Revelation 20:1-15 Part 4

REVELATION 20:1-15 Part 4

 

1)        Then I saw a messenger holding the abyss key and a great chain in its hand coming down out of the heaven,

2)        and it laid hold on the dragon, (the old serpent that is diabolos and the satan) and bound it a thousand years

3)        and cast it into the abyss and locked and sealed over it so that it couldn’t further deceive the Gentiles until the thousand years is complete; afterward it is necessary to loose it a short time.

4)        Then I saw seats; and the lives of those who had been stricken because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the Word of God and who did not adore the beast or its image and did not take its mark on their forehead or on their hand, sat on them; and judgment was granted to them; and they did live; and they prevailed with The Christ a thousand years.

5)        The remaining dead did not live until the thousand years was completed.  This is the first resurrection.

6)        Blessed and hallowed is one having part in the first resurrection.  The second death has no authority over them!  They will be priests of God and The Christ and reign with Him a thousand years!

7)        And when the thousand years is completed, the satan will be loosed from its confinement.

8)        And it will come out to deceive the Gentiles in the four extremities of the earth (the gog and magog), the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

9)        And they arose over the breadth of the earth and encircled the fortress of the holy ones and the city of the beloved, and fire descended from the heaven and consumed them.

10)    And the devil (the one deceiving them) was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone (where also are the beast and the false prophet), and they will be tormented day and night into the ages of the ages.

11)    Then I saw a magnificent white seat, and One sitting on it at Whose appearance the earth and the heaven did vanish, for no place was found for them;

12)    and I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the seat, and books were opened.  Then the other book was opened which is of the living.  And the dead were judged from what was written in the books according to their works.

13)    And the sea did yield the dead in her; and death and hades did yield the dead in them, and they were judged according to their works;

14)    then death and hades were cast into the lake of fire.  This is the second death (the lake of fire).

15)    Anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

 

The King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the One now with all authority in the heaven and on the earth, has “made it known” to the daughter of Zion that which was now “necessary to be done in quickness”.

There is a new humanity born – brought forth - into this creation of God – the visible manifestation of which is the Church.  In God’s perception it was “birthed out of Zion” in much the same way that the state of Israel was birthed out of Egypt.  The birth of a nation out of Egypt was prophetic of this New Humanity that was to be birthed from Zion. 

And it (this new humanity) is ruled by the One Who died for it and birthed it and baptized it!

And HE, our Lord Jesus Christ, was given all authority at His ascension; and at His Parousia His rule will be over all the mountains (all the authorities) of the earth.  It is the “new Mount Zion” (as it is seen and defined from the heaven); it is the Kingdom of God and of His Son (the old mount zion having been cast into the sea).  And His new humanity rules with Him – in Him.

And this new humanity (having been birthed in the Christ and baptized into Him)… we are NOT the aliens here.  We are not the “illegals”.  Having been born into Him, we are the legal heirs and citizens of this creation – ruled by the One with the scepter of iron (the eternal standard of Yahveh).

As much as they might claim it for themselves, none of this belongs to illegals!  In as much as they may contest the authority of the Christ and, by insolence and bravado, assert their own authority, they are still illegals!  There is a NEW humanity; and there will be a new heavens and a new earth… newborns all, birthed into the body of the “second Adam”.  And all the others are encroachers and trespassers – aliens after the order of Adam and Cain and Esau, and cursed of God.

That’s the “cursed” humanity.

All the creation is “ruled” by the One Who created it and has authority over it; the One Who is revealed to John having the Sword proceeding from His mouth; the One Who rides from the heaven on the white horse “overcoming and to overcome”; the One Who appears to John as Archangel Michael – the Commander of all the messengers of God in the glory cloud; the One revealed Whose legs stand as “pillars” on the land and the sea; the pillars of the earth attached to this One Who is revealed as the “Rock” to which the cosmos adheres and is sustained.

