Feast of Tabernacles—Day 7

Fred R. Coulter—October 19, 2011

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Track 1 or Download

Greetings, brethren! Welcome to the seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles! Of course, we are told that we are to observe the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days. There are great things that we learn during the Feast of Tabernacles every single year. The Feast of Tabernacles is one of the great hopes of mankind.

Let’s just review a little bit and let’s bring us up to the end of the Millennium. We’ve talked a lot about the Millennium, we’ve talked about the heart of David, we’ve talked about the things that are going to take place. We’ve talked also about the work of Christ and the bride, and now let’s study about the last of the Millennium. There was a beginning of the Millennium.

Let’s see what happens at the beginning of the Millennium, and then we’re going to look through the Scriptures and understand what it is that takes place so we can realize how it’s going to be all during the Millennium. We’ve looked at many, many Scriptures, so we’re not going to go back over and repeat those again. But it’s very essential for us to understand and realize how important that this 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ and the saints is going to be for the whole world. This, as we know, is going to be the great harvest of God. During that time, billions will enter into the Kingdom of God.

• God’s plan is so great!
• God’s plan is so fantastic!
• God’s plan is so marvelous!
• God’s plan is as high as the heavens are above us!
• And deeper than we can go into the earth!

God said, ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, and My ways are not your ways!’ God has to reveal these things to us. God has to give us the understanding through His Word. As we have seen, we have to ‘rightly divide the Word of God; line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little’ and put it all together.

One of the things that is very difficult for people to figure out is concerning Satan the devil. We’ll talk about Satan the devil at the beginning and also at the end. Then we will look at the Scriptures and see what is life going to be like, and more importantly, what will be the condition of the people toward the end of the Millennium. Somewhere along the line, just like there’s a beginning and there’s what takes place until the end, there has to be an end. Seven is a number of completion:

• seven days to the week
• all of God’s Holy days within seven months
• seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles
• seven days of the feast of Unleavened Bread
  • At the beginning of this we have the Passover
  • At the end of it we have the Last Great Day

Each one of them representing an eighth day

That shows us that with the plan of God, when there comes an end, there’s always a new beginning.

Let’s come to Revelation 20:1 and let’s read about what’s going to happen to Satan the devil. “Then I saw an angel descending from heaven, having the key of the abyss, and a great chain in his hand. And he took hold of the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. Then he cast him into the abyss…” (vs 1-3).

When Satan goes into the abyss, all the demons go into the abyss. We saw in Rev. 8 how that there are demons that are in the abyss right now, who for the very purpose of the fifth trumpet plague are released. These demons unite with the technology of men to bring awesome things upon the earth. Wherever Satan is, when he’s locked up, all of his angels that followed him will also be locked up. Imagine what it’s going to be like with the earth without any Satan the devil, without any demons to come along, and also, as we saw yesterday, a change of human nature. Quite a phenomenal thing that is going to be—right? Yes!

“…cast him into the abyss and locked him up, and sealed the abyss over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer untilthe thousand years were fulfilled… [We’re going to look at the fulfilling of the thousand years. Then we will also look at what will happen, why God lets him out.] (because it says): …and after that it is ordained that he be loosed for a short time” (v 3). We will see the reason for that.

Let’s see what God wants us to know. Let’s understand what God has shown for us. Let’s come back to Micah, the fourth chapter, and let’s review just a little bit, understand concerning how the Millennium will be and how great it will be. This is going to be a fantastic and great harvest. This is when most people will be brought into the Kingdom of God. Let’s understand that there are three harvests.

1. the first resurrection
2. the harvest during the Millennium when Jesus Christ and the saints will rule and reign
   • we will be teachers
   • we will be priests
   • we will be administrators

The whole government of the whole earth will be in the hands of Jesus Christ and the resurrected saints in the first resurrection. The second harvest is going to be all during the Millennium. They will have circumstances different than us.

Let’s understand that the first resurrection, as we know, is likened to the firstborn. We are called the Church of the Firstborn (Heb. 12). We also have covered how that we have an inheritance with Jesus Christ. The Bible also tells us that the firstborn will receive double. That mean that the reward for the firstborn is going to be greater than the reward for those who come in during the Millennium.

Then we will see tomorrow that there is a third harvest of God, which happens on the Last Great Day. Of course, their circumstances are going to be totally different than those during the Millennium and those of us who qualify for the first resurrection through God the Father.

