Feast of Tabernacles 2005: Day 7-Part 2

Now let’s continue on. Let’s see what Revelation 20 tells us. Now Revelation 20 presents a little difficulty in understanding what happened to Satan the devil at the beginning of the Millennium and why he is let loose at the end of the Millennium. And I think we will be able to see and understand more clearly why that is if we understand properly what we have been saying the last couple of days here concerning human nature and choice.

Now it seems almost inconceivable that people would choose to reject God and His way with Christ being King on the earth, all the saints being the priests and the teachers, and everyone being taught God’s way. But there is still the choice that’s important that we realize that God is going to let them exercise. And in the last generation, then we are going to see that there’s going to be a good number of people who have chosen not to go God’s way. Now we don’t know the exact number because it doesn’t tell us. But let’s come here to Revelation 20 and let’s see concerning Satan the devil, and why God would do this. There has to be a reason why God would do this.

Revelation 20:1: “Then I saw an angel descending from heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a great chain in his hand. And he took hold of the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.” Now why bind him a thousand years? Why not a get rid of him entirely? Well the answer is, God still has need for him for one more mission. So here’s what the angel did: “Then he cast him into the abyss, and locked him up, and sealed the abyss over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were fulfilled; and after that it is ordained that he be loosed for a short time,” or for a little season. Now a “short time” is defined in the book of Revelation as perhaps three and a half years. So we’re looking at a time period that, after the thousand years, he is going to be loosed. Now why do that?

Now let’s come down here and let’s read a little bit more. Let’s come all the way down here to verse 5: “(But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were completed.)” We’ll cover that tomorrow. Then it says here in verse 6: “Blessed and holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power. But they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. Now when the thousand years have been completed, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison; and he shall go out to deceive the nations that are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog...”

Now we’ve seen in the past how that Gog and Magog are the ones who fight against Christ after the Millennium has started, and how Christ has to put them down. So the name Gog and Magog and the area where they come from is the epitome of evil. And the attitude that they had in coming up against Christ and the people of Israel at the beginning of the Millennium is the attitude that distinguishes them from other people at that time. However, as we have seen, it says “then all nations shall know Him,” which means even Gog and Magog. So this is not a predetermination against a people. Otherwise then God would be a respecter of persons. So when we come to the end of the Millennium, Gog and Magog is not referring to the people, but to the geographical area. Now why the geographical area? And notice it says, “…to deceive the nations.” So that’s more than just one. So there is going to be a place geographically known as Gog and Magog which are in the four corners of the earth, wherever that is. And if that’s in the north and east like we understand where Gog and Magog is today, that pretty well may well be the place.

Now it’s says: “...of whom the number is as the sand of the sea...” (Rev. 20:1-3, 5-8, FV). So at the end of the Millennium, this last generation, there has to be something that God does that’s different all during the Millennium. What is that? Well, we find a clue of that back here in the book of Genesis. Now let’s come back here to Genesis 3. Now when Adam and Eve sinned – and the wages of sin is death; and didn’t God tell them that “…In the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die,” or “in dying you shall die”? And then Paul writes in Romans 5, that’s how human beings came to have the law of sin and death within them, because that was the part of the judgment that God gave against Adam and Eve that the law of sin and death was put within them. And of course, this is what all human beings inherit.

Now if God would have executed them right on the spot, how would there be any human race? Because the first man was Adam, and Eve is the mother of all living. So there wouldn’t be any human beings. In other words, in order for God’s plan to continue God chose not to bring the death penalty upon them immediately, but put within them the law of sin and death so they would die.

Now let’s see what happened here. Because God chose not to kill them at that time, let’s see what happened. Genesis 3:23: “Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life” (Gen. 3:23-24, KJV). Now what do we have here? In the beginning when they were created they lived in the Garden of Eden. And the whole world at the end is going to be like a Garden of Eden, isn’t it? Yes. Now, when they sinned God chose not to execute them for their sins. He chose to give them the law of sin and death, and then what did He do? He removed them from the Garden of Eden. Or you could say, exiled them. They couldn’t come back into the Garden of Eden. It was protected by the Cherubim.

