Now let’s see a prophecy that there will be some people that, regardless of what you do to try and teach them, they will not receive the truth. Astounding as that may be. Let’s come here to Isaiah 26:10. And this is a principle of human nature that can be applied now, that can be applied during the millennium, and especially toward the end of the millennium because we’re going to see that God is going to do a separation of the righteous and the wicked and He is going to exile the wicked. Now how long that is going to be, we don’t know. There are even some people who think that even during the millennium there may be a place of exile where people can be sent out. And if they repent they can be brought back, and if they don’t repent then they die there. Because, you see, all of those who are the encourageable wicked must die twice, as we will see.

Now let’s come to Isaiah 26:10. Now listen to this. “Let favour [that is, grace] be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness; in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.” So there are going to be some people that it’s going to be almost impossible to deal with them, and so they must be separated from the righteous.

Now let’s come to the book of Revelation, chapter 20, and let’s see that. And we’re going to, as we learned on the Day of Atonement, Satan is put away, because you see you can never, never get rid of sin as long as Satan is there. And human beings will still have the law of sin and death within them all during the millennium. Everyone is going to be given an opportunity for salvation. God isn’t going to force anyone, because you see, eternal life is based on choice. Eternal life is based on love, and obedience, and righteousness, and the Spirit of God.

Now let’s read verse 2. The angel came, Revelation 20:2, “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,…” Why not just remove Satan all at once? Why bind him a thousand years. Notice… now here in verse 3 we find a very difficult to understand section of scripture here in Revelation 20. Verse 3, “…And cast him into the bottomless pit [which is the abyss, or the spiritual prison], and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season” (Rev. 20:2-3). Now why must he be loosed a little season? And how long is a little season? Well, we don’t know how long a little season is. We can guess and speculate based on other scriptures that perhaps it might be 3 ½ years. Very possible.

Now why must he be loosed? What is the object of that? Where is he going to go? Now let’s come down here to verse 7 and we see where it’s fulfilled. “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea” (vs. 7-8). Well now, it’s very likely, if we put the scriptures together properly, that in that last generation of the millennium, those who refuse salvation will be sent into exile into the geographical area of Gog and Magog. Not just the people of Gog and Magog, because we dealt with that at the beginning of the millennium. Now the people of Gog and Magog, all during the millennium, will have an opportunity for salvation. But here we have a geographical area of Gog and Magog.

Now it says, “…to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog,…” Now that means there’s going to be a lot of people there. How many are going to reject salvation? Well, who knows? We don’t know. And the number, that is, the sand of the sea…it tells us that it’s going to be quite a number but how many billions of people will there be on the earth at that time, toward the end of the millennium. I mean, you just consider. I’m sure there are going to be far more people on the earth than there are today.

And so here will be this area, just like it was the land of Nod for Cain. When he sinned a sin which is worthy of death, instead of executing him, he was sent further into exile. And so this is what we have here. These people are sent into exile. And notice what happens, immediately what happens. It’s quite a thing, isn’t it? They are deceived by Satan the devil. First of all, they’ve already deceived themselves out of salvation, haven’t they? They’ve already said, “No God, let me go my way. I don’t want salvation. I want to know what it’s like to get out and experience life on my own.” So God says, “Alright. We’ll send you there.” So they go to Gog and Magog, and they build their own society, and they do things their own way, because this is a good number of people. It doesn’t tell us how many, but it’s a good number of people. Well up into the millions. And they set up their own way, set up their own society. They live. We don’t know if they have children or not. We don’t know whether that is the case. But anyway, they’re going to be living there in exile. And Satan is going to be loosed on them, and the first thing he does is deceive them into what?

Now, number one, since salvation is a choice God will not allow people to be deceived out of salvation without an opportunity for choice. Now we’ll see that’s a very clear principle that God always operates. If people are deceived by Satan the devil before they’ve had an opportunity for salvation, that is a different story. Now we’ll talk a little bit more about that tomorrow, about those people who have been down through history. But now, we are dealing with people who with conscious volition and willful choice have made the decision they don’t want salvation. Now what is the wages of sin? The wages of sin is death. What is God’s final punishment on all sinners? The second death. Since that is so, that means that they have to die twice, which means they have to live twice.

Now here at the end of the millennium you have all these people who have lived once, they have rejected salvation, now they must die their first death. And God is going to bring that first death upon all of them, all at once, and He is going to use Satan the devil to lead them in it, and to deceive them into thinking that they can come and do the same kind of rebellion that Satan did, to go against God and still get what God promises by force of arms.

