Chapter Forty-One/God's Day of Judgment-It's Joyful Outcome

 How is it that the "earth and the heaven fled away"? This is the same heaven that departed as a scroll at the opening of the sixth seal-the human ruling powers that are "stored up for fire and are being reserved to the day of judgment and of destruction of the ungodly men." (Revelation 6:14; 2 Peter 3:7) The earth is the organized system of things that exists under his rulership. (Revelation 8:7) The destruction of the wild beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, along with those who received the mark of the wild beast and those render worship to its image, marks the fleeing away of this heaven and earth. (Revelation 19:19-21) Judgment having been executed on Satan's earth and heaven the Great Juge decrees another Day of Judgment. 

Chapter Forty-One/God's Day of Judgment-It's Joyful Outcome -The Thousand-Year Judgment Day

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Chapter Forty-One/God's Day of Judgment-It's Joyful Outcome

 With Satan confined in the abyss, Jesus' glorious Thousand Year Reign begins. It is now the "day" in which God purposes to judge the inhabited earth in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed." (Acts 17:31; 2 Peter 3:8) John declares: "And I saw a white throne and the one seated on it. From before him the earth and the heaven fled away, and no place was found for them." (Revelation 20:11) What is this great white throne"? It can me none other than the judgment seat of "God the Judge of all." (Hebrews 12:23) Now he will judge mankind as to who will benefit from Jesus' ransom sacrifice. - MARK 10:45. 

God's throne is "great," emphasizing Jehovah's grandeur as Sovereign Lord, and it is "white," calling attention to his flawless righteousness. He is the ultimate Judge of mankind.  (Psalm 19:7-11; Isaiah 33:22; 51:5, 8) He has, however, delegated the work of judging to the Son." (John 5:22) With Jesus are his 144,000 associates, to whom the "power of judging was given . . . for a thousand years." (Revelation 20:4) Even so, it is Jehovah's standards that decide what will happen to each individual during Judgment Day. 

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Chapter Forty-One/God's Day of Judgment -It's Final Outcome

 AS HUMANS, we were created to live forever if Adam and Eve had obeyed God's commands, they would never have died. (Genesis 1:28; 2:8. 16, 17; Ecclesiastes 3:10, 11) But when they sinned, they lost perfection and life both for themselves and their offspring, and death came to reign over mankind as a relentless enemy. (Romans 5:12, 14; 1 Corinthians 15:26) Nevertheless, God's purpose to have perfect humans live forever on a paradise earth did not change. Out of his great love for mankind, he sent to earth is only-begotten Son, Jesus who gave his perfect life as a ransom for "many" of Adam's offspring. (Matthew 20:28; John 3:16) Jesus can now use this legal merit of his sacrifice to restore believing humans to life in perfection on a paradise earth. (1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 2:2) What grand reason for mankind to "be joyful and rejoice"! - ISAIAH 25:8, 9. 

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Chapter Forty/Crushing the Serpent's Head - Torment Day and Night Forever - Conclusion

 In this way the final detail of that prophecy recorded at Genesis 3:15 is fulfilled. When Satan is hurled into the lake of fire, he will become as dead as s snake the head of which has been ground under an iron heel. He and his demons will be gone forever. There is no further mention of them in the book of Revelation. Now, having prophetically disposed of these, Jehovah's spirit draws attention to a matter of pressing interest to those who cherish an earthly hope. What will result to humankind from the heavenly reign of the "King of kings" and those called and chosen and faithful with him'? (Revelation17:14) To answer, John brings us back once again to the beginning of the Thousand Year Reign. 

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Chapter Forty/Crushing the Serpent's Head - Tormented Day and Night Forever - Continue

 Additionally, the related word ba-sa-ni-stes," "tormentor,"is used in the Bible to mean "jailer." (Matthew 18:34, Kingdom Interlinear) In harmony with this, Satan will be imprisoned in the lake of fire forever; he will never be released. Finally, in the Greek Septuagint which was well known to John, the related word ba'sa-nos is used to refer to humiliation that leads to death. (Ezekiel 32:24, 30) This helps us to see that the punishment that Satan undergoes is a humiliating everlasting death in the lake of fire and sulfur. His works him die with him. - 1 JOHN 3:8. 

Again, the demons are not mentioned in this verse. Will they be released with Satan at the end of the thousand years and then undergo the punishment of everlasting death along with him? The evidence answers yes. In the parable of the sheep and the goats, Jesus said that the goats would go off "into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels." (Matthew 25:41) The expression "everlasting fire" must refer to the lake of fire and sulfur where Satan is to be hurled. The Devil's angels were cast out of heaven with him. Evidently, they went into the abyss with him at the beginning of the Thousand-Year Reign. Consistently, the, they will also be destroyed with him in the lake of fire and sulfur. -MATTHEW 8:29. 

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Chapter Forty/Crushing the Serpent's Head - Tormented Day and Night Forever

 Referring to the Devil as well as the wild beast and the false prophet, John now tells us: "And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."
 (Revelation 20:10b) What could this mean? As mentioned already, it is not logical to say that symbols, such as the wild beast and the false prophet, as well as death and Hades, could suffer torture in a literal way. Hence, we have no reason to believe that Satan will be suffering for all eternity. He is to be annihilated. 

