Joy to the world. It's not just a song, it's the message of the angels to those shepherds who were frightened. The jubilant proclamation was to reduce the fear that people may have when they think about God and judgment.
Timothy McKeown
Wednesday, December 25, 2024
Joy to the World
Joy to the world. It's not just a song, it's the message of the angels to those shepherds who were frightened. The jubilant proclamation was to reduce the fear that people may have when they think about God and judgment.
Monday, December 16, 2024
The Great White Throne Judgment
The Rest of the Dead
and the Great White Throne Judgment
Revelation 20:5-15
Which would you rather stand before: the “Bema” (based on the Greek word “bema”, duh!) Judgment Seat of Jesus Christ, judged for your works, both good and bad, or the “Great White Throne” Judgment Seat of God, judged according to your works and whether your names are written in the Book of Life?
While both sound
awesome, one judgment is clearly for believers (the first one) and the other is clearly for
unbelievers (the title of this study). One determines the works of this life in terms of rewards, the
other judgment renders guilt and condemnation for those whose names are not
recorded in the Book of Eternal Life.
5 (The rest of
the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the
first resurrection…10 The devil, who
deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and
the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and
ever.
The rest
of the dead spoken of in verse 5 are those who are not a part of the first
resurrection. While the term “second resurrection” is not used, it is
inarguably implied with and linked to the term “second death.” What happens to
the unbelieving and unsaved souls of those who have died and are not
resurrected at the Rapture or at the end of the Tribulation?
They are
clearly not brought back to life, meaning that they are dead physically and not
resurrected until after the thousand years; spiritually, they are sent to “hell”
(Greek: hades or “hades”). This is found in
the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, found in Luke 16:19-31:
19 “There was a certain rich man who
was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was
laid at his gate, 21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs
which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his
sores. 22 So it was that the beggar died, and
was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was
buried. 23 And being in torments in Hades, he
lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send
Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for
I am tormented in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham
said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and
likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. 26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so
that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there
pass to us.’ 27Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore,
father, that you would send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also
come to this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham said
to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead,
they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not
hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise
from the dead.’”
Several things can be discerned about the unbelieving dead from this story.
1) After
death comes the judgment on whether a person will be sent to a place of rest or
a place of torment. (See also Heb.
2) After death, while the physical body may be buried without any discernible difference between the believers and unbelievers, both go immediately to their eternal destination.
3) There is an awareness of what goes on both on earth in real time as well as in the other place eternal resting place.
4) After death, there is no second chance and no ability to move from one abode to the other.
5) Both believers
and unbelievers are recognizable, and also have attributes similar to those
when they had physical bodies (fingers, tongue, bosom, etc.)
Hades
Hell (Gr:
hades) is spoken of four times in
Revelation: “I am he that lives, and was
dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and
of death.” (Rev. 1:18); “And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and
his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was
given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with
hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.” (Rev. 6:8) and
then again twice in this chapter, verses 13 and 14.
Jesus
also spoke of it in contrast to heaven in Matthew 11:23 and Luke 10:15. In
Matthew 16:18, Jesus said the gates of hell would not prevail over the church.
Jesus’ soul went to hell, according to Old Testament prophecy, quoted in Acts
2:27 and 31, and according to Christ’s own prophecy that the dead in the graves
would hear the voice of the Son of Man (John
Jesus told the thief on the cross that “today, you
will be with Me in paradise,” (Luke
Instead, paradise at
that time was located in a separate place of hell than where unbelievers were
tormented. At the resurrection, Jesus brought with Him the spiritual souls of
those who had believed prior to His Resurrection as part of the captivity that
was led captive by Christ to heaven (Eph. 4:8).
Gehenna
The
ultimate location of hell will be in the “lake of fire” in Revelation or
“everlasting fire” in Matt. 25:41, often referred to in the Greek as “gehenna” (geennh), where the whole physical body and soul will be cast after the
resurrection (Matt. 5:29-30, 10:28), never to be quenched (Mark 9:43-48). It was prepared for the devil and the fallen
angels (“And the angels who did not keep
their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting
chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day” Jude 1:6), but
those who are not found in the Book of Life will also be cast there (Rev.
20:15). It is where the devil is cast into at the end of the thousand years
(Rev. 20:10)
Tartarus
When the
angels fell, some of them were cast into the deepest part of hell (“For if God did not spare the angels who
sinned, but cast them down to hell (Gr. Tartarus, “to be cast down”) and delivered them into chains of darkness,
to be reserved for judgment” 2 Pet 2:4). Jesus also said that some parts of
hell will be more tolerable than others (Matt.
