Genesis 1:4,5 comments: Night and Day

4  And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5  And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

It is established here God’s works are good. His original intention is good, beneficial, worthwhile, life-giving, and giving Him glory, manifesting His power. But, God is not a uniter. He is a divider. He divides, as we will see, evil from good, sin from righteousness, the wheat from the chaff, and here, light from darkness. There is truth and there are lies. There is good and there is evil. There is light and there is darkness. Unlike the popular mantra that darkness is the absence of light so evil is the absence of God the truth is that God has control over all of it and He is present everywhere. Hell is not simply separation from God, but an expression of His wrath on those who reject His sovereignty over them. Do not let popular ‘new age’ philosophy corrupt your understanding of the God of the Bible.

1Kings 8:12 ¶  Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.

Deuteronomy 4:11  And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.

Isaiah 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Psalm 139:8  If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

The modern Christian denies God’s power and sovereign rule over all that exists in the material universe. His God is weak; who can neither preserve His word nor keep His man or woman saved, and is in a war with almost equal in power Satan for our souls, to whom Christ’s life was paid as a ransom, none of which are true but spoken as if they were by every lying conservative pulpit in the land.

Psalm 119:89  LAMED. For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.

Exodus 30:12  When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them.

Psalm 49:6 ¶  They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; 7  None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: 8  (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)

Matthew 20:28  Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Spiritually, God gives you a choice; light or darkness, spiritual Day or Night, with the words capitalized. You have the choice to make as part of your free will but you have no control over the consequences of that choice.

Here we see that God’s day for us starts in the evening previous. The Bible defines the day as starting on the previous evening and into the following day, like Tuesday night into Wednesday. As the darkness was first then the light, so is the evening first then the day, and your sinful condition first then the light of Christ, as the darkness of this age and then the morning of Christ’s return.

This is a physical 24 hour day with an evening and a morning, not an ‘age’ consisting of millions of years.

Genesis 1:3 comments: the light (revised)

3 ¶  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Sound passing through water causes light in a process called Sonoluminescence, as the experimental science which produced Sonar showed us. 

Here are the three parts of God in verses one, two, and three. In verse one there is God the Father, the soul of God, so to speak, the seat of will and self-identity.

Psalm 11:5  The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

In verse two we have the Spirit of God, His particular vehicle for acting upon and through His creation, also called the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Ghost as God Himself as already pointed out.

Here, in verse three, we have God’s spoken Word, the beginning of all life, the origin of life, the beginning of light, and the origin of light. Here, the universe is being created, the UNI-VERSE, one spoken sentence. God is the author of it, the authority of it, as my wife, Beth, pointed out to me.

John 1:1 ¶  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2  The same was in the beginning with God. 3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

5 ¶  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

The Lord Jesus Christ, as any reading of John will attest to, is the Word. He is the physical image of God, the body of God, if you will, so we have three parts of one God; soul, body, and spirit.

Colossians 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

Hebrews 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

John 14:9  Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

Three parts to one God with one will, not three individual persons with separate wills.

Deuteronomy 6:4  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

John 10:30  I and my Father are one.

Christ is the appearance of God; the angel of the Lord, His presence.

Isaiah 63:9  In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

Galatians 4:14  And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

Who led the Hebrews out of Egypt.

Judges 2:1 ¶  And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

We will be created in such a manner, having a body, a soul, and a spirit.

1Thessalonians 5:23  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Regarding light, scientists presume the existence of the basic particle of light, a photon. The universe is bathed in that light. For every estimated proton around the nucleus of an atom they say there are a billion photons.(6)

Psalm 19:1  « To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. » The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

We can safely dismiss theoretical entities, as said previously, which exist only as having explanatory power to envision a universe without God, and understand that this is the Word of God working in our universe. And, He holds it together, not non-existent Dark Matter or Dark Energy, but God Himself, as the Word, Christ.

Colossians 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

(6) Lee Smolin, The Trouble with Physics: The Rise of String Theory, and Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next (New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2006), 75.

Genesis 1:2 comments: the primordial earth

2  And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

To define without form, and void we cross-reference to Jeremiah 4 to see how the Holy Spirit guided that prophet to define the phrase.

Jeremiah 4:23  I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. 24  I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. 25  I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.

