EPISODE 269 REVELATION CHAPTER 20 Part 1 "Putting together the puzzle"

This is Share the Word podcast, and we are on the book of Revelation chapter 20. But Pastor Paul has opted to split up chapter 20 into two parts. May I suggest that you take a moment to read the chapter and then pay close attention to all that Pastor Paul fits together, piece by piece. Revelation chapter 20, part 1: Putting Together the Puzzle. You like to work puzzles. I enjoyed doing simple ones when I was a kid.

I still remember some of those puzzles, actually. My favorite was a scene from a popular Western TV show then called Paladin. I loved that puzzle. But I've never gotten into the complex jigsaw puzzles with hundreds of pieces that people work on. One of my daughters likes those and has tried more than once to get me to sit down and try to work one. But after about five minutes, it's no thanks, way too complicated, don't have enough patience for this.

Speaking of puzzles, I came across a cool gift idea that might interest you. Saw an ad a year or two ago where this company will turn a favorite picture of yours into a puzzle. You send them a favorite photo you like, and they will print it out on hard cardboard puzzle material and then precision cut it into a puzzle. One year for Christmas, I had one made for each member of my family, pictures with me in them or pictures that I knew they liked. You can work the puzzle over and over, or put it together and frame it to keep it like a picture on your wall. I thought that was a pretty neat idea.

Probably the best way to think of today's lesson is like a puzzle. I'll explain what I mean by that as we go along. First, here's how chapter 20 of Revelation begins. Then I saw, John's writing, an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain was in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, that old serpent who is the devil, Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him so that he would not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were completed.

After that, he must be released for a short time. Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them that had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his statue nor accepted his mark on their foreheads or their hands. Then they all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for the thousand years. This is the first resurrection.

The rest of the dead did not come back to life until these thousand years had ended. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. Over them the second death holds no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years. I bet you noticed from that section that something's going to be happening after the tribulation time that's going to last a thousand years. We're told a thousand years six times in the first several verses of this chapter. And whatever this something is, Christ is going to be reigning over it.

And Satan, I think it's safe to say his demons along with him, will be chained in the abyss so as not to be able to disturb it. To me, someone who wants to interpret the Bible writers in their language in a normal sense, unless there's a really good reason not to. The something here is pretty obvious, and that is the thousand-year period will be the kingdom of God on earth over which Jesus will reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And it's said, last chapter we just looked at last time, he will reign over the nations after he destroys Antichrist and the Babylon regime with a rod of iron, meaning as an absolute ruler. This 1,000-year-long era on the earth after the tribulation, but before there's a new heaven and new earth created and eternity begins, is often referred to as the millennium or the millennial reign of Christ.

Here in chapter 20, John says, At that time, all those followers of Jesus who were martyred during the tribulation will be resurrected to reign with Christ for this thousand years. Back in chapter 6, John saw in one of his earlier visions Jesus as the Lamb of God when he was given that scroll with the seven seals, remember? This apparently represented authority over the earth, like the earth's actual deed. And the 24 elders, representative of all the redeemed people from the beginning of time until then, were seated around God's throne, and they sang this song, a new song, John says: You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open them, for you were slaughtered and your blood was ransomed for the people of God from every tribe, language, people, and nation. And you have caused them to become a kingdom of priests to God, and they will reign on the earth.

So it's not only the resurrected martyrs from the tribulation who are going to reign with Christ one day, but also all those who have been saved prior, that is believers from throughout the ages, including ours. People from every tribe, language, nation on earth, we will all join in reigning with Christ in His coming kingdom. And notice it said, reign on the earth. This is not about something ethereal that will be happening in some heavenly realm. No, this is resurrected believers joining Jesus Christ after His second coming to reign on the earth. Stay with me here.

This isn't a jigsaw puzzle with a thousand difficult pieces, but it is a puzzle most of us should be able to put it together. I'm surprised so many Bible interpreters seem to have problems with this. Here are some of the puzzle pieces we need to put together. We learned a while back, especially in episode 249, about covenants God made with the Jewish people in the past. We discussed several, but two of them in particular, one, the Abrahamic covenant and then the Davidic covenant, were unconditional, meaning promises God made that He definitely is going to keep, no matter what. The covenant with Abraham promised his descendants three things: a certain piece of real estate in the Middle East, that they would become a great nation on the earth, and most importantly, that the whole world would be blessed through them.

These were unconditional promises from the God who cannot lie. I like Numbers 23:19, which famously states, God is not a man, that He would lie; has He said, and He will not do it? Has He spoken, and He will not accomplish it? So, you tell me, have the promises in the Abrahamic covenant ever come true? Well, most people would say that the last part about the whole earth being blessed by one of Abraham's descendants was a prophecy about the coming of Jesus. Okay, I agree with that.

