Wednesday: Judgment in the Millennium
Daily Lesson for Wednesday 26th of June 2024
Read Revelation 20:4-6. What are the righteous doing during the 1,000 years, and why is it important?
During the millennium, the righteous will have an opportunity to observe firsthand God’s justice and love in how He has dealt with the sin problem. Who doesn’t have questions they would like to ask God about a lot of things?
Image © Review & Herald Publishing from GoodSalt.com
Now, during the millennium in heaven, the redeemed get to ask those questions. If a loved one or close friend is absent from heaven, the saved have the opportunity to understand God’s decisions more fully. In a new way, more forcefully than ever before, the redeemed will grasp God’s powerful attempts to save every person who has ever lived. They will realize anew that everyone who is lost has missed out on heaven because of their own personal rejection of Christ. Only then does God bring final judgment—the second death, which is eternal destruction—on the lost.
Read Revelation 20:7-9. How do the 1,000 years conclude? What is the fate of Satan and his followers?
For 1,000 years, Satan has had no one to tempt or deceive. He and his angels have been alone to reflect on the deadly consequences of sin. At the end of the millennium, the wicked dead are resurrected to face the judgment and receive their final reward (Revelation 20:5).
Now Satan has a vast army of followers. Although Satan has suffered defeat after defeat in the great controversy, he is encouraged as he sees the huge throng of the lost. Not yet ready to end his rebellion, he goes out to deceive these “nations.” Satan inspires them to make one last great effort to overthrow God and set up their own kingdom. The term “Gog and Magog” is used to symbolize Satan and the unsaved of all ages. Satan and his followers surround “the camp of the saints and the beloved city” (Revelation 20:9, NKJV).
At the close of the millennium, not only are all the wicked raised to life, but the Holy City, New Jerusalem, descends to earth from heaven (Revelation 21:2)! The saints have been living and reigning with Christ in the New Jerusalem for the millennium. Now, at the end of the 1,000 years, the city descends to earth along with God, Jesus, the angels, and all the redeemed. Everyone is present for the final battle of the great controversy. Sin is about to be eradicated once and for all!
What does the timing of the final judgment say about God’s character?
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The end of 1968 was almost what we mathematicians call a singularity. So much happened in such a short time that it has taken over 50 years to sort out the importance of December 1968. I graduated with by London University BSc and a Teaching Certificate from Avondale, I married Carmel, I drove to my first job 4000km away in Western Australia and I moved from living in a dormitory to living in a real house. There were so many decisions to make, so many questions to answer, so many new experiences to take on board, that at times my head was spinning.
The Second Coming is essentially a singularity in time. And even though we know it will happen, so many things happen during and in the aftermath of that event that we find it difficult to process the perceived changes. One of the big changes is the end of sin. That in itself is a singularity and raises many questions and not a few speculative answers. I looked forward to the end of 1968 with both expectation and trepidation. And in the 55 years since then I have had a lot of questions answered about life and living. I am sure that we look forward to the Second Coming and the Millennium with both expectation and trepidation too. And I doubt that any of us will say, "Hey, get me out of here! It's not what I expected!"
Brother Maurice, l looked up verse 52 in most translations in biblehub.com; interesting
that all but one say,"the dead will be raised..." I pray that is the case!
God is perfect; thus, He cannot make any mistake. Therefore, I'm limited as a human, and it may be difficult for me to understand His actions. But if I look at God through the life of His Son Jesus, I may glimpse His character, and the more I learn to look at Jesus, the more I admire the Father.
Thank you brother Maurice Ashton for your inspiring writing. You quoted Chapter 15, it must have been a typo to write Chapter 16
Thank you for the heads up. ,,, dwindling eyesight and an early morning!
Some people consider the New Jerusalem as a "symbolic" concept about "afterlife" but this is a real and tangible city - with roads, walls, and dimensions! I can't wait long to enter there and stay with JESUS forever! I hope everyone of the readers here is longing as well. Please note that at last the New Jerusalem will "land on earth" after being in heaven for 1,000 years. I heard that it will land on Mount Zion!??? If some has details please kindly share. Why not land in Tanzania?
Very well could land in Tanzania Askwar. I believe the whole earth though will be made new before it lands on earth. Revelation 21:1. New heaven and new earth. Heaven is also the sky above us.
Another aspect is the length, width and the height is the same, a cube. Revelation 21:16. That would mean it would extend miles and miles into the atmosphere, and beyond into space in our current known earth. So I believe the earth made new will be much larger and have a larger atmosphere to accommodate the Holy City.
Whatever the physical details, by the power of God who makes us born again of the water and the Spirit, John 3:1-7, let us choose to be in the Lambs book of life. Revelation 21:27.
The reason I say whatever is, what He has in store for us is so far beyond my imagination. Because I don't know when in Revelation symbolic goes to literal.