In a statement on an unrelated subject in Jeremiah we find the definition of without form, and void as being structurally fluid and uninhabited without light. Perhaps it was molten rock, who can say? We do know that God’s intention was for it to be inhabited.

Isaiah 45:18  For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

There is a belief that there is a gap between verses one and two that allows for long ages of time or for a brief period of time where the earth was inhabited by someone or something. We do not have enough evidence in the text to discuss this possibility which didn’t become popular until the early 1800’s, But I call those who believe in the authority of the King James Bible to note that the phrase is And the earth was without form, and void not, “And the earth became without form, and void.”  In addition, how could there be death before Adam’s time?

Romans 5:12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

There are some commentators who insist that animal life died in this period but mankind had not been created yet. However…

Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

1Corinthians 15:21  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

When I get to the word replenish I will be forced to discuss this possibility further.

The word darkness will be used in a spiritual sense later in the Bible as it is used in a physical sense here. The face of the deep is a reference to the fact that this earth is encased on water and the face of references the surface. The sea or ocean as a distinct body of water separated from land has not been formed yet. In Job 38 the phrase is used in an argument God makes to Job about things on earth to things in the furthest reaches of outer space.

Water is present in the universe. In the Orion Nebula alone enough water is produced, scientists estimate, to fill the earth’s oceans every 24 minutes.(4) This water is not necessarily the same kind of life-giving water we have on earth, though.(5) Even if they are guessing wrong about the amount the evidence still remains that there appears to be a great deal of water out there.

The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Moved upon shows movement on something as in Genesis 7:21 and the face of the waters is the surface of the waters as in Genesis 7:18.

The Spirit of God is one agency by which God works in His creation. There is named the Spirit of God here and elsewhere as well as the Spirit of Christ.

Romans 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

1Peter 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

This is the Holy Ghost as a person with the Spirit being Himself in operation.

Luke 4:1  And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

John 1:33  And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.

John 7:39  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Acts 2:4  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

1Corinthians 12:3  Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

When the Holy Spirit’s operative work is spoken of the impersonal pronoun it can be used.

Romans 8:16  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:..26  Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

But as a third part of God the Holy Ghost is referred to as he.

John 14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

(4) Frank D. Roylance, “Astronomers Observe Water Forming in the Orion Nebula,” The Tech – Online Edition, Volume 118, Issue 19, April 14, 1998. http://tech.mit.edu/V118/N19/dorion.19w.html

(5) Justine Alford, “Water on Rosetta’s Comet Different to Water on Earth,” IFL Science, December 11, 2014. http://www.iflscience.com/space/rosetta-data-suggests-water-earth-probably-didnt-come-comets

Genesis 1:1 comments: the beginning

As we study the text of the Bible there are two things we must be aware of. As educator and author, E.D. Hirsch wrote, the meaning of any text is what it literally says. Anything you add to it or take from it beyond that may be its significance to you or mean something different to you but it says what it says. Another way of looking at this is the old saw, “a text without a context is a pretext.” (1) Don’t use the Bible, the foundation of your convictions, in a way that attacks that foundation to suit an agenda you have; political, economic, social, or just personal.

Additionally, as we study the text of the Bible there are two questions which pose themselves that we, at some point, have to consider. As a scholar of Ancient Greece, Stephen Todd, said about what a historian must consider when approaching an ancient text, we must ask ourselves why it was written and then, why it was preserved. (2)

These two sets of considerations will be very important in our study of the Bible.

(1) E.D. Hirsch, Validity in Interpretation (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1967).

(2) Stephen Todd, “The Use and Abuse of Attic Orators,” Greece & Rome, Second Series, Vol. 37, No. 2 (Oct., 1990), 164. (From a paper delivered at Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1988.)

Genesis 1:1 ¶  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

The testimony of the Bible is abundantly clear that the universe did not come into being by itself and there is no evidence that there are alternate universes. The universe is also not eternally preexistent as a time is given here, in the beginning, and an action by God as in God created.

