Prophetic Prospective Daily Devotional

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

This chapter of Revelation has three distinct sections from which I want to share some very important insight with you. This chapter also is after the seven year Tribulation.

You will notice that the first three chapters of Revelation are before the Tribulation and the last three chapters of Revelation are after the Tribulation. The other 16 chapters, 4-19, are the details of the Tribulation.

As I mentioned, there are three different elements to this chapter. Verses 1-3 and 7-10 are the account of Satan being bound, loosed for a “season” and then cast into the “lake of fire”, forever.

Verses 4-6 deal with the 1,000 year Kingdom Period when Jesus Christ, and the “bride of Christ”, the “church”, will “rule and reign” from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This is the “Kingdom” promised to the Jews, Daniel 7:13-14.

The last element of Revelation 20 is the “Great White Throne Judgment”, verses 11-15. The Great White Throne marks the “end of history”. The next two chapters, 21-22, take us into “eternity future”. “History” begins at Genesis 1:1 and concludes with Revelation 20:11.

Notice that Satan will be “bound for 1,000 years, verses 1-2. This will be the very first time that Satan will be “bound”. There is no such event as “bounding” Satan in any other passage.

We do not have the “power” to bound Satan. We must “submit ourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from us”, James 4:7. Only God has the power to “bind” Satan.

The Devil will be in the “bottomless pit” for that 1,000 years and then released, verse 7. He will try and gather all those un-believers from the Kingdom Period, ones born in the Kingdom Period, those who reject Jesus even in a “perfect time”.

This “army”, Satan and those he gathers at the end of the Kingdom, will be taken and thrown into the “lake of fire”, verse 10, where the Antichrist (Beast) and the False Prophet, verse 10, have been at this time in history for 1,000 years.

Verses 4-6 reveal the time of the Kingdom and those who will “rule and reign” with Christ for that time period. Those who know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour down through the ages will be a part of that “ruling party”.

Verses 11-15 are the revelation of the terrible time of judgment for all lost people. This will not be a “judgment” to determine whether someone is “saved or lost”, no one will stand at this judgment unless they are “lost”. This will be the time for “sentencing” the lost to the “lake of fire”, forever.

This passage reveals the “judge”, verse 11, the “judged”, verses 12-13 and the “judgment”, verses 14-15. This truth of the “Great White Throne” leaves me with a “mixed emotion”, happy with the “joy” that comes with serving Jesus, and very “sad” about those who have “rejected” Jesus.

These events, the “binding of Satan”, the “Kingdom Period” and the “Great White Throne” are key in the scheme of God’s plan for the future. But let me remind you that what “triggers” these events is the Rapture.

The next event on “God’s calendar” is the Rapture. This is when Jesus calls us up to be with Him, in the heavens. This event could happen at any moment, therefore, we must be ready every moment of every day.

PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank you Lord for supplying us with the scenario that will unfold in the very near future. All the events that lead up to these three elements, the “binding of Satan”, the Kingdom Period with the focus on Jesus Christ reigning on the Temple Mount, are in the process of being fulfilled everyday. Give me the power to live for you every moment of every day.