Coffeeville First Baptist Church By Craig Baker, Pastor 8/14

By Marie | August 12, 2025 |

Revelation 19 ended with the Battle of Armageddon and the defeat of the Antichrist and the False Prophet and the death of all those who followed them. Although, the Antichrist and False Prophet have been defeated, Satan is still loose on the earth and must be dealt with. Chapter 20 opens with his capture. These events mark the close of the Tribulation and a transition into the final chapters of Revelation where we will see heaven and earth made new as the eternal kingdom of God is established. As we get into chapter 20, let me remind you that the Bible tells us that there are secret things that belong to the Lord, and those things have not been revealed to us at this time. When we encounter those secret or unexplained things that we do not know or fully understand, we can still be confident that God in His sovereignty has a reason and purpose for them. One of those things that is not fully revealed to us is why Satan is bound for 1000 years and then released for a short time. There are a lot of speculations and attempted explanations out there, but the fact is we are not told anything for certain. In verses 7 and 8, we see that when Satan is released he will gather the nations together for one final stand against God. Again, why this must happen we are not told. What we do know is that at the beginning of chapter 20 an angel comes down, binds Satan with a great chain, cast him into the bottomless pit, and seals it for 1000 years. This marks the beginning of the thousand year reign of Jesus on earth or what is known as the millennium. Three of the big questions people have about Revelation involve the millennial reign of Jesus. Those questions are, “Why does Jesus reign for 1000 years, who reigns with Him, and who do they reign over?” In short, the main purpose of Jesus’ millennial reign is to fulfill the prophecies and promises God made to Israel, Jesus, the nations, and creation. God promised He would bless Israel and restore the world in specific ways, and the millennium will be a time when many of those promises will be fulfilled. Who reigns with Him? Some say all believers will be resurrected at the start of the millennium and reigning with Jesus. There are certainly more than a few verses that indicate we will reign with Jesus, but none of them specifically say it will be during the millennium. Some take those verses that speak of believers reigning with Jesus are referring to the fact that we will reign in the new heaven and earth that is created in the end not the millennium kingdom. If we take John’s words literally, which I believe we should, we see for certain that the believers who came out of the tribulation will reign with Jesus during the millennium. We know this because John says they are the ones who were beheaded for their witness, did not worship the beast, and did not take the mark of the beast. John then says the rest of the dead, meaning everybody else, did not live again until the 1000 years was completed. I personally believe just the tribulation saints will reign with Jesus during the millennium. Whether it is all believers who reign with Jesus during the millennium or just the believers who came out of the tribulation really is not that important because ultimately, there is an eternity with Jesus that awaits all believers. That brings us to the third question, “If believers will reign with Jesus, who will there be to reign over?” Chapter 14 speaks of the great harvest of the earth before the final judgments, and chapter 19 ends by tells us that all those who were left that followed the Antichrist were killed. Again, if we take these two chapters literally then at this point in chapter 20, there will be no one left on earth except those saints who are resurrected to reign with Jesus. I certainly do not believe the resurrected saints will reign over each other, so who will they reign over? Some speculate that those who reign with Jesus will repopulate the earth during the millennium. If it did happen then that would mean that there is still sin in the world after Jesus returns which would be a major issue that I feel the Bible would certainly address. However, the Bible does not give any indication that will happen. Part of the problem we have with this question is how we define the word reign. Most of us see that word as meaning to rule or preside over a lower group of subjects that are completely submissive to their ruler such as a king reigning over all the people in his kingdom. That is the common definition that most of us apply when we read that we will reign with Jesus. However, when the Bible speaks of us reigning with Jesus, it does not mean we will have lesser people under us that we rule over. You see, Genesis 1 tells us that God created man to rule over creation. Adam was given dominion over the fish of the sea, birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. It was and still is God’s place to rule over mankind. Those who reign with Jesus during the 1000 years will share in His authority, power, and honor over creation as God originally intended. During that time, they will be the only ones on earth. Only at the end of the 1000 years will the rest of the dead, including those who are unsaved and condemned, be resurrected. After the second resurrection, the world will be filled with billions of people, both saved and unsaved. Satan will be released from the bottomless pit and like what the Antichrist and false prophet attempted, Satan will gather the unsaved from throughout the world for one final stand against God. They will surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city which is Jerusalem. No doubt their intentions will be to kill the saints and overtake the city. The fact that Satan and the those he has gathered are able to encircle the saints and the city indicates there will be way more unsaved than saved on the earth at that time. Even so, John says there will be no battle for God will send fire from heaven to devour those who are gathered for battle against Him and Satan will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and false prophet are and they will be tormented forever and ever. Then John says the dead, the unsaved, were brought before the great white throne of judgment for final sentencing. In John 5:29, Jesus referred to this event as the “resurrection of condemnation.” The KJV and NKJV translate verse 12 as the dead were standing before God. Most other translations render verse 12 as the dead were standing before the throne. I point this out because even though different translations render this verse a bit differently, we know the one who sits on the throne is Jesus. Paul and Peter both declared that God has ordained Jesus as the judge of men. In John’s Gospel, Jesus, Himself, said the Father judges no one but has committed all judgment to the Son. Jesus sits on a great white throne of judgment and before Him were open books and the Book of Life. These books contain a record of every deed a person has ever done, and the dead were judged according to those works. Can you picture the scene? Billions of unsaved people from throughout history lined up as far as the eye can see awaiting judgment before Jesus as He sits on the Great White Throne. As each person steps forward, their every thought, every word, every deed is laid bare before them. Yet, no matter what good they have done, who they may have helped, how much money they have given to charity, how good a parent they were, how often they went to church, how much they cared for others, they will all fall before the feet of Jesus begging for mercy and proclaiming Him Lord as they realize all their good deeds are worthless for their names are not written in the only book that matters, the Lamb’s Book of Life which contains a divine record of all those who have received salvation and eternal life through their faith in Jesus. Verse 15 very clearly tells us that all unbelievers will stand before Jesus and no one will escape His judgment. All will be cast into the lake of fire. I pray that none of us find ourselves in that line before the Great White Throne for at that time our fate is sealed. The time of grace will have passed. There will be no partiality, there will be no more second chances; just the honest, righteous, eternal judgment of God.

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