It is impossible to believe the Bible and, at the same time, believe in the Big Bang theory where all matter and energy comes from the primordial explosion of the singularity, the size of a period in a sentence. Nor is it possible to believe in its antecedent belief, the Kabala’s mustard seed that explodes into the universe, or the Hindu’s cosmic egg that explodes into the universe, and believe in the God of the Bible. The physical universe is a production of God as all matter, energy, and time can be attributed directly to Him. He has no beginning and no end and is beyond our ability to finitely reason.

God is not the subject of science because He cannot be experimented on or called into an equation. Science can only study what they can see or measure and all unseen theoretical entities are simply modern myths even if a scientist defines seeing in a different way than a non-scientist does. Saying that they have faith that one day they will prove something they cannot prove merely moves that scientist’s faith into the realm of religion. Faith is not science and science is not faith. Science has limits. Faith is only limited by God’s will for that person having the faith.

God’s creation of the universe is not only confirmed by Moses, writing Genesis under the inspiration of God, but also Isaiah.

Isaiah 42:5  Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

Isaiah 45:18  For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.

And the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

Makr 13:19  For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.

Science requires that if you put forth a proposition, a statement of presumed fact, that you should be able to make certain predictions from it. This verse says that God created. So, one could logically assume that since an intelligent entity created everything that a certain degree of design and order must be present in it as in our experience order does not come from disorder without intelligent guidance. This is, indeed, the case. Physicists are looking for a unifying “theory of everything.” Well, it is right here in front of us. He is the God of the Bible. His existence explains everything from how the universe is held together to the moral sense of human beings as you will see in the following study.

Who is God? He is the uncreated person and entity who created all that is. He simply is, as He said Himself, I AM THAT I AM.

Exodus 3:13  And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 14  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

It is a nonsensical question to ask who created God. Such a question is a philosophical absurdity. It is like asking; could God create a rock so heavy He could not lift it? Such questions are the pure gibberish of the skeptic whose mind is blinded by the god of this world, Satan.

God is the source of all reality; seen and unseen. In Job God states that everything from dust forming into a clod of dirt in a farmer’s field to lions catching their prey, with the movements of distant galaxies to rain happening in places on earth where there is no man are all direct results of His direct actions. Read Job, chapter 38. God is not a watchmaker winding up the clock and walking away or standing to admire His work. He makes the hands move and the tick-tock sound is part of His second-by-second control of all events. So, scientific thought, even with Christians since Isaac Newton, by reducing God to the ultimate first cause without an active role in every moment of our existence, is just simply one of the things that is in error about modern thinking. Nothing happens by itself without direction, meaningless and pointless, a result of blind chance. Absolutely nothing.

The question always arises. Why does calamity and disaster happen if God is good? We will be forced to discuss that later.

Heaven is one of those words like evil that doesn’t need an ‘s’ on the end to be thought of as plural although there is nothing particularly wrong with saying heavens or evils. It’s just awkward sometimes. We says skies as in the old advertising phrase, “Fly the Friendly Skies,” when there is only one sky. William Rosenau, in his early 20^th century work entitled Hebraisms in the Authorized Version of the Bible reported that in the Hebrew grammars he studied the use of the word heaven or heavens, as for other plurals, is the difference between referring to something as a number of individual separate objects or as a singular to denote them collectively. So, contrary to the skeptics who insist that writing heaven for heavens is wrong, especially those skeptics sitting under Authorized Version preaching, it is not wrong, you are.(3)

 In the following passages we see the description of the creation of two heavens; one what we call atmosphere and the other we call outer space.

Genesis 2:1  Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

(3) William Rosenau, Hebraisms in the Authorized Version of the Bible (Baltimore: The Lord Baltimore Press, 1902), 111.

Revelation 22:10-21 comments: the end of the beginning

 10  And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. 11  He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

Much has been said about verse 11. In each generation the end of history has been at hand. Each generation can recall its conquerors, it’s horrible wars, famines, and utter destruction. Satan has his man ready, waiting in the wings, so to speak, from Nimrod to Al Baghdadi of ISIS. But, God exercised restraint and gave man more time. Each empire draws people together and people drawing together inevitably stand against God as mankind prefers worshipping himself over his Creator.

As Matthew Henry stated, this book being open will encourage men, and women, I might add. Those who are wicked will be given even more of an excuse to practice their wickedness as they have a short time. Those who are Christ’s will be encouraged in their faith to remain close to Him because they have eternity with Him waiting for them.

