The Lake of Fire is the Second Death
20: 14-15

The Lake of Fire is the second death DIG: What is sh’ol? What happens to it? How is sh’ol different than the lake of fire? Why are people thrown into the lake of fire? How long will they be there? How can anyone escape the lake of fire? What does Jesus call it?

REFLECT: How can you or your loved ones avoid the second death and the lake of fire? If someone deliberately keeps on sinning after they have received the knowledge of the truth, what is left for them?

The evidence is indisputable, the verdict given and justice will finally be carried out. Just as there is a second and higher life in heaven for the faithful, there is also a second and deeper death in the lake of fire for the wicked. Because of that higher life in heaven, there is no more death; accordingly, after the deeper death in the lake of fire, there will be no more life. So the lake of fire not only represents the punishment of the enemies of righteousness but also their full and final defeat.⁴⁶⁸

Then death itself and sh’ol with all the wicked dead will be thrown into the lake of fire (20:14a) where the antichrist, the false prophet (19:20) and Satan (20:10) were already in agony. The word sh’ol is used eleven times and is to be distinguished from the word Gehenna, which refers to the final hell, or the lake of fire. Gehenna is the New Covenant word for the Valley of Ben Hinnom located southwest of Jerusalem. (also called Topeth, see the commentary on Jeremiah, to see link click Cf – They Will Bury the Dead in Topheth). In the TaNaKh, idolatrous Israelites burned their children in the fire there as sacrifices to false gods (Jeremiah 19:2-6). In Jesus’ day, it was the site of Jerusalem’s garbage dump. The fires kept burning day and night, giving off foul-smelling smoke. Sometimes bodies of criminals were dumped there to burn in the flames. Thus, the Valley of Ben Hinnom was a fitting picture of eternal hell (Matthew 5:22, 29-30, 10:28; 18:9, 23:15 and 33; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5).⁴⁶⁹ Yeshua called it the outer darkness (Matthew 8:12; 22:13; 25:30 KJV), and is symbolic of something much worse than the burning fire of Gehenna. It is the eternal, absolute separation from God, for death apart from Christ means separation.⁴⁷⁰

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for Your great love and justice. Praise You that you see the heart and no one can fool You by saying they love You when they really love themselves the most (Matthew 7: 21-23). May You guide the hearts of my families and friends who know about You, to decide to move beyond head knowledge, and to love and follow Younow, before the Tribulation begins. Please continue to work in the hearts of any of our family and friends who have been left behind and are still here in the Tribulation. May you do whatever it takes to turn them to You – even if it costs them their lives. For death, for followers of Yeshua, will be a promotion to eternal peace and joy in heaven.  For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). You are worthy of all our love! In holy Yeshua’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Throughout the pages of the TaNaKh, both the righteous and the unrighteous were said to go to a place called sh’ol in Hebrew and Hades in Greek. While the Levitical sacrifices covered their sins it did not remove their sins (Hebrews 10:4). Only the death of Messiah could do that. So while the sacrificial system was sufficient to temporarily cover their sins, it was not able to get them into heaven. So all who died, both the righteous and the unrighteous, went to a place known as sh’ol. It had two compartments (Luke 16:19-31), one was a place of torment for the wicked and the other, known as Abraham’s side, was a place of comfort, also called paradise (23:43). But it was not heaven. The two sides could communicate with each other, but they were separated by an immense gulf that made it impossible to cross over to the other side. When the righteous of the TaNaKh died, their bodies went into the ground, but their souls would go to Abraham’s side or paradise. On the other hand, when unbelievers died, their bodies went in the ground, but their souls would be tormented on the unrighteous side of sh’ol.

When Jesus died, He not only paid the price for all future sins, but He also paid the price for all past sins (Romans 3:25; Hebrews 9:15). Therefore, the sins of the righteous of the TaNaKh were removed. While the body of Yeshua remained in the tomb, His soul went down to sh’ol, announcing that He had redeemed, or bought back, the souls of all the righteous of the TaNaKh. Then, when Messiah arose from the dead, the righteous of the TaNaKh were removed from paradise and brought to heaven (Ephesians 4:8-10). Consequently, the righteous side of sh’ol is no long occupied.

Sh’ol is temporary, but the lake of fire will be permanent. I was once the foreman of a jury that sent a twenty-nine-year-old man to prison for rape. He was sentenced to thirty years, with five counts of special circumstances, adding five years for each count. Instead of serving fifty-five years he will probably serve half that time if he behaves himself. But the incarceration in the lake of fire is eternal, and eternal is a long, long time.

The lake of fire is the second death (20:14b). This will be the end of the first death – physical death. This is the good news for believers, but horrible news for the lost. When they are raised from the dead they will want to die physically, but they will have new resurrected bodies that cannot be destroyed in the lake of fire. As a result, their suffering will be eternal. When the earth is destroyed, people will be in one of two places: the New Jerusalem, or the lake of fire.⁴⁷¹

Death will be finally removed from the scene for believers. No longer will it be said: In Adam all die (First Corinthians 15:22). Death is personified because it is man’s greatest enemy. In the TaNaKh we read: I will ransom them from the power of the grave. I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction (Hosea 13:14). And in the B’rit Chadashah, Rabbi Sha’ul writes: The last enemy to be destroyed is death . . . Where, O death, is your victory? Where , O death, is your sting (First Corinthians 15:26 and 55). In both instances, God the Holy Spirit emphasizes through the human writers, that Jesus has overcome the grave and because He has overcome the grave, we, through Him, can also conquer death.

Today, when unbelievers die, their bodies are buried in the ground and their soul goes to hell. However, when believers die, their bodies are also buried in the ground, but their souls immediately go to heaven to be with the Lord (Second Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23).

When the first resurrection occurs, the bodies of believers will be resurrected and reunited with their souls. This will happen at the Rapture for the New Covenant saints, and after the Second Coming (see Ey – The Seventy-Five Day Interval), for the righteous of the TaNaKh and the Tribulation Martyrs. When the second resurrection occurs, the bodies of the unbelievers will be resurrected and reunited with their souls from hades.⁴⁷²

If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he or she was thrown into the lake of fire (20:15). Because the lost will have their names blotted out of the book of life (Psalm 69:28; Exodus 32:30-32), an awful blank spot will be left in the book where their name should have been. Then they will be worthy of judgment and thrown into the lake of fire. But everyone whose name is found written in the book of life – will be delivered (Dani’el 12:1). Jesus said it this way: He who overcomes will be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before My Father and His angels (3:5).

There is only one way to avoid the terrifying reality of sh’ol. Those who confess their sins and ask God to forgive them on the basis of Messiah’s substitutionary death on their behalf will be delivered from His eternal wrath (Romans 5:9; First Thessalonians 1:10, 5:9). For those who refuse to repent, however, the grave warning expressed by the writer to the Hebrews will apply: If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the Torah died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the New Covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Holy Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said: It is mine to avenge, I will repay, and again, “ADONAI, will judge His people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:26-31).⁴⁷³

The Great White Throne Judgment
20: 11-12

The great white throne judgment DIG: Who is the Judge who will sit on the great white throne? By what standard will those who stand before it be judged? Why is the earth destroyed? Is there such a thing as degrees of punishment for unbelievers? What special group will be judged at that time? What- is the difference between the book of life, the Lamb’s book of life, and the other books that were opened?

REFLECT: How has the father of lies tempted you recently? Did you recognize the attack? What will you do differently next time? Why is the great white throne judgment something believers can look forward to? How does it make you feel to know that you will share in the judging the world (3:21, 20:4)?

This section describes the final sentencing of the lost and is the most serious, sobering and tragic passage in the entire Bible. It will be the last courtroom scene that will ever take place. After this there will never be a trial again, and the Lord will never need to act as Judge. The accused will not be allowed to quibble over their guilt or innocence. There will be a Prosecutor, but no defender; an Accuser, but no advocate. There will be an indictment, but no defense mounted by the accused; the convicting evidence will be presented with no cross-examination. There will be an utterly unsympathetic Judge and no jury. There will be no appeal of the sentence once it is pronounced. The guilty will be punished eternally with no possibility of parole in a prison from which there is no escape. Banished for eternity, they will be without God, without love, without hope.

The famous words, “Abandon hope, all you who enter here,” appeared above the gates of hell in Dante’s fanciful epic poem Inferno. According to Dante, those who pass beneath that sign will have no hope of ever getting out. Though the details of his fictional picture of heaven, hell and purgatory range from the fantastic to the blasphemous, he was right about this: at the end of the day, the wicked of this world will get a one-way ticket to hell. All hope vanishes and there will be no escape the lake of fire forever and ever. And forever is a long time. This will be true for those at the great white throne judgment. They rejected the blessed hope (Titus 2:13); therefore, they will be without hope.

But ever since the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden, Satan, the father of lies (John 8:44), has attempted to deceive people about the reality of this inevitable judgment. He has done his best to convince the lost that there will be no final hearing. The great dragon has deceived sinners into believing that they can live as they please without fear of ultimate accountability or future punishment. Long ago the tempter said to Eve: You will not surely die (Genesis 3:4), thus revealing his lie that sin would go unpunished. The primary means the devil uses in his deception are atheism, especially the godless theory of evolution, and false religion. Atheism’s denial of God’s existence implies there is no moral Judge to whom we are held accountable after we die. This can give the false impression that we are free to sin up a storm and then simply pass out of existence with no consequences. The gods of false religions are not holy. They are appeased by ritual and ceremony; therefore, they inspire no fear of accountability in their worshipers.⁴⁵⁷

For unbelievers, this may be one of the most frightening prospects regarding the future. Those who are separated from God by their decision to reject Yeshua will nonetheless be judged. For those in Messiah, however, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). In fact, for believers, the great white throne judgment will be something to look forward to, for it will vindicate their lives. Evil will be punished and faithfulness will be rewarded.458

But in stark contrast to these holy ones, unbelievers will stand spiritually naked before the Judge of the earth with only their putrid works as their defense. Mankind has always wanted to be judged according to their works – this will be their opportunity. Separated from Messiah at death, they will have no way of being united with Him again at the great white throne. They had made their choice long ago. The Lord’s only recourse will be to send them away from His presence, saying: Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his fallen angels (Matthew 25:41).

Jesus Christ will sit on a great white throne (20:11a). Although He shares the throne with God the Father (3:21), it is through Yeshua alone that ADONAI renders the final judgment.⁴⁵⁹ Nearly fifty times in the book of Revelation there is the mention of the throne. It is great not only because of its great size, but also because of its importance, magnificence and authority. It is white because of its points to purity, holiness, righteousness and justice. Every verdict handed down from this great white throne by the Lord will be completely righteous and just (Psalm 9:7-8) because that is His nature. He cannot act otherwise. Even more inspiring than the throne itself, was Him who sat on it (20:11b). All judgment has been given to Jesus Christ. The Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son (John 5:22). Then several verses later John added: For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to judge because He is the Son of Man (John 5:26-27). Other biblical writers identify Christ as the Judge also (Acts 10:42, 17:31; Romans 2:16; Second Timothy 4:1). Therefore, it is the second person of the Trinity, Yeshua Messiah, who will sit in final judgment of unbelievers.

It may come as a surprise to hear that believers will share in the judging. In Matthew 19:28 and Luke 22:28-30 Jesus suggests that the Jewish disciples will judge the twelve tribes of Israel. In addition, we are told that believers will sit on thrones and judge the earth (First Corinthians 6:2-3 and Revelation 3:21, 20:4). While we are not told the exact details, Messiah will apparently permit believers to share in this work.⁴⁶⁰

After describing the vision of Jesus on His throne, John realized that the earth and sky fled from His presence. This will be nothing less than the uncreation of the universe. The earth will have been reconfigured by the devastating judgments of the Great Tribulation and then restored during the Messianic Kingdom. Yet, it will still be stained with sin and subject to the effects of the Fall (see my commentary on Genesis, to see link click Ba – The Woman Saw the Fruit of the Tree and Ate It). It shared the results of man’s sin (Romans 8:19-22), and thus it will be subject to God’s judgment.⁴⁶¹ Nothing tainted by sin will be allowed to exist in the Eternal State. Peter wrote: Live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed it’s coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness (2 Pet 3:11-13).

The present earth and sky will not merely be shifted or reshaped, because John saw that there was no place for them (20:11c). They will be totally uncreated . Just as they came from nothing by the Word of God (Genesis 1:3-26), they will be sucked into black nothingness by the same Word of God. The day of the Lord will come suddenly and unexpectedly, just like a thief. The heavens will disappear by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare, totally consumed (Second Peter 3:10). It didn’t take eons of evolution to create the universe, and it won’t take eons to uncreate it. The uncreation of the universe will be like its creation, by the spoken Word of God.⁴⁶² That will leave everything ready for the judgment itself.

The prisoners before the bar of justice will all be physically dead, since no one could survive the destruction of the present universe. The last living unbelievers will die when God crushes Satan’s rebellion at the end of the thousand-year millennium (20:8-9). The last living Gentile believers who came to Christ during the Millennium will be translated and transformed into their resurrection bodies, like Enoch (Genesis 5:24), Elijah (Second Kings 2:11), and the raptured Church (First Thessalonians 4:13-18).⁴⁶³

The resurrected dead, however, are pictured standing before the throne of divine judgment. These are not merely the dead from Satan’s last rebellion at the end of the Millennium, but will include all the unbelievers who ever lived (see Fn – The Second Resurrection). To emphasize the broad scope of the judgment, John notes that the grand mass of unbelievers before Messiah will include both the small and the great. There will be a terrible fellowship . . . the dead, small and great, will stand before the Lord. Little men and paltry women whose lives were filled with pettiness, selfishness, and nasty little sins will be there. The small, whose lives amounted to nothing will be there, whose very sins were drab and plain, mean, spiteful, irritable, groveling, vulgar, common and cheap. The great will also be there, men who sinned with a high hand, with dash, courage and flair. Men like Alexander the Great, Osama bin Laden, Adolph Hitler, Chairman Mao and Joseph Stalin will be present, men who went in for wickedness on a grand scale with the world as their stage and who died unrepentant. They will all be arraigned and on their way to be damned; a horrible fellowship gathered together for the first and last time.⁴⁶⁴ What a scene!

Before they are sent to the lake of fire; however, they will experience God’s love. As they stand before the great white throne and He who sits on it, they will be in the presence of God’s love. Jesus is God and God is love. If they had never experienced His love on earth, they will experience it before Him. The last pleasant feeling they will have before spending eternity in the burning, choking, putrid second death, will be His love. The contrast will be devastating. I cannot fathom the hopelessness and the sorrow. No wonder the Bible tells us that there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mt 8:12, 13:42, 13:50, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30; Lk 13:28).

A book was opened, which is the book of life (20:12b). This book contains the names of every person who was ever born: Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be (Ps 139:16). Believer’s names are retained in the book of life: He who overcomes will be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life (Rev 3:5). However, the lost will have their names blotted out of the book of life. King David said: May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous (Ps 69:28). Many years before, Moses had pleaded with ADONAI to blot him out of His book rather than withhold forgiveness from the Israelites who had sinned (Ex 32:30-32).⁴⁶⁵ Because the names of the lost will be blotted out, they will be worthy of this judgment.

Books were opened (20:12a) . . . and the dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in those books (20:12c). They will contain the thoughts, words, and deeds of each unbelieving soul. The evidence written on the life of every soul will be the basis of the degrees of punishment in hell.⁴⁶⁶ The purpose of the great white throne judgment will not be to determine if a person is saved or lost, because that will be settled forever (one way or the other) at death. The purpose at the great white throne will be to determine the degree of punishment. There is a principle in the Bible that teaches degrees of punishment in hell are based upon degrees of sinfulness in this world. Jesus talked about things being more tolerable for some than for others in the day of judgment (Matthew 11:20-24; Luke 12:47; John 19:11). On the basis of what is written in these books that the degrees of punishment will be determined. So even those who are not of the family of God will be treated fairly.

When the Bible says the books are opened and the dead are judged, Seventh Day Adventist’s believe that the dead are closely investigated. From this belief they have invented a doctrine called Investigative Judgment. This blasphemous doctrine states that Jesus can forgive sin, but Satan cannot blot out sin. They teach that only Satan can blot out sin and therefore the ultimate power of salvation lies with Satan and not Christ!

One special group that will be judged at that time will be the demons who tried to ruin God’s plan of salvation by creating a race of demon possessed humans that could not be saved before the Flood (see my commentary on Genesis Ca – The Sons of God Married the Daughters of Men). Those demons were so dangerous that ADONAI had to create a special prison for them called Tartarus (First Peter 3:19-20; Jude 6), beneath sh’ol. The word translated hell in Second Peter 2:4 is the Greek word Tartarus. For if God did not spare the fallen angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, or Tartarus, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment. They were so dangerous that they were not released with Satan and the other demons at the end of the Millennium (20:7-10). Their judgment will come when the books are finally opened (20:12) after the last rebellion is crushed.

Finally, another book mentioned in the Bible is the Lamb’s book of life. This book only contains the names of those who are born again. Interestingly, their names were written into this book before the earth was ever created (13:8; 17:8b). Because of the nine things that the LORD does for us at the moment of faith (see my commentary on The Life of Christ Bw – What God Does For Us at the Moment of Faith), it is impossible for believers to be blotted out of the Lamb’s book of life. God’s children do not appear at the great white throne judgment, and nothing further is said concerning them until after the New Jerusalem descends from heaven to the new earth.⁴⁶⁷

The Second Resurrection
20: 13

The second resurrection DIG: What is the difference between the first and second resurrection? What will happen between them? How many years will that be? Who is the first fruits of the second resurrection? Where has he been? Who was with him? What is the destination of the resurrected dead? Why?