Let’s pick it up here in Micah 4:1: “But it shall be in the last days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.” That’s going to be the capital city of the world.

Also, isn’t it very interesting that in our day and age today, Jerusalem is the focal point of the problems that are to be addressed, the wars that are coming, the difficulties that we face. At that time, Jerusalem will truly be the city of peace. Jesus Christ, the King of Peace, the King of the earth will rule from Jerusalem. As we saw, there’s going to be this great tabernacle over Jerusalem, with a cloud by day—a big canopy—and a fire by night. Even during the Millennium, Jesus Christ is not going to live in a temple made by hands.

In some Feast of Tabernacles I’ve gone through showing that the mistaken belief that the instructions of the temple given to Ezekiel (chapters 40-48), people refer to it as the Millennial temple. If you read it very, very carefully, you will find that God gave to Ezekiel the vision and understanding of the temple that was in Jerusalem and this came to him before it was destroyed.

Those plans were given with the description to Ezekiel, because with the temple being destroyed there were no plans to rebuild the temple. Yet, God said they would rebuild the temple at the end of the 70-year Babylonian captivity. Those plans that we find there in Ezek. 40-48 have to do with the second temple. The tabernacle that is going to be for Christ over Jerusalem is described in Isa. 4.

Now, let’s see what’s going to happen. The whole teaching, the whole government, because it says in Isa. 9 that the government shall be ‘on His shoulders, and of the increase of His government there shall be no end.’ It’s going to pick up and accelerate during the Millennium.

Verse 2: “And many nations shall come and say, ‘Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob…. [Notice that it’s not temple—it’s house.] …And He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths’—for the law shall go forth out of Zion, and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” The judgment of all the nations is going to be at that time.

Let’s come back the book of Ezekiel, chapter 36, and let’s just review this here for a minute. Let’s see what is going to happen there. Let’s see what God is going to do to the children of Israel, and the principle in the Bible is this: As it is to Israel, so it is to all the nations of the world! All nations are going to learn—we just read that in Micah 4. God is going to have to do the same thing to all the people of the world so that they can then be given an opportunity for salvation.

Notice that this is the time of conversion, and also that human nature will not be as devoted to wickedness that it is today, because Satan the devil will not be here. He is going to be bound. He is going to be restrained.

Ezekiel 36:26: “And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh.” A changed spirit of man! No longer devoted to evil. No longer tuned into Satan the devil who was the ‘prince of the power of the air.’

Verse 27—here is conversion: “And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances and do them.” Remember, when God gave the Ten Commandments (Deut. 5 when Moses was re-iterating the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel) God said, ‘Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep My commandments always.’ Even right there in the presence of God, until they had their nature changed, they didn’t have the heart.

Here they’re going to be given a new heart, a new spirit, plus the Spirit of God! All three together, plus with the kings and priests and all the teachers—because in Isa. 30 it says that your teachers are not going to be ‘hidden from you’; you will see your teacher—that means us, they will see us. Who do you suppose is going to be teaching them on the Sabbath days? Who do you suppose is going to be teaching them during the Feasts of God? We are! They will know! This is going to be a fantastic thing, brethren! Remember, this is going to go on a thousand years.

Verse 28: “And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. And you shall be My people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses, and I will call for the grain, and will increase it, and will lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruits of the tree and the increase of the field, so that you shall never again receive the curse of famine among the nations” (vs 28-30).

There’s still going to be repentance. There’s going to be enough human nature that there’s going to have to be repentance and change. Here’s how it’s going to start out, but this is going to continue. The whole principle that we find in Acts 2—repent and be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit—is going to be operable all during the Millennium. There has to be repentance!

Verse 31: “‘And you shall remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. I do not do this for your sake,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘be it known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.’ Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the waste places shall be rebuilt’” (vs 31-33). Just think about the whole building program for a thousand years.

• no hurricanes
• no tornadoes
• no floods
• no drought
• no mass fires

Everything is going to be built. It is going to develop into the most magnificent society that human beings could ever possibly know. It is going to go far greater than the things that we think in this age right now are fantastic and nearly God-like with the things that we have. It’s going to be greater than that.