He is Savior of this world and the Ruler of it all.  And He has “brought forth” in Himself a new humanity washed in the blood of the Lamb, baptized in Holy Spirit, birthed into the wildernesses of Gentile nations.  And He has “many” in the nations who belong to Him!

But these lost sheep of the house of Jacob who have been “found” are the “firstborn” of The Christ; they are the “Dew of Yahveh” from His new “mountain of Zion”.  And all those after them are their heirs to the Kingdom.  That’s us.

They were the firstborn of the Christ – the Daughter of Zion (we after them), for they kept the Commandments of God and held the testimony of Jesus.

And by the Sword of His mouth and the work of His Spirit, the cursed creation (which includes all the aliens and the powers of the air) will be overcome (for He is the “Overcomer”).  Pretenders to His authority will be destroyed until all the earth acknowledges His Kingship.

We are not “salt and light” in a world that belongs to somebody else – or something else!  We’re the legal OWNERS in Christ.  We aren’t “invading” a land ruled by another king; there is no other king!  It’s only a creation that has “aliens” in it… and there is a “pretension” of ownership by them!  But the gates of hades won’t prevail; they’re thrown wide open.  And every one and every thing that won’t acknowledge the Kingship of Christ will be cast into the lake of fire!

So, we need to stop acting like homeless wanderers, or pilgrims, in a foreign land!

Just because there are creatures all around with an attitude?  Act like refugees on our own property?  Do we ask permission of aliens to be newborn in Christ and to rule with Him?

I’ll just give you a few hints about the pretenders – those who “pretend” that they have ownership of, and authority over, this creation of God.

They make up stuff about how this world came to be, so they don’t have to be under authority.

They say that the rules of societies change with the times; and that’s so they don’t have to repent from what they love to do.  Rules on others are great, as long as they don’t apply to them.  But it’s the Christians that are a threat to their lifestyle (actually The Christ is the Threat – indicating that they really do know who the real authority is!), so they try to ridicule us or intimidate us, and otherwise marginalize us.  And they’re so bold as to re-define us as if they also own the language!

Some of them actually seek to subvert and repress The Faith (anything that has to do with Christianity), and they’ll do it by force if they have to (some even want to – and seek an opportunity!).  There is repression, persecution and torture and murder actually going on right now in many places of the world.

Many of them would like for you to disappear, and they would make you disappear.

Some say the Church is okay as long as it stays where it belongs and doesn’t foment sedition against the “powers that be”; after all, religion is only a “crutch”.

They say that one religion is just as good (or bad) as another… Christianity especially needs to keep its mouth shut and its “holier than thou” rules to itself.

These are just “hints”, as I said; but, you see, these folks are made in the image of God; and they live in the creation – His creation; and the creation is made to look like His sanctuary in the glory cloud.  So the knowledge of God in all His might and glory is all around them… and even IN them (since they’re His image); and they can’t get away from it.

However, they constantly expend their energy denying everything about themselves and everything about the creation in which they live!  They deny it all!  And they don’t want anybody telling them that all of this doesn’t belong to them!

And it gives them great confidence when we act like homeless people who are intimidated.  That gives them a sense of power that they don’t have.

The One Who has all authority in the heaven and on the earth OWNs His creation – and we IN HIM.  And it’s our job to bring the King’s Word to bear on everything, including the aliens who pretend that they own it!

They can speak and act with authority and its okay.  But when we speak and act with the authority of the King, then we’re hated.  They don’t like it when their pretensions are exposed and overruled!  But we must be the corrective – in the Name of the King and by His Word – without shame and without being intimidated, because we – you – own it In Him.  Then if they continue to deny the Word of the King, then you’ve done what is expected of you in asserting His authority; for that’s how He “overcomes” this world order!  The keys of the Kingdom consists of apostolic doctrine!

Okay.  Now.  There are other kinds of creatures in this creation that use that denial (the denial of the illegals) in order to further provoke these people against Christ and His Church (although much of the time cursed humanity doesn’t really need much provocation – they’re pretty good at it on their own).