12  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

When these events happen they will happen quickly and every man will be judged. As churches were judged in the introduction so will nations be judged. The judgment of individuals who go along with the church’s apostasy or the national sin is apparent.

Matthew 25:31 ¶  When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36  Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37  Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43  I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44  Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

13  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

You can go back to Chapter 1 to see this declaration.

 14  Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 15  For without are dogs [see 2Peter 2 for dogs as false teachers and prophets], and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 16  I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. 17  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. 18  For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

We’ve come full circle back to the introduction and Jesus’ warnings to the seven churches. Also, whomever removes anything from this book or, for that matter, the entire Bible, is accursed. This is a great promise of eternity with Christ or a warning of an eternity of misery.

    20 ¶  He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. 21  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Thank you for reading my frail attempt to unravel these things from a literal perspective. I hope you were inspired to read your Bible even if it was only for the purpose of proving me wrong.  In any event, read and study. Let God speak to you through His words. It will change your life, I assure you. 

Revelation 22:6-9 comments: the angel tells John to worship God

6 ¶  And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

Remember that the angel speaking, who began in 21:9 showing John the New Jerusalem, the home of the bride of Christ and Christ, is one of the seven angels who had the seven vials of God’s judgment, apparently speaking with Christ the Lamb’s permission, command, and authority.

We have come full circle.

Revelation 1:1 ¶  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: 2  Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

God sent His angel to show His servants things which must happen soon in God’s sense of time.

Psalm 90:4  For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

Ecclesiastes 6:6  Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?

2Peter 3:8  But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

God’s angel is His presence, the physical image of God.

Judges 2:1  And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.

Isaiah 63:9  In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

Judges 13:21  But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the LORD. 13:22  And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.

[There are no angels with wings in the Bible. Winged angels are a fiction brought over from Persian Zoroastrianism.]

Notice how the word even is used as comparing two things which are the same.

Genesis 6:17  And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

And see this verse;

Galatians 4:14  And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

For Jesus is;

2Corinthians 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Colossians 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

Hebrews 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

And we know from the use of the word image that it is appearance or likeness.

Genesis 1:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

This us shows that God and man are composed of three parts; body, soul, and spirit.

1Thessalonians 5:23  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

2Corinthians 13:14  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

1John 5:7  For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Christ promised that these events related in Revelation will happen fast, in an accelerated fashion, in an overwhelming series of disasters.

Revelation 2:5  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent….16  Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Revelation 3:11  Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

Revelation 22:12  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be…20  He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

 8  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.

Here is how the Bible defines the physical posture of worship, as in this verse.

I fell down to worship.

Genesis 24:26  And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD…52  And it came to pass, that, when Abraham’s servant heard their words, he worshipped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth.

Psalm 95:6  O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.

Matthew 27:29  And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!

 9  Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

The angel tells John to worship God, not him.

A Christian is to bow before no man but God. No king, no ruler of any kind is worthy of our worship, perhaps our obedience, but not the act of worship. This has led to great confusion and blasphemy in history as kings demanded the physical act of worship, much to their shame.

Do you wonder which prophet this angel represented?

Revelation 22:1-5 comments: they shall see His face

1 ¶  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Here, we have pure and clear together again. Remember the reference to the water of life in the last chapter.

Revelation 21:6  And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

You can see by this verse that that verse was not a metaphor. Here, this water of life proceeds physically from God and Christ as it does spiritually in other places. Remember previous verses in the Bible?

John 4:14  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

2  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3  And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4  And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 5  And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

Again, these appear, by the way they are written, to be literal things, a river and now, the tree of life. Not a tree of life but the tree of life.

Genesis 2:9  And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 3:22  And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: …24  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Revelation 2:7  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Those people living on the earth, in eternity, must be healed, restored. This constant adjustment and medicine only available from God must permit people with physical bodies to live forever. In our current reality the physical universe is constantly adjusted by God through bursts of energy every moment that atheistic materialists call particles; photons, quarks, the Higgs-Boson, etc. etc. These unseen particles are non-existent entities used to explain the unseen causes of events that are measureable for the atheist mind, but without God. However, even many scientists do not believe in them as being real entities but only having explanatory power, and even that is questionable. And, although they certainly would not agree with me or my faith in God, I recommend reading science philosophers Paul Feyerabend’s Against Method, Ian Hacking’s Representing and Intervening and Nancy Cartwright’s How the Laws of Physics Lie to understand this and also to understand that there is no such thing as Science if you regard that concept as a monolithic standard of modernity, truth, and consensus.

The curse placed on Adam and his progeny shall be removed and we will be without sin. We will see God face to face and His name will be in us. His ownership and possession of us will be complete.

God will be our light and we will reign over whatever He is going to place under our authority for eternity.

Matthew 5:8  Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

John 12:26  If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

We were promised a new name.

Revelation 2:17  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Revelation 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Revelation 14:1 ¶  And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.

Revelation 21:21-27 comments: God is the light of the city

21  And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. 22  And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 23  And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

In the ancient world, starting with the city named after Cain’s son, Enoch, in Genesis 4:17 the city was a religious entity, a type of church, started all at once with invited families who would share in the same worship and the same gods, although the individual family would have its own singular worship and gods which represented their lars familiaris or familiar spirits (see Leviticus 20:27), the guiding divinities of ancestors dead. (21) It is likely that Cain’s false religion was carried on through his city.

In addition, each home in the ancient world was to have a sacred flame which was the religious center of the home and must not be permitted to go out. (22) This eternal flame, like the lamp in the tabernacle in Exodus 27:20, must never go out. This was a counterfeit city in the ancient world, a city of man’s creation, man’s poor attempt to replace what God intended. In God’s city, though, He is the light and the glory of it and there is no need for any other. In this passage we can see the religious significance of the sun and the stars as evidence of God’s sacred handiwork, placing in our temporal tabernacle lights that reflect on earth that never go out.

(21) Numa Denis Fustel De Coulanges, The Ancient City: A Study of the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (1864, repr. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2006), 134.

(22) Ibid., 25.

24  And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. 25  And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 26  And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. 27  And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Now, clearly, here in eternity, there will be people inhabiting the earth. Some commentators believe the Jews will inherit the earth and grow to a great number as mankind was originally intended to populate the universe. Although we don’t have enough evidence to declare this as being the case it is clear that there will be people on earth and their leadership will have to bring glory and honor to the heavenly city. Only those persons whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will have a presence apart from the Lake of Fire.

Revelation 21:18-20 comments: precious stones

18  And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

The wall is jasper. In antiquity jasper was usually considered to be green and likened to an emerald while today it includes a stone of red, yellow, and brown as well. Other mentions of jasper in Revelation are;

Revelation 4:3  And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

Revelation 21:11  Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

Revelation 21:19  And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

Pure and clear are synonyms in this verse giving us the meaning of both. See again that this is done later.

Revelation 22:1  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

The city is pure gold, without imperfection. Here are other references to pure gold.

2Chronicles 3:4  And the porch that was in the front of the house, the length of it was according to the breadth of the house, twenty cubits, and the height was an hundred and twenty: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

2Chronicles 9:17  Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.

A glass that you can see through is also without imperfections.

 19  And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 20  The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

Precious stones like these cover the priest’s breastplate of judgment in Exodus 28 and in Satan/Lucifer’s clothing in Ezekiel 28.

Exodus 28:17  And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row.

Eze kiel 28:13  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

Be careful, if studying what these individual stones might represent in reading back modern definitions of them into the Bible, which would have defined them by ancient definitions as I explained regarding jasper. Think of them as precious stones like rubies and emeralds and remember that quibbling over definitions today and reading them back into the Bible like reading Linnaeus’ taxonomic classifications of creatures back into the Bible, which are modern definitions, will lead to a dead end. The great fish or whale, because of its large size, was a specially prepared creature and in the Bible whale does not refer to a marine mammal of the order, Cetacea, but to a large sea creature.  Read Jonah 1:17; Matthew 12:40; and Genesis 1:21. Keep that in mind when you try to read back modern definitions into the Bible. God couldn’t care less about your labeling and definitions created for your own benefit.