11 Then I saw a
great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the
heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and
great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened,
which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works,
by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who
were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And
they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were
cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written
in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
This
“Great white throne” judgment is different from another Judgment spoken of in
Scripture. That one is clearly for believers, those whose names are found in the Book of Life. Paul
wrote about it in Romans 14:
10 But why do you judge your brother?
Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written: "As I live,
says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to
God." 12 So then each of us shall give
account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let
us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a
stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way.
This
obviously is for believers and the better and more common manuscripts say this
is the judgment seat of Jesus Christ,
(not judgment seat of God, as read in translations other than King James/New
King James). It is again mentioned in 2 Corinthians 5:
10 For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body,
according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are
well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.
This
“bema” seat judgment of believers does not determine whether we go to heaven or
hell, but rather what kind of rewards we shall receive, as mentioned in 1 Cor.
3:12-15. According to John 5:24, when we receive Christ, we will never come into
judgment in relation to our sins, but instead, we have passed from death into
life.
“Him who sat on (the throne)” is shown to have a
fearsome and terrifying face, and if it were possible, those in heaven and
earth would flee away, but “there was not place found for them.” Since
believers are already resurrected, we are no longer considered “dead” and will
not face that judgment. The sea contains the unbelieving dead, alone with death
and hell (Gr. hades). The books
apparently record all the works that the dead, small and great, have ever done.
But that alone is not what causes the dead to be cast into the lake of fire,
but rather the fact that their names were not found written in the Book of
Life.
Hebrews 12:23 says those in the church, the believers,
are written in heaven: “to the general
assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the
Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect.” That fact should
cause us to rejoice more than anything else, according to Luke 10:20: “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that
the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are
written in heaven.”
On the following pages are some pictures depicting the Book
of Revelation, the prophetic days of Scripture, the judgment of rewards, the
scriptural rendering of the “underworld”, the first and second resurrections in
detail, and an enlargement of the final judgments for believers and
unbelievers.
THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM
Revelation
20:1-10
The
For the
purposes of this study, there are just too many references in the Old Testament
to do them justice by citing. I would recommend getting The Apocalypse, by Joseph A. Seiss written in the late 1800s or The Book
of Revelation, by Clarence Larkin, (1919), and Revelation, by H.A. Ironside (1920) for historical references, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, by John
F. Walvoord (1966), Things to Come: A
Study in Biblical Eschatology, by Dwight J. Pentecost (1976), or Revelation Unveiled, by Tim LaHaye
(1999) for in depth studies on Revelation.
1 Then I saw an
angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great
chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold
of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him
for a thousand years; 3 and he cast
him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he
should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But
after these things he must be released for a little while.
The Son of Man will appear in the sky (Matt. 24:27), the armies of Gog and Magog will be annihilated (Ezek. 38-39), and the bride is ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7).
But there are some uninvited guests, and one in particular. The anti-Christ and false prophet will be thrown alive into the lake of fire. An angel comes down from heaven and takes Satan and binds him for 1,000 years in the Abyss (bottomless pit), where he and his deceptions are sealed. Christ holds the keys of “Hades and Death” (Rev. 1:18).
He had given the
keys to heaven to the kingdom of heaven to the church, beginning with Peter
(Matt. 16:19), but the key to the Abyss had been given to a fallen star, likely
Satan, to release demons bound there, but where even the legion of demons did
not want to be cast (Luke 8:31). The same place where angels were chained
awaiting judgment (2 Pet 2:4, Jude 6) is now where the devil himself is cast.
This
explicitly states that Satan can be bound at any time by God, but He chooses to
let him roam the earth, roaring, walking, and devouring (1 Pet 5:8). By
Christ’s own death, he destroyed the devil’s power of death (Heb.
(Know) this first: that scoffers
will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and
saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell
asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of
creation." 5 For this they willfully forget: that by
the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water
and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed
perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and
the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until
the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 8 But,
beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a
thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The
Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is
longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should
come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great
noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the
works that are in it will be burned up.
Yes, it is highly logical and quite scientific to believe in God. The scoffers have indeed come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts! G.K. Chesterton, an English author, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic, said, the following:
“It is absurd for the evolutionist to complain that it is unthinkable for an admittedly unthinkable God to make everything out of nothing, and then pretend that it is more thinkable that nothing should turn itself into everything.”
I hope that when the angel takes hold of Satan, that we, the church, will see that happen! When we see the tragedies which the devil has caused in this world, and even greater ones which have not been seen until the Tribulation, which will be worse than ever the world has seen (Matt. 24:21), I hope the angel has a huge chain, and in humiliation we see him cast into the abyss, along with his lies, death and destruction.
