Bible Class Curricula - The Book of Revelation - Lesson 12 - Revelation 19 & 20
Lesson 12 - Revelation 19 & 20
Interpretation: Revelation 19:1–21
In chapter 18, there were three great lamentations from three groups of people over the loss of Babylon the great.
In chapter 19, there are three great scenes of rejoicing over her fall.
There is a great scene of the multitude of praise in verses 1–3, the second scene is the elders and four living creatures giving praise in verse 4, and the obedience to the command to give praise in verses 5–7. In verses 8–10, there is a blessing brought about to those who come to the supper of the Lamb.
The first and second scene is to give us a reminder that God is the perfect and righteous Judge.
The third scene gives us a reminder that we are to fear God and respect Him greatly.
There are two contrasts John gives: (1) an unfaithful harlot who committed spiritual fornication represented by the old Jerusalem and (2) a pure and faithful wife represented by the new Jerusalem - the church.
The unfaithful wife had been divorced by God for her spiritual fornication. God has brought Himself into relationship in a new covenant with a new bride - the bride of Christ. There is an “already-not yet” tension being stated here in that the consummation of the marriage supper has not occurred yet (Isaiah 25:6-8), but has in its inaugurated stage.
In a Jewish wedding, there were two stages: (1) a betrothal and (2) the actual wedding. It must be the case that the church is still in its betrothal status because we are awaiting the actual wedding supper, and the servants are still inviting guests to the wedding (Matthew 22:1-14).
The way that the bride makes herself ready is to work out her salvation with fear and trembling and living in the light of the grand reality that is to come in the future (Philippians 2:12,13; Ephesians 2:8-10). The invitation is still being extended to come obey the gospel (Revelation 22:17,18). John is so overwhelmed by this vision that he worships the angel and receives a rebuke. There is the command to worship God because Jesus is the essence and heart of prophecy.
10. John sees a new vision where heaven opened and he sees Jesus on a white horse. In Matt 22:1–14, the parable of the marriage feast is given. The Jews were invited, but they rejected it. As a result, God destroyed them in A.D. 70. After that destruction, the inaugurated marriage feast is introduced. God had married OT Israel at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 24:1-8; Ezekiel 16:1-8). God divorced OT Israel for spiritual fornication (idolatry). God had the right to remarry someone who would remain faithful to Him, which would be the church of Christ (Romans 7:1-4; 2 Corinthians 11:2). Paul spoke of the fact that there was a present spiritual marriage (Ephesians 5:20-33). After the harlot fell, the bride (the church) would be recognized as the bride of Christ because the harlot was destroyed and Christ was free to present His new bride to the world.
11.Jesus is on a white horse, which is a metaphor for His victory as a conqueror of His enemies and His perfect and righteous judgment to judge them. Jesus does not possess the attitude of past bloodthirsty conquerors. He is faithful and true because His character is perfect. The description of His eyes reminds us that He knows and sees everything. The imagery of His many crowns is to denote that He is the supreme King of everything and is above every other king. His clothes were immersed in blood because it is picture of the bloodshed of His enemies (Isaiah 63:1-6). He is known as the Word of God because He is God’s message to man (John 1:14). The sword that comes out of His mouth is the word of God (Hebrews 4:12).
12.He treads out the winepress, which is imagery of judgment upon Babylon (OT Jerusalem) reminiscent of Revelation 14.
14. There is also a reversal occurring with the enemies of God.
15.Notice how God is dealing with His enemies. First, He deals with the harlot in Rev 17 and 18. Second, he deals with the beast and the false prophet in Rev 19:19–21. Jesus will deal with the ultimate enemy, Satan, in Revelation 20.
Applications
16. First, whose side are we on? Are we on the victorious or the losing side? Can we sing honestly that we are on the Lord’s side?
17. Second, God showed His love, mercy, and grace through the cross of Christ to those who are willing to obey Him. But God also shows His justice and wrath to those who are wicked and will not obey Him.