REFLECT: If the Lord came back right now, do you know anyone who would miss the first resurrection and be destined for the second resurrection? Are you praying for them? Are you living your life as a believer and a witness to them, earning the right to speak to them about such a great salvation (Hebrews 2:3) when their life falls apart without the Lord and Savior Yeshua Messiah?

After the first resurrection of the righteous (to see link click Ff – Blessed and Holy are Those Who Have Part in the First Resurrection) there will be a second resurrection of the wicked. Jesus Himself said: A time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear [My] voice and come out – those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have evil will rise to be condemned (John 5:28-29). The accused, all the lost who have ever lived, will be resurrected to experience a trial like none other. It is also called the resurrection to shame and everlasting contempt (Dani’el 12:2), and the resurrection of the wicked (Acts 24:15).

Dear Holy Heavenly Father – Mighty Ruler of the universe, We bow before You. Life now takes up so much of our time and energy; but there is another more important eternal life that we need to focus on. Everyone enjoys the thought of a real heaven, but there is also a real hell and who we love while we are on earth determines where we will go. There are no second chances at heaven or hell. One life – one chance. Important to get it right! And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this judgment (Hebrews 9:27). We love You, Yeshua, and look forward to living with You in heaven praising Your great name forever! In the holy name of Yeshua, and the power of His resurrection. Amen

These two resurrections will be separated by one thousand years. Just as the first resurrection will occur in stages (see Ff – Blessed and Holy are Those Who Have Part in the First Resurrection), so the second resurrection will be in stages. The firstfruits of the second resurrection will be the antichrist, who will be killed at the Campaign of Armageddon and then resurrected, only to be thrown in the lake of fire (see Fa – The Beast was Captured, and with Him the False Prophet). The false prophet will follow him there. The two will live in agony for a thousand years until the second resurrection of all other unbelievers. At that time the dead bodies of all the unbelievers who ever lived will be resurrected. Then Jesus Christ will then judge them on the basis of their works.⁴⁵³

The sea gave up the dead that were in it (20:13a). In the Bible, the sea is a biblical metaphor for death, destruction and turmoil. Isaiah tells us that the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud (Isaiah 57:20; also see Ezeki’el 28:8), that will release its dead for judgment. And death and sh’ol gave up the dead that were in them. Earlier we saw that Yeshua alone has the authority, or the keys, over death and sh’ol (1:18). Joined at the hip, these two had also appeared together riding a pale horse (6:8). As inseparable companions, sh’ol was the gravedigger, burying the remains of death’s victims during the Great Tribulation. Seen here, they will release the dead for the final judgment in heaven before the Lord.

Hades, translated as hell, is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word sh’ol. Both terms describe the realm of the dead, where the lost and the righteous are separated by a great chasm, awaiting judgment (Luke 16:19-26). Since the resurrection and the righteous of the TaNaKh were taken to heaven by Messiah (Psalm 68:18; Ephesians 4:7-10), only the wicked remained. In this incredible scene, sh’ol is emptied of its wicked spirits, who are reunited with resurrection bodies. Then they will be sentenced to the lake of fire where punishment, unlike sh’ol, will last forever.⁴⁵⁴ And each person will be judged according to what he or she had done in their life prior to death (20:13b). There will be no need for sh’ol, where the wicked are held for judgment. Its usefulness will have been served because their judgment will be at hand.⁴⁵⁵ So death and s’h’ol will be thrown into the lake of fire (20:14).

When each person is judged according to their works, they must measure up to the perfect righteousness of Messiah. Since unbelievers have rejected God’s grace and His offer of forgiveness and salvation through personal faith in Jesus Christ, and have chosen instead to offer their own works in payment of salvation, God will indeed grant them their wish. However, they won’t like the results because no one has attained the LORD’s high, perfect standard, except ADONAI Himself. Therefore, the unsaved will be judged according to their works. The peculiar construction of the closing clause in this verse literally reads, they were judged every man, and uses a third person plural for the verb judged, but the masculine first person singular for the term each person. Therefore, while they will be judged as a group, the resulting judgment, nevertheless, is individual.⁴⁵⁶

Satan Will Be Released from His Prison
and Will Go Out to Deceive the Nations
20: 7-10

Satan will be released from his prison and will go out and deceive the nations DIG: Why do you think Satan will try again to deceive the nations? Why will God release him from the Abyss? How does the battle here relate to the battle in Ezekiel 38-39? What is the final fate of the beast and the false prophet?

REFLECT: What comforts you in this section? What disturbs you? Why? What is your biggest spiritual battle today? What is the outcome so far? What is the hope in this passage for you?

During the incredible Messianic Kingdom, any crime or overt wickedness will be stopped before it gets started. Although ample time will be given for the lost to repent, if they have not accepted the Messiah by the time they are one hundred years old they will die (see the commentary on Isaiah, to see link click Kq – The Word and the Lamb Will Feed Together, and the Lion Will Eat Straw Like the Ox). In addition, they will be exposed to the gospel and the King Himself. They will probably be able to see Him personally if they wish, and talk to the gloried believers who will be serving as priests over them. They will be diligently taught about the necessity of a substitutionary sacrifice for their salvation and each nation will send representatives yearly to Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Sukkot (Zechariah 14:16-19).

Yet with all those privileges, with every possible incentive to believe in Christ, there will be millions upon millions who will reject Him. In a way, this should not surprise us, since even the perfect conditions of the garden of Eden were not sufficient to keep sinless Adam and Eve from rebelling against God.⁴⁴⁵ All the Gentile nations who will enter the Millennium will not be saved. Nevertheless their descendants, for the most part, will at first avoid overt acts of sin and rebellion. But their self-control will be out of fear and not out of love.

These unbelievers will be born and raised in an ideal environment. All they will ever know is peace, prosperity and righteousness. But eventually, stories told to them by their parents, grandparents, and the believer priests will sound more and more fanciful as the centuries go by. At some point, those ancient tales of a sinful lifestyle will begin to seem freeing, glamorous and even exciting. Many people, especially the teenagers, will begin to inwardly resent the loving constraints under which they must live. Eventually, they might even become angry that they will be unable to sin. Although Satan will be bound and there will be no external temptations to doubt God or disobey His will, their sin nature will still be yearning to reveal itself. With the lost, the issue of salvation is never lack of information (Romans 1:18-20), it is always the love of sin (John 3:19) And make no doubt about it, their hearts will still be deceitful above all things and beyond cure (Jeremiah 17:9). Thus, without personally suffering the consequences of their sin, and with every material need provided, it may be even more difficult for them to see the need for a Savior than it had been for their descendants before them.

Dear Holy and Great Heavenly Father, What joy and peace there is in loving You for You are so wonderful! How important it is to take time from all the demands of life on earth – to make time to love and worship You. This world will soon be over and the wisest choice is to love You and live completely for You. For only one life will soon be past, only what’s done for Messiah will last!

Praise you for being so awesome and perfect that there is no way that You could ever be any better. You are perfectly wonderful! It is such a joy to spend time to meditate on Your characteristics (Psalms 63:6-7): holy (Leviticus 11:45), loving (Psalms 63:6,103:17, First John 4:16), compassionate (Psalms 103:13), kindness (Romans 2:4, Titus 3:4),righteousness (Psalms 103:13), greatness (Psalms 104:1), powerful (Psalms 29:4,66:3; Matthew 24:30, 26:64; Luke 1:37), infinite understanding (Psalms 147:5), lives in our hearts by His Sprit (Romans 5:5, Galatians 4:6; FirstJohn 4:8-15), never leaves His child (Hebrews 13:5) and has  a home of perfect peace and great joy in heaven (Revelation 21:4) that Yeshua is preparing (John 14:1-3) for all who love and follow Him as Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9-10). We love You and desire to follow You in all we say, do and think.  In the holy name of Your Son and His power of resurrection. Amen

When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison in the Abyss (20:7). His legions of demons will be released from Babylon (Isaiah 13:20-22) and Edom (Isaiah 34:9-15) where they were held captive for a thousand years. Thus, all the millennial generations will be confronted with a clear-cut choice about their sin nature. This will be mankind’s greatest test. In the former times, people had used external problems, such as poverty, pornography, war, intellectual pressures, and sickness as excuses for rejecting Christ. But during the Millennial Kingdom, sin will be suppressed for a thousand years. Believer priests will rule and reign with the Messiah to make sure sinful acts do not take place. As a result, there will be no more excuses. It will be proved once more that mankind’s sinful human nature, apart from the grace of God and a new birth (John 3:5-7), remains at heart only evil and hostile toward ADONAI.⁴⁴⁶

Once released, Satan will pick up right where he left off. Millions and millions will rally to his cause.⁴⁴⁷ He has always been the great deceiver and even a thousand years in the Abyss will not change his character or his goals. Once again he will set out to destroy Yeshua Messiah using his proven age-old strategy. He will go out to deceive the Gentile nations in the four corners of the earth (20:8a). This time, however, his chances are even greater than before because the human population will have reached its highest number in history. As a result of a thousand years of longevity and a perfect environment, mankind will finally fill the earth (Genesis 1:28). The population will be virtually innumerable.

Even the Adversary himself may be astonished by his success. He will find the same old human nature, but even more ripe for the picking. For example, some nations will begin to neglect their duty to go to Jerusalem for Sukkot. As his demons go out to do his bidding, he will be pleasantly surprised with the quick response. The believer priests will resist, but not even they will be able to stem the tide of evil of those who will be eager for a chance to escape their bondage of righteousness. The age-old deceptions will again accomplish their deadly mission and gullible masses will soon return to the evolutionary faith of their forefathers, rejecting the obvious fact that God is their Creator and Savior. They will prefer instead to believe that mankind is deity and worthy of worship.⁴⁴⁸

Needing human leadership for his worldwide takeover, the devil will find fertile soil in which to sow his seeds of rebellion. Chief among them will be Gog and Magog, the ancient enemy of ADONAI. Russia will gather millions together for battle against the LORD and His holy city Jerusalem (20:8b). Babylon, of course, will have been completely destroyed during the Campaign of Armageddon (18:1-24). But Russia will become strong once more and will be ready to take the lead again in opposing God. It seems that after several generations, the younger unregenerate Russians will become obsessed over the history of the destruction of their forefathers in the mountains of Isra’el (see  Bn – I Will Bring You from the Far North and Send You Against the Mountains of Isra’el). They will especially resent the Jews, because it was in their country that Gog’s empire had been destroyed and because the Israelites will be the center of Gentile attention during the Messianic Kingdom. Therefore, those unregenerate Russians will be ripe for rebellion.

Because of the reappearance of Gog and Magog here, many see this as being the same battle that took place in Ezeki’el 38 and 39 (see Bh – The Northern Alliance and the Invasion of Isra’el). They are similar in that they both involve Satan’s work of deception and both end up being an invasion of Isra’el. But that is where the similarity ends because they are both separated by at least a thousand years. In Ezeki’el the armies attacking Isra’el come from several specifically named countries around Isra’el; in Revelation, they come from countries all over the world. In Ezeki’el they are destroyed by a great earthquake, various diseases, torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur; in Revelation they are destroyed by fire out of heaven. In Ezeki’el the destruction is followed by seven years of burying the weapons of the invaders and seven months of burying their bodies; in Revelation, the destruction is followed by the great white throne judgment, the second death, death and Hades will all be thrown into the lake of fire, the earth will be renovated. Then the New Jerusalem will come down out of heaven and the Eternal State will begin.

The ancient serpent’s worldwide army will march across the breadth of the earth to attack Jerusalem. The Bible does not say how long the rebellion will occur after Satan is released. But it seems that the devil’s deceptions found a quick and ready acceptance in rebellious hearts and minds throughout the world. It will be an easy sell. Since no weapons will be allowed during the millennium (Micah 4:3), we don’t know if their weapons will be primitive or sophisticated, but we do know that they will be potent enough to compel them to action. In amazing numbers, they will swarm from every direction to surround the camp of God’s people, the City that He loves (20:9a). Energized by the great Adversary, the tempter, they will foolishly prepare for one last great assault on the Messiah and His children. But ADONAI, the God of Isra’el, has promised to protect their camp and deliver their enemies to them once again (Deuteronomy 23:14).

Like the Campaign of Armageddon a thousand years earlier, this “battle” will in reality be an execution. Fire will come down from heaven like Sodom and Gomorrah and devour them (20:9b).⁴⁴⁹ After ages of grace, patience and mercy, God’s long suffering will come to an end. With mankind so quick to rebel against Him after providing every material blessing and even the personal presence of Christ Himself, there will be nothing more that Ha’Shem will be able to do.

Here, then, is the answer for the ages. It ends the false theory that mankind, under a perfect environment will willingly serve ADONAI who created him and paid for his sins.⁴⁵⁰ After a thousand years of utopia, the first opportunity they get to rebel, they turn to the wicked one and rebel against God. How many will there be? The Bible tells us that in number they are like the sand of the seashore (20:8c) – a figure of speech used in the Bible to describe a vast, uncountable number (Genesis 22:17; Joshua 11:4; Judges 7:12; First Samuel 13:5; First Kings 4:20; and Hebrews 11:12). It will prove that our environment, or our circumstances, is not to blame for the wickedness in our hearts. It is our sin nature that drives us to rebellion. Without faith/trust/belief in the Lord Jesus Christ there is no hope for mankind.

And the devil, who deceived them, will be thrown into the lake of fire, where the beast (see my commentary on Isaiah Do – All Your Pomp Has Been Brought Down to the Grave) and the false prophet had been thrown. This lake of fire is synonymous with Gehenna, which Jesus referred to as the eternal home of the wicked. Hell was planned not for men but for the devil; but those who follow him must share his destiny. Ultimately, death and hell will be thrown into the lake of fire (20:14, 14:10), where Satan will be tormented day and night forever and ever (20:10). It will be the final destination of the forces of evil that have plagued mankind since the garden of Eden.

Those who refuse to believe in hell must remember that Yeshua believed in hell, for He will say: Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his fallen angels (Matthew 25:41). Fire is a very weak symbol of the reality of what it means to be lost, to be separated from God for all eternity. You cannot reduce these descriptions to something less than the reality, because the symbol is always a poor representative of the real thing. Nor can you dissolve this into thin air and make believe it doesn’t exist. The reality far exceeds the description, and human language does its best to describe the dreadful reality of it. It is a place of both mental (Dani’el 12:2; Matthew 8:12, 13:42, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30; Luke 13:28) and physical torment (Revelation 14:10-11; Matthew 25:41; Mark 9:43-44, 48; Luke 16:23-24). The lake of fire is a real place of constant suffering.⁴⁵¹

With this final revolt thwarted, the Messianic Kingdom will come to an end, and there will be a transfer of authority: Then the end will come, when Jesus hands over the Messianic Kingdom to God the Father after the Lord has destroyed all Satanic authority and power. For Christ must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For He “has put everything under His feet” (as seen in Psalm 8:6). Now when everything has been subjected to the Son, then He will subject Himself to God the Father, who subjected everything to Him; so that ADONAI may be everything in everyone (First Corinthians 15:28 CJB).

If Revelation were written like a spy thriller, Satan would play the despicable and crafty villain who is planning to dominate the entire world by going out to deceive the nations. While he thinks he has arranged a decisive confrontation between his followers and “the good guys,” it is only because someone else is writing the script. It will be the LORD who lets him out of prison in the first place. According to the way Revelation describes him, Satan is truly powerless; he is no more than a “fall guy” who has been set up to bring about God’s ultimate victory. What a script!

As with Jesus in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11), we need to recognize that Satan is permitted to tempt us from time to time. If He was tempted, we know that we are going to be tempted also. We don’t really have to understand the reasons why. Our task is simply to resist the devil, and watch him flee from us (James 4:7)! We don’t have to fear the devil’s tactics, because Yeshua will not allow us to be tempted beyond our power to resist (First Corinthians 10:13). We must remember that He has given us that power; with His grace, and the wonderful gift of our free will, we can say no to sin, and yes to God.

If you are failing in certain areas, ask yourself whether it is because you are relying on yourself too much. Perhaps you need to spend more time in prayer, but wind up on the computer instead. Perhaps you try to get along better with someone, but if they push your buttons you end up losing your temper. Have you tried calling on Jesus for help? He has already defeated Satan and His strength is all you need! I know this sounds simplistic, but it’s true nonetheless. He has promised never to leave or forsake you, and He’s always ready to meet your need. If you choose God, you can join those who are more than conquerors in Him (Romans 8:37).⁴⁵²

When the Thousand Years Are Over
20: 7-15

The Second Coming will also usher in the great final judgment. History will not simply run its course unrestricted, but under the guidance of God, will come to a consummation. His purposes will be fulfilled in the end. Jesus said: For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father’s Sh’khinah glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what he or she has done (Matthew 16:27). Christ will be the Judge. Yeshua pictured Himself as sitting on a glorious throne and judging all the Gentile nations (Matthew 25:31-33). And it appears the believers will share in the judging. In Matthew 19:28 and Luke 22:28-30, Jesus suggests that the twelve disciples will judge the twelve tribes of Isra’el. We are told that believers will sit on thrones and judge the world (First Corinthians 6:2-3; Revelation 3:21 and 20:4).

