You guys ready? We're in the toughest chapter in the whole Bible today. And you're going to see, I'm not going to plant my feet solid on a lot of this stuff. I'm going to give you a lot of the different views. And, you know, what does Fox News say? We report, you decide. So I'm going to report and you guys can decide what view you have of chapter 20. Yes, yes. And I am so looking forward to chapter 21 and chapter 22, which are glorious, glorious chapters. It's all God's word. The Bible says that all scripture is useful. You know, we can rebuke and teach and correct and all that good stuff that we do with it. So this is God's word. It's just a difficult chapter. So let me pray for it since it is that difficult. And then we'll take a look at the first section. I'm going to read this, kind of parse it out in thirds. So we'll do that, maybe fourths, I can't remember. Our Father and our God, we pause to pray for your word and Lord, your blessing on it and Lord, your blessing on us. Lord, admittedly, this is a difficult chapter and Lord, we need your help. So Father, I pray you'd help me not to stray into speculation and absurdities as we read it and then try to unpack it a little bit. But Lord, that you would guide us by your spirit, that we might grow and ultimately see the glory of Christ in this very difficult chapter. We thank you for that in Jesus name. Amen. So let me just read 1 to 3. The dragon is bound. So let me read that. Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while." Well, here we are, the millennium. I'm going to give you the four major views of how to handle the millennium. There's many more. There's dozens and dozens of views because there's little twists. Somebody might hold one of these four views and then just have one little piece that they're like, yeah, but I think it's one piece over here that's a little bit different. So there's many, many, many views. The four predominant views of how to handle the millennium. So you have the dispensational view of premillennialism. It's premillennial because Jesus comes back to usher in the millennium. So he's actually returned and a kingdom is set up on earth. And there's more to the dispensational view. And there's more than one dispensational view. But in that dispensational view, and I'm not going through all the dispensations. I really don't buy into that, that God had a different purpose and plan depending on what stage of history there was. A lot of people say they're dispensationalists, and they don't mean that dispensational view. And I'm not going to even go down that path with you right now. I just don't hold to that at all. But more like the historic. dispensational view and it's called historic because you can go back to the Church Fathers. I mean it's not like somebody just came up with this like the dispensational view I'm talking about with all these dispensations. That cropped up like in the 1800s. But the historic dispensational view has been around a long time like Church Fathers year 300. I mean you could go back and find Church Father writings that hold that view. So in that view, the rapture occurs immediately preceding the millennium in the historic view. Temple worship sacrifice is reinstituted. You might hear that. Everyone saw somebody talk about, oh, I heard somebody's thinking about building the temple again, where the dome of the mosque is. And this has to happen before all this can take place. You'll hear that sometimes. I really have a problem with that. And I'm not going to tear down anybody's view, but I have a problem with that because the book of Hebrews so underscores that we don't go back to a sacrificial system, even if that sacrificial system was pointing to and appreciating what Jesus did in his once sacrifice for all. I have a hard time with that. There's post-millennialism. That's starting to make a little bit of a surge in theology again. I was a little surprised. Karen and I were talking about this yesterday. I went to a street preacher conference in Philadelphia and there was like 110 street preachers. You know, these guys that stand on the corners. That's what their ministry is. They just street preach and they all got together. And I was surprised at how many of the speakers cut up. I was like, that's post-millennial. I was surprised how many of them had a post-millennial view. Post-millennial, and this is just my definition of it. Post-millennial would be post or after. So after the millennium, whatever that is. then the kingdom is established and this millennial reign takes place. The idea is that through the propagation of the gospel and the impact the church is having on society by proclaiming the gospel, even to the point where unbelievers are living at least morally like Christians because the church has had such an incredible impact that even the government is structured according to the scriptures because the church is the church and it's so impactful that society is getting moralized and that ushers in the day of the grand kingdom of the Lord. That kind of took a hit. It was very, very popular. The Puritans mostly are post-millennialists. They would try to structure their governments. And they saw that they were ushering in the kingdom through the proclamation of the gospel. It kind of took a hit in World War I and World War II, when people saw just the devastation of the entire world at war with each other. And it just didn't seem like that was what was really going to take place. And later years, lately, I have seen a little bit of a resurgence with that view. And the fourth view, and I'm definitely not going into great detail on this. If