…know and understand the heart. We’re going to have to make judgments and assessments based on that, aren’t we?

Now of course with the children of Israel, they were unconverted, and they were hard hearted so it will be different during the millennium, but there are certain principles that we can learn from this so we can understand and try and discern what’s going to happen the best way that we can, putting the scriptures together. Now all of this, please understand that some of this that we are talking about is not necessarily absolute dogmatic that it’s going to happen precisely this way. But surely God would want us to think about how things will be and think about how they may come about so that it will give us greater understanding of God’s way, but also give us greater understanding in how to properly put the scriptures together. So some of the things that we may put together may not be exactly correct but the principles will apply and we will see that in a little bit concerning the lake of fire and the first death and the second death. But let’s go on here in Deuteronomy 8.

Now notice, verse 3, “And He humbled thee, and [allowed] suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna,…” Of course instead of manna it’s going to be all the blessings and goodness that comes from God. Everything. “…Which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.” Now, when the New Covenant with Christ began, that’s how He started, wasn’t it, in the trial against Satan the devil? Man is going to live by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. That will also apply all during the millennium of course, won’t it? Now, instead of having hard hearted people we will have people who have a more pliable attitude, a more willing attitude, but nevertheless there will still be human nature there, and since the whole world is set up on God’s way, then it’s going to be most important to understand, to know the heart because that’s where people are then going to be thinking contrary things and so forth, though they may not necessarily carry them out. Some of them will, of course, because they will have sinned.

Then He shows here that “your clothes didn’t grow old upon you, neither did your shoes, and your feet didn’t swell these forty years” (vs. 4, paraphrased). “Thou shalt also consider in thine heart,…” Now how is it going to be during the millennium that we are going to teach people to consider in their hearts? Well it’s going to have to be something like this. “…Consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee” (vs. 4-5). Now what kind of discipline and chastening will there be during the millennium? We don’t know. We’ll have to see. But people are not going to be made into robots. They are going to be able to choose. But the vast majority, instead of choosing to sin and follow Satan because Satan won’t be around, they’re going to choose God’s way.

So He says here, verse 6, “Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in His ways, and to fear Him. For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land,…” Now this is going to apply to the whole world. “…A land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines,…” Sounds pretty much like what we read there in Micah 4, right, where everyone will sit under his vine and under his fig tree. Ok, so we have vines and fig trees here. “…And pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness,…” And of course all during the millennium there will be no scarceness. There will be an abundance of everything. It even says in the book of Amos that the plowman is going to come right behind the reaper and say, “Beep-beep, get out of the way I’m coming through.” So it’s going to be an abundance of food, an abundance of everything, an abundance of wealth. So it’s going to be quite a thing. So there’s a principle that we’re going to learn here that applies when you have everything. And this is getting right to the heart and the core of the Laodicean attitude today, and probably the great Laodicean attitude toward the end of the millennium, or at least any time during the millennium too. Let’s go on. “…Thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass” (vs. 6-9). And as we saw gold and silver, and that means all the other metals as well and precious jewels and so forth.

Now notice verse 10, here’s the key. “When thou hast eaten and art full,…” That’s going to happen to everybody, right? Yes, indeed. “…Then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which He hath given thee.” So that’s the key. Right there’s the key to the heart and the attitude. Do you always bless God and thank God for all the good things that He gives you? Not everybody does, because some people today, you know you have the parable of the pounds and the parable of the talents. You have the one servant who griped and complained and accused God. Will there be people who will gripe and complain during the millennium? Of course, there’s got to be some otherwise there would be no free choice. Otherwise they would just become robotic automatons.

So here’s the warning. If you’re not blessing God, here’s the warning: “Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God in [not] keeping His commandments, and His judgments, and His statutes, which I command thee this day” (vs. 11). So there will be some people who will consider that the things of God are too harsh. Those are going to be the ones who will sin. And if they sin, if they commit murder, or something like that as we saw in Isaiah 66, there’s going to be a lake of fire. So the question becomes: during the millennium, if someone is cast into the lake of fire, is that the second death or the first death? Well let’s think about it for a minute. There can be the lake of fire and they are going to also be the graveyard of sinners. Either one, maybe both.

