S T O R I E S F R O M M Y H E A D
.jpg)
the writings of R.B. BANFIELD
All Bible quotes are literal translations by the author.
​
Copyright © R.B. Banfield, 2019, 2022
​
Except for personal reference or book review, no other part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the author.
​
Contents
PART SIX: SECOND PAROUSIA
Heavenly Celebration: Revelation 19:1-5
Wedding of the Lamb: Revelation 19:6-9a
Spirit of Prophecy: Revelation 19:9b-10
Resurrection of the True Church: Revelation 11:7-13
Armageddon: Revelation 16:15-16
Seventh Judgement: Revelation 11:15-19; 16:17-21
The Glorious Return: Revelation 19:11-18
Winepress of Wrath: Revelation 14:18-20
War Against Messiah: Revelation 19:19-21
The Lamb Inherits the Earth: Revelation 14:1-5
Millennial Lockup: Revelation 20:1-3
Rule With Messiah: Revelation 20:4
Resurrection of the Just: Revelation 20:5-6
The Bride: Revelation 21:2; 21:9-11a
Kingdom Life: Revelation 21:11b-21
The Redeemer Will Come to Zion: Revelation 21:22-27
River of the Water of Life: Revelation 22:1-2
God With Them Forever: Revelation 21:3-5a; 22:3-5
Gog and Magog War: Revelation 20:7-9
PART SIX
SECOND PAROUSIA
The First Parousia was when “God was with us” (“Maranatha”), when he lived among us and loved us, when he was here in the weakness of a flesh-and-blood body, and ended with his death for our sins. When he returns it will not be as a sacrificial Lamb, but as a Conqueror on a white horse, with the Army of Heaven behind him. When the Second Parousia comes, he will again live with us, not as an itinerant preacher and healer telling words of prophecy and confusing parables, but as a ruling King of kings, never to leave his throne, never to leave his people.
“Then the just will be resplendent as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”
Matthew 13:43a
“For neither can they die any more, for they are equal to angels, and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.”
Luke 20:36
“I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”
2 Samuel 7:13b
HEAVENLY CELEBRATION
Revelation 19:1-5
(19:1) And after these things I heard a loud voice of a great crowd in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! The salvation and the glory and the ability of our God! (19:2) For true and just are his judgements; for he judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he avenged the blood of his slaves.” (19:3) And secondly they said, “Hallelujah! And the smoke of her goes up forever and ever.”
(19:4) And the twenty-four elders fell down, and the four living creatures, and prostrated themselves in homage to God sitting on the throne, saying, “Amen! Hallelujah!”
(19:5) And a voice came out from the throne, saying, “Praise our God all you his slaves, and those revering him, the small and the great.”
Let us go into his tabernacle. Let us worship at his footstool. Arise, O LORD, into your resting place. You, and the ark of your strength. Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let your saints shout for joy.
Psalm 132:7-9
The famous story of the adulteress woman, that preachers love to sermonise on, is a hidden prophecy about the Second Parousia. The guilt or innocence of that woman was not the point, but rather that she had no accusers, since all were sinners. The Lord did not judge her, but he will certainly judge the Great Harlot at the Second Parousia.
They say to him, “Teacher, this woman was taken in the very act of committing adultery, and in the law, Moses commanded us, such women to be stoned. You, then, what do you say?” But they said this testing him, that they may have something to accuse him. But Jesus stooping down, wrote on the ground with his finger. And as they continued interrogating him, rising up, he said to them, “The sinless-one among you, let him throw the first stone on her.”
John 8:4-7
The One who is sinless will indeed throw the judgement stone.
While you watched, a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then, as one, the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, were crushed, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away, so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. . . . And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom forever which will never be destroyed, and the kingdom not left to other people. It will break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it will stand forever.
Daniel 2:34-35, 44
The peoples will rush like the rushing of many waters, but God will rebuke them and they will flee far away, and be chased before the wind like the chaff of the mountains, or like rolling dust before the whirlwind.
Isaiah 17:13
Therefore they will be as heavy morning mist, and as the early dew that passes away, like chaff blown off from a threshing-floor, like smoke from a chimney.
Hosea 13:3
Not so the ungodly, for they are like the chaff that the wind drives away.
Psalm 1:4
“And I will judge you as adulteresses or the shedders of blood are judged.”
Ezekiel 16:38a
Babylon, both the political in the form of the Ten Kings, and the religious in the form of the Roman Catholic Church, will be obliterated by the Lord. His Kingdom was compared to a mountain so big that it covers the entire world, in comparison to Babylon that was seen only as a mere statue.
THE WEDDING OF THE LAMB
Revelation 19:6-9a
(19:6) And I heard what was like the sound of a great crowd, like the sound of many waters, like the sound of strong thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For our LORD God Almighty rules. (19:7) Let us be cheerful and jump for joy, and we will give him the glory. For the wedding festival of the young lamb came, and his bride prepared herself. (19:8) And it was given to her that she be arrayed in fine linen, clean and radiant.” For the fine linen is the equitable deeds of the holy-ones.
(19:9a) And he says to me, “Write: Fortunate are those having been called to the dinner of the wedding festival of the young lamb.”
“Fortunate are those eating bread in the kingdom of God.”
Luke 14:15b
What is known as the Wedding Festival of the Lamb is symbolic of the Second Parousia and the uniting of the Bride with her Bridegroom, but it is probably also an actual festival of celebration. It is interesting that when Jesus attended the wedding in Cana, when he famously turned water into wine, there was nothing in the text to suggest that he disapproved of the celebration (John 2:1-11). God intends men and women to marry, and such an event should be cause for celebration. So much greater will be the celebration of the Second Parousia. And as with this festival, the best wine will be served at the end.
As for drinking wine, if anyone might think it is sinful, the Lord promised his disciples at the Last Supper that he will drink with them in the time of the Second Parousia:
And taking the cup, and thanking, he gave it to them, saying, “All drink of it. For this is my blood, of the brand-new covenant, which concerning many is being poured out for remission of sins. And I say to you, I will not drink the fruit of the vine from this time until that day when I drink it with you brand-new in the kingdom of my Father.”
Matthew 26:27-29
According to early Christian testimony, John himself also followed the Lord’s promise, and was said to have never tasted any wine again for the rest of his life after the Last Supper.
SPIRIT OF PROPHECY
Revelation 19:9b-10
(19:9b) And he says to me, “These are true words of God.” (19:10) And I fell before his feet to prostrate myself in homage to him, and he says to me, “Take heed, no! I am your co-slave, and of your brothers having the testimony of Jesus. Prostrate yourself in homage to God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
And as Peter was entering, Cornelius meeting with him, falling at his feet, prostrated himself in homage. But Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up; I myself am also a man.”
Acts 10:25-26
All prophecy points to Jesus. The Messiah is the subject of every book of the New Testament, and it has been estimated that the Old Testament has over 400 Messianic prophecies.
RESURRECTION OF THE TRUE CHURCH
Revelation 11:7-13
(11:7) And when they complete their testimony, the wild beast coming up out of the Abyss will make war with them, and will subdue them, and will kill them. (11:8) And their bodies will be on the street of the great city which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was impaled. (11:9) And some from the peoples and tribes and tongues and Gentiles will look at their bodies for three and a half days, and they will not allow them to be placed in tombs. (11:10) And those residing on the earth will be cheerful over them, and will be glad; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tortured those residing on the earth.
(11:11) And after the three and a half days the spirit of life from God entered into them and they stood on their feet. And great fear fell on those seeing them. (11:12) And they heard a loud voice from the sky, saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to the sky in a cloud, and their adversaries watched them. (11:13) And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell, and 7,000 names of people were killed in the earthquake; and the rest were alarmed and gave glory to the God of heaven.
They have given the dead bodies of your servants as food for the birds of the sky, the flesh of your saints to the beasts of the earth. They have shed their blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them. We have become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to those who are around us.
Psalm 79:2-4
When the Two Witnesses complete their testimony they will be killed by the beast from the Abyss. This is not by the hand of the Antichrist, but by the Ten Kings. The beast that “was and is not and is about to come up out of the Abyss” (17:8), ridden by the Harlot (17:3), is the same as the First Beast (13:1-8).
The world will see the Two Witnesses as dead for three and a half days, which is a time period symbolic for the last half of the 70th Week of Babylon, when the oppression of the True Church began, about the year 1200. Then the Two Witnesses will be brought back to life, the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they will go up to the sky in a cloud for everyone to see. This is symbolic of the Resurrection of the True Church, which will happen at the end of the 70th Week, an event better known as the Rapture.
The timing of the Rapture has caused much confusion, since most teachers based their ideas on preconceived End Time scenarios, complemented with many finely crafted yet misleading charts. The confusion is spread by excitable dispensationalists, brash paperbacks, glib novels, the odd motion picture, and wordy websites. All of these views have serious conflicts with what the Bible prophecies actually said.
