Let the one who is wrong, continue to do wrong. Rev 22:11

 

“Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book”

To dissuade me from talking or writing about Eschatology – the study of end times events, I had been admonished to NOT speak about the Revelation or anything related to the Revelation. Words like these are like daggers to my heart.

How does Jesus open the Revelation?

“Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.”
(Revelation 1:3 NASB)

How is anyone supposed to hear if you don’t open your mouth and preach truthfully?

“And he (the angel that was speaking) [further] told me, Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book and make no secret of them, for the time when things are brought to a crisis and the period of their fulfillment is near.”
(Revelation 22:10 AMP) Emphasis mine.

Suppose you are a church leader and feel it necessary to rebuke some enthusiastic attendee who is NOT interrupting your church service or life but merely sharing with individuals. HOW DARE YOU TRY TO DISCOURAGE THEM, especially when you openly admit that you do not understand Revelation and, therefore, DO NOT believe that anyone else can understand this book.

Most, reading Revelation 22:10, see the word seal and immediately assign their average definition, such as closing something to keep others out.

Seal is the Greek word sphragizō and means to stamp for security. by implication, to keep secrets.

Therefore, the emphasis is on the command NOT to seal up the words of the prophecy of this book. Imagine that, the Holy Spirit, knowing that it would be well over 2000 years until all things would fall into place and Jesus Christ would return for His church; yet, He wanted all of us to understand and live in that expectation throughout these many years. 

This scenario that we see in Revelation 22:10 where the scroll, or book if you must, was sealed until the appropriate time is comparable to Revelation 5:1

“I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.”
(Revelation 5:1 NASB)

We are at that time of fulfillment.

Note how the Amplified Bible translates the last half of verse ten.

• “for the time when things are brought to a crisis and the period of their fulfillment is near.”

  Look at this definition of time from the Word Study Dictionary. “kairós; gen. kairoú, masc. noun. Season, opportune time. It is not merely as a succession of minutes, which is chrónos (G5550), but a period of opportunity (though not necessity). There is really no English equivalent to the word kairós,”

Here is a quote representing the period of opportunity where things are brought to a crisis.

“The changes are so profound that, from the perspective of human history, there has never been a time of greater promise or potential peril.”
― Klaus Schwab, The Fourth Industrial Revolution

If you have been living under a rock, Klaus Schwab is the founder of the World Economic Forum. Nation members pay handsomely to attend the yearly forum and send several representatives to the meetings. Our American President, Donald Trump, went there and spoke. He told the attendees that the United States would not conform to globalism’s goals.

Do you know what happened after that?

The American governmental swamp rose against the President with all the false charges and accusations they could muster. As a result, even though the majority of Americans re-elected President Donald Trump a second time, he was effectively driven out of office through fraud.

So, the period of opportunity is upon us.

Moving on through the Revelation.

Revelation 22:11 AMP “He who is unrighteous (unjust, wicked), let him be unrighteous still; and he who is filthy (vile, impure), let him be filthy still; and he who is righteous (just, upright, in right standing with God), let him do right still; and he who is holy, let him be holy still.” [Dan. 12:10.]

No decent preacher would say, “He who is unrighteous let him continue to be unrighteous.” 

Why not?

Because even a mediocre pastor, trying to be like Father God, should want everyone to be saved, even if it is from myself.

“This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
(1 Timothy 2:3-4 NASB)

As you can see above, the Amplified Bible is noted for giving you Old Testament references. For example, Daniel 12:10 nearly tells you the same thing as Revelation 22:11. Since prophecy to the Jew becomes validated through repetition, then John’s audience would have instantly recognized this pattern. 

“Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be tried, smelted, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but the teachers and those who are wise shall understand.” [Dan. 11:33-35.]
(Daniel 12:10 AMP)

I don’t know when the priests and elders banned the reading of Daniel; therefore, some may not have been familiar with the words of Daniel, so let’s try another prophetic author that may have been more familiar.

“Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; Whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, And the righteous will walk in them, But transgressors will stumble in them.”
(Hosea 14:9 NASB)

If I were to attempt a challenge of the context of Revelation 22:10, Daniel 12, and Hosea 14, I would find that they are definitely speaking of the last days. So the context is that all of these references lean toward the time after the rapture.