Now then let’s ask a question concerning lake of fire: the beast and the false prophet were cast into the lake of fire right when Christ and the saints return to the earth. An angel is sent, casts them into a lake of fire. Do these two have to die the second death for their incorrigible sin? Yes, indeed. So the question is: can someone be resurrected who is consumed in a lake of fire where it has not been determined that this is their second death but only their first death? Well, the answer would have to be yes. You can also have during the millennium those who fall into this sinful attitude that do not do the sin of violence to someone, and they just come to the end of their lives and they die. They’ll probably be buried, so there will probably be the graveyard of the sinners. And of course that will be a place where everyone will know that’s the graveyard of the sinners. So it’s very possible we may have both things apply during the millennium.

Now let’s come back to Deuteronomy 8 and let’s read this a little bit more, and let’s see what there is here for us and how it affects the attitude and the things that take place. Now he says, “Beware lest you forget…” Verse 12 now it says, “…lest when thou hast eaten and art full,…” Now we already read the scripture where there’s going to be no famine. There’s going to be no starving. So everybody is going to eat and be full all during the millennium, aren’t they? “…And hast built goodly houses,…”, which they will. They’re going to rebuild the cities. Every man’s going to have his own house, his own property. “…And dwelt therein;…” Yes, and no one is going to chase them out, are they? “…And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou [do] hast is multiplied;…” (vs. 12-13). Then they’re going to be confronted with a problem, aren’t they? It’s like he says here. This is the way that human beings think. Now if you don’t think that’s the way that human beings think just remember this: do you not wait until it’s really necessary to do something before you do it? Of course. I do, everybody else does. But when this is applied spiritually then it becomes very dangerous, doesn’t it? Because here’s what happened. Let’s see what happens.

When you forget God this is what happens, verse 14, “…Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD…” Yes, you forget the LORD God. In this case “…which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;…” In the millennium you forget the Lord. Even though Christ is available and all the saints are available as kings and priests, there will be people who want to get it out of their minds. So they won’t be able to forget, but they will want to forget, which is the first step in forgetting, isn’t it? And that’s the same as sinning in your heart. “…And thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out…”, or we could say in this case, “which gives eternal life all during the millennium. And have you not gone to church and seen the going out parties? Have you not seen them change from flesh to spirit? Has that become so mundane for you that now it’s such a common place that it means nothing to you?” So it’s very possible.

Notice what he says here in this particular case. “…Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; Who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;…” And during the millennium there’s not going to be any drought. There’s not going to be any lack of water, there’s not going to be any lack of the Holy Spirit available to people. “…Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that He might humble thee, and that He might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;…” Now when people have everything done good for them, are they going to begin to forget? And if their hearts are lifted up what are they going to say? Especially if they have healthy bodies, good minds, great abilities, what are they going to think? Well, verse 17, “…And thou say in thine heart, My power [not God’s] and the might of mine hand [not God’s] hath gotten me this wealth” (vs. 15-17). So the Laodicean attitude then is going to be, “Well, you know, we really have done a lot more of this than God gives us credit for. Because after all we have all of this ability, we have all of these things, and look what we’ve done, and look what we’ve made, and look what we are.” Same thing.

He says, then you shall remember – all my power, and my might has gotten me this wealth. You know, when that comes in – of course it’s a problem today too, isn’t it? “But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.” And so then there is going to be this warning during the millennium because people will be subject to it, won’t they? “And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods,…” (vs. 18-19). Now there won’t be any other gods to walk after at that time, but it’s going to be that they will want to walk in a different path than the Lord’s path. So that will be the same principle which will be applied then. Then God says you’re surely going to perish. So the sinner that dies one hundred years old during the millennium, if they have done a grievous sin, will probably be cast into the lake of fire. If they have just sinned where it is not a grievous sin, they will probably die and be buried and put into the sinners graveyard.

Now then when we come down to the end of the millennium something else is going to happen. Let’s come back here to Revelation 20 and let’s see it. Something else is going to happen because as you get down toward the end of the millennium you’re running out of time, aren’t you? Because it’s going to come to an end. That’s why during this feast we started out – this is the beginning of the feast, and when we come to day seven, this is the end of the feast. So the beginning of the millennium starts out wonderful. The end of the millennium does not end up quite as good because of all of the super-complacent Laodiceanism, which how rampant it will be we don’t know. So God is going to do a different thing.