The Greek word used here for "torment," ba-sa-ni'zo  means primarily "to test (metals) by the touchtone." To question by applying torture" is a second meaning. (The New Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament) In the context, the use of this Greek word indicates that what happens to Satan will serve, for all eternity, as touchtone on the issue of rightness and righteousness of Jehovah's rule. That issue of Sovereign rulership will have been settled once and for all time. Never again will a challenge to Jehovah's sovereignty need to be tested over an extended period of time in order to be proved wrong. - Compare PSALM 92:1, 15. 

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Chapter Forty/Crushing the Serpent's Head - The Lake of Fire and Sulfur - Conclusion

 All of this reinforces the view that the lake of fire and sulfur is symbolic. Further, the mention of fire and sulfur calls to mind the fate of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah, destroyed by God because of their gross wickedness. When their time came, "Jehovah made it rain sulfur and fire from Jehovah from the heavens, upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah." (Genesis 19:24) What befell the two cities is called the judicial punishment of everlasting fire." (Jude7) Yet, those two cities did not suffer everlasting torment. Rather they were blotted out, obliterated for all time, along with their depraved inhabitants. Those cities do not exist today, and no one can say for sure where they were located. 

In harmony with this, the Bible itself explains the meaning of the lake of fire and sulfur: 'This means the second death, the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:14) It is clearly the same as the Gehenna that Jesus spoke of, a place where the wicked remain destroyed, not tortured forever. (Matthew 10:28) It is complete utter destruction without hope of a resurrection. Thus, while there are keys for death, Hades, and the abyss, this is no mention of a key for opening the lake of fire and sulfur. (Revelation 1:18; 20:1) It will never release its captives. - Compare MARK 9:43-47. 

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Chapter Forty/Crushing the Serpent's Head - The Lake of Fire and Sulfur

 Will this final effort by Satan succeed? Certainly not-no more than the attack that Gog of Magog is due to make on spiritual Israel in our day will succeed! (Ezekiel 38:18-23) John vividly describe the outcome: "But fire came down out of heaven and devoured them. And the Devil who was misleading them was hurled into the lake of fire and sulfur, where both the wild beast and the false prophet already were." (Revelation 20:9b-10a) Rather than merely being abyssed, this time Satan, the original Serpent, will actually be crushed out of existence, pulverized, completely annihilated as if by fire. 

We have already noted that "the lake of fire and sulfur could not be a literal place of torment.  (Revelation 19:20) If Satan were to suffer excruciating torture there f0r all eternity, Jehovah would not have to preserve him alive. Yes, life is gift, not a punishment. Death is the punishment for sin, and according to the Bible, dead creatures feel no pain. (Romans 6:23; Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10) Moreover, we read that later that death itself, along with Hades cannot suffer pain! - REVELATION 20:14. 

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Chapter Forty/Crushing the Serpent's Head - The Final Test Conclusion

 The number of those who join Satan in his revolt will be  "as the sand of the sea." How many is that? There is no foreordained number. (Compare Joshua 11:4; Judges 7:12) The final total number of rebels will depend on how each individual reacts to Satan deceptive wiles. Doubtless, though, there will be a considerable number, since they will feel strong enough to overcome "the camp of the holy ones and the beloved city." 

"The beloved city" must be the city that is spoken of by the glorified Jesus Christ to his followers at Revelation 3:12 and that he calls "the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which descends out of heaven from my God." Since this is a heavenly organization, how could those earthly forces 'encircle it'? In that they encircle "the camp of the holy ones." A camp is outside a city; therefore, "the camp of the holy ones" must represent those on earth outside the heavenly location of New Jerusalem who loyally support Jehovah's governmental arrangement. When the rebels under Satan attack the holy ones, the Lord Jesus regards it as an assault on him. (Matthew25:40, 45) "Those nations" will try to wipe out all that the heavenly Jerusalem has accomplished in making earth a paradise. So, in attacking "the camp of the holy ones," they are also attacking "the beloved city." 

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Chapter Forty/Crushing the Serpent's Head - The Final Test - Continue

 How will Satan's last effort fare? He deceives "those nations in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog," and leads them to "the war." Who could possibly side with Satan after a thousand years of joyful, upbuilding theocratic rule? Well, do not forget that Satan was ablet o mislead the perfect Adam and Eve while they were enjoying life in the Paradise of Eden. And he was able to lead astray heavenly angels who had seen the bad results of the original rebellion. (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6) So we should not be surprised that some perfect humans will be enticed to follow Satan even after a delightful thousand years of rule by God's Kingdom. 

The Bible calls these rebels "nations in the four corners of the earth." This does not mean that mankind will have been divided once again into mutually exclusive national entities. It merely indicates that these will "think up an injurious scheme," as did the Gog and Magog in Ezekiel's prophecy, with a goal of destroying theocratic government on earth. (Ezekiel 38:3.10-12) Hence, they are called Gog and Magog." 

Next time: Chapter Forty/Crushing the Serpent's Head -The Final Test - Conclusion

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