The Revelation Series - Student Guide by Chris Viljoen - HTML preview

PART 5

In Chapters 20-22 Satan is bound for 1000 years, Christians rule, Satan is finally defeated, and the final judgment by Jesus takes place. A new heaven and earth are created on which the New Jerusalem descends, and everyone will live forever in the New Garden of Eden, without chances of deception like the first time. Come Jesus, come! Amen!

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CHAPTER 20 – Satan bound 1000 years, Christians rule, final victory, final white-throne judgment.

An angel descends from heaven with a great chain (Lamentations 3:6-8) and the key to the abyss. He seized the dragon and bound him in the abyss for 1000 years (Daniel 12:1), and sealed the abyss, so that the nations would no longer be tempted.

Then John saw the thrones, and they sat down, and judgment was given to them (Daniel 7:9-12 & 18, 1

Corinthians 6:2-3, & Matthew 19:28). All the believers lived with Christ JESUS as kings and ruled for 1000

years ON EARTH. → Here is the FIRST TIME we see the believers again after the tribulation. The purpose of the 1000-year peace reign is explained in detail at the end of the lesson.

During the 1000 years: The dead believers come alive 1 Thessalonians 4:16, all get eternal life 1

Corinthians 15:51-55, we get new bodies like Jesus 1 John 3:2 and Philippians 3:20-21, the living sinners are overcome Isaiah 11:4, and they all remain dead until the end of the 1000 years Revelation 20:5.

The other dead did not come back to life until the 1000 years were over. This was the 1st resurrection.

Blessed are they, for they will be priests of God for the 1000 years, and the 2nd death has no power over them.

After the 1000 kingdom of peace, the devil is dissolved. He will try to seduce the nations of the 4 corners of the earth, including Gog and Magog, and they are countless. → 2 Corinthians 11:14 & 1 Peter 5:8.

They all gathered around the encampment of the saints in the beloved city ON EARTH, and then God THE

FATHER IN HEAVEN sent a tremendous fire from heaven to devour them all. John 12:31 - Then the devil and the false prophet were thrown into prison and will be tormented day and night forever.

Then John saw a great white throne with Jesus sitting on it, and the (old original first) heaven and earth fled from His presence and no place was found for them.

Then all the dead, from sea and earth, small and great came before God IN HEAVEN 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

The books (Deuteronomy 31:24-26 & Joshua 1:8) were opened with the book of life, and the dead (John 5:24) were condemned according to their works. Note, the dead… NOT the children of God. Daniel 12:1

Death and Hades were then thrown into the fire, and that is the 2nd death, and everyone whose name was not found in the book of life was also thrown into the lake of fire. → John 3:5.

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CHAPTER 21 – The new heaven and earth, and the new Jerusalem.

A new heaven and earth appeared Isaiah 40:11-

a high mountain and shows him the great holy

12, for the first ones passed away, and here was

city, which descends from heaven. The city had

no sea (Why? – Micah 7:18-20 – Also see Part 1

God's glory, with light like a crystal-clear precious

for more & interesting facts below). And John saw

jasper stone (green). Its wall was great and high

the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down

with 12 gates, and at the gates the 12 angels, and

from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride is

with the names of the 12 tribes of the children of

adorned for her husband. A great voice said:

Israel written on them. Genesis 49 - Refer to Part

Behold, the tabernacle of God is with the people,

2 for more.

and God will dwell with them as their God. And

God has wiped away everyone's tears, and there

The North, East, South, and West sides each had

will be no more death and sorrow and crying and

3 gates. The wall had 12 foundations, and the

trouble, because the first things have passed

names of the 12 apostles were on them Matthew

away.

10:2-4. And the angel that spoke to John had a

golden measuring rod to measure the city and

And God said: I make all things new, write down

the gates and the wall. The city was 1500 miles

these reliable words! Then God said to John: It is

wide, long, and high. The wall was 144 cubits

over! I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning,

(according to a man's measure, which is the

and the end. To the thirsty I will give water from

measure of an angel). The building material of the

the fountain of life, free of charge. John 4:14,

wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold, like

Proverbs 16:22, 14:27, & Revelation 7:17. Those

pure glass. All the foundations of the wall were

who overcome will inherit ALL, and I will be their

decorated, each with different precious stones.

God, and they, My children.

The 12 gates were 12 pearls, each gate was one

pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold as

All the fearful (1 Peter 1:17, Matthew 8:26, Mark

pure as translucent glass. There was no temple

4:40, 2 Timothy 1:7, & Deuteronomy 20:1-8),

because God and the Lamb were the temple. God

unbelievers, abominations, murderers,

and the Lamb's glory replaced the sun and moon.

fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and liars will

burn in the lake of fire and brimstone.