Dear Wise and Powerful Ruler of the Universe, Heavenly Father of all who have chosen to love and worship You, We bow in worship of You. Life right now seems so important, but it will all be over in the twinkling of an eye. While we have the opportunity, let us serve You now with a heart full of love.  Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last shofar. For the shofar will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruptibility, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible will have put on incorruptibility and this mortal will have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting” (First Corinthians 15:51-55)? How wonderful You are! We long to live with You in heaven, praising Your great name for all eternity! In the holy name of Yeshua and the power of His resurrection. Amen.

All humans will be judged (Mt 25:32; 2 Cor 5:10; Heb 9:27). Rabbi Sha’ul warns that all will all stand before God (to see link click Cc – For We Must All Appear Before the Judgment Bema of Christ). Every secret will be revealed; all that has ever occurred will be evaluated. Some have questioned whether the sins of believers will be included – that it would seem to be unnecessary inasmuch as believers have been justified. But the statements concerning the review of sins are universal. The Bible leads us to believe that the sins of believers will be revealed, though they will, of course, be revealed as pardoned sins. Therefore, in view of the certainty of the Second Coming and the finality of the judgment that will ensue, it is crucial that we follow God and seek His will in our lives.

In addition, the fallen angels will be judged at this time. Peter writes that God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment (Second Peter 2:4). Jude 6 makes an almost identical statement. The holy angels, on the other hand, will participate in the judgment by gathering together all who are to be judged (see my commentary on The Life of Christ Fa – The Parable of the Weeds Explained).

Those who appear will be judged in terms of their earthly lives. Jesus said that at the resurrection all will come out – those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned (John 5:29). While one might infer from Matthew 25:31-46 that it is the doing of good deeds that makes the difference, Yeshua indicated that some who claim and who even appear to have done good deeds will be told to depart from Him (Matthew 7:21-23).

The standard on which the evaluation will be made is the acceptance or rejection of the Messiah Himself and His Word. Jesus said: The one who rejects Me and does not accept My words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day (John 12:48). Even those who have not explicitly heard the Torah will be judged: All who have sinned outside the framework of the Torah will die outside the framework of the Torah; and all who have sinned within the framework of the Torah will be judged by the Torah (Rom 2:12).

Once passed, the judgment will be permanent and irrevocable. The righteous and the ungodly will be sent away to their respective final places. There is no hint that the verdict can be changed. In concluding His teaching about the judgment, Jesus said that those on His left hand will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life (Matthew 25:46).⁴⁴³

Therefore, there are four climatic events in this section. First, Satan returns to deceive the Gentile nations one last time (20:7-10). Secondly, after they are defeated, they will face the Great White Throne Judgment (20:11-12). Thirdly, then there will be the Second Resurrection (20:13), fourthly, the condemned will face the Second Death (20:14-15). These nine verses introduce the judgment at the end of human history and the beginning of the Eternal State (see Fq – The Eternal State).⁴⁴⁴

Gentiles in the Messianic Kingdom
Isaiah 11: 10

So there is no misunderstanding, this is not the Church or the Tribulation martyrs. These are the sheep Gentiles and their descendants (to see link click Fc – The Sheep and the Goats). They will have natural bodies. Christ and believers will have to restrain their sin nature by ruling them with a rod of iron (2:27). When we get to the end of the thousand-years, the Gentiles who will have rejected Messiah will be as numerous as the sand on the seashore (20:8), and will rebel against God one final time after Satan is released (see Fm – Satan Will Be Released from His Prison and Will God Out to Deceive the Nations).

The sheep Gentiles who survive the judgment of the Gentiles at the end of the Great Tribulation (Matthew 25:31-34), are the ones who will enter and populate the Gentile nations in the Millennium. Because of their faith and help to the Jewish people, they will be able to participate in the blessings of the Messianic Kingdom.⁴⁴¹ However, they, and the children born to them will inherit a sin nature from their parents and will need to accept Yeshua as the Messiah to be saved. They will have a hundred years to become believers or they will die (see the commentary on Isaiah Fk – Gentiles in the Messianic Kingdom). Thus, there will be death in the Messianic Kingdom. But if they do accept Yeshua their Messiah, they will receive glorified bodies, and live throughout the Kingdom and never die. So death will be greatly reduced in the Millennial Kingdom because it will be for unbelieving Gentiles only.

Jesus Christ will be the center of Gentile attraction: In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the Gentile nations will rally to Him and His place of rest will be glorious (Isaiah 11:10). The LORD will have compassion on Jacob; once again He will choose Isra’el and will settle them in their own Land. Aliens will join them and unite with the house of Jacob. Gentile nations will take them and bring them to their own place. And the house of Isra’el will possess the Gentile nations as menservants and maidservants in ADONAI’s Land. They will make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors (Isaiah 14:1-2).

So while on the one hand the Gentile nations will be subject to Yeshua Messiah; on the other hand they will also receive His justice (Isaiah 42:1). At that time, in a special way, He will become the light to the Gentiles (Isaiah 49:5-7). Those who are rightly related to the King will be able to worship at His Temple where the Sh’khinah glory will be seen by all (Isaiah 56:1-8). However, the bodies and the suffering souls of the unfaithful will be visible throughout the Kingdom. Thus, for a thousand years God’s grace to the faithful and His judgment to the lost will be clearly seen (Isaiah 66:18-24).

Of the various feasts, celebrations and festival offerings of the Millennium mentioned by Ezeki’el, there is one, Sukkot, which will be obligatory for all the Gentile nations. They will all send a delegation to Jerusalem once a year to worship the King during this feast. It could be that they pay their tribute to the King at that time (Isaiah 60:11). If they fail to obey, rain will be withheld from them for that year (Zechariah 14:16-19).

On that day HOLY TO ADONAI will be inscribed on the bells of the horses (Zech 14:20-21). This is the same name that was inscribed on the gold plate on the turban of the high priest (see my commentary on Exodus Gc – Make a Plate and Engrave On It: Holy to the LORD). The word holy in Hebrew, or godesh, means to be set apart, distinct or uncommon. At that time everything on the earth will be so set apart, or HOLY TO THE LORD.

Not only that, but the cooking pots in ADONAI’s house will be as holy as the sacred bowls in the front of the Altar of Incense (see my commentary on Exodus Fp – The Altar of Incense in the Sanctuary: Christ, Our Advocate with the Father). Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be set apart to the Lord of the Sabbath, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. When that day comes, there will no longer be merchants in the house of ADONAI (Zech 14:21 CJB) as there was in the days of the bazaar of the sons of Annas (see my commentary on The Life of Christ Bs – Jesus’ First Cleansing of the Temple).

The last specific area the Bible deals with, as far the Gentiles in the Millennial Kingdom is concerned, is the Arab states. The most important charge against them was their hatred of Isra’el. This hatred that characterized the descendants of Esau and Ishmael can be traced back as early as Numbers 20:14-21, all the way through the prophets until today. Psalm 83:1-8 summarizes their hateful attitude pretty well.

The place of the Arab states will be determined by history of anti-Semitism and how closely they are related to Isra’el by blood. Peace will come between Isra’el and the various Arab states during the Millennial Kingdom, but it will come in one of three forms: conversion, occupation or destruction.

Peace will come between Isra’el and Lebanon by means of occupation (Ezeki’el 47:13 to 48:29). Lebanon was always part of the Promised Land, but it was the part that Isra’el never possessed. However, during the Kingdom, there will not be a country called Lebanon because it will be part of Millennial Isra’el.

As for Mo’ab, or present-day central Jordan, it, too, will suffer destruction, but it will not be total (see my commentary on Jeremiah Dl – The Punishment and Restoration of Mo’ab). Those who survive will repent and a faithful remnant will live during the Kingdom (see my commentary on Isaiah Dw – The Hope of Mo’ab’s Salvation). So peace will come between Mo’ab and Isra’el by means of a partial destruction that will lead to a national regeneration of Mo’ab. There will be a saved nation called Mo’ab during the Millennial Kingdom.

Ammon, or modern northern Jordan, will also suffer partial destruction and become a possession of Isra’el. But their destruction will not be total. A believing remnant will survive and believe that Jesus is the Messiah (see my commentary on Jeremiah Dm – A Message About Ammon). Consequently, peace will come between Isra’el and northern Jordan by the means of a partial destruction, followed by their conversion. There will be a saved nation in the Kingdom called Ammon.

To summarize, peace will come between Isra’el and the three parts of modern Jordan by means of destruction, but not all to the same degree. Edom, in southern Jordan, will suffer complete destruction by the people of Isra’el (Ezeki’el 25:12-14), and there will be no nation called Edom in the Millennial Kingdom (see my commentary on Isaiah Gi – Edom’s Streams Will Be Turned into Pitch). Founded by the descendants of Jacob’s twin brother Esau, it is especially condemned for their hatred of Isra’el (Jeremiah 49:7-13; Ezeki’el 35:1-9; Obadiah 5-21). Edom’s sin against Isra’el is the greatest because she betrayed her family. Both Mo’ab, or central modern Jordan, and Ammon, or northern modern Jordan, will suffer partial destruction but a believing remnant will survive in both countries. There will be a nation of Mo’ab and a nation of Ammon in the Millennial Kingdom. Both of these nations are descendants of Lot, the nephew of Abraham, and therefore, are distantly related by blood.

Peace will come between Isra’el and Egypt initially by means of destruction. Because of Egypt’s ancient hatred of Isra’el, they will initially suffer the same fate as Edom and be desolate for the first forty years of the Millennial Kingdom (Ezeki’el 29:8-16). But after that, they will be regathered and a national regeneration of Egypt will take place. So peace will eventually come between Isra’el and Egypt by means of conversion (see my commentary on Isaiah Ef – The LORD Will Make Himself Known to the Egyptians).

Ancient Assyria today encompasses northern Iraq, another ruthless enemy of Isra’el. But peace will come between Iraq and Isra’el by means of conversion (see my commentary on Isaiah Eg – Blessed Be Egypt, Assyria and Isra’el). There will be economic, religious and political unity because they will all worship the same God.

Like Edom, Babylon will become a desolate spot during the entire Millennial Kingdom (see my commentary on Isaiah Dk – Babylon, the Jewel of Kingdoms, will be Overthrown). While Egypt’s desolation will be limited to forty years, because of Babylon’s unique violence against Isra’el, her desolation will last for a thousand years. Throughout the Millennial Kingdom, while the entire earth is beautiful and fruitful, Edom and Babylon will be places of continual burning. Smoke will rise and be visible for the entire thousand-year period. While Satan will be confined to the Abyss, his demons will be imprisoned in Edom and Babylon during the entire Millennial Kingdom period.⁴⁴²

My Chosen People Will Inherit My Mountains
Isaiah 65: 9

My chosen people will inherit My mountains DIG: What four covenants that are the basis of Isra’el’s final restoration? What geographical and topographical changes will take place in the Land during the Messianic Kingdom? How will the priesthood and sacrifices change? What twelve tribes will be given land?

REFLECT: Since the LORD is faithful in His promises to Isra’el, what does that say about His promises to you? What aspects of the Kingdom described here do you see yourself participating in? Why? How?

Once a Jew is resurrected, whether the righteous of the TaNaKh before the cross or a New Covenant believer after the cross, and the Messianic Kingdom begins, he or she will be the center of Gentile attention (Isaiah 14:1-2). The nation of Isra’el will continue to be God’s chosen people (Isaiah 65:9), and the apple of His eye (Deuteronomy 32:10). This is a major theme and high point in the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures (see my commentary on Isaiah, to see link click Je – The Restoration of the Wife of the LORD). To spiritualize or allegorize away such a vast amount of the Bible is to confuse the whole discipline of interpretation. There is no reason to spiritualize any of these prophecies any more than there is reason to spiritualize the prophecies concerning the First Coming of Christ, such as the virgin birth, His birth in Bethlehem, His death or His physical resurrection.⁴³⁸

Dear Holy and wise Heavenly Father, You are so wonderful! Before You will rule during the Messianic Kingdom, You were willing to take on human form. May we also have this same attitude, being willing to love You so much that we will live for You in all we do and think. Have this attitude in yourselves, which also was in Messiah Yeshua, Who, though existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal to God a thing to be grasped. But He emptied Himself – taking on the form of a slave, becoming the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man. He humbled Himself – becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason, God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Yeshua every knee should bow, in heaven and on the earth and under the earth, and every tongue profess that Yeshua the Messiah is Lord – to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:5-11). You are Awesome! In the holy name of Yeshua and the power of His resurrection. Amen.

Due to the considerable amount of revelation on Isra’el in the Messianic Kingdom, this section will be divided into eight paragraphs: (1) The four facets of Isra’el’s final restoration, (2) other characteristics of Isra’el’s final restoration, (3) the Millennial Mountain of the Lord’s House, (4) the Millennial Temple, (5) the messianic Priesthood and system of sacrifice, (6) the Millennial River, (7) Millennial Isra’el and (8) Millennial Jerusalem.

(1) There are four components of Isra’el’s final restoration, and each is based on a specific covenant. Each covenant is developed more extensively later in the Scriptures. First, is the regeneration of Isra’el, which is based on the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34). The fact that Isra’el was to undergo a national regeneration is not confined to the words of the New Covenant alone. There are many other scriptures to support it (Isaiah 29:22-24, 30:18-22, 44:1-5, 45:17; Jeremiah 50:19-20; Ezeki’el 11:19-20, 36:25-27; Hosea 1:10-11, 14:4-8; Joel 2:28-32; Micah 7:18-20; Zephaniah 3:9-13 and Romans 11:25-27).

The second component is the regathering of Isra’el, which is based on the Land Covenant (Deuteronomy 29:1 to 30:20). The regathering of Isra’el, following the regeneration, is another high point of prophetic revelation to be found in many of the prophets (Isaiah 11:10 to 12:6, 27:12-13, 43:5-7; Jeremiah 16:14-15, 23:3-8, 31:7-10; Ezeki’el 11:14-18, 36:24; Amos 9:14-15; Zephaniah 3:18-20; Zechariah 10:8-12 and Matthew 24:31).

The third component is the possession of the Land, which is based on the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-3). At the time that the Covenant was first made, Abram was merely told to go to a Land that ADONAI would show him. When he arrived in the Land, God again revealed Himself to Abram (Genesis 12:7), and promised the Land to him and his descendants forever (Genesis 13:14-17). Later, the exact boundaries were given (Genesis 15:12-21). This covenant was reconfirmed through Isaac (Genesis 26:2-5), and Jacob (Genesis 28:13-15). The possession and productivity of the Land was developed further by both Torah and the prophets (Leviticus 26:40-45; Deuteronomy 30:5; Isaiah 27:12-13, 30:23-26, 35:1-2, 65:21-24; Jeremiah 31:1-6 and 11-14; Ezeki’el 20:42-44, 28:25-26, 34:25-31, 36:8-15, and 28-38; Joel 2:18-27; Amos 9:13). So for the first time in Isra’el’s history, she will possess all of the Promised Land while the Land itself will greatly increase in its productivity and be well watered, all on the basis of the Abrahamic Covenant.

The fourth component is the reestablishment of the throne of king David, which is based on the Davidic Covenant (Second Samuel 7:11b-16; First Chronicles 17:10b-14). The Messiah holds three offices: prophet, priest and king. However, He does not function in all these offices simultaneously. Rather, the functioning of these three offices is to be carried out in a chronological sequence. During His first ministry on earth at His First Coming, Yeshua functioned in the office of a prophet. But this ceased at the time of His death. Since His death and resurrection, and until He returns, He is functioning in the office of a priest. This ministry will cease at the Second Coming. Jesus has never yet functioned in the office of a king. For Him to do so, there must be the reestablishment of the throne of David upon which He will sit to rule as King over Isra’el and King of the world (Psalm 89:3-4, 29, 34-37; Jeremiah 33:17-26; Amos 9:11-12 and Luke 1:32-33). This ministry will begin at the Second Coming. Therefore, the promises that God made to Isra’el have not been rendered null and void. Isra’el is yet to enjoy all the promises of the four unfulfilled unconditional covenants, each of which points respectively to the four components of Isra’el’s final restoration.⁴³⁹

(2) There are also other characteristics of Isra’el’s final restoration. There are three other points that deal with Isra’el’s final restoration that are not connected with any specific covenant. First, one of the major characteristics of the final restoration will be that Isra’el will be reunited as a nation, never to be divided into separate kingdoms again (Jeremiah 3:18; Ezeki’el 37:15-23). Secondly, she will become the center of Gentile attention (Isaiah 14:1-2, 49:22-23, 61:4-9; Micah 7:14-17; Zephaniah 3:20; Zechariah 8:23). At the time of the restoration, the Jews will no longer be treated with contempt. Instead, they will be treated with reverential respect, for they will be known as the ministers of God. Thirdly, she will be characterized by righteousness, holiness, peace, security, joy and gladness (Isaiah 32:16-20, 35:5-10, 55:12-13 and 61:10-11).

(3) The Millennial Mountain of ADONAI’s House. At the time of the Second Coming, Isra’el will experience some incredible geographical and topographical changes. One of the most striking changes will be the rise of a very high mountain that will become the highest mountain in the world. On top of this mountain will stand the millennial Jerusalem and Temple. There are several passages that describe this Millennial Mountain of the Temple, of ADONAI’s House (Isaiah 2:2-4). Later, Isaiah tells us that this high mountain will become the center of Jewish (Isaiah 27:13) and Gentile (Isaiah 56:6-8) worship. In fact, the Gentiles will bring the people of Isra’el there (Isaiah 66:20; Ezeki’el 17:22-24; Micah 4:1-2). Later, Ezeki’el prophesies how the holy mountain will be the center of Jewish worship in the Millennial Kingdom (Ezeki’el 20:40-41). And only in the closing chapters of his scroll does Ezeki’el fill us in on the details of what the Millennial Temple will be like (Ezeki’el 40:1-4, 45:1-8 and 48:8-20).