It is not at all complicated. The Rapture is a resurrection for the believers who have not yet died, when the Lord returns for his Second Parousia. The living mortal body will be changed into a living immortal body. Paul was the first to reveal it, when he discussed the time when all the deceased believers will be brought back to this world when the Lord returns. He described what will happen to the believers who will still be living at that time. It is important to not take what he said about the Rapture out of context. It was part of his important teaching on the significance of the Resurrection of the Lord, and how it is not only central to our faith, without it there would be no faith.
And I make known to you, brethren, the good news which I announced to you, which you learned, in which you stand, by which you are being saved, if you hold fast the word I announced to you, unless you trusted for no reason. For I intrusted to you among the first what I also learned, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose up on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he was seen by Kephas [Peter], then by the twelve. Then he was seen by over five hundred brothers at one time, of whom most remain until this time, but some have fallen asleep. After that, he was seen by James, then by all the delegates. And last of all, like an untimely birth, he was seen by me. For I am the least of the delegates, one who is not fit to be called a delegate, because I persecuted the Assembly of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace which was to me was not in emptiness, but I am fatigued from hard work in a more abundant way than all of them, although not I, but the grace of God with me. Whether, then, it is I or they; in this way we proclaim and in this way you trusted.
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Paul first affirmed that Jesus came back to life after he died and was seen by many witnesses, including Paul himself. He then addressed the question of why there were believers who did not believe in a resurrection:
But if Christ is proclaimed, that he was raised up from the dead, how can some among you say that there is not a resurrection of the dead? But if there is not a resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised! And if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is empty and your faith is also empty! And also we are found to be false witnesses of God! For we testified concerning God, that he raised up the Christ, whom he did not raise up if the dead are not raised! For if the dead-ones are not raised, neither has Christ been raised! And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins! So then, those who fell asleep in Christ, perished! If we have expected in Christ in only this life, we are more miserable than anyone!
1 Corinthians 15:12-19
In using strong language, Paul said that if there was no future resurrection then it would make their faith and their work worthless. He even said that the Lord would not have been raised, which would mean that everything they believed about the Messiah would be wrong.
But now Christ has been raised up from the dead. He became the first-fruit of those having fallen asleep. For since death is through man, resurrection of the dead is also through man. For as all die in Adam, so also all will be made alive in the Christ; but each in his own order: Christ the first-fruit, then those of Christ at his advent.
1 Corinthians 15:20-23
When Paul said, “at his advent,” he meant the Second Parousia. According to the Divine Plan, the Lord was the first to be raised from the dead into an immortal body, and when he returns he will cause all the believers to do the same.
Then the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God, the Father, when he makes useless all rule and all authority and power. For he has to rule until he places all the adversaries under his feet. The last adversary to be made useless is death, for “he subjected all things under his feet.”
1 Corinthians 15:24-27a
Paul continued to describe the Messianic Kingdom and the defeat of the Devil. There is also an allusion to the Eve Prophecy of the Messiah “crushing the serpent with his heel.”
Paul then addressed the way some believers misunderstood the nature of the resurrection:
But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised, and with what sort of body will they come?” Stupid-one! What you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow the body that will be, but a naked grain (it may be wheat, or one of the others), and God gives a body to it just as he wanted, and to each of the seeds its own body. Not all flesh is the same flesh, but one flesh is of people, and another flesh of animals, and another of fish, and another of birds. There are celestial bodies and worldly bodies, but different is the celestial glory, and different is that of the worldly; one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruptibility. It is sown in infamy, it is raised in glory. It is sown in feebleness, it is raised in power. It is sown a soulish body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a soulish body and there is a spiritual body. In this way it has been written: The first person Adam became a living soul; the last Adam a life-giving spirit. The first was not the spiritual, but the soulish, and after that the spiritual. The first person was from the earth, made of dust; the second person from heaven. Such as the one made of dust, such also are those made of dust; and such as the celestial-one, such also the celestial-ones. And just as we bore the likeness of the one made of dust, we will also bear the likeness of the celestial-one.
1 Corinthians 15:35-49
Paul described the Lord as “the Last Adam,” since his work was to restore our relationship with the father that was enjoyed by the man Adam, and return the world to the perfection of the Garden of Eden, which will happen with the Second Parousia. It is at this point in Paul’s teaching when he dropped the big revelation that he had about the Lord’s return:
And I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood is not able to inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruptibility. Lo, I tell you a secret: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For a trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this perishable must be clothed in incorruptibility, and this mortal clothed in immortality. And when this perishable shall be clothed in incorruptibility, and this mortal shall be clothed in immortality, then will be the word that has been written: Death was swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your sting? Where, O Hades, is your victory? And the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks to God, he giving us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
1 Corinthians 15:50-57
The timing of the Rapture was clearly expressed in Paul’s two letters to the Thessalonians:
And I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, about those sleeping, lest you be sad, as the rest also, not having expectation. For if we trust that Jesus died and rose again, so also will God bring with him those having fallen asleep through Jesus. For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we the living, remaining to the advent of the Lord, will not at all precede those having fallen asleep; because the Lord himself, with a shout of a chief-angel’s voice and with God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise again first. Then we who remain living will be snatched away at the same time with them in the clouds to a friendly-rendezvous with the Lord in the air. And so we will continually be with the Lord. So, then, encourage one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Paul said that the “snatching away” will happen at the “advent of the Lord.” In his second letter to the Thessalonians he described how the advent (that he called “revelation”) will be a powerful event:
And to you, those being put under pressure, rest with us at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in a blazing fire, giving full vengeance to those not knowing God, and to those not obeying the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will pay the just penalty, everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his strength, when he comes to be glorified in his holy-ones, and to be admired by all those trusting in that Day.
2 Thessalonians 1:7-10
The Lord will return with “the angels of his power in a blazing fire,” and he will destroy the Antichrist, whom Paul called “the lawless-one.”
And then the lawless-one will be unveiled (whom the Lord will consume by the spirit [breath] of his mouth, and bring to nothing by the manifestation of his advent), whose advent is according to the working of Satan, in all power and signs and wonders of falsehood, and in all delusion of wrongfulness in those perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth for them to be saved. And because of this, God will send to them a working of error for them to trust in falsehood, that all may be judged, those not trusting in the truth but having had pleasure in wrongfulness.
2 Thessalonians 2:8-12
Paul was clear about the Lord’s Parousia, that he will destroy the “lawless-one” Antichrist. To summarise, Paul said the Rapture will happen at the arrival of the Lord which will be a “blazing” manifestation in which he will destroy the Antichrist and all the works of darkness. There is absolutely nothing to indicate that a so-called Secret Rapture will happen seven years before (incorporating Daniel’s 70th Week), or the idea that the True Church will be taken away to Heaven. The event of the Rapture plays a major role in the very last events leading up to the Second Parousia, as does the Battle of Armageddon and the deceit of the Antichrist.
When the Rapture happens, the saints will not be taken by surprise. Everyone else in the world will be surprised, but not those who belong to the True Church. According to the Parable of the Ten Virgins (and the same Greek used for “friendly-rendezvous” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 is found there, in Matthew 25:6), the true believers will be ready and waiting for the Lord. They will know by the Holy Spirit that the world is about to change. It may be in a matter of minutes, it may be hours, it may be days, but every saint in the Lord will stop and break from their normal routines and prepare to meet the Lord. There will not be cars careening off roads, or aeroplanes killing their passengers. Pilots will know not to fly at that time, drivers will know not to drive, and any other dangerous activity will be put aside.
Each saint may react differently. Some may want to be isolated so they can pray. Some may want to witness about the truth and warn everyone what is about to happen. Some may want to seek out other saints to pray and praise together. Whatever they choose, it will be done without fear and with total love, all under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
While this is happening, the rest of the world will react in different ways. Some will mock, some will turn angry and violent. Some (or perhaps most) will realise what is happening and will try to join in. They will beg for forgiveness, cry out to God, promise repentance, cry and shout, but they will not be heard. It will be exactly the same as when Noah and his family entered the Ark and the door was sealed behind them by God (Genesis 7:16). The way of salvation will be closed off. This is what the Lord warned: “For when the head of the house rises up and he shuts the door, and you commence to stand outside and to knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ And he answering, will say to you, ‘I do not know where you come from’” (Luke 13:35). The believers will be ready to be taken from the world, taken from their mortal lives, to be renewed and then returned immortal to the world.
As Paul said, the moment of Rapture will happen as fast as “a twinkling of an eye.” It will happen so fast that the saints will literally be changed in an instant. Perhaps they will then disappear into thin air, as the Lord did when he was with his disciples, or perhaps they will ascend into the sky, as the Lord did when he went to Heaven. And then the Messianic Kingdom will come to the world.