18. Third, we belong exclusively to Jesus if we are in the church. He is faithful and true to us. Should we not do the same? (James 4:4)
19. Fourth, it is reassuring to know that we can conquer the enemy while we are marching under the cross.
20. Fifth, which supper do we wish to be apart? Do we wish to attend the supper of the judgment of enemies on the final day of judgment or the blessed marriage supper of the Lamb?
Interpretation: Revelation 20:1–14
21. There needs to be some preliminary remarks made concerning this chapter. This is a highly symbolic and figurative text as we have seen elsewhere in the book (Revelation 1:1). It has been greatly disputed and differed by those who hold to the views that are known as premillennialism, millennialism, post-millennialism, and other views.
22. Although the book does contain prophecies that would soon come to pass as it states at the beginning of the book (Revelation 1:3), Jesus wants us to recognize that an exception is made that there are some sections of this chapter that will not shortly come to pass due to the highly symbolic number known as a 1,000 years, which gives us a hint that it means a long and indefinite period of time.
23. In Revelation 20:1, John now sees a vision of an angel come down out of heaven who had the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
24. The angel represents the authority of God to execute His will upon the earth. This angel had a key and a great chain.
25. A key symbolizes the power to open or to close. A chain was used to bind captives when taken into captivity (Jeremiah 52:8-11).
26. This vision John had represented a prison for Satan. He had been bound showing he had some restraint and limitation of his power. Notice though that Satan still holds some type of influence. He is like a dog tied to a leash. He has the power to roam his territory, but he only has some limitation within that territory. Notice in this text that the great enemy is called “the dragon,” “the serpent of old”, “the devil”, and “Satan.” John is referring back to Revelation 12 where he uses the same order of names for the devil. John is reminding us that the devil was defeated by the work of Christ through His personal ministry, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. The gospel accounts refer to Christ and His victory over the evil works of the devil. During the personal ministry of Jesus, he was binding Satan's power (Matthew 12:29-30; Luke 10:17,18; John 12:31,32).
27. Demons, the allies of Satan, had been physically binding the bodies of Jews during that time. Jesus and His disciples were performing exorcisms upon the demons and they were cast out. Jesus made it explicit that he was triumphing over Satan in Jn 12:31,32. In Hebrews 2:14, it records that the work of Jesus Christ was triumphing over Satan. Jesus, in some sense, has defeated him, but there is some activities that he is still doing. He is still tempting man to sin. Satan still held some power over the world (1 Peter 5:8,9; 1 John 5:18). Although Satan had suffered a great blow, he still could roam about like a lion trying to destroy souls.
28. In what sense had Satan deceived the nations? This pictures for us Satan as the serpent of old in the garden of Eden in Genesis 3 who had deceived Eve, an image bearer of God. In Romans 1 and 2, Paul reports how the nations were greatly deceived because they had given themselves over to idolatry and immorality. Even Israel, who was to be a light to the nations, was given over to the same deception by adhering to idolatry and immorality. That is the sense in which Satan had been deceiving the nations. When the gospel was spreading, many people in the Gentile nations were influenced by the gospel and obeyed it. They were turning away from their idolatry and immoral lifestyles to a life of righteousness. They are coming to know the one true God. We see this being shown to us in the book of Acts. Many of the places that the apostles traveled were places where the Gentiles lived. Many of the Gentiles sought to be under the reign of God rather than under the reign of Satan.
29. In Revelation 20:3c, there is at some point after this symbolic thousand year period that Satan will be released from the prison. God, in His sovereignty, allows this to take place.
30. Whenever thrones are mentioned, they are located in heaven always. Notice that these thrones are currently occupied. They are occupied by “souls.” These souls are the same souls we saw earlier who were found under the altar because they had given themselves as a sacrifice (Revelation 6:9-11). Notice that judgment is given to these souls. This should remind us of Dan. 7 when judgment was given to the saints. Notice that these Christians were willing to lay down their lives for Jesus. They would not deny their Lord now in the midst of persecution. Notice these Christians have a disembodied existence. Their souls are separated from their bodies. This teaches the reunification that Christians desire to have their souls connected to their newly transformed bodies that will be raised from the grave (1 Corinthians 15:1-58). The plea in their prayer has been granted and they were thus vindicated. These martyred saints were being translated from the altar of sacrifice to the thrones of victory. This is based on God's mighty work of deliverance and judgment.