Verse 34: “‘And the wasteland shall be tilled, instead of being desolate before all who pass by. And they shall say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden…. [this ties in with Acts 3 where Peter said that Christ went to heaven and was going to be there until the ‘restoration of all things.’ Well, when He comes back to the earth, the whole world is going to be like the Garden of Eden.] …And the wasted, desolate and ruined cities now are fenced and inhabited.’ And the nations that are left all around you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places and planted that which was desolate. I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it” (vs 34-36). We’re the ones who are going to carry that out.

Ezekiel 37:15—this also tells us how all of Israel is going to be united again, all 12 tribes. Obviously, as everybody increases, what’s going to have to happen? The same thing that happened during this age! The children will find no room. There’s a prophecy which says the ‘place is too straight, we’ve got to go somewhere else.’ Where are they going to go? To the same places that God gave to the children of Israel before the Millennium! This is going to be a tremendous thing. However, it’s going to be all 12 tribes together.

Ezekiel 37:15: “And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘And you, son of man, take a stick and write on it, “For Judah and for his companions, the children of Israel.” And take another stick and write on it, “For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel, his companions.” And join them to one another into one stick. And they shall become one in your hand’” (vs 15-17). That’s the rulership of Christ.

Verse 18: “‘And when the children of your people shall speak to you, saying, “Will you not declare to us what do you mean by these?” Say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions, and I will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and will make them one stick, and they shall be one in My hand.’” And the sticks on which you write shall be in your hand before their eyes’” (vs 18-20). So, this was a prophetic prophecy by what Ezekiel did to show the eventual outcome of what would happen. Of course, this is going to continue through all the Millennium.

Verse 21: “And say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and will gather them on every side, and will bring them into their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king over them all. And they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. Nor shall they be defiled with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with all of their transgressions. But I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they shall be to Me for a people, and I will be their God”’” (vs 21-23). See how fantastic that is going to be!

This restoration of all things will continue right down, growing, growing, growing all the time until the end of the Millennium. Well see more about this and what’s going to happen at the end of the Millennium and then we will look at Satan’s fate.

This obviously is under Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is going to inherit the throne of His forefather David. But David is going to be resurrected, probably be right at the right hand of Christ. We don’t know for sure, but that’s just kind of a little speculation.

Verse 24: “And David My servant shall be king over them. And there shall be one shepherd to all of them. And they shall walk in My ordinances and obey My laws, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, the land in which your fathers have dwelt. And they shall dwell in it, even they and their children, and their children’s children forever. And My servant David shall be their ruler forever” (vs 24-25).

Fantastic covenant. This is the covenant of the Millennium for Israel and also for all nations, because they’re all going to come to Jerusalem. They’re all going to learn of God’s way. They’re all going to be given this experience of change of nature and conversion.

Verse 26: “Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them, and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. And My tabernacle… [as we saw in Isa. 4] …shall be with them. Yea, I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And the nations shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary shall be in their midst forever” (vs 26-28).

That’s quite a scene! That’s going to be great thing for us to understand. A great thing for us to know and realize! Brethren, let’s just stop and ask:

• Has Satan the devil blinded this world today? Yes!
• Is he the ‘prince of the power of the air’ today? Yes!

He’s also has

• blinded all of the ‘religious’ people
• blinded the contemporary Christianity of this world

I’ve got a report that shows that in some Methodist churches they are now even reading parts of the Koran. Who would have thought that would have happened? Think about that! Do they know? Do these people understand? No, they don’t!

But, brethren, we do! Think about the responsibility that that gives us. If God gives us the knowledge of His will; if He reveals to us His plan through His Word and through His Spirit; we have a great responsibility—don’t we? Yes! This is why we are to

• grow in grace and knowledge
• grow in understanding
• to see and know and realize what’s coming to pass
• where we’re headed
• where we’re going
• where the world is headed
• where it’s going

All of these things come upon us in the last days.

Let’s come to Isaiah 65 and let’s see something here that gives quite a good understanding of what it’s going to be like during the Millennium. We will see how this applies to the Millennium, and then in type will apply to the resurrection during the fulfilling of the Last Great Day.

Isaiah 65:13: “Thus the Lord GOD says, ‘Behold, My servants will eat, but you will be hungry. Behold, My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Behold, My servants will rejoice, but you will be ashamed.” That’s talking about those in the world today who reject God.

Verse 16: “‘He who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself by the God of Truth. And he who swears in the earth will swear by the God of Truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from My eyes, for behold, I create new heavens and a new earth….’” (vs 16-17).

