A Refreshing Revelation, Part 20

Judgment Day

Revelation 20 is about the contrasting final judgments on the two distinct groups: Jesus’ followers and the followers of the Evil Empire (the system that developed from the city-state model of Babylon). First, Satan is captured and taken away from influencing humanity for a thousand years. He is later released for a short time to wreak havoc on those who had experienced a thousand years of peace under Jesus Christ. At the end of that time, fire from heaven consumes the human followers. Meanwhile, the devil and his two chief henchmen (the Beast and the False Prophet – both of whom seem to command demons) are thrown into the lake of fire, to be “tormented day and night forever.” At this point there only seem to be three entities in “hell.”

In contrast, resurrected followers of Jesus rule over the world with Him for that Millennium. They are said to be immune from the “second death.”

After the final battle at the end of the Millennium, subsequent to the Devil´s being cast into the lake of fire, comes the judgment of all human beings who have ever lived. The only basis for judgment that the Revelation gives is their works and whether their names are written in the Book of Life. This final judgment destroys all who are now written in the Book of life in the lake of fire. While the Devil, the Beast and the False Prophet are said to be tormented forever, there is no mention of eternal torment for the human beings cast into the lake at this point. The name of this event is “the second death,” which may suggest that the punishment is different in result than that of the three prior inhabitants.

Important safety tip: get your name into the Lamb´s Book of Life.