And these other creatures have a leader (the leader also being under the authority of the Christ).  And this creature (the one that’s the leader) is highly motivated… its goal being to cut off, or interrupt, the covenant that our Triune God has made with His people and with His creation.

And its provocations range all the way from inciting world conflagrations (on the one hand), to instigating suffering in order to turn one of God’s elect.  If it could just cause one newborn in Christ to be aborted post-partum, then our God’s covenantal faithfulness would be subject to accusation by this creature!

So, suffering and persecution of the Lord’s people, and false witness against us, are all prompted and aroused by this creature in order to disconnect (separate) our Lord’s elect from His covenant.  This creature desires to provoke us and incite us to rebellion against our Savior and King.

On the other hand, the Lord Jesus Christ has authority over the creature and all of its sycophant parasites.  They do only that which He authorizes!

The great wisdom of Solomon was a brief foreshadowing of the Source of Wisdom to come. When he built the temple on the dome of the rock in Jerusalem, he built a gate through the wall of the city called the “dung gate” (as we heard last Lord’s Day).  And all the human and animal “waste” was carried out to be dumped in the valley to the southeast.  It was called the valley of gehenna; and there was a continual fire there burning the waste; and there were the flies and other scavengers among all the waste and garbage.

Gehenna came to be an analogy of the “pit” called hades; and the creature opposing the Lord and His people was called the lord of the flies and the lord of the dung.

And that’s a good example of the wisdom of the One Who has all authority in the heaven and the earth; for He uses this creature for His Own purposes… this “dung lord”.  It is the lord of all that is to be burned eternally.

 

But remember that, in the last days, our Lord had a substantial number of His Own in Rome itself.  Those Jews who had come to Passover and stayed for Pentecost 30AD included some (maybe many) from Rome.  And they went home as “newborn babes in Christ” and founded His Church there right in the seat of world power. 

And, of course, some of the elect from the lost sheep of the house of Jacob (found by our Lord and His disciples) ended up going there – to Rome – where their families and tribe members were located.  So the Church was thriving even under persecution in the very heart of world tyranny.

But the creature itself, fomenting and inflaming hatred and war and terror, and inciting passions in Rome in its effort to cut off the covenantal salvation of the world, could do nothing except our Lord’s will; the newborns who were there belonged to Him and to none other.

Listen to the apostle Paul (who wrote his letter to the Churches in Rome before our Lord’s Parousia, and during the frenzied power of the fourth beast).  He said:

 

31) …If God is for us, who is against us?

32) He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also, with him, freely give us all things?

33) Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God Who justifies;

34) who is he that condemns? It is Christ Jesus that died, yea also Who was raised from death, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

35) Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36) Even as it is written, For Your sake we are killed all the day long; We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

37) No, in all these things we are more than “overcomers” through him Who loved us.

38) For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angel/messengers, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,

39) nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

“Nor any other creature”!  So, the creature (the great beast), while fomenting world-wide conflagration in Rome (that ultimately destroyed the temple and the city and the nation of Israel) was also attempting to separate just one (out of many), just one newborn in Christ from his Lord.  NOT FROM THE INSIDE (it has no power to do that), but from the outside – by intimidation, by scorn, by persecution, through suffering, by fear of torture and death… by whatever means possible.  It’s very good at inciting hatred and ridicule for the King and His people.

But, you see, it’s not able to separate even one of the Lord’s newborns, for they are already rebirthed into His new humanity.  Paul knew the power and intent of the satan, and he knew of the horrific persecution of the Church; and he assures them that no other creature can separate them from the love of God.  The Father loves the Son and all who are In Him.  We are “new creations” in Him.

But this creature and all its legions of minions persecute the Christ and His Church.  It must do that!  Its whole desire was to cut off the covenant.  It’s done everything it could since the garden!  And in the absence of any success in accomplishing that, it must prolong the completion of the covenantal promise!  (And it has a really favorite way to do it; it uses the illegals who think they own everything!)