Now we have another example of this with the sin of Cain and in killing Abel. Now because of what happened there, God chose not to execute Cain, didn’t He? He chose to let him live. But let’s see what his sentence was. Now it says here in Genesis 4:9, after Cain had killed Abel: “And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper [of course he was]? And He said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto Me from the ground.” And since God is God, and He knows the situation… Someone wrote and said, “How can blood cry out of the ground?” Well, it did, and God heard it. Maybe human beings can’t hear it, but God does.

And here is his sentence: “And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.” But he took it, didn’t he? Yes. “Behold, Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth…” The “good earth,” as it were, because he was sent to another place, wasn’t he? “...And from Thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth...” And then he was worried that if someone found him that he would be slain. And sure enough, later he was slain. “And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden” (Gen. 4:9-16, KJV).

Now this is quite an occasion here, isn’t it? But it sure serves a point, doesn’t it, that when God chooses not to execute the wicked, He removes him and exiles him. So he is sent to the land of Nod, which is the land of wandering; east, further east of Eden. Now could this not be the same during the Millennium with the geographical area of Gog and Magog? Otherwise, how do you get these people who, at the end of the Millennium, God deliberately sends Satan out to deceive them? And what is the purpose in doing so? Now let’s understand something here – Cain’s sin, he knew it was wrong. He killed his brother; he chose to do so. He was confronted by God. There was no repentance, there was no remorse; only that he felt sorry for himself that he was being removed, right? And he felt sorry for himself that he had a curse put upon him, right? Yes. How about those who in the last generation of the Millennium reject the way of God? There’s not time for them to live out their lives and die accursed. So what is the logical solution? What can we make out of what we have here to properly put the Scriptures to understand what we have in Revelation 20? Well, that God sent them now in exile. They didn’t repent of their sins.

Now let’s come here to II Kings 17, because we also see an example here over, and over, and over again when the people of Israel did not follow God, God sent them into captivity or into exile, didn’t He? Yes He did. Now here in II Kings 17 is quite a story about what Israel did. And it has kind of the similarity of what’s going to happen; not exactly en toto as we read it and look at it, but this is what’s going happen. II Kings 17:9: “And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God...”

Now during the Millennium there are going to be people who will do things secretly, though we will know that they do it, just like God knew here that the children of Israel were doing things secretly that they knew they shouldn’t do. And that’s the nature of human beings – when they don’t have the Spirit of God, when they reject the Spirit of God, when they reject the truth of God, they do things secretly, sneakily, deceitfully. And especially during the Millennium. But you know what’s going to happen? They’re going to get caught. Now since all sinners have to die, and God has made a special provision here at the end of the Millennium to take care of the sinners who will not be able to live to be 100 years old, to be buried and accursed, they have to die, as it were, prematurely. So in order to take them and let them live until a certain time, God is going to have to exile them just like He did here with the children of Israel, to send them out into captivity.

So let’s read what the children of Israel did. And they knew better. How many prophets were sent to them? How many holy men were sent to them over and over and over and over again? We can go back and analyze the thing concerning Solomon. Did Solomon know better? Of course he did. And yet isn’t it interesting there’s no account that Solomon repented. And they: “...did secretly those things that were not right against the LORD their God, and they build them high places in all their cities...” Now it’s in their heart to want to do this. So when they are exiled, don’t you think that’s exactly what they’re going to do? They’re going to get together and exercise their free moral agency and their opinions, and by their actions they are going to set out to prove to themselves that they are right and God is wrong. And also, will not God give them over to their own deception? Will not God let them then, when He exiles them, go ahead and do what ever they desire to do – to lie, to cheat, to steal, to commit adultery? Now they’re going to have an opportunity to worship Satan, and that will prove at that point, as we will see here a little later on, that they absolutely refuse. They will come to this way right here.

Now let’s come to verse 13: “Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets...” And what are we going to have all during the Millennium? A continual teaching, a continual testimony, a continual witness of everything that is right and good. So those who reject God’s way are going to do so with forethought, with malice, with understanding, with lack of repentance totally, with spurning the Spirit of God, spurning God, spurning the sons of God who are teaching them, refusing to do what is right. Just like it says here, even though there were told, “...Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, in which I sent to you by My servants the prophets. Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks...” Now that is a choice. That’s a pretty powerful choice isn’t it? Yes. People are capable of rejecting God and choosing evil and hardening their hearts. Now some will do that.