• Were the heavens all discombobulated at the return of Christ? Yes!
• What is the condition of the earth going to be? Destruction! Death!

The whole world is going to be in great turmoil. What’s going to happen, there’s going to be the earth renewed, which here is called a “…new heavens and a new earth. And the former things will not be remembered, nor come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy’” (vs 17-18).

Remember, everybody is going to come to Jerusalem. Everybody is going to learn of God’s way. When I mean ‘everybody,’ that’s all nations. They will get the information, we will go back with them to their countries and teach their countries God’s way. But since it’s God’s way, God is the One Who is actually teaching them, just like us today. Whatever I teach out of the Word of God—with God’s Spirit and you understand it—that is God teaching you though I read the words. That’ doesn’t make me in place of God, but that’s just how God operates to get things done.

“‘…And the former things will not be remembered, nor come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and I will joy in My people; and the voice of weeping will no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying’” (vs 17-19).

Can you think of a society where there will be no violence, no crime, no fear—the whole environment is going to be changed; the whole world will become like a Garden of Eden—a magnificent thing—right? Yes! But still laid before all people, because if they learn of the Law of God and His way what’s contained in His Law and what’s contained in His way and what is going to be the message to everyone—this exact same thing that we find in Deut. 30—exact same thing. They are going to have to choose

• to love God
• to keep His commandments
• to keep His laws, statutes and judgments
• to yield to God

Most will, because their carnal nature has been modified and changed back to what human nature was at the beginning. But nevertheless, they still have to choose!

Verse 20: “There will not be an infant who lives but a few days… [no more deaths of infants] …nor an old man that has not filled his days…” So there isn’t going to be anything to interrupt the lifespan. It’s going to start out a good birth, good childhood, everything you need to grow up; everything you need to become a full-fledged adult. The knowledge of God is going to cover the earth as the ‘seas cover the earth.’ Everybody is going to know about God. Everybody is going to be taught about God. The whole society—every man and woman in the whole world—will be given an opportunity for salvation.

This is why the first resurrection is better than those during the Millennium. We’ve had the obstacles of Satan the devil and human nature and the lawless, evil societies in which we have to live. God is the One Who has rescued us from Satan the devil, and He is the One Who has sealed us with His Spirit. At the first resurrection that’s called a superior resurrection in the book of Hebrews, to eternal life! Fantastic eternal life, brethren! They’re going to be given eternal life as well. Since they are not the firstborn, then they are not going to receive exactly the same inheritance that we do. But they will have a tremendous inheritance and part in eternal life that God gives to them, as well.

“…for the child will die a hundred years old… [We’re going to see that’s the approximate lifespan of all human beings during the Millennium.] …but the sinner who is a hundred years old shall be accursed” (vs 20). There will be still those who sin. When the sinner is accursed and dies, we’re going to see that he’s put into the grave. We are going to see that those who qualify, who are ready at the end of the one hundred years, will be changed!

Verse 21: “‘And they will build houses and live in them; and they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They will not build, and another live in them; they will not plant, and another eat; for like the days of a tree areso will be the days of My people, and My elect will long enjoy the work of their hands. They will not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for calamity. For they are the seed of the beloved of the LORD, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, before they call… [and we’ll be the ones who will answer] …I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the food of the serpent. They will not hurt nor destroy in all My Holy mountain,’ says the LORD” (vs 21-25). Quite a description of how life is going to be at that time.

Now, let’s ask:

• If a person lives a hundred years and has loved God, served Him, kept the commandments and is ready to receive eternal life, how is that going to happen?
• Will it be necessary for them to die, be put in the grave and then resurrected?
• When Christ returns, are there going to be people who are still alive when He returns, and what’s going to happen to them?

Let’s come to 1-Thessalonians 4 and let’s see it, and let’s see if we can ‘rightly divide the Word of God’ and properly reason with the Word of God so we can understand what is going to happen to everyone who lives his or her life in a way—during the Millennium and for a hundred years—we can say is ready for the Kingdom of God; they are ready for salvation.

We see this because it’s talking about the return of Jesus Christ, 1-Thessalonians 4:15: “For this we say to you by the Word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall in no wise precede those who have fallen asleep.” They’re not going to be changed first. Those who are ‘dead in Christ’ are going to be raised first!