This also brings to mind some of the problems with modern science. Such designations and classifications are merely social constructions designed to place things in categories in our own minds and do not have a necessary reality in the physical universe. In the same regard philosophers of science have noted that for some experimental scientists who deal in real, tangible evidence that some things that cannot be seen with the naked eye like photons and electrons might not even exist but are, “fictions, logical constructions, or parts of an intellectual instrument for reasoning about the world.”(20)

My point is when you are reading the words mammal or reptile, do not read them back into the Bible, written before they came into use for science. Also, do not read the modern definitions of a precious stone and presume that the Bible must conform to what we have decided to use as a label or classification after the Bible was penned and translated.

(20) Ian Hacking, Representing and Intervening: Introductory Topics in the Philosophy of Natural Sciences (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 27.

Revelation 21:1-17 comments: the New Jerusalem coming down from God

1 ¶  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6  And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Isaiah 65:17 ¶  For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.

Isaiah 66:22  For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.

2Peter 3:12  Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?13  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

In the new heaven and new earth there will be no more sea. It is not certain if that means the world’s oceans as it would by the first mention of sea in Genesis or by its linkage with heaven and earth here if it refers to the space between the earth and the third heaven now, which will not be in between God and man as we see with the New Jerusalem coming to earth. The question here, as elsewhere in Revelation, is the word sea a metaphor for something else?

Remember, the church is the bride of Christ so there is something linking the church with the city of the new Jerusalem as in verse 2 is a simile prepared as a bride while in verse 9 it is directly called the bride.

2Corinthians 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

God will be with His people for eternity and there will be no more death, sorry, crying, or pain. All things will be made new by the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end of all things.

Revelation 1:8  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

I will discuss water of life in the next chapter where it is mentioned twice as literal.

Who he is that overcometh and shall inherit all things has been defined previously.

1John 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Also, in verse 7 remember who we become when we receive Christ.

John 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

There is a list of people whose character keeps them from the New Jerusalem. These are things worth examining in your own spirit as they are all impediments, even in the Age of Grace where the Holy Spirit has sealed us, to growing in grace with Christ.

    9 ¶  And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

If the church is the bride of Christ and the new Jerusalem is the bride of Christ then it only follows, as per the next chapter it is safe to believe that the church is the servants who serve him in 22:3. It is reasonable to believe that our eternity will be praising and serving God, just being with Him physically present, a glorious event that makes even the most intense experience pale by comparison.

10  And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

This city, coming down from space, which may already be on  its way, is physically visible so this is not simply a spiritual event.

11  Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 12  And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13  On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. 14  And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

So far, this is pretty obvious although one would presume that Paul was included in the twelve and not Judas, of course.

15  And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 16  And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

The city is a cube with measurements of about 1500 miles on all sides. Note that it’s sides are not just 1500 miles but its height is 1500 miles so that consists of space inside of this cube is 1500x1500x1500 miles. This is over 3 billion miles of space available within this cube. That seems like plenty of room for anything you can imagine. This is God the Father’s house.

John 14:2  In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Our modern understanding of a mansion is a large manor house. An older definition is a luxury apartment in a manor house. It is clear in the New Jerusalem there is room for anything you can imagine.

 17  And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

The city has a wall and I don’t know how that works out with a cube so that may be an argument against the cube or either way you see it the wall may be evident. It is around 225 feet high depending on the length of a cubit, as there are small variations in the measurement. Here is further evidence of what an angel looks like as it is likened to a man. There are not angels with wings in the Bible and the phrase, “angelic creatures,” does not exist either except in the imagination of some. I defined angel from the Bible early on.

Revelation 20:11-15 comments: the second death

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

The Great White Throne judgment is at the end of the Millennium after Satan is cast into the Lake of Fire where the Beast and the False prophet were thrown a thousand years earlier.

Notice that this judgment is in space. Earth and heaven recede away or flee. They are not there.

Proverbs 20:8  A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes.

We know that the taint of sin corrupted the universe.

Job 25:5  Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight.

Isaiah 24:23  Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

Isaiah 60:19  The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. 20  Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.

The saved in Christ are judged by His righteousness and have eternal life by virtue of that perfect righteousness of Christ. The dead here are judged by their own righteousness and must face a certain fact.

