Season 6 Podcast 33 Book of Revelation “Opening of the Seven Seals, Chapter 20:4-11 “The Lake of Fire and Brimstone.” Artwork

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Season 6 Podcast 33 Book of Revelation “Opening of the Seven Seals, Chapter 20:4-11 “The Lake of Fire and Brimstone.”

March 17, 2025 • Ronald • Season 6 • Episode 33

Season 6 Podcast 33 Book of Revelation “Opening of the Seven Seals, Chapter 20:4-11 “The Lake of Fire and Brimstone.”

Last week we discussed the fate of the damned. Typical Hebrew poetry uses various forms of parallelism. It is not surprising, using antithetical parallelism, that John immediately follows the fate of the damned with the fate of the saved or the fate of the Christian martyrs.

Revelation 20:4

“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

While Satan is chained to the Bottomless Pit for a thousand years, the resurrected martyrs live and reign with Christ for a thousand years. John is speaking of the first resurrection.

Revelation 20:5

“But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.”

Notice that only the just come forth in the first resurrection. Only the just will be resurrected when Christ comes again. “The rest of the dead,” referring to those who were unjust or who did not repent of their sins, must wait at least 1000 years before they are resurrected. John divides the resurrection into two periods of time. The first period includes only the resurrection of the just. The second period includes the resurrection of the unjust. The unjust will not be resurrected until the end of days after all the righteous have been resurrected. We understandably think of the Book of Revelation as being about the apocalypse, but it is primary focused on the rewards of the righteous. There is not a more positive book in all Holy Writ as Book of Revelation of St John the Divine.

Revelation 20:6

“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”

Consider five great blessings of those who come forth in the first resurrection: (1) they are blessed and holy; (2) they have part in the first resurrection; (3) the second death has no power over them; (4) they shall be priests of God and of Christ; and (5) they shall reign with Christ during the Millennium.

Meanwhile Satan is bound during the Millennium. He is not released for 1000 years.

Revelation 20:7

“And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.”

John uses the term prison rather than hell. Remember he was bound with a great chain and cast into the Bottomless Pit. Also, a seal was placed over the Bottomless pit to prevent his escape from eternal darkness. The great chain symbolizes his complete loss of power.

After the prison sentence of 1000 years, he is let out on parole. He immediately seeks revenge against Christ by trying to drag people back down to hell with him. Think of the state of those whom he will try to tempt. First of all, those who have been resurrected will be taken up into heaven. They can never be tempted by Satan again. After the millennium, those who remain are mortal and are subject to what Shakespeare so aptly called “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.” However, even though they are mortal they have lived in the presence of Christ for a very long time. They are truly the elect of the earth. The judgment of those who fall after having known Christ so intimately will be much harsher than those who died without knowing the law.

Revelation 20:8

“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."