Devastation At Armageddon

Transcript

GR 1565
04/25/10
Devastation at Armageddon
Revelation 19:17-20
Gil Rugh

We're going to Revelation 19. All of history from Genesis 3 where Adam sinned along with his wife Eve and sin and death entered the human race, Satan asserted control over those who submitted themselves to him. That control has been universal, from that point on every single person, as we have found in our study of Romans, born, impacted by sin, influenced and corrupted by sin, under the domination of sin and Satan. There has been an ongoing war, ongoing battle between God and Satan, the people of God and the people of the world. We are coming to the culmination of that battle in Revelation 19. It's not the final event, we're still a thousand years from that in Revelation 19, but this really is the climax toward which we have been moving where the enemies of Christ will be defeated and He will establish the kingdom on the earth. And the battles, the trials, the difficulties for the people of God will be over.

Picking up with verse 11 of chapter 19 we've noted heaven opens and Christ returns. And the emphasis in verses 11-16 is on the person of Christ as He returns. His description, the names, His appearance and so on all revealing something of the majesty of His character and the seriousness of the event as He comes, verse 13, “with a robe dipped in blood,” indicating this is a bloody event. He has a sharp sword coming from His mouth; it's a time of judgment and destruction of His enemies. The end of verse 15, “He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty.” What an awesome time. You talk about the fierce wrath of God the Almighty. There is nothing to compare it to. The destruction will be tremendous.

Verses 17 to the end of the chapter are going to focus on the destruction of the beast and his followers. Some of you have asked about some details that go on and where they fit, and just set this in the broader scheme of things. We haven't gone back to take in the full scope because with hundreds of references to the Old Testament we could go on indefinitely in studying really all of prophecy and all prophetic portions of scripture as they tie here. But I do want to put a little in perspective here, and we'll do a little bit more of that in our next study as well.

Where is Israel in this? When does Israel get saved? You'd think that would be a major event brought out here, but it's really not addressed, although it happens in this context. Back up to Daniel 9:27. Verse 24 sets the whole parameter of the prophetic setting of 70 weeks determined for Israel, 70 sevens, 490 years; 483 years have occurred, ending just before the crucifixion of Christ. We have a seven-year period left to complete God's program with Israel, that's what Revelation 6-19 are talking about. And when you come to Daniel 9:26, we're told then after the sixty-two weeks, which in the previous verse was after seven weeks, so after a total of sixty-nine weeks Messiah will be cut off. After 69 sevens or 483 years “the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary”--the destruction that occurred in 70 A.D. Verses 26-7: “…And its end will come with a flood, even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week…” Messiah is crucified after the 69th week, remember, but not in the 70th week. So we have an indication here of a break. And then the 70th week will start, not because it immediately follows the 69th, but when a firm covenant is made with the Jews for one week. That's the prince who will come, the Antichrist, the first beast of Revelation 13 that we've talked about. Verse 27: “…in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering and on the wing of abominations comes one who will make desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” That's what we will have at the end of Revelation 19. You'll note in the middle of that week there is a breaking of the covenant with Israel. We've looked at that.

Come to Revelation 12. We have the war in heaven between Michael and his angels and Lucifer and the fallen angels who have joined with him. And they lose their place in heaven. Verse 6: “And the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God so that there she might be nourished for 1260 days.” This is the last half of that seven-year period. Israel will be hiding in the wilderness region. Verse 13 is when Satan loses his access to heaven, he has lost his position because of his rebellion, but he still has access to heaven. In the middle of the 70th week of Daniel, he loses his access. He realizes time is getting short. Verse 13: “And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.” So he persecutes Israel, from which came the male child, the Messiah, Christ. Verses 14-7: “And the two wings of a great eagle were given to the woman in order that she might fly into the wilderness to her place where she was nourished for a time, times and a half time from the presence of the serpent. And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth, and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth. And the dragon was enraged with the woman and went off to make war with the rest of her offspring…” He couldn't touch God's portion of Israel which has fled into the wilderness.