31. In Revelation 2:25, Jesus had encouraged the church that they could reign with Him if they remained faithful to Him. In Revelation 2:10, notice that Jesus states that some of the saints were to be cast into prison by the devil for ten days. This is a symbolic number. It is probably taken from the book of Daniel when Daniel and his friends were tested for ten days. These Christians were going to go through a rough, yet short period of persecution. Notice the number 1000 is 10 times 10 times 10. This teaches that although there will be a long period of persecution and tribulation, according to 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, this period of persecution is only temporary compared to eternity where all things will be made well. This “first resurrection” takes place at physical death for the faithful Christian during this time of persecution because he is going from the altar of sacrifice to heaven itself where Christ is reigning in heaven. We have to remember though that this is a symbolic picture. This was to encourage the saints at that time to remain faithful to Jesus. We have to remember that this does not contradict what we learn elsewhere. We learn that the faithful saint will go into the compartment of Hades known as Paradise. Paul still sees Paradise as where Jesus can be found when he writes in 2 Cor 5:8: “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”
32. In Revelation 20:6, Christians are urged at this time to remain faithful by taking part in the first resurrection. We learn the words “first” and “second” are used in pairs in Revelation and have different meanings. We learn that this “first resurrection” is the soul rising from the altar of sacrifice to a throne of victory. The “second resurrection” will be a physical, bodily resurrection in which the body will be raised from the grave to live upon the “new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells.” (John 5:28,29; Revelation 21:1,2; 2 Peter 3:10-13) We learn that the “first death” is temporary, yet the “second death” is eternal because a person who is wicked will have their soul and resurrected body (Matthew 10:28; 25:46) cast into hell fire and darkness. The first heavens and earth is temporary because it has only been here a few thousand years. It will be destroyed by fire (2 Peter 3:10). God will create a second or new heavens and new earth that will last for the righteous for all eternity (Revelation 21:1,2). It states that the martyred saints shall be priests of God and Christ and shall reign with Christ for a thousand years. This shows this is what God desired all along. Adam was the first priestly king to have dominion over the earth in the first temple, the garden of Eden. He was to expand the glory of God across the earth. Adam failed due to his sin. Israel was given the commission just as Adam was (Exodus 19:6). They were to be a kingdom of priests who were to establish God's holy abode upon a mountain in the land of Canaan to bring glory to the nations, but they failed to be the kingdom of priests. It is these martyred saints, the church of Christ, who are fulfilling Adam's commission. They have become a part of the true temple of God, Jesus Christ (John 2:18-22; 1 Corinthians 3:16,17) and they are a holy priesthood (1 Peter 2:9,10). When they die, God will grant them to be priests (as they were already priests upon the first earth) who will reign upon the new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells. Paradise will be restored.
33. In Revelation 20:7–10, the text states that after this indefinite, symbolic long period of time expires Satan will be released from his prison. His mission will be: (1) to deceive the nations and (2) gather them together to battle. Satan is bringing together a wicked coalition to destroy the church of Christ. He gathers this wicked coalition from everywhere. This wicked coalition is called Gog and Magog, which is reminiscent of Ezekiel 38. We will turn there soon to find out why God named this wicked army these names.
34. Notice the vast number of this great army. It is counted like the sand in the sea. Several enemies of God's people in the OT were described like the sand in the sea (Joshua 11:4; Judges 7:12; 1 Samuel 13:5). This seems to give a grim and intimidating picture of defeat because of the overwhelming odds against the church and it seems to be outmatched in every way in that there is no way of possible victory. Just as the OT Israelites faced some overwhelming odds, so it would be the case for the true, spiritual Israel (the church). They will have to fight against these overwhelming odds. We need to see with the eye of faith that this is how the Lord works. We have seen the OT pattern where God did not use some clever human strategy to overcome His enemies. God is eager to demonstrate His deliverance in the power of the paradox of the weakest circumstances.
