Barton's Bible Study Notes

The questions are sometimes asked: Why did God not, upon the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, immediately judge Satan, those angels who chose to rebel with him and all unregenerate humanity? Why delay all these centuries? Why even have an intervening 1000 year kingdom upon this old sin tainted earth in an imperfect universe. Why not just do away with it then and bring in the new perfect creation?

With due respect, one answer that always may be given is that He is God; He chooses to do what He chooses to do. Who are we, His creation, to ever question Him? That, of course, is true, and given all eternity, we will never be able to fathom the mind of God. But He is not capricious and random either. Reasons do exist for His actions, even if we may not comprehend them.

While He has not stated His reasons for allowing the course of unregenerate human history to run as it has and then establishing a kingdom upon this imperfect world populated not only with the resurrected perfected saints but with imperfect humanity as well, there appears to be a reason. Humanity has had a multitude of reasons for excusing its own sin. We say, for example, "I did not know that it was wrong," or "I had no choice; I had to do this in order to live," or "The socio-economic conditions under which I lived conditioned me to act the way I do," or "I had to fight the evil in the world by using its own rules," or perhaps, "The devil made me do it!" The reason is always outside of us. Someone or something out there is to blame, not me, for my actions.

The Creator, in order to demonstrate clearly that the creation is to be held accountable for its choices, has allowed mankind many forms of government, many types of socio-economic systems, and many different leaders throughout the ages. All history has proven is that humanity is imperfect, that it is not improving in moral character, and that man is inherently a selfish being. But the final test is yet to come. God will provide the earth with a perfect human ruler, with perfect justice, with as perfect an environment as mankind has ever known. This will last for a thousand years. Satan, the great deceiver, will not be allowed access to this time and place. With such perfect conditions for so long, what will mankind choose when given the option of believing the Lord God, Creator of heaven and earth, or the lie of Satan? Will their choice be any different than that of Adam, their forefather? The answer, sadly, is no. Unregenerate mankind, even under the most perfect social and environmental conditions, will, when given the opportunity, rebel against their Creator, the LORD God.

Revelation 20:1-15.

20:1	Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
20:2	And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;
20:3	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 these things he must be released for a short time.
20:4	Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
20:5	The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.
20:6	Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
20:7	When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison,
20:8	and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.
20:9	And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
20:10	And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
20:11	Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.
20:12	And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.
20:13	And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.
20:14	Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
20:15	And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

The time covered by chapters 4 through 19 was about seven years. The span of time covered by these fifteen verses is over a thousand years. Not much is said about the Kingdom, for the main purpose of this book was to reveal the true and coming King, our savior, the Lord Christ. For our study, the passage is divided into the following sections:

1.	The binding of Satan in verses 1-3
2.	The 1000 year reign in 4-6
3.	The release of Satan in 7-9
4.	The final judgment in 10-15

The Binding of Satan

Following the return of the King of kings and Lord of lords and His armies to the earth and the destruction of the armies of the beast in chapter 19, John sees an angel descending from heaven. He tells us this angel has the key to the abyss and a great chain. The abyss is that place where demonic beings are imprisoned awaiting judgment. Where in space and time it exists, we do not know; we only know that it does. Nor do we know much about spirit beings, angels and demons. It seems they are not bound by the physical restraints of space in the manner in which we are but can be confined in this place called the abyss, whatever and wherever that may be.

The angel from heaven grabbed the dragon that is identified as the serpent of old, that is, that being who deceived Eve in Eden, the devil or Satan. He was bound for a thousand years, thrown into the abyss, which was then shut and sealed over him. The purpose of this imprisonment is stated. He was removed so that he would not deceive the nations. Mankind has been able to claim that it was deceived by a much stronger being and therefore is not responsible for its choices. This is the "The devil made me do it!" excuse. This influence, the devil, is now removed for a millennium. For 1000 years, the world will be given a perfect system of government and a near-perfect environment. The question at the end of that time will be: Who will they serve, The Creator or the Deceiver, who will then be released for a short period of time?

The 1000 Years Of Kingdom

Then John witnesses the establishment of authority upon the earth. He sees thrones and those who occupied them. He sees judgment being given to them. At the beginning of the Kingdom, a judgment takes place. There are those who are given judgment, that is, those who are established as rulers and who do the judging, and there are those who are judged, that is, those who have survived the past seven terrible years.

