Tuesday: The Millennium on Earth
Daily Lesson for Tuesday 25th of June 2024
Revelation 19:1-21 ends with a dramatic portrayal of the return of Jesus and the destruction of the wicked. But the story is not over. Revelation 20:1-15 introduces us to a period lasting 1,000 years, known as the “millennium.”
Read Revelation 20:1-15:1–3. What is Satan’s fate when Jesus returns?
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The imagery in Revelation 20:1-15:1–3 is symbolic. Satan is not literally bound with a chain and locked in a pit. For 1,000 years, he is confined to this desolate, depopulated earth, bound by the circumstances he himself has created. In 2 Peter 2:4, we read that Satan and his angels were reserved for punishment by “chains of darkness.” Satan will be confined to the earth by a chain of circumstances, with no one to tempt. For 1,000 years, he will see the devastation, destruction, and disaster that his rebellion has created.
The Greek word translated “bottomless pit” is the same word from which we get our English word “abyss.” It also is the same word used in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, to describe the earth at Creation. “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep” (Genesis 1:2, NKJV). In the Septuagint, the word “deep” here is the Greek word abyssos, “abyss.” It describes a desolate earth. The “bottomless pit” is not some subterranean cavern or some yawning chasm somewhere out there in the universe. Satan’s work of sin and destruction, along with the tremendous chaos preceding the Second Coming, has brought the earth back to a dark, disorganized mass like its condition at the beginning of Creation.
Read Jeremiah 4:23-26 and Jeremiah 25:33. How does the biblical prophet describe this scene?
The prophet here emphasizes the catastrophic destruction at the second coming of Christ and that no person is left alive on earth during this thousand-year period. Satan and his evil angels are left to contemplate the havoc caused by his rebellion. The entire universe recognizes anew that the wages of sin is death. God deals with the sin problem so that it will never rise again (Nahum 1:9). There are three prime ways God does this. First, He reveals His limitless love, passionate desire, and relentless efforts to save all humanity. Second, He reveals His justice, fairness, and righteousness. Third, He allows the universe to see the ultimate results of sin and rebellion.
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When we were kids we seldom wore shoes. About the only concession to the high fashion of wearing shoes was when we went to church. We worked, played, and went to school in bare feet. Consequently, the soles of our feet were like an elephant's hide. Unfortunately, splinters and thorns could penetrate this occasionally, and when that happened I would get an abscess on the sole of my foot, which could be quite painful. My parents would apply hot poultices and try and bring it to a head so that the infected matter could be drained. Occasionally, they gave up and took me to the doctor who would lance it. Whenever the infection was finally drained it left a large pit in the tough sole of my foot but I knew that once I saw the pit the pain and suffering was over and the healing would begin. Nowadays, I cannot see the soles of my feet as my feet have grown a long way from my eyes. So, I have to photograph them with my phone. I cannot see the scars - the healing has been complete.
I don't think I need to explain the analogy.
Please I think I do cos I'm lost.
Sin is the abscess on God's creation and when that abscess bursts at the Second Coming it will leave a pit on this old earth. The good news is that God has a plan for healing that will leave no scars (except for the reminder in Jesus hands).
Such a dark panel is this image of a devasted planet with no creature alive but evil angels. The good news is that we can be somewhere else, alive, happy, and rationally learning about the reasons some of our dearest family members and friends are not with us. There is no surprise here, but choices with effort, perhaps only faith. There is no personal merit but intercession from the Savior.
Are the deeds that I do on a daily basis fit me for Heaven
Are my thoughts in line with the Holy Spirit?
I want to spend the millennium in Heaven with my Lord
The decisions and choices that I make today will determine
where I spend eternity!!!!!