35. For example, in Exodus 14, Moses had brought the children of Israel near the shore of the Red Sea. Pharaoh's army is on its way to subdue them and the people of Israel are afraid and complain to Moses as to why they have been brought out here to die. Moses responded: “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord!” By the power of God in those dire circumstances, we see a way of escape is opened up for the children of Israel to cross through the waters of the Red Sea while we see the end of Pharaoh's army drown in it. God demonstrates His deliverance and salvation unto His people!
36. In Joshua 6, the children of Israel are to walk by faith and obedience by obeying the exact instructions of the Lord in conquering the city of Jericho by walking around it, shouting, and blowing the trumpets. The faith to take that city was indeed a paradox because it seemed so strange compared to an ordinary siege of military conquest against the city. The Lord showed that He was in charge of delivering the wicked city of Jericho into the hands of His people. In 1 Samuel 16, small David came up against a great Philistine giant named Goliath. From a human point of view, it would seem that Goliath has the odds in his favor. It was through God's power that David was able to slay the great giant. John is likely deriving the imagery of the fire coming down from heaven in 2 Kings 1:9-14. We have the soldiers of the wicked king, Ahaziah, coming to seize Elijah because Elijah had stated that the king was going to die. Ahaziah dispatches soldiers to go seize Elijah. When the soldiers arrive at the hill where Elijah is, it would seem to be the case from a human point of view that Elijah is going to be captured because there is no way he is going to be able to get away from these soldiers. Ahaziah sends fifty soldiers up the hill, but the prophet calls down fire upon those soldiers. Another batch of fifty soldiers is sent up the hill and they are consumed by fire. God does work through what seems to be the weakest circumstances. He will also do that for His precious people, the church, who are surrounded, outnumbered, and outmatched by enemies of God's people.
37. The focus will turn to the names of Gog and Magog, which are found in Ezekiel 38 and 39. These are enemies of God's people and are unidentifiable. We clearly just do not have enough information to know who they were. Gog and Magog are found to be descendants of Noah (Genesis 10:2; 1 Chronicles 5:4), but that is all we can clearly say. That is the point though. God wants us to know that these are unidentifiable foes. They are not meant to be specific, but generic to us. Notice in Ezekiel 38 and 39, God has set judgment against others besides Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38:1; 39:1,2). Tubal and Magog had already been identified earlier along with Egypt as being found in the pit under the judgment of God in Ezekiel 32. The point that God is making through Ezekiel is that we have this unknown, unidentifiable army that opposes God's people, but it stands under God's judgment. This big wicked army is not going to get away with wiping out God's people. God is going to save His remnant of people while rendering righteous judgment upon the wicked. This grand wicked army of Gog and Magog that serves as an evil ally to Satan in Rev 20 is surrounding the camp of the saints and the beloved city. The identity of the camp of the saints and the beloved city is referring to the same entity – the new Jerusalem – the church of Christ.
38. Why is it being called the camp of the saints? This is a symbol that is rooted in the OT to show that just as Israel was camping with the tabernacle in the wilderness wanderings and heading to their promised land of Canaan, so it is with the church who are camping in this world and are exiles heading toward the new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness dwells (1 Peter 1:1; 2:11,12; 2 Pet 3:10–13). Just as Israel faced some dire threats in the wilderness with enemies of God's people, so it would also be the case that the new Israel – the church – would face enemies while they are traveling through the wilderness.