Remember, ‘flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.’ (1-Cor. 15). For the first resurrection, when the trumpet sounds, the dead shall be raised and they shall be changed, and those who are alive and remain will also be changed in the ‘twinkling of an eye’ so their deaths—because it’s given to all men once to die—has to be a quick death and instant transformation from flesh to spirit.

Verse 17: “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds for the meeting with the Lord in the air; and so shall we always be with the Lord.”

All of those of us who are flesh are still subject to death, Hebrews 9:27: “And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this, the judgment.” That’s now; but it is still appointed once for men to die, because ‘in Adam all die.’ Those who live a hundred years during the Millennium and have lived a faithful life:

• loving God
• serving God
• growing in grace and knowledge
• overcoming
• fulfilling their great potential

—which at that time will be fantastic, indeed; much beyond what we have today—they still have to ‘die in Adam’; given to men once to die. But instead of afterward being the judgment, just like now ‘judgment is now upon the house of God,’ judgment will be upon all people during the Millennium. Are they righteous? or Are the wicked?

If they sin and die, what’s going to happen to the sinner? Well, the sinner is going to be buried! It says ‘he’s accursed’; because the sinner that doesn’t repent is not going to receive eternal life. They still have to pay the final penalty. But they are put in the grave to await the second half of the second resurrection; to be resurrected and cast alive into the Lake of Fire. That is the fate that God has determined for all sinners—the second death!

We’ll cover a little bit more about that tomorrow, but it’s important for us to understand. Just as there were people alive when Christ returned and they were changed instantly. Well, that was an instantaneous death and change and transformation from flesh to spirit. If God did that at the beginning of the Millennium when we are changed, if we live to the return of Christ, would that not be what He would do during the Millennium? Why would He do it any differently? Well, He wouldn’t do it any differently! That’s how He would do it.

Track 2 or Download

Let’s analyze the last generation of the Millennium. All the way down through the Millennium you have this: Everyone lives 100 years and they have full opportunity for salvation. They have plenty of everything and an abundance of all things. They are going to be wealthy, untold, when you come to the last generation.

• What is their attitude going to be like?
• How are things going to be?
• How many will not desire?

—because of those circumstance, because they have been so used to seeing people coming to services and then on the day they’re going to be changed that they will be instantly changed from flesh to spirit—

They will think that, yes, this is going to happen. But

• How many people will still want to go their own way?’
• What’s it going to be like?

Let’s come here to the book of Ecclesiastes, because this will still be the way that it’s going to be there. We can also look at it another way: Even with the Church of God—that’s with those who are ‘marginally’ converted or not converted at all—what did they say to God? We’re rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing!

Will there be people at the end of the Millennium—because the whole operation of God has been going on for 900 years—what’s going to happen to them? Remember, it says ‘the sinner will die accursed.’ That means if you die accursed, you’re going to be waiting for the second half of the second resurrection, to be cast into the Lake of Fire—right? Yes, indeed! So, what’s going to happen to those who choose—because everyone has to choose—to just accept things the way that they are and not choose eternal life. Everything will be there for them. What’s going to happen to them? How is God going to handle that? Every generation comes along and it thinks ‘we’ve got a better idea.’ Isn’t that what we have today? Yes, indeed!

Ecclesiastes 1:2—this is by Solomon, the son of David: “‘Vanity of vanities,’ says the Preacher, ‘vanity of vanities! All is vanity.’” Then it talks about everything that goes on. Think about the whole Millennium. No war! No trouble! Always peace, everything right, abundance of everything, plenty of food, plenty of fun, plenty of enjoyment, plenty of everything! Yet, you have the people who don’t become converted.

One generation comes, another generation goes! Let’s see what Solomon said here. Are we going to have those who, at the end of the Millennium, will want to do what Solomon did here? Remember, during the days of Solomon that was the closest thing we could get to as far as the Millennium, as far as the physical things.

• peace all around, no war
• everybody there to know and learn
• the temple of God with the presence of God
• the king that God chose to put on the throne and to build the temple

Verse 17: “And I gave my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I perceived that this also is striving after wind. For in much wisdom is much grief; and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow” (vs 17-18).