But what’s the covenantal promise?  The salvation of the world!  What happens when our Lord finishes His work?  The creature and all its followers go into the lake of fire and brimstone beneath the throne of God.  So, what choice does it have?

And as far as our Lord’s authority over the creature is concerned, there’s no better place to look than in Matthew chapter twelve, where the demons and Beelzeboul are the context.  The same words there are also recorded by Mark and by Luke, by the way; and we referred to it last week.

Here it is, from Matthew twelve:

 

“ … how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?  Then, indeed, he may plunder his house.”

 

In the Lord’s analogy, He is the one who owns the strong man’s house!  So he just goes in and “binds” the strong man and takes everything that’s His.

And you remember our lengthy discussion of “binding” and “loosing”.  Whatsoever is “loosed” on the earth shall have already been loosed in the heaven; and whatever is “bound” on earth shall have already been bound in the heaven.  So the creature is bound in the heaven by the Sword of the Christ; and it can’t stop Jesus Christ from snatching away whatever is His from the Gentile nations.

So the Lord has this creature completely under His authority; and He uses it deceptively in order to complete His work (as prophesied)!  And the two great examples of that are right here in the Revelation; for the destruction of Israel and Jerusalem and the temple was for one purpose – that of the Christ, and for an entirely different purpose – that of the creature!

The creature thought, and always did, that the destruction of Israel would cut off the covenant (that’s what the four beasts of history were all about!); but the Christ wanted it destroyed because there was to be a new heaven and a new earth, and a new Jerusalem and a new temple; for the old was obsolete!

The second example comes from the words of the apostle Paul to the Church at Corinth (as reiterated in the seven letters to the Churches here in The Revelation), when Paul said that the Church was under full frontal attack “in order that those who are approved are made manifest among you”.  In other words, the persecution and suffering and the false witness and the heretics and the ridicule and the scorn and the beheadings with the sword made it very clear who the real newborns in Christ were!

So the creature and all its minions had a purpose in raising up false teachers and false prophets and heresies and provocations and persecutions in its effort to shut down the extension of the Kingdom into the nations.

However, under the authority of the Christ, the creature was performing a work FOR HIM in manifesting those who belonged to Christ; for the newborns in Christ were the ones who refused to be turned.  They kept the commandments of God and held the testimony of Jesus.

And let me say two things here before we get to verse three.  Illegals don’t keep the Commandments of God, and they don’t hold the testimony of Jesus.  And they heap scorn and ridicule on you, and even persecute you, when they’re corrected by the Word of the King and Owner of this creation.

And, secondly, we know who the newborns in Christ are; for they are the ones keeping the Commandments of God and holding the testimony of Jesus.

And so we are to speak with the authority of the King; for we are charged with making disciples in all the nations – baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that He commands.  And we don’t know, among all the illegals, who His elect people are – those who He will rebirth!  What we DO know is that He has promised to save the world and return it to the Father in its pristine, edenic condition.

He will do that – by the Word of His Power; He is the Overcomer.  Our job is to speak with His authority.  The keys of the Kingdom are apostolic doctrine and preaching!  And He will bring forth the consequences… whether salvific or judgmental.

 

The exodus was a deliverance from leviathan – the dragon.  The One – the Strength of Yahveh – His strong Right Arm Who dealt with the dragon with authority, is the One Who has authority over the waters and the day and the night and the land and the sea and summer and winter.

And notice please that the Psalmist – inspired of Holy Spirit – uses the plural when revealing the work of Yahveh’s Strength.  He broke the “heads” (plural) of leviathan.  And as Daniel describes the beasts in his prophecy, there were seven heads.  And as John describes the appearance of the sign of the dragon, it has seven heads.

