As we open this chapter our minds go back to the days of God’s servant Job and to the day “when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan, whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it” (Job 1:6-76Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. 7And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. (Job 1:6‑7)). No longer can he do this, he who is so well named “the dragon, that old serpent, who is the Devil and Satan”—the seducer of our race. “A stronger than he” lays hold on him, binds him with a great chain, casts him into the abyss of darkness, shuts him up there and sets a seal upon him for the thousand years of Christ’s glorious millennial reign. Then will be fulfilled that word—“and the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly” (Rom. 16:2020And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. (Romans 16:20)). A worse fate awaits him when released from his prison, as we shall soon see.
In the fourth, fifth and sixth verses we have a vision of what takes place in heaven while Satan is chained in the abyss.
Three classes are brought before us in the fourth verse:
1) “I saw thrones, and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them.” There are the twenty four elders—the Old Testament saints and the church of God. This event is spoken of in Daniel 7:2222Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. (Daniel 7:22)—“the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.”
2) “And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God.” These are those referred to in Revelation 6:9,9And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: (Revelation 6:9) who, after the church has gone to glory “were slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held.” Cast out of the temple, they were hated and slain by their ungodly idolatrous, persecuting brethren after the flesh. The Lord Jesus spoke of them—“the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son, and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated by all men for My Name’s sake. But he that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved” (Mark 13:12-1312Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. 13And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. (Mark 13:12‑13)).
These three classes lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. All are found in the heavenly kingdom above. They have part in the first resurrection, and, as already stated, are comprised of:
2) The church of God.
3) The two groups of martyred saints from among the Jews, referred to in sections 2 and 3 preceding.
These three classes are accounted “blessed and holy” having part in the first resurrection. All alike are priests unto God and Christ, reigning also as kings and priests. The rest of the dead will live again after the thousand years are finished. They will hear the voice of the Son of Man, and having done evil will come forth “to the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:2929And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (John 5:29)).
In the seventh, eight, and ninth verses we have the last act in the human drama before God brings down the curtain of time. After a full thousand years of peace and plenty, and those wonderful conditions of earthly blessing foretold by Isaiah, Satan is loosed out of his prison. He had been kept there for this very purpose—leading a mass revolt from the peoples of the nations against God. Hence they compass the camp of the saints about and “the beloved city”—for as we learn from Ezekiel 48:3535It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there. (Ezekiel 48:35) the name of the city in that day will be “the Lord is there.”
Satan’s first act was to deceive Eve in Eden’s garden—his last “to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth.” These are the multitudes born of Gentile parents, but not born of God. The immensity of their numbers is suggested by the expression “the sand of the sea.” Their descent on the beloved city is after the pattern of Gog and Magog, whose evil activities against Israel, followed immediately by God’s judgment, is shown in Ezekiel 38 and 39. No trial is needed when God’s enemies are caught in open rebellion against Him, as we have already seen in the case of the Beast and his armies. So here the fire of heaven devours them.
We know that Satan has knowledge of Scripture. Did he not misquote it to the Lord? And does he not know of his awful doom as given in the tenth verse? No doubt he does, but he will be the Devil and enemy of God to the very end, when he is “cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.” The Beast and false prophet (Antichrist) have been there a thousand years before him “and they shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Their torment, all three of them, will be for as long as God exists—for ETERNITY!
The “time state” is over! The earth and heavens are about to flee away. What of the nation of Israel, and the saved of the Gentiles? Scripture is silent, but as we read in Deuteronomy 33:33Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words. (Deuteronomy 33:3) “all His saints are in Thy hand.” We can rest assured they will be perfectly safe there, and will appear in the new earth where the tabernacle of God will be with men when God also “will make all things new” (Rev. 21:55And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. (Revelation 21:5)).
“And I saw a great white throne.” In five short verses—11-15—we have the judgment and final doom of those who, refusing to have to do with God, or to be reconciled to Him in their lifetimes, died in their sins, and “lived again” to be judged “according to their works.” The Bible, from cover to cover contains God’s solemn warnings to man that He “will by no means clear the guilty” (Ex. 34:77Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. (Exodus 34:7))—“for the work of a man shall He render unto him” (Job 34:1111For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways. (Job 34:11)). “The preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem,” concludes his book of Ecclesiastes with the following words—“for God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” With this the Apostle Paul is in entire agreement—“in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel” (Rom. 2:1616In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. (Romans 2:16)). Christ Himself, then, is the Judge upon this throne of spotless purity.
“Upon that throne no dazzling seraph sat,
No minister of might in angel guise,
No spirit etherous to manifest
The secrets of the human heart, but dressed
In bone and flesh, the Judge in this assize,
The Son of Man in power and splendor great.”
From His face who sat on the throne—Christ—”the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them.” This also fully agrees with 2 Peter 3:1010But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (2 Peter 3:10)—“but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” Once while visiting the Planetarium in New York City I heard the lecturer state that no one could know how the end of “our earth” would take place. When his lecture was over I approached him and remarked that there need be no uncertainty whatever since God had said—as just quoted—“the earth also . . . shall be burned up.” There ensued no discussion of the subject.
The dead, small and great—“for there is no respect of persons with God” (Rom. 2:1111For there is no respect of persons with God. (Romans 2:11))—stand before the throne. The books are opened—God’s records of men’s lives. Did they vainly think He kept no records? First there is the book of life. Thank God, my name is written there!! How do I know, you ask? On earth Jesus said “this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one who seeth the Son, and believeth on Him may have everlasting life” (John 6:4040And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:40)). “I have believed, and therefore have I spoken” (2 Cor. 4:1313We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; (2 Corinthians 4:13)). Then there are the books which contain the life story of the sinner. These are opened, and judgment is rendered according to the works recorded there. There is no escape. The sea yields its numerous dead. Death, which overtook the sinner, and hades—his state after death awaiting the judgment day—are no longer to be found. “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:2626The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. (1 Corinthians 15:26)). All is forever finalized in “the second death.” Mark there is no resurrection from “the second death.” “He that hath the Son hath life, and He that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 John 5:1212He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. (1 John 5:12)). The lake of fire is the eternal portion of those who did not believe on the Name of the Son of God, and whose names consequently were “not found written in the book of life.”