(4) The Millennial Temple. The LORD spoke through the prophet Ezeki’el when He said: I will make a covenant of peace with the nation of Isra’el; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put My sanctuary among them forever (see my commentary on Exodus Fi – The Sanctuary in the Tabernacle). My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be My people. Then the nations of the world will know that I, ADONAI make Isra’el holy, when My sanctuary, or the Millennial Temple, is among them forever (Ezeki’el 37:26-28). Ezeki’el goes into much more detail about the Millennial Temple later in his scroll (Ezeki’el 40:5 to 43:27). It will be the center of Jewish and Gentile worship during the Millennium (to see a video of Ezeki’el’s Temple click here).

(5) The Messianic Priesthood and system of sacrifice. Ezeki’el 44:1 to 46:24 describes the various regulations concerning the millennial priesthood and its system of sacrifice. As there are similarities with the commandments of the Torah, there are also some obvious differences. Therefore, the millennial system of priesthood and sacrifice cannot be seen as merely a reestablishment of the Torah, which permanently ended with the death of Christ. During the Millennial Kingdom a brand new system will be established. It will contain some old commands and some new commands, and be instituted for an entirely different purpose (see my commentary on Isaiah Db – The Nine Missing Articles in the Messiah’s Coming Temple).

(6) The Millennial River. There will be a millennial river flowing from the millennial Temple (Joel 3:18; Ezeki’el 47:1-2). It will flow east from the Temple until it passes the eastern gate, then it will head south toward Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:8). There it will divide into two branches. The western branch will flow down the mountain and empty into the Mediterranean Sea (see my commentary on Isaiah – Ge Your Eyes Will See the King in His Beauty). The eastern branch will flow to the Dead Sea, which will change it dramatically, being teamed with life (Ezeki’el 47:8-10).

(7) Millennial Isra’el. For the first time in Isra’el’s history, the Jews will possess and settle in all of the Promised Land, or millennial Isra’el. It will be divided among the twelve tribes, but they will be divided differently than those described in the book of Joshua. The northern boundary will extend from the Mediterranean Sea, incorporating much of modern-day Lebanon and parts of modern Syria over to the Euphrates River. The eastern border will move south from the Euphrates River, including the Golan Heights and portions of Syria almost up to Damascus, and continue south to the Jordan River where it will extend to the Sea of Galilee. The border will then run along the Brook of Egypt, the modern Wadie-el-Arish, to the point where it reaches the Mediterranean Sea, that will serve as the western border. The tribes will run from north to south in the following order: Dan, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, Reuben. The mountain of ADONAI’s House will serve as a dividing line between the seven northern and five southern tribes. Then the five remaining southern tribes are described running from north to south in the following order: Benjamin, Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun and Gad.

(8) Millennial Jerusalem. While Ezeki’el closes the final section of his book with a short description of millennial Jerusalem, other inspired writers of the Hebrew Scriptures give us more detail. The Psalter tells us that the LORD will establish His beautiful City, where Zion will be glad and rejoice (Psalm 48:1-14). The City of God (Psalm 87:1-7) will be known for its strength and peace as a result of the reestablishment of the throne of David (Psalm 122:1-9, 147:2-20; Isaiah 66:10-14). It will be characterized by holiness, justice and righteousness (Isaiah 1:26-27, 33:20-24, 52:1-2; Jeremiah 31:38-40; Joel 3:17), because the Messiah will reign there (Isaiah 52:7-10; Micah 4:6-8; Zephaniah 3:14-17). Jerusalem will become the center of worldwide attention for the sheep Gentiles and their descendants (Isaiah 60:10-14; Jeremiah 3:17; Zechariah 8:20-22). The Gentile nations, who in the past afflicted the City of Jerusalem, will, at that time, bow in submission to its authority (Isaiah 62:1-12). Peace and joy will return to Jerusalem (Jeremiah 33:9-11), because ADONAI Himself has chosen to rebuild her and dwell there (Zechariah 1:14-17, 2:1-12, 8:1-8). At that time the City of Peace will finally live up to its name. The golden age of Jerusalem is yet to come (Zechariah 14:20-21).⁴⁴⁰

The Government of the Messianic Kingdom
Isaiah 9: 6-7

The government of the Messianic Kingdom DIG: How does Isaiah define the Messiah? What expectations would this arouse in you if you heard Isaiah pronounce it? What type of Son or Ruler would you expect to arise? How would this be different than in the past? How would it make you feel?

REFLECT: How does the New Covenant interpret what this prophecy means (see Matthew 4:12-17; Luke 1:32; John 8:12)? Of the titles given here, which fit Jesus as you know Him? How does He reign in your life?

For us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over His Kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD of heaven’s angelic armies will accomplish this (Isaiah 9:6-7). The Messianic Kingdom will be administrated through an absolute monarchy with a definite chain of command and lines of authority. The absolute monarch will be Jesus Christ. The delegated authority will be split into two branches: a Jewish branch of government and a Gentile branch of government, each, in turn, having a chain of command.

Dear Awesome God and Father, We humbly worship You. Someday soon You will rule over all the earth, both over all the Gentile nations and over Isra’el. You are all powerful and all wise! How wonderful that when You rule, the government will be honest and totally just and fair. We have the opportunity to love and serve You with a heart of love right now. Please give us the words to say to our neighbors, friends and family to tell them about You. It will be wonderful to rule with You, but it will be terrible for those who end up in hell. Please open the hearts of those we speak to about You, sending others to water the seed we planted.  Paul planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow. Now he who plants and he who waters work as one, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. (First Corinthians 3:6-8). We love You and look forward to living with You forever, praising Your holy name through all eternity! In the holy name of Yeshua and the power of His resurrection. Amen.     

Isaiah 2:2-3 tells us: In the last days, the mountain of ADONAI’s Temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His paths. His rulings will go out from Zion, and the word of ADONAI from Jerusalem” (see my commentary on Isaiah, to see link click It – Look to the Rock from which You Were Cut, and to the Quarry form which You Were Hewn).

Jesus the Messiah will rule as King. That Yeshua Messiah will sit upon the throne of David (Jeremiah 23:5-6, 33:14-17) in Jerusalem (Psalm 24:7-10), and rule Isra’el and all the Gentile nations of the world (Isaiah 9:6-7; Zechariah 14:9) is clear from both the TaNaKh (Psalm 2:6-8) and the B’rit Chadashah (Luke 1:30-33).

Justice, holiness, and righteousness will characterize His reign so that the innocent will receive justice and the guilty will be condemned (Psalm 72:1-19). He will rule as a sovereign monarch with an iron scepter (2:27, 12:5, 19:15), and in the power of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:1-5). Consequently, Christ will be both King of Isra’el and King of the world. Under His absolute authority and monarchy there will be two branches of government established, a Gentile branch and a Jewish branch.⁴³⁶

There will be a Gentile branch of government (20:4-6). Both Gentile believers that were raptured before the Great Tribulation and the Tribulation martyrs who were the souls seen under the golden altar of incense in heaven (6:9-11), will rule with Messiah during the Millennium. The martyrs were beheaded either because they refused to worship the beast or his image, or they refused to take his mark on their forehead or on their right hand. Therefore, the Church and the Tribulation martyrs will co-reign with the messianic King over the Gentile nations (see Fk – Gentiles in the Messianic Kingdom). They will be Christ’s representatives and carry out His decrees to the unsaved nations. With Him, they will rule with an iron scepter.

Because the Jews are to be regathered in the land of Isra’el and possess it once again, all the Gentile believers will live in the Gentile nations where they will carry out their ministry of ruling with an iron scepter. They will visit Isra’el, visit Jerusalem and worship in the messianic Temple, but they will live and minister among the unsaved Gentile nations.

During the Messianic Kingdom, the different Gentile nations will have kings over them. All kings will bow down to Messiah and all the Gentile nations will serve Him (Psalm 72:11). These kings will have their natural bodies, while the believers ruling over them will have their resurrected bodies. While the kings will have dominion over the various nations, they themselves will be under the authority of the Church and the Tribulation martyrs. Accordingly, in the Gentile branch of government, the chain of command will be from Christ to the Church and Tribulation martyrs, to the kings of the Gentile nations, and finally, to the Gentile nations themselves.

There will be a Jewish branch of government. The absolute monarchy of the Messiah will extend to Isra’el as well as to the Gentile nations. But directly under Jesus, having authority over all Isra’el, will be the resurrected David, who will be given the dual titles of king and prince. He will be a king because He will rule over Isra’el (Jeremiah 30:9; Ezeki’el 34:23-24, 37:24-25; Hosea 3:5), and he will be a prince because he will be under the authority of Christ. The Gentile nations will have kings, and Isra’el will have a king. The difference is that the Gentile kings will have their natural bodies, while David will have his resurrected body.⁴³⁷

On two occasions, Yeshua promised that the twelve apostles would rule over the twelve tribes in the Messianic Kingdom (Mathew 19:28; Luke 22:28-30). We have no idea which apostle will rule over which tribe. The answer to that question will have to wait until the Millennial Kingdom comes.

In addition to king David and the twelve apostles, there will be others simply identified as princes. (see the commentary on Isaiah Fy – See, a King will Reign in Righteousness). These princes will be in positions of authority, and their character will be righteous (Ezeki’el 45:8). The resurrected Zerubbabel could very well be among those future princes (see the commentary on Ezra-Nehemiah Ak – Numbering the Exiles Who Returned Under Zerubbabel).

Judges and counselors will also be appointed in the Messianic Kingdom. ADONAI, says: I will restore your judges as in days of old, your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City (Isaiah 1:26). This position of authority will be particularly connected to the City of Jerusalem. These judges and counselors will be responsible for ruling justly. There will be no travesty of justice in the Millennial Kingdom.

The final link in the chain of command of the Jewish branch of the messianic government is that Isra’el will rule over the Gentiles. This was part of God’s promise to Isra’el, “For ADONAI your God will bless you, as He promised you – you will lend money to many nations without having to borrow, and you will rule over many nations without their ruling over you” (Deuteronomy 15:6 CJB). Ruling over the Gentiles will be part of Isra’el’s reward for obedience. Moses said: If you listen closely to what the LORD your God says, observing and obeying all his commands which I am giving you today, ADONAI your God will raise you high above all the nations on earth (Deuteronomy 28:1 CJB also see Deuteronomy 28:13 CJB). If Isra’el had been obedient at Yeshua’s First Coming, they would have been able to live in the Land in peace and achieve this goal. But since they were not, God postponed this promise until the Messianic Kingdom.

In addition to the statements found in the Torah, the prophets also describe Isra’el’s future ruling over the Gentile nations. For ADONAI will have compassion on Jacob – He will once again choose Isra’el and resettle them in their own land, where foreigners will join them, attaching themselves to the house of Jacob. Peoples will take and escort them to their homeland, and the house of Isra’el will possess them in the land of the LORD as male and female slaves. They will make their captors captive and rule over their oppressors (Isaiah 14:1-2 CJB also see Isaiah 49:22-23 and 61:6-7).

Therefore, the chain of command in the Jewish branch of the Messianic government will be from the Messiah, to King David, to the twelve apostles, to the princes, to the judges and counselors to the nation of Isra’el, who will rule over the Gentile nations.

The Dispensation of the Messianic Kingdom
Revelation 20:1-10

The seventh and last dispensation is called the Dispensation of the Messianic Kingdom, or Millennial Kingdom. The Messianic Kingdom is the most common Jewish name because it emphasizes who the ruler will be. The Millennial Kingdom is the most common Gentile name because it emphasizes that it will last one thousand years. The dispensation covers the period of Revelation 20:1-10. Although it is only ten verses long, it covers a span of a thousand years.

There are seven dispensations described in the Bible: (1) the Dispensation of Innocence or Freedom (Genesis 1:28 to 3:5); (2) the Dispensation of Conscience or Self-Determination (Genesis 3:6 to 8:14), (3) the Dispensation of Civil Government (Genesis 8:15 to 11:32), (4) the Dispensation of Promise or Patriarchal Rule (Genesis 12:1 to Exodus 18:27), (5) the Dispensation of the Torah (Exodus 19:1 to Acts 1:26), (6) the Dispensation of Grace (Acts 2:1 to Revelation 19:21), and (7) the Dispensation of the Messianic or Millennial Kingdom (Isaiah 4:2-6, 11:1 to 12:6, 54:11-17, 60:1-22; Revelation 20:1-10). This Kingdom is called many names in Scripture. In Matthew 19:28, Jesus calls it the renewal of all things. Acts 3:19 describes the Kingdom as times of refreshing, while Acts 3:21 calls it the time . . . to restore everything. Rabbi Sha’ul refers to it in Ephesians 1:10 as when the times will have reached their fulfillment.

The key person in this dispensation will be the Messiah because He will be dispensing direct new revelation (Isaiah 2:2-4). The Messianic Dispensation will be based upon this new revelation.

Mankind’s responsibility will be the same as that of the sixth dispensation and that is the responsibility to the New Covenant. Obedience to the New Covenant means to accept the gift of righteousness that God offers to everyone through faith in Jesus Christ. There will be a second aspect and that is obedience to the King and the new commands He will issue during that period. Certain aspects of the Torah will be reinstituted. So in the Dispensation of the Kingdom there will be something old and something new. The old is the responsibility to respond to the demands of the New Covenant, which means to exercise faith in Jesus Christ and His substitutionary death, burial and resurrection. The new is obedience to Jesus, who will be visible here on earth and obedience to the commands He will decree.

The test during that Dispensation will be for each one born into the Kingdom to personally receive and accept the King as his or her personal Lord, not in place of the gospel, but with the gospel. To accept the gospel means that one believes that Jesus died for their sins, and that He was buried and rose again (First Corinthians 15:3-7). Added to this will be the reality that Jesus is Lord of their lives.

But then comes the failure. At the end of the Millennium those as numerous as the sands of the seashore will rebel against Messiah the King. Satan will be released from the abyss long enough to deceive humanity once again. The nations will come together for one last rebellion against God’s authority and will attempt to invade Isra’el, even the holy city of Jerusalem, to make war against the King.

The judgment will be the destruction of all these invaders by fire out of heaven.

Grace will also be displayed in three ways during this dispensation. First, there will be the fulfillment of all prophecies in the TaNaKh. Every prophecy that has remained unfulfilled will find its fulfillment during the Messianic Kingdom. Secondly, it will be a period of prosperity for all so that every man will be able to sit under his own vine, or under his own fig tree. Thirdly, there will be immortality for the saved in that believers in the Kingdom will not die. Only unbelievers in the Kingdom will die (Isaiah 65:20).

This is the seventh dispensation and when it ends, history will move from the aspect of time to the aspect of eternity as it enters the Eternal Order.⁴³⁵

Dear Wonderful and Eternal Heavenly Father, You are so Awesome! What a joy to think of living with Youforever in Your home of eternal peace and joy in heaven. Please open the hearts of my family and friends to choose to follow You now – even in trials. Help them to see that the pains of life on earth will be over soon and are so minor compared with the great joys of eternity. May they focus on how long eternity is and live wisely, loving You now so they may go to live with You in heaven forever. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). You are a fantastic father! In Your holy Son’s name, and power of His resurrection. Amen.

Blessed Are Those who are Invited
to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb
19: 6-10

Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb DIG: Where does the wedding feast take place? Who is the bride? Who is the groom? What is different about the great prostitute (17:1-6a, 15 and 18), and the bride in 19:7-8 here? How is the testimony of Jesus the essence of prophecy?

REFLECT: When you think of this day, is it real to you? What do you think your relationship will be with the Lord at that time? Will it be different than it is now or will it be the same? Why? How does this affect how you live your life today?

In order to understand what will happen at that time, it is first necessary to understand the Jewish wedding system that was common in Jesus’ day and was still used among Jews until the beginning of the twentieth century. The Ultra-Orthodox Jews, and Jews who remain in some eastern nations, continue to use this system today.

The Jewish marriage system had four distinct stages, all of which are to be found in the relationship of the Church as the Bride of Christ. In the first stage, the father of the groom made the arrangement for the bride and paid the bride price. This first stage might happen when the children were very young, or at the very least, one year prior to the marriage. Thus, a long period of waiting could take place between the first and second stages. The minimum was one year. Often the bride and groom did not meet each other until the wedding day.

Eventually the second stage would come, and it was known as the fetching of the bride. In this stage, the groom would go to the home of the bride in order to fetch her and bring her to his home. This was often done in accompaniment with a wedding procession. However, the father of the groom determined when the fetching would occur. Furthermore, it had to wait until the groom had a place prepared for her.

Then came the third stage, which was the marriage ceremony, and only a few were invited. This was preceded by a ritual immersion for cleansing.

Finally came the fourth stage, the marriage feast, which would last for as long as seven days. Many others not invited to the ceremony were invited to the feast.

All four stages of the Jewish wedding system are to be found in the relationship between Christ and the Church. First, God the Father made the arrangement for the Bride, or the Church, and paid the bride price. In this case the bride price was the blood of the Messiah (Ephesians 5:25-27). While the first stage has already been concluded, the other three stages are still future.

The second stage will be the fetching of the Bride. Even as a long period of time could transpire between the first and second stages in the Jewish system, so it has been with the Church. About two thousand years has passed since the first stage was accomplished. Some day the second stage will take place and Yeshua will come in order to fetch His Bride to His home. This fetching of the Bride is referred to as the Rapture of the Church and is described in First Thessalonians 4:13-18. Therefore, the second stage will be completed some time before the beginning of the Great Tribulation. God the Father will determine the timing of the Rapture. For no one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father (Matthew 24:36). In addition, it will only come after Jesus has the place already prepared. In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. I will come back and take you to be with Me that you also may be where I am (John 14:2-3).