The people who sought repentance before the Rapture will probably be allowed to live on in the new Kingdom. Those who reacted with cursing and blasphemy, showing their evil hearts, will quickly be removed from his Kingdom. The Lord knows the hearts of men and the hearts of women. Jesus plainly stated that he will “divide the Gentiles” (the unbelievers) into the good (the sheep) and the bad (the goats):
“And when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit down on the throne of his glory. And all the Gentiles will be gathered before him, and he will set them apart from one another, as the shepherd sets the sheep apart from the goats. And indeed he will set the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come now, the blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world. For I hungered, and you gave me something to eat. I thirsted, and you gave me drink. I was a foreigner, and you took me in; naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you relieved me. I was in prison, and you came to me.’ Then the just will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungering, and fed you; or thirsting, and gave you drink? And when did we see you a foreigner, and took you in; or naked, and clothed you? And when did we see you weak, or in prison, and came to you?’ And answering, the King will say to them, ‘Amen I say to you: In so far as you did it to one of these, the least of my brethren, you did it to me.’ Then he also says to those on the left, ‘Go from me, those cursed, into the everlasting fire, having been prepared for the Devil and his angels. For I hungered, and you did not give me something to eat. I thirsted, and you did not give me drink. I was a foreigner, and you did not take me in; naked, and you did not clothe me; weak and in prison, and you did not visit me.’ Then they will also answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungering, or thirsting, or a foreigner, or naked, or weak, or in prison, and did not attend to you?’ Then will he answer them, saying, ‘Amen I say to you: In so far as you did not do it to one of these, the least-ones, neither did you do it to me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the just into everlasting life.”
Matthew 25:31-46
SECOND WOE
Revelation 11:14
(11:14) The second woe has passed, and lo, the third woe is coming without delay!
The great day of the LORD is near and coming quickly.
Zephaniah 1:14a
The Three Woes give us the key to Revelation. The First Woe (9:12) happened after the Fifth Judgement (the Black Death). The Second Woe will be the Rapture, seen as the rising from the dead of the Two Witnesses. The Third Woe will be the moment of the glorious appearing of our Lord.
ARMAGEDDON
Revelation 16:15-16
(16:15) “Lo, I am coming like a thief! Fortunate is the one staying awake and keeping his clothes, so that he may not walk naked and they may see his indecency.” (16:16) And he gathered them to the place having been called in Hebrew, Armageddon.(138)
In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and in that day the one who is feeble among them shall be as David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD before them. And it will happen, in that day I will seek and destroy all the Gentiles who come against Jerusalem. And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication, then they will look on me, on whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn. In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
Zechariah 12:8-11
The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against his Anointed.
Psalm 2:2
“Stay awake, therefore, for you do not know in what hour your Lord is coming. And know this, that if the head of the house knew in what watch the thief is coming, he would have stayed awake, and not have allowed his home to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, because in that hour you do not think, the Son of Man comes.”
Matthew 24:42-44
“And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will delegate his angels, and will gather together his select from the four winds, from the extremity of earth to the extremity of heaven.”
Mark 13:26-27
And concerning times and occasions, brethren, you have no need for you to be written to, for you yourselves know exactly that the Day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and security,” then unexpected destruction comes on them, like a pang to the pregnant woman, and they will not escape at all. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, for the Day to seize you like a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the Day. We are not of night, nor of darkness.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-5
The LORD does not delay the promise, as some deem slowness, but is patient toward us, not willing for any to perish, but all to come to repentance. But the Day of the LORD will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with crashing noise, and the elements having been set on fire, will be dissolved, and the earth and works in it will be consumed. Then, these things being dissolved, whatever you ought to be in holy behaviour and godliness, anticipating and urging on the advent of the Day of God, for which the heavens, being ignited, will be dissolved, and being set on fire, the elements will melt.
2 Peter 3:9-12
There is nothing mysterious about the word Armageddon. It is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Har Megiddo, which is a large valley plain in Northern Israel. This is one of the rare places in biblical prophecy where an actual name is given, and in this case it is a geographical location. Given the importance of the event, when the Lord will appear and destroy the wicked including the Antichrist, it would take a brave theologian to suggest that the name is purely symbolic.
There are strong biblical clues that the Rapture will happen 40 days and 40 nights before Armageddon. This time period is frequently used throughout the Bible for significant events. The Lord appeared to the disciples for 40 days before his Ascension (Acts 1:3). He spent 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness (Matthew 4:2). The Israelites spent 40 years in the desert eating manna (Exodus 16:35). Moses lived in Egypt for 40 years, and then in exile for another 40 years, and he twice fasted for 40 days and 40 nights (Exodus 24:18; 34:28). Elijah fasted for 40 days as he travelled through a desert (1 Kings 19:8). There were 40 days and 40 nights of rain before the Noahic Flood (Genesis 7:12). The spies were in Canaan for 40 days and 40 nights (Numbers 13:25). Jonah warned Nineveh that their destruction would come in 40 days unless they repented (Jonah 3:4).
If there is a gap of 40 days between the Rapture and the Appearing at Armageddon, then this would surely be the time when the “Sign of the Son of Man” is seen in the sky by the entire world. “And then will the sign of the Son of Man be apparent in the heavens. And then all the tribes of the earth will mourn” (Matthew 24:30a), which is the same as Revelation 1:7: “Every eye will see him, and those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him.”
There will therefore be three stages to the Second Parousia. The Lord will come for his True Church, his sign will be seen in the sky, and then will come his glorious Appearing. Note that Jesus said to his disciples that he will come when you (not they) do not expect, but when the world sees him they (not you) will mourn. Then will come Armageddon.
Footnote
138. Historicists abandon their system that says Revelation has been fulfilled in history and see this as symbolic of conflict in the last days, or as an actual future battle. Futurists see it as having a literal fulfilment, in the actual location in northern Israel. Idealists see it as symbolic, but they are unsure of what, apart from bad things. Preterists see it as symbolic of the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, although the site in question was a long way from the site of the First Jewish War.
SEVENTH JUDGEMENT
Revelation 11:15-19 ∥ 16:17-21
(11:15) And the seventh angel sounded a trumpet blast. And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of the world became our LORD’s and his Christ’s, and he will rule forever and ever!”
(11:16) And the twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones in the presence of God, fell on their faces and prostrated themselves in homage to God, (11:17) saying, “We thank you, LORD God Almighty, the one who is and who was and who is to come, because you took your great ability and ruled. (11:18) And the Gentiles were enraged, and your anger has come; and it is the time for the dead to be judged, and to give the due reward to your slaves the prophets, and to the holy-ones, and to those revering your name, to the small and to the great, and to destroy those destroying the earth.”
(11:19) And the Temple of God in heaven was opened up, and the ark of his covenant was seen in his Temple, and there were flashes of lightning, and noises, and peals of thunder, and an earthquake, and great hail.
∥
(16:17) And the seventh poured out his bowl in the air, and a loud voice came out from the Temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It has happened!”
(16:18) And there were flashes of lightning, and noises, and peals of thunder. And a great earthquake happened, such as has not happened since people came into being on the earth, such a huge earthquake, so great! (16:19) And the great city came to be in three parts, and the cities of the Gentiles fell. And Babylon the Great was recalled in the presence of God, and the cup of the wine of his wrath was given to her. (16:20) And every island vanished, and no mountains were found. (16:21) And great hail, like that weighing a talent, comes down out of the sky on people. And people blasphemed God because of the calamity of the hail, for it was a terrible calamity.
“And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom forever which will never be destroyed, and the kingdom not left to other people. It will break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it will stand forever.”
Daniel 2:44
I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every purpose, for every work.
Ecclesiastes 3:17
And it happened, as they fled before Israel, they were going down to Beth Horon, that the LORD cast down large hailstones from the sky, as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died from the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword.
Joshua 10:11
The Seventh Angel is the same as the Archangel (or “Chief Angel”) that Paul talked about, who will herald the Second Parousia: “Because the Lord himself, with a shout of a chief-angel’s voice and with God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise again first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).
Showing that Revelation was not intended to be understood chronologically, Babylon the Great was referenced here by John (16:9) before he was first shown it (in 17:3).
HARVEST
Revelation 14:14-17
(14:14) And I saw, and lo, a white cloud, and one sitting on the cloud similar to the Son of Man, having a golden wreath on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. (14:15) And another angel came out of the Temple, crying out with a loud voice to the one sitting on the cloud, “Send your sickle and harvest, because the hour to harvest has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” (14:16) And the one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle on the earth, and the earth was harvested. (14:17) And another angel came out of the Temple in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
“I was watching in the night vision, and behold, with clouds of heaven came one like a Son of Man.”
Daniel 7:13a
This is another prophecy of the Rapture of the True Church, seen as a harvest. Immediately prior to the Lord’s appearing to the world, the living believers will be transformed into immortal bodies, and it seems that the angels will be assisting in the gathering together of all the believers. The Lord foretold this in the Olivet Discourse, in saying that the angels will be sent out into the entire world:
“And he will delegate his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his select from the four winds, from the extremities of the heavens to their extremities.”
Matthew 24:31
The time of harvest was very important in ancient Israel, and there were many festivals to reflect that. The Passover marked the beginning of the harvest for the year, followed by the feast of the First Fruits, and fifty days later was the feast of Weeks (Leviticus 23:4, 15-21), known as Pentecost. Although the festival dates were precisely organised, this should not be a basis for calculating God’s timetable to find the date of this spiritual harvest (the Rapture) when the angels will be sent out into the world. The Lord specifically said that no one can know the day and the hour, not even Jesus himself (Matthew 24:36).