you want to stay, I've got great books you can read. I've read books on all these positions. But the last view, ah, millennialism. You've probably heard that before. I kind of find myself in that camp quite a bit, but not completely. I'm probably one of those wrinkle guys that takes a little bit of this and a little bit of that. But amillennialism, if you put an A, an alpha, in front of a word in the Greek, it means not. So I heard D.A. Carson, he was explaining this to a class he was teaching, and he said, it's like when somebody says, I love you, not. That's not a millennium. That doesn't mean that all millennialists don't think there's some sort of millennial kingdom. It's just they don't think it's a thousand years. And some of these other positions also think, well, ten times ten times ten in a book that's highly symbolic, is it truly a thousand years exactly? Or is this just a way of the book saying it's a very long period of time? And all millennialists, hard to say, hold the view that we're now in the millennium. That the millennium began with the life of Christ, his death, his burial, his resurrection, his ascension. That from that time, the entire church age is the millennium. And I don't stand solid in that position, but I kind of can see where that thought comes from. And I'll read you a couple passages of why somebody might take that position. In Matthew 12, Verse 29, Jesus taught and said, how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. And he's talking there about, they were talking to Jesus about the fact that he was casting out demons. And he talks about, well, Satan's not casting out Satan. Jesus was doing it by the finger of God, the power of God. And he says, you can't do this unless the strong man's been bound. And some look at that and say, well, Satan is in some sense, not completely, but in some sense is bound. And his kingdom, if you will, his dark kingdom, is being robbed through the gospel proclamation because he doesn't have absolute sway over the pagan nations anymore. The gospel's gone forth and people come to Christ from the Gentile world. 2 Peter 2.4, for if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment. Well, it sure looks like Peter says something's happened that, you know, the satanic world and Satan himself are somewhat bound. And then John 12 says in verse 31, now is the judgment of this world. This is Jesus speaking. Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all peoples to myself. So all millennial thinkers would go down this path. There's problems with every one of these views. And every one of these views, at some point, somebody's going to say, yeah, but so-and-so holds that view. And he's obviously a cultist. And he holds that view, or she holds that view. And so we can always find somebody that's maybe not pristine in the theology that holds any one of these four views. So I don't like to go there, because I'm like, well, I mean, truth is truth. I mean, if this person holds it or that person holds it, so what? I mean, either it's true or it's not. But every one of these views has its problems, has its problems. Scripture is a non-millennial view, that now is the millennium, has its problems. Because then you ask yourself, well, what do you do with 1 Peter 5.8? where it says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion. I thought he was bound. Why is he walking around like a lion? Why do we have to resist the devil? I mean, if he's all bound, what's going on here? So an all-millennial thinker, I won't park on this too long, but an all-millennial thinker would say, well, he's chained, but God lets the rope out. And I was reading a dispensationalist this week who said, boy, he must have an awful long rope then, because it sure seems like the doubles of work in this world. So whatever view you hold, I have no beef with you. That's fine. I just want you to kind of know just generally, there's more than one view of what's going on here. There is a commonality with all the views. I think it's important that we park there for a minute. What do all these various views, we all say, well, we can agree on that. And here's four of them. They all end with Christ's reign and rule. Everything is heading to the consummation of the kingdom and Jesus will reign supreme. Every view holds that. So we're all looking forward to that. And that's the main point of the book. Secondly, the final return. And judgment, right? We're going to get to that in chapter 20. We all agree, I believe, that Jesus is going to return. He's going to judge all that's evil. The devil, his minions, and those who refuse to come to life in Christ. They refuse the gospel. All will be cast into hell. And so I think all views agree on that. Thirdly, the victory of Christ and his people. We will be a part of Jesus's victory. And I think every view holds that. And that's another main point of the book of Revelation. And fourth, the defeat of Satan and his people. The Bible clearly says that Satan, he's the God of this world, the God of this age, little g, and people are under his sway. We got rescued from that. I mean, the whole story of the gospel is glorious. It's good news because it's a story of our rescue. That God intervened. We were hopeless and he sent his son who came and redeemed us and rescued us from that dark world that we once, you know, habitated. So that's the beginning there. Let's look at verses 4 to 6. And it doesn't get any easier, guys. Now we're going to deal with the first resurrection and the second death. So let's take a look at this. Chapter 20, verse 4, down to 6. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years, But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such, the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. So we're back to that millennial language of a thousand years. Before I look into the various views on this, and yes, of course there are various views on this. To begin with, verse 4, "...and I saw thrones, and they sat on them." The first question you're going to ask is, who sat on them? Is it the martyrs? Is that what we're talking about? Because it goes on to talk about, is it only martyrs that are beheaded? The ones that are burned alive, that are put to death and murdered in other ways, they don't get to sit on the thrones, just beheaded martyrs? So you have to ask yourself some of these questions here. Let me look at these thrones though. These thrones of judgment. The Bible talks about this quite a bit and I've been a student of the Bible for a long time. It doesn't go into great detail. But it does just mention, it almost like seems like it crops up in letters in the epistles like as if we already know all these things and just like just kind of mentions it in passing. Now I'll read you a couple of them. So this is Matthew 19 verse 28, where Jesus is gonna talk to us here. It says, so Jesus said to them, assuredly, I say to you that in the regeneration, when the son of man sits on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. And that just raises questions for me right there. Is he just talking about the apostles? They judge the tribes? He doesn't go into any great detail, but you at least have to come away and say, there are definitely thrones of judgment that believers, whoever these believers are, are going to participate in. I once preached on that subject that I said, I think If a saint was to be in a position of making judgment, we're just going to nod up and down when Jesus makes his perfect judgment, like what he said. That's exactly the right judgment right there. Luke 22.30, "...that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Now, Paul the Apostle mentions judgment thrones in 1 Corinthians. And again, this is one of those passages where it just seems like Paul is like, well, you remember when I was in Corinth and I talked to you guys about this for hours? And well, I wasn't in Corinth. I didn't get to hear him talk about it for hours. But here it is, 1 Corinthians 6, verse 2. He says, do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, Are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more the things that pertain to this life... And remember, he was scolding the church there because they were suing each other. I mean, if you didn't know that, Christians are not to sue each other. We bring that matter before the church and we say, hey, look, we need to get with the pastor of the church and talk because I've got a disagreement with this individual, but he's a brother in Christ. And that's a whole other subject, but that's what he was dealing with there. And he scolds them by saying, you're going to judge the world, you're going to judge angels, and you can't judge these simple little matters with your church. That's what he was saying. But he just kind of throws it out there. I'm like, what does that mean? Saints are going to judge the world? Saints are going to judge the angels? And we presume, what, the fallen angels? And then one more for you. It's in this very book. In Revelation chapter 3, when the letter's written to the church in Laodicea, it says in verse 21 of chapter 3, to him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne. So it's not just a passing subject in the Bible. It's kind of throughout the Bible, this subject. I can't unpack that much more than what I just read to you. I don't know exactly what that's going to look like, but that's what the Bible says. It's very plain in the scripture, and that's where it begins in chapter I saw thrones. They, whoever they is, maybe the martyrs, maybe all martyrs, get this special task of committing this act of judgment before the Lord. But that's what it says. and the faithful martyrs and disembodied souls. And let me read that again. It says, Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded. He doesn't say, I saw their bodies or I saw their heads or something. He says, I saw their souls, right? I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the witness to Jesus and for the word of God. who had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on the forehead or on their hands. And they lived and they reigned with Christ for 1,000 years. So some views, and I'm not going to get into all the views, but some views would say, well, this is one group of people that are resurrected in this day, that are with the Lord in the first resurrection and served with Christ during the millennium. But you have to ask yourself, who all is included here? Some of your translations, I think the NIV, my wife has an NIV, makes it look like it's two groups of people. Like there's these beheaded martyrs, but there's also those, another group of people, who also were faithful, maybe didn't get martyred, but they would not receive the mark of the beast. So you have faithful martyrs or you have faithful Christians. And they're included in this group. Witnessing martyrs, disembodied souls. And that follows with what the scripture teaches. And you know this passage, but here's a good place to insert it. 2 Corinthians 5.8. where Paul writes, we are confident, yes, well-pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. When we die, our spirits, our souls go to be with the Lord. We're with the Lord in glory. Our bodies will