Now, the people will come to God just like they have before. Just like when the children of Israel heard the Ten Commandments from God, what happened? They said, “Oh, Moses, you go speak to God, and you tell us and we’ll do it.” So I think what’s going to happen at the end of the millennium is this at the last generation. I don’t know if it’s going to be the last one hundred years, or the last fifty years, or whatever, but a certain length of time, that they’re going to come to God, and God already has it in His plan. He’s going to work it out this way:

They’re going to say, “God, You’ve given us free moral agency, haven’t you?” “Yes, indeed I have.”

“Now we feel as though that we want to have our own choices.”

“Oh, you do.”

“Yes, we do.”

“And since we are uncomfortable living here we would like You to find a place for us to live so that we’re not going to be under this oppression all the time.”

And God will say, “Well look, I’ve given you all this. Don’t you love Me?”

They say, “Well you know we just feel,…” (And of course that’s the way it starts out, right?) “…that we have got to make our own decisions, and we have got to be away from this.”

And so God, just like He did with the children of Israel, He said, “Ok, Moses you speak to them.” So it’s going to be “Ok, if you don’t want to be here then we’ll work something out.” So how is God going to work it out? And why does He do it? Well number one, there’s not enough time for those who sin to come to the end of their lives and die and be put into the sinners graveyard. And apparently at this time, as we will see, God is going to save up the lake of fire, in this case it’s going to be fire coming down from heaven, to take care of the wicked. So God is going to accommodate them. Has God accommodated sinners in the past? Yes. So what is He going to do? God is dwelling here on the earth. The saints are ruling and reigning. There are billions of people, whatever they are, and a good number of them – how many we don’t know, are going to want to not be in the presence of God. They’re going to want to live in their sin.

Let’s come back here to the book of Genesis and see what happens when people sin beginning with Adam and Eve, when they’re dwelling with God. Does God instantly kill them? No. Is the wages of sin still death? Yes. But what does He do? What did He do with Adam and Eve? Well notice, He sent them into exile. We’re going to see when we get to Revelation 20, that there is the geographical area of Gog and Magog, which has probably been a wilderness, that section of Gog and Magog, not the people but the geographical area. And we’ll see this in just a minute. We’ll see something very important here concerning that.

Ok, Genesis 3:23, “Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden,…” Now the Garden of Eden was a type of what the millennium will be like. So here He’s going to send them out from the jurisdiction of God. And so during the millennium they will go to a place of exile just like it is here. “…To till the ground from whence he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims [He drove out the man and put the guards there], and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life” (Gen. 3:23-24). Now then, what happened when Cain sinned? Now his was a grievous sin, wasn’t it? It was murder, wasn’t it? He murdered his own brother. Now let’s see what happened here. There is a further exile. Now let’s notice. And here is the punishment that came upon him.

Now let’s pick it up here Genesis 4:11. He says, “And now art thou cursed from the earth,…” So those that want to leave they’re going to be cursed. Because there will still be blessings and cursings, correct? God is never going to remove the blessings and cursings, otherwise how are you going to be able to discern what is right and what is wrong? Just like if you cut yourself on the hand, the curse is you cut yourself and then you overcome that by putting a bandage on it or whatever, but still there is that penalty that comes from cutting your finger, or burning your hand, or falling down on your face. That’s not quite the kind of curse that happened here. So he says, “…Thou [are] cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth” (Gen. 4:11-12). Nevertheless he had it.

“And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from Thy face shall I be hid:…” Now that’s going to be what happens to those in the millennium that decide to come to God and say, “Look, we want space. We want to get out of here.” And God’s going to say ok. “We want to have our own choice. We want to exercise it. We want to do what we want to do. We just feel too constrained in this.” God is going to say, “Ok, you’re cursed, you’re driven out, you’re going to have a place to go to.” We’ll see it here in just a minute. And he says, “...I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me” (vs. 13-14). Now that won’t apply to the those people then, but this is just part of the account here.