The NASB translation of Revelation 22:11 reads like this, “and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.” Having naively joined myself, for a short time, to a “man-cave” group. I found several attendees unrestrained with their foul tongues and used the excuse God gives us grace. If this is you, you are misinterpreting and ignoring scripture.

It is not up to God to keep you holy, nor is God trying to make you stumble and fall over your tongue.

“As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness; but my hand shall not be against you.” (1 Samuel 24:13 NASB)

The Greek word for holy is hagiazō, and it also means to purify or consecrate yourself.

By this time, most of you should know that you cannot make yourself holy, nor can you make yourself righteous; only Christ’s work on the cross could do that for you; but you can certainly accept that fact and, therefore, be made Holy by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the washing of the Word of God.

Let me throw a wrench into the works. Right now, pre-rapture, we live in the age of grace; this is defined as a time when God freely brings us into the kingdom through our uncomplicated acceptance of His Son, but that door will close soon, and so will the age of grace. 

Since millions will continue to come into the kingdom, how does that happen?

For those who desire a short answer, you will have to prove your loyalty to God through death.

Death will look a little different for many. Some will die by guillotine (some of us have been aware of these devices for over several years now), others will die by the sword as they behead you and a few will die by stoning (Both beheading and stoning are popular methods of punishment among the followers of Islam). Many more will be shot, or as we have witnessed in Northern Africa, trapped in their churches and burned to death. Since the number of people being killed is so large, it may be that faster methods will be preferable.

“For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved, but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”
(Matthew 24:21-22 NASB)

Another method of killing you off would be what the translators call pestilence. While Revelation 2:20-21 does not speak to pestilence, it does speak to a nation - Israel and the church – specifically Thyatira, tolerating that woman Jezebel. Watch for the parallels between the “harlot” Jezebel, who died several centuries earlier and yet shows up here in Revelation chapter two, and how similar she sounds to the definitions of Babylon.

‘But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. ‘I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality.” (Revelation 2:20-21 NASB)

We do, however, see pestilence in Revelation 6:8.

“I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.” (Revelation 6:8 NASB)

Verse eight falls under the wrath of God as the rider on the ashen horse goes about killing off a fourth of the earth. In this scenario, one of those methods is pestilence. Vines’ Expository on New Testament Words gives us the Greek loimos (G3061) and a definition of pestilence as “any deadly infectious malady.”

Revelation 18 speaks about Babylon but refers to what many think is a restoration of that City; although, in many places, it is referred to as she.

“and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer; and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer; for your merchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery.”
(Revelation 18:23 NASB)

Sorcery = the Greek word pharmakeia, which primarily means medication, the use of drugs, potions, spells, or poisoning. From the “ask a professor website” https://www.massbible.org/exploring-the-bible/ask-a-prof/answers/pharmakeia

You don’t have to be a mathematician to figure out that a group of people, apparently with more power than Klaus Schwab, are working hard at creating and taking advantage of this “period of opportunity.” They are effectively using pharmakeia to make it happen. Since we are NOT in the time of wrath as yet, then what we are seeing is just the warm-up period.

As a side note, for those who are looking for Babylon to be rebuilt, an American archaeologist, who is also a follower of Christ, recently did a segment on YouTube in which he showed you the ancient boundaries of the old City of Babylon and how that nothing of substance exists within those boundaries. (Some would tell you that excellent restoration progress was made under the rule of Saddam Hussein when all they did was restore portions of the Ishtar gate.)

And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans’ pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation; Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there, Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down there. But desert creatures will lie down there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there. Hyenas will howl in their fortified towers And jackals in their luxurious palaces. Her fateful time also will soon come, And her days will not be prolonged.
(Isaiah 13:19-22 NASB)

The archaeologist made an interesting point during the filming that jackals were quite prolific among the historic ruins.

Let’s attack acts of immorality that we see in Revelation 2:20-21 for a moment.

Immorality is any act or practice which contravenes the divine commands or social duties. Injustice, dishonesty, fraud, slander, profaneness, gaming, intemperance, and lewdness, are immoralities. All crimes are immoralities, but crime expresses more than immorality.