Come back to Daniel 11:40: “And at the end time the king of the South will collide with him and the king of the North will storm against him…” Here we're talking about the Antichrist. And as you get to the end of the 70th week of Daniel during that time there is rebellion against Christ. Activity goes on from the middle of the week to the end of the week. Verse 41: “He will also enter the Beautiful Land…” The result of the issues there and we haven't looked into some of this, may tie to some of the events in Ezekiel 38. The Antichrist comes into Israel. I take it this would fit with what we described in the middle of the week and will be carried to the end of the week through the rest of this chapter. Verse 41: “He will also enter the Beautiful Land and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab, and the foremost sons of Ammon.” I think there we get an identification of the wilderness region that God has reserved for Israel to be preserved and protected from Satan and the Antichrist. So the Antichrist will be successful in conquering and controlling all these countries around but Edom, Moab and a portion of Ammon. The wilderness region, it's the region that we know as modern day Jordan. It is that wilderness region, so this is an area kept out of the hands of the Antichrist. Now remember in Revelation 12 Satan tried to pursue Israel there to destroy them but was unsuccessful. So he went after the Jews in other places.

We come to this because we want to look at events at the end of the tribulation with the return of Christ. In the middle of the tribulation Israel has fled to the wilderness region where modern day Jordan is, on the other side of the Jordan River and down along and past the Dead Sea and south of the Dead Sea. And some of you have been there on travels to Israel and know it is a wilderness region. And there is a mountainous region through there as well.

Come to Isaiah 63, this is a passage we looked at in connection with the coming of Christ and the events of the tribulation. Isaiah 63:1-4, 6: “Who is this who comes from Edom with garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, this One who is majestic in His apparel, marching in the greatness of His strength? It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Why is Your apparel red and Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press? I have trodden the wine trough alone, and from the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger, and trampled them in My wrath. And their lifeblood sprinkled on My garments, and I stained all My raiment. For the day of vengeance within My heart, and My year of redemption has come….And I trod down the peoples in My anger, and made them drunk in My wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.” We looked at this in connection with what was said about Christ in Revelation 19:11-16.

Bozrah is a little bit south of the Dead Sea, just to the east. If you were drawing a line down on the east side of the Dead Sea, Bozrah would be just a little bit over from there. We're on the east side of the Jordan, but of course the Jordan River doesn't come down out of the south end of the Dead Sea. It flows into the Dead Sea but of course doesn't flow out of the Dead Sea. If you look on your Bible map you will see that. It's also identified with the city that we know today as Petra. Now interesting that the one identified as the Messiah here, from the description as we saw in Revelation and from other passages, is coming from Edom and He's coming from Bozrah with garments stained in blood.

Isaiah 34:1-6: “Draw near O nations to hear, and listen O peoples! Let the earth and all it contains and the world and all that springs from it. For the Lord's indignation is against all the nations, and His wrath against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them; He has given them over to slaughter. So their slain will be thrown out, and their corpses will give off stench, and the mountains will be drenched in their blood. And all the host of heaven will wear away, and the sky will be rolled up like a scroll. For My sword is satiated in heaven, Behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom and upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood; it is sated with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom…” And there is no doubt about the time we are talking about, verse 8: “the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion…”

Habakkuk 3:3: “God comes from Teman and the Holy One from Mount Paran…” Now again if you take a map and you go south of the Dead Sea, still in the region of Edom, and you get to Bozrah and continue on down south further, you'd be about halfway roughly between the bottom of the Dead Sea and the top of the Gulf of Arabia, and there you come to Teman. The wilderness of Paran spreads out from that region as well. You see this repeated emphasis that God is coming from Edom, He is coming from Bozrah; He is coming from this region. And it seems a possible scenario here is that when Christ returns, where have His people, Israel, been preserved? In this wilderness region, we might call the Trans-Jordan. Keep in mind we're stretching down below the Jordan there in the modern day country of Jordan, down where modern Petra is, as it's known now. Bozrah is where the children of Israel have been preserved for this last 3½ years. As their Messiah comes He returns there first to gather His remnant and take them with Him as He proceeds to Jerusalem and the final conflict there.

It's in this time that there is going to be a battle over Jerusalem. Zechariah 12:1-2: “The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel. Thus declares the Lord who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him, ‘Behold I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem it will also be against Judah.” Concerning this future siege of Jerusalem, I take it this is what is going on at the end of the tribulation. The armies of the world, there is a reaction and rebellion against the leadership of the Antichrist. Israel now is hiding in the wilderness region. The armies of the world have been moving toward Palestine in the plan of God to be preparing for Armageddon. But their intention in coming there is a rebellion against the Antichrist. A Israel is sieged, and there is destruction that occurs there.

Zechariah 14:1-4: “Behold, a day is coming for the Lord when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle and the city will be captured, the houses plundered, the women ravished, and half the city exiled but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when He fights on a day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in the middle from east to west by a very large valley…” So it's in that context where Israel suffers another devastating destruction at the hands of the armies of the world, but it's in this context that Christ intervenes and brings deliverance.

Zechariah 12:10: “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of supplication so they will look on Me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one who mourns for an only son and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.” Here we have the grace of God poured out on the nation Israel and we are to have a national conversion because of the grace of God being poured out on them. They will recognize their sin; they will recognize that Christ is their Messiah, there is a turning to Him and that enables His intervention to bring deliverance to them.

Zechariah 13:1: “In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and impurity.” We have the cleansing of the nation that occurs. Verses 8-9: “’And it will come about in all the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘that two parts of it will be cut off and perish but the third will be left in it. And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name and I will answer them and I will say, they are My people. And they will say, the Lord is my God.’” So you see the conversion of the nation here, which is the third that will survive. And that is the group that is saved.

Romans 11:25: “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” The fullness of the Gentiles is what we call the church age and the time of Gentile salvation. Verse 26: “and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘the deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob,’” This is a quote from Isaiah 59:20. Verses 27-9: “’And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.’ From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” We live in a day when Israel stands as the enemies of the gospel, the enemies of the people of God, the enemies of God in their opposition to Him. But that is for our benefit, us Gentiles, because God's salvation has reached out to us during this time of Israel's enmity. Sad to say multitudes of professing believers today think that God is done with Israel. You understand that the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. Even though they are in a position of enmity today, that will change as we read in some of those Old Testament passages.

So that occurs at the end in connection with Armageddon. We've spent Revelation 6-19 talking about God's judgments on the earth during this seven-year period. Wouldn't you think we'd get almost as much time devoted to talk about the salvation of Israel, since that is where we've been moving? But in the plan of God He doesn't address that in Revelation. But it is addressed fully in other portions of scripture.

So come back to Revelation 19. The context of Christ returning from heaven, it's in response to the cry of Israel and their recognition of Him as Savior. How did they come to their recognition? As we noted in Zechariah, “the Spirit of grace was poured out on them.” How did you come? How did I come? The Spirit of grace was poured out on us and our blind eyes were opened to see ourselves as God saw us—sinners. And Christ is the Savior. How will Israel do it? It will be by the supernatural intervention of God to pour out His grace on them. It's time in God's plan for Him to intervene and bring deliverance and salvation to the nation. And so He returns and we're reading about the destruction of the enemies here. But in this context from other scriptures, this is where the salvation of Israel also occurs.

Revelation 19:17-8: “And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in mid-heaven, ‘Come assemble for the great supper of God in order that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.” This is an invitation to the birds of the air, the vultures, the scavengers and other birds to come. And we're all familiar, we've watched programs, there is a dead carcass and the birds can tell. Why? Here come the vultures circling around, flying over. They are drawn and there is going to be a huge feast for the birds because you're going to have bodies like the world has never seen. There will be animals and people alike. This is a striking picture.

We see a picture like this back in Ezekiel 39; it's a picture that is going to appear again a thousand years later. Verses 17-21: “And as for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God, ‘speak to every kind of bird and every kind of beast of the field. Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice, which I am going to sacrifice for you as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. You shall eat the flesh of mighty men, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth as though they were rams, lambs and goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. So you will eat fat until you are glutted and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. And you will be glutted at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war,’ declares the Lord God. And I shall set My glory among the nations…” The mighty men will be like rams and lambs to the birds. Verse 22: “And the house of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God from that day onward.” In the context of judgment, Israel will be saved.

Stop at Matthew 24 for a brief but telling statement. And it's in the context of the coming of the Son of Man. Verse 27: “For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.” And some would take from this a tying in to what we talked about, the Lord coming from Edom or Bozrah in the east and proceeding to Jerusalem. But we're here for verse 28: “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” Of course that's just a concise statement of what is expanded in the passages we just read because in the context of the return of the Lord, there is going to be the destruction of men and animals like has never been seen. And that will result in the gathering of the vultures.

You'll note in Revelation 19:18 that people from all classes, all status, the low, the high, the great, the small are included in this destruction. You don't get spared this judgment when Christ returns and pours out His wrath against His enemies. And we're talking physical death here. We have a contrast in Revelation 19:9 “blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And that will be the millennium for the saved. But here you have the “great supper of God” as it is called in verse 17 which is provided for the birds of the air and beasts of the field to come and feed on the enemies of God. What a stark contrast it is.

Verse 19: “And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war with Him who sat on the horse and against His army.” This presents clearly who they are, who are gathered together to make war against Christ. It's the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies. They've been gathered together back under the sixth bowl. Revelation 16:12: “And the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates and its water was dried up that the way might be prepared for the kings from the east.” And then you see the demons coming out of the mouth of the dragon and the mouth of the beast. Verse 14: “for they are spirits of demons, performing signs which go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.” Verse 16: “And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.” The Mount of Megiddo is Armageddon. And it was in that context we had verse 15 of that strong warning about His coming.

Remember Zechariah 14:2, “I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle.” That's what God is doing, gathering together. Now their original intention of coming to Jerusalem may have been to do battle against the Antichrist, but with the appearing of the sign of the coming of the Son of Man in the heavens, they unite against their greatest enemy. The armies of the world are united in one purpose; it's what unites the world today. All the adversity, all the opposition, but there is one thing that unites them. They hate our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and they hate those who belong to Him. And that overrides every other division ultimately. And they serve under their lord and master, the prince of the power of the air, the god of this world, Satan. And all other divisions are irrelevant. In Satan’s war against God and the people of God, he attempts to usurp the place that God reserves for Himself.

For these armies will come together. And you'll note it is God gathering them together. And you know in the outworking of things in the world, things happen and it seems like their purpose is one thing, but behind it is the hand of God even using their sinful desires. Not causing them to sin, He never does, but using their sinful desires. And so He is bringing them together, but it is for Armageddon. They may be coming to Jerusalem for another purpose, but the kingdoms of this world are about to become the kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Revelation 19:19: “And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.” We saw Christ in verse 11, “And I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war.” Verse 14: “And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean were following Him on white horses.” Then you read verse 19 and after everything that has occurred, seven years of devastating judgments on this world, on godless men and women, and they are united to attempt to do battle against Jesus Christ. You read it and you say, how foolish can you be? You are assembled to make war against Him who sat on a horse, descending from heaven? You'd think they would be falling on their faces, crying out for mercy, forgiveness. But they are not; they are ready to do battle.

You know we fail to take seriously what the word of God says about the depth of the sin of the human heart, the total commitment to sin of fallen man. We dabble around thinking if we're nicer and friendly, not that we shouldn't be nice and friendly and kind, but you understand how absolutely unshakably committed to sin and to Satan these people are. You understand any relationship between the believer and unbeliever is totally superficial. There are no alliances made between God and the devil, there are no alliances that can be made between the people of God and the people of the devil. What do the children of God and the children of Belial have in common? Nothing. They hate our God; they will hate Him until the end. And I read verse 19 and think, surely by this time and this setting fallen man is ready to repent. But we saw earlier under the closing judgments of the tribulation, what did they do? They blasphemed the God who brought these judgments. And now Christ is returning, they can turn all their energy under the leadership of their supernatural king, the beast who has done signs and wonders, and the power of Satan to attempt to destroy Christ. Remarkable. And another remarkable incident will come a thousand years later. But it surely is one, there is no excuse for those who claim to believe the Bible, claim to have been transformed by the grace of God to fail to understand and appreciate the awfulness of sin. That doesn't mean we look down on sinners as though we are better, because it took the grace of God to save us. It will take the grace of God to save them. So we want to keep it in proper perspective, but you understand apart from that grace the human heart never, ever will change. They are where they want to be, we were where we wanted to be and we were committed to stand in our opposition to God until His grace intervened to turn us to Him. It will happen with Israel when the grace of God is poured out upon them.

The intervention, verse 20, of Christ, the destruction of the armies, of course, is complete. “The beast was seized and with him the false prophet.” Those two individuals from chapter 13 that we looked at, the first beast and the second beast, the beast out of the sea and the beast out of the earth. The first beast being the political ruler, the second is called the false prophet because he directed all the worship of the world to the first beast, who is a counterfeit christ. And great miracles were done to substantiate the claims. They are both seized, “the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.”