later, according to the scriptures, be raised. Paul taught that in a couple of places. He's trying to explain what that would look like. When our bodies are raised, what's that going to be like? He gives that analogy. It's like a seed. You plant a seed. And the seed, I mean, everything that's the substance of the seed is there. It's also there in the wheat that grows. But it's different, isn't it? But it's still the substance of the seed. But some things have changed. And he talks about how when we die, we die in corruption, but we are raised incorruptible. We're sown like a seed in dishonor, but we're raised in honor. And he tries to explain that as best as a human being can understand. Beloved, it's going to be glorious. It's going to be altogether glorious. The older I get, the more I get out of bed and hear everything pop in all my joints. And I'm thinking, this body is going in like a seed and coming out like a stalk of wheat. I mean, whatever that's going to look like, it's going to be glorious, right? And I'm looking forward to it. So faithful saints may be here included that were not martyred. Jesus had taught, do not fear those who kill the body but can't kill the soul. Don't fear them, right? He says God can destroy both body and soul in hell, right? He's not talking about exterminating people, annihilation. I'm not an annihilationist. I believe the Bible teaches either you're with God in glory forever because of Christ, or you're in hell and torment forever because you refused Christ. It's one of those two camps, right? So the rest of the dead, verse five, but the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. OK, there's all kinds of different views of this. The unbelievers have no spiritual life. They're separated from God, right? Always have been, always will be, if they refuse to come to God through Christ. They're walking dead, the Bible says. We were walking dead, Ephesians chapter 2. We were dead in sins and trespasses, but God, in his glory, by his grace, made us alive with Christ. So Daniel 12.2 says, For many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. The resurrection of the body is taught in the Old Testament and the New. I know the Sadducees didn't believe in a resurrection. Remember the theologians would say that's why they're sad, you see? Because they didn't believe in a resurrection. John 5, 28. Do not marvel at this. Kind of put that in the vernacular. Don't let this flip you out. Do not marvel at this. For the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. All will be raised. Jesus taught what life was. Life's knowing Jesus and the Father. Having fellowship with Jesus and the Father. That's life. And some will be raised to condemnation. I heard John MacArthur, and I think he's accurate, that our raised bodies will be perfectly fitted for our permanent abode, whether we have glorified bodies to fit us for heaven. C.S. Lewis wrote a great book about that, The Great Divorce. If you ever get a chance to read the book, it's a really tiny little book, The Great Divorce, where people get on a bus and fly to heaven. And they can't stand it there because they weren't fitted for it. It's really interesting. They're scrambling to get back on the bus because they don't want to be in glory. We'll have bodies fitted for heaven. I'm not saying C.S. Lewis' theology is dead on track, but it was an interesting point he made. But, MacArthur would say, but others are going to be raised and their new bodies will be perfectly fitted for hell. Whatever that looks like. And that's what the Bible basically teaches. Amillennialists see this first resurrection, and I'm not saying I 100% agree with it, but it's a view. So if you ever talk to somebody, it's like, oh, I know that view, would say that the first resurrection is you being made alive spiritually. You're actually existing in your first resurrection now. You're not who you used to be. If you're like me, you feel different. You think different. My appetite is different than it was when I was lost. I actually love the things of the Lord. If I sin, I hate my sin. I'm different. I've been raised. And all millenialists would say, well, that's what this is talking about. And I'll give you the passages that they would turn to. You don't have to agree with this. But that concept is taught, anyway, that we used to be spiritually dead, and we've been made spiritually alive. But one of their go-to texts would be John 5. And I just read part of it, but let me read more of it, OK? So let me read it from verse 25 this time. And this is Jesus teaching. He says, most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming and now is. Jesus is saying, right now, here I am walking planet Earth, the hour has come. Right now. So the hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. I have no doubt Jesus is talking about spiritual life. He was proclaiming the good news of the gospel. He was calling them to repentance and faith. And those that repented and came to him by faith, they received spiritual life. And then he goes on and says, For as the father has life in himself, so he granted the son to have life in himself, and has given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the son of man. Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming. It's not here yet. The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth. physically, bodily, is what he means. Those who've done good to the resurrection of life and to those who've done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. And we looked at that a second ago. So he speaks of spiritual life. Now's the time I speak life into you and those that repent and believe have spiritual life. But there's a time coming When I'll speak to the graves and bodies will come out. And everybody will come out. And those who are in Christ will come out glorious. And those who rejected Christ will be fitted for hell. It's a resurrection of condemnation. That's what the Bible teaches. The first one ever raised, gloriously, is Christ. Now the problem some people have with that interpretation, and I gotta say I've got a little problem with it myself, is the word that's being used in the book of Revelation literally means raised from the dead. So to spiritualize that, even though that's a truth, is that what Revelation's talking about? I don't know. I'm going to read you a little bit of a quote because I thought, I'm not saying I agree completely with this quote either, but I thought it was pretty thoughtful. And this is Philip Hughes. And he links the resurrection of Revelation to Jesus, who is the first. He's the first roots. He's the first one to be raised glorious. And we're connected to him. So Hughes sees it as a spiritual resurrection, but it's physical because we're connected to Jesus. So with that said, let me just read his quote. And it's a good quote, even if you don't agree with it completely. It's very good. So here's what he says. This is the first resurrection in which the Christian believer has a part, because through its power, even though he died, he in soul lives and reigns with the Incarnate Son, who is now risen, ascended, and glorified. The first resurrection of which he partakes is not in himself, but in Christ. His participation is entirely due to his union with Christ. And his union with Christ is a reality because the human nature, which the Son took to himself in the incarnation, is one with the human nature of those he came to redeem. Their living and reigning with Him is interpreted by their incorporation into Him. What happened to Him happened to our human nature. His rising is our rising. His ascending is our ascending. His glorification is our glorification. Hence St. Paul's assertion that, quote, even when we were dead through our trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ, unquote. and raises us up with Him and made us to sit with Him in the heavenly places. And so it is that in this period between the first resurrection and the second resurrection, the souls of those who died in the Lord live and reign with Him, precisely because they have a part in the first resurrection, which is not their resurrection, but the true bodily resurrection of the incarnate Son. Now, Hughes could almost convince me of this. It's like, well, all that's true, Larry, but it's not what Revelation is talking about. Maybe so, but what he says there is very much true. I could pull out a dozen scriptures to back that up. So even if it's not exactly what Revelation is talking about, it's a pretty good quote. It's a pretty good quote. So this rain is spiritual, or others would say no. This rain in the millennium is earthly. It's here on planet Earth. And people that I respect immensely hold that view. I don't know. Don't you hate it when your pastor says he doesn't know? I don't know. It could be an earthly rain. Warren Wiersbe writes, it seems reasonable to assume that John wrote about a literal physical resurrection of the dead and a literal kingdom on earth. I respect that man immensely. Who am I to challenge Warren Wiersbe? Honestly, D.A. Carson, who I told you I love listening to D.A. Carson, great teacher, he holds that view. Both Warren Wiersbe and D.A. Carson hold that view and they say it's to vindicate God. that even in this pristine, wonderful millennial kingdom, if it was here on earth, ruled with perfect justice, ruled with perfect government, people seem to be giving allegiance to God in Christ. But as soon as you let the devil out of the hole, As soon as he's let out of the abyss for a little time, everybody turns. And you see what their real hearts are. And I know D.A. Carson's view, and Warren Wiersbe says very much the same thing, but it's to show us that without God, without God's intercession, without God intervening in our lives to save people that were dreadfully sinful, we'd be without hope. You know, we'd all get duped again if it wasn't for God, His sustaining power, right? And that's kind of how the rest of the book reads. So I'm not going to challenge those two men. I respect them too much. So you have the first resurrection and then the second death. Verse 6. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such, the second death has no power. They shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with them for a thousand years. The second death. OK, here's my view on that. The first death is our physical death. It's been appointed unto man, wants to die, and then the judgment. I think the first death is our physical death. The second death is plainly taught in the Bible. We'll see in a little bit. It's hell. It's hell itself. That's the second death. Men, women being cast into hell. Look at verse 14 in chapter 20. Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. The second death is being cast into the lake of fire. So the first resurrection may be life in Christ, souls that after death on this earth get to be with the Lord. Maybe that's what we're talking about. Second resurrection, our physical bodies are raised at the trumpet sound of the archangel, at the call of Christ who calls us out of the grave. Could be, but that's a view, and I kind of lean towards that view. and reigning with Christ 1,000 years, you can decide. Is it a literal 1,000 years? Or is it 10 times 10 times 10, a long period of time symbolically in the book? I'll leave that up to you guys to figure out. Then you guys can talk to me after the service. Straighten me out. Satan's final assault, verses 7 to 10. Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations, which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil, who deceived them, were cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." Christ wins. Christ wins. We're on the winning side, guys. I think everybody can agree on that. And it should make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. When I read these kind of passages, I get a thrill. I was down at Sight and Sound years ago. I think they changed the play around a little bit. But we watched Daniel. And they went through the prophecies. And at the end, when Jesus has victory, the crowd stood up and applauded. I couldn't believe it. I thought we were supposed to sit here and be quiet. I mean, the crowd erupted because of the thrill of seeing, yes, Jesus prevails. He wins. We're on the winning side. And we're looking forward to that. And we probably should stand. Nobody stood up and clapped when I read this. But you could have done that. So the devil's released here. He's the deceiver, right? He was cast to the earth in chapter 12 to go and make war with a woman and her child. Remember that? The deceiver was cast into the pit in chapter 20. And now he's released after this 1,000 year period. He's released from the pit. And then he's cast into hell. One commentator said, he's always got that downward trajectory. He's heading to hell. And he's not coming back out. And unfortunately and sadly, all those that don't come to Jesus by faith are also going to be there. We'll see that in a minute. But the devil's sent there. Who's Gog and Magog? I'll step down and let somebody else preach that for a little bit. Who's Gog and Magog? Gog is a king in the Old Testament. You had to go back to the book of Ezekiel. Magog is where his kingdom was. So it's a king and his kingdom, Gog and Magog. And I'm going to read you a little bit of that. This is Ezekiel 38. And then there's some differences here than the Old Testament story. But Ezekiel 38 says in verse 15, when you will come from your place out of the far north, You and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company, a mighty army, you will come against my people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I'll bring you against my land so that the nations may know me when I am hollowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes." verse 18 of that same chapter. And it'll come to pass at that time when Gog comes against the land of Israel, says the Lord God, that my fury will show in my face. And then you go to chapter 38 and 39, and Ezekiel are dealing with this the whole way. So chapter 39, verse 11 of Ezekiel, it will come to pass in that day that I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea. And it'll obstruct travelers because there they will bury Gog in all of his multitude. His whole army is going to be buried there in Israel. They're going to be wiped out. Therefore, they will call it the Valley of Ham on Gog. For seven months, the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. It's going to take seven months to bury this army. That's how many troops were massacred in this battle. And John is pulling this idea through the Spirit out of the book of Ezekiel. If it's a type, and I think it is, it's a type representing a power, a national force that is opposed to God and God's people. Because that's what it is in Ezekiel. And listen to the similarity between Revelation, I'm not going to read 19 again in Revelation, but you remember, remember the feast? and all the bodies, and God calls the birds to this feast. Listen to Ezekiel talking about this army. It says in Ezekiel 39.17, And as for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God, speak to every sort of bird, every beast of the field, Ezekiel is to say, assemble yourselves and come, gather together from all sides to my sacrificial meal, which I'm sacrificing for you, a great sacrificial meal on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. It's almost pulled right out of Ezekiel and placed into Revelation 19 and here again in Revelation 20. So I think it typifies God's enemies, right? That are raised up through Satan, who deceives the nations once again, and they come at force. And as soon as the nations are deceived, they want to kill the Son of God all over again. That's the sadness of it all, is that the risen Lord, and they want to kill him. And that's the attitude of an unsaved world, guys. You see the hostility at times when you share the gospel with some people? It's like, whoa, back off. It appears to be some type of worldwide war. In verse 9 it says they went up on the breadth of the earth. In the Old Testament Gog was a king from the north. It leads some people to start thinking about Russia and whatnot because that's kind of the territory. But here it's the four corners of the world. This is a worldwide, sort of like cataclysmic thing that's going on. They surround the beloved city. Is that Jerusalem? Dispensationalists would say it is. Is that the city of God, the new Jerusalem? Is he referring here to the people of God? That in the very end, before the consummation and before the devil is actually finally and completely judged, that this great oppression of God's people is going to take place? Is that what the beloved city is? I report, you decide. And like chapter 19, God alone defeats them. The fire came down from