In Ecclesiastes, chapter two, Solomon said he’s going to do this. Will people be given the opportunity to do this? Well, let’s find out! Let’s ask: How is God going to handle it? Can you let sin just grow in the community? Can you let the unconverted—who desire not to go God’s way—remain with those who are serving and loving God and preparing for eternal life? There will be a lot of people who will want to do this:

Ecclesiastes 2:1: “I said in my heart, ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.’ and, behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter, ‘It is madness;’ and of mirth, ‘What does it accomplish?’” (vs 1-2). He wanted to give himself over to discover, by experimentation, what he thought was good.

After he saw all of that, v 11: “Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, all is vanity and a striving after the wind; and there is no profit under the sun.” It doesn’t matter what your physical circumstances are—how good or how great they are—if you don’t have God, you have nothing! But that last generation during the Millennium is going to have to learn it.

What does God do to people who will say, ‘My choice is I don’t want salvation right now. My choice is I want to learn for myself’? In other words, ‘I want to go sin.’ What happens when people sin? What does God do?

Let’s go right back to the beginning, because we’re dealing with the beginning and the ending. What happened to Adam and Eve when they sinned? God put them out of the Garden of Eden! They couldn’t live in the Garden of Eden. And, of course, it’s going to be the restoration of all things—is it not?—during the Millennium. Just like they couldn’t live in sin in the Garden of Eden, will the people be able to live in God’s community and live in sin and refuse to repent? What did God do to Adam and Eve? He put them out of the Garden of Eden!

There’s another word for that; it is called exile! ‘You go out on your own, you don’t want to do it My way, you go your way.’ What happened when Cain killed Abel? Was he not sentenced to a life of wandering, and he was further removed from God than Adam and Eve? Yes, indeed!

So, if people want to do like it’s listed here in the book of Ecclesiastes—and you can read the whole book to see that ‘vanity of vanities, all is vanity.’ That if you have all the riches and all the wealth and you just sort of lounge around and think about things and experiment with this and that and the other thing, you begin to sin. How is God going to handle it when they sin? What is God going to do?

Let’s look at another example here, 2-Kings 17. Let’s see what God did to the children of Israel when they refused to love God and serve Him. They were living in the land of Israel. All the people are going to be living in their lands and in their communities. What is God going to do to them? How is God going to handle that?

Let’s come back to Revelation 20 (first) and let’s look at something concerning the end of the Millennium where Satan the devil is loosed. Why is he loosed? What does he do? This is quite a thing! We know that at the beginning of the Millennium that he is bound in the abyss, and it’s destined that he be released for a short time at the end of the Millennium. What’s going to happen just prior to the end? What’s going to happen to those people who say, ‘I want to choose my own way and I want to find out for myself’? In other words, they reject God’s salvation!

Let’s see if we can put this together and understand it fully, Revelation 20:7: “Now when the thousand years have been completed, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison; and he shall go out to deceive the nations that are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog…” (vs 7-8).

Let’s stop right here; let’s ask: When Cain was removed further away from God, where was he sent? To the land of Nod,or the land of wandering! What did he do when he got there? He developed his own civilization and society, separate from God! He wasn’t willing to do God’s way.

We have something very similar here. What about God and Magog? Let’s see if we can think this through properly with the Scriptures. We know the prophecies of Gog and Magog, Meshach, Tubal and so forth (Ezek. 38-39). We know that these are the ones who come against the children of Israel right after the Millennium begins.

Gog and Magog become infamous for their rebellion to reject the rule of God. These are the nations that God is going to have to rebuke afar off, until they get the point. They become infamous, but let’s ask: During the Millennium are all people, including Gog and Magog, given an opportunity for salvation? Yes, indeed! If this refers to the people of Gog and Magog rather than their geographical land, or part of their geographical land, then God is a respecter of persons by not giving them an opportunity for salvation—correct? Yet, God says He wants to give all that opportunity. So, we can conclude from this that Gog and Magog has to be a geographical area that God sets aside from the nations of Gog and Magog, from the people of Gog and Magog, as a place of exile.

“…of whom the number is as the sand of the sea, to gather them together for war” (v 8). As soon as Satan is loosed there’s war!

Let’s back up a little bit, we’ll come back here to Rev. 20 in just a little bit so we can see the conclusion of the matter there. Let’s come to 2-Kings, the 17^th chapter, and let’s see what God did to Israel because of their sins. He didn’t exterminate them all, but what He did, He sent them into exile.

We can also conclude, since God is the ‘same yesterday, today and forever’ that for those who reject salvation, and they want to go their own way, they will be offered the option of going to the area of Gog and Magog to live their lives, do the things they want to do, and they will be set aside from the rest of the people of the world who love God and keep His commandments.

2-Kings 17:7: “Now it came to pass because the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt… [they sinned] (v 8): …and walked in the statutes of the nations whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which the nations had made. Now the children of Israel secretly did things that were not right against the LORD their God. And they built high places in all their cities for themselves from the Watch Tower to the fortified city. And they set up images and groves for themselves in every high hill, and under every green tree. And they burned incense in all the high places, like the nations whom the LORD had removed from before them, and they practiced evil things to provoke the LORD to anger” (vs 7-11).

God sent prophets; told them to turn! Verse 12: “For they served the idols of which the LORD had said to them, ‘You shall not do this thing.’ And the LORD testified against Israel and against Judah, by all the prophets, by all the seers, saying, ‘Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.’ Nevertheless… [here’s the choice; people in the last generation of the Millennium will be given the choice!] …they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like the neck of their fathers who did not believe in the LORD their God. And they rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers, and His warnings that He testified against them. And they went after vanity, and became vain, and went after the nations around them, concerning whom the LORD had charged them not to do like them. And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God and made molten images, two calves for themselves. And they made a grove, and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire….” (vs 12-17).

What did God do? Did He kill them all? No, He did not! He removed them! He exiled them!

Verse 22: “For the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did. They did not depart from them until the LORD removed Israel out of His sight as He had said by all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria…” (vs 22-23)—a geographical area.

How did the people in the last generation of Rev. 20 get to Gog and Magog? They got there because they did not serve and love God! In order to remove them from those who are growing in grace and knowledge and qualifying for salvation, it has to be that God being the ‘same yesterday, today and forever’ gave them a choice: What do you want to do? He probably said, ‘You either repent and live here, or we have a place over here n Gog and Magog, an area where you can go and live.’ They choose and go there.

Just like the rebellious generation that we have today. They don’t want to do the things that are right. They want to live their lawless lives. They want to reject the commandments of God. They don’t want to obey anyone. What’s going to happen to them? Well, they’re going to be taken off into captivity—correct? Removed from the land—yes? Yes, indeed!

Why is Satan removed? Revelation 20:7—he has one more mission to do, and this becomes very important: “Now when the thousand years have been completed, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison; and he shall go out to deceive the nations…” (vs 7-8). There will be people from all nations that will choose to go to the geographical area of Gog and Magog and live their lives. All sinners have to die once. So, what God is going to do, He’s going to send them all over there and all the sinners will be there together. They will live their lives, and however it’s going to be, choose to do what they want to do.

“…to deceive the nations that are in the four corners of the earth… [that fourth corner of the earth—wherever it is] …Gog and Magog… [What is the place of exile that has been traditionally used in Russia? Siberia! Could that be the same place? That’s where Gog and Magog are—right? (notice how many are going to be there; an innumerable number of people): …of whom the number is as the sand of the sea, to gather them together for war” (v 8).

He deceives them! You can almost hear what Satan is going to tell them as soon as he gets out of that prison, and the demons go with him. This will be a great spiritual awakening—so they will view it—and Gog and Magog, to these people who have rejected the salvation of God. He’s going to come and say, ‘You know, that God down there in Jerusalem had me in prison for a thousand years, and I finally got out. I want you to know that you were right in what you did. You made the right choice and I am here and we are going to develop an army and we are going to go against Jerusalem and we are going to defeat them in Jerusalem and we will rule the world. And I,’ Satan will say, ‘will be God!’

• Isn’t that what Satan has always wanted to do?
• What are the people going to do?

They’re going to cheer! They’re going to be whipped up by the demons! Just picture everything that happened in these dictatorial societies when they get all whipped up and after their leader. They’ll do anything! They’ll march to the death! They will kill! They will steal! They will lie! All because their leader says to do so. Well, Satan is going to be the leader of these nations that are deceived out there. He deceives them into thinking that they can come and take Jerusalem and that they can have eternal life their way, rather than God’s way!

What is the purpose of this? God has determined for those who have committed the unpardonable sin their fate—the second death in the Lake of Fire! We’ll cover that tomorrow—correct? Yes! Isn’t that what God has determined? Yes!