There will never be night again, and the gates will

never be shut, and the nations and kings of the

One of the 7 angels who had one of the seven

earth will walk in it and bring glory and honor into

scales with the last plagues came to John and

it Isaiah 66:22-24 (Sabbath worship). Nothing

said: Come here, I will show you the wife of the

unholy will go into it, but only what is written in

Lamb. The angel takes John away in the spirit on

the book of life. – John 3:5.

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CHAPTER 22 – Eternal life, last warnings and promises.

Then the angel showed John a pure river with waters of life, flowing from the throne. The great tree of life stood on either side of the river, and bore fruit 12 times every month, and the leaves are the healing of the nations.

All temptations are gone, and God's servants will serve Him. His Name will be on their foreheads, and they will see His face, and together they will rule him forever, and there was no more night.

The angel then said: Look, Jesus is coming soon. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy. When John fell down to worship the angel, the angel said he should only worship God.

The angel then said that John should not seal these words, because the end is here.

Let those who do injustice do more injustice (2 Timothy 3:13, Mark 9:42, Daniel 12:10 & Ezekiel 3:27), and let the holy become even more holy. Jesus, the Alpha, and Omega, comes to bring each one's reward.

Blessed is he who does the commandments, so that they can enter through the city's gates and get right on the tree. Outside will be every sinner.

Jesus is the bright star, the root of David. (Different from Isaiah 14:12 & 1 Peter 5:8, why? 2 Corinthians 11:14) Then the bride said: COME! And let him who hears these words also say COME! Let him who is thirsty come and let those who want to take of the water of life for free.

LISTEN: If anyone adds to these words, God brings upon him the plagues of the book (Exodus 7-11). And if anyone takes away from these words, God takes away his part from the book of life (Exodus 32:33). Isaiah 46:9-11.

READ TOGETHER: The testimony of these words must say: “Amen! Lord Jesus, come quick!”

God is merciful.

Amen.

Jeremiah 29:11

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What did we learn?

HOMEWORK – FOR EACH SESSION: Each person can choose one of the following:

- Tell one Bible fact → __________

- Read a short story from the Bible → __________

- Open with prayer → __________

- Conclude with prayer → __________

REFERENCES:

- 2 Peter 2:4, John 3:5, 10:28, 5:19 & 22, Jude 1:6 & 9, Matthew 7:1, Luke 10:20 & 25-28, 1

Thessalonians 4:16, Daniel 7 :10, 2 Peter 3:9, Psalm 33, 119, & Ecclesiastes.

INTERESTING FACTS:

- For Revelation 20: The Bible itself says that Jeremiah may have written the Lamentations, in 2

Chronicles 35:25. Luke 1:32-33 speaks of 1000 years on earth. Deuteronomy 29:29 says that God has secrets. WOW! Of course, God did! We now only know in part.

- In Revelation 21 it is mentioned that the foundations of the beautiful new Jerusalem temple will have the names of the 12 apostles on them... Do you think these names include the name of Judas?

He was then the betrayer of Jesus... Will it not contaminate the temple? I'd say that's important learning material to think about! Let's break it down a bit:

o JUDAS ISCARIOT AND THE REVELATION

o HOW DID JUDAS DIED? → Suicide.

- Matthew 27:5-8 → After Judas betrayed Jesus, and realized his mistake, he left his discipleship and hanged himself, and the chief priests used his bribe money to buy him the land on which he died, for a burial ground for STRANGERS! They knew him; then why is he CALLED AN ALIEN? BECAUSE he who is a friend of the world is an enemy of God, and not all who use His name will be saved, but only the upright in heart: James 4:4, Matthew 7:21-23, & Proverbs 21:2.

- Acts 1:18 → Luke, the writer of Acts, heard about Judas and the land bought with his ransom money, and he describes Judas falling on his face and all his entrails spilling out.

- Isaiah 28:10 → God describes that His plan was specifically to write the Bible in pieces, that people should search it. That's why Matthew describes that Judas was hanged, but Luke later describes that his intestines spilled out; quite possibly rotted over his corpse, swelled, and then burst open when he fell.

o WAS JUDAS' SOUL SAVED? →Quite possibly not.

- John 6:70-71 → Jesus chose the 12 disciples and knew from the beginning that Judas was a devil, so he was not changed to fit into God's plan. HE WAS ALREADY A DEVIL, and God only used him for good. Judas always had a choice. What the devil planned for BAD, God used for GOOD. – Genesis 50:20. Only after Judas was exposed as the one with the bad heart, did SATAN himself endanger him, according to John 13:24-27. Judas was the son of SATAN, the son of perdition! It sounds like Satan has “copied” God by also bringing a son into the world. Judas the son of perdition, and Jesus the Son of God.