Why is he bound, rather than destroyed? Because God is
not yet through in writing His story, history!
4 And I saw
thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw
the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the
word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received
his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with
Christ for a thousand years.
There will be thrones of judgment given not
just to those martyred in the Tribulation (verse 4b), but to the entire church
(verse 4a, also Matt. 19:28, Luke 22:28-30). But in addition to those saved
during the church age and those called “the bride,” are those saved in the
Tribulation, who bore witness for Christ and the word of God. The refused to
worship the beast and did not receive his mark on the foreheads or hands.
Whatever the mark is, it is primarily an identification with the antiChrist. It
will be related to buying and selling (Rev. 13:17).
To the
right is a picture of what technology is available today, called RFID (radio
frequency identification) chips. Wal-Mart is mandating that these be installed
on all products and they will eventually replace bar codes. People, including
former President Bush official Tommy Thompson, the Health and Human Services
Secretary in President Bush's first term and a former Governor of Wisconsin, have
already implanted RFID chips in their bodies for identification, but just like
debit cards, these bio-chips will eventually be programmed to allow those who
have them buy items at stores, without having to pull out a wallet, lose a
card, or have the “thank you” cards attached to their key rings. As Christ
delays His coming, technology will only advance more rapidly as will the need
to prevent identity thefts and ensure the national identities of residents and
non-residents.
5 But the rest
of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is
the first resurrection. 6Blessed and
holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death
has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign
with Him a thousand years.
Who are
those who are the rest of the dead? Those who are the dead in Christ shall rise
first (1 Thess. 4:16), followed by those who are alive at the time of the
rapture, (4:17), then those Old Testament saints shall be raised bodily at the
end of the Tribulation (Dan. 12:1-2), along with those killed for Christ in the
Tribulation (Rev. 20:4). Martha apparently thought that Lazarus who at the time
of his “first” death, would be raised at the “last day” with the rest of the
Old Testament saints (John
7 Now when the
thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive
the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to
gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth
of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And
fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them,
was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false
prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
After the
1,000 years, Satan will be released to deceive again the nations who have been
born during the millennium. John uses the name Gog and Magog from Ezekiel
38-39, but like
During the 1,000-year reign,
the people will not be deceived, but those who have not truly trusted Christ,
born after the beginning of the millennium, will be numerous. That shows that
while we and Christ are reigning, it is not yet the perfect heaven and earth.
People will still die. Sin will still be possible. But it will be for those who
are not redeemed and those who are not part of the first resurrection.
to be continued...
The Second Coming of Christ To Earth
Revelation
19:1-21
God is a God of Justice and of Vengeance. He says in Scripture that “Vengeance
is Mine,” (Deut. 32:35, Rom.
1 After these
things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia!
Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God! 2 For true and
righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who
corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood
of His servants shed by her.” 3 Again they
said, “Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!” 4 And the
twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who
sat on the throne, saying, “Amen! Alleluia!”
The
rejoicing is on behalf of His salvation (and the glory, honor and power that
God has in relation to that), the destruction of
If we as
Christians are to be like God, we are not to be tolerant of sin. We can judge
things to be absolutely right and absolutely wrong, not based on our feelings
or prejudice, but based on what God has revealed as right and wrong. The first
and greatest sin that the “mega phone”
(loud voice) in heaven rejoices in judgment over is the judgment of the great
harlot who corrupted the earth with fornication. As we have seen, this is not
sexual immorality, but false worship.
What does
that tell us should be our attitude of false religions which are clearly
against the Word of God?
5 Then a voice
came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those
who fear Him, both small and great!” 6 And I heard,
as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as
the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent
reigns! 7 Let us be glad
and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His
wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it
was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen
is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he said
to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the
Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.” 10 And I fell at
his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am
your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus.
Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
The voice from the throne is different than the voice heard in Rev. 18:4 from heaven, as this one is not God’s voice, but rather from one of the angels, elders or creatures around the throne, for he says “Praise our God.” We see that throughout the entire time of the Tribulation, despite the rapture of the church and the arrival of more in heaven during the Tribulation, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb has still not taken place.
But according to Jewish custom, two-thirds of the marriage had taken place! According to John F. Walvoord, Jewish marriages had three aspects:
1) A payment of a dowry is made, and the only way to end this future marriage would be through a divorce;
2) At a later point, the bridegroom and his friends would go to the house of the bride and escort her back to his home (see Matt. 25:1-13);
3) The bride and groom would go to his home and have guests to the marriage supper, one which would sometimes last for days (see John 2).