Well, all of these people didn’t have time to live a hundred years, to die accursed and to be buried. But, yet, the Millennium has ended and now there’s got to be the Great White Throne Judgment come after that—correct? But you’ve got to get rid of all of these sinners and all of these sinners have to die at once. You can’t start the Great White Throne Judgment, to help rehabilitate those who were never called, and to have them come into a society that is once again filled with sinners.

That’s why Satan is loosed! He is loosed to gather them to battle, to come against Jerusalem and let’s notice what happens to them. Jerusalem is unarmed, undefended, looks like an easy target. If you have a good war-plan you ought to be able to swoop in there and you ought to be able to take over this and Satan would go sit on the throne of God and say he’s God. Satan’s last attempt to be God and God uses him to deceive the people that have rejected salvation to bring them together in an army, to encircle Jerusalem and then let’s see what happens to them.

Verse 9: “Then I saw them go up upon the breadth of the earth and encircle the camp of the saints, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven and consumed them.” They all died! Amazing—right?—yes, indeed! What death is it for these people? Their first death! So, now they will await the second phase of the second resurrection (as we will see tomorrow) to be cast into the Lake of Fire!

Let’s finish the rest of the story here. What happens to Satan the devil and the demons? Verse 10: “And the Devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet had been cast…” Remember, the beast and the false prophet were fleshly human beings! They were cast into the Lake of Fire at the beginning of the Millennium and were burned up. That was their first death.

We know that flesh and blood cannot exist in the heat and power of the Lake of Fire. They are burned up and turned into ashes. They do not suffer in the flames. They’re just burned up! It’s so hot that their breath is taken away from them the instant that they hit the Lake of Fire, and at 4000^o they are incinerated instantly! That’s why God brought fire down from heaven against all of those who came up to make war against Jerusalem—the sinners and rebels of Gog and Magog. Not the people of Gog and Magog, but those of all nations sent to Gog and Magog in exile. Here they come; they were burned up.

Verse 10: “And the Devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet had been cast… [at the beginning of the Millennium] …and they… [plural in the Greek. If it was just referring to Satan alone, the plural subject ‘they’ would not be used. It was Satan and they must refer to the demons.] …Satan and the demons, shall be tormented day and night into the ages of eternity.”

The torment of Satan the devil and the fate of Satan the devil is that they are going to be eventually in the blackness of darkness forever! I’ll give a separate sermon on Satan’s fate and why he’s going to be there tormented forever and ever, so we have a full-blown picture of what Satan and the demon’s fate really is.

After that takes place, all of those who have qualified for salvation and are ready to enter into the Kingdom of God will be transformed, brought into the Kingdom of God. What if there are those who have not yet reached a hundred years, but are faithful, loving and obedient? Could it be that they’re going to live over into the beginning of the Great White Throne Judgment as physical beings, and then transformed later as a model for all of those who come up in the second resurrection, the first phase? Could be!

Now, we’re dealing in areas we can’t say, ‘Thus sayeth the Lord.’ We can ask some questions. Not dogma until we know more definitely how everything is going to be, then we just leave it as a proposition and as a question, and that’s perhaps the way that it will work out. We’re not told directly. But with the knowledge that we have, we can put it together and add a little bit more to it than we have in the past.

What comes next? Verse 11: “Then I saw a great white throne and the one Who was sitting on it, from Whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and no place was found for them.”

That’s why we have the Last Great Day. What about the rest of human beings that God did not call? Well, you’ll have to come back tomorrow to find out what that is. Until tomorrow, have a good rest of this day and the beginning of the Last Great Day tomorrow.

Scriptural References:

1. Revelation 20:1-3
2. Micah 4:1-2
3. Ezekiel 36:26-36
4. Ezekiel 37:15-28
5. Isaiah 65:13, 16-25
6. 1 Thessalonians 4:15, 17
7. Hebrews 9:27
8. Ecclesiastes 1:2, 17-18
9. Ecclesiastes 2:1-2, 11
10. Revelation 20:7-8
11. 2 Kings 17:7-17, 22-23
12. Revelation 20:7-11

Scriptures referenced, not quoted

• Revelation 8
• Hebrews 12
• Ezekiel 40-48
• Isaiah 4; 9
• Deuteronomy 5
• Isaiah 30
• Acts 2
• Deuteronomy 30
• 1 Corinthians 15
• Ezekiel 38-39