Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Little Season (2) - Devil Unbound

The Kingdom of God will continue until God’s purposes are complete and the full numbers of people have come to faith. When all his promises and purposes on earth have been fulfilled, he will set in train the series of events that bring the Kingdom age to a close. The devil and forces will be released for one last time.

When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison (Rev 20:7).
He does not escape, but is released by the Holy Spirit to achieve a divine purpose.

God demonstrates his infinite mercy by giving Satan him one last chance to redeem himself. He was created by God for a special purpose, but fell from his exalted position and became the enemy of good. Despite the terrible harm Satan has done to the world, God will give him one last chance to fulfil his calling before the end of the age. God is so gracious that he gives the devil an opportunity to do the right thing. He will never be able to accuse God of not giving him a chance to learn from his mistakes.

The devil will not take the opportunity given to him, but will go out to do evil by getting control of the nations again.
He will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number, they are like the sand on the seashore (Rev 20:8).
To score a victory over Jesus, he will stir up rebellion among the nations. He is not creative, so he will use the same lies about God that he used at the beginning. People all over the world to the “four corners of the earth” will join this rebellion. “Gog and Magog” is a reference to the bulk of the nations rebelling against God.

People all over the world will begin to grumble against the government of God. They will spread lies about the Christian influence in society in an attempt to undermine the purified the church.
They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves (Rev 20:9).
This is not a literal war. The camp of God’s people represents all the people in the world who have chosen to follow Jesus. The beloved city is used Revelation to represent the Kingdom of God. Gog and Magog represent worldwide
opposition to God. Those who come under the devils power will begin to persecute the church.
Persecution will be a new experience for the Christians who live in this season. Most will be unprepared. Those who do not understand that God has released the devil will be shocked by the rapid deterioration of the spiritual climate. Fortunately, this season of rebellion will be quite brief. It is described as a “short time”.
After that, he must be set free for a short time(Rev 20:3)
During the Kingdom season, memory of the evil that prevailed during the Times of the Gentiles will grow dim. Some Christians will find it hard to believe that Satan and his angels truly evil. Such evil will seem impossible to people who are living in a golden age. Some will consider that Satan and his followers have been treated harshly by God.

He will give the devil a brief time at the end of history to reveal his true character to. This season when he is allowed to deceive the nations once more will give the people of the world a brief taste of the horrors of evil. After this experience, it will be obvious that the devil and his followers deserve their fate (Rev 20:10).

No comments: