An
“angel”
from heaven showed John the apostle many things which will occur in
the tribulation time on the earth, and John wrote about commercial
Babylon's destruction and the people who were affected by it. 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,
“And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the
horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were
filled with their flesh. And I saw an angel come down from heaven,
having
the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.” John
continued, “And
he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and
Satan, and bound him a thousand years,”,
and in Revelation chapter twenty and verse three John sees the angel,
“cast”
the Devil “into
the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him”
where
we read:
And
cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal
upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the
thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed
a little season.
The
verse reads, “And
cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal
upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, ...”
John began with the words, “and
cast him”
which means “and threw the Devil” “into
the bottomless pit”
or “toward the abyss of unbounded and immeasurable depth”, “and
shut him up”
which means “and obstructed and closed the Devil from the entrance
of the pit”, “and
set a seal”
or “marked and impressed with a stamp ” “upon
him”
which means “on the Devil”, “that
he should deceive”
or “that the Devil would cause to stray, wander, roam and be lead
away from error” “the
nations”
which refers to “the multitudes, companies, troops and individuals
of the same nature or genus” “no
more”
or “no longer or further”. John watched as the “angel”
who had “bound Satan” threw him into the “abyss”, “shut the
entrance” and put a “mark” upon the Devil so he would not be
able to “lead astray” people of the world any longer.
The
verse goes on to say, “... till
the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be
loosed a little season.”
John added the words, “till
the thousand years”
which means “until the one thousand years”, “should
be fulfilled” or
“finish or come to an end”: “and
after that”
which means “and when the one thousand years are over” “he
must be loosed”
or “it is necessary that the Devil be unbound, released and set
free” “a
little season”
which means “for a small, brief and short time”. John saw how
“Satan”
is
to be in captivity until “one
thousand years”
have past, and then he will be set free for a short time.
When
we consider John's words in this verse, we see how “Satan” or
“the Devil” will be “bound for a thousand years” and
will not be a menace to people during that time. Currently he is able
to deceive people into believing anything other than Jesus Christ as
a personal “Savior and Lord”. He will be restricted from his
influence during the “millennium” while Jesus rules and reigns
upon the earth. Afterward, Satan shall be set free for a little time.
God Almighty desires to have a relationship with everyone who will
yield their lives to His Son Jesus, and today is the day of
“salvation”.
Next
time
John, “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”,
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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