Book of Revelation Chapter 20

The Thousand Year Reign
20:1 Then I saw an angel descending from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the abyss and a huge chain. 20:2 He seized the dragon – the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan – and tied him up for a thousand years.

Dragons are not real animals. They are fictional. Therefore it is clear here that John is being told a story in visual format that he can understand. The gist of the story so far is that God controls Satan, and he is bound for a time. As I’ve stated before, the 1000 years was the Jews way of saying ‘an indeterminate period of time’. A thousand was a very large number to them back then. Simply put, God bound up Satan so that he couldn’t deceive anyone for a while.

20:3 The angel then threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it so that he could not deceive the nations until the one thousand years were finished. (After these things he must be released for a brief period of time.)

The abyss is where Satan is held for some period of time. When the time is up, he will be released for what purpose?

20:4 Then I saw thrones and seated on them were those who had been given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. These had not worshiped the beast or his image and had refused to receive his mark on their forehead or hand. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 20:5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were finished.) This is the first resurrection.

The first resurrection is for those who were beheaded for following Christ during this tribulation period.

20:6 Blessed and holy is the one who takes part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.

Satan’s Final Defeat
20:7 Now when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be released from his prison 20:8 and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to bring them together for the battle. They are as numerous as the grains of sand in the sea. 20:9 They went up on the broad plain of the earth and encircled the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and devoured them completely. 20:10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are too, and they will be tormented there day and night forever and ever.

As with the 1000 year period and with the use of the word ‘dragon’, we know that there is symbolism here, but which parts and what do they mean? Fire coming down from heaven is an exaggeration for effect. Just like in the bible where it says that if you pray for a mountain to be thrown into the sea, you and God can make it happen. The point of the mountain prayer is to tell you that all things are possible with God, not literally that mountains can or will be thrown into the sea just because you pray for it. Fire from heaven is meant to tell you that God is in charge and the victory is his. Notice also the beast and the false prophet are already in the lake of fire. The beast was not an animal, it was a system of government. Also noteworthy is that the lake of fire, is called the second death, but no where does it say that humans and spirits cease to exist. In fact, quite the opposite, it says it’s a place for eternal punishment. It does NOT say that Satan cannot operate as he did before, and no where here does it say that his demons went with him into the lake of fire.

Demons were once angels. They were deceived into following another god, in this case Satan. Could it be that because they are not mentioned, that they do not share in the lake of fire? If not, can they still carry out Satan’s orders? What I do know is that before heaven and earth changes, evil spirits are positioned just above earth and after the restructuring, they are positioned within the earth, where I assume the abyss and the lake of fire are. The realm of demons seems to be in a layer outside the abyss yet still within the earth.

So, back on the main subject, Satan’s final defeat was brought about after he arranged a war and encircled the great city. What war was the first point in history when this could have happened after Revelation was written? The war of AD 70.

The Great White Throne
20:11 Then I saw a large white throne and the one who was seated on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. 20:12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne.

At no time in Revelation does it mention a rapture of all believers, while non-believers stay at home. Even here, this only speaks of people who are already dead.

Then books were opened, and another book was opened – the book of life. So the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds. 20:13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each one was judged according to his deeds. 20:14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death – the lake of fire. 20:15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, that person was thrown into the lake of fire.

I grew up thinking that the lake of fire was the final end of the spirit. However, that’s not what it says. The second death is eternal punishment. Here it has been thrown away. But it’s not the end. The lake of fire is a place or a destination. It does not say that death and Hades no longer exist, it says they exist IN the lake of fire. The restructuring of the heavens caused this rearrangement.

Book of Revelation Chapter 8

Up to now, with all that has gone on, we still haven’t even opened the document of wrath! The seals have allowed Satan to run a muck on earth creating wars, causing famines, diseases and death. Now the final seal will be removed and the document will be opened. But before all of that, silence in heaven. The fear of the coming pronouncements must have been great.

The Seventh Seal
8:1 Now when the Lamb opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 8:2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 8:3 Another angel holding a golden censer came and was stationed at the altar. A large amount of incense was given to him to offer up, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar that is before the throne. 8:4 The smoke coming from the incense, along with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. 8:5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth, and there were crashes of thunder, roaring, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

This is a good spot to show you that what happens in heaven, isn’t exactly what gets played out on earth. Here the angel threw fire from the alter on the earth. That was done in the spiritual realm. How it played out on earth was the sound of a great thunder, lightning and an earthquake. John is watching them in heaven create conditions upon the earth.

