Title: Final Gathering, Attack, and Collapse (Rev. 19-20)
Topic: Second Coming
Summary: Final Gathering, Attack, and Collapse (Rev. 19-20)
Use the reference links below to follow along in the Bible as you watch.
References:
Revelation 19; 20:1-14; 6:9
Hebrews 9:27
Exodus 15:6, 8-10
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
Ezekiel 38:8-13, 20-23; 39:1, 4-7, 17-29
034 - Final Gathering, Attack, and Collapse (Rev. 19-20)
By Jonathan S. Rose
Spirit and Life Bible Study broadcast from 3/30/2011. The complete series is available at: www.spiritandlifebiblestudy.com
Revelation 20:1-14
1
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3
And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
4
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
7
And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8
And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9
And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
10
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
11
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Apocalypse Revealed # 854
854. But they shall be priests of God and of Christ. This symbolically means, because the people described are kept by the Lord in the goodness of love and so in truths of wisdom.
Priests in the Word mean people who possess the goodness of love, and kings people who possess truths of wisdom. So we are told above, "Jesus Christ makes us kings and priests" (Revelation 1:6), and also that the Lamb has "made us kings and priests" that we may "reign on the earth" (Revelation 5:10). And it can clearly be seen that the Lord will not make people kings and priests, but that He will make angels of those who possess truths of wisdom and the goodness of love from Him.
That kings mean people who possess truths of wisdom from the Lord, and that the Lord is called a king by virtue of His Divine truth, may be seen in nos. 20, 483, 664, 830 above. And priests mean people who possess the goodness of love from the Lord, because the Lord embodies Divine love and Divine wisdom, or to say the same thing, Divine goodness and Divine truth. Owing to His Divine love or Divine goodness, then, the Lord is called a priest, and owing to His Divine wisdom or Divine truth He is called a king.
That is why the heavens have been divided into two kingdoms, celestial and spiritual, and why the celestial kingdom is called the Lord's priestly kingdom, inasmuch as the angels in that kingdom are recipient vessels of Divine love or Divine goodness from the Lord; and why the spiritual kingdom is called the Lord's royal kingdom, inasmuch as the angels in it are recipient vessels of Divine wisdom or Divine truth from the Lord. But more on these two kingdoms may be seen in nos. 647, 725 above.
[2] We say that angels are recipient vessels of Divine goodness and Divine truth from the Lord, but it should be known that they are recipients perpetually, for no angel or mortal can so assimilate Divine goodness or Divine truth as to make it his own, but only to have them appear as though they were his own, because they are Divine. Consequently no angel or mortal can produce any good or truth that is good or true in itself. It is apparent, then, from this that they are kept in goodness and truth by the Lord, and are continually kept in them. If someone comes into heaven, therefore, and thinks that goodness or truth is so assimilated by him as to be his own, he is immediately sent down from heaven and instructed.
It can now be seen from this that the people's being priests of God and of Christ symbolically means, because they are kept by the Lord in the goodness of love and so in truths of wisdom.
[3] That priests in the Word mean people who possess the goodness of love from the Lord can be seen from many passages in it; but because I cited them in Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), published in London, I wish only to present from there the following:
That priests represented the Lord with respect to Divine good (nos. 2015 6148).
That the priesthood was representative of the Lord with respect to His work of salvation, because it proceeded from the Divine goodness of His Divine love (no. 9809).
That the priesthood of Aaron and his sons and of the Levites was representative of the Lord's work of salvation in a sequential progression (no. 10017).
That priests and the priesthood therefore symbolize the goodness of love from the Lord (nos. 9806 9809).
That the two names, Jesus and Christ, symbolize both the Lord's priestliness and His royalty (nos. 3004, 3005, 3009).
That priests are responsible for matters having to do with the church, and kings for ones having to do with the civil state (no. 10793).
That priests are to teach truths and lead by them to goodness and so to the Lord (no. 10794).
That they are not to claim for themselves any authority over people's souls (no. 10795).
That priests are due respect because of their sacred functions, but that they are not to attribute the respect to themselves, but to the Lord from whom alone those sacred functions emanate. For the priesthood does not lie in the person, but is attached to the person (nos. 10796, 10797).
That priests in the Word who do not acknowledge the Lord symbolize the opposite (no. 3670).