But how about the other two parts of the covenant? Was Israel ever really a great nation on the earth? And even more specifically, the land promised to them by God in that covenant, it had stated borders, and they ran from the Nile River in Egypt clear to the Euphrates River in what is today Iraq. Has Israel at any time in their history ever been anyplace close to that geographically large as a nation? The answer to those questions is frankly, no. So our next thought should be, since God promises to the Jewish people, why hasn't it happened?

Good question. My answer is because the fulfillment of those promises is still future and will happen after the second coming of Christ in the time period John is describing here, the 1,000-year millennial kingdom. The Davidic covenant was a specific promise to King David that one of his descendants would rule over the earth in a coming kingdom. That's why the Jewish people, as we saw in the Gospels, referred to their hoped-for Messiah as the Son of David. Jesus is the Christ, the Jewish Messiah, and he is going to rule and reign over the whole earth from Jerusalem for the thousand years John is foreseeing in Revelation 20. As the Old Testament prophet Isaiah wrote, looking forward to this time, Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

That verse is on so many Christmas cards, isn't it? But when did the child born for us in Bethlehem ever rule this world as the Prince of Peace? He didn't. It hasn't happened yet. But that doesn't mean that it won't. Jesus is the promised Son of David who will fulfill that promise, and he will do so when he returns to the earth after the tribulation.

No one puts the next verse, by the way, from Isaiah's prophecy on their Christmas card because it says, The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. The Lord of hosts equals the Lord of heaven's armies. And that's what John was shown last chapter, wasn't he? Jesus on the white horse leading heaven's armies in the destruction of his enemies at Armageddon so that he could rule the earth. Are you starting to see how the puzzle pieces go together? I hope so.

Here's another. When Jesus gave his most extensive teaching about end times events, what we call the Olivet Discourse, this is Matthew 24 and 25, in part he said this: But when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd would separate sheep from goats. And he will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. And the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.' So, he was describing his own future return to the earth as King one day, what we just saw last episode in Revelation 19. He will destroy his enemies, called the goats here, at that time, as we saw.

But what about those who remain alive on earth who didn't take the mark of the beast, those alive who believe the gospel as it had been preached by all the witnesses that God sent? This is what happens. They inherit the kingdom of God He has been preparing since the beginning of the world. Real life mortals will move from the awful tribulation era into the kingdom of God on earth, and they will repopulate the earth for the thousand years following. And this is significant. Both the prophet Zechariah and the apostle Paul foresaw that all the Jewish people alive at the end of the tribulation era, the 144,000 that were sealed as God's witnesses, as well as all the rest who survived the craziness, all of them will be saved.

And so, a whole lot of Jewish people will enter into this 1,000-year-long kingdom era. This is very important to see. In Romans 11, Paul wrote, I don't want you to be uninformed about this mystery, so that you will not be wise in your own estimation. A partial hardening has happened to the Jewish people until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. He means until the church age is completed, over. And then he says, All Israel will be saved.

And he quotes from an Old Testament prophet, The Deliverer, this is Jesus, will come from Zion, that's Jerusalem. He will remove ungodliness from Jacob, another name for Israel, and this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. Paul continues then, from the standpoint of the gospel, they, the Jewish people, are enemies for your sake, he tells the early Christians. He's saying that because at the time, unbelieving Jews, as he had been, were persecuting Christians, trying to disrupt the growth of Christianity. But, he goes on, from the standpoint, listen to this, of God's choice, they are beloved for the sake of the patriarchs. Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and so on, the people God had made these promises to long ago.

For, Paul says, the gifts and the callings of God are irrevocable. So many people are missing this very badly today. God has made irrevocable covenants with the people of Israel, and He is always true to His word. He cannot lie. So when Jesus comes back again, all Israel will accept Him, and that's when the covenant promises made in the past will all be fulfilled. Jesus, the Son of David, will rule the earth from Jerusalem.

Israel will be the greatest nation on earth then. Its borders will stretch from the Nile to the Euphrates, and an era of peace and justice on earth will extend under the reign of Jesus Christ for one thousand years. This is fascinating to try to imagine, because our chapter, Revelation 19 and 20, says believers from the past and from the church age, as well as tribulation martyrs, will rule on the earth with Him. So there will be both mortal and immortal people on earth during the millennial era. This is another puzzle piece we can pop into place, because I'm sure you remember parables we've discussed in which Jesus tells stories about His kingdom. For example, how about the one in Luke chapter 19?

Listen to a part of it. Now, when they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell them a parable, because He was near Jerusalem and they thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. So He said, A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself and then return. And he called ten of his slaves and gave them ten minas, some of money, and said, Engage with this in business until I come back. But the citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, We don't want this man to rule over us. Don't miss this.