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This series of articles is a summary of events that come from Josephus writings. His writings were translated into today’s English by Penguin Classics and is a fascinating read. It’s nearly all military in focus, so if you’re a fan of history and war in general, you’ll like this book.

Josephus begins by discussing Antiochus Epiphanes who lived some 200 years before the war of AD 70. It is during this time that the a cycle of treatment would begin towards the Jews. It was a cycle of racism and abuse projected at the Jews where ever they lived and by whomever the reigning people were at the time. There were ongoing cycles of wars and battles (Mat 24:6)  being fought as many different peoples and races would take over control of the areas that the Jews lived in. As one group would take over, Jews would debate among themselves if they were going to be loyal followers or angry protesters of the new leadership. These debates turned into arguments. These arguments among Jews produced factions bent on overthrowing whomever was reigning over them at the time. As more and more factions emerged, each faction would throw their allegiance to whomever they believed deserved to be treated as King over them. With multiple factions of Jews living in multiple cities, throwing their support towards any hostile group that suited them at the time, arguments gave way to fights which turned into armed conflicts in and among the Jewish towns. (Matt 24:12) Each family was commonly divided into supporters of gangs and those that sought peace. Generations of Jews grew up in this environment. Factions eventually turned into mobs and mobs and gangs turned into small armies. These factions grew thirsty for power and as they grew in size, they began to steal and kill fellow Jews to support their causes. (Matt 24:12) They needed supplies to arm their gangs and they stopped at nothing to get it.

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With the rest of the territory conquered and most of its cities burned to the ground, nearly all the citizens of Jewish territories, both peace loving and gang member, made their way to Jerusalem over time. Eventually the city would be filled with average citizens, and remnants of defeated mobs, gangs and small armies of warrior Jews that the Romans had run out of the countryside. When the Zealots removed the high priests, they became the only authority left within Jerusalem, and their interests were only focused on self gain and remaining in power.

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Through one of the rival gangs taking refuge in one of the last cities not conquered by Romans or Zealots, rose to power a man named Simon. He’s described as a young hothead, lacking in craftiness but making up for it with anger, physical presence and a thirst for war. Simon’s gang would grow into an army made up of bandits, slaves and respectable citizens who considered him king. They raided all the villages they could find and those around the countryside began to fear him based on simply rumor alone. They would establish their own walled fortress and they made preparations to attack Jerusalem and the Zealots.

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Another faction from the Zealots would divide them from the other Zealots. This group would be led by Priest Eleazer who grew angry at the outrages of John and was jealous of having him as a leader. Eleazer (Matt 24:15) would eventually gain control of the Inner Court (who had earlier murdered a Roman Garrison of guards on the Sabbath) which was at an elevated position over John, who had greater numbers, but was positioned outside the Inner Court’s gates and at a military disadvantage by being at a lower elevation. He however was positioned on a higher elevation than Simon who could move about the city more freely. So while Simon launched attacks on John, John fought both Simon below and Eleazor above. John, having more numbers and weapons that Eleazor assaulted the Inner Court continuously with his big weapons and used his smaller weapons and higher position to fend off Simon.

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This part of the series is rated PG 13. Be warned.

By the end of this war, 1.1 million Jews will die. While that’s a very large number, you may be comparing it to the 6 million Jews that died in the Holocaust of WW2. The Jews from WW2 were killed in a variety of different countries. In this war, the count of the dead come from 1 city, Jerusalem. The population on a average day in AD 70 was only about 80-100,000. The population explosion was caused by the yearly seven day Feast of the Unleavened Bread which is the Jewish celebration of the exodus from Egypt. Most Jews traveled to Jerusalem for this event. Israel itself is no bigger than the state of California and with the city centrally located, it made for an easy trip. The other reason for the population explosion is because of the wars that went on around the country. Towns were being demolished by either the Romans or the bandits, so over time, there was literally no safe place to be except for the walled city of Jerusalem. So when the war on the city began, the population had swelled to include 90+% of all Jews in the entire nation.

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