- John 12:4-6 → Judas was a thief while he was a disciple.

- Matthew 26:14-16 → Judas plans to betray Jesus.

- Matthew 27:5-8 → Jesus woes the man who will betray Him.

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o DID JUDAS GO TO HEAVEN? → Doesn't seem like it, but we can't be sure.

- All we know for sure is that we must not judge (Matthew 7:1-3). If God's children sin, they are not sent to hell (Romans 8:1). They are chastened and forgiven if they ask it of God (Hebrews 12:6). Judas did commit suicide... It's a sin (Exodus 20:13). But if his sins were forgiven, how do we know if his soul was lost or not? We're only going to know for sure if Judas went to hell after we're dead. We can't even say if his sins were forgiven, because we don't know how sincere he became after he betrayed Jesus. Nowhere does he pray for forgiveness. We can't prove anything now. Perhaps Judas already had the rope around his neck, and then suddenly decided no he was not going to commit suicide again, and then fell over his own feet before he could get the rope off and died without it being suicide. We don't know for sure, but what we do know is:

- Matthew 26:24 → Jesus describes great beatings for Judas.

- John 17:12 → Jesus speaks directly to God the Father and explains that one of His 12

disciples, the SON OF PERILATION, was lost. Judas was then a devil's child, sent from the beginning. His destiny was not changed by God. He has always had free will, and God knew from the foundation of the earth whether Judas would go to heaven or hell. (OLD

TESTAMENT - 2 Thessalonians 2:3, Psalm 109:8-9) BUT because he was a devil's child God used even this bad for Good and let Jesus conquer death with Judas, the devil's own hand.

- Acts 1:22-26 → Matthias was chosen to take Judas' place after Judas left the discipleship.

o SO WHERE DOES JUDAS FIT INTO THE REVELATION STORY THEN?

- Well Revelation 21:14 describes that the names of the 12 apostles will stand on the Jerusalem foundations one day. If Judas is not in heaven, how can his name be written with the 11 on Jerusalem's foundations? It will pollute the temple. Unless he is in heaven; but Matthias' name is written on the temple together with the 11, because he took over the apostle office from Judas on earth.

o THE POINT: Chances are extremely slim that Judas' name was written on the city's foundations.

- Also, for Revelation 21, where it is mentioned that heaven will not have a sea, in Micah 7:18-20...

Extra references for self-study can be read in: Exodus 34:7, Job 33:29, Isaiah 53 :5, Ezekiel 18:20, Philippians 4:13, & 1 Corinthians 3:15.

- If you stay behind after the rapture, your head will be cut off when you testify for Jesus! –

Revelation 20:4.

- You will receive a terribly great reward in heaven if your loved ones are unbelieving, and you have left them for the sake of the word. – Matthew 19:29.

- Why is there a 1000-year peaceful kingdom? Couldn't we just defeat the devil and go to heaven right away? Why only these 1000 years? Promises are very important to God, as we see in Matthew 5:37. His promises and covenants must first be fulfilled before heaven. Like for example: o The promised land in Deuteronomy 30:1-10. God has fulfilled most of this promise.

Abraham went into the land, he is the father of many nations, Joshua took the promised land with the Israelites. But Israel has never taken possession of the entire land, as promised in Genesis 15:18-20 and Numbers 34:1-12. Solomon did not even reign here (1 Kings 4:21-24). Abraham was promised that the land would be theirs for all eternity. (Genesis 13:15, 17:8, and Ezekiel 16:60).

o The promise to David, in 2 Samuel 7:16. He was promised that his bloodline would never die out. Jesus is the fulfillment of this promise. That's why His bloodline is described by his 75

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father AND mother in Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38. Jesus comes to rule first and make Israel a strong nation again.

o The new covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-34. It is already filled with Jesus who rose from the dead for our sins. BUT a part of it is yet to come Jeremiah 31:33 and Ezekiel 36:28 explain that the law must be written in our hearts, and that God will be our God, and that He will walk with us. According to Romans 9-11, Israel must become an independent nation, and this will happen here in the 1000 years.

o A few other promises: Jesus' enemies will be a footstool for him, and His followers will follow Him themselves (Psalm 100), The nations will walk with Jesus in peace (Daniel 7:11-14), the curse over the earth will be removed (Romans 8:18-23), man and beast will live in peace (Isaiah 11:6-9, & 32:13-15), and there will be no more sickness (Ezekiel 34:16).

o No man will be able to be saved during the 1000 years: Jeremiah 25:33, 4:25, and Revelation 22:11 & 22. The believers are in the New Jerusalem, and the wicked are dead on earth.

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