So the sign of the dragon is to remind all of God’s chosen people scattered among the nations that this is the same beast that Yahveh revealed at the creation; it is the same beast that He revealed at the exodus; and it is the same beast behind the four beast-nations of Daniel’s prophecy.

And John specifically names this beast, doesn’t he… here in our text?  It is the dragon, the serpent of old, the whole world’s deceiver; it is diabolos – devil; it is ‘o satanas – the satan.

It has been cursed by Yahveh; however, it should not be cursed by you and me.  Since it has been cursed by our Lord, it would be presumptuous for you or me to curse it; that would be taking on an authority that you and I don’t have.  It is a “dignity” of the world order that our God has condemned already.  So there is no need whatever for further condemnation.  And, further, the act of assuming the authority of God to curse and condemn His dignities is an arrogance unbefitting of a newborn in Christ.

Calling it by proper name; and speaking to it; and commanding it; and even cursing it (as if it somehow was under our authority) is precocious and haughty; it is being insubordinate to God’s authority and purpose for the creature.

And, besides, speaking to it presumes that it has an omnipresence and ubiquity that it doesn’t possess!  Speaking to it assumes that it has the nature of Father, Son and Spirit, when it is only a creature!  Speaking to it, then, is an act of idolatry (in addition to being presumptuous).

Therefore there also is no need to “dignify” it, either!  Calling it by a proper name is giving it a dignity that it has not been given by God.  God calls it a “beast” (the great beast), the sign of which is a dragon!  It is a “devil”; it has no proper name.  “Satan” is written in the text of Scripture with the article in front; it is “the” satan.  It is “the” serpent.  It is “the” dragon.  It is “the” great beast (in contradistinction to the four beasts it raised up from the sea).

Following the Biblical data revealing a third, and a third, and a third (which we’ve seen in previous chapters) this devil led a third of the “lights” of the glory cloud (messengers of God) in a rebellion against their Creator, manifesting two thirds as obedient!  Remember that these are all under the authority of God and all doing His will – ultimately for His Own glory.

Also remember that there is no shed blood for them; there is no Savior for them; the Savior is the Savior of the world.  These devils are predestined to the lake of fire for the glory of Father, Son and Spirit.

The devil is bound in its own darkness; it does only what it is authorized to do. And not only is it bound in its own darkness, but it’s now bound from deceiving us Gentiles while it’s “house” is being stripped of its goods; it is deceived into doing what it does; it has a decreed “termination point”; and all its activity is for the purpose of manifesting the Lord’s newborns!

For four or five thousand years of creation history, it did its worst to abort the birth of God-man – the male child.  But at-the appointed-time He – the man-child – was made manifest!

And, now, for the Church, the sign of the dragon is shown to the Church; for the daughter of Zion is made manifest in its Lord.  And the beast will, once again, do its worst to incite another world dominion to quash the Church… or even to abort just one of His newborns.

The Church, by this sign, is to remember those millennia of creation history, and Israel’s history, and be strengthened in the providential care in which she was “brought forth”.

So we, too, two thousand years later, must recall that history; for we are the “seed” of the daughter of Zion; and we, too, will be strengthened in it.  And although we can in no way be “boastful” in it (since it is all of grace), we must “delight” in being manifest as newborns in Christ – keeping His Commandments and holding the testimony of Jesus.

 

But the conflict between the dragon and the Christ is decreed by Yahveh from the beginning!  Here it is from Genesis three at verse fifteen:

 

“ … I put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; and he crushes your head, and you bruise his heel.”

 

Please note that Moses’ direct quote from Yahveh uses the masculine gender – He.  The “seed” of the woman is a man-child; and He would crush the head of the serpent dragon.

Later, when the apostle is writing to the Church that’s in the belly of the fourth beast – Rome, Paul explains to them that the “Seed” that is anticipated from the beginning is Jesus Christ and all His newborns in Him… all of them!