The third stage, or the marriage ceremony itself, will take place in heaven just before the Second Coming at the end of the Great Tribulation. The wedding announcement will be made: Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters (Ezekiel 1:24; 43:2) and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: Hallelujah! ADONAI, God of heaven’s angelic armies, has begun His reign (19:6 CJB). The Hebrew Scriptures had long prophesied about His future reign (Psalm 93:1, 97:1). Then the Bride will be prepared: Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the wedding [feast] of the Lamb has come, and His Bride has made herself ready (19:7).

This is the first time the true universal Church, or the Bride of Christ, is mentioned since the letter to the church at Philadelphia in 3:13.

The reason the Bride will be made fully ready for the marriage ceremony is because fine linen, bright and clean will be the bridle gown of the Church. It will be given her to wear because fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints (19:8). This teaches us two things. First, it shows that the process of sanctification, or being conformed into the likeness of Christ (Romans 8:29), will be completed; and secondly, it shows that the marriage ceremony will take place after the judgment seat of Christ (Second Corinthians 5:10). All the wood, hay and straw will be burned up, and only the gold, silver and costly stones of righteousness will remain (First Corinthians 3:10-15). This corresponds to the ritual cleansing of the Jewish wedding system.

After the wedding ceremony will come the fourth stage, the wedding feast. Again John was told by an angel to write. He said: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb because they will experience everlasting celebration (19:9a)! This is the fourth of seven blessings in the book of Revelation (1:3, 14:13, 16:15, 19:9, 20:6, 22:7, 22:14). According to the Bible, the righteous of the TaNaKh are not resurrected with the Church before the Great Tribulation, but after it is over (to see link click Fd – The Resurrection of the Righteous of the TaNaKh). John the Baptist, who was the last of the prophets during the Dispensation of the Torah, called himself a friend of the bridegroom, and did not consider himself to be a member of the Bride, or the Church (John 3:27-30). Thus, the many who will be invited to attend the marriage feast on the earth will be all of the righteous of the TaNaKh (Mattityahu 8:11) and the Tribulation martyrs resurrected after the Second Coming. While the wedding ceremony will take place in heaven just before the Second Coming, the wedding feast will take place on earth after the Second Coming. Therefore, the wedding feast will start the Messianic Kingdom (Matthew 22:1-14, 25:1-13). With it, all four stages will be complete.

While the distinction between Isra’el and the Church will be carried into the messianic Kingdom where there will be two separate branches of government (see Fi – The Government of the Messianic Kingdom), the wedding feast of the Lamb, however, will consist of both believing Jews and Gentiles from all the ages.

Just in case some may find these things difficult to swallow, the angel reassured John: These are the true words of God (19:9b). To the beleaguered and aged apostle in exile on the cruel, lonely island of Patmos, it must have seemed almost impossible that the Kingdom of God would eventually achieve victory. In his day, the believers were persecuted from without and attacked by heresies from within. The revelation that God’s words are true in the face of all experience, I am sure, brought great relief, comfort and joy to John and the same should be true of us.

And finally, is the declaration of the essence of prophecy, which is the testimony of Jesus. He is the essence of all prophecy, and all prophecy moves toward a fulfillment by Him and a view toward His glory. So overwhelming was that scene and so powerful were those words of reassurance, that John spontaneously fell prostate on his face at the feet of the angel to worship him. Instantly, the angel rebuked John, reminding him that he, too, was merely a fellow servant of Yeshua Messiah. God alone is to be worshiped. Not the most glorious angel or the most exalted believer. Only the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the one true God in three Persons, deserve our praise.

John was so amazed at the angel’s message that he instinctively fell down confused at his feet to worship him. However, this is strictly forbidden in the Bible (Colossians 2:18; Matthew 4:10). Calling him back to his senses, the angel said to him, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Yeshua.” The angel reminds John that he is to worship God only! Why? Because the testimony of Jesus is the essence of prophecy. All prophecy is fulfilled and glorified by Him alone (19:10). To this angel, the most amazing of all revelations was that the Creator of the universe had become the man Yeshua, to save His people from their sins.⁴³³

My friend, the King is coming! But He will not come until after the Church has been raptured and after the earth has undergone the Great Tribulation. Now when He comes, His Bride will be with Him and their wedding feast will be here on the earth. Oh, my friend, what a glorious day is ahead of us! If we could only get our eyes off the muck and mire of this world and onto that which is eternal.⁴³⁴

Dear Glorious Heavenly Father, Praise You for Your love and Your holiness. Praise Yeshua for preparing a home in heaven for those who have chosen to love and follow Him. “Do not let your heart be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me.  In My Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?  If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself, so that where I am you may also be (John 14:1-3). We love You and long to worship You throughout all eternity! In the name of Your holy Yeshua and the power of His resurrection. Amen.

Blessed and Holy are Those
Who Have Part in the First Resurrection
20: 5-6

Blessed and holy are those who have part in the First Resurrection DIG: What is the first resurrection? Who is involved in the first resurrection? What is the second death? How are they different? Who are the firstfruits of the first resurrection? What are its stages?

REFLECT: Does knowing about the first resurrection affect how you live today? What would be different without it?

The major result of Christ’s Second Coming, from our standpoint, is the resurrection, which also involves the perfecting of all the bodies of all believers. This is the basis for our hope in the face of death. Although death is inevitable, we anticipate being delivered from its power. The Bible clearly teaches resurrection of the believer and the TaNaKh gives us several direct statements (Psalm 49:15; Eze 37:12-14; Dan 12:2), the foremost being from Isaiah: But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You, who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead (Isaiah 26:19).

Because of progressive revelation, we must be careful not to read too much of the B’rit Chadashah revelation into the TaNaKh. But it is significant that Yeshua and the writers of the New Covenant maintained that the Hebrew Scriptures taught the resurrection. When the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection, questioned Jesus, He accused them of error due to their lack of knowledge of the Scriptures and the power of God, and then went on to argue for the resurrection on the basis of Exodus: Now about the dead rising – have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?” He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken (Mark 12:24-27).

The New Covenant, of course, teaches the resurrection much more clearly. I have already mentioned Jesus’ response to the Sadducees, which is recorded in all three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 22:29-32; Mark 12:24-27; Luke 20:34-38). And John reports several additional times when Jesus spoke of the resurrection. One of the clearest assertions is when He said: I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear it will live . . Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out – those who have done good will rise to live in the first resurrection, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned in the second resurrection (to see link click Fn – The Second Resurrection). Other occasions of the resurrection are found in John 6:39-40, 44, 54 and the description of the raising of Lazarus from the dead in John 11, especially in verses 24 and 25.

The New Covenant Epistles also give proof of the resurrection. Rabbi Sha’ul clearly believed and taught that there is to be a future bodily resurrection. The classic passage is First Corinthians 15, where he discusses the resurrection at great length, especially where he says: Listen, I tell you a mystery (something that was once hidden and now is revealed): We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will all be changed. Rabbi Sha’ul also clearly taught about the resurrection in First Thessalonians 4:13-16 and implied in Second Corinthians 5:1-10. And when Sha’ul appeared before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, he created a huge dispute between the Pharisees and the Sadducees by declaring: My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:6). He also made a similar declaration before Felix (Acts 24:21). John also affirms the doctrine of the resurrection in Revelation 20:4-6 and 13.

All the members of the Trinity are involved in the resurrection. Rabbi Sha’ul informs us that the Father will raise believers through the Spirit: And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Messiah from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you (Romans 8:11). There is a special connection between the resurrection of the Son and the first resurrection, a point emphasized by Sha’ul: But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Messiah has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith (First Corinthians 15:12-14). Therefore, the resurrection of Christ is the basis for the believer’s hope and confidence. Rabbi Sha’ul writes: [Since] we believe that Yeshua died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus all those who have fallen asleep in Him (First Thessalonians 4:14).

But just what will this resurrection body be like? There are certain problems if we see it as merely a physical resurrection. One is that it would presumably be subject to dying again like Lazarus. Yet Rabbi Sha’ul speaks of the new body as being imperishable, in contrast to the perishable body that is buried (1 Cor 15:42). A second problem is the contrast between the physical body that is sown and the spiritual body that is raised (1 Cor 15:44). There is a significant difference between the two, but we do not know the precise nature of that difference. Further, there are explicit statements that rule out the possibility that the resurrection body will be purely physical. Sha’ul says near the end of his discussion of the resurrection body: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable (First Corinthians 15:50). Yeshua’s sharp reply to the Sadducees: At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven (Matthew 22:30), seems to carry the same implication.

What we have, then, is something more than a post-death survival by the spirit or soul; however, this something more is not simply a physical resuscitation. The old body is used but it is also transformed in the process. Some sort of metamorphosis occurs, so that a new body arises. This new body has some connection or point of identity with the old body, but it ends up being different. Sha’ul speaks of it as a spiritual body (1 Cor 15:44), but does not elaborate. He uses the analogy of a seed and the plant that springs from it (1 Cor 15:37). What sprouts from the ground is not merely that which is planted; yet, it comes from the original seed. There is a continuity of identity, however, despite all the changes.

We can conclude, then, that there will be a bodily reality of some type in the resurrection. It will have some connection with, and derive from our original body, and yet it will not be merely a resuscitation of our original body. Rather, there will be a transformation or metamorphosis. An analogy would be the petrification of a log or a stump. While the shape of the original remained intact, the composition is totally different. We have difficulty in understanding this concept because we do not know the exact nature of the resurrection body. It does appear, however, that it will retain and, at the same time, glorify the human form. We will be free of the imperfections and needs that we have on earth.⁴³²

But getting back to the book of Revelation, John tells us that the rest of the dead, or all of the unrighteous who have rejected the Messiah since the beginning of time, will not come to life until the thousand years had ended at the second resurrection. But here, the resurrection of the Tribulation martyrs completes the first resurrection.

The first resurrection involves believers only. That is why the Holy Spirit says: Blessed and holy are those who have a part in the first resurrection because they will never suffer or die again. This is the fifth of seven blessings in the book of Revelation (1:3, 14:13, 16:15, 19:9, 20:6, 22:7, 22:14). The second death has no power over the Tribulation martyrs, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years (20:6). Moses had said: You will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6). During the Millennial Kingdom this promise will reach its fulfillment, not only for Jewish believers but for Gentile believers also (First Peter 2:5 and 9; Revelation 1:6, 5:10).

However, the resurrection is not a general one-time occurrence, but comes in stages in an orderly progression. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when He comes, those who belong to Him (First Corinthians 15:20-23).

Therefore, the first resurrection happens in five distinct stages. The first stage was the resurrection of Messiah (First Corinthians 15:23). The second stage is the resurrection of the believers at the Rapture during the Church Age (First Thessalonians 4:16). The third stage will be the resurrection of the two witnesses in the middle of the Great Tribulation. The fourth and fifth stages will be the resurrection of the righteous ones (see Fd – The Resurrection of the Righteous of the TaNaKh) and Tribulation martyrs during the seventy-five day interval. There will be no need for a resurrection during the Messianic Kingdom (see my commentary on Isaiah Kq – The Wolf and the Lamb Will Feed Together, and the Lion Will Eat Straw Like the Ox).

Dear Holy Heavenly Father, Holy wonderful You are! Praise You for not only forgiving our sins, but also putting them as far as the East is from the West (Psalms 103:12). Praise you also for making such a wonderful home in heaven (Revelation 21:4) for all who love and follow you as their Lord and Savior. For if you confess with your mouth that Yeshua is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart it is believed for righteousness, and with the mouth it is confessed for salvation. (Romans 10:9). We love You and look forward to praising Your name throughout all eternity! In your holy Yeshua’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen.

I Saw Those Who Had Been Beheaded
Because of Their Testimony for Jesus
20: 4

Not only will there be a resurrection of the righteous of the TaNaKh, but a resurrection of Tribulation martyrs will also occur during the seventy-five day interval (to see link click Ey – The Seventy-Five Day Interval). In this section, John sees two groups who will reign with Christ during the messianic Kingdom.

First, there will be thrones on which were seated believers (Dani’el 7:27; Matthew 19:28; First Corinthians 6:2) who had been given authority to judge (20:4a) from the Lord Himself at the judgment seat of Christ (Second Corinthians 5:10). When John saw them, they had already received their crowns to cast at the Lord’s feet (see Cc – For We Must All Appear Before the Judgment Seat of Christ). Resurrected at the rapture, they had received their rewards and were reigning with the Messiah in heaven.

The second group, however, were the Tribulation martyrs (see Cp – The Fifth Seal: I Saw Under the Altar Those Who Had Been Slain). We saw them earlier under the golden altar of incense in heaven (Hebrews 9:4). They had been beheaded because they refused to worship the antichrist or his image, nor were they willing to accept his mark. They will be resurrected at that time. And John saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years during the Messianic Kingdom (20:4b).

Dear Awesome Heavenly Father, How wonderful You are! You take what Satan means for evil and you use it for good. The martyrs who worshipped you will now be rewarded by reigning with You. What a pleasure and joy it is that You can always be trusted! Even when all looks bleak and evil appears to be winning, You have every detail all figured out and Yourname is already to be exalted for winning the final battle of the ages (Revelation 20:7-9)!  You are totally powerful over every other power that sets itself up against You – whether earthly or demonic. You always have been the greatest and most powerful; You are now and You will be the greatest and most powerful in the future. You will reign eternally! We love and worship You! In the holy name of Your Son and His power of resurrection. Amen

The Resurrection of the Righteous of the TaNaKh
Dani’el 12:2 and Isaiah 26:19

The Rapture will include B’rit Chadashah believers and it will occur before the Great Tribulation begins. But later, after the Great Tribulation (Dani’el 12:1), during the seventy-five day interval (to see link click Ey – The Seventy-Five Day Interval), the righteous of the TaNaKh will be resurrected. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life and given their glorified bodies, while others to shame and everlasting contempt. In the context of Dani’el 12:2, he is speaking of the seventy-five day interval, and thus, this will be the time that the righteous of the TaNaKh will be resurrected.⁴³⁰ The author believes that all Isra’el who were saved (Romans 11:26) at the end of the Great Tribulation at Bozrah (see the commentary on Isaiah Kg – The Second Coming of Jesus Christ to Bozrah), will also be given their glorified bodies then also. What a time that would be! All the righteous of the TaNaKh , from every age, would be glorified at the same time! Glory be to God. He is the Promise Keeper!

This is stated in three passages of the TaNaKh. First in Isaiah 26:19: But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead (see my commentary on Isaiah, to see link click Fg – You Who Dwell in the Dust Will Wake Up and Shout for Joy).

Secondly, the reviving of the dry bones in Ezeki’el signified the resurrection of the faith remnant. The vision showed that Isra’el’s new life depended on God’s power and not outward circumstances. Adonai ELOHIM said: O My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Isra’el. Then you, My people, will know that I am ADONAI when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put My Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken and I have done it, declares ADONAI (Ezeki’el 37:12-14). The breath of life the corpses received symbolized the Holy Spirit, promised in Isra’el’s New Covenant (see my commentary on Jeremiah Eo – I Will Make a New Covenant with the People of Isra’el).⁴³¹

Thirdly, Dani’el says about the same thing when he states: Multitudes of the righteous of the TaNaKh who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake to everlasting life, but the others, or the unrighteous, will continue to sleep in the dust of the earth to shame and everlasting contempt (Dani’el 12:2). Therefore, this passage draws a clear distinction between the resurrection of the righteous of the TaNaKh and the unrighteous. Only the righteous will be resurrected at that time to partake of the blessings of the messianic Kingdom. These are the friends of the bridegroom (John 3:29), who will be invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb that will begin the Millennium.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise Your power and wisdom. How wonderful weddings are and the wedding of the Lamb and His bride will definitely take place. It is our responsibility to get our gifts for You ready by having a heart of love for You. For no one can lay any other foundation than what is already laid – which is Yeshua the Messiah. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear. For the Day will show it, because it is to be revealed by fire; and the fire itself will test each one’s work – what sort it is. If anyone’s work built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward (First Corinthians 3:11-14). You have every detail all figured out. You have already won the final battle of the ages (Revelation 20:7-9)! Yeshua is preparing a home in heaven for those who love Him (John 14:1-3). You will reign and we will live with Youforever in Your home of heaven in eternal peace and joy! We love and worship You! In the holy name of Yeshua and Hispower of His resurrection. Amen

The Sheep and the Goats
Matthew 25:31-46 and Joel 3:1-3

The sheep and the goats DIG: When does this judgment take place? Where does it take place? Why does it take place? What is the difference between the sheep and goat Gentiles? Who is allowed entrance into the Messianic Kingdom?

REFLECT: If you are a believer in Jesus Christ right now do these verses apply to you? What do these verses say to the unbeliever?

Though a vast number of Gentiles will be killed during the Great Tribulation, and the great Gentile army will be slaughtered during the Campaign of Armageddon, some will still survive. At that time, and at the very place where the Campaign ended, each individual Gentile will be gathered for judgment described in two passages.