I had to look up the word contravene.

Contravene means, literally, to come against. Hence, to oppose, to oppose in principle or effect; to contradict; to obstruct in operation.

So, for us to be immoral we have to come against or be in opposition to God in some manner. Well, what do you think sin is, but us thinking that we know better than God? By the way, Jesus took the payment for sin upon Himself so that we would not have to bear the penalty for that sin ourselves. In other words, all sins were forgiven.

Then how and why is anyone going to hell?

That’s a great question, and the answer really lies in another question,

What did you do with Jesus; did you leave him on the cross, or did you simply ignore Him?

Because going to hell is simply a matter of following your leader.

So who are you following?

I will leave you to answer that question on your own.

And then lastly, what about this aspect of Revelation 2:20-21, where you eat things sacrificed to idols?

Having learned years ago that meats sold in Costco were labeled as Halel for the Islamic buyers, I felt like I needed to make a decision, and that was NOT to buy anything with that green sticker.

What does it mean to me if it is Halel food?

It means the cow was pointed at the Kabbalah, slaughtered in a prescribed manner, and an Islamic blessing was said over the animal. In other words, it was blessed as it was killed. It was blessed; what a wonderful thing to do to an animal that is about to be viciously slaughtered. 

You should realize that I am mocking your purposeful naivete, which is a game you play because you don’t want to know that the cow is being offered up to a demon.

The question is, how would most of you know that if I had not told you?

You wouldn’t. When Paul wrote about this very thing, it became evident that these people had become aware and yet tolerated the practices surrounding the sacrificed meats.

Tolerate is the Greek word aphiēm. To tolerate something is to suffer it to be so or be done without any prohibition or hindrance; to allow or permit by not preventing or restraining. This is us yielding our rights to sanity. Our standard definition of tolerance looks something like this: “lay aside, leave, let (alone, be, go, have), omit, put (send) away, remit, suffer, yield up.” In actuality, the word aphiēmi's primary understanding is to send forth. The implication is that we are advancing her cause.

You don’t think that is true, do you?

It was just in the last few days that I saw a video someone made inside their church, where the worship team was singing a song to God. All the references to Him were changed to “she.”

Is that all? 

Perhaps I should just tolerate it and mind my own business. 

Can’t you see how foolish that statement is?

No, that is NOT all. We have adopted the slaughter of unborn babies as appropriate behavior and given openly homosexual persons a regular place at the microphone in church. All of these things are in direct opposition to God, and we have helped to advance Jezebel’s cause by being friends with the world.

You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4 NASB)

Is there a specific woman that we can refer to as Jezebel?

The answer is NO, and we are NOT looking for a woman as a central leader (the antichrist;) we are looking for a man. So, Jezebel has to be seen as a spiritual entity that, as the passage states, is leading “My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.” So “it,” whether it be Jezebel or the Babylon system, is not leading the world astray; they are already gone. It is leading the church astray, people we thought were sane.

Another word the Holy Spirit used in Revelation 2: 20 was translated as leads; this is the Greek word planaō and means cause to roam (from safety, truth, or virtue.) It also means to seduce or deceive.

Albert Barnes' commentary says this, “Whether she herself practiced what she taught is not expressly affirmed, but seems to be implied in Rev. 2:22. It is not often that persons teach these doctrines without practicing what they teach; and the fact that they desire and design to live in this manner will commonly account for the fact that they inculcate such views.”

Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart lived Albert Barnes’ commentary out in front of us and got himself arrested several times.

So no, there is no she, as she represents the lusts and desires of this world. Sadly, there are those that wish to control people and the world and will reject no forms of violence to do it.

Elders who do their work well should be respected. 1Timothy 5:17-25

 With this post, I am finishing the fifth chapter of Paul's letter to Timothy, with a few interjections and thoughts.

1 Timothy 5:17 NLT Elders who do their work well should be respected and paid well, especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching.