Those who are given judgment include at least three groups of people. First, there are those who make up the church, the bride of the King of kings. Matthew 19:28 states,

“And Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’”

If the twelve apostles are to rule in the Kingdom, others of the church will as well. Next, this will also include those martyred during the seven years of tribulation who will be resurrected at the beginning of the Kingdom, as verse 4 of this chapter states. Finally, it will include Old Testament believers who have been resurrected as well. Ezekiel 37:24 speaks of one of these Old Testament saints.

My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever.

If David is resurrected to rule as a prince of Israel, it seems likely that other, indeed all, Old Testament saints are also resurrected either at the beginning of the Kingdom or possibly at the same time the believers of the church were raptured and resurrected prior to the beginning of the Tribulation.

Those who are judged are those who have survived these last seven years, including both believers and unbelievers. Matthew 25:31-46 tells of this judgment.

25:31	“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.
25:32	“All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;
25:33	and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
25:34	“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
25:35	‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
25:36	naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’
25:37	“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?
25:38	‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?
25:39	‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
25:40	“The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
25:41	“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
25:42	for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;
25:43	I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’
25:44	“Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’
25:45	“Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’
25:46	“These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

In this passage, our Lord is identified as the one who does the judging. All authority comes from the Father through Him. Those He empowers to judge do so in His name and on His authority. Those who survived the Tribulation, great or small, Jew or Gentile, slave or free, all must stand before the Lord or those He has empowered to act in His name. All are judged as to their faith, which is demonstrated, not by their words but by their actions. Those who truly believe are ushered into the Kingdom, those that do not join the beast and false prophet in the fires of hell.

At the beginning of the Kingdom, all believe, all are redeemed for none that did not believe will enter it at its inception. Yet remember this: this group, those believers who survived the Tribulation, while redeemed, are not yet perfected. They still retain the old nature, and their children who will be born in the coming years and their children's children on down through the centuries of the reign of the King will also have this fallen nature. They, the children to come, will have to make a choice to believe and follow the true King. Sin will still exist even in the Kingdom for those who have not been perfected.

A resurrection takes place at the beginning of the Kingdom period. John sees believers who have died during the past seven years resurrected and reigning with their Lord. Whether this includes all the remaining Old Testament believers or whether they were also resurrected at the same time that the church was resurrected or raptured remains to be seen. This resurrection, identified as the first resurrection, is the resurrection of believers. Those who participate in this resurrection are blessed for the second death, i.e., separation from God for all eternity in the place called hell, cannot touch them. It must be noted that although this is called the first resurrection, some have already participated in it, Our Lord who was the first, the church before the Tribulation and possibly the Old Testament saints as well. The first resurrection, whenever it might take place, refers to the resurrection of believers; the second resurrection is the resurrection of the unbelieving dead following the time of the Kingdom to face the judgment of God at the Great White throne.

Nothing else is told us of the Kingdom here in the Book of Revelation. There are Old Testament passages that tell us more. Let it be enough here to say that for 1000 years, the world of mankind will have a perfect, just loving ruler. The justice system will be perfectly just and fair. There will be a perfect balance in the world. Life spans will lengthen, and health will be available for all. Over the centuries, man will again replenish the earth. Demonic forces will be kept at bay while the great tempter is locked away in the abyss.

There will be two classes of humanity during this age, those who still have the fallen nature and those who have been perfected and glorified. For those who have been glorified, who can no longer be touched by sin, no temptation to rebel or stray can have any effect. But for the rest, a test will come. Mankind has now enjoyed a perfect world, with a just and perfect government provided by the Creator in the person of Jesus Christ. When given the opportunity to make a choice, what will mankind now choose: to follow and worship the creator or to rebel and go their own way?

The Release of Satan

Satan, after 1000 years, is released from his prison. No details are given as to the how, but the why is clear. Satan, the Great Deceiver, is allowed to go free to do one thing: to test mankind. How long a period will he be free to test and tempt? We do not know. In verse 3 of this chapter, we are told, “he must be released for a short time.” Yet one must remember a short time for the Lord can well be quite a long period of time for man. Will it be months, a few years, hundreds of years or even thousands? That has not been revealed yet.

