‘And I saw an angel coming down out of Heaven having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold on the monster, the old Serpent who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should d... [ Continue Reading ]
VISION 8 THE HISTORY OF SATAN AND THE PEOPLE OF GOD (REVELATION 20:1). This passage is of special significance. Indeed it determines greatly what view we take of the whole overall doctrine of the Second Coming. Those who read it just as a continuation of chapter 19 glean from it the doctrine of the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And I saw thrones, and they sat on them and judgment was given to them, and I saw the persons of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and such as did not worship the beast or his image, and did not receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand, and... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And when the thousand years are over Satan will be loosed from his prison and will come forth to deceive the nations who are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up over the breadth of the ea... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the Devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet also are, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.' The Devil shares the fate of his close minions, and the severity of their punishment is stressed. This parallel... [ Continue Reading ]
VISION 9 THE GREAT WHITE THRONE AND THE NEW JERUSALEM (REVELATION 20:11 TO REVELATION 21:8). The Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11). ‘And I saw a great white throne, and he who sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.' Once again a vis... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to his works.' The picture is all inclusive. None have died in such a way that they cannot be reached. All are raised for judgment. To be lost at sea was... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, even the lake of fire.' This demonstrates that the primary purpose of the lake of fire is to burn up that which is at enmity with God's final purposes. It also demonstrates that we must not literalise the scene. Death a... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.' Thus all men are involved in this judgment. It is an all-embracing scene into which all other pictures of the judgment have to be fitted. And fitted they can be if we recognise that what is important is the sp... [ Continue Reading ]