Elder is the Greek word presbuteros. To the Jews hearing this, it was directly associated with members of the Jewish council or Sanhedrin. In early times, the rulers of the people, judges, etc., were selected from older men.) From: Thayer’s Greek Definitions

I cannot merely say this is talking about older church members, although the more senior members will probably have sage wisdom and expertise because of time and experience. The mere fact that Paul refers to these persons preaching and teaching tends to point to church leadership. Just saying the phrase “church leadership” leaves a bad taste in my mouth, as several church leaders caused me great emotional harm. Others are clearly into leadership because it holds the opportunity for significant monetary gain within the mega-churches. Apparently, with COVID 19, those days are gone.

Let’s talk about the monetary aspect for a moment. Though relatively simple in this translation, the passage tells us that those who do their work well should get paid well, especially if they are also teaching and preaching.

Can you be a teacher or preacher and be bad at it?

That seems to have possibilities, but why wouldn't others, such as church leadership or the audience in general, weed you out if you were terrible at what you were doing?

In my own experience, our former church deacon board voted to bring on a pastor, who was primarily a Christian school administrator before coming to the church I was at back then. We know this about him because he boasted about the paddling board that hung in the Principal's office and how often he used it. As a pastor, he was lousy. His teachings were all oriented toward acceptable business practices and principles. He refused, for at least two years, to speak of salvation and the price Christ paid for our sins at Easter. He maintained his position as the pastor for at least 15 years, and by the time he left, the church had dwindled from about 250 people to about 80.

Considered worthy is the same Greek word said twice, now go figure that out. It is the word axioō and carries the meanings of 1) to think meet, fit, right. 2) to judge worthy, deem, deserving

Double is the Greek word diplous and means two-fold: - double.

Honor means value or money paid.

The NASB tells us, all this should happen, especially for those who work hard at preaching and teaching.

Now, look once again at what I witnessed; that pastor may well feel that he was working hard. And I would never dispute that he put together a satisfactory harvest festival, but he was NOT a good preacher, nor was he a bible teacher.

1 Timothy 5:18 NLT For the Scripture says, “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.”

So the result is, the elder who is doing their job well should get paid twice what the others get paid.

Does anyone else see the potential for conflict?

Well, even if you don't see it, it is there, for what do you use as the standard for what is good, and there were plenty of people at that little church, 80 to be precise, that thought he did a fine job.

1 Timothy 5:19 Moffatt NT (19) Never let any charge be brought against a presbyter unless it is certified by two or three witnesses.

Do you see a dominant word in this sentence?

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Well, I do, and it is the word NEVER.

The NASB puts it this way, “Do not receive an accusation against.” It almost comes across as though the pastor and the elders are somehow protected.

Only days ago, the current date is 11/13/2020, the pastor of Hillsong New York was removed and effectively fired. Wisely, they did not tell us the details but simply stated that he had a moral failure.

Another of the churches I attended announced that a particular man was coming to try out as pastor. When they mentioned his name, I retorted, I know that man. He, too, had been removed from his pulpit for a moral failure; actually, it was a rather public and catastrophic failure. Several of the men I sat with at Bible study said, we will never have this man here. I said in response, you will. In doing that, I was merely telling them what I heard the Holy Spirit say. And guess what, he was voted in, even after having an open forum and telling the audience, in response to a couple of questions, that he had passed naked pictures of himself across the internet while he was pastor at the other church. It almost seems as if the current twisted Congress had voted him, despite common sense.

The idea of never letting a charge be brought against someone like this seems absurd. Ah, but there is a reasonable solution, and it has everything to being supported by two or three witnesses (CJB.)

1 Timothy 5:20 NASB Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.

Do you get the impression that this church is out of control?

Remind yourself why Paul wrote this letter.

1 Timothy 1:3-4 NASB As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, (4) nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith.

Obviously, this was happening, and YOUNG Timothy has been ordained to straighten out these people in Paul's absence. By the way, Paul may never be back.

Strange doctrines are anything we teach in opposition to what Paul taught. This makes me think that Paul was the standard for what teaching looked like. I wonder how many people actually experienced that?

“so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning.”

In the last few years, there has been a cry from the 80+ crowd for sound preaching that convicts people of their sins. Having sat under this style of preaching for what seemed like forever, I can see images in my head of what that sounds like. For me, a focus on hell tends to focus you on hell. Does that make sense? Focus on the mercy and grace of God, and maybe you would long for the mercy and grace of God. In 1 Timothy 5:20, where Paul tells Timothy to rebuke them openly so that the rest will be fearful of sinning, tends to imply that the public embarrassment would be enough to stop others from sinning. I will add that the word sinning is italicized in the NASB, but if you look up the word fearful, you will find that fear is the Greek word's intended meaning.

