How things will finally end!!
( page 5 of 5 )
Image #1
Next: the 3rd coming of Christ, then the 2nd resurrection.
Rev 20 (v. 7) Now when the thousand years have expired, satan will be released from his prison.
So, this starts out with satan being released from his prison!
How is satan released from this prison?
After the judgment of the wicked dead had been finished, at the end of the one thousand years, Jesus left the city, and the saints and a train of the angelic host followed Him. Jesus descended upon a great mountain, which as soon as His feet touched it, parted asunder and became a mighty plain.[1]
Image #2
Then we looked up and saw the great and beautiful city, with twelve foundations, and twelve gates, three on each side, and an angel at each gate. We cried out, "The city! the great city! it is coming down from God out of heaven!" And it came down in all its splendor and dazzling glory and settled in the mighty plain which Jesus had prepared for it. (Rev 21:2).[1]
So the “holy city” comes down out of heaven and lands on this valley plain, which Christ has prepared.
The lost from the 2nd resurrection attack the city. (Image#3)
Satan will be released from his prison after the 1,000 years to deceive and to gather the nations together.
Rev 20 (v. 8a) ....and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth....
Now satan prepares for a last mighty struggle for the supremacy. While deprived of his power and cut off from his work of deception, the prince of evil was miserable and dejected; but as the wicked dead are raised and he sees the vast multitudes upon his side, his hopes revive, and he determines not to yield the great controversy. He will marshal all the armies of the lost under his banner and through them endeavor to execute his plans.…[3]
Rev 20 (v. 8b) ....to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.
Image #4
Rev 20 (v. 9a) They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city....
Satan succeeds in deceiving them, and all immediately begin to prepare themselves for battle....Each company has its leader, and order is observed as they march over the broken surface of the earth to the Holy City. Jesus closes the gates of the city, and this vast army surround it, and place themselves in battle array, expecting a fierce conflict.[4]
What happens next is recorded in last part of verse 9 in Revelation chp. 20.
Satan rushes into the midst of his followers and tries to stir up the multitude to action. But fire from God out of heaven is rained upon them, and the great men, and mighty men, the noble,…are all consumed together. I saw that some were quickly destroyed, while others suffered longer. They were punished according to the deeds done in the body.[5]
The wicked are destroyed completely and consumed immediately by an act of mercy from God!
Sin is like a spreading cancer that must be cut out of the universe. My mind could never understand a loving God who would delight in burning people for millions of years. But my mind could understand the justice of a loving God who decided to eliminate sin from the universe before it continued to spread.[6]
A false picture of God created by satan!
This picture of a God of love tormenting people for endless trillions of years has caused many thousands in every generation to become infidels.…the devil himself invented the idea of eternal torment, and ever since, he’s enjoyed great success in painting God as the villain of this diabolical doctrine.[7]
Image #5
Rev 20 (v. 10) And the devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire....
Satan and his angels suffered long. Satan bore not only the weight and punishment of his own sins, but also of the sins of the redeemed host, which had been placed upon him; and he must also suffer for the ruin of souls which he had caused. Then I saw that Satan and all the wicked host were consumed, and the justice of God was satisfied.[8]
What happens to the devil was prophesied in the Old Testament!
Ezk 28 (v. 14) You were the anointed cherub.... (v. 15) You were perfect in your ways....till iniquity was found in you. (v. 18) ....I brought fire from your midst; it devoured you, and I turned you to ashes upon the earth....
When God makes an utter end to satan, he will never again arise to torment the universe. The redeemed will have already settled the question of God’s fairness and wisdom. Never again will the question be cherished anywhere in the universe—expecially among the redeemed—as to whether created beings may be better able to run their lives than God is. The tragic results of sin will never be forgotten—though those results will be gone.[9]
Some people state that God cannot destroy, that He can only bless; but the Bible presents this final scene as “His strange act” in which God Himself ends the Great Controversy; it is not an accident caused by satan, as some people would have you believe!!
God's judgments will be visited upon those who are seeking to oppress and destroy His people. His long forbearance with the wicked emboldens men in transgression, but their punishment is nonetheless certain and terrible because it is long delayed....(Isaiah 28:21). To our merciful God the act of punishment is a strange act....(Ezekiel 33:11). The severity of the retribution awaiting the transgressor may be judged by the Lord's reluctance to execute justice. The nation with which He bears long, and which He will not smite until it has filled up the measure of its iniquity in God's account, will finally drink the cup of wrath unmixed with mercy (Nahum1:3).[10]
Ezek 33 (v. 11) Say to them: “As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live....”