Also see that the “conflict” between the serpent/dragon and the Seed is, for the most part, misunderstood.  As I said, the direct quote from Yahveh is a decree!  It isn’t a “forecast” of what might occur; neither is it a ”war for supremacy”.  But it is a decree.  So it should be perfectly obvious as to Who is in complete authority here.

And therefore the conflict is not warfare between two parties struggling for an advantage!  As you already know, that misappropriation of the text of Scripture with regard to the serpent’s place and power has led many to some seriously bad conclusions and practices.

But the so-called “conflict” has to do with the devil’s attempt, all through history, to “devour”, or “swallow” the child – the “Seed”, the Christ and His new humanity in Him.

And since it is decreed by Yahveh, the attempts not only always fail, but they are all purposefully used by Yahveh to manifest the Seed for His Own glory – to manifest those In Him!  Christ and His Church have invaded the great beast’s domain; and the fourth beast-empire is, at the writing of the Revelation, at the height of its prominence!   It’s the one Daniel described as the ferocious one with the teeth of iron and ten horns!  And the Churches desperately needed the assurance and comfort that came with this letter!

We, too, need to know it; for we are in the time during which satan’s domain is being plundered.  And although it doesn’t like it, it can’t do anything about it… it’s bound in the heaven by the Sword of the Christ!  All it knows to do is to try to extend its time.

But it can’t even do that, since our Lord’s finished work is decreed!  All of its “thrashing around” to persecute the Church is only further deception, since it’s for the purpose of manifesting all that belongs to the Christ!

 So all of this is for our comfort and assurance as well; for we are the “seed” of the daughter of Zion – newborns in Him (as were they).  And even the creation itself “yearns” for its deliverance.

And who are we that we should be free of the persecution that He suffered, and that the firstfruits – the daughter of Zion – suffered?  Who are we that we should not be manifest through satanic provocation?!  Everything that we know indicates that we should expect it rather than beg to be free of it!  Everything we know indicates that we should anticipate it rather than recoil and cringe and tremble at every approach of it – at every appearance of it!

Our Lord told the Judaists, “you are of your father the devil”!  The seed of the devil are always being incited against the seed of the woman.  It’s a constant; it doesn’t give up… it has no other choice!  So we ought to expect it, since it and its minions haven’t yet been consigned to eternal punishment!

It is bound and locked and sealed by the Sword of The Christ for a thousand years while the Spirit of Christ from the heaven takes everything that belongs to Him.

You see, the Daystar has arisen; and the satan can do nothing about all its domain being enlightened through apostolic preaching and teaching of the Gospel of God – the Sword of the Spirit of Christ!  He has arisen!  And He IS King!  And the darkness will be de-constructed and made light in the nations, tribes and tongues of the earth!  It is the “Day of the Lord”; and this creation will reflect the reign and rule of Jesus Christ, and it will acknowledge Him as its King!  It was decreed; and it was promised; and therefore it IS!

Since all of the thousands of the tribes of Jacob were sent into the nations with the Sword of the Christ (the message), many thousands of Gentiles have already been rebirthed into Him!  Therefore the questions and pronouncements concerning when Christ’s Kingdom is to be established on earth, and how long that Kingdom is to last, are from pseudoprophets; and they arise out of unbelief!

They won’t believe His decree; they won’t believe His promise; they refuse to understand the present reign and rule of King Jesus; and they will not receive the language of His Gospel!

They aren’t preaching apostolic doctrine, and they don’t place any value in, or regard for, God’s language and perspective.  And so there is chaos and confusion and disorder in the Churches!  And the Lord’s people are not being assured and comforted… they’re being mystified and frightened!

And one of the prime examples of that confusion is the half dozen (or so) super-imposed versions of the thousand years during which the satan is bound from deceiving us Gentiles!

You see, John didn’t make this up!  It’s language that He heard; and he heard it from God in His tabernacle in the heaven.  It’s His language; it’s how He uses the words… rather than how men have “interpreted” the words.  You can’t just say, “well, what can we make of this…”, and then decide on something and declare it to be so… when God has used the same language from the beginning!

What we’re to do (rather than just decide for ourselves), what we’re to do is to see how God has spoken all through the Scripture.  And there must be a thousand instances in God’s Word in which He has revealed His use of the word “thousand”!

So, rather than making something up, shouldn’t we just read those?

It would take us hours rather than minutes.  But if we were to do so, we would find that when God revealed His ownership, or His covenant, or His people, it’s in terms of “thousands”.  And the word always has to do with “all” of them.

The number of messengers in God’s glory cloud is revealed as “ten thousands of ten thousands”. 

The blessing on Isaac’s future wife Rebekkah was that her seed would number thousands of thousands.  She gave birth to Jacob whose remnant elect was a hundred and forty-four thousands.

God said that He would show lovingkindness to the thousandth generation of those loving Him and keeping His Commandments.

God said that He had kept for Himself seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to ba’al.

“For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.” (Psalm 50)

“The chariots of God are twenty thousand, yea thousands upon thousands.”  (Psalm 68)

“For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand.”  (Psalm 84)

“For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, And as a watch in the night.”  (Psalm 90)

“He has remembered his covenant for ever, the Word which he commanded to the thousandth generation.”  (Psalm 105)

And the apostle Peter as he quotes from Psalm ninety: “But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

 

Just these few of the hundreds of instances give us a clear understanding of God’s intent in His use of the term.  God owns the cattle on all of the hills… not just a thousand of them, and not just a large number of them… ALL of them.

God has remembered His covenant to ALL the generations… not just to the thousandth one; and not to a great many of them… ALL of them.

A day in YAHVEH’s courts is better than ALL the days in the tents of wickedness!  (Not just a thousand of them.)

So when we come to our text at verse three, we have to hear the language as God has revealed it!  It’s how HE uses it.  This is the “capstone” of the prophetic Word; and what assurance would there be for the Church if God just suddenly changed the way He spoke!

But you see, it’s not God’s Revelation that’s changed!  What’s changed is how men choose to receive it!  Premillennialists and dispensationalists view the prophetic Word to John as something new; and they ask themselves “what does this mean?”  And so they manipulate it to fit some pre-conceived notions about a thousand year reign of Jesus from Jerusalem!  Amillennialists and postmillennialists assume that it means a very, very long time.

But we shouldn’t be asking ourselves “what does this mean”!  That just leaves it wide open for man’s “interpretation” of what is seen as a new and mysterious word from God!  It’s not new; and it’s not mysterious!  Rather, the question is “what has God said”!  And what He said to John was: “ALL of them”!  Not “a very, very long time”… but ALL of them.  The satan is bound from deceiving the Gentiles for ALL of the years decreed.

By the Sword of His Mouth, our Lord will finish de-creating the darkness and shadow of death over all of the satan’s domain; and He will bring the light of the day over ALL the nations and tribes and tongues.  And ALL the years are decreed.  The word here is used as God has always used it.

There’s the comfort and assurance to the Churches, you see; for “the time is near” as John writes this letter; and the enraged dragon would be bound; and it would be dispossessed of its domain, for the “day” of the Lord was at hand.  The Dayspring from on high had arisen!

Listen to John the baptizer’s father as he prophesied the coming of “Dayspring”.

 

68) Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,

69) And has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David

70) as he did speak by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began,

71) that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;

72) to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant,

73) the oath which he sware to our father Abraham,

74) That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,

75) in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.

76) And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Highest; for you shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;

77) to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins,

78) through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high has visited us,

79) To give light to them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

 

From the time of the firstfruits (the elect of the house of Jacob), know that the “seed” has been persecuted by this creature from the beginning.  But all of the Lord’s newborns are manifest in it all.  Dayspring from on high will complete His work of bringing light to all the nations; for all of the years are decreed.  So be composed; be comforted; be in repose amidst it all.  Keep His commandments; hold the testimony of Jesus; deliver the message.