Revelation13:11: “And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth…” The first beast appeared earlier in 13:1. This second one is the one identified as the false prophet. Verses 12-3: “And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. And he performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.” This doesn't have to be a false miracle. When Satan causes the house to fall on Job's children, that was real. He caused the wind to blow, he stirred up the army of the Sabeans to come and attack. He is a man of supernatural power, power beyond humans. He is a being, Satan. And that power during this time has been manifested through his servants. So we don't want to minimize this and say, it's magic. Understand when God removes some of the restraints like in the book of Job, Satan can control the weather, Satan can control armies. It is nothing for him to call down fire, if God chooses to permit him to do it.

So he has been doing those kinds of miracles. That's why we go to the word of God to find out what is genuine, not look at experience. We say, I don't know. I look at the Word and sift it through, that determines what is genuine. I don't have to have an answer for everything that goes on. I don't know, but I know what God says is true, and what God says is false. And what God says is false, is false. I don't care how supernatural it is, how miraculous it is.

Verses 14-5: “And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given to him to perform…there was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast…” So you see in the plan of God it is now His will to remove some of the restraints and satanic activity so Satan can display his power before his followers to an extent that has not been done before. And the delusion is complete among the unregenerate.

In Revelation 19, these two beings are seized. And note the end of verse 20: “…these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone.” Brimstone is burning sulfur, a kind of material that is susceptible to spontaneous combustion. They are cast alive into the lake of fire. Here you have the first two, really, individuals cast into hell. They even precede Satan being cast into hell. These two were thrown alive. That is significant. Not that you have them thrown into the lake of fire so that they can be consumed and done, they are thrown alive into the lake of fire and you'll find a thousand years later they are still there being tormented.

So they are thrown alive into the lake of fire. A thousand years later, Revelation 20:10, “the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire.” Now don't get confused. There are a thousand years between Revelation 19:20 and Revelation 20:10. That time period is covered in the first part of chapter 20. Verse 10: “And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever ever.”

I received a letter from a person with Seventh Day Adventist background who writes periodically and who sends me material. And they always send a little complimentary note about my Bible teaching or whatever. But they think I will appreciate this material and it's always on how hell is not eternal. This is wishful thinking on their part.
You understand that the beast and false prophet are here also, they've been here for a thousand years. And they will be tormented day and night into the ages of the ages. So Lucifer joins them on that occasion. When you come to Revelation 20:13 you'll have the Great White Throne judgment; this is the last judgment of scripture. So we talk about the last judgment, there are a series of judgments in scripture, but this is the last one, the final judgment. Everyone who appears at this judgment is going to spend an eternity in hell with the devil, the false prophet, the beast and all other unbelievers. Verse 13: “And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them, according to their deeds.” Now remember John 5, Jesus said there is coming a day when there will be resurrection and there will be a resurrection to life and a resurrection to judgment. Verses 14-5: “And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire.” This is the second death, eternal separation from God in hell, the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:8: “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Could it be any clearer? You say, I don't believe in hell, I don't believe in eternal punishment, eternal suffering. My God wouldn't do that. Well if your God wouldn't do it, your God is the god of this world, also known as Satan or Lucifer. But the true and living God, the God of the Bible not only could do it, He will do it; He has promised to do it. And He has repeatedly warned us of the awfulness of it.

You come back to Revelation 19. This lake of fire is an incredible description of hell. The lake will burn with fire and brimstone. We say, wouldn’t that consume people? You know it's not surprising to me that unbelievers are foolish. But I read arguments like that by those who profess to be believers. We're going to get into chapter 20 where Satan is chained and some say that couldn't be real because Satan couldn't be chained. Can you be chained? Yes. Do you think God could make a chain that could hold an angel? I think so. Sometimes people find problems and I can't even figure out how they find a problem. You're telling me God has not the ability to chain an angel? I take it if there can be chains for human beings and God decides He'll make a chain to chain an angel, there'll be a chain for an angel. When we are raised in our resurrected bodies, we will never die again, we will never be susceptible to disease, death or destruction. When the unbeliever is raised with his resurrection body, he will never experience physical death, an end. But that will be a resurrected body susceptible to eternal suffering. Just like our glorified body will be one prepared for eternal glory and blessing, their resurrected body will be prepared to endure eternal suffering.

We have a hard time. We grasp the idea that God acts in love and there would be people saved and enjoy heaven forever, but for us we think again, that's almost more often than I want to think of an eternal hell. That's why we have a movement among those who claim to be evangelicals today that continues to grow because it appeals. They don't believe in eternal hell and their reasoning is not because scripture doesn't say it, they just can't conceive of something so awful that God would really do that. But the real problem is we don't really see sin as serious as God says it is. I mean, that it deserves eternal suffering. That's what God says the offense against Him deserves. Now I may not be able to get my arms around that with complete and full understanding, but I can understand enough of it to say God says it is going to deserve eternal suffering.

Revelation 19:21 “And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.” We're going to look at this matter in our next study because this will entail the judgments that are set up to determine who will go into the kingdom. So even though that's not part of what is revealed in Revelation here, we will take a study and look at those judgments and the sifting out. Chapter 20 talks about the binding of Satan and the establishing of the kingdom. But at the end of chapter 19, we don't talk about that, we're just told here the rest were killed. But other portions of scripture elaborate in some detail on the sifting out process that will occur here. So we'll look more fully at that. But here we are told the “And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse and all the birds were filled with their flesh.” There will be the complete absolute destruction by the time we are done with 19:21 of every single unbeliever on the face of the earth. We'll have the armies destroyed; we have the beast and the false prophet not killed, but cast alive into hell; and we have all the rest of unbelievers anywhere in the world gathered together for execution under the authority, the sword that comes “from the mouth of Him who sat upon the horse.” So now between 19:21 and 20:1 there are no unbelievers left on the face of the earth, there are only believers. And we are ready to establish the kingdom. But we'll elaborate verse 21 in our next study, how that is all carried out because there are not many details given here. And we must understand the judgments that fit here because they are misused and misapplied and people lump all the judgments of scripture together and it leads to confusion.

Isn't it awesome that God in the greatness of His mercy and kindness and love has provided His Son to be the Savior for the world? And men and women continue in their rebellion, and this is their appointed end and destiny. And we say; it doesn't have to be. Repent. I want to close with reading II Peter 3. You know God tells us that people aren't going to be open to accept these truths. The opening two verses remind us as believers that “we ought to pay attention to the word spoken beforehand by the holy prophets at the commandment of the Lord and Savior, spoken by your apostles.” Verses 3-4: “know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.’” People have been saying from time immemorial there is judgment coming; the world is going to be destroyed and so on. It hasn't happened. And sometimes we get embarrassed and say, if I say this they're going to say, you're another one. My grandparents said that. But why has it not happened yet? Well God is patient. Verse 9: “The Lord is not slow about His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” It's a time of salvation. Why hasn't the Lord intervened? Did you ever get so upset, when you're watching something and you say, why doesn't the Lord come? Because He is more patient than we are. I'm saved now, so come today, Lord Jesus. But He is patient so others may be saved. God is giving them opportunity. He is a gracious God, a patient God. How do I know? We have another day, right? People somewhere in the world have been saved, perhaps some in our city, other states, other parts of our country, and in other countries around the world. Aren't you glad? They're glad that God didn't come yet. Heaven intervened and so He is patient. And we want to understand we don't lose our focus, but we understand He is patient. But that patience doesn't mean any change in His revealed plan and these are days of salvation and we have His truth entrusted to us in these earthen vessels. And we ought not to lose any of our urgency, not to be embarrassed or ashamed of the gospel to tell people there is a Savior, there is salvation. Unless you believe in Him you will be lost forever. I can't change that heart, but I can share with them the truth that can and trust that maybe God will use that to bring about their salvation.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for Your grace. Lord, the grace that was shown to us as we gather together as a church family, look into Your word, look at end time events. We're reminded that Your grace was poured out upon us. It's because of that grace that our blinded eyes were opened to see and believe in the Savior who loved us and died for us. And Lord, that same gospel is a gospel of grace offered to a lost and dying world today. You are a patient God and every day is another day of opportunity for the gospel to be presented, for people to have opportunity to hear and believe. We thank You for Your patience. But Lord may we, as day can grind on after day, difficulties and trials come into our lives, Lord may we not lose our focus, may we not lose our sense of urgency and may we not lose our zeal in our service for You, knowing that every word that You have given will come to fulfillment. Thank You for the greatness of our salvation. Thank You for our day together. Lord, even thank You for the fellowship we are about to enjoy. In Christ's name, amen.