This is what I found in Ellen White's writing:
After the judgment of the wicked dead was finished, at the end of the one thousand years, Jesus left the City, and a train of the angelic host followed him. The saints also went with him. Jesus descended upon a great and mighty mountain, which, as soon as his feet touched it, parted asunder, and became a mighty plain. Then we looked up and saw the great and beautiful City, with twelve foundations, twelve gates, three on each side, and an angel at each gate. We cried out, The City! The great City! It is coming down from God out of heaven! And it came down in all its splendor, and dazzling glory, and settled in the mighty plain which Jesus had prepared for it. Spiritual Gift volume 1 page 213.
Will it be on Mount Olive?
It's hard to believe landing on Mount Olivet as we know it today. The Holy City would extend into the Mediterranean ocean. Remember, the Holy City is 12,000 furlongs cubic A furlong is 660 feet, (12,000x660=7,920,000÷5280) which makes it 1500 miles on each side, and the height is the same. Now, looking at Revelation 21:1 again and then Revelation 21:2. And the fact that John saw it measured, I would think the earth and the Holy City would follow the sequence of verse 1 and 2.
Again, we will have to wait and see what our Heavenly Father has in store for us.
Regarding the height of the city, I've read that the language allows for the interpretation that the height is proportional to the length and breadth. That makes a lot of sense to me. Otherwise, the buildings inside the city would be the ultimate sky scrapers, and that doesn't appeal to me at all!
Would you like to live towards the top of a 1500-mile tall sky scraper - or even a 1000-mile tall sky scraper? (I know I wouldn't!)
But just think of the view! lol
It's hard to really know how symbolic or literal the descriptions are. I sort of lean toward the literal because a huge city shows that there is room for everyone. I've read some calculations that show that every person who ever lived could have a decent, pent house type apartment in the New Jerusalem. Now we know that everyone won't be there, but it encourages me that there would have been enough space if they'd chosen it.
Meanwhile every mountain shall be made low and all the valleys filled and some nations will dissappear forever from the face of the earth before the new Jerusalem arrives
There are things I cannot understand now but when that day comes when Jesus put in his appearance and we see him face to face then we Will know more about him how faithful he was to us in our sin sick soul and he did everything to save all of us I look forward to that day we just have to put all our trust in him constantly and have hope in him .
I am quite content with saying, "I don't understand," when it just seems like every attempt to explain some biblical prophesy ends up muddying the waters even more. Anyway, can anyone help me understand how the angel lays hold of satan and sets a seal on him?(Revelation 20:2-3) What's the symbolism here?
Also in Rev. 20:4 aren't those who died for their faith the ones sitting on the thrones? If yes, where are the others who died in Christ but were not martyred?
Bounding Satan is not literal. I would also think that placing a seal on him is not literal. We will have the seal of God, but it is not literal.
It has always puzzled me that satan would be able to rally a multitude from the 4 corners of the world to the last battle against the New Jerusalem. Where do they come from if the earth is ‘brought back to a dark, disorganized mass like its condition at the beginning of Creation’ and remains so for 1000 years?
When I compare today’s lesson with the one on Tuesday, I notice a difference. Tuesday’s lesson describes the earth as dark and void for a 1000 years. In today's lesson, satan is able to rally ‘the resurrected, wicked dead at the end of the 1000 years and gathers them from all four corners of the earth.
Referring to Jer.4:23-26, the lesson writer states: “Satan’s work of sin and destruction, along with tremendous chaos preceding the Second Coming, has brought the earth back to a dark, disorganized mass like its condition at the beginning of Creation.”
When the 'wicked' dead gather to fight, do they have a physical body or a resurrection body? How does he gather them and ‘inspire’ them to make ‘one last great effort to overthrow God and set up their own kingdom? The earth is still a desolate place! Do they have weapons, what type of weapons do they use when they surround “the camp of the saints and the beloved city”?
John 5:26-29 speaks to Jesus judging all living and dead at his return – v.28, 29. If those who are judged to have done evil are resurrected to damnation at Jesus Christ’s return, are they being held somewhere during the 1000 years until satan gathers them to war against God’s New Jerusalem and His saints?
Brigitte, it all falls into place if you recognize that there are two main resurrections - the first resurrection awakens the righteous from their sleep in the grave. The second resurrection happens after the 1000 years and awakens the wicked who have been sleeping in their graves for over 1000 years. They awaken with the same character and emotions with which they died. They listened to Satan before they died, and they will still listen to him when they are resurrected. You will find references to the first resurrection and the second death in Rev. 20:5-6. Note that "the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished" indicates that those not raised in the first resurrection will live again (be resurrected) after the thousand years.
I suggest you read the lessons again with this in mind, and things will fall into place for you.
Good question - how could human beings survive on something like a pre created earth? In the New Testament abyss means deep depths or abode of demons . If I wasn’t looking at Revelation through our rigid, detailed end time scenarios, I would ask if the abyss is the earth, why add “to keep him from deceiving the nations” if there is no one to deceive? Might it be the same abyss where the angels in Luke 8:31 didn’t want to go? Or the beast in Rev. 11:7 comes out of? Just wondering…
Paulette they very well could be with the multitude spoken of in Revelation 7:9