Revelation-VERSE 7.
And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his
prison, 8. 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. 9. 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. 10. And the devil that deceived them was cast into
the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and
shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.
(Excerpt taken from
Daniel and Revelation by Uriah Smith 1897-1911 Editions)
The Perdition of
Ungodly Men. - At the end of the one thousand years, the holy city, the New
Jerusalem, in which the saints have dwelt in heaven during that period, comes
down, and is located upon the earth, and becomes the camp of the saints, around
which the resurrected wicked come up, numberless
p 740 -- as the sand
of the sea. The devil deceives them, and thus brings them up to this battle.
They are induced to commence an impious warfare upon the holy city, in prospect
of some advantage to be gained by fighting against the saints. Satan doubtless
persuades them that they can overcome the saints, dispossess them of their
city, and still hold possession of the earth. But fire comes down from God out
of heaven, and devours them. The word here rendered devoured, Professor Stuart
admits is "intensive," and signifies "to eat up, devour, so that
it denotes utter excision." (Hudson's Christ our Life, p. 146.) This is
the time of the perdition of ungodly men, - the time when the elements shall
melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and when the works that are in the
earth shall be burned up. 2 Peter 3:7, 10. In the light of these scriptures, we
can see how the wicked are to receive their recompense in the earth (Prov.
11:31); we can see also that this recompense is not eternal life in misery, but
an "utter excision," entire and complete destruction.
The Wicked Never Tred
the New Earth. - Two views deserve a passing notice at this point.
The first is that the
earth is renewed at the second coming of Christ, and is the habitation of the
saints during the thousand years; the other is that when Christ appears the
second time, he sets up his kingdom in Palestine, and performs, in connection with
his saints, a work of conquest over the nations left on the earth during the
thousand years, and subdues them to himself.
One among many
objections to the first view is that it makes the wicked, in their
resurrection, come up, with the devil at their head, and tread with their
unhallowed feet upon the purified and holy earth, and the saints, who have held
possession for a thousand years, are obliged to yield the ground, and flee into
the city. But we cannot believe that the saints' inheritance will ever be thus
marred, or that the fair plains of the earth made new will ever be soiled with
the polluting tread of the resuscitated wicked; for besides outraging all ideas
of propriety, there is no scripture from which even an inference can be drawn
to support it.
And as to the second
view, one among many of its absurdities
p 741 -- is that
notwithstanding Christ and his saints have conquered the earth during the
thousand years, at the end of this period the wicked get the upper hand of
them, they lose their territory, the work of a thousand years is undone, and
they are compelled to beat an ignominious retreat into the city for shelter,
leaving the earth to the undisputed sway of their foes. Those who wish, may
rack their brains in trying to harmonize the inconsistencies and absurdities of
such theories, or may endeavor to draw consolation from the dubious prospect.
For ourselves, we prefer better employment and a brighter hope.
A Thousand Years In
Heaven. - In contrast with these theories, there is a beautiful harmony in the
view herein presented; namely, that the saints are with Christ in heaven during
the thousand years while the earth lies desolate; that the saints and the city
come down, and the wicked dead are raised and come up against it; that the
latter there receive their judgment; and that from the purifying fires which
destroy them come forth the new heavens and the new earth, to be the abode of
the righteous throughout endless ages.
The Subjects of
Torment. - From verse 10, some have argued that the devil alone was to be
tormented day and night; but the testimony of this verse is more extensive than
that. The verb "shall be tormented" is in the plural, and agrees with
the beast and false prophet; whereas it would be in the singular number if it
referred to the devil alone. It will be noticed that in the expression,
"where the beast and the false prophet are," are is a supplied word.
It would be more proper to supply the words were cast, answering to what was
spoken of the devil just before. The sentence would then read, "The devil
was cast into the lake of fire, where the beast and false prophet were
cast." The beast and false prophet were cast in there, and destroyed, at
the commencement of the thousand years. Rev. 19:20. The individuals of whom
those organizations were then composed, now come up in the second resurrection,
and a similar and final destruction is visited upon them, under the names Gog
and Magog.
The Lake of Fire. -
Some reader may be inclined to ask for a definition of the lake of fire. As a
comprehensive definition,
p 742 -- may it not
be called a symbol of the agencies which God employs to close up his
controversy with the living wicked at the beginning of the thousand years, and
with all the hosts of the ungodly at the end of that period? Literal fire will
of course be largely employed in this work. We can better describe its effects
than the thing itself. At the second coming of Christ, it is the flaming fire
in which the Lord Jesus is revealed; it is the spirit of his mouth and
brightness of his coming, by which the man of sin is to be consumed; it is the
fire in which great Babylon shall be utterly burned. Rev. 18:8. At the end of
the thousand years, it is the day that shall burn as an oven (Mal. 4:1); it is
the fervent heat that shall melt the elements and the earth, and burn up the
works that are therein; it is the fire of het "prepared for the king"
(the devil and his angels, Matt. 25:41), the pile whereof is deep and large,
and which "the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth
kindle." Isa. 30:33. It is the fire that comes down from God out of
heaven. (On the expression, "tormented day and night forever and
ever," see on chapter 14:11.)
********
The lake of fire is
REAL.
Does it exist right
now? No.
Will it exist? Yes.
As the earth is left
desolate the horrors of its destruction are unlike anything we've ever
witnessed. On a small scale we might
know devastations - tornados, earthquakes, floods, fires, hurricanes, yes we
know the horrors they bring but only on a small scale, not worldwide.
Our tragedies where
thousands, hundreds of thousands are killed, will be nothing compared to the
billions who will perish in the worldwide travesty of the last days to come. As
the saints are raised to heaven- the living and the dead- to live with Christ
their Savior for 1000 years, the wicked will be perishing, every last one of
them. The evil angels and Satan alone will be left chained to the earth in all
its desolation without a single human to deceive. And for 1000 years it will be like that and
only after that 1000 years will the new Jerusalem- the heavenly city where
Jesus and God the Father are the temple within, will descend to earth.
Rev_21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God
Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
This will happen!
This all will happen and if you are reading this, you do not have to believe
it, nothing can force you to believe it, nothing. This is prophetic truth that
we have been given and we can either heed it or dismiss it entirely. May God
bless us and help us to heed all that He would have us heed! May we be blessed
as promised a blessing upon reading and keeping the word of this book, all by
the grace and mercy of our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST, now and forever and
ever. AMEN.
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