESV)

This battle will be over before it begins, so to speak. This is not an outcome that will ever be in question.

The Great White Throne Judgement.

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.  And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.  Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.  And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 20:11-15 (ESV)

When you have time, take a look at the prophecy from Isaiah 14:12-15

1. Why is God going to give us a new name
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English Standard Version (ESV)

The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.

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