One Last Battle (Rev. 20:7-10)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/17/2005

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  One Last Battle

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                         Reference:  Revelation 20:7-10

 

            Message of the verse:  “7  When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 8  and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.  9  And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.  10  And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

            These four verses describe the last battle on the earth, and it will not last long at all.  These verses describe what takes place at the end of Christ’s 1000 year reign on earth.  As for some of the other details that will take place during this 1000 year reign, they are described in the OT, mostly in the writings of the prophets, but it can be described as a perfect environment of peace, for there will be no violence at all for any sin will be dealt with swiftly as it will not be tolerated during the reign of Jesus Christ on this earth.  This time will be the fulfillment of the promises to Israel of having a kingdom on earth with their Messiah ruling from His throne in Jerusalem.  Many people who were alive at the time when Jesus came to earth the first time asked Him when He would restore the kingdom to Israel, and many people did not follow Him because they could see that He was not going to be the One who would reign and rule in power like many of the OT writings described.  There were some scholars of that time who said that there must be two Messiahs coming because they saw in the Scriptures the two roles that the Messiah would take up, one as the suffering servant, and the other as the conquering King of Israel.

            As stated in an earlier SD, Satan was not put into hell when Christ came down from heaven and won the war of Armageddon, he was put in the abyss, and  at the end of the 1000 year reign of Christ he is let out to head up one last battle.  The question is why is there anyone who would want to fight against the Lord Jesus Christ after living in a perfect environment for all of those years?  The answer has always been the same and that is man’s heart, the nature that man is born with is sinful and the only thing that can be done about that is to receive a new one from God.  It was said of Abraham that he believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness and all of these people who will be born during this time will have to have this righteousness given to them in order to receive eternal life.  In the book of Ezekiel starting at chapter 40 and going through the end of his writings, chapter 48 there is described a new Temple and this is what will be in Jerusalem during the 1000 year kingdom, and people will give sacrifices in that Temple, and I believe that this will remind them of what Christ did on the cross, and they will be able to see their need for salvation, but not all of them will see that need and these will be some of the ones who will follow Satan during that time.

            Ezekiel also describes a battle of Gog and Magog in his writings, and there are some things that are similar between these two battles in that they will both be against Israel and both of them will have a miraculous ending, in that God will intervene and end the battle very swiftly. 

            When this battle is over, by having fire come down from heaven to end it, the Devil will then be put into hell where the antichrist and false prophet have already been for those 1000 years and will be tormented for eternity.

            As stated earlier in another SD, some people think all of this is spiritualized and is not literal, and they do not believe in a literal 1000 year reign of Messiah on this earth, but there are too many things written in the OT concerning Israel having a King from the line of David to rule from Jerusalem over all of the earth.  The Church is not mentioned in the OT, and Christ established the Church, but that does not mean that the promises to Israel were taken away from them and given to the Church, for all one has to do is look at Paul’s writings in Romans 9-11 in order to see that Israel still has a future, and that future includes Jesus Christ, their Messiah to set upon David’s throne and rule, and these verses in Revelation 20 are speaking of His rule.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  What do all of these things mean to me today as I live my life here in the 21^st century?  For one thing I know that Satan will meet his demise and will end up in hell, which is the place that was made for him and also for his angels.  I also know that if man can live in a perfect environment it will make little difference, because it is a heart problem that all men are born with.  I guess the thing that I can take out of this today is that God’s promises will all come about for God cannot lie, for it is not in His character to do so.  I can hold onto all of God’s promises, and even though I do not know the time table for all of His promises to be fulfilled, I know that some day all of them will be. 

 

The Word of God was both refreshing and challenging to my heart as I read and studied it this morning.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  I continue to trust the Lord through all of these trials that He is sending me through, that He will make me better and not bitter, and that He will bring glory to Himself, and good for me, and that I will have a closer walk with the Lord because of all of the trials that He is sending me through.