There were two important parts to the harvest; the collection of the wheat, and the separation of the wheat from the worthless weed and chaff. That is exactly what will happen at the Second Parousia. The wheat, the True Church, will be separated and gathered together for the Lord. The weeds, the fake Christians, and the chaff, the unrighteous, will be “thrown to the wind.”
In the Parable of the Weeds (also called the Parable of the Tares) the Lord gave details of what will happen at the time of this great harvest. The word used for Weeds was Zizanium, which was an infamous weed common to the land of Israel at that time. It resembled the wheat but it was poisonous.
He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of the heavens is compared to a person sowing good seed in his farms. And while the people were sleeping, his adversary came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and departed. And when the grass sprouted and produced fruit, then the weeds also appeared.
“And coming near, the slaves of the head of the house said to him, ‘Lord, did you not sow good seed in your farm? From where, then, does it have the weeds?’
“And he said to them, ‘An adversary did this!’
“And the slaves said to him, ‘Do you want, then, that going out, we may collect them?’
“But he said, ‘No, lest collecting the weeds you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest. And in the time of the harvest I will say to the harvesters, “Firstly collect the weeds, and bind them into bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my storehouse.”’”
Matthew 13:24-30
It should be noted that the parables told by the Lord were confusing to everyone who heard them, but he made sure that his disciples understood, by explaining them all in private (Mark 4:34). The harvest parable was one of the few that was also explained to us:
And answering, he said to them, “The one sowing the good seed is the Son of Man. And the farm is the world. And the good seed are the sons of the kingdom, but the weeds are the sons of the evil-one. And the adversary who sowed them is the Devil. And the harvest is the completion of the age. And the harvesters are angels. Therefore as the weeds are collected and burned in fire, so it will be in the completion of this age. The Son of Man will delegate his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all the offences and those who practice lawlessness, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; there will be the lamentation and gnashing of teeth. Then the just will be resplendent as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. The one having ears to hear, let him hear.”
Matthew 13:37-43
THE GLORIOUS RETURN
Revelation 19:11-18
(19:11) And I saw the sky having been opened up, and lo, a white horse, and the one sitting on it called Trustful and True, and in righteousness he judges and battles. (19:12) And his eyes were like a blaze of fire, and on his head were many royal crowns, having a name written which no one knows except himself; (19:13) and being arrayed in a robe having been dipped in blood. And his name is “The Logos of God.” (19:14) And the armies of heaven followed him on white horses, having been clothed in fine linen, white and clean. (19:15) And out of his mouth proceeds a sharp sword, that with it he may strike the Gentiles, and he will tend to them as a shepherd with an iron staff. And he tramples the press of the wine of the wrath and of the anger of God Almighty. (19:16) And he has on his robe and thigh a name written: “King of kings and Lord of lords.”
(19:17) And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds flying in mid-air, “Come now and gather for the great dinner of God, (19:18) that you may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of chiliarchs, and the flesh of strong-ones, and the flesh of horses and those sitting on them; and the flesh of all, both freed-men and slaves, even the small and great!”
The adversaries of the LORD will be broken in pieces. He will thunder from heaven against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth.
1 Samuel 2:10a
For behold, the LORD will come with fire, and his chariots like a whirlwind, to bring his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire the LORD will judge, and by his sword on all flesh, and many will be the slain of the LORD.
Isaiah 66:15-16
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. And righteousness will be the belt of his loins, and faithfulness the belt of his waist.
Isaiah 11:4b-5
. . . until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ; which in its own time will show the fortunate and only ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
1 Timothy 6:14b-15
“For as the lightning which flashes from the one end under heaven shines to the other under heaven, in this way will the Son of Man also be in his Day.”
Luke 17:24
Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel and both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate. He will destroy the sinful from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light, the sun will be darkened in its rising, and the moon will not shine its light. And I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity, and I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and I will lay low the pride of the tyrants. I will make them rarer than fine gold, more than the gold of Ophir. This way I will shake the heavens, and will move the earth out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of Armies in the day of his fierce anger.
Isaiah 13:9-13
When I will cover and extinguish the heavens and darken the stars, I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give light. I will darken all the bright lights of the heavens, and bring darkness upon your land, says the Lord the LORD.
Ezekiel 32:7-8
The great day of the LORD is near and coming quickly. The sound of the day of the LORD is bitter; the mighty men there will cry. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and desolation, a day of deep darkness and gloom, a day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD, and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD, but the fire of his jealousy will devour the land, for he will make only terrifying destruction of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Zephaniah 1:14-18
For I will gather all Gentiles against Jerusalem to battle. . . . Half of the city will go forth into captivity, but the remnant of the people will not be cut off from the city. . . . And this is the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people that have fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will dissolve while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues will dissolve in their mouths. And it will come to pass in that day, that a great panic from the LORD will be among them, and they will seize one another, and raise their hands against each other.
Zechariah 14:2, 12-13
The kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo. They took no silver spoils. From the heavens they fought, the stars in their orbits fought, against Sisera. . . . Then pounded the horses’ hooves, the galloping, galloping of his mighty steeds.
Judges 5:19-20, 22
WINEPRESS OF WRATH
Revelation 14:18-20
(14:18) And another angel came forth from the altar, having authority over fire, and called with a loud outcry to the one having the sharp sickle, saying, “Send your sickle, and gather the bunches from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ready!” (14:19) And the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great winepress of the wrath of God. (14:20) The winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress as far as a horse’s bridle and 1,600 stadia.
For behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all Gentiles and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will enter into judgement with them there, on account of my people and my heritage Israel, whom are scattered among the Gentiles, and they have also divided up my land. For they have cast lots for my people, and have given a boy as payment for a harlot, and sold a girl that they may drink wine. Indeed, what have you to do with me, Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia? Will you retaliate against me? But if you retaliate against me, I will return your retaliation swiftly and speedily upon your own head, because you have taken my silver and gold, and carried my prized possessions into your temples. And you have sold the sons of Judah and the sons of Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you may remove them far from their borders. Behold, I will raise them out of the place where you have sold them, and will return your retaliation upon your own head. And I will set your sons and daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a far off people, for the LORD has spoken.
Proclaim this among the Gentiles: Prepare for war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble and come, all you Gentiles, and gather together all around. Cause your mighty ones to come down, LORD. Let the Gentiles wake, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the Gentiles on every side. Throw the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down, for the winepress is full, the vats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the Valley of Decision, for the day of the LORD is near in the Valley of Decision. The sun and the moon shall darken, and the stars will diminish their brightness. The LORD will also roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and earth will shake, but the LORD will be a refuge of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
Joel 3:1-16
“The Valley of Jehoshaphat” and “the Valley of Decision” are two other names for the place known as Armageddon. The image of the judgement of God likened to the wicked people being treated as grapes being trampled is intended to provoke the fear of God so they might repent. And even in knowing this, the heart of man will still be opposed to God.
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and yes all the proud who do evil, the day is coming when they will burn up like stubble,” says the LORD of Armies, “that will leave them neither root nor branch. But you who fear my name, to you the Sun of Righteousness will arise, and with healing in his wings, and you will go forth and frolic like nurtured calves. And you will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this,” says the LORD of Armies.
Malachi 4:1-3
And seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his immersion, he said to them, “Offspring of vipers! Who warned you to escape from the coming anger? Produce, then, fruits deserving of repentance. And do not think to say within yourselves, ‘We have a father, Abraham.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. But even now the axe is set to the root of the trees. Every tree, then, not producing good fruit is cut down and is thrown into the fire. I indeed immerse you with water for repentance. But he who is coming after me is stronger than I, whose sandals I am not fit to bear. He will immerse you with the Holy spirit and fire; whose winnowing-fork is in his hand, and he will clear out his threshing-floor, and will gather his wheat into the store-house. But he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Matthew 3:7-12
“Again, the kingdom of the heavens is similar to a large net thrown into the sea, and gathering every variety; which, when it was filled, drawing it up to the shore and sitting down, they collected the good into containers, and threw out the worthless. So it will be at the completion of the age. The angels will go out and will separate the evil from among the just, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; there will be the lamentation and gnashing of teeth.”
Matthew 13:47-50
WAR AGAINST MESSIAH
Revelation 19:19-21
(19:19) And I saw the wild beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies being gathered to make war with the one sitting on the horse, and with his army. (19:20) And the wild beast was taken hold of, and with this one the pseudo-prophet doing the signs in its presence, by which he led astray those having received the impression of the wild beast, and those prostrating themselves in homage to its likeness. The two were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulphur. (19:21) And the rest were killed with the sword of the one sitting on the horse, having proceeded from his mouth, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.