It's a parable about the coming kingdom of God. Jesus' followers hoped and expected that he was going up to Jerusalem that last time to somehow miraculously seize control, since they believed he was the Jewish Messiah. And when he did, the promised kingdom of God on earth would begin, they assumed. Jesus' parable was to correct that misconception. He was not going up to Jerusalem in 33 A.D. to become king, but to die for our sins, which he did. Through this story, Jesus was explaining that it was necessary that he go away for a while, but that he would return with the authority to reign as king and would then deal with his enemies, as well as reward those of his servants who have been faithful.

Follow me? Here's how Jesus' story proceeded. After receiving the kingdom, he ordered that the servants to whom he had entrusted the sums of money be called to him so that he might know what they had done with what he had given them. And the first appeared, saying, Master, your mina has made ten more. And the king said to him, Well done, because you've been faithful in a very little thing, you are now to be in authority over ten cities. Then the second came, saying, Your mina, master, has made five more.

And he said to him, And you are to be over five cities. But then another servant had to admit he had done nothing in the king's interests while he was gone with what had been entrusted to him, and in his case, even what he had was to be taken away from him, Jesus said. Do you see how this parable fits into the puzzle? Revelation 20 says believers will reign with Christ on the earth during this coming 1,000-year kingdom era. Jesus was teaching through this and similar parables that when this kingdom finally arrives, it's His servants' faithfulness while He was gone which will determine how much He entrusts to them then during the kingdom era, what their opportunities and responsibilities will be then. Because believers then, although immortal beings by that time, will actually be helping in the administration of the earth during the thousand-year kingdom era.

Why is all this important? Well, in the first place, it shows that God always keeps His promises. Those made to the Jewish people long ago about a coming Messianic kingdom when Israel will be the center of the earth will literally happen after the second coming of Christ. And second, for Christians, this shows that what we are doing now with our lives while Christ is away, what we will be doing then during the thousand-year period after He returns, our role then is being determined right now by what we are doing with what Christ has entrusted to us: our time, our talents, our resources. We discussed this in detail, by the way, back in episode 41. There are lots more puzzle pieces to assemble to get the fullest picture of the coming thousand-year kingdom era, especially in the Old Testament prophets.

I don't have time to describe them all, but here's a brief overview. In that future era, the curse that was put on the earth because of sin will be lifted. So the earth then will return to a far more perfect state. Old Testament prophets describe it as a time when the deserts will bloom and the wild animals will be tame, and people will be freed from the diseases we all fear now and live very, very long lives. The Prince of Peace, Jesus the Messiah, will literally be king over the earth, and the nations will beat their swords into plowshares, as one prophet put it, meaning there won't be any wars then, any of the kinds of dangers that we live in now. Christ's administration will ensure a world of peace and true justice.

And remember, Satan and his demons will be bound during that time, so all the trouble they cause now will not be part of that world. Isaiah wrote that when the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth like the waters of the sea, that will be the kingdom. And Zechariah adds that Jerusalem will be the spiritual capital of the earth, and people all over the world will go up to Jerusalem to worship. This will be when the new covenant with Israel will be in effect, the one Jeremiah describes like this: But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will anyone need to teach their relatives, saying, 'You should know the Lord,' for everyone from the least to the greatest will know me already, says the Lord. And I will forgive their wickedness, I will never remember their sins against them again. The millennial kingdom era will be wonderful for everybody on earth in those days, mortal and immortals alike. You will definitely want to be a part of this, and you can be by claiming Jesus as your Savior and King now. If you're unclear on what that means, we have a short video down our homepage at www.sharetheword.org called The Four, and it explains the gospel very well. Check it out.

And if you're already a believer, the big question for you is, what role will Christ trust me with then? Remember, that's all being decided by what we are doing for His interests now. I want to at least be able to reign over one small town, be counted worthy of at least that much trust. But this coming blessed era will especially be the time of times for the Jewish people. The kingdom of God on earth, which will last 1,000 years, will be the culmination of all the promises God has made to them, a time when they've embraced Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah, and all the failures and heartaches of the past will be forgiven and forgotten. There's lots more to discuss from Revelation 20, but we'll have to wait till next time.

Thanks for listening. This has been Paul for Share the Word. Thanks again for joining us. I hope Pastor Paul was able to clarify things for you regarding some of the aspects in this chapter. But remember, we have part two coming. But I'd like to reiterate that the one most important and critical piece of this puzzle is Jesus Christ.

Where does He fit in your life? Remember, even the demons believe in Christ. So I ask you again, is Christ simply a belief for you, or is He the Lord and Savior of your life? Remember, eternity is a very, very long time.