This points directly to the three aspects of Christ and the church:
1) salvation
2) the Rapture and
3) the final consummation of church to Christ at the marriage
supper when Christ will partake of the fruit of the vine (Matt 26:29).
The outpouring of worship is in such sharp contrast to chapters 16-18 that John gets confused on who it is that is speaking with him. He falls at the feet of one of the elders, who also has “the testimony of Jesus,” who is a “fellow servant and of your brethren.” The elder immediately refuses worship since he is a human like John.
However, Jesus frequently received the worship of people
(Matt. 8:2,
If the
bride is the church, and the Lamb is the Son of God, who then are those who are
called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. This blessed beatitude must be those
who are saved, but are not the “church,” in the strictest sense of the word.
They are those who perhaps never reached the age of accountability, those saved
by faith before
Allusions
of this can be found in Song of Solomon, the parable of the virgins in Matt. 25
and Psalm 25 below.
11
So the King will greatly desire your beauty;
because He is your Lord, worship Him… 15 With gladness
and rejoicing they shall be brought; they shall enter the King's palace. 16 Instead of Your
fathers shall be your sons, whom You shall make princes in all the earth. 17 I will make
Your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore the people shall
praise You forever and ever.
Joseph A. Seiss wrote in the late 1800s, “If
all the saved were actually the Bride, it would have been enough and more to
the point to say, ‘Blessed they that are called to be the wife of the Lamb.’ ”
Of course, all the allusions are simply that, allusions and not to be taken
grotesquely literally. It simply is to say that when the church is united in
heaven with Christ, those who in the Old Testament days looking forward, or
others who never got the opportunity to accept Christ, will look with great
blessedness to observe this “marriage” in heaven. Angels and other beings will
also be blessed at their attendance to this marriage. Peter wrote of this
distinction between the Old Testament saints and angels as they looked at the
church, “Of this salvation the prophets
have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would
come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who
was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of
Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not
to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have
been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the
Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things which angels desire to look into”
(1 Pet. 1:10-12).
For those who say that prophecy is too
difficult to understand or that it should not be studied, we see that Jesus’
testimony, his own story, is both the fulfillment of prophecy and will fulfill
prophecy. Isa. 46:10 states that God declares the end from the beginning, and
the fulfilled prophecies show us that God is who He says he is. The spirit of
prophecy gives us the blessed hope and knowledge that God has been and always
will be victorious!
11
Now I saw heaven opened, and
behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and
in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were
like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written
that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed
with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies
in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white
horses. 15
Now out of His mouth goes a sharp
sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them
with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath
of Almighty God. 16And He has on
His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Previously a white horse was named
in the “four horsemen of the Apocalypse” (Rev. 6:2). Here the true King of
Kings will ride down from heaven. He is the Logos of God, a phrase that John
made famous in his gospel. The armies in heaven are clothed in fine linen,
white and clean, indicating that we have nothing to fear from Satan any longer.
We will ride with Him in the battle, but He will win the victory. His robe is
dipped in blood, proclaiming His victory over death. Nations will still stand
during the Millennial reign of Christ, but at that time, He shall rule with
strength. His many diadem crowns will prove his kingship over all the earth,
much greater than the seven crowns of the dragon or the ten crowns of the
antiChrist. This King will be named Faithful and True and will have a name no
one but He Himself has ever known. A name signifies identity and descriptions
of who He is. Even the most learned theologian has never grasped the fullness
of who this Son of God and Son of Man is. Nothing will escape the notice of His
fiery eyes, nor will anything stand up to the sword of His mouth.
17
Then I saw an angel standing in the
sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the
midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, 18 that you may
eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the
flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free
and slave, both small and great.” 19 And I saw the
beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war
against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. 20 Then the beast
was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence,
by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who
worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning
with brimstone. 21
And the rest were killed with the
sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the
birds were filled with their flesh.
For those
who are saved, they are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. For those
who are not saved, their dead bodies become the supper of vultures and birds of
the air. Whether a person is great or small on earth, free or slave, king or
peasant, all will face the same fate without Christ. The battle will be swift
but not instantaneous. There is a progression in this battle. While the rest
are killed with the sword, the beast and the false prophet are sent directly
into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second, spiritual death for
those without Christ. Jack Van Impe explains that it is
“The final place of punishment and torment for all
those who reject Christ (Revelation
It is our
Christian duty and commission to warn every person to not reject Christ and
thus be assigned to the