Attention: the devil is not in charge of hell-fire! He will be destroyed by it!!
Isa 28 (v. 21) For the Lord shall rise up....that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. [kjv] ....(v. 22) Now therefore, do not be mockers....for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts, a destruction determined even upon the whole earth. [nkjv]
The work of God has always been to save men rather than to destroy. The work of destroying the wicked in hell-fire is so foreign to God’s nature that the Bible calls it His “strange” act!!
The wicked who rejected Christ are reserved in their graves until the time of the second resurrection, after which they will be mercifully destroyed, according to scripture.[13]
Image #6
What happens to this hell-fire, which consumed satan and the wicked?
Satan is the root, his children are the branches. They are now consumed root and branch. They have died an everlasting death. They are never to have a resurrection, and God will have a clean universe. I then looked and saw the fire which had consumed the wicked, burning up the rubbish and purifying the earth.[14]
This hell-fire was never originally planned for man or woman, but was only created for the devil and his angels. And was meant to cleanse the Earth in preparation for the New City Jerusalem.
Matt 25 (v. 41) Then He will also say to those on the left hand, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
This hell-fire or everlasting fire was prepared for the devil and his angels; it was never prepared for you and me! The people who “did not want” God are the same people who reject the gospel.
Acts 13 (v.46) Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.
What did Jesus say to them?
John 8 (v. 23) ....You are of this world; I am not of this world. (v. 24) ....for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. (v. 42) ....for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.
Image #7
Again I looked and saw the earth purified. There was not a single sign of the curse. The broken, uneven surface of the earth now looked like a level, extensive plain. God's entire universe was clean, and the great controversy was forever ended. Wherever we looked, everything upon which the eye rested was beautiful and holy.[14]
Now, this is the ending that we all can look forward to!!
The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation.…from the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things,…in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love.[15]
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References:
1. E.G. White, Early Writings, p.291, par.1
2. E.G. White, Early Writings, p.292, par.1
3. E.G. White, The Great Controversy, p.663, par.1
4. E.G. White, Early Writings, p.293, par.2
5. E.G. White, Early Writings, p.294, par.1
6. Mark Finley, (1995). Beyond Orion’s Gates, p.334. Hart Research Center
7. Mark Finley, (1995). Beyond Orion’s Gates, p.326. Hart Research Center
8. E.G. White, Early Writings, p.294, par.2
9. Mark Finley, (1995). Beyond Orion’s Gates, p.335. Hart Research Center
10. The Great Controversy, “The Time of Trouble” p.627, par.2
11. Mark Finley, (1995). Beyond Orion’s Gates, p.106. Hart Research Center
12. The Signs of the Times (24 Aug 1882). “A Doomed People” par.15
13. Mark Finley, (1995). Beyond Orion’s Gates, p.328. Hart Research Center
14. E.G. White, Early Writings, p.295, par.1
15. E.G. White, The Great Controversy, p.678, par.3
Image #1: Biblepaedia, (2012). The devil on the desolated earth. Retrieved from https://biblepaedia.wordpress.com/2012/08/22/the-lord-of-the-flies-satan-in-the-bible/
Image #2: Fountain of Life, (2015). The New Jerusalem city. Retrieved from http://www.fountainoflifetm.com/articles/eternal-life-questions-answers/
Image #3: Gods Love and Law, (2015). The lost from the 2nd resurrection attack the city. Retrieved from https://godsloveandlaw.com/2015/07/18/the-short-100-years-after-the-millennium/
Image #4: Evan Marshall, (n.d.). Revelation's lake of fire. Retrieved from http://slideplayer.com/slide/8000063/
Image #5: Huong Di Ministries, (2015). The devil is thrown into the lake of fire. Retrieved from http://huongdionline.com/category/thay-oi/page/2/
Image #6: Faith Evidence Blog, (2017). God doesn't put you there, it's your choice. Retrieved from http://www.faiththeevidence.com/faith-evidence-blog/its-your-choice
Image #7: David Beaudry, (2012). The beutiful earth made new. Retrieved from http://iamdavidbeaudry.com/the-new-myth-and-the-shadow/
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