Both the Old Testament and the New Testament speak of a thousand years after the end of the Tribulation where Jesus will reign, and we—His believers—will reign with Him. It’s called The Millennial Kingdom.
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years (Revelation 20:1–6).
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But beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (2 Peter 3:8).
The times we live in, our own history, was written 2,000 years ago. John, the beloved disciple wrote what he saw in a vision, and we call his writing Revelation. Planet Earth was corrupted then, in his day, as it is today, our day. The sin committed between the time of Noah’s flood and today with the Corona Virus is what accounts for all disasters, whether “natural” or “an act of God,” sin is responsible. Blessed is he who reads (the book of Revelation) and those who hear the words of this prophecy, (the book of Revelation) and keep those things which are written in it (the book of Revelation), for the time is near (Revelation 1:3). He (the beast) causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads (Revelation 13:16).
Years ago, I worked for a major, international bank in San Francisco. I was required to sit in on meetings concerning the executives of the bank as I was their event coordinator. In those days, banks had loads of money for entertaining their employees. In one meeting for all the vice presidents and other executives, the president of the bank informed us that they had been developing the means of implanting tiny discs in the hands of all employees and clients of the bank. The problem was the world was not ready for such means of identification. But the banks were. He felt it would take about twenty years to get the public ready. Actually, that speech was thirty years ago. Perhaps this Corona Virus is getting us ready. PART FIVE
What does Jesus look like? Let’s see what John saw as He gives us a lively description. Starting at Revelation 1:13, John says Jesus wore a robe that fell to his feet with a golden sash around His chest. His hair was white as snow. From this white head His two eyes flashed like flames of fire. His face shone like the brightness of the blinding sun. His feet gleamed like they were glowing in a furnace. His voice sounded like the roar of many rushing waters coming together, over-powering even the sounds of waters like Niagara Falls or Victoria Falls. Jesus said to John, “Don’t yield to fear. I am the Beginning and I am the End.” (Revelation 1:17 — The Passion Translation). Try to image this picture, your master, your ruler, your king dressed like John’s description and speaking from such a mouth. (The two-edged sword represents the Word of God.) Would you trust Him? Would you be willing to surrender all to Him? I would. I can’t think of anything to equal that. PART FOUR
We tend to think of the word “revealing” in reference to ourselves, since we see through a glass darkly. But the book of Revelation takes up the cause of revealing Jesus and who He is and what is He like. We don’t know all we need to know about Him because Jesus was veiled in His human flesh. We couldn’t see His deity while He was on the earth, it was only afterward, after His horrible, torturous death and His dramatic, majestic resurrection that we could comprehend Him as God. Jesus speaks of what displeases Him in His diatribe against the seven churches in western Turkey. First, He congratulates each church and then He blames them for His displeasure. In this revelation that Jesus gave to John on the isle of Patmos, John sees Jesus walking among these seven churches, which indicates the intimacy Jesus has with His churches. He is there. He is observing. He is correcting. He is loving them. PART THREE
Since we are pursuing knowledge of Jesus, uncovering the names by which He is known will give us insight into the character of the Son of Man, who He really is. According to chapter 1 of Revelation, Jesus is called “The Ruling King.” There are many kings in our lives, but Jesus rules over them all. Every authority figure that affects us is a king who dictates to us, such as teachers, parents, bullies, street crossing guards, bosses, celebrity figures, politicians, friends, neighbors, spouses, grand-parents, religious leaders, bankers, business leaders, professional athletes, Hollywood stars, popular people, brothers, sisters, other family members, economists, journalists, scientists, doctors, television and radio commentators, beautiful people, advertisements, weather forecasters, researchers, soldiers, therapists, and writers. I could go on and on listing authority figures, but here’s the thing. None of these are actually kings. We simply give them the right to dictate a little part of our lives. Not one of these can tell us what will happen in our future, or what to do about today, or how to dismiss the dictates of our past. PART TWO
The first chapter of Revelation calls Jesus the names that identify Him. This happened in the Old Testament when all the names of Jehovah were established. Here He is called “The Faithful Witness.” The Bible tells us that we have the mind of Christ and that we know all things. This is a hard truth to swallow because I know for sure that I don’t know all things. But the thing is, Jesus does. He has witnessed it all, and He is ready to let us in on the truth. I want answers from Him, and they come so easily when I make myself ready to talk to Him. He is no different than any good friend. When we talk to our good friends, we look them in the eye, we touch their arm, or have some kind of physical contact. We don’t knock on the door and run away shouting our information over our shoulder. We make sure our friend understands what we are saying. It’s that way with Jesus. He is not going to chase us down, throw us on the ground, and sit on top of us until we listen. He is a faithful friend, and He won’t speak until He knows we are ready to listen. I like to get really quiet, shut down all distractions, and open my spiritual eyes. He speaks to me most often with visions, so I anticipate them. I look for them in the spirit-realm. That means I look for them beyond what I think, or even what I imagine might be His current thoughts. It’s not that I want a blank mind, it’s that I want a directed mind, one that looks for Jesus. Sometimes I use Scripture, like seeing him coming up the hill like He does in Song of Solomon. PART ONE
I’m told the very word Revelation means “the lifting of the veil.” In other words, when we read the book of Revelation, the veil over Jesus will be lifted, and we will know him as we have never known Him. Knowing Him IS “Intimacy Personified.” Verse 3 of chapter 1 excites me. “A joyous blessing rests upon the one who reads this message and upon those who hear and embrace the words of this prophecy, for the appointed time is in your hands.”* I interpret this to mean there is one who reads and those who listen. They can only listen if the reader reads aloud. In my case, I am both reader and listener. I have been waiting for the appointed time for ages, or so it seems, and it appears that time is actually in my hands. I can’t answer for you, but the one thing I want in life is to know Jesus as my personal Savior, my personal Redeemer, and my personal Friend. Whatever I do, I want it to bring me closer to Jesus and to know Him better than I know myself! When I discovered the book of Revelation is designed to give me everything I want: wisdom and knowledge of my Lord Jesus Christ, I was ecstatic! Join me in my discovery. |
Marty
Delmon Writer
Evangelist Teacher Writing has been in my blood, so to speak, but when I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ and He told me to write, all my trepidations rolled away, and I began in earnest! After all, if God Almighty says it was His idea that I be a writer, who am I to stand in His way? My hope is that you not only like what I write, but that your life is moved by it, and that your party to Jesus and with Jesus turns your life into days of Heaven on Earth.
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