davidbowerkingwood

For a period of at least 7 years after the battle of Gog and Magog, Israel will enjoy a degree of peace and stability. Although Israel has been back in the land since 1948, the final 7 years God had promised to Israel will not actually start until the signing of the covenant agreement between Israel and the Antichrist.

Once the agreement is signed the seven year Tribulation will start with the first half being a time during which the Antichrist tries to establish himself as the world’s savior and politically position himself as world leader; during the second half the Antichrist will declare himself to be God.

The Book of Revelation and the other prophetic passages from both the Old and New Testaments describe a coming time of terrible judgment on the earth which we call the Tribulation. Although the first 3 1/2 years are bad the second 3 1/2 years are even worse. We are told in Matthew 24:22 “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”

At the close of the Tribulation a great battle will be in progress called Armageddon; during this battle the Lord Jesus Christ shall return and bring that battle to a close by His mighty power; then there will truly be peace in Jerusalem.

At the Second Advent the Lord will separate the believers from the unbelievers with all unbelievers being cast into the Lake of Fire with the Beast and the False Prophet. Only mortal believers and resurrected saints will populate the earth at the beginning of the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 25:31-46

Believing mankind will finally enjoy the earth the way God had intended from the beginning; this period will last 1,000 years with the Lord as supreme ruler.

Although the Millennium will start with only believers, the children born to the mortal believers will include both those who accept the Lord and those who do not. Over time the unbelieving population will grow in spite of the personal presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

At the end of the Millennium Satan, who had been bound, will be released out of his prison and will draw a huge number of unbelievers to him “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” Revelation 20:9. This is referred to as the second battle of Gog and Magog although it will be more of an annihilation than a battle.

Satan is then “cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Revelation 20:10

It is at this point I believe the old heaven and earth are destroyed by fire as described in II Peter 3:10. This is followed by the great white throne judgment where unbelievers are judged according to their works.

Death and Hades will be cast into the lake of fire as will every individual whose name “was not found written in the book of life.” “This is the second death.”

This scene, which is given such a terse description in the Bible, is undoubtedly one of the most terrible scenes imaginable. All mankind who have rejected the offer of the free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ must stand before the great white throne. There is no hope whatsoever and the punishment that awaits them is eternal pain and suffering in the lake of fire.

The heavens and earth that they have known have fled and the only reality to them is the great white throne and the absolute crushing certainty of judgment and condemnation with eternal torment and suffering in the lake of fire.

We live in a remarkable age of grace; abundant opportunity is being given to turn to the Lord for salvation and be delivered from the judgment to come. The Lord’s patience with the sinner in no way means that God is indifferent to sin; the fact that sin does not result in immediate retribution from God does not mean that no retribution is planned.

Deliverance from God’s judgment is now a simple matter of accepting, by grace through faith, the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. This simple act of faith is the only way anyone can be delivered from the certainty of the coming judgment; a judgment which is eternal and unyielding in its severity.

My next blog series is on the subject of the new heaven and the new earth; the heaven and earth we have known will be gone forever and the Lord Jesus Christ will create a new heaven and a new earth.