Why do the Gentiles rage, and the people plot what is vain? The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against his Anointed. “Let us break in pieces their bonds, and cast away from us their ropes.” He who sits in the heavens will laugh, the Lord will mock them. Then he will speak his wrath to them, and in his fury distress them. “And yet, I have set my king on Zion my holy hill.”
Psalm 2:1-6
Your throne O God, is forever and ever, the sceptre of your kingdom is a righteous sceptre. You love righteousness and hate wickedness.
Psalm 45:6-7a
As stated by Daniel, “the [fourth] beast was slain and its body destroyed and given to the burning fire” (Daniel 7:11b), the First wild beast New World Order representatives will be taken hold of, and . . . the Second Beast pseudo-prophet pope doing the signs in its presence, by which he led astray those having received the impression of the wild beast, and those prostrating themselves in homage to its likeness will together be thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulphur.
As Daniel 7 showed, it is the entire world empire that will be destroyed. There is a prevalent idea that a person called false prophet refers to an individual who will be different from the Antichrist. This was the only place in the New Testament where the phrase “false prophet” was used, and it was not shown to be a new character separate from the Antichrist.
Following this book’s possible Rapture scenario, after seeing Christians either disappear before their eyes, or miraculously travel up into the sky, many people (the “goats” not the “sheep”) will react with hatred toward God. Encouraged by the Antichrist pope and the Luciferian kings of the world, they will endeavour to fight against the armies of Heaven at the large valley of Megiddo in Northern Israel. There is no reason to assume that there will not be a literal fulfilment of this prophecy.
THE LAMB INHERITS THE EARTH
Revelation 14:1-5 (again)
(14:1) And I saw, and lo, the young lamb standing on Mount Sion, and with him 144,000, having the name of his Father having been written on their foreheads. (14:2) And I heard a sound from the sky, like the sound of many waters, like the sound of great thunder. And I heard a sound like lyre-players playing on their lyres. (14:3) And they sing a brand-new song in the presence of the throne and in the presence of the four living creatures and the elders; and no one was able to learn the song except the 144,000, those having been ransomed from the earth. (14:4) These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones following the young lamb wherever he may go. These were ransomed from among mankind as the offering of first-fruits to God and to the young lamb. (14:5) And no deceit was found in their mouth, for they are faultless.
And the LORD will go forth and fight against those Gentiles, as he fights in the day of battle. And in that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which faces Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two, from east to west, making a large valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north and half toward the south. And you will flee through my mountain valley, for the valley will reach to Azal. Yes, you will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Thus the LORD my God will come, and all the saints with you. And it will happen, in that day there will be no light. The lights will diminish. And one day, known to the LORD, it will be that neither day nor night will happen, that it will be evening light.
Zechariah 14:3-7
This is the second aspect of the fulfilment of the vision of the 144,000 with the Lamb. The amazing promise of eternal light in the above prophecy from Zechariah, with no separation of day and night, was repeated in Revelation 22:5.
Zechariah’s prophecy was very specific. The Mount of Olives is one of the most famous places in the world, situated east of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. This place will be split into two, which will create a valley for people to travel through. The valley will protect those people who repented during the Rapture. The modern city of Jerusalem will be completely destroyed, and then rebuilt to serve as the capital city of the new world. All the corrupted history and priceless religious treasures in the city, built up and revered for many centuries, will be burnt to ashes, and turned to dust. None of it reflects God’s glory, none of it is truly godly, since it honours men and it honours lies, and neither of which will have a place in the Messianic Kingdom.
MILLENNIAL LOCKUP
Revelation 20:1-3
(20:1) And I saw an angel descending out of the sky, having the key of the Abyss and a great bond in his hand. (20:2) And he seized the dragon, the most ancient serpent who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, (20:3) and threw him into the Abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he could not still lead astray the Gentiles, until the thousand years are completed. And after that he must be loosened for a little time.
And it will come to pass, in the day when the LORD will punish the armies of high ones on high, and the kings of the earth on the earth. And they will be gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and will be shut up in the prison, after many days they will be punished.
Isaiah 24:21-22
In that day, the LORD will punish with his severe and great and mighty sword on the fleeing serpent Leviathan, that twisted serpent Leviathan, and he will slay the reptile that is in the sea.
Isaiah 27:1
The commonly used term “Millennium” is a misnomer, because the time of the Lord’s rule as King will be eternal. The Messianic Kingdom is a far better name for this time of peace and great abundance that will come to the world during the Second Parousia. It will be a recreated Garden of Eden, with the Last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45) instead of the first. From about the 3rd Century AD, or earlier, there was doubt expressed about the concept of this kingdom lasting for a literal thousand years, with the strong innuendo that the only people who believed it were the gullible and uneducated. “1,000” is mentioned five times in the verses 20:2-7, but is found nowhere else in the Bible, which is apparently all that is needed to cast doubt on it. Such an argument is not used, however, for the prophecy of “30 pieces of silver,” that is only found in one place in the Bible (Zechariah 11:12-13), that had a very literal fulfilment.
The problem with arguing that the Kingdom will not be for 1,000 years is that John did not say that it will last for that time period. He clearly said that 1,000 years will be the length of time that the Devil will be away from the world. After the 1,000 years end, the Devil will return to cause problems for a little time (however long that means), then form an uprising, and then be taken away again. After the uprising, the Kingdom will probably continue on for many years, until the Day of Judgement. It is not 1,000 years, it is at least a 1,000 years.
It should be noted that in all the lists of the old people in Genesis, none of them was recorded as living to 1,000 years. The oldest, Methuselah, made it to 969 (Genesis 5:27). This may mean that the Messianic Kingdom of the Lord will be greater than what any man has ever achieved.
RULE WITH MESSIAH
Revelation 20:4
(20:4) And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and verdict was given to them; and the souls of those having been beheaded on account of the testimony of Jesus, and on account of the word of God, and those who had not prostrated themselves in homage to the wild beast or its likeness, and had not received the impression on their foreheads or on their hands; and they lived and ruled with Christ for a thousand years.
“Furthermore, I tell you that the LORD will build you a house, and when it will happen, when your days are fulfilled, when you must go up to be with your fathers, that I will set up your seed after you, who will be your sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He will build me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son, and I will not take away my mercy from him, as I took it from him who was before you. And I will establish my house and my kingdom forever, and his throne will be established until forever.”
1 Chronicles 17:10b-14
Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to order it, and establish it with judgement and justice, from that time forward and forever. The zeal of the LORD of Armies will do this.
Isaiah 9:7
“And my servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd, and they will walk in my judgements, and observe my statutes and do them. And they will dwell in the land that I have given to my servant Jacob where your father dwelt, and they will dwell there, and their children, and their children’s children forever, and my servant David their prince forever.”
Ezekiel 37:24-25
“And lo, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son. And you will call his name Jesus. This one will be great, and he will be called Son of the Highest; and the LORD God will give him the throne of his father David.”
Luke 1:31-33
John saw that those who died as martyrs during the 70th Week of Babylon lived and ruled with Christ for a thousand years. This may mean that it is only those people who were martyred who will act as rulers. There is little written in the Bible about what the role of the resurrected saints will be in the Messianic Kingdom. There is an interesting quote from Irenaeus, who said that the Parable of Sower contained a prophetic aspect.
“But he who was sown on the good soil, this is the one hearing the word and comprehends; who indeed is fruitful and produces; indeed one a hundred, one sixty and one thirty.”
Matthew 13:23
And as the elders say, Then those who are deemed worthy of an abode in heaven shall go there, others shall enjoy the delights of paradise, and others shall possess the splendour of the city; for everywhere the Saviour shall be seen according as they who see him shall be worthy. They say, moreover, that there is this distinction between the habitation of those who produce a hundred-fold, and that of those who produce sixty-fold, and that of those who produce thirty-fold: for the first will be taken up into the heavens, the second will dwell in paradise, the last will inhabit the city; and that was on this account the Lord declared, In my Father’s house are many mansions. For all things belong to God, who supplies all with a suitable dwelling-place; even as his Word says, that a share is allotted to all by the Father, according as each person is, or shall be worthy. And this is the couch on which the guests shall recline, having been invited to the wedding. The elders, the disciples of the apostles, affirm that this is the gradation and arrangement of those who are saved, and that they advance through steps of this nature; also that they ascend through the Spirit to the Son, and through the Son to the Father, and that in due time the Son will yield up his work to the Father.
Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 5, 36, 1-2
There will be different rewards given to the saints based on our works in this life. This is not to say that works and good deeds are at all necessary for salvation, but that we will be given back many-times what we have ourselves given to others in this life. Of course, all reward from God will be beyond our present imaginations. As the Lord said, “Be cheerful and jump for joy, for your due reward is great in the heavens” (Matthew 5:12a).
RESURRECTION OF THE JUST
Revelation 20:5-6
(20:5) But the rest of the dead did not revive until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. (20:6) Fortunate and holy the one having a part in the first resurrection. The second death has no authority over them, but they will be priests of God and of the Christ, and will rule with him for the thousand years.