Wasn't that the purpose of the stocks, public torture, meant to bring about pain and humiliation. If it is so effective, why not return to the stocks once again?

Because, as Paul told Timothy, be gentle with them. Rebuking someone publicly doesn’t sound so gentle; it is for this reason that we need to revert to the origins of the words being used, for these words were the interpreter's idea of what was being said; that and, they were under pressure to produce a product that suited the king and the “state church.”

The word rebuke is the Greek elegchō, and it also means to confuse, admonish, convince, and reprove.

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Confute, according to Webster’s, is to disprove; to prove to be false, defective, or invalid. By argument or proof.

It sounds like this is not so much meant to humiliate, but to instruct; this is what Christian Apologists do, they confute. In this heated political atmosphere of 2020, we here in America have a young man named Charlie Kirk. He is an apologist on so many levels, including history, religion, and law. You will rarely find him losing ground in a rational argument. I used the word sane because many will try to argue, but they are merely screaming and have NO intelligent debate.

If you are going to be honest, many of these concepts and instructions seem harsh. Perhaps the rest of Paul's instructions will relieve that tension.

1 Timothy 5:21 NLT I solemnly command you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus and the highest angels to obey these instructions without taking sides or showing favoritism to anyone.

So all this is to be done without taking sides or showing favoritism to anyone. No one gets an advantage, and NO ONE should be abused simply because they disagree. On that note, Paul, with no other written word but the Law and the Prophets. Consider that the Holy Spirit taught him mercy and grace from those books, books that many learned to hate (I have since unlearned that hatred.) God, in the Law, did not show favorites. He was kind and showed mercy to those who followed after the Law. Alright, many have stated bickering already, as they only see God killing so many those who followed Moses out of Egypt. The problem is that “God’s people” brought Egypt along with them, which included offering their children to a made-up god called Moloch. Notice that the slaughtering of innocent babies is detestable to God, and He promised to make those who do such things pay.

Simply stated,

“You must not murder.” Deuteronomy 5:17 NLT

The more direct approach.

Deuteronomy 18:10a NASB "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire,”

What was God talking about?

Roasting your children as sacrifices, specifically to Moloch.

How do we do it today?

We murder babies and call it women's reproductive health.

1 Timothy 5:22 GW Don't be in a hurry to place your hands on anyone to ordain him. Don't participate in the sins of others. Keep yourself morally pure.

Keep in mind the story I told you of the pastor who had the moral failure. Although he went through rehab for two years under the watchful eye of a proven older pastor named Tommy Barnett, how do you know the pastor with the moral failure is right in his head? I don't know a man that does not struggle with sexual sin in some way. If they tell you they don't, they are lying. It is that simple. The problem is that we who have been in religion for any length of time develop an attitude that says crush them and don't waste your time trying to get them healed up; that tends to make us want to cover up our sins with lies and deception. However, like an alcoholic, or a smoker, the drive to do those sinful things rarely leaves (By the way, gluttony is a sin, so we all need to calm down.)

Going through recovery helps, mostly because it gives you tools to fend off such problems – one of those tools is a sponsor. Sponsors come in all shapes and sizes – I am trying to make a point here, as some, from what I have been told, are harsh and demanding, while others will not press you to make right decisions.

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I am a huge man, and I often see myself as a Grizzly bear which no one wants to get near. Appearances can be deceiving, as I have lived my life as a scared human being that tries to keep unsafe people at a distance; therefore, no one would ask me to sponsor them for a couple of years.

When a young man finally did ask me to sponsor him, I told him, you know what I am like; to that, he responded, “you are exactly what I need.” I met with him weekly for several years and watched him grow in spiritual strength. Yes, he had a lot of emotional damage, but he began to learn to give it over to the Lord and set it aside.

The truth is we are all like this young man in some ways, trying to hide behind from damage that afflicts us. Is it possible then that our sins (weaknesses) could erupt to the surface?