“And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.” Now we don’t know if when they are exiled from the kingdom of God if they are going to have some sort of identification upon them. I don’t think that will be necessary. Their attitudes will be standing out and everyone will be able to know them. Now notice verse 16, “And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden” (vs. 15-16). Now were there people living in Nod? Don’t know. It doesn’t tell us. But the land of Nod is the land of exile. So during the millennium Gog and Magog is going to be this wilderness, and there’s also a possibility that during the millennium some people will be exiled and live out their lives and die there in Gog and Magog. It’s entirely possible. We don’t know. But nevertheless, whenever there is sin and God decides not to execute the death penalty against them at that time, He sends them out into exile. Now He did the same thing with the children of Israel and the children of Judah when they sinned and disobeyed Him. He sent the enemy against them and if they didn’t repent and turn to God then He would exile them, send them off into captivity. And so this is a principle that God uses.

Now let’s come back and see if we can understand herein Revelation 20 why Satan is loosed at the end of the millennium. And I think it will become clear as we go through this so we can understand it. Revelation 20:7. There’s yet one more purpose for Satan the devil. That’s why he’s bound, and he’s got to be loosed. He has one more mission, one more job. Verse 7, “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,…” Now it says for a little season up here in verse 4. Now a little season, if you compare the different verses, is approximately three and a half years. So Satan is released, and where does he go? “…And shall go out to deceive the nations [or the Gentiles, or the nations, or the peoples] which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog,…” (Rev. 20:7-8). Now the reason they are there is because Gog and Magog, at the beginning of the millennium, came and attacked against the children of Israel and God had to display His glory and power and destroy all the armies of Gog and Magog. Now that’s why this area then becomes a symbol of sin because of what they did at the beginning of the millennium. So here again we have the beginning and the ending.

Now here’s what his mission is going to be. When he gets there, you know as I’ve said before and I think it’s going to be, he’s going to come out and say, “Whew, boy I’m glad to get out of this prison. I’m happy to see that you folks are over here. You have chosen your own free will and I’m here to help you. And I’m here tell you that I’m really the true god. And these people down here in Jerusalem, and these people who have been running this for a thousand years and have kept me in prison, now we’ve got to go down there and teach them a thing or two. So here’s what we’re going to do. We’re all going to get organized.” And everyone’s going to say, “Yea, yea, yea.” He’s going to say, “You don’t have to worry about keeping the commandments of God. You just listen to me.” Just like he did with Adam and Eve – the beginning and the ending, correct? Yes. And so he’s going to say, “Now we’ve got to organize into an army. Now there’s one thing we need to understand – these people down here have no weapons. Now I have been an expert in war and so I know how it should be. So I’m going to tell you what we need to do. So let’s all get organized and let’s get our armies together and we’ll go down there and we’ll take over the world, and we will run it, and we will show God what to do. And that’s been the whole thing that I’ve been trying to tell God all this time and now that you are with me we can accomplish it.” And so they’re going to be deceived. They’re going to say, “Yea, let’s go to it.” So they build their weapons. They do what they’re going to do.

Now notice, “…to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea” (vs. 8). So how many is that? We don’t know. But we do know that the children of Israel, as they came out of the land of Egypt when God brought them out, had been referred to several times as the sand of the sea. So this is an undeterminable number. Why is it an undeterminable number? Because God gave free moral agency just like He gives to us. And He’s going to give it to them. And it’s going to be something that they will choose. It will be something that they will want. And God does not know who it is that’s going to choose what because there is always the hope of repentance if they don’t go too far. So here it is – number as the sand of the sea.

So they come up, “…on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city:…” Now the camp is always referring to outside the city itself. So could it be that this camp is where then the Feast of Tabernacles is going to be held, and the different ones come up there during the Feast of Tabernacles? Very possible. I’ve often thought that that’s the case because you have everyone together there don’t you? What a perfect opportunity. When the enemy is assembled together – go get them. See, just like they did in Iraq. They thought Saddam Hussein and his sons were in this place and they unloaded five blockbuster bombs, and unfortunately they didn’t get him. Well you know, God is going to have better aim. He’s going to have better intelligence. He’s going to know what’s going to happen.

