An
“angel”
from heaven showed John the apostle many things which will occur in
the tribulation time on the earth, and John wrote about spiritual and
commercial Babylon's destruction and the people who were affected by
them. John wrote about great worship which occurred in heaven
afterward and then shared about the birds being gathered together to
eat the flesh of the bodies of the opponents of Jesus. He wrote about
Satan being bound for a thousand years, and then being loosed for a
little season.
John
continued, “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 worshiped 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. But the rest of the dead lived
not again until the thousand years were finished. This is
the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is
he that has part in the first resurrection: on 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. And when the thousand years
are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. 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. And they went up on the breadth of the earth,
and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and
fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the
devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are,
and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And I saw the
dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened:
and another book was opened, which is the
book
of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up
the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead
which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their
works.” In
Revelation chapter twenty and verse fourteen John sees, “death
and hell cast into the lake of fire”
where
we read:
And
death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death.
The
verse reads, “And
death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.”
John began with the words, “and
death”
which means “the separation whether natural or violent of the soul
from the body by which the life on earth is ended” “and
hell”
or “the grave or the realm of the dead” “were
cast into”
which means “were thrown, hurled and scattered into” “the
lake” or
“the
large or small body”
“of fire”
which means “of
fire like as with fiery lightning”.
John saw “life ending death”
and it's counterpart “the grave” thrown into the “burning fiery
lake”.
The
verse goes on to say, “This
is the second death.”
John continued with the words, “this
is”
which means “the throwing into the lake of fire exists as” “the
second death”
which means “the other of two and afterward separation in the
widest sense, of death comprising all the miseries arising from sin
as well physical death as the loss of a life consecrated to God and
blessed in him on earth to be followed by wretchedness in hell.”.
John called
this “deliberate act of throwing “death
and hell”
into the “lake
of fire”
“the
second death”.
When
we think through John's words in this verse, we see how horrible this
“second
death”
shall be. When God makes certain that “death
and hell”
are tossed there, we may be assured this is a place no one should
ever desire to go. God considers “death”
an “enemy”
even as Paul the apostle wrote in First Corinthians chapter fifteen
and verse twenty-six, “The
last enemy that
shall be destroyed is
death.”
God desires to “save” every person from this awful and ominous
fate, and by receiving His Son as “Savior and Lord” of their
lives, a person will be “saved”. Lest anyone reading these words
be deceived into believing these things do not matter, let them
consider the horror of this fate for “death
and hell” and
imagine how horrific it will be for all who likewise follow their
lead and are separated from God for all eternity.
Next
time
John declares what happens to, “whosoever
was not found written in the book of life”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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