39. Why is it being called the beloved city? We have identified earlier that the “great city” that is a harlot is referring to physical Jerusalem that was persecuting the true people of God. It was a wicked city that would be destroyed by Rome. But there is another city that has the apple of God's eye – the new Jerusalem. God has His eyes set on that city because it is a city that is righteous and holy. This city will be further described in Rev 21 and 22. We are in the city of the new Jerusalem right now in its inaugurated state, but we have not been established in its consummated state in the new heavens and new earth. God has always designed it to be that there would be a (1) people and a (2) place. In the beginning of creation, God placed people – Adam and Eve into a place – the garden of Eden. In Egypt, God formed a people – the nation of Israel and set them to go toward a place – Canaan. God has set forth a new people in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) – the church of Christ – and they are heading toward a new place that has not been fully consummated – “the new heavens and new earth.” (Revelation 21:1,2) Suffering, persecution, and defeat will not be the last words for the Christian. God will destroy those who oppose the church. This is good news for the people of God.
40. In Revelation 20:10, earlier in book the devil is the “main boss” behind the beast, the false prophet, and the harlot. We have seen how the beast, the false prophet, and the harlot were defeated (Revelation 18; 19:20). God goes after the arch nemesis – the devil – the one who is behind it all. God is going to condemn the devil to hell. His judgment will not be temporary. It will be forever and ever. Those who ally with Satan will likewise suffer the same type of eternal punishment as the devil. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever (Matthew 25:41-46). The reason hell was created was that it was prepared originally for the devil and his angels who rebelled against the Lord. This ought to create a legitimate motivation of fear for those who have not obeyed the gospel (2 Corinthians 5:10,11). God's ultimate wrath over evil will finally be accomplished. There will be no more evil, no more sorrow, or pain. God's people will no longer have to endure suffering. It will finally all be over. What a great comfort to those who are faithful servants of God. We should not oppose God and make sure that we are living lives for God. We are living worthy of the gospel of Christ (Philippians 1:26,27). There is a reality worse than physical death and that is eternal punishment.
41. In Revelation 20:11–15, John sees a vision of a great white throne and the One who occupies it before him. It denotes vastness. It is not insignificant. If you want to picture the sovereignty, authority, and great power of God, then to picture this great white throne. The color of white represents purity, righteousness, and holiness because the One who occupies the throne is pure, righteous, and holy. God will judge righteously. Whatever he does, he is not wrong to sentence the final judgment of unbelievers. He will do all things well. There is no one that can accuse God of wrongdoing. John also saw the “earth and heaven flee away.” This is not referring to the destruction of heaven and earth as is taught elsewhere (2 Peter 3:10-13). This is a personification of the earth and the heavens fleeing away in terror. In Psalm 114, it shows the geographical features trembling at the presence of God. It is communicating the majesty and glory of God. Nothing is able to come into His presence that is truly like Him.
42. John is here intertwining the implication of the “second resurrection” because it was implied by the “first resurrection” of Revelation 20:6. The “second resurrection” is referring to the general bodily resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked that will be raised from their graves (Daniel 12:2; John 5:28,29; Acts 24:15). Physical death, the ruling power that was reigning over the human race, the final enemy of God (1 Corinthians 15:26) is destroyed. Since its power has depleted, it is now giving up the bodies and God is bringing them back to resurrected life. There is a connection between the resurrection of the dead and the day of judgment. In Matthew 12:41,42, the men of Nineveh and the queen of Sheba will rise up (a strong connection to the general resurrection of the dead) against the contemporary generation of Jesus' day because they will rise up “with” them and will condemn them because the men of Nineveh repented while most of the Jews did not believe on Jesus and thus did not turn away from their sins. After everyone is resurrected from the dead, there will be a great judgment that takes place of those who were dead and those who are now living (2 Timothy 4:1,2; Acts 17:30,31). God will decree those who are righteous to live upon the new heavens and the new earth (2 Peter 3:13). Those who are wicked will be cast into hell fire (Revelation 21:8; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9).
43. John sees the “great and small.” This encompasses everybody. Nobody is too great to be exempted from the day of judgment, even those who are in high government positions. It does not matter if you are a king, teacher, professor, lawyer, doctor, or preacher. You will be judged by God. In Matthew 25:31–46, we see another picture of the day of judgment.