“And this is the will of the Father having sent me, that all which he has given me, I will not lose any of it, but will raise it up on the last day. And this is the will of the one sending me, that everyone seeing the Son and trusting in him should have everlasting life; and I will raise him up on the last day.”
John 6:39-40
“And I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of wild beasts, and they will dwell in the wilderness, and sleep safely in the woods.”
Ezekiel 34:25
For a thousand years in your sight are like the day that has passed by, and like a watch in the night.
Psalm 90:4
But do not let this one thing be unaware to you, dearly beloved, that one day with the LORD is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2 Peter 3:8
After two days he will revive us, on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live in his sight.
Hosea 6:2
As seen in the following quotes, many teachers of the Early Church taught that there will be a literal time of peace on the earth.
But I and others who are right-minded Christians on all points, are assured that there will be a resurrection of the dead, and a thousand years in Jerusalem, which will then be built, adorned, and enlarged, as the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah and others declare.
Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho (c AD 147)
But when this Antichrist shall have devastated all things in this world, he will reign for three years and six months, and sit in the temple at Jerusalem; and then the Lord will come from heaven in the clouds, in the glory of the Father, sending this man and those who follow him into the lake of fire; but bringing in for the righteous the times of the kingdom, that is, the rest, the hallowed seventh day.
Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 5, 30, 4
But we do confess that a kingdom is promised to us upon the earth, although before heaven, only in another state of existence; inasmuch as it will be after the resurrection for a thousand years in the divinely-built city of Jerusalem.
Tertullian, Against Marcion, 3, 25 (AD 207)
6,000 years must need be accomplished, in order that the Sabbath may come, the rest, the holy day on which God rested from all his works. For the Sabbath is the type and emblem of the future kingdom of the saints, when they shall reign with Christ, when he comes from heaven, as John says in his Apocalypse: for a day with the Lord is as a thousand years. Since, then, in six days God made all things, it follows that 6,000 years must be fulfilled.
Hippolytus, Commentary on Daniel, 2, 4
. . . that true Sabbath will be in the seventh millenary of years, when Christ with his elect shall reign.
Victorinus, On the Creation of the World (c AD 300)
Therefore, since all the works of God were completed in six days, the world must continue in its present state through six ages, that is, six thousand years. . . . at the end of the six thousandth year all wickedness must be abolished from the earth, and righteousness reign for a thousand years; and there must be tranquillity and rest from the labours which the world now has long endured.
Lactantius, The Divine Institutes, 7, 14
THE BRIDE
Revelation 21:2 ∥ 21:9-11a (again)
(21:2) And I saw the holy city, the brand-new Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having been prepared like a bride having been adorned for her husband.
∥
(21:9) And one of the seven angels came to me, he having the seven bowls full of the last calamities, and spoke with me, saying, “Come here; I will show you the bride, the wife of the young lamb.” (21:10) And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the city, Holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, (21:11a) having the glory of God.
For here we do not have a remaining city, but we search for the one about to be.
Hebrews 13:14
There is confusion with verse 21:2 because the previous verse, 21:1 (“And I saw a brand-new heaven and a brand-new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and the sea is no more”) should have been placed at the end of chapter 20, to follow: “And if anyone was not found having been written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” To begin a new chapter with 21:1 makes it read that the New Jerusalem will not appear until after the Day of Judgement. This gives the impression that John was saying that the New Jerusalem will be far distant in the future, and therefore it is not a prophecy of the Messianic Kingdom.
This is where the use of parallel sections becomes useful, because it shows how John repeated his description of the New Jerusalem (21:2-8) in 21:9-21. There were more details given in the second description of the New Jerusalem, but they were identical to the first.
KINGDOM LIFE
Revelation 21:11b-21
(21:11b) And its brilliancy was like a valuable stone, as a jasper, being as clear as crystal; (21:12) having a great and high wall, having twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names having been inscribed which are of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel; (21:13) three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south and three gates on the west. (21:14) And the wall of the city having twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve delegates of the young lamb. (21:15) And the one speaking with me had a golden reed, that he may measure the city and its gates and its wall. (21:16) And the city lies four-cornered: and its length so much as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed at 12,000 stadia; the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. (21:17) And he measured its wall, 144 cubits (the angel had man’s measure). (21:18) And the structure of its wall was jasper. And the city was clean gold, like clean glass. (21:19) And the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every valuable stone; the first foundation jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, (21:20) the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprasus, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. (21:21) And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates made of one pearl. And the street of the city was of clean gold, like transparent glass.
And these are the exits of the city, on the north side measuring 4,500 cubits. And the gates of the city shall be named after the tribes of Israel. The three gates northward, one gate for Reuben, one gate for Judah, and one gate for Levi. And on the east side 4,500 cubits, and three gates, one gate for Joseph, one gate for Benjamin, and one gate for Dan. And on the south side measuring 4,500 cubits, and three gates, one gate for Simeon, one gate for Issachar, and one gate for Zebulun. On the west side 4,500 cubits, with three gates, one gate for Gad, one gate for Asher, and one gate for Naphtali. And all the way around will be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that day is: The LORD is There.
Ezekiel 48:30-35
For he was waiting for the city having the foundations of which the designer and builder was God.
Hebrews 11:10
“Be cheerful that your names are written in the heavens.”
Luke 10:20
For all these [Isaiah 13:9; 65:21] and other words were unquestionably spoken in reference to the resurrection of the just, which takes place after the coming of Antichrist, and the destruction of all nations under his rule; in the times of which resurrection the righteous shall reign in the earth, waxing stronger by the sight of the Lord: and through him they shall become accustomed to partake in the glory of God the Father, and shall enjoy in the kingdom association and communion with the holy angels.
Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 5, 35, 1
And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard with the young goat, and the young lion and the calf will lie down, and the fed cattle together, and a little child will lead them. And the cow and the bear will graze together, and their young ones will lie down, and the lion will eat like straw the ox. And a baby will play by the hole of a cobra, and an infant will put his hand in the den of a viper.
Isaiah 11:6-8
For if that animal, the lion, feeds upon straw at that time, of what a quality must the wheat itself be whose straw shall serve as suitable food for lions? . . . The predicted blessing, therefore, belongs unquestionably to the times of the kingdom, when the righteous shall bear rule upon their rising from the dead; when also the creation, having been renovated and set free, shall fructify with an abundance of all kinds of food, from the dew of heaven, and from the fertility of the earth: as the elders who saw John, the disciple of the Lord, related that they had heard from him how the Lord used to teach in regard to these times, and say:
​
“The days will come, in which vines shall grow, each having ten thousand branches, and in each branch ten thousand twigs, and in each true twig ten thousand shoots, and in each one of the shoots ten thousand clusters, and on every one of the clusters ten thousand grapes, and every grape when pressed will give five and twenty metretes [nearly 1,000 litres, over 250 gallons] of wine. And when any one of the saints shall lay hold of a cluster, another shall cry out, ‘I am a better cluster, take me; bless the Lord through me.’”
In like manner, the Lord declared that a grain of wheat would produce ten thousand ears, and that every ear should have ten thousand grains, and every grain would yield five bilibres [over 3 kilograms, or 7 pounds] of clear, pure, fine flour; and that all other fruit-bearing trees, and seeds and grass, would produce in similar proportions; and that all animals feeding only on the productions of the earth, should in those days become peaceful and harmonious among each other, and be in perfect subjection to man. And these things are borne witness to in writing by Papias, the hearer of John, and a companion of Polycarp, in his fourth book; for there were five books compiled by him. And he says in addition, Now these things are credible to believers.
Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 5, 33, 3-4
Many of the Early Christian writers were utterly convinced that the prophecies about the Messianic Kingdom were very literal. The above quote from Irenaeus, a man who heard Polycarp when he was a boy, and Polycarp had been a disciple of the Apostle John, shows that he also believed the stories that had been passed down by word of mouth. Irenaeus’ quote from the books of Papias about the vine is of such an extreme promise, however, that it cannot be expected to have a literal fulfilment. It was not a quote recorded anywhere in the Bible, and was probably a saying that was passed down by word of mouth. For a single grape to produce 1,000 litres of wine, as part of a vine that produces 10,000 grapes from 10,000 clusters, from 10,000 shoots, from 10,000 twigs, from 10,000 branches, would result in that vine producing 100 sextillion (100 billion-trillion) litres of wine. In other words, more wine than there is water in the Pacific Ocean. If anything, the sharing of such a story shows how much excitement the Early Christians held for the Messianic Kingdom, and that there will be a great abundance of food for every living creature. No person and no animal will ever go hungry, and it will all be of the highest quality.
On the subject of life in the Messianic Kingdom, it is worth noting that this will be a world inhabited by both immortal and mortal human beings together. The Redeemed in the Lord will have immortal bodies, and yet will be seen as the same as the people who repented when the Lord returned and were allowed to live in his kingdom. We have an excellent example of this co-existence when the Lord interacted with people after his Resurrection. He looked like everyone else, and the disciples did not recognise him at first (John 21:4). He even prepared a fire to cook fish with bread (John 21:9) Although John does not say if Jesus ate with them, it is implied. He also appeared and disappeared in front of people: “And after eight days his disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus comes, the doors having been shut, and stood in the midst, and said, ‘Peace to you’” (John 20:26). “And it happened, in his taking a place at table with them, taking the bread, he blessed; and breaking, he gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognised him. And he vanished from them” (Luke 24:30-31). This is the same as how angels interact with us now. They can look like us, and walk among us, without anyone suspecting who they are, and yet they are powerful supernatural beings (Hebrews 13:2).
WHAT OF THE MODERN WORLD?
With all evil, both the demonic entities and the rebellious humans, removed from the world, the Messianic Kingdom will experience peace on earth. Only the good will remain, but how much of this modern world is good and acceptable in the eyes of God? The poisons and pollutions will disappear from the earth, the sky, and the sea. It may happen in a split second. It may take days. It may take years. It may be the angels who will work to restore the world. It may be the work of the resurrected saints. It may be the Lord himself. Will each nation be visited by the King of kings to witness his healing of their land? Will the people of Japan witness Jesus walking into the destruction of Fukushima Daiichi to nullify the nuclear radiation, and turn the spent fuel rods into stones or something equally inert? Will the people of Ukraine see the Lord walk through the walls of the giant sarcophagus and turn the melted core into dirt or water, or something else equally harmless?
Will the animals be returned to the earth and sea? Will all those rendered extinct by the hand of man, be brought back to flourish as they were originally created to be? Will thousands of species, many never seen by modern humans, return to fill the earth? Will the earth flourish with all kinds of plant life, that will be much greater than the Garden of Eden, since it will be a garden that will cover the entire world? Will every plant offer its own unique fruit and fragrance?
What of the technology of the 21st Century, namely cell phones, internet and computers, television, cars, and aircraft? How much of that will remain in the Lord’s kingdom? What of the music industry, and cable networks, and movies? Will it all be removed? Or will it stay, but without the evil influences? Will music honouring the Lord be made? Will television centre on news and current events, or will it also feature drama about kingdom life? Will movies show what life used to be like in the time before the Messiah? Will professional sport exist, or will sport only be for children?
Will cars and other vehicles be used for travel, or will the world return to the age of horse and cart? Will cars be run on water, or merely from the natural energy in the air? Both technologies are possible in this world now, but have been suppressed by the greedy oil industry. Do the angels have their own mode of transport, that is hinted at several times in the Bible, and will that be the new transport for the people of the world? There will be a lot of travelling in the kingdom, since Revelation 21:24 says that the kings of each nation will be expected to annually travel to Jerusalem.
If there are kings for each nation, then that probably means that each nation will be self-governed. Will there be elected officials? What of finances? Will financial markets continue? Will the banking industry exist? Will money exist, or will everything be exchanged for free? If no one will need to work for food, will this lead to people working solely for the joy of helping other people? Will there be police? Will there be courts, judges, lawyers? Will there be prisons? Will there be any need for laws, since evil will be removed from the world? Or will the heart of man continue to want to rebel? Will some people refuse to work, and if so, then will that be considered a serious crime?
Will the cultures of today’s world continue, or will new ones develop? How much heritage will be deemed honourable for the Messianic Kingdom? Will there be any conflict between nations? Will any celebration of famous murdering kings have any merit in a world where the Devil has no influence, where wars have no glory? There will be no weapons, no use for weapons, no need for weapons. “And he will judge between the Gentiles, and rebuke many people, and they will beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, and each nation will not lift up sword against nation, and neither will they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:4). Will they dismantle guns and produce power tools? Will they dismantle tanks and create tractors?
Jesus told his disciples, the twelve Apostles, that they would be judges in the Messianic Kingdom, and judge Israel: “And Jesus said to them, ‘Amen I say to you, that you the ones having accompanied me, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits down on the throne of his glory, you will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel’” (Matthew 19:28). If the Apostles will judge over Israel, will the saints judge over the other nations? Will it be the saints who will act as lawyers, police, teachers, and guides in each nation?
One notable aspect of this new world will be that people will grow old very slowly, much the same way people lived in the days before the Noahic Flood. The only reason anyone would not have a very long life will be if they have become rebellious against God:
No longer will there be an infant of but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days, for to die at a hundred will be a youth, but the sinner who is old at a hundred shall be accursed. And they will build houses and inhabit them, and they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They will not build and another inhabit, they will not plant and another eat, for as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people, and my chosen shall wear out the work of their hands. They will not labour in vain, nor bear children for trouble, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the LORD, and their descendants with them.
Isaiah 65:20-23
THE REDEEMER WILL COME TO ZION
Revelation 21:22-27
(21:22) And I saw no Temple in it, for its Temple is the LORD God Almighty and the young lamb. (21:23) And the city has no need of the sun or the moon, that they might shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the young lamb. (21:24) And the Gentiles of those saved will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour into it. (21:25) And its gates will never be shut by day, for there will be no night there, (21:26) and they will bring the glory and the honour of the Gentiles into it. (21:27) And nothing profane, and any making a detestation and an untruth, may enter into it; only those having been written in the Book of Life of the young lamb.
“And the Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” says the LORD. “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit who is upon you, and my words which I have put in your mouths, will not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the LORD, “from this time and forevermore.” Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the people, but over you the LORD will arise and his glory will be seen upon you. And the Gentiles will come to your light, and the kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes all around, and see them gather together. They come to you, your sons from afar, and your daughters will come and will be carried at your side. Then you will see and become radiant with joy, and your heart will swell, because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, the wealth of the Gentiles will come to you. The multitude of camels will cover your land, the Arabian camels of Midian and Ephah. All those from Sheba will come, and will bring gold and incense, and they will proclaim the praises of the LORD. All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered together to you, the rams of Nebajoth will minister to you. They will ascend with acceptance on my alter and I will glorify the house of my glory. Who are these who fly like a cloud, like doves to their roosts? Surely the coastlines will wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish will come first to bring your sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, to the name of the LORD your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you. And the sons of foreigners will build up your walls, and their kings will minister to you. For my wrath I struck you, but in my favour I have had mercy on you. Therefore your gates will be open continually, they will not be shut night or day, so that people may bring to you the wealth of the Gentiles, and their kings in procession. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you will perish, and those nations will be utterly ruined. The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the juniper, the elm, the cypress together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary, and I will make glorious the place for my feet. And the children of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you, and will fall prostrate at the soles of your feet; all those who despised you. And they will call you the City of the LORD of Zion, the Holy One of Israel. Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no one travelled through you, I will make you an eternal excellence, a joy of many generations. And you will drink Gentiles’ milk, and kings’ breast milk, and you will know that I am the LORD your Saviour and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. Instead of bronze, I will bring gold, and instead of iron, I will bring silver, and instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. And I will make peace your administrators, and righteousness your overseers. No longer will violence be heard in your land, neither robbery nor destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. No longer will the sun be your light by day, nor the brightness of the moon be for you, for the LORD will be an everlasting light, and your God your glory. No longer will your sun go down, nor your moon withdraw, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be ended. And your people will all be righteous, and forever they will inherit the branch of the land, my planting work of my hands, that I may be glorified.
Isaiah 59:20-60:21
This long prophecy of Isaiah contained many similarities to what Revelation promised for the Messianic Kingdom. The light will come from God, for the glory of God illuminated it, and the light will bring the Gentiles to Zion, Gentiles of those saved will walk in its light. The kings of the world will bring gifts, the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour into it, and benefit from it. The city gates will never shut to the Gentiles, its gates will never be shut by day, for there will be no night there. No violence or war will be there, or anything hostile to peace, nothing profane, and any making a detestation and an untruth, may enter into it.
It should be noted that the text that immediately followed this passage from Isaiah was quoted by Jesus as being fulfilled during his First Parousia (Luke 4:18-19).(139) Clearly there was no chronological order intended by the prophecy.
FOOTNOTE
139. “The spirit of the LORD is on me, therefore he anointed me to announce the good news to the poor. He has delegated me to heal the broken in heart, to proclaim liberty to captives and regaining of sight to the blind, to delegate the crushed-ones in liberty, to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”
FEAST OF TABERNACLES
The scriptures are clear that the Lord will rule the world with an iron hand. He will give many blessings, but he will also be intolerant to rebellion. Revelation 21:24 says that the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour into Jerusalem, but they will do this because they will be commanded to. If they do not do this once a year, their nation will be punished.
And it will happen, that everyone who is left of all the Gentiles who came against Jerusalem, will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of Armies, to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it will be, that whoever, of all the families of the earth, do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of Armies, there will be no rain upon them. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they will have no rain; they will receive the plague that the LORD strikes the Gentiles who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all Gentiles that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.
Zechariah 14:16-19
RIVER OF THE WATER OF LIFE
Revelation 22:1-2
(22:1) And he showed me the river of the water of life, radiant as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the young lamb, (22:2) down the middle of its street. And the tree of life was on either side of the river, producing twelve fruits, yielding fruit according to each month, and the leaves of the tree will be for the healing of the Gentiles.
And it will happen in that day, that living waters will flow out from Jerusalem, half toward the eastern sea, and half toward the western sea, both in summer and winter will it be.
Zechariah 14:8
It is assumed that in Zechariah’s prophecy the “Eastern Sea” means the Dead Sea, and the “Western Sea” means the Mediterranean Sea.
The promise of healing of the Gentiles speaks volumes, since every person in the world today suffers from some kind of poisoning. The air, the water, and the food are all contaminated in some way or another. But more than that, the healing given by the Lord will go beyond physical healing, and will heal the souls of people who had previously spent their lives living apart from the love of God.
TREE OF LIFE
There was more to the Tree of Life in the Book of Genesis than the story of Adam and Eve, and the apple, and a talking snake. After they were instructed to not eat from the Tree of Life, Eve was deceived into disobeying, but Adam did what he knew was wrong, showing himself to be sinful. His punishment was that his immortal body became mortal. The Tree that gave life became a source of death.
In the Gospels we find that Jesus (who is the eternal) became a mortal man, and allowed himself to take on death, so that we (who are the mortal) would be given back the immortal life that Adam had forsaken. The way he chose to give us this gift of eternal life was by Crucifixion, the Roman method of executing criminals.
When the Law of Moses was given, there was an unusual mention of a curse:
His body shall not remain overnight on the tree [or, “wood”], but you shall surely bury him that day, for he who is hanged is accursed of God.
Deuteronomy 21:23
Paul explained why this was given:
Christ set us free from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it has been written: Cursed is everyone who has been hung on a tree [or, “anything made of wood”].
Galatians 3:13
Anything attached to a tree, or anything made of wood, came under God’s curse. The Roman cross used for the Crucifixion of our Lord became the Tree of Death. Because of his obedience, that Tree of Death became a source of life—eternal life for every believer.
Genesis gave us the account of the Tree of Life that became our death. The Gospels gave us the account of the Tree of Death that became our life. And now in Revelation we find the Tree of Life mentioned again, returned and restored for the benefit of all humanity.
GOD WITH THEM FOREVER
Revelation 21:3-5a ∥ 22:3-5
(21:3) And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Lo, the tent of God is with people! And he will encamp with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them! (21:4) And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, nor grieving, nor outcry, nor anguish! For the former things passed away!”
(21:5a) And the one sitting on the throne said, “Lo, I make all things brand-new.”
∥
(22:3) And there will no longer be any curse. And the throne of God and of the young lamb will be in it, and his slaves will serve him, (22:4) and they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. (22:5) And there will be no night there, and they will have no need of a lamp or light of the sun, because the LORD God will shine on them, and they will rule forever and ever.
“And I will set my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not reject you. And I will walk among you, and be your God, and you shall be my people.”
Leviticus 26:11-12
“My dwelling shall be with them, and I will indeed be their God, and they shall be my people.”
Ezekiel 37:27
“And I will bring them back, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.”
Zechariah 8:8
He will swallow up death forever, and the LORD God will wipe away tears from all faces.
Isaiah 25:8a
No longer will your sun go down, nor your moon withdraw, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be ended.
Isaiah 60:20
God is light and in him there is no dimness at all.
1 John 1:5b
“Fortunate are the clean in heart, for they will see God.”
Matthew 5:8
Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world; the one following me will in no way walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12
“Lo, the former things are come to pass, and I declare new things. Before they spring forth, I proclaim them.”
Isaiah 42:9
It is tempting to assume that the phrase light of the world is symbolic of the Lord’s presence and nothing more. But if we are to regard what is written in Genesis as literal, there may be more to the statement that the sun will no longer be the source of light. As was written in Genesis, light appeared before the sun was created. Light was given to the dark world (Genesis 1:3), which was then separated into day and night (Genesis 1:4-5). It was on the fourth day when the sun was created (Genesis 1:16-19). To the unbeliever, this statement that light existed before the sun existed is ludicrous. They have good cause to mock the Bible over this point, because everybody knows that the sun is where we get our light, and our heat, and is the source of life for the world. How could that not be right? The problem is, God knows a whole lot more about how this universe works than any human does. The same statement is repeated in Revelation, that the sun will not be the source of light for the New Jerusalem, but there will be a divine light source, probably the same as what illuminated the earth during the first days of creation.
GOG AND MAGOG WAR
Revelation 20:7-9
(20:7) And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be loosened from his prison, (20:8) and he will go out to lead astray the Gentiles in the four corners of the earth (Gog and Magog), to gather them for war, of whom the number is like the sand of the seashore. (20:9) And they went out over the width of the land and surrounded the camp of the holy-ones and the dearly beloved city. And fire came down from God, out of the sky, and devoured them.
And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meschech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, “Thus says the Lord the LORD: behold, I am against you, Gog the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.”
Ezekiel 38:1-3
After the “Millennium,” the Devil will be sent out to deceive the world. Although the 1,000 years has ended, the Messianic Kingdom will continue. This time of deception may take many years, several generations perhaps. Given the fact that God will be seen in the world, and there will be great abundance everywhere, it is remarkably sad that the Devil will succeed in causing rebellion. The sin present in the human heart will be enough to make people believe that they can take over the rulership of the world, to defy the saints and defy the King of kings, and perhaps even become like the saints by their own power.
Surrounding the camp of the holy-ones means that they will attempt to lay siege to Jerusalem. As stated in Revelation 21:3, “he will encamp with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them,” Jerusalem will be the place where the Lord will have his “camp.”
This passage exactly fulfils Ezekiel’s prophecy, and yet the words Gog and Magog are routinely ignored by most teachers.
After many days you will be summoned, in latter years you will come into the land of those restored from the sword, and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel which had been long desolate, and it is brought out from the nations, now all of them dwell safely. And you will ascend like a storm, coming like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you.
Ezekiel 38:8-9
And as with any rebellion against God, the judgement will be swift and decisive; fire from the sky:
I will execute judgement on him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulphur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.
Ezekiel 38:22
FINAL JUDGEMENT
Revelation 20:10
(20:10) And the Devil leading them astray was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur, where were the wild beast and the pseudo-prophet, and they will be tortured day and night forever and ever.
“The Son of Man will delegate his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all the offences and those who practice lawlessness, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire; there will be the lamentation and gnashing of teeth.”
Matthew 13:41-42
“Then he also says to those on the left, ‘Go from me, those cursed, into the everlasting fire, having been prepared for the Devil and his angels.’”
Matthew 25:41
This will be the end of the Devil, to the place prepared for him, as the Lord described. The Lake of Fire was created for the Devil and his angels, not for human beings, and yet many still decide to choose that place over a place with the Lord.
There are only a few Bible prophecies that specifically detail what will happen at this Day of Judgement. One interesting prophecy was from the Lord, when he rebuked the generation who witnessed his First Parousia, and rejected him.
“Men, Ninevites, will stand up at the judgement with this generation, and will pass sentence over it! For they repented at the proclamation of Jonah. And lo, a more-than-Jonah is here! The Queen of the South will be raised at the judgement with this generation, and will pass sentence over it! For she came from the extremities of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. And lo, a more-than-Solomon is here!”
Matthew 12:41-42
Are we to understand from this prophecy that those who repented and accepted the Lord, as the Ninevites in the day of Jonah, will pass sentence over those who were given, and rejected, much greater love and grace of God?
Another interesting prophecy was from Paul, who threw us this quote from out of nowhere, and gave no explanation for it: “Do you not know that we will judge angels, not to mention the things of this life?” (1 Corinthians 6:3). From this we can ask, will those who are found righteous in the Lord, who are members of the True Church, be placed in a position of judgement over the unrighteous and the fallen angels?
END OF DAYS
Revelation 20:11-21:1
(20:11) And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it, of whose presence the earth and heaven vanished, and no place was found for them. (20:12) And I saw the dead, the small and great, standing in the presence of the throne. And books were opened up. And another book was opened up, which is that of life. And the dead were judged out of the things having been written in the books, according to their works. (20:13) And the sea gave up the dead in it, and Death and Hades gave the dead in them, and they were judged, each one according to their works. (20:14) And Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death. (20:15) And if anyone was not found having been written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (21:1) And I saw a brand-new heaven and a brand-new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and the sea is no more.
And at that time your people will be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book.
Daniel 12:1b
. . . and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.
Philippians 4:3b
For we all must be revealed before the tribunal of the Christ, that each may receive the things done through the body, according to what he did, whether good or worthless.
2 Corinthians 5:10
Will he not render to everyone according to their deeds?
Proverbs 24:12b
There is no creation unseen in his presence, but all things are naked and laid bare to the eyes of him, with whom is our own account.
Hebrews 4:13
“For even as the Father raises up the dead and gives life, so also the Son gives life to whom he wants. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgement to the Son.”
John 5:21-22
For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former will not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever, for what I create. Behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people, and the voice of weeping will not be heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
Isaiah 65:17-19
This time of the final judgement of all humanity will happen after the Messianic Kingdom, which itself is of an unknown length of time.