Thursday, August 21 – Revelation 19, 20

1. If God is love, why doesn’t He offer another chance to those who are lost? Give your own answer

2. What does the expression in Revelation 20:9, “and fire devoured them,” mean?

3. Malachi 4:1 states that the wicked will be left with ‘neither root nor branch.’ What does that mean?

4. Jude 7 states that “Sodom and Gomorrah suffered the punishment of eternal fire.” Does the word eternal mean those cities are still burning?

Notice that chapter 19 is like chapters 4 and 5. Again, we see the heavenly scene of worship, the 24 elders are mentioned, and the voice of the great multitude praising God is heard. It is magnificent! Hallelujah!

A brief interlude follows, reminiscent of the wedding feast in Matthew 25, concluding with the angel’s assurance to the aged John that the only one worthy of worship is God and that the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy. From that point on, the narrative presents the majestic vision of the heavenly procession. Like a victorious general, Christ comes at the head of His army of angels, dressed in white and riding white horses. Everything represents the purity of God’s throne. Those who did not participate in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb will be the food at another supper, the guests of which are the birds of the air. This refers to the final destruction when the sword of divine justice is finally unsheathed to perform its “strange act”, the destruction of this sinful world.

Now the scene shifts to heaven. The righteous, both resurrected and transformed, are taken to heaven, specifically to the throne of God, for 1,000 years. Let’s examine the key points in Chapter 20:

1. John sees an angel descending, carrying two objects: the key to the abyss and a great chain. His task: to take the dragon and bind him for 1,000 years.

2. In biblical language, the word “abyss” refers back to Genesis, where it is described as the “deep” or “formless void.” After Christ’s coming, this will be the condition of the earth.

3. Since the redeemed go to heaven and the wicked stay dead on earth, the only survivors will be Satan and his rebellious angels. Now, the angel sent from heaven arrives with the mission of imprisoning the dragon. Of course, this imprisonment includes all his angels as well.

4. What is the nature of this prison? The “chain” that will bind him is a chain of circumstances. The hyperactive devil will be confined to this desolate planet for a long time; he will not be able to tempt anyone. Here, he will wander among skulls, brooding over his own rebellion against the Most High.

5. In verse 4, we see the redeemed occupying their place in the vast assembly of witnesses, like a jury. They are not coming to judge in the ultimate sense, but to participate in the judgment that only God can carry out. Yet they stand as witnesses before the universe and for all eternity, testifying that, despite the world’s sin, there was a people who chose to obey God rather than men, who trusted in Christ’s merits and came out “more than conquerors through Him who loved them.” They are Christ’s trophies, evidence of His redeeming power.

6. During the final phase of human history, starting in 1844, as prophesied in Daniel 8 and 9, and continuing until the moment Jesus departs from the Most Holy Place in the Heavenly Sanctuary, the first phase of judgment has been ongoing. Christ has been selecting His faithful, who will sit with Him on His throne.

7. Now, at the start of the 1,000 years, the second phase of judgment begins. Those who have voluntarily rejected God’s grace will now face their unavoidable sentence. However, the sentence itself won’t be carried out until the end of the millennium, this is the executive phase of judgment.

8. At the end of the Millennium, “Satan will be released from his prison.” Since his prison is inactivity, this clearly implies a second resurrection. “But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished” (20:5). Satan, his angels, and the wicked, who will return to the scene with the same spirit in which they went to their graves, as enemies of God.

9. In his final failed attempt to attack the City of God, already descended with all the redeemed of all ages, God reveals the true spirit of the evil one to the entire universe: “And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them” (20:9).

10. The chapter concludes by declaring God’s justice in the great white throne, declaring that each person will be judged based on their works, recorded in the opened books. This scene echoes Daniel 7:9–10.

May God reward each of you for your dedication and effort.