Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 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. 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. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 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. Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.(Rev 20:1-8)
A longer passage than my usual for this morning, but I wanted you to count the number of times 'thousand years' was used in this story of the end times. Now if seven is the number of perfection in the Revelation, then six is just one short of perfection. Of course, we know who the One is! Six times this thousand years is mentioned in the Revelation and well we might wonder why we must have this millennium at all or why the Tempter must be released at the end of it. While God does not owe you or me an answer to our questions about His plans and prophecies, we might already have the answer to that question, and the answer is us, or what remains in us even without the Tempter to draw it out. We are fallen creatures.
For a thousand years, we will have the Lord Jesus as the great King in Jerusalem, mediating disputes between nations, providing us with His presence... peace and joy are ours! But there is a problem - those fallen lusts of the flesh. What harm can they do with the Tempter locked up and Jesus on the throne? I think we know the answer to that already.
Adam and Eve had Eden, and they fell to temptation. Noah and his family had a fresh start on the earth, but later the generations fell to the lusts of the flesh. Israel had God's presence, His mighty works, and the Law of Moses, and still they fell to those same human lusts. Since the coming of our Lord Jesus, generations of humans have faced the temptation of those lusts and fallen, even those reborn in Christ. In the thousand years, those living on the earth will have Jesus returned to rule, the Law, the Tempter locked away, the return of those who died in Christ as judges, Tribulation saints no one could number, and a time of peace to rebuild and enjoy... and what do we think will happen with those lusts of the flesh? Yeah, I guess we need the thousand years for some holdouts to realize that we must be renewed by Christ completely from the inside out. And, yes, there is going to be a rebellion at the end of the thousand years, as though some needed more evidence that Jesus really is the only answer to our fallen flesh.
Now, have a great Friday in Christ, and try not to fall to temptation today!
Bucky
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