Revelation 20:5

 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.  This is the first resurrection.

·        None but those who have served Christ and suffered for Him shall be favored with the first resurrection (MH)

·        This is a resurrection of blessing (blessed and holy is he); This is a resurrection of power (over such the second death has no power); This is a resurrection of privilege (they shall be priests of God . . . shall reign with Him a thousand years)  (DG)

Isaiah 26:14  They are dead, they will not live; they are deceased, they will not rise.  Therefore You have punished and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.

Job 14:14 If a man dies, shall he live again?  All the days of my hard service I will wait, till my change comes.

Revelation 20:4

 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them.  Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands.  And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

·        The honor bestowed upon them:  they were raised from the dead and restored to life (MH)

·        These saints reign with Jesus for the same period of time that Satan is bound (a thousand years). They administrate the kingdom of Jesus Christ over the earth, reigning over those who pass from the earth of the Great Tribulation to the earth of the Millennium. (DG)

Daniel 7:9  I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool.  His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire

Psalm 146:10  The LORD shall reign forever – Your God, O Zion, to all generations.  Praise the LORD!

Revelation 20:2-3

He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished.  But after these things he must be released for a little while.

·        Neither the strength of the dragon, nor the subtlety of the serpent, was sufficient to rescue him.  (MH)

·        The term of this confinement – a thousand years – after which he was to be loosed for a little season (MH)

Genesis 3:1  Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made….

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

 

Revelation 20:1

 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

·        The final importance of Satan is perhaps indicated in the fact that it is not the Father who deals with him, nor the Christ, but only an unnamed angel.” (Morris)

·        This is a dramatic declaration that Satan is not God’s opposite or equal; and that God could easily stop Satan’s activity at any time. Yet God allows Satan to continue, because even in his evil, he indirectly serves the purposes of God. (DG)

Psalm 30:3  O LORD, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive that I should not go down to the pit.

Ezekiel 7:23  Make a chain, for the land is filled with crimes of blood, and the city is full of violence.

Revelation 19:21

 And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse.  And all the birds were filled with their flesh.

·        “A lake of burning brimstone would not only be intensely hot, but malodorous and fetid as well.” (Mounce)

·        The lake of fire is what we normally consider Hell. It is real, and there is nothing more important than avoiding it.   (DG)

Exodus 22:24  and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows and your children fatherless.

Ezekiel 39:4  You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.

Revelation 19:20

 Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.  These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.

·        “The battle of Armageddon is the laughter of God against the climax of man’s arrogance.” (Barnhouse)

·        The beast and the false prophet receive special treatment. They are cast alive into the lake of fire before the Great White Throne of judgment holds court (Revelation 20:11-15).  (DG)

Isaiah 30:33  For Tophet was established of old, yes, for the king it is prepared.  He has made it deep and large; its pyre is fire with much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, kindles it.

Daniel 7:11  I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame.

Revelation 19:19

 And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.

·        Some find it hard to understand how man could be so foolish to try and keep Jesus and this heavenly army off the earth in a pitched battle. They suggest that these armies initially gather to battle against each other, and then turn their fury on the returning Jesus. This may be the case, but we should never underestimate man’s folly and hatred of God.  (DG)

·        This is just the logical extension of man’s constant war against God since the fall. It is no more unbelievable than the idea that God came to earth and men murdered Him.  (DG)

Psalm 2:2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed

Joel 3:9-11   …Assemble and come, all you nations, and gather together all around.  Cause Your might one to go down there, O LORD.

Revelation 19:17-18

Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.”

·        This shows how bright this angels shines with the glory of God. The angel can be seen, even though it stands before the sun. “The angel is standing in the light of the sun with the angel himself possibly shining with even greater brilliance.” (Walvoord)

·        The repetition of flesh (5 times) is revealing. “The race has walked in carnal enmity against God, living after the flesh, and now the day of His patience is at an end.” (Barnhouse)

·        It also shows that men of all stations are judged. The high and the low together, if they remain hardened in their rejection of Jesus, will be judged. “The divine judgment upon the wicked is no respecter of persons or station, and is the great equalizer of all.” (Walvoord)

Isaiah 34:6  The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made overflowing with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams.  For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

Ezekiel 39:17-20  ….Assemble yourselves and come; gather together from all sides to My sacrificial meal which I am sacrificing for you, a great sacrificial meal on the mountains of Israel, that you eat flesh and drink blood……

Revelation 19:16

 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:

                           KING OF KINGS

                           AND LORD OF LORDS.

·        The name is on His thigh for prominence, being easily visible when seated on a horse. At the same time, no one knew [the name] except Himself - that is, no one can comprehend Him perfectly.   (DG)

·        Clarke is among those who believe that the name written that no one knew except Himself is actually the tetragrammaton, the four letters YHWH that make up the name Yahweh, the sacred and secret name of God.   (DG)

Daniel 2:47  The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.”

Psalm 2:6  Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.

Revelation 19:15

 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations.  And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron.  He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

·        The weapons of His warfare:  a sharp sword (MH)

·        The idea isn’t that Jesus holds a sword in his mouth like a buccaneer, or that He is “spitting swords.” This is a dramatic way of referring to the power of His Word. “Christ conquers by the power of His Word” (Johnson). Five times in the Book Revelation, John emphasizes that Jesus’ sword comes out of His mouth.  (DG)

Deuteronomy 10:17  For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, might and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe.

Psalm 2:9  You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.

Revelation 19:14

And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.

·        There is little doubt that angels will also accompany Jesus and His people, but the main idea is that the Son of God leads the people of God from heaven against earth  (DG)

·        There is no mention of any kind of armor or weapon for any soldier in the great army that follows Jesus. The only armor or weapon they have is the only one they need: clothed in fine linen, white and clean.  (DG)

1 Samuel 17:36  Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.

Daniel 7:9  I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool.  His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire;