The Consummation
The events that will take place when Satan is loosed from the pit
Although the Millennial Kingdom will
have very remarkable beginnings accompanied by miraculous changes in the
Earth’s ecology and topology, these things will be nothing more than
history lessons for those born into the Kingdom of King Jesus. Those
born into the Kingdom Age will have very little knowledge of aspects of
the curse such as sickness, aging, and death. The vast majority will
live throughout the whole thousand years of the Kingdom of King Jesus.
“7 And when the thousand years are
expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to
deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and
Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the
sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and
compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire
came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil
that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where
the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and
night for ever and ever.” (Revelation 20:7-10).
During the Kingdom Age, millions (probably billions) will be
born to those who enter it after surviving the Tribulation in their
natural (non-glorified) bodies. This number of people does not
include any of those that were resurrection from the dead and
glorified. The survivors of the Tribulation will still possess a sin
nature and will produce children with sin natures. Those raptured
(translated without dying) and those resurrected out from the dead will
be given glorified bodies. These two groups of people will co-exist
during the Kingdom Age.
Tragically, at the end of the Kingdom Age and the thousand-year
reign of Christ on Earth, Satan will be loosed from the Abyss and will
deceive many of these people born into the Kingdom Age. The
tragedy is that so many will be deceived and follow him. These people
will follow Satan in rebellion against Christ. These individuals only
emphasize the depravity of the fallen nature. Living in an almost
perfect and moral society, they rebel for want of sin. As these rebels
surround the “Camp of the saints” and the “beloved city” from where
Christ reigns, as they shake their fists of “enmity against God” and His
righteousness for one last time, the consuming fire of God descends
upon them from heaven and devours them alive. Here, prophecy gives us a
vision of the end of the world and the dissolution of the first
creation.
“3 Knowing this first, that there
shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4
And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers
fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the
creation. 5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of
God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water
and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed
with water, perished: 7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by
the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of
judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (II Peter 3:3-7).
There will be “scoffers” in every age, including the Kingdom Age.
There will be those born during the Kingdom Age who will have no
experiential knowledge of the horrors of the Tribulation judgments.
These people will begin to think of the then historical devastation of
the Earth only as myths and fairy-tale stories of old people. Even in a
world occupied and governed by the incarnate Jehovah (King Jesus) and
where false doctrine and false worship practices will not be tolerated;
even in this, environment unbelief will grow due to the fallen nature of
humanity. Even with those born into the Kingdom Age dwelling alongside
resurrected and glorified believers, unbelief will continue. In the
hard-heartedness of lost and fallen beings to the truths of God’s Word,
the spiritual realities of death and condemnation will be ridiculed
while rejecting the gift of God’s grace. Peter then reassures believers
with a simple truth. God operates outside of our time/space/matter
continuum.
“8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of
this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a
thousand years as one day” (II Peter 3:8).
Although this text teaches that God does not operate according
to our time-table, the reference to the fact that “one day is with the
Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” is actually
referring to the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord began at
the beginning of the Tribulation and extends through the Kingdom Age.
The Kingdom Age is the one-thousand-year reign of the Lord Jesus Christ
on Earth.
The understanding of natural, unregenerate people is to see what
appears to be God’s inactivity as God’s absence. What they interpret
as God’s inactivity is actually God’s long-suffering. Then, in
the next leap of unregenerate logic, they see God’s inactivity as God’s
non-existence. These people will know nothing outside of the scope of
their own sight, touch, smell, taste, and hearing (I Corinthians 2:9).
The point is that having known no other existence than the one in which
they live, they think the way it is to them then is the way it has
always been. Even though they will have the glorified Jesus Christ and
glorified believers from all ages as their neighbors, they will not
believe or understand the supernatural nature of the existence in which
they live.
We really are no different. We say we believe, but we
do not live and pray as if the spiritual existence that God describes in
the Bible exists. If we really believed, we would live differently and
we would pray differently. The point of all of this is that even
though people can profess to believe in God and believe the Bible, they
can also live in a type of spiritual limbo that never really connects
them to the supernatural existence into which they have been “born
again” of the Spirit of God. If we were to be honest, we would
understand that this describes most of us that call ourselves
believers. Though we believe in God, we do not live to really gain the
heart of God and the mind of God in our living. The potential for what
Christ said in John 14:12-14 has been seldom realized during the Church
Age. There is a faith disconnect to the potential of which Christ
speaks in this text.
“12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He
that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater
works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 13 And
whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may
be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will
do it” (John 14:12-14).
Faith is intended to connect our minds and our lives to the
spiritual existence of God and His will for us. To understand and
believe that God is our Creator is to understand and believe He has
sovereign authority over our lives. In other words, God has the
authority, the right, to tell us how He expects us to live under His
sovereignty. He expects us to want to obey EVERYTHING He says and live
as His subjects. His grace offers to provide us both the choice and the
power for both. Faith is a choice. However, faith is more than a mere
choice to believe.
Faith is a choice to believe in the
God of the Bible that is accompanied with seeking to live for Him,
worship Him, and seeking to please Him in all we think, say, feel, and
do. To believe God is different than believing in God. To actually
believe God connects the person believing in God to another dimension of
existence that is supernatural. To believe God is to believe that God
will do all that He says He will do and the things God says He will do
can be considered promises. To live within those promises as if they
might happen at any moment is the life of faith.
“9 The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to
us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the
night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and
the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works
that are therein shall be burned up” (II Peter 3:9-10).
The idea that God forgets His promises and His prophecies,
because it seems to take so long for many of these prophecies to be
fulfilled, is foolishness. What is a thousand years compared to
eternity? “The day of the Lord will come”! This is a reality
for which every Christian should live every moment of his life. If we
are consciously aware of the fact that we live within a doomed and
cursed creation, it should govern the way we live our lives before the
eyes of the Lord. The point of II Peter 3:9-10 is that what we know now
only by our five senses will all culminate in accountability before the
Lord Who created it all.
If we can conceive of, and believe in, an existence outside of
the time/space/matter continuum we presently know, we then MUST live in a
manner that is governed by principles far beyond the simplistic
principles of our present corrupt civilizations. II Peter 3:11
speaks of “holy conversation and godliness.” In other words, we need
to begin to think in terms of being like God. Most people, including
most Christians, just cannot seem to grasp God’s expectations regarding
the way we live our lives. II Peter 3:11-18 defines God’s expectations
very thoroughly.
“11 Seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy
conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming
of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved,
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we,
according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousness. 14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for
such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without
spot, and blameless. 15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord
is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the
wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 16 As also in all his
epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things
hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest,
as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. 17 Ye
therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye
also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own
stedfastness. 18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen” (II
Peter 3:11-18).
Throughout the Kingdom Age, the faithful Church Age believers
will live and rule with Christ in their glorified bodies. Uniquely,
they will be the Priesthood of Christ that will rule the Kingdom Age as
kings and priests judging the world according to the righteousness of
God. This judgment is referred to in Scripture as a “rod of iron”
(Revelation 2:27). Paul speaks of this judgment in I
Corinthians chapter six as he rebukes the church at Corinth for seeking
judgments upon other brothers from the civil courts rather than bringing
these matters to be decided by the Church. This certainly silences the
argument of the judge me not Christians of our present days.
“1 Dare any of you, having a matter
against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?
2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the
world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest
matters? 3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things
that pertain to this life? 4 If then ye have judgments of things
pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the
church. 5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man
among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his
brethren” (I Corinthians 6:1-5)?
At the end of the Kingdom Age, the “devil” is immediately cast
into the “lake of fire and brimstone” where the “beast” and the “false
prophet” are, having already spent a thousand years there in torment.
Then God will call every lost rebel from among humanity before His Great
White Throne to be eternally judged.
“36 Then Jesus sent the multitude
away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying,
Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. 37 He answered
and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 38
The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom;
but the tares are the children of the wicked one; 39 The enemy that
sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the
reapers are the angels. 40 As therefore the tares are gathered and
burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41 The Son
of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his
kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 42 and shall
cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing
of teeth. 43 Shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom
of their Father {the new Heaven/Earth}. Who hath ears to hear, let him
hear” (Matthew 13:36-43).
“For, behold, the day cometh, that
shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly,
shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the
LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch”
(Malachi 4:1).
The passing away of heaven and earth will begin at this same
time and is what is referred to in Malachi 4:1. This is defined in the
following Scriptures:
“And I saw a great white throne, and
him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away;
and there was found no place for them” (Revelation 20:11).
“And I saw a new heaven and a new
earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and
there was no more sea” (Revelation 21:1).
“26 Whose voice then shook the earth:
but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth
only, but also heaven. 27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the
removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made,
that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Wherefore we
receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved {the new Heaven/Earth}, let us
have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and
godly fear: 29 for our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:26-29).
“10 But the day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a
great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth
also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then
that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought
ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and
hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on
fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a
new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (II Peter 3:10-13).
The dissolving of the first creation, the “heaven” and the
planets, all begins in Revelation 20:9. From our perspective of time
today, this cannot take place for at least one-thousand and seven
years. This includes the seven years of the Tribulation and
the one-thousand-year Kingdom Age. The end of the world is NOT
Armageddon. Those who speak of Armageddon as the end of the world
simply expose their ignorance of Bible prophecy.
“And they went up on the breadth of
the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved
city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them”
(Revelation 20:9).
At the end of the Kingdom Age and as
the consuming fire of God’s glory devours the rebels that follow Satan
in his final insurrection against God, the fire will spread from
Jerusalem throughout the earth, into the solar system, and finally into
all the universe. The whole of God’s temporal creation (time and space)
will be destroyed. It will not exist any longer. It will have passed
away.
The only things that will still remain from that first creation
will be the souls of mankind. Every one of these souls are eternal.
Some will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 21:8). Sheol
is part of this creation and will no longer exist after the consummation
of God’s final act of judgment in the Curse. The Redeemed (Revelation
21:7) will spend eternity with their God in a newly created heaven and
earth. “New” does not necessarily mean that it will be the same in form
or physics as the former. Just as the human body must be changed and
glorified (I Corinthians 15:50) to live in the presence of God in the
spiritual realm of His existence, the earth and heavens must be
re-created so that God can live with the redeemed (Revelation 21:3).
This will be the Kingdom of God. Of course, the eternal Word of God
will also remain and become living in every one of God’s redeemed.
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35).
Some suggest a difference between the Great White Throne and the
first Throne in Revelation chapter four. There is no difference
between these two Thrones. The subject matter is not the
Throne itself, but what will be done by God while upon that Throne. God
will judge every individual in perfect righteousness according to His
revealed will (the Word of God or the “book . . . of life”).
At the completion of the second
resurrection, all these individuals, already “dead in trespasses and
sins” (Ephesians 2:1), will stand before the Throne of God. Although we
are not informed of this, the redeemed of the Kingdom Age will be
translated into glorified bodies. This Throne will be the Great White
Throne because of what will take place there. These are all those
resurrected out from the realm of the dead (fallen creation). Some will
have died physically. Others will have lived through the Kingdom Age.
All the “works” of these individuals will be judged, just as the works
of the saints of the Church age are judged at the “Judgment seat of
Christ.”
There are “books” and a “book . . . of life.” The “books” most
probably refer to records of the works (good and bad) of the lives of
these individuals. The idea is one of individual accountability for the
eternal consequences of each individual life. The “book . . .
of life” is later revealed in Revelation 21:27 as the “Lamb’s book of
life.” It is the record of every individual who ever put trust in the
finished work of redemption of Messiah, Jesus Christ. Those recorded in
the “book . . . of life” will be all the saved of all ages. These
individuals will live in the New Heaven\Earth.
In Revelation 20:13, “hell” is from the Greek word hades. Hades
refers to the holding place of the lost from the beginning of time to
the end of the world (Revelation 20:9). The final judgment is recorded
in Revelation 20:15. The final judgment is expanded upon in Revelation
21:8-27. The ultimate judgment is the judgment of condemnation.
“But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things” (Romans 2:2).
“Who will render to every man according to his deeds” (Romans 2:6).
“For there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11).
“In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel” (Romans 2:16).
“10 As it is written, There is none
righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is
none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they
are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not
one. 13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have
used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14 Whose mouth is
full of cursing and bitterness: 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17 And the way of peace
have they not known: 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes. 19
Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who
are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
may become guilty before God” (Romans 3:10-19).
“And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15).
“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and
the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and
idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which
burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation
21:8).
“And there shall in no wise enter into
it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or
maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life”
(Revelation 21:27).
After the consummation of the fallen and cursed first creation,
only the redeemed will enter the final New Creation and the New
Jerusalem. These are those who have their names recorded by the Lamb in
the “Lambs book of life.” The balance will be cast into the eternal
Lake of Fire prepared for Satan and his angels.
The two divisions of Revelation
chapter twenty-one are verses 1-8 and 9-27. The first eight verses
introduce the New Jerusalem, while the rest of the chapter expands upon
this and gives a more thorough description and examination. This
follows in the chronology beginning in Revelation 19:11 with numbers of
“and I saw” statements that began at the second coming of Jesus and go
through to the consummation.
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a
white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and
in righteousness he doth judge and make war” (Revelation 19:11).
“And I saw an angel standing in the
sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in
the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the
supper of the great God” (Revelation 19:17).
“And I saw the beast, and the kings of
the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him
that sat on the horse, and against his army” (Revelation 19:19).
“And I saw an angel come down from
heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his
hand” (Revelation 20:1).
“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon
them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that
were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and
which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had
received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they
lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4).
“And I saw a great white throne, and
him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away;
and there was found no place for them” (Revelation 20:11).
“And I saw the dead, small and great,
stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was
opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those
things which were written in the books, according to their works”
(Revelation 20:12).
“And I saw a new heaven and a new
earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and
there was no more sea” (Revelation 21:1).
Why will there be no more sea in the new earth?
There will be no need for separation
in the New Heaven/Earth. The New Heaven/Earth will not be like the old
heavens and earth. We will all be one people (Revelation 21:3), united
by one Lord, one faith, and part of the New Creation through one
baptism.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he
is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are
become new” (II Corinthians 5:17).
The next event after the White Throne Judgment will be the creation of a new Heaven and New Earth.
The previous heaven and earth has been consumed by the judgment fire of
God. The New Heaven\Earth will not be a re-creation of the old. It
will be “new” (kainos, kahee-nos') in kind. The details of
this new, but different Heaven\Earth are given in Revelation chapters
twenty-one and twenty-two.
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Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist.
He has served the Lord for over 40 years.
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