Revelation 20,21

The Millennium

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Revelation 12:12   “….But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.”

 

1 Peter 5:8   “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

 

The point here is that even though Lucifer has been confined to Earth and made invisible, his demonic efforts to overcome mankind have not been restricted.

 

However, the Bible tells us that at the fifth trumpet, the devil will be released from this invisible realm and he will receive a body and physically appear before the people of Earth:

 

Revelation 9:1   The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss….

 

Revelation 9:11   They [Lucifer’s angels] had a king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.” 

 

For the Jew (Hebrew) and the Gentile (Greek) alike the name means the same:

The “Destroyer.”

 

Visible to John

   Resurrection                           visible      Second

   Sunday                         5^th                       Coming

--------X---------------------X-------------------X-----------1000-----

                not visible                                          not visible

                                             The Destroyer

 

Revelation 17:8   The [lamb-like] beast, which you saw, once was [visible], now is not [visible], and will come up out of the Abyss [and be visible] and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth who names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was [visible], now is not [visible], and yet will come [up out of the abyss and be fully visible].”

 

At the Second Coming….

 

Revelation 20:3   He [the angel] threw him [Lucifer] into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations [ethnos – people anymore until the thousand years were ended.”

 

This sentence misleads a lot of good people. Many Christians read this verse and they think it affirms that Jesus and the saints will be on Earth during the 1,000 years because this sentence says that Satan cannot torment the nations (who must be present on Earth) until the 1,000 years are ended.

Let’s take a closer look:

 

Jesus said:

 

John 14:2   In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going thereto prepare a place for you.

 

John 14:3   And If I go [there] and prepare a place for you, I will come back [here] and take you [there] to be with me that you also may be where I am [going].”

 

Paul wrote:

 

1 Thessalonians 4:17   After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”

 

Question: Why do the dead and living saints meet the Lord in the air?

 

Simple:   Jesus said, “I will come back [here] and take you [to my Father’s house] to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

 

So, during the 1,000 years, the Earth will be desolate, dead, totally vacant of life and the oceans will be roaring with fire.  

 

The righteous will be with the Lord in Heaven (living in the New Jerusalem) and the wicked who were alive at the Second Coming will be dead – either burned up in the lake of sulfur or destroyed by the sword that came out of Jesus’ mouth.

 

Thus, Earth itself will receive a rest – the 1,000 years in Revelation 20 are a sabbatical millennium – a Sabbath rest of 1,000 years from the works of sin.”

 

The devil is put back in the Abyss so that he cannot torment or trouble anyone else in the whole universefor 1,000 years and this is the primary reason why God locks Lucifer in the Abyss on Earth during the 1,000 years.

 

In other words, the devil cannot travel to other worlds.

 

The devil cannot enter Heaven and bother the saints.

 

The devil cannot be seen! He will be locked up in an invisible state and chained to this uninhabitable Earth.

 

As they say in kindergarten: Lucifer and his angel’s are in timeout. They cannot go outside and bother the other children for 1,000 years.”

 

When these matters are synthesized, we have to conclude that the Bible means:

The devil will not be able to deceive anyone for 1,000 years, but he will continue his work of deception at the end of the 1,000 years. 6,000 years of relentless deception is simply terminated.

 

Revelation 20:3   “He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations [ethnos – people] anymore until the thousand years were ended.”

 

Verse 3 is more about Lucifer’s future actions than Lucifer’s actions during the 1,000 years.

 

The devil will produce one last deception at the end of the 1,000 years. We will see this in a moment.

 

The Bible abruptly introduces a prophetic time-period of 1,000 years in Revelation 20:2. Nothing is said elsewhere in the Bible about this prophetic time-period.

 

Revelation 20:2   He [the angel] seized the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.”

 

So, here’s a good question.

 

Since the 1,000 years occurs after the Second Coming, why do we need to know about the 1,000 years right now?

 

Why do we need to know the length of time the devil will be held in the Abyss?

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