Well certainly, and it is just a matter of patiently watching people to see if the Life in Christ is feeding the tree (we are each a tree that needs some pruning, feeding, and care.) An appropriately cared for grove of apple trees will produce good fruit, consistently, for years – well into your old age. To the point that those who know you will say you have always been stable and full of wisdom, even though the truth is, you have had your slip-ups. This is precisely what the grace and mercy of God do for us.

Now, just because you came to know the Lord doesn’t mean that junk goes away. Sin, unfortunately, is like some genetic damage, and we all have it. It motivates all of us. This inability to free ourselves of sin is why Jesus gave Himself for us, poured out His blood for us, and now sits on the right hand of the Father, continually making intercession for us. Dear Lord, we need it. He brought forgiveness before you ever accepted it, but you did, and now you eternally belong in His loving arms – no matter what the enemy does to you. Once you ask Him, He never lets you go, even if you think He did.

1 Timothy 5:24-25 GW The sins of some people are obvious, going ahead of them to judgment. The sins of others follow them there. (25) In the same way, the good things that people do are obvious, and those that aren't obvious can't remain hidden.

“The sins of some people are obvious, going ahead of them to judgment.” What a peculiar statement. You might think that if these people were destined for hell, their sins would precede them, which opens the door to the idea that God will destroy all evil.

If the above statement were a question, then the answer would be yes, but when will that happen?

At some point during the last battle of Revelation.

Watch this process starting in Revelation 20.

Revelation 20:3 MSG (God has dumped Satan) dumped him into the Abyss, slammed it shut, and sealed it tight. No more trouble out of him, deceiving the nations—until the thousand years are up. After that, he has to be let loose briefly.

So Satan, the Antichrist, and the false prophet are locked up and unable to influence people for a thousand years. You might think that there will be no sin at all during this time, but there is, and here is the proof.

Blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.
(Revelation 22:14-15 NASB)

Notice that this happens during the thousand-year reign of Christ. Does this mean that these people will be bullying and killing just like before? No, because this is the time of peace. Judges and this includes Jesus, will sit upon thrones judging cases and dispatching rapid justice. It is, finally, a time of peace that will reign from the beginning and throughout eternity. Isaiah 9 speaks of this.

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There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:7 NASB)

All those fools and there will be myriads of them because people have been reproducing for a thousand years, not having turned their hearts to Jesus, will be deceived by Satan, just as before.

Revelation 20:7-9 NLT When the thousand years come to an end, Satan will be let out of his prison. He will go out to deceive the nations—called Gog and Magog—in every corner of the earth. He will gather them together for battle—a mighty army, as numberless as sand along the seashore. And I saw them as they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded God’s people and the beloved city. But fire from heaven came down on the attacking armies and consumed them.

The passage above mentions those “magic” words, Gog, and Magog. Since Ezekiel 38 and 39 also speak of Gog and Magog, and the destruction or death of Gog on the hillsides of Israel, is Revelation 22 merely depicting what Ezekiel talks about?

The answer is NO, as Ezekiel, for all practical purposes, describes what appears to be a nuclear war. The reason for this thinking comes from Israel NOT touching the bodies but merely placing a marker to indicate one fallen in battle. Those who tend to the bodies do not touch them until six months is passed. I am not sure that makes sense, but then I am not a nuclear waste removal expert. There is one other thing about what Ezekiel describes; the citizens of Israel use the weapons to heat their homes for seven years. This arouses many questions, but no one has been able to answer these questions for me adequately.

This attempt at a battle against God, His city, and His people are resolved hastily once it starts.

And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 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 and ever. (Revelation 20:9-10 NASB)

Let's finish off chapter five.

1 Timothy 5:25 NLT In the same way, the good deeds of some people are obvious. And the good deeds done in secret will someday come to light.

If your bad deed can follow you, much like a reputation, then so can your good deeds. It seems that no one cares about the good things you did anymore. God does, and He will bring them to light – not for people to pat you on the back, but then that might happen during the millennial reign. There, we are to be rewarded, not punished as some would tell you; and there would be an appropriate place to make sure those deeds you did in private will come to light as a beacon of mercy and grace.

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