So it says here: “...like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the LORD their God. And they rejected His statutes, and His covenant that He made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them...” (II Kings 17:9, 13-15, KJV). Well, they won’t have an opportunity to do that in the Millennium because the heathen around them are all going to be converted too. There won’t be any heathen. But there’s going to be this territory out there of Gog and Magog. So if someone says, “I don’t want to go along with the system. I don’t want to go along with the program. I am perfectly capable of making my own choice.” And God says, “Alright. You choose to go, you go. You go over here to Gog and Magog.” Now we don’t know how long they’re going to be there. It’s going to be less than 100 years for sure. That we can be pretty sure of. But it’s going to be longer than just a short time. Only Satan, as we have seen, is going to be released for a short time. And we will see what that is for.

Let’s come back here to Revelation 20 and let’s look at it again and see what Satan does. Now they have rejected God, rejected all pleas for repentance; they have hardened their hearts; they are just like Cain, they are just like the children of Israel who rejected God. Only in this case let’s magnify it that much greater because the Kingdom of God has been on earth for 900-plus years. And they have not only the witness of people but they’ve got the witness of the whole society, the culture, the civilization and everything else and yet they choose not to follow God’s way. So why does God send Satan out to deceive them? There has got to be a reason. Number one, the first reason is that they do not have time to live 100 years and die an accursed death. So this is going to be, God is going to use, so that they are all going to die at one time at one event so that the wicked will die their first death.

Now let’s see that, Revelation 20:7: “Now when the thousand years have been completed, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison; and he shall go out to deceive the nations that are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog...” Not the whole earth, just that geographical section because that’s the area of exile. “...Of whom the number is as the sand of the sea...” So God doesn’t know who or how many it’s going to be. And this is a verification of free moral agency, isn’t it? Yes.

Now here’s the purpose: “...to gather them together for war.” See, whenever Satan is loosed there is war. Now can you imagine what Satan is going to say – and of course, the demons with him. When it talks about Satan, we will see here in a minute it has to do with demons also. Can you imagine what Satan the devil is going to say when he is allowed by God for his final mission to go over there and deceive the people who have been exiled to Gog and Magog? He is going to whip them up in a great frenzy and spirit of rebellion. He is going to convince them that he is God. He is going to convince them and deceive them because they have already rejected the salvation of God. And when they do, their minds are going to be readily receptive to everything that Satan the devil is going to bring to them and tell them.

So he’s going to organize them. The demons are going to give them excitement, and again, false miracles and things will take place. They are going to think that they are going to be able to come down and conquer God. Now how many times has Satan done that? He did it with the angels when the third of the angels rebelled with him and fought against God, and that failed. Every attempt of Satan down through time has failed. He couldn’t tempt Jesus Christ to sin, could he? No, not with all the promises of even giving the kingdoms of the world to Him. Down through history he has convinced men to worship him. And so here now is Satan’s grand finale. And he’s going to go out, and these people who are exiled, that need to die the first death, and they need to die at a specific time because the Millennium is going to come to an end. And so God is not going to string this out forever. A thousand years has a beginning and an ending. So this is the grand finale at the end for all of the wicked who in that last generation have rejected the salvation of God.

So he gathers them together for a war. They’re going to come and take Jerusalem; going to come and conquer God. And that’s what Satan has tried to convince people to do all the time. And even right at the return of Christ, right in the middle of the seven last plagues as we saw, what happens? Spirit demons like frogs come out of the mouth of Satan, come out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. And they go out and they’re working miracles and deceive the kings of the earth to come and fight against Christ. So let’s just say, here is a repeat of this. He goes out and he convinces them, “Listen, look at all the miracles that we’re able to do.” And of course, the demons are out there performing all the miracles among the people who have been exiled. He says, “Let’s go to war!” They say, “Yea! Let’s go to war! We want to triumph! We knew that we were right! We knew that God was wrong!”