First, the prophet Joel tells us that in those days and at that time, God will restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem. We are told that He will gather all the Gentile nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There He will enter into judgment against them concerning His inheritance concerning the people of Isra’el. The basis for their judgment will be how they treated the Jews during the Great Tribulation. The sins committed against Isra’el are: first, the Gentiles scattered His people among the nations during the middle of the Great Tribulation; and next, they divided up His Land during the Campaign of Armageddon; and last, they sold the Jews into slavery. They cast lots for His people and traded boys for prostitutes and they sold girls for wine that they might drink (Joel 3:1-3). Each Gentile will be judged on the basis of his or her participation in these kinds of sins, for whoever touches Isra’el touches the apple of His eye (Zechariah 2:8).

Secondly, the results of this judgment are given in Matthew. The Judge, the judgment and those judged are identified in Matthew 25:31-33. When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne as the Judge in heavenly glory. All the Gentiles still living on the earth will be gathered before Him for judgment, and He will separate the people from one another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats based on their treatment of the Jewish people during the Great Tribulation. He will put the pro-Jewish sheep on His right and the anti-Jewish goats on His left.

Matthew 25:34-40 concerns the pro-Jewish sheep. They will provide help to the Jews during the Great Tribulation, at a time when it will be extremely dangerous to do so. The Jews who will have to flee into the wilderness without anything with them will often be provided with food, clothing and shelter by the sheep Gentiles. They will also render help to the Jews of Jerusalem. For I was hungry and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison for not taking the mark of the beast and you came to visit me. Because of these acts of kindness, they will be allowed to enter the Messianic Kingdom. Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. It will be the sheep Gentiles who will also play a part in the destruction of Babylon, the capital city of the antichrist (to see link click Ej – They Will Make War Against the Lamb, But the Lamb Will Overcome Them). They will reach the 1,335^th day (see Ey – The Seventy-Five Day Interval), and will be the ones who will populate the Gentile nations during the thousand-year reign of Messiah.

As far as the anti-Jewish goats, Matthew 25:41-45 states that all who aid the antichrist in the Jewish destruction will be killed and sent to sh’ol. Then He will say to those on His left, “Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. They will fail to reach the 1,335^th day and, as a result, will lose out on the blessings of the Messianic Kingdom.

The basis of judgment will not be salvation or lack of it, but being pro-Jewish or anti-Jewish. Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life (Matthew 25:46). The goats will go to sh’ol, whereas the sheep will inherit eternal life. So is their eternal destiny based upon works? Not at all. The Bible is clear that salvation equals faith plus nothing. Salvation is totally apart from works. During the Great Tribulation the Jews will become a dividing line between those who are believers and those who are not. Only the believers will dare to violate the rules of the antichrist and aid the Jews. As James would say they will show their faith by their works (James 2:14-26 NKJ). But the unbelievers will prove their unbelief by their anti-Jewish acts.

The judgment of the Gentiles, then, will determine who among them will be allowed to enter the Messianic Kingdom. Only believing Gentiles will be allowed entrance, and the evidence of their faith will be their pro-Jewish works.⁴²⁹

Dear Awesome Father, Praise You for how greatly You love Your firstborn, Isra’el (Exodus 4:22). You are both holy and loving and so your actions are both full of grace and mercy (Ephesians 2:8-9) and righteous in judgement. Youalways keep every word that You speak. In Leviticus 26 You promised Isra’el both blessings and curses-blessings for following You and curses when they went their own way. You said that if they continued to be hostile to You, that Youwould scatter them among the nations (26:33). Thankfully, You also promised restoration to the Land (Isaiah 11:11-12, 60:18-21, Ezeki’el 28:25-26,34:11-12, 34:13-16, 36:24-26, 37:21-25, 39:28; Jeremiah 23:3-8, 24:5-6, 30:18, 31:31-34, 32:37-40, 33:6-9; Hosea 3:4-5; Joel 2:18-29; Amos 9:14-15; Micah 2:12,4:6-7; Zephaniah 3:19-20, 8:7-8, 13,8-9).

 Praise Your love for Your firstborn child Isra’el. It is an example to believing Gentiles who are also Your children. But whoever did receive Him, those trusting in His name, to these He gave the right to become children of God. They were born not of a bloodline, nor of human desire, nor of man’s will, but of God (John 1:12-13).How great is Your love for Your children? We love to worship and please You. In the holy name of Yeshua and the power of His resurrection. Amen

He Seized the Dragon, or Satan,
and Bound Him for a Thousand Years
20: 1-3

He seized the Dragon, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years DIG: What thousand-year period does Satan’s imprisonment coincide? Where is he bound? By whom? For what purpose will he be bound? What purpose will be served when Satan tries to deceive the nations again? What will it prove?

REFLECT: What is the hope in this passage for you? What is discouraging?

Satan, the counterfeit Father, will be bound for a thousand years, or a millennium, in the Abyss. Traditional Judaism has other views of how long the “Days of the Messiah” will last. Some rabbis say forty years, some say seventy years, some say four hundred years, and some say seven thousand years. Rabbi ben-Yitzchak said: As long as from Noah’s day until our own (Sanhedrin 99a).⁴²⁵

John saw an angel coming down out of heaven and holding a great chain in his hand (20:1). So this angel will be at His bidding. The lowest order of heavenly beings, a common angel, will be able to bind Satan, the model of perfection who was the anointed cherub, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty (Ezeki’el 28:12b and 14). This angel is probably the same one who released the demonic locusts by opening the shaft leading to the Abyss in the fifth trumpet judgment (9:1-2).

It is important to understand that the devil isn’t in control of the Abyss. The One who has the keys of death and sh’ol (1:18) is our Lord Jesus Christ. Satan is not the king of hell. He doesn’t run around with little horns and a red suit, ordering people to shovel coal. That is not the picture in the Bible. My friend, Satan is the chief prisoner. He is not king of sh’ol. ADONAI is the King of hell. The Bible teaches that sh’ol was prepared, and designed by God, for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). They are His prisoners.

All four titles by which Satan is called in the book are brought together here. He is the dragon (12:3-4) defeated in heavenly combat by Michael, the ancient serpent (Genesis 3:1) the devil (Luke 4:2-13) who knows his time is short, and Satan (12:9-10). The angel bound and chained him for a thousand years (20:2). This is the first time in the Scriptures that the exact length of the Messianic Kingdom is given. It will be a thousand years, or a millennium. There is no good reason for taking the thousand years in other than their literal sense.⁴²⁶ In the first seven verses of this chapter they repeat the phrase thousand years six times. It must be pretty important to put that kind of emphasis on it. The early Church believed in a literal thousand-year reign of Christ. Those who rejected that position were considered to be heretics. Therefore, to spiritualize this passage is to disembowel all Scripture of vital meaning. The thrones are literal; the martyrs are literal, Yeshua is literal; the Word of God is literal; the beast is literal; his image is literal; his mark on people’s foreheads and hands is literal; and the thousand years are literal. A thousand years means a thousand years! Can’t the Lord say what He means? Of course He can, and when He says a thousand years He means a thousand years.⁴²⁷

Then the place, the purpose and the promise of Satan’s binding are given. The place is the Abyss. He threw him into the Abyss (9:1, 9:2, 9:11, 11:7, 17:8, 20:1 and 20:3). The Abyss is also the temporary place of confinement for fallen angels. It is the same place where the demonic angels of Genesis 6:1-4 were chained. They had devised a wicked plan to completely corrupt mankind, making it impossible for humans to be saved. (see my commentary on Genesis, to see link click Ca – The Sons of God Married the Daughters of Men). Thus, the Abyss is a place for the worst of the worst. Peter tells us that the LORD did not spare the demonic angels when they sinned by marrying the daughters of men and producing the Nephilim, but sent them to hell (Second Peter 2:4a). The phrase, sent them to hell, is actually the translation of a single Greek word used only in Second Peter, it is derived from tartarus, which in Greek mythology identified a subterranean Abyss that was even lower than Hades or hell. Tartarus came to refer to the abode of the most wicked spirits, where the worst rebels and criminals received the severest divine punishment. Much like when Jesus used the term gehenna (the name for Jerusalem’s garbage dump, where fires burned continually) to illustrate the inextinguishable torments of eternal anguish, Peter used a familiar word from popular Greek thought to designate hell.⁴²⁸ There, ADONAI put them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment (Isaiah 24:21-22). Because their sin was so severe, God placed them in chains to prevent them from committing such wickedness ever again (Second Peter 2:4b). After the Great Tribulation, Satan will be chained, along with his co-conspirators, for a thousand years.

And the purpose will be that he will be locked and sealed there to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. The binding of Satan will restrict him from doing what he does best, deceiving people about themselves, God or eternity. There can be no Messianic Kingdom with our enemy the devil prowling around like a roaring lion looking for people to devour (First Peter 5:8). He will be incarcerated for a thousand years with no hope of escape.

But the promise is that after that, or after the thousand years, he must be set free for a short time to fulfill God’s plan (20:3). Why would ADONAI allow Satan to be set free and deceive the nations once again? What purpose would that serve?

The Bible teaches that the heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure (Jeremiah 17:9), and that we are born with the disease of sin. However, the world teaches that we are born sinless and to end up with a person like Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Osama bin Laden or Charlie Manson, something terrible has to go wrong. And there are those who will blame the dreadful outcome of a child molester or mass murderer on their environment. They say if only his father hadn’t abused him, or if only she would have had more opportunities as a young woman, and so on. This argument has gone on forever.

But all that will end with the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ. It will be a time of perfect peace. There will still be those with a sin nature living at that time, but they will be unable to carry out any evil plans. There will be no abuse, sexual crimes or murders. The believers who will reign with Christ (20:6b) will prevent it. As a result, conditions will be perfect and unbelievers will have a hundred years to accept the Messiah or die (Isaiah 65:20). However, when the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out and deceive the nations one last time. In number they will be like the sand on the sea shore (20:7-8). At that time all excuses for mankind’s sinful behavior will be exposed for what they are – lies.

King David saw the heart of this debate clearly after his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah. He pleaded: Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise (Psalm 51:1-2 and 17). We should do likewise.

Dear wise, just yet merciful Heavenly Father, Your love is immeasurable, giving your Ruach ha-Kodesh to live within believers.  I pray that from His glorious riches He would grant you to be strengthened in Your inner being with power through His Ruach,  so that Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to grasp with all the kedoshim what is the width and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Messiah which surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled up with all the fullness of God (Ephesian 3:16-19). Your patience is great. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some consider slowness. Rather, He is being patient toward you – not wanting anyone to perish, but for all to come to repentance. (Second Peter 3:9) Your justice is filled with mercy and grace.  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves – it is the gift of God.  It is not based on deeds, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

You are the best Father that there ever could be. There is no way that You could ever change for the better – for You are perfect in love, holiness and in all You are! We love You and know that even when You send someone to hell for all eternity, it is done in a fair and just way, having given chance after chance to repent.  When their heart says, “No,” to loving You, You respect their choice. The consequence of eternal destiny is each person’s own choice of whom they will love most in their lives – God or themselves. You are so wonderful and have made a heavenly home of eternal peace and joy for those who choose to love and follow You. You are fantastic and worthy of all love! In Your holy Son’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

The Beast was Captured,
and with Him the False Prophet
19: 20

The Beast was captured and with Him the False Prophet DIG: Why will the antichrist’s body never see burial? What is ironic about that? What is annihilationism? How does it relate to this verse? What does Jesus add to our understanding about this horrible place?

REFLECT: Do you think that the Lord is too kind to torture anyone for eternity in the lake of fire, no matter what it is they have done? What is the alternative? What would that say about God’s righteousness? Can ADONAI tolerate sin? What would this do to Christ’s sacrificial offering on the cross?

The beast and the false prophet will be punished for all eternity. During the seventy-five day interval the antichrist, or the beast, will be captured and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them will be thrown alive into the lake of fire and burning sulfur.

The Holy Spirit teaches us that the antichrist will be thrown alive into the lake of fire. Earlier we learned that he will be killed as one of the first casualties of the Second Coming (Second Thessalonians 2:8). Thus, this verse requires that he be resurrected during the seventy-five day interval (to see link click Ey – The Seventy-Five Day Interval), and then thrown alive into the lake of fire. It is for this reason that Isaiah 14:20 declares that his body will never be buried.

The fact that his body will never see burial is very ironic. As we will see later, the first resurrection applies to the resurrection of the righteous, although it comes in stages. The term the second resurrection applies to the resurrection of all the wicked, this too, will come in stages. Jesus was the first fruits of the first resurrection. The irony is that the counterfeit son will be allowed to act out the counterfeit role perfectly by becoming the first fruits of the second resurrection (see Fn – The Second Resurrection). But the result of his resurrection will be the lake of fire.

The false prophet – the counterfeit Holy Spirit, who will have a counterfeit gift of miracles by which he will do his work of deception, calling men to worship the antichrist, to take upon themselves the mark of the beast and to worship his image – he, too, will be resurrected after the antichrist and thrown alive into the lake of fire and burning sulfur. For the first thousand years that the lake of fire will be inhabited, the beast and the false prophet will be there all by themselves.⁴²²

The TaNaKh makes reference to these two prophets. First, Isaiah mentions that Topeth, or hell, was already prepared for the Assyrian king of his day. Topeth, which is the same as the Valley of Ben Hinnon, was a valley on the southern side of Jerusalem. In Greek, it was called the Valley of Gehenna. It was a place where human sacrifices were offered by the kings of Judah to the god Molech (Second Kings 23:10; Second Chronicles 28:3, 33:6; Jeremiah 7:31-32, 19:4-6; Ezeki’el 16:20-21). The people of Jerusalem dumped their garbage there and burned it. Therefore, it was a place of continual burning. Later, the homeless dead, with no one to claim their bodies, were thrown in the fire. So Topeth eventually became a symbol of hell (Isaiah 30:33). Next, Dani’el heard the boastful words of the little horn, and he saw the antichrist, or the beast, was slain and his body thrown into the blazing fire (Dani’el 7:11).

However, this is the first specific mention of the lake of fire in the Bible. It is the ultimate destination of Satan, his demons, and the lost (Matthew 25:41). Isaiah described it as the place were their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched (Isaiah 66:24), a description reinforced by Christ in the New Covenant (Mark 9:48). But Yeshua added something to Isaiah’s description, saying it will be a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:42). Earlier, John had said that the smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever, and there will be no rest day or night (14:11). Apparently the beast and the false prophet will not die, but are sentenced to an eternity in burning hell. They will be the firstfruits of a great multitude, who will be cursed and sentenced into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41).

Hell has always existed, but this will be its final form. Unlike sh’ol, the lake of fire is not a temporary holding place (Luke 16:23), but a permanent place of incarnation and punishment. Burning sulfur is frequently associated with the fire of judgment (Luke 17:29; Revelation 9:17, 14:10, 20:10). A lake of burning sulfur would not only be intensely hot, but putrid and stinking as well. It will be an appropriate place for all that is sinful and wicked in the world.⁴²³

That the beast and the false prophet are still in the lake of fire a thousand years later when Satan is thrown into it (20:10) is a convincing refutation of the false doctrine of annihilationism, or the belief that when sinners die they are merely destroyed and do not face an eternity in hell. As the two most evil, vile, blasphemous people who have ever lived, it will be only fitting that they should be the first to arrive in that dreadful place. What wonderful company they will be for each other. The New Covenant is clear on the eternity of punishment for those who reject Jesus as the Messiah (Matthew 13:40-42; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 3:17, 12:47-48; Revelation 14:10-11).⁴²⁴

Dear Great and wonderful Heavenly Father, There is no hiding from you. “Am I God only when near” – it is a declaration of ADONAI – “and not God when far off? Can anyone hide himself in places so secret that I will not see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth?” It is a declaration of ADONAI (Jeremiah 23:23-24). For those who willingly and joyously seek Him, there is comfort, power, and hope in knowing His presence is ever with them. How patient You are! The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some consider slowness. Rather, He is being patient toward you – not wanting anyone to perish, but for all to come to repentance (Second Peter 3:9). Yet You give the right for each person to choose who they will love and follow, and in so choosing they each choose their eternal destiny. He who trusts in the Son has eternal life. He who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him (John 3:36).  For those who seek to please themselves more than anyone or anything thing else, there is only the wrath of God. How sad that you offer the gift of eternal and many will refuse it because of their own pride. El Shaddai, God of the Mountains, be my source of strength as I seek your presence. I acknowledge Your presence in all I do and everywhere I go. Please, don’t just keep blessing me, but use me to bless others in Your name. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen.

The Removal of the Abomination That Causes Desolation
Dani’el 12: 11

The event that will point to the beginning of the second half of the Great Tribulation will be the antichrist’s takeover of the Tribulation Temple, when he declares himself to be God. He will have the false prophet set up his image in the Most Holy Place, which will result in the genocide of the Jewish people. Because this action will cause the Jews such anguish and despair, it is called the abomination that causes desolation.

The antichrist will remain in power for 1,260 days, and then he will be killed by Christ in the Campaign of Armageddon. But the image that had been set up in the Most Holy Place will be allowed to stand from the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days, for another thirty days after the end of the Great Tribulation. At that time the image of the beast, and the Tribulation Temple will be destroyed during the seventy-five interval (to see link click Ey – The Seventy-Five Day Interval).

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise your power and wisdom. You have every detail all figured out and you have already won the battle (Revelation 19:11-21)! You will reign eternally and Your children (John 1:12, First John 3:1, 3) will come to live with You in heaven in eternal peace and joy for all eternity! We love and worship You! In the holy name of Your Sonand His power of resurrection. Amen

The Seventy-Five Day Interval
Dani’el 12: 11-12

The Millennium will not begin the day immediately following the last day of the Great Tribulation because there will be a seventy-five day interval. During this time, between the Great Tribulation and the start of the Messianic Kingdom, a number of events will occur. Dani’el describes this interval: From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days (Dani’el 12:1-12).