Now notice… And I think this helps answer the question too, if someone is cast into a lake of fire, or is burned up by fire, and that is their first death such as it is here, then they’ll be resurrected to the second death. Now you see, it’s necessary that all of these people die at once before we get into the Great White Throne Judgment. God is not going to carry incorrigible sinners over into the Great White Throne Judgment. They will have had their opportunity, but they’ve got to die twice. And in this case these people are going to die with fire twice. Once when fire comes down from God out of heaven and destroys them, and then we will see tomorrow on the Last Great Day when their second death comes, it’s going to be in the lake of fire. Ok, so fire comes down out of heaven and destroys them. And that brings us pretty well to the close of the millennium. But there’s one thing yet that must take place. Because after these people have been consumed with the fire that comes down out of heaven, who is left? Satan and his demons because not only was Satan put into the abyss, but if you go back to Revelation 9 you find that there are many demons in the abyss. So when Satan is cast into the abyss, his demons are also cast in there. So at the end of the millennium when they are loosed and let out, they’re also let out with him. So now we come to a very important place with the millennium, which is the judgment of Satan the devil. His fate is finally, and his final judgment is brought upon him.

So let’s read it, verse 10. “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [were cast] are,…”, because they were before the millennium began. Now it’s very interesting here in the Greek. In the Greek it means, “and they shall be tormented day and night forever.” Not the beast and the false prophet, but Satan and the demons. That’s why it’s “they” because human flesh cannot be tormented day and night forever by fire. Human flesh burns up. So this has to refer to the demons. So that is their judgment and that is their punishment.

Now let’s see some other things that it says here concerning Satan the devil and his demons. Let’s come back here to Isaiah 14. So again we go to the beginning and we come to the ending. Isaiah 14, here’s the beginning. And here’s what Satan has always wanted to do and now this is going to come to an end. He will make his last attempt and last assault against God and the saints, as we read in Revelation 20, but here is his first assault and it blends into his second one here, his last one. Verse 12, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:…” And of course Revelation 12 says that when the great serpent with seven heads and ten horns was cast down he drew a third part of the stars of heaven with him. That is the angels who sinned and became demons. So they were cast down to the ground with him. “…I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:…” (Isa. 14:12-13). And isn’t that what he said there in Revelation 20? He’s going to deceive the people to come down and take over Jerusalem – where God lives, where the saints dwell. Yes.

“I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” The lake of fire. And this is the judgment. The millennium cannot end until the judgment of Satan the devil, and the one hundred year period cannot begin until the judgment of Satan the devil and the demons, because the one hundred year period during that time, Satan will not be around.

Now notice, “They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man [the one, rather] that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;…” (vs. 16), we’re going to say of Satan. It’s going to be an amazing thing. This could also refer to the time that he is in the abyss. And of course only the saints would be able to see him. I’m sure that the people on earth won’t be able to see him.

Now let’s see what the ultimate punishment is going to be. Cast into the lake of fire to be tormented for ever and ever, but what does this mean? Let’s come to Jude. They are going to be cut off from God, Satan and the demons, nevermore to rise to power, nevermore to deceive anyone again, nevermore to go against God, nevermore to fight against God, nevermore to go against anything that God has done. He will be gone – sayonara, toodle-loo, bye-bye.

Now let’s see it here. Let’s pick it up here in Jude 11, because it’s going to show the attitude of the people at the end. Because you see, these things happen as a result of sin. Once you start down the path of sin, and once you make the choice and determination that you’re going to go against the way of God it’s going to result in these very things that we read right here in the book of Jude. “Woe unto them!” That’s going to be what we’re going to tell those that say, “We want to go over here and be away from you God.” We’re going to say, “Ok, you go over there, but woe to you. It’s going to end up being a curse.” “Oh no it won’t. I know how to do it. I know how to live.” But you see, what is it going to end up? It’s going to end up woe. The fire comes down out of heaven and burns them.

“Woe to them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.” That’s what they will be doing because when Satan is loosed then comes out after them and raises them up, they are in the rebellion of Core, saying, “We’re going to take over from God.”

“These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead,…” So the people that go through these things and commit the unpardonable sin will die twice, and we’ll see that tomorrow. “…Plucked up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, [the fallen angels - Satan the devil and his demons], to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever” (Jude 11-13).

And so the judgment of Satan the devil concludes the millennium. So we’ve gone from the beginning to the ending. Now tomorrow is a new beginning.

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