Verse 9: “Then I saw them go up upon the breadth of the earth and encircle the camp of the saints...” Now the camp of the saints – is this when all the saints are there keeping the Feast of Tabernacles? Is this the time? Because remember, all nations are going to send their representatives every year to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, aren’t they? And what a perfect time Satan would think to get everybody. God is there, Christ is there, all the saints are there, all the representatives from the nations are there. “Now if we can do this while they’re celebrating this Feast of Tabernacles, and we are able to be successful and take over, then we can control the world.” So this is Satan’s last fight to try and take over the Kingdom of God and the power of God. And so this is why they encircle the camp of the saints and the beloved city. Now notice, God takes care of them. And what does this fire do? “...And fire came down from God out of heaven and consumed them...” That’s their first death. Because as we will see tomorrow, God has decreed that all of the incorrigible wicked die twice. And they will die in the lake of fire. They die their first death consumed by fire.

Now then, there’s one other thing that this last day of the Feast of Tabernacles pictures, which we will see here in just a minute. What has to be the last, final thing during the Millennium is this - Satan receives his final judgment. And as we will see, he receives his final judgment and punishment, and confinement and torment before the Great White Throne Judgment. Because all of those who are resurrected during the time of the Great White Throne Judgment have already lived one life under Satan the devil. So they don’t need to live a second life under Satan the devil, and God is not going to put them under that. Rather, He is going to execute His judgment against Satan the devil and the demons.

Now let’s see that beginning here in verse 10: “And the Devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone...” And as we saw in Isaiah 66, that’s going to be there all during the Millennium isn’t? Yes. “...Where the beast and the false prophet had been cast...” Because we know in Revelation 19 they were cast into the lake of fire before Satan was bound. Now if human beings are cast into the lake of fire they burn up. They become ashes. They become just dust, like it says there in Malachi 4, that the wicked will become dust under the feet of the righteous. “...Where the beast and the false prophet had been cast; and they...” Now it’s interesting that the Greek says they, that is true. But since human beings cannot be tormented day and night forever, it has to refer to Satan and the demons, and we will see that in just a minute, because wherever Satan goes the demons also go. “...Shall be tormented day and night into the ages of eternity” (Rev. 20:7-10, FV).

Now let’s come here to Matthew 8 and let’s see something here. Let’s see what the demons said when Jesus came. And they were talking to Jesus. They talked to Jesus. Remember what we read back there in James 2 earlier, that the demons know there’s one God. And they fear and tremble because they know their punishment is coming. And they knew during the ministry of Jesus Christ that they were going to be cast into the abyss.

Now let’s pick it up here in Matthew 8:28: “And when He had come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two who were possessed by demons coming out of the tombs, so violent that no one was able to pass by that way.” Now notice what they said: “And they cried out at once, saying, ‘What do You have to do with us, Jesus, the Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?’ ” Very interesting, isn’t it? Yes – “to torment us before the time.” “And the demons pleaded with Him, saying, ‘If You cast us out, allow us to go into the herd of swine’ (Matt. 8:28-29, 31, FV). ” So that’s what happened. They did that and that’s exactly what happened. So they knew that they were to be tormented.

Now let’s see the parallel account in Luke 8, and let’s see what else that the demons said when He asked them who they were. Let’s come here to Luke 8:30-31 (FV). “And Jesus asked it, saying, ‘What is your name?’ And it said, ‘Legion,’ because many demons had entered into him. Then it begged Him that He would not command them to go away into the abyss” (Luke 8:30-31, FV). They knew that the abyss was the place of restraint. So they didn’t want, number one, to be tormented ahead of the time. So they knew there was a time when torment was coming. And they also knew the time that they were to be cast into the abyss. And so this verifies that when it talks about Satan being put into the abyss, the demons are also put into the abyss. And when Satan is cast into the lake of fire and tormented, that torment applies also to the demons. So it’s quite correct with the Greek where it says, “And they were tormented day and night for ever.”

Now does it mean that they are going to be tortured, tormented by the fire? In other words, does the lake of fire continue into eternity? Now some people believe that it continues into eternity. Now let’s come here to Hebrews 2 and let’s ask another question, because this always comes up. Someone always says, “Well, why couldn’t God make them physical human being-types, and then when they are cast into the lake of fire they’re burned up and there’s no more remembrance of them anymore?” Well, God created them as spirit beings. Even when they became demons He did not change the composition of which they were made, did He? Satan is a spirit; the demons are spirits, so they’re still spirit beings.