Now let’s read it here. “…To gather them together to battle [verse 8]: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” So they died. God’s judgment against them, that’s their first death. Now we don’t know at this point, and it’s very likely that there are people who accepted salvation in that last generation, who may live on over into the beginning of the Great White Throne Judgment period. It’s very possible. Because, as we have seen, it’s also very possible that all during the millennium, when a person reaches the end of their life, and it may perhaps be the equivalent of one hundred years, that there is no reason for them to die. They can be changed from flesh to spirit just exactly in the same way that there are those who, when Christ returns, are still alive and they’re not going to die, but they will be changed from flesh to spirit. Only the sinner will die. And the sinner will die accursed, and will know whenever there is the death of someone that way, that they will be waiting the second death. So here we have all of these people out in Gog and Magog. So God uses Satan the devil to go out there, to deceive them, to gather them together for the battle. And they are all consumed by the fire of God that comes out of heaven, and that is their first death. Their second death is yet to come. When all the incorrigible wicked, at the end of the Last Great Day, one hundred year throne judgment period, will receive the wages of sin, which is the second death.

Now then, something else takes place before the Great White Throne Judgment begins. Verse 10, “And the devil that deceiveth them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are [and it should read, “were cast”, because that was at the beginning of the millennium that they were cast in there], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

Now then, Satan the devil and the demons are those who are going to be tormented day and night forever, and ever. Now what do we really have right here in verse 10? We have the final judgment on Satan the devil. Because before the fulfillment of the Last Great Day, the Great White Throne Judgment period, Satan has to be removed entirely. Notice, he’s not put back into the abyss. He’s not put into prison. He is not shut up for a short time. He is removed completely and totally. So the very last thing that is going to be done to conclude the 1000-year period will be the judgment of Satan and his demons. Now let’s read about that. Revelation 12, let’s go back there. You see, because God is going to bring the final judgment against Satan the devil and the demons, and they are going to be tormented day and night forever in the lake of fire. Now human beings are not going to be tormented day and night, because they’re not spirit beings. They’ll be burned up if they go in the lake of fire.

Now here’s Satan’s rebellion. We know about it from the Day of Atonement, don’t we, that he wanted to be like God. And here’s a prophecy of it here in Revelation 12:3. “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth:…” So here’s the rebellion of Satan the devil. He now is going to pay for it at the end of the millennium and the last part, the last act that God is going to do is judge Satan the devil and the demons and cast them into the lake of fire for their rebellion.

Now, let’s come here to Job 4 and let’s see that there are angels who have sinned, that God charges with folly. They are the demons that fell with Lucifer. They are the ones who are going to be cast into the lake of fire. Job 4:18. And then we are going to see after this a very interesting thing. Now, Job 4:18, “Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly.” There were a third of the angels that fell.

Now then, we’re going to read that we are going to do the judging. Christ and the saints are going to do the judging concerning Satan the devil. Now let’s come to 1 Corinthians 6. Now we’ve read this scripture many times, haven’t we? But we have never really understood, or never really put it together when it’s going to be that this is going to be done. Ok? 1 Corinthians 6, and let’s read it here. It has to do with judgment. And it has to do with judging the world, and it has to do with judging angels. Now all during the millennium we’re going to be judging the world, aren’t we? And we’re going to judge the angels at the end of the millennium. Now that’s why Paul says here to the brethren in Corinth when they had their problems that they weren’t solving them the way that they should, he says, “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?” And we’re going to judge the world all during the millennium. “…And if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters.” (1 Cor. 6:1-2). That’s why we have to learn to judge righteous judgment today, see.

Now notice verse 3, “Know ye not that we shall judge angels?” Now that’s something, isn’t it? So we’ll be there with Christ, and we will help Him to judge Satan and the demons before they’re cast into the lake of fire. Now that’s something. Maybe you never really thought of it that way. But you see, in order for the fulfillment of the Last Great Day to take place, Satan and his demons must be removed forever. So Paul says if we’re going to judge angels, “..how much more things that pertain to this life?”

Now let’s continue on here just a few more verses. “If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge…” (vs. 4). And what it means here, what they did, they were setting those to judge who were the least esteemed rather than those who should do the judging. So you see judgment is going to be a very important and profound thing that we’re going to do. And we’re going to help judge the demons.

Let’s come back here to Daniel 7 and let’s see, judgment is going to be given to us. Daniel 7:26, “But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion,…” That will be Satan’s dominion, obviously, completely gone. Not only of the beast power, which this is the prophecy of, but who’s the power behind the beast? Satan the devil. “…To consume and to destroy it unto the end.” And that’s what it’s going to be. It will come to an end. “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him” (Dan. 12:26-27). And so this is going to be a tremendous thing.

Now then, let’s come back here to Revelation 20 and let’s go ahead and see, before we finish, that in order to pave the way for the fulfillment of the Last Great Day, that Satan the devil has to be removed. And all of those who, in the second resurrection, in order to receive salvation, they will have already lived one life under Satan the devil. Now they don’t need to live two lives under Satan the devil. You need to understand that. That would be most cruel indeed. So then after that is done, and we’ll finish here with verse 11, “And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from Whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.” Now comes the second resurrection. And so, you all come back tomorrow and we’ll go through the meaning of the Last Great Day, and why it is called the Last Great Day.