The Great Tribulation has often been described as having 1,260 days, which is the same as three-and-a-half years. Sometimes it refers to the first half of the Great Tribulation, from the signing of the seven-year covenant that the national leaders of Isra’el signs with the antichrist, to the takeover of the Tribulation Temple and the abomination that causes desolation (to see link click Dr – The Abomination That Causes Desolation). Other times it refers to the second half of the Great Tribulation, from the abomination that causes desolation to the Second Coming, during which time the antichrist will rule the world. The death of the antichrist and the end of the Great Tribulation will come 1,260 days after its midpoint.

However, in this Dani’el passage, two other figures are given. The first is 1,290 days, or an additional thirty days, during which time the abomination that causes desolation will remain in the Tribulation Temple before it is removed. The second figure is 1,335 days, which is 45 days beyond the 1,290-day period and 75 days beyond the 1,260-day period. A special blessing is pronounced on those who will make it to the 1,335^th day. In other words, those who survive the seventy-five day interval will be blessed by entering the Messianic Kingdom. There will be many who will fail and die during this seventy-five day interval.⁴²¹ Ten things will occur during these seventy-five days:

1. The abomination that causes desolation, or the physical Tribulation Temple itself will be destroyed (see Bx – The Tribulation Temple).

2. The antichrist and the false prophet will be thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur for a thousand years (Revelation 19:20),

3. Satan will be bound in the abyss for a thousand years to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years are ended (Revelation 20:1-3),

4. The sheep Gentiles will be separated from the goat Gentiles (Joel 3:1-3; Matthew 25:31-33).

5. The righteous of the TaNaKh will be resurrected (Isaiah 26:19 and Dani’el 12:2).

6. Tribulation martyrs will also be resurrected (Revelation 20:4).

7. In my opinion, all the Jews who are a part of the national regeneration of Isra’el at the end of the Great Tribulation (see the commentary on Revelation Ev – The Basis for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ) will receive their resurrection bodies (see the commentary on First Corinthians Dv – Our Resurrection Bodies). If the Jews were still in their natural bodies, the children born to them would have to make a decision to accept or reject Messiah by the time they reached one-hundred years old (see the commentary on Isaiah Kq – The Wolf and the Lamb Will Feed Together, and the Lion Will Eat Straw Like the Ox).  Since the Messianic Kingdom is to be a time of everlasting joy and gladness (Isaiah 25:9, 35:2 and 10, 51:3, 52:8), having a Jewish son or daughter reject the Messiah could only bring despair and sadness, thus negating the biblical promise, which, in my opinion, is impossible.

8. The First Resurrection of believers will take place (Revelation 20:4 and 6 and First Corinthians 15:20-23, and First Thessalonians 4:13-18).

9. The marriage feast of the Lamb will be celebrated (Revelation 19:9; Matthew 22:1-14 and 25:1-13).

10. The renovation of the heavens and the earth (Isaiah 65:17).

Since it is impossible to determine their sequential order, these events will be dealt with thematically rather than chronologically.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that all time is in Your hands. Everything will work out exactly at the time you say it will happen. Your wisdom is magnificent. You have every detail all figured out. Not only have You already won the battle (Revelation 19:11-21), but Yeshua is right now preparing the eternal home in heaven for Your children. Do not let your heart be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me.  In My Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself, so that where I am you may also be (John 14:1-3)! You will reign eternally and Your children will live with You forever in heaven in eternal peace and joy, praising Your great and holy Name! We love and worship You! In the holy name of Your Son and His power of resurrection. Amen

The Eight Stage Campaign of Armageddon
19: 19

   Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the Rider on the horse and His army (19:19). According to the Bible, great armies from the west and the east will gather and assemble on this plain in the Valley of Armageddon(Psalm 2:2; Joel 3:9-11). As the antichrist and his armies approach Jerusalem, God will intervene and Jesus Christ will return to rescue His people Isra’el.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise Your power and wisdom. You are Sovereign of the universe. No power or group of powers, whether earthly or demonic, has any ability compared to Your Almighty power. You have already won the battle (Revelation 19:11-21)! You will reign eternally! We love and worship You! In the holy name of Your Son and His power of resurrection. Amen

In a sense, Armageddon is a battle that never really takes place. That is, it does not take place in accordance with its original human intent. Its human purpose is to gather the armies of the world to execute the antichrist’s “final solution” to the “Jewish problem.” This is why Jesus Christ chooses this moment in history for His return to earth, to thwart the antichrist’s attempted annihilation of the Jews and to destroy the armies of the world. It seems only fitting, in light of mankind’s bloody legacy, that the return of Christ should be precipitated by a worldwide military conflict against Isra’el. Therefore, history is moving toward Armageddon.419 Here, then, are the eight stages of this coming Campaign taken from Arnold Fruchtenbaum’s landmark book, The Footsteps of the Messiah.420

 1. The Gathering of the Armies of the Antichrist: With the outpouring of the sixth bowl of judgment, the Euphrates River will dry up (this is a summary, to see link click Eg – The Sixth Angel Poured Out His Bowl and I Saw Three Evil Spirits That Looked Like Frogs for a more detailed account). This drying up process will be for the purpose of making it easier for the antichrist to assemble his forces for the Armageddon Campaign. Armageddon is a combination of two Hebrew words, har Megiddo, that means, the mountain of Megiddo, or the fortress of Megiddo. The city of Megiddo was strategically located on the western end of the Valley of Jezreel (Joshua 17:16). The roads of the world lead through Isra’el, and within Isra’el, all roads lead through the Valley of Jezreel. The Bible nowhere refers to this valley as the Valley of Armageddon. Therefore, what is known as the Valley of Armageddon in Gentile circles is actually the biblical Valley of Jezreel. When Napoleon saw it he said it was the greatest battlefield on the earth. But no fighting takes place there, it will be more like an execution. Here the armies of the world will gather for the purpose of destroying all the Jews still living at that time. This will be the program of the counterfeit trinity, but they will unwittingly accomplish the purpose of God.

   2. The Destruction of Babylon: Today Babylon is in ruins. But one day it will be rebuilt and become the political, economic, and religious capital of the world (Zechariah 5:5-11). With the armies of the antichrist out of Babylon, the sheep Gentiles of the Tribulation (see Fc – The Sheep and the Goats) and the Lord take the opportunity to destroy his capital city. Although there are many more scriptures, we will limit ourselves to several important passages in Isaiah and Jeremiahregarding the destruction of Babylon.

The prophecies of Isaiah 13 and 14, and of Jeremiah 50 and 51 regarding the destruction of Babylon have never been fulfilled in the manner required by the Bible.The Babylon of past history died out slowly and was inhabited again in other generations. But the Babylon of the Great Tribulation will suffer sudden destruction. The means of destruction is explained in Isaiah 13:1-5. Isaiah saw the gathering of many people in his prophecy against Babylon. The first stage saw the gathering of the forces loyal to the antichrist and Babylon; however, the second stage will see the gathering of those who wish to destroy Babylon. The details of this destruction are given in Isaiah 13:6 to 14:23. It is extremely important to realize that Babylon has never been destroyed in the manner described by in the Bible. For example, the context of Isaiah 13:6-22 clearly puts the destruction of Babylon during the time of the Great Tribulation. In addition, Babylon’s destruction is connected with the final redemption of Israel in Isaiah 14:1-2. Babylon will be like Sodom and Gomorrah in that it will be uninhabitable for any human (see Er – Babylon Will Never Be Found Again). In fact, unlike other nations, Babylon will have no surviving remnant.

Jeremiah 50 and 51 give both near historical and far eschatological prophesies concerning concerning the Babylon of Jeremiah’s day and the Babylon of the end times. Jeremiah 50:9-10 tells of a gathering army and then in 11-16, the graphic destruction of Babylon. Once again, this destruction is so final that Babylon will be uninhabitable for any human. According to Jeremiah 50:39-40, it will be like Sodom and Gomorrah. Once again in Jeremiah 50:41-42, the prophet speaks of gathering many people against Babylon and the chapter ends in verses 45-46 with God’s decree against Babylon and the Gentile nations’ distress over the destruction of their world capital. An even more detailed description of the fall of Babylon occurs in Jeremiah 51. Babylon’s negative influence on other nations will cause ADONAI to judge her according to Jeremiah 51:7-9, and judgment will be especially severe due to Babylon’s persecution of the people of Isra’el. Because Babylon led the world to ruin, the LORD will now ruin her (Jeremiah 51:25-26). This will bring about rejoicing from the faithful remnant and will be viewed as God’s vengeance against Babylon for her abuse of the Jews in Jeremiah 51:48-49. Jeremiah closes with a summary of the destruction of Babylon.

There are two indications, both in Jeremiah, that the antichrist will not be present in Babylonwhen it is destroyed (Jeremiah 50:43 and 51:32). The very fact that he will have to be told that Babylon is destroyed, points to the conclusion that he will not be there when it falls. Otherwise, he would not need to be told. Then, where is he? While he was gathering with the armies of the world in the Valley of Jezreel, his enemies took the opportunity to destroy his capital city.

Before Babylon is destroyed, ADONAI will give five warnings to the Jews still living in there to flee the city before it is too late. All the warnings are in the book of Jeremiah. The first is in Jeremiah 50:6-8, and the second is in Jeremiah 50:28. Those Jews who escape from Babylon will run away to Bozrah. The destruction of Babylon will be God’s vengeance on her for her abuse of His people and His Temple. As the fugitives and refugees arrive from Babylon, they announce the destruction to the Jews living there (Jeremiah 50:10 and 51:45). These are the third and fourth warnings. The fifth and last warning is Jeremiah 51:50. Therefore, the Jews living in Babylon will be given warning to flee. They will fervently make their way to Bozrah.

The unexpected devastation of the world’s political, economic, and religious capital of the world will cause great anguish on the earth, but not in heaven (18:9-24). For when Babylon is destroyed, it means that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is close at hand, and along with it, the regeneration and restoration of Isra’el.

   3. The Fall of Jerusalem: Although his entire army is intact when he receives the news that Babylon has fallen, the antichrist does not move east to demolish his enemies. At this point Satan controls him, and he is fixated on the annihilation of the Jews; the final solution that Hitler was unable to accomplish. So, instead of moving east, the beast and his army move south against Jerusalem from the Valley of Jezreel (Zechariah 12:2-3, 14:1-2). All the armies of the world will converge against Jerusalem. Once again the City will fall into the hands of Gentiles. Half of the Jews will be made slaves and the other half will remain in the city to await their fate (Zechariah 14:2-4).

Because the LORD will greatly energize the Jews defending Jerusalem, the antichrist and his army will not have an easy time of it. His army will suffer heavy losses. God will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. The temporary empowerment of the Jews is described in Zechariah 12:4-9 and the battle is further described in Micah 4:11-13. Although the Jewish forces prove very formidable, the antichrist, his army, and the armies of the world will prevail. After their victory, his soldiers will ransack the houses and rape the women of Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:2). With this, the third stage ends.

   4. The Armies of the Antichrist Descend on Bozrah: The main concentration of Jews will be in Bozrah, in the land of Edom, in what today is Jordan. Satan continues to control the antichrist and as far as he is concerned, the main objective of the Campaign of Armageddon is to eradicate the Jews; the armies of the world move from Jerusalem to Bozrah as recorded in Jeremiah 49:13-14. “I swear by Myself,” declares the LORD, “that Bozrah will become a ruin and an object of horror, of reproach and of cursing; and all its towns will be in ruins forever.” I have heard a message from ADONAI: An envoy was sent to the nations to say, “Assemble yourselves to attack it! Rise up for battle!” So the nations of the world gather at Bozrah to destroy the remnant of Israel that will be gathered there (Micah 2:12). With the completion of the fourth stage, the last three days of the Campaign of Armageddon and the Great Tribulation will begin.

   5. The Regeneration of Isra’el: Because of the rejection of the messiahship of Jesus Christ by the nation of Israel, there is a condition that must be met before Christ will return to establish His kingdom. The Jews and the Jewish leaders must ask Him to come back. There must be a national regeneration and acceptance of the Messiahship of Jesus Christ. For this to happen, two conditions must be met. First, there must be a confession of Isra’el’s national sin (Lev 26:40-42; Jer 3:11-18; Hosea 5:15), and secondly, a pleading for Messiah to return (Zechariah 12:10; Matt 23:37-39).

First, there must be a confession of Israel’s national sin. With the armies of the antichrist surrounding the city of Bozrah, the Campaign of Armageddon will begin its last three days according to Hosea the prophet: Come, and let us return to ADONAI; He has torn us to pieces but He will heal us; He has injured us but He will bind up our wounds. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will restore us, that we may live in His presence. Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge Him. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth (Hosea 6:1-3). It is at that time that the leaders of Isra’el will finally recognize the reason why the Great Tribulation had come upon them (see Ev – The Basis for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ). Whether this will be done by the study of the Scriptures, or by the preaching of the 144,000 (7:1-8), or by the two witnesses (11:1-3) is not clearly stated. In reality, it will probably be a combination of these things. But the leaders will come to a realization of their national sin in some way. Just as the Jewish leaders once led the nation to the rejection of the messiahship of Jesus (Matthew 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15-16; John 7:20, 8:49, 10:20), they will then lead the nation to the acceptance of His messiahship.

The second facet leading to the Second Coming is the pleading of Isra’el for the Messiah to return and save them from their predicament of having the world’s armies, intent on their destruction, gathered outside of Bozrah. The pleading of the Jews for their Messiah to save them is described in Zechariah 12:10 to 13:1, Isaiah 64:1-12; Psalm 79:1-13, 80:1-19. This pleading will not be confined to the Jews of Bozrah but will include the Jews still in Jerusalem. It will begin with the confession of their national sin, and then they will plead for His return to save them from their plight. They plead for the One they have pierced. This will be the result of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Regeneration is the work of the Ruach ha-Kodesh, and here the nation of Isra’el will be regenerated, creating some dramatic manifestations in their midst (Joel 2:28-29). This will be accompanied by wonders in the heavens as well (Joel 2:30-32). The result of all this is that the Jews of Jerusalem will be delivered and escape, as well as the remnant of Bozrah. In conclusion, during the fifth stage, Israel, as a nation, will be regenerated and saved after two days of the national confession of sin. On the third day (Hosea 6:1-3) they will plead for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

   6. The Second Coming of Messiah to Bozrah: Yeshua will return at the Jewish request for Him to do so. The initial place of His return will not be the Mount of Olives as is traditionally thought, but the place known as Bozrah (see Isaiah 34:1-7, 63:1-6; Habakkuk 3:3; Micah 2:12-13). Zechariah 12:7 declares that: ADONAI will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah. With His return to the Jewish remnant at Bozrah, Yeshua will save the tents of Judah first before saving the Jews of Jerusalem. The word tents points to temporary dwelling places rather than permanent housing. The fact that Judah is living in tents shows that her home is temporarily elsewhere. The elsewhere is Bozrah. Revelation 19:11-16 describes the manner of His return.

   7. The End of the Fighting at the Valley of Jehosaphat: Today the world is uncomfortable with Jesus Christ being a righteous warrior. That is why Christmas is more popular than Easter. At Christmas we see a little helpless baby in a manger, but at Easter we are forced to look at the God-man dying for our sins. Before the fall of Jericho, Joshua had an encounter with a theophany, or the preincarnate Jesus Christ. Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of Him with a drawn sword in His hand. Joshua went up to Him and asked, “Are you for us or our enemies?” “Neither,” He replied, “but as Commander of the Army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked Him, “What message does my LORD have for His servant. The Commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so (Joshua 5:13-15). The fact is that Jesus is the Commander of the army of the LORD. He had the Israelites walk around Jericho seven times, while ADONAI fought the battle alone. The same will be true when the Arm of the LORD (Isaiah 51:9, 52:10, 53:1 and 59:1), Jesus Christ Himself, will defeat the armies of the world alone.

Revelation 19:17-20 deals with Messiah as the righteous warrior, for we see Him defeating Satan’s armies in what is often called “the Battle of Armageddon,” but in reality is the War of The Great Day of the LORD of heaven’s angelic armies (19:14 CJB). This war will take place in a single day, and the battle of Armageddon will be just one of the battles of that war. Actually, this war will encompass more than just the Valley of Megiddo (Jezreel), but as we shall see, it will cover practically all of the land of Palestine. The battle starts at Bozrah and will continue all the way back to the eastern walls of Jerusalem which overlook the Kidron Valley, also known as the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

Among the very first casualties of the battle will be the antichrist himself. Having ruled the world with great power and spoken against the true Son of God, the counterfeit son will be powerless before Christ (Habakkuk 3:13-14). The ease with which Messiah will slay the antichrist is described by Rabbi Sha’ul in Second Thessalonians 2:8, And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The one who has claimed to be God, the one who has been able to perform all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, the one who exercised all authority of Satan as he ruled the world, will be quickly dispensed with by the word of the righteous warrior. The arrival of the antichrist into hell is described in Isaiah 14:3-11. And later the prophet describes the fate of his dead body on the earth in Isaiah 14:16-21. The antichrist and the false prophet will spend a thousand years in the lake of fire (20:14-15) together before the end of the Millennium. The unsaved that die prior to this time are cast into Hades, a place of torment, but not into the lake of fire, which is reserved for those who have rejected Jesus Christ. The rest of the wicked dead will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment (see Fo – The Great White Throne Judgment) and follow the antichrist, the false prophet, and Satan into this eternal torment.