He goes about doing what he has always done, deceiving and enticing the nations away from their God. Unregenerate mankind, for the most part, does what it has always done. It turns away from God and follows the enemy. A leader and its nation are mentioned, Gog of the land of Magog; He seems to be the major leader of the rebellion.

Once again, Satan raises a human army, bringing them down to surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city, that is, Jerusalem. But justice is swift. God has allowed the rebellion to proceed to this point so all may make their choice. Either you stand with the saints, or you cast your lot with the rebellion. There is no neutral corner. But rebellion will not be tolerated. The Lord rains fire down from the heavens, and the great armies of the rebellion are destroyed as is described in Ezekiel chapter 38:

38:1	And the word of the LORD came to me saying,
38:2	“Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him
38:3	and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal.
38:4	“I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords;
38:5	Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
38:6	Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples with you.
38:7	“Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them.
38:8	“After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them.
38:9	“You will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you.”
38:10	‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “It will come about on that day, that thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil plan,
38:11	and you will say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates,
38:12	to capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world.’
38:13	“Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will say to you, ‘Have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great spoil?’ “’
38:14	“Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “On that day when My people Israel are living securely, will you not know it?
38:15	“You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army;
38:16	and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog.”
38:17	‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them?
38:18	“It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” declares the Lord GOD, “that My fury will mount up in My anger.
38:19	“In My zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.
38:20	“The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; the mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse and every wall will fall to the ground.
38:21	“I will call for a sword against him on all My mountains,” declares the Lord GOD. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother
38:22	“With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone.
38:23	“I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the LORD.”’

Satan at this time is taken, judged and cast into hell with an eternal sentence, never to be released again.

The Final Judgment

The next event that John sees is the final judgment. How much time passes between the destruction of the armies of the earth and the final judgment is unstated. It could be as many as a few years—see Ezekiel 39, where the clean-up from this battle takes at least seven years—to many centuries. We simply do not know. Could more be hidden, that is, be a mystery that we do not see at this point, to be revealed later? It is entirely possible! What we do know is that the final end will come when all sin is dealt with and is put away forever, when all the dead are resurrected and judged.

At this point, when the great white throne of God's judgment appears, we are told heaven and earth flee away, and they cease to exist. 2 Peter 3:7, 10 describes this event.

This is the final reckoning when all the books will be opened, and all the accounts will come due. The remaining dead are now judged. For some, those who have taken part in the first resurrection, judgment is over, and they have been perfected; for others, they have already been judged and cast into the fires of hell. But multitudes of those who died in unbelief and rebellion have yet to stand before the judge of the entire universe. Now with the dissolution of the universe, that time has come.

It matters not where or when death has taken place. It cannot hide one from the final reckoning. Those who died at sea, whose bodies have never been found are resurrected; death and Hades, that place where the souls of the unbelieving dead are imprisoned, are emptied. All those who have not participated in the first resurrection now are resurrected and stand before God.

The dead are judged according to their deeds. Sentence is given based on one's deeds. All who are thus judged are therefore condemned, for no one can be justified by their own actions. All far short of the Lord's perfect standards! Yet there is another way to be saved from this condemnation. Even if one's deeds are less than perfect—and everyone's deeds are far less than perfect—there is another way to be justified. If one's name is in the book of life, the book in which the names of all who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ as their perfect sacrifice for their sin are found, that person is declared just before God. If your name is there, then the penalty for those deeds found in the opened books has already been paid. If your name is not in the book of life, then you must pay the penalty, which is eternal condemnation in the lake of fire.

We all have excuses for why we sin and disobey God. It is always someone else's fault, we say. We are not to be blamed, so we maintain. Yet the fault falls squarely upon our shoulders. History has proven that. God will demonstrate it even more clearly, for He will provide for mankind a beautiful world with the most perfect government possible, the best of conditions possible for a millennium. Then the test will come. What will we do? The answer is sure and hard. Unregenerate mankind, even under the most perfect social and environmental conditions, will, when given the opportunity, rebel against their Creator, the LORD God.