0917 THE BOUNCE

SEPTEMBER 17 = REVELATION 20

THE BOUNCE

You know how when you drop something on the floor it makes a noise, and so everyone in the room knows exactly when it hit the floor? Let’s imagine it was a baseball that you dropped on the kitchen floor. (Never mind the obvious question of why you have a baseball in the kitchen to begin with.) Yes, you know when it hit the floor. But in truth, there was a bit of a bounce, and it hit the floor again, and again, and then rolled a bit, and finally came to a stop.

This chapter describes the drop. The bowls of wrath have been poured out, the beast and the false prophet have been thrown into the fire, the saints have appeared in heaven and the multitudes have given praise. And now this chapter opens with Satan being thrown into the Abyss and bound for a thousand years, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore. 

What’s more, John saw the souls of martyrs who had been true to their testimony about Jesus. 

“They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. . . . This is the first resurrection. “Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.”

Death overtakes all. Death means separation. Our bodies are destined to shut down one day, and because we are Adam’s offspring we will physically die, and then our spirits are separated from our bodies. But there is a second death, a spiritual death. Those who are outside of Christ will also be hurt by the second death, because their spirits will be separated from God forever. As John writes a few verses later:

“Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.”

However, those who belong to Christ will not be hurt at all by the second death, because to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So we will be with the Lord forever.

“Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.”

A thousand years! Revelation is filled with symbolic numbers, and 1000 is definitely a number used for completion, and I would assume that in this case it refers to eternity. The ball has dropped. 

But what about that little bounce?

“After that, he must be set free for a short time.”

“When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore.”

It seems like the way it was before all the judgment and punishments and victory of the lamb. But only for a “short time.” It is hardly worth counting it, because the ball has already dropped. But if you were in the moment just before the battle, it might seem like all these who will fight against the Lamb could be successful.

But, just as 1000 is symbolic for being nearly infinite, so John’s use of “a short time” is hardly worth noting. Satan have gathered all these nations for battle.

“They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.”

The extended war that we expected turns out to be very brief indeed. Because God has weapons of mass destruction! 

“And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

And this time, we see the word forever. In fact, just in case that wasn’t enough, he adds, “and ever.”

And this is when The End has truly arrived. 

“Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.”

There is a lot of misunderstanding about what it means to be “judged according to what they had done.” Most people I know, Christian or not, view themselves as basically a “good” person. They may not be perfect, but in their estimate they do more good things than bad. But that is not the criteria God uses to determine a person’s eternal fate. Here is how John describes the criteria for eternal life:

Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

The question is not, did you do more good things than bad things, and God has this giant eternal scale so that if you net a positive score you are in. The question is, “Is your name found written in the book of life?” If not, you are thrown into the lake of fire along with God’s other enemies.

May you and I be faithful to the end, and may we survive the little bounces that come up in history. Amen.