LEARNING DAILY

Revelation 20:1-3, Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a while.

I wonder why God doesn’t just establish His kingdom on earth right now! Why doesn’t He just do away with Satan and set it up? There is a key word in the verses above, “bound”; Satan is bound but not destroyed. How important is this to the end times message? “He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished.” Someday, Satan will be unable to deceive the nations nor any individual; he will be bound and cast into a bottomless pit!

It is important to remember that this period of one thousand years will not be perfect but a transitional period (David Jeremiah). This is not heaven (read the last two chapters of The Revelation to see the difference). What will the Millennial reign of Christ be like? I am going to do the best I can with what Scripture says about this time. I am going to give Scripture and let you find it and read what it says. Tim LaHaye wrote in his book, “The Essential Guide to Prophecy”, During the 1000-year millennial kingdom, there will be a partial lifting of the curse and the consequences of original sin. There will still be death (for those who enter the Millennium in their natural bodies), and the complete effects of the fall will not be lifted until the creation of the new heavens and new earth in the eternal state after the Millennium.”

I think one of the really interesting aspects of this time is the tremendous change that occurs in the animal kingdom (Isaiah 11:6-9; 65:25); nature will be redeemed, and the animals will no longer fear mankind. In Genesis 9:2 God put the fear of man into every beast, allowing man to hunt and eat animals. No longer will this be the case as animals and man will exist peacefully together. The fear of snakes and serpents will be gone as Isaiah states snakes and children will be able to live together without fear of harm.

Isaiah 32:16-18 tells us that the Millennium will be a time of peace. Micah 4:4 says that this time will be when no one needs to be afraid. Think of these verses and what they mean. War has been a part of the world’s history from the time there were kings. People live in constant fear today. Think about no more war, no longer a need to lock our doors at night. Read Isaiah 2:2-4 explains that everyone will get along; people will make their “swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore”.

In the Millennium there will be joy (Isaiah 61:7, 10) and comfort (Isaiah 40:1-2). Is that not what people are seeking, trying so hard to have in their lives? Isn’t this time every Believer should be looking forward to? It is a time Believers can look forward to (and even pray “Thy kingdom come” – I do not want to take that out of context) as we live in a world of chaos and difficulty!

I am going to continue with this in the next page of the blog!