Now here in Hebrews 2, the King James Version says that Christ came to “destroy” Satan. So they read that in the English and they think that is the proper translation, which it’s not. We will read it in the proper translation in just a minute. They say, “Well, in order for them to be destroyed, since spirit can’t be destroyed [which is true], then God must make them into human beings in order to destroy them when they are cast in a lake of fire.” But if they’re cast in the lake of fire as human beings and they are burned up, how can they be tormented forever and ever? And are they tormented in the lake of fire forever, or where it says, “And they are tormented forever,” does this refer to a different condition after having been cast into the lake of fire? We will see.

Now here, Hebrews 2:14 (FV): “Therefore, since the children are partakers of flesh and blood, in like manner He also took part in the same, in order that through death He might annul...” Now that is the proper translation, not destroy. That “...He might annul him who has the power of death – that is, the devil...” Let’s look at something else concerning their torment, which is actually a greater torment, because the lake of fire obviously is not going to burn for all eternity. Because as we will see, the final lake of fire that takes place, as we will see tomorrow, is going to consume the whole earth and prepare it for the new earth and the new heaven.

Now let’s come over here and read this in Jude. Let’s understand that this talks more about the fate of demons and how God is going to take care of them. Jude 6: “And the angels who did not keep their own original domain, but deserted their habitation, He is holding in eternal bonds under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” Now that’s showing that they’re being held for that judgment. Now let’s read something here. And we know that Satan is the devil, who has inspired Sodom and Gomorrah and all of the corruption that there is. Let’s come over here to verse 11: “Woe to them! For they have walked in the way of Cain; and for gain, they have wholly given themselves up to Balaam’s delusion, and have perished in the rebellion of Korah. These are subversive stains in your love feasts, feasting in person together with you; fearlessly they are feeding themselves.” Now then, it then blends into the demonic powers that are inspiring them and it tells us what the final torment of Satan and the demons really will be. Because the last day of the Feast also includes the final judgment against Satan the devil, as we have seen, before the Last Great Day begins.

Now it says here: “They are clouds without water [without the Spirit of God], being driven by the winds [and that is demons]; trees of late autumn, without any fruit, uprooted, twice dead...” So it shows the incorrigible wicked are going to die twice. Now then it blends from there into the demons. Verse 13:“…Raging waves of the sea, casting up like foam their own ignominious shame; wandering stars [now it’s talking about demons], for whom has been reserved the blackest darkness forever!” (Jude 6, 11-13, FV). Now that is the torment that is going to take place with Satan and the demons. Not that they’re going to be tormented by fire, but they are going to be tormented because they will be cut off from God forever. And it will be a testimony forever to everyone in the Kingdom of God that rebellion never pays. God only is right; God only is true, and His way is righteous.

So when it says here, “And shall be tormented day and night into the ages of eternity,” that has got to be the blackness of darkness forever, totally cut off from God, totally removed from God and in a place in the universe which will be a witness forever. So that’s quite an ending to the Millennium, isn’t it? So the Millennium ends with a great bang and a crescendo, and then all wickedness is removed. Satan is removed, and the now the earth is ready, and God’s plan is ready for the fulfillment of the greatest thing that is ever going to take place in the history of the world – the fulfillment of the Last Great Day.

Feast of Tabernacles – Day 7

Scriptural References

Psalms 47:1-3, 7-9
I Peter 2:9
Proverbs 29:2, 4
Isaiah 48:16-17
Deuteronomy 6:3-8
Psalms 32:8-11
Psalms 25:4-10
Isaiah 66:22-24
Proverbs 21:15-16
James 2:19
Proverbs 5:10-14
Proverbs 4:18-23
I Thessalonians 4:15, 17
Isaiah 65:17-20
Revelation 20:1-3, 5-8
Genesis 3:23-24
Genesis 4:9-16
II Kings 17:9, 13-15
Revelation 20:7-10
Matthew 8:28-29, 31
Luke 8:30-31
Hebrews 2:14
Jude 6, 11-13