44. The risen Christ has been given the right to judge all men. There are books that are opened. We do not know what those books are. They could represent the omniscience of God since God knows everything we have ever done whether it be past, present, or future. We are told though about the Lamb's Book of Life. It is called the Lamb’s Book of Life because Jesus was slain to make redemption available through His shedding blood (Revelation 1:5,6; 5:8–13; 7:10; 13:8). It is the Book of eternal Life because only people whose names are written in it will enter into eternal life in the heavenly city (Revelation 7:17; 21:10,27; 22:3–5). Those whose names are not written in God’s Book will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14,15). Therefore, only the names of God’s children are written in the Book. But even a child of God can have his name taken out of the Lamb’s Book and, hence, forfeit his eternal salvation. For instance, children of God of the OT were taken out of God’s book because of their impenitent sin and because they turned their hearts away from God (Exodus 32:31-33; Deuteronomy 29:14,15,18-20). Children of God of the NT are taken out of it because they do not overcome/remain faithful and/or they take away from God’s words (Revelation 2:10; 3:5; 22:19). Other names not found in the Book of Life are those who worshiped the sea beast and those who defile, cause an abomination or lie (Revelation 13:1,8,17; 17:8; 21:27).
45. It is very hard to know whether “the sea” here is talking about the literal oceans or is it being a symbol. In the OT, the sea is rooted in meaning that its origin represents sinister evil, chaos, and death that needs to be defeated and is destroyed. In Daniel 7, it speaks of the four beasts (that represented Babylon, Medo-Persia, Macedonia, and Rome) that arose from the sea. John speaks of Rev 21:1 that the sea will be no more. It will finally have vanquished because it was an evil entity. Death was a sinister enemy because it was an intrusion into God's good creation. Hades was the “partner in crime” because it held those who were dead by separating the souls from the physical bodies. Since the general physical resurrection has taken place, death will have been conquered because God's power overcame Death, and Hades will no longer be able to hold the souls captive and therefore it is destroyed in hell.
Applications
46. First, there is a story about a boy who wanted to help his father with plowing the field. The father said to his son, “Now son, keep your eyes focused on something ahead of you and you will always plow a straight line.” The son started to plow and was doing a very fine job. The dad decided to leave for a little bit, but when he came back he was shocked at the horrible scene of so many “zig-zags” across the field. He said to his son, “Son, what did you do? I told you to stare at an object in front of you and you would never go wrong.” The son replied, “I did what you told me to do dad, but I kept on staring at that dog who kept moving around everywhere!” We have to give the boy credit for setting his eyes on the object of his goal. We as Christian runners need to focus our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our perfect example. We need to always be looking at Jesus just like the little boy did with the dog. Don’t ever take your eyes off Him.
47. Second, God allows hardships, suffering, and difficult events to happen in order to teach us, reprove us, discipline us, and conform us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29).
48. Third, remember that these times of suffering are only temporary compared to eternity (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). If you want to be in the Book of Life (and stay in it), you must be a faithful Christian worker who endures to the end (Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:4,5; Malachi 3:16,17). Is your name in the Book of Life? Has it been taken out? Examine yourself whether you are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5).
49. Fourth, works are examined by God (Matthew 16:27; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Ecclesiastes 12:13,14). Why does God look and examine our deeds? Because they will testify for or against you. Faith always entails action. If you were a faithful Christian, then you are going to show works that are worthy of repentance and show that you devoted your life to Jesus Christ throughout your life. But if you have lived an evil life, then it shows that you have been living a heart of unbelief and did not conform to a life of obedience.
50. Fifth, John speaks of the second death – separation from God forever and ever. He states that those who are not in Christ will not be found written in the Book of Life. In Christ, faithful Christians are not condemned because they continually have access to the blood of Jesus Christ (1 John 1:7-9). Believers will not experience what will happen to death, Hades, and the devil if they will remain faithful to the end.
51. Sixth, people sometimes say: “God does not send people to hell. People send themselves there.” That is false. The casting was done by God himself. This is where people must go if they do not want to live a righteous and holy life that is pleasing to God. God does not take any pleasure in the death of the wicked and He certainly wants all to come to repentance before it is too late (2 Peter 3:9).
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