After the death of the antichrist, the slaughter of his army will continue. There actually is no fighting per se. It is really an execution. The Commander of the LORD’s army will continue marching through the Land in indignation, as if treading the winepress of His wrath, causing blood to be sprinkled on His garments. Zechariah 14:12-15 describes the manner in which this massive army will be destroyed. This carnage will continue all the way back to Jerusalem, coming to an end in the Valley of Jehoshaphat as Joel 3:12-13 states. The nations that have gathered against the Jews (Joel 3:9-11) will now find themselves being slaughtered by the King of the Jews. The blood from this encounter with the living God will run about one mile wide and one hundred and eighty miles long, from the Valley of Jezreel in the north of Isra’el, to Bozrah in the south and will literally reach to the horses’ bridles (Revelation 14:20). A sea of humanity will become a sea of blood. It will practically cover the length of Israel, and when this battle comes to an end in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, so does the seventh stage of the Campaign of Armageddon.

   8. The Victory Ascent Upon the Mount of Olives: After the actual “fighting” is completed, there will be a victory ascent on the Mount of Olives described in Zechariah 14:3-4a. Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. Here the LORD is seen fighting against the Gentile nations that had gathered against the Jews. It is only after the slaughter that His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives.

Along with this victory ascent, a number of cataclysmic events will occur as the Great Tribulation comes to an end. These cataclysmic events will be a result of the seventh bowl of judgment described in Revelation 16:17-21, and the fact that Christ will physically place His feet upon the Mount of Olives. With the seventh bowl, a voice cries out, It is done! because the seventh bowl brings the Great Tribulation to a definite end. This declaration will be followed by convulsions of nature including the greatest earthquake ever to occur in the history of the earth (Zechariah 14:4b-5). This will cause the city of Jerusalem to split into three divisions, while the city of Babylon will suffer the full wrath of God. Many geographical changes will take place and hail will fall weighing about 100 pounds each. Not only will Jerusalem be split into three divisions, but the Mount of Olives will be split into two parts creating a valley running east and west. This newly formed valley will provide a way of escape for the Jewish inhabitants. In this way they will be rescued following the deliverance of the Jews in Bozrah.

Another cataclysmic event that will take place at this time is the blackout described in Matthew 24:29. The earthquake and the blackout are both described in Joel 3:14-17. All this will happen on the same day, the multitudes slaughtered in the Day of the LORD in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, the blackout, and the earthquake. But a refuge will be provided for the Jews to escape, by means of the valley cutting through the Mount of Olives spoken of by Zechariah. With these cataclysmic events, the Great Tribulation and the Campaign of Armageddon will come to an end.

He is Dressed in a Robe Dipped in Blood,
And His Name is the Word of God
19: 11-18 and 21

He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is the Word of God DIG: What commands your attention about this scene? Who are the armies of heaven? What weapon does the Rider yield? What happens to the army of the beast?

REFLECT: What hopes and fears does this glorious appearing (Titus 2:13) bring out in you? Why? How has Jesus Christ been your deliverer recently?

This is the Second Coming of the Judge and the incarnate Word of God, Jesus Christ, returning in righteousness to rule the nations. John saw heaven standing open and there before him was a Rider on a white horse (19:11a). The first time Jesus came into Tziyon He came riding on the colt of a donkey (Matthew 21:5), but the next time He will be riding on a white horse. Yeshua will be riding a cherub in the form of a white horse (see my commentary on The Life of David, to see link click Eh – David’s Song of Praise), and the Sh’khinah glory will precede the holy character of its Rider: For as lightening that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather; the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory (Matthew 24:26-30).

John tells us that the Rider is called Faithful and True (19:11b). There is no more fitting name for Jesus, who was earlier called the faithful and true witness (3:14). He is faithful to His promises (Second Corinthians 1:20) and what He speaks is always true (John 8:45-46; Titus 1:2). The description of Christ here is very different from the unfaithfulness and lies of the devil (12:9). The very fact that He is coming again, just as He had promised, proves that Jesus is the faithful and true One.

No longer the suffering Servant of Isaiah 52:13 to 53:12, Yeshua Messiah will then be seen as the warrior King (Psalm 45:3-4; Isaiah 11:4-5) who makes war and judges with justice (19:11c). He will slaughter the wicked, as seen when He warned the worldly believers at Pergamum: Repent! Or I will soon come to you and fight against you with the sword of My mouth (2:16). This is in keeping with God’s character, for after the deliverance from Pharaoh and his chariots at the Sea of Reeds, Isra’el sang: God, or ADONAI is a warrior; ADONAI is His name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Sea of Reeds (Exodus 15:3-4). But unlike other conquerors the world has seen, ambition, pride or power will not motivate this Conqueror. He will come in absolute righteousness and perfect holiness. Heaven cannot be at peace with sin, for God’s eyes are too pure to look on evil and He cannot tolerate wrong (Habakkuk 1:13). There is a limit to Christ’s patience. Justice cannot tolerate injustice, truth cannot tolerate lies forever, and rebellion cannot be permitted to go on without end. Incurable, hardened sinners will eventually face destruction; mercy abused and grace rejected will ultimately bring judgment.⁴⁰⁹

He is coming with the Sh’khinah glory, or with the clouds. The Sh’khinah glory is the visible manifestation of God’s presence, which is seen in the form of a light, fire, smoke, clouds, or combination of these (see my commentary on Isaiah Ju – The Glory of the LORD Rises Upon You). Both the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-38) and the Temple (First Kings 8:10-12) were filled with a cloud symbolizing God’s glory at their dedications. Jesus ascended to heaven on a cloud (Acts 1:9), and He will return with the clouds. The prophet Dani’el prophesied: In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven (Dani’el 7:13). His glory will be obvious to the entire human race because every eye will see Him (1:7).

His eyes are like blazing fire (also see 1:14b), searching, revealing, and penetrating to the very depths of His followers. Nothing escapes the notice of His penetrating vision. The world shall see this in His piercing judgment of sin. Jesus said: There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known (Matthew 10:26b). In Dani’el’s vision of the Messiah, he said His eyes were like flaming torches (Dani’el 10:6). Those eyes reflected the tenderness and joy as He gathered little children to Himself. They reflected compassion when Jesus saw distressed and hopeless people, wandering meaninglessly through life like sheep without a shepherd. And His eyes reflected forgiveness when He restored Peter, who was crushed with guilt over his denial of his Master. The eyes that wept over the fate of unrepentant Jerusalem and over the sorrow, suffering and death in this sin-cursed world, John sees flashing with the blazing fire of judgment (19:12a).⁴¹⁰

And on His head will be many crowns (19:12b). This crown comes from the Greek word diadema, which refers to the ruler’s crown (12:3, 13:1). This points to Messiah’s royal authority. The word many shows that He will collect all of the rulers’ crowns. He alone will be the supreme ruler of the earth. Collecting the crown of a deposed ruler was customary in the ancient world. After defeating the Ammonites, King David took the crown from the head of their king and it was placed on David’s head (Second Samuel 12:30). Thus, the many crowns that Christ will wear during the Messianic Kingdom will replace His crown of thorns that He wore at His crucifixion (Philippians 2:8-11).

Describing the final aspect of Messiah’s appearance, John tells us that Jesus has a name written on Him that no one knows but He Himself (19:12c). It is kind of humorous that the Bible tells us that no one knows what His name will be; yet the commentators proceed to tell us what it is! So really, all speculation as to the meaning of His name is pointless. Even John, the disciple whom Jesus loved (John 13:23) didn’t know. So I sure don’t. It will probably be made known after His return.

Illustrating the final element of Christ’s appearance, John writes that He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood (19:13a). This is not His blood shed on the cross, it is the blood of His mutilated enemies. As Isaiah stood in Jerusalem, he saw a giant vision of the Lord coming from Petra (Isaiah 63:1). As Christ worked His way up the Valley of Jehoshaphat toward Jerusalem, He Himself says: I trampled them in My anger and trod them down in My wrath; their blood spattered My garments, and I have stained all My clothes (Isaiah 63:3). He will slaughter the Gentile nations that want to oppose Him, and in the process, His white robe of justice will be dipped in their blood. The red blood of Messiah’s enemies will come from the red place, or Edom.

Dear Heavenly Father, You are Awesome in appearance! Though often You are thought of as a sweet little baby in a manger, ADONAI has now exalted Yeshua so that every knee will bow before Him. Who, though existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal to God a thing to be grasped. But He emptied Himself – taking on the form of a slave, becoming the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man. He humbled Himself – becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Yeshua every knee should bow, in heaven and on the earth and under the earth,  and every tongue profess that Yeshua the Messiah is Lord – to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:6-11). You will return as a mighty and conquering Warrior! Praise You always! In the holy name of Your Son and His power of resurrection. Amen

And the name of the warrior is the Word of God (19:13b). Here is a striking link with John’s gospel where Jesus is the Word who became flesh (John 1:1 and 14). But here in the book of Revelation, the title isn’t so much to tell us who He is, as it is to tell us how the nations are destroyed. In Hebrew the word of God is not a lifeless sound but an active agent that achieves the intention of the one who speaks, like the creation account in Genesis. The Word of God is God fulfilling His divine purpose (Hebrews 4:12).⁴¹¹

When the conquering Messiah returns the armies of heaven will be following Him (19:14a). These armies will be made up of His angels (Matthew 16:27), the righteous of the TaNaKh, the Church and the Tribulation martyrs respectively. Jude saw it this way: See, the Lord, as revealed in the second person of the trinity Jesus Christ, is coming with thousands upon thousands of His holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against Him (Jude 14-15).

These armies will be riding on white horses (19:14b), which are not literal horses any more than the four horsemen of the apocalypse (6:1-8). Although the armies of the Lord return with Him, they will not participate in the fighting. Christ will fight this battle by Himself (see my commentary on Isaiah Kg – The Second Coming of Jesus Christ to Bozrah). The believers who accompany Him will be unarmed. They will not come to fight with Him, but to reign with Him for a thousand years (Revelation 20:4-6; First Corinthians 6:2). They will be dressed in fine linen, white and clean, reflecting their righteousness (19:14c).

The activity of Christ as the warrior Messiah is seen in three figures taken from the TaNaKh. First, out of His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations (19:15a). John had seen that sword in an earlier vision (1:16), where it was used to defend the Church against the attack of the Adversary. Here it is the sword of judgment, delivering death to ADONAI’s enemies. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth; with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked (Is 11:4). Therefore, the battle will merely consist of a spoken word, symbolized by the sword, which comes out of His mouth.

The second figure is that of the rod of iron. After judging the nations as the righteous Judge, He will rule as King, with a rod of iron (2:27; 12:5; 19:15b NASB). He will judge all sin swiftly and instantly put down any rebellion. Murder will not be tolerated. Rape will be stopped before it begins. Even psychological abuse will be repressed. This iron-handed rule is rooted in Psalm 2:9, and will be necessary because the Gentile nations will still have a sin nature. After the first generation of the believing sheep Gentiles (Matthew 25:34-40) their children will need to accept Christ to be saved and will have a hundred years to do it or face death (Isaiah 65:20). But millions will not and the natural result of this sin nature will have to be restrained. As a result, the Kingdom will not be a democracy, but an absolute monarchy. The rule of Christ, the messianic King, will be a strict one, and the righteous laws radiating from Jerusalem will have to be obeyed.⁴¹²

The third figure is that He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of ADONAI, God of heaven’s armies (19:15c). The clear symbol of the wrath of God comes from the ancient practice of treading on grapes as a part of the wine making process. The splattering of the grape juice points to the pouring out of the blood of Christ’s enemies (14:18-20). The two nouns translated wrath or anger are found thirteen times in Chapters 6 through 19.

The Gentile armies of the world will experience the wrath of God at the Second Coming and He will rule over them. Christ will wear a banner on His long robe and hanging down across His thigh, and on it He will have this name written: Melekh HaM’lakhim, KING of kings and LORD of lords (19:16). The TaNaKh points to ADONAI as God of gods and Lord of lords (Deuteronomy 10:17), and Jesus Christ is the visual manifestation of the Trinity. He will return as a King to establish His Kingdom. All the earthly kings will submit to Him. Presidents, dictators, and kings rule over their nations. Our King is greater than all of these. To Him all power and authority belong, and all knees shall bow. Every person will call Him Lord and Master.

Because of the massive slaughter of all the armies of the Gentile nations, another invitation is given. Then, as if to heighten still further the suspense of this dramatic movement, John saw an angel standing in front of the sun, partially eclipsing it. He stood in a very eye-catching place to get everyone’s attention. It seems that the fourth blackout had been lifted because the sun will be visible again. That would also explain how the smoke from Babylon could be seen all the way from the Valley of Jezreel in Isra’el where they are gathered for the first stage of the Campaign of Armageddon (18:9-19). But darkness would soon cover the earth during the fifth, and last, blackout to accentuate the flashing brilliant Sh’khinah glory of the returning Christ (Matthew 24:29-30).

This prominent angel will cry out in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, inviting them to feast on the carnage that would immediately follow. Consequently, the angel declares Messiah’s victory before the battle even begins. This reminds us of Christ’s very words: For as lightening comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather (Matthew 24:27-28).

The angel commands the birds to come and gather together for the great feast of God (19:17). This will not be the first time that birds have feasted on human carrion in the Bible. Isaiah related a similar feast after the judgment of Cush, or modern Ethiopia, when he wrote: They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey and to the wild animals, the birds will feed on them all summer, the wild animals all winter (Isaiah 18:6). And Jeremiah prophesies that after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem the carcasses of this people will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one left to frighten them away (Jeremiah 7:33). Likewise, the dreadful Day of ADONAI will result in an unparalleled slaughter, with millions of dead bodies scattered up and down the two hundred miles from Bozrah to Jerusalem.

It is an important fact to consider that every year millions of birds of many species migrate south from Europe to Africa. They fly over the land of Isra’el on their journey. The numbers of these birds and their migrating patterns have been the special study of the Israeli government because of the threat they pose to aircraft. This can certainly answer the question as to where such vast numbers of birds will come from. The geographical setting of Isra’el, situated between the Mediterranean Sea on the west and the vast expanse of barren desert to the east, forms a natural corridor for these migrating birds.⁴¹³

At this future great feast, the birds will eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great (19:18). This is a bloodthirsty picture. It tells of the greatest of men being made food for the vultures – of kings and leaders, strong and confident, devoured on the field of battle with no one to bury them. Those who thought they ruled the world will be rendered helpless against timid birds, no preference will be given to rank or station. This feast for the birds is also described in Ezekiel 39:17-20, and the prophet closely associates it with the final redemption of Isra’el in Ezekiel 39:21-29.⁴¹⁴

Aside from the beast and the false prophet, who will be taken captive, the rest of them will be killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the Rider on the white horse. The number of dead will be so great that the vultures will have more than they can eat, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh (19:21). In Judaism, following biblical practice, the honored dead are buried. Not to be buried is a disgrace (Second Kings 9:34-37), and being torn apart by vultures and animals is the ultimate disgrace.⁴¹⁵ This verse is a reference to the second coming of the Lord in the clouds, the return will be clearly evident as lighting flashing across the sky and if you see vultures then there must be carrion on the ground.

Then suddenly it will be all over. In fact, there will be no war at all, in the sense that we think of war. There will be just a word spoken from Yeshua Messiah. Once He spoke a word to a fig tree and it withered away (Matthew 21:19). Once He spoke to the howling winds and heaving waves, and the storm clouds vanished and the waves fell still. Once He spoke to a legion of demons bursting at the seams of a poor man’s soul, and instantly they fled. On the Day of ADONAI He will speak a word, and the Campaign of Armageddon will be over. The beast, the counterfeit Son, will be killed where he stands; and the false prophet, the counterfeit Holy Spirit, will receive no mercy. They will both be hurled headlong into the lake of fire. Another spoken word, and the panic-stricken armies reel and stagger, only to fall down dead. Field marshals, generals, admirals, soldiers and sailors, air commanders, once and for all. They all fall. Then the vultures will descend and cover the scene.⁴¹⁶

The same inspired Word of God that so wonderfully describes the grace of God and the salvation that is available to all who believe is equally plain about the judgment of all who reject His grace. The tendency of some to emphasize passages dealing with the love of God and to ignore passages dealing with His righteous judgment are completely unjustified. The passages on judgment are just as inspired and accurate as those that develop the doctrines of grace and salvation. The Bible is clear that judgment awaits the wicked, and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is the occasion for a worldwide judgment unparalleled in Scripture since the time of Noah’s flood.⁴¹⁷

But while God’s Word doesn’t come to us with condemnation – as His judgment does to the rebellious nations – it does have the power to shake us up. It is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). We have all had times when we have felt the Word of God touching those places that need our attention – areas of unforgiveness, anger, lust or pride. We might even call it “God’s X-ray machine,” because it always sees right through us!

When we are convicted by the Word of God it may hurt a little bit, but it helps us to realize how far we still have to go to be conformed to the likeness of Christ (Romans 8:29). But unlike the criticism the world dishes out, the Word of God carries with it the love of the Holy Spirit, prompting us to change our ways and also giving us the grace to do so. We can be thankful that the Bible works not only to take us away from sin, but also to bring us to new life. Truly, the Scriptures are the imperishable seed (First Peter 1:23) that can lead us to Jesus.

Father, thank You for Your Word. Give me a hunger to feast on its nourishment. Send me the fire of Your Holy Spirit that I may be conformed to the living Word, Jesus Christ. May the Scriptures penetrate my heart and change my life.⁴¹⁸