James 2:10  For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

God has given mankind His perfect standard not only in verses like the following under the Old Testament;

Micah 6:8  He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

…but also in the New;

Matthew 22:36  Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38  This is the first and great commandment. 39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

These people standing at this Great White Throne have neither believed Christ nor trusted in Him for salvation.

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

John 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Shall any man be able to claim that he has lived to God’s standard of righteousness? Better would it be so that we leaned on Christ’s righteousness and on His perfect sacrifice for our sins than on our own frail and failing vanity.

Their names have been removed out of the Book of Life because they rejected Christ.

Exodus 32:32  Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin — ; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.33  And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

Philippians 4:3  And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.

Revelation 3:5  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Revelation 13:8  And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 17:8  The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Revelation 21:27  And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Revelation 22:19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Note that death and hell are cast into the Lake of Fire. Hell is not the Lake of Fire as some fundamentalists claim. Also notice the reference to the sea.

Revelation 20:1-10 comments: the first resurrection

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.

Having already determined that the bottomless pit is the center or heart of the earth and Hell, we see here that Satan is bound for a thousand years. We also see that the martyred saints of the beast and the false prophet will rule with Christ for a thousand years. This resurrection or translation/rapture of the martyred saints is the first resurrection. The question this raises is whether or not the saved dead from throughout history will also rule with the saints martyred in the Great Tribulation. We have this word from Christ regarding His Jewish disciples.

Matthew 19:28  And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29  And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

This reference by Paul in 2Timothy 2:12 seems, by its wording, to be a direct link to John’s talking about who overcometh in 1John 5:4,5 and several verses in Revelation. It also is a direct link to something Jesus said in Matthew 24. Overcoming and enduring have to do with not renouncing Christ under persecution. This was a huge issue in the early church when under persecution some would renounce Christ and then beg to be readmitted to fellowship when the persecution was over.

2Timothy 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 13  If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

1John 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Revelation 2:7  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God… 11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death…17  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it…26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:

Revelation 3:5  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels…12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name…21  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Revelation 21:7  He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Matthew 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Whether I am reigning with Christ on earth or serving Him in Heaven there will I be.

 Here is information on what the conditions of the Millennial reign of Christ will be like. What follows is a general prophecy about the end of time, including the Millennium. Remember that prophecies in the Old Testament are incomplete, based on incomplete knowledge, but giving a general sense with timeframes a little off but this is cleared up in the New Testament. I think it is only possible to sort out the Old Testament prophecies by using the New Testament fulfillment as a sort of key or map legend to them.

Isaiah 65:17 ¶  For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. 18  But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. 19  And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. 20  There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. 21  And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. 22  They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 23  They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them. 24  And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. 25  The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.

66:1 ¶  Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? 2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. 3  He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. 4  I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.

    5 ¶  Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed. 6  A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the LORD that rendereth recompence to his enemies. 7  Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. 8  Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. 9  Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God. 10  Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: 11  That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. 12  For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees. 13  As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. 14  And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the LORD shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.

15 ¶  For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. 16  For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many. 17  They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD. 18  For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. 19  And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. 20  And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD. 21  And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD. 22  For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain. 23  And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD. 24  And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

Zechariah 8:20  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: 21  And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also. 22  Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. 23  Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.

There are other verses that have to do with the Millennium and you can tell because they have no application to the time in which they are written. There are also incomplete, general, and summary statements in the New Testament that give little detail but make statements clearly about the Millennium.

2Timothy 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

At the end of the thousand years Satan is released temporarily, but long enough to gather together a great army of those who had been ruled by the iron rod of Christ during the millennium. Again, start reading in Ezekiel 38 about the war with Gog and Magog. Remember.

Revelation 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Revelation 12:5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

Revelation 19:15  And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

They will chafe at Christ’s rule and rebel. Obviously, there are a great many people alive in the Millennium who are not saved. The point is that at the end of the Great Tribulation not every unsaved person is killed and not every government or nation is eliminated but that for a thousand years they are all under Christ’s authority until Satan is allowed to stir them up again and they are destroyed.

Psalm 2:1 ¶  Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 3  Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4  He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. 5  Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. 6  Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

    7 ¶  I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8  Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 9  Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

    10 ¶  Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 11  Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Those who died in the Lord up to the beginning of the Millennium are represented in the first resurrection. The second resurrection is of a substantially different nature, the description of which comes next.