1I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2He seized the dragon, the old serpent, who is the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, and bound him for a thousand years, 3and cast him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time.
4I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and such as didn’t worship the beast nor his image, and didn’t receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand. They lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5The rest of the dead didn’t live until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him one thousand years.
7And after the thousand years, Satan will be released from his prison 8and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9They went up over the width of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. Fire came down out of heaven from God and devoured them. 10The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
11I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them. 12I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. They were judged, each one according to his works. 14Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.
Rest, Rule, and Reign
Rest, Rule, and Reign
I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 He seized the dragon, the old serpent, who is the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth,and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and cast him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time.
For a while, many of us who have lived in Grimes County, Texas, knew a lady we called“Miss Dorothy”. She was a Seventh-Day Adventist, and she would come and eat at the Emporium (an antique store) when my wife, Sandy, offered a Wednesday noon-day community luncheon. Dorothy would pray with power and always end with the statement, “May we rest, rule, and reign with you in the time that is to come.” It sounded funny and quaint to all of us, but it was actually very biblical (see 1 Corinthians 6:2-3). We don’t have many details about all of this, but quite a lot has been written on this Millennial Reign.
I never really thought much about all of this until I read Joel Richardson's book “When a Jew Rules the World.” It was truly a fascinating book. It altered how I think about heaven. Before reading the book, I supposed heaven to be an ethereal place where we would all sort of move around in a dream-like state. Richardson presents life on earth during the Millennial Reign as a time of living much as we live now - gardening, riding horses, working together - but with total peace on the earth. Richardson offers prophetic support for the claim that Jesus, the Son of David, will be on the throne, ruling from Jerusalem. I have no idea whether this is an entirely accurate portrayal, but it is a much more exciting version of “heaven” than I had ever imagined.
John finally identifies“the dragon, that serpent of old” as none other than Satan, also called Lucifer, the glorious fallen angel of old who has led the earth’s rebellion against God since the Garden of Eden. John is watching as Satan is put into handcuffs, so to speak, and is taken to the abyss. He will be bound for 1,000 years. John then tells us that after these 1,000 years, Satan will once again be released upon the earth. I’ll leave that illogical thought for another discussion. We who have already died will be in our new resurrected, glorified bodies. We will no longer have a sinful nature. We are the bride of Christ. I’m not sure what we’ll be doing in this rebuilt earth, but Richardson says we’ll be tending gardens and partnering with nature to “produce beauty and sweetness.”[1] Boy, I like the sound of that. I can’t imagine raising vegetables without every kind of pest and weed imaginable trying to rob me of the fruits of my labor. And I suppose we’ll be participating in the things that Ms. Dorothy prayed about. We will be resting, ruling, and reigning with Jesus. The entire way the earth operates will be turned on its side. Reader, you, I, and all other believers have some really fantastic things to look forward to. In the meantime, follow Jesus. Look to the Spirit to lead you this very day, knowing that someday, all will be set right in the world, and Jesus will sit on His throne forever.
[1] Joel Richardson, When a Jew Rules the World, 2015, WND Books, p.85