God, verse 9, came out of heaven and devoured them. And John and the Spirit is picking that right up out of Ezekiel. Go to the Old Testament, book Ezekiel 39.6. I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security in the coastlands. Then they shall know that I am the Lord. Same language, right? That John, by the Spirit, is inserting here, right? This is all written by the Holy Ghost. But John certainly has Ezekiel in mind here. So now Satan joins the beast and the false prophet in hell, in the lake of fire. That's what it says. The devil who deceived them was cast in the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. They were dealt with in chapter 19. And they will be tormented day and night forever. Jesus said in Matthew 13, 41, the son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears, let him hear. All right, that's the church's warning. And then lastly, verses 11 to 15, the great white throne judgment. Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God. And books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." God's judgment throne is described as great, as formidable, right? God's great throne is white, purity and holiness, right? He judges righteously. We don't always judge things rightly. I try to, but we're flawed by sin. And Jesus, God, he's the perfect judge, right? Earth and heaven fled away. Adam Clark in his commentary writes, even the brightness of his countenance dissolved the universe, annihilated the laws by which it was governed. In other words, if you notice, the very next verse is chapter 21, and what's coming? The new heavens, the new earth, in which righteousness will reign. So the dead, both small and great, I've said this many times. You've probably heard me say this before. We're all going to take off our uniforms. Some people played generals. I played a manager at an insurance company. Everybody had a role. Some guy was the guy that delivered newspapers. People had menial tasks. I cleaned toilets at the school. OK. We're all going to stand there on equal ground at that point. None of that stuff matters, both great and small. You'll be standing right next to the president of Uganda or something. We're all standing here at that point, right? At His throne. And the Bible speaks of the bema seat. We'll stand to give an account, but our judgment's been taken care of because Jesus died for our sins. We don't have to fear any of this, right? He's our righteousness, right? There is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus. Praise God for that. But the books are opened, right? Hebrews 4.13, there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. Nothing's hidden. It's all coming out. Everything's coming out. The Book of Life. That's a theme throughout the scriptures. You might not realize it. It's not just in Revelation. Philippians 4.3, and I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel with comment also, and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the Book of Life. That's a glorious thing. Jesus said, when he sent out the disciples and they came back rejoicing because they said, remember they said, demons obeyed us. We cast out demons. And Jesus kind of calms them down a little bit. And this is Luke 10, 17. And then the 70 return with joy saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. In verse 20, Jesus says, nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. That's something for us to rejoice. You ever get to church and say, you ever get a praise? Hey, if you ever wonder what to praise the Lord for, just say, I'd like to rejoice that my name's written in the book of life. I'd like to praise God for that. And then the devil, his minions, Those that won't come to Christ are cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, right? There's no escape from it. It's the second death. Death is a state. Somebody wrote, Hades is a place. And there's differing views on that. I believe that Christians, upon death, their soul goes immediately to be with the Lord. I believe that the Bible teaches that. Unbelievers, I believe they die and they're waiting judgment and their souls go to Hades and whatever that looks like. People have different views. You don't have to hold that view, but it makes sense to me. I mean, they're somewhere, right? And the judgment doesn't come until Jesus returns. So it could be a holding place for the reprobate, those who don't come to Christ. So all this is leading to the glorious chapter 21 and 22. And I'm looking forward to that because all this is taking place in chapter 20, clearing the way for the new heavens and the new earth. And God willing, we'll look at that in a couple of weeks. Let me close in prayer. Our Father under God, we thank you for your word. Lord, in a difficult chapter, and I pray that you do the work that you do by your spirit and help all of us to solidify our thoughts about this chapter. And Lord, help us not to park in some controversial thought, but to park in the greatness of who you are and the victory of our Savior, Jesus Christ, the demise and defeat of Satan and his minions. Lord, we can all agree on that and rejoice in your presence for those things. And we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Have a great Mother's Day. I have to cook a special meal for my pride. I asked her what she wanted for Mother's Day, and she told me exactly what she wanted to eat, so I've got to cook for her. I receive the blessing of the Lord. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Go to the world that desperately needs to hear the gospel in the peace of Jesus Christ. In his name we pray, amen.