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The End of the Millennium
Find out what the people will choose will be the most important decision of their lives
Fred R. Coulter—October 23, 2016
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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to day seven of the Feast of Tabernacles! There’s one more day called the eighth day!
As we come down from the time beginning with the Passover through all the Holy Days, God’s plan unfolds. The Apostle Paul said that this was ‘His eternal plan’ and His plan is absolutely marvelous. However, it cannot be understood just by reading the Bible.
As we have seen in 1-Cor. 2, we need the Spirit of God! We need to love God, answer His call, obey Him and serve Him, then He grants us understanding! Yes, a good understanding have all of those who do—practices and lives by—His commandments.
In the book of Revelation, we find that Jesus said, ‘I am the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last, the Alpha and Omega.’ Then He says so at the end. So, it shows the complete plan of God, starting at the beginning and coming to the ending.
Rev. 20 has quite a few things in it. It discusses the beginning of the Millennium and also the ending of the Millennium. As we have covered on the Day of Atonement, Satan the devil is bound.
Revelation 20:2: “And he… [the great angel] …took hold of the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. Then he cast him into the abyss, and locked him up, and sealed the abyss over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were fulfilled…” (vs 2-3).
Here on the seventh day of the Feast of Tabernacles, we are at the fulfilling of the seventh day, the end of the Millennium. Then it talks about those who will be in the first resurrection who will be judging, reigning and ruling with Christ all during the Millennium (v 4).
Verse 5: “(But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were completed.)….” We’ll cover that tomorrow, but what we want to focus on…
Verse 6: “Blessed and Holy is the one who has part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power. But they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.”
Now, “…the rest of the dead…” (v 5). Let’s talk about the dead for just a minute. The first one resurrected is Jesus Christ (1-Cor. 15) the Firstfruit; afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. We have already covered that pictured by Pentecost, and ruling and reigning with Christ “…a thousand years” (v 6).
Verse 7: “Now, when the thousand years have been completed, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.” Why will he be loosed? All during the Millennium we have seen that people will be coming into the Kingdom of God just like when Christ returns, ‘those who are alive will be changed in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.’
Likewise, all during the Millennium, as covered by Isa. 65, when they come to the end of their life and have been righteous, then there will be what I like to call a transformation Sabbath. Everyone will come to Sabbath services wherever you are and those who are righteous who have lived to be 100-years-old, there will be a transformation Sabbath. They shall be transferred instantly from flesh to spirit.
Since it’s given to all once to die, as in Adam we all die, therefore, this transformation has to be an instantaneous death and resurrection. That’s why it’s called transformation! You are transformed from being a physical human being to a spirit being and a son or daughter of God! This will go on all during the Millennium.
We have covered how people will obey God, people will love God, people will serve God, and we’ve also touched on the fact that the sinner who dies a hundred-years-old is accursed. We’ve also covered that there will be sin, people will have to repent, and if they sin grievously enough, they are removed and sent to a ‘repentance center.’
Just like today, the Church only has the power of disfellowshipment for those who do wrong. If they sin in society, God has given civil laws to the society and the officials that are there to carry out their judgments and executions of the law according as they see.
However, all during the Millennium, that power will reside in us through Christ to every individual on earth.
to those who seek God
to those who love God
to those who obey God
at the end of their lives they will enter into the Kingdom of God as a spirit being. Let’s see that:
Psa. 25 gives us a summary of how people come to God and then they will enter into the Kingdom of God because they have:
been righteous
loved God
kept His commandments
grown in grace and knowledge
They have lived a hundred years showing that they are righteous and ready to enter into the Kingdom of God. Of course, we’ll be the ones to teach them, to train them, to help them, and always remember that everyone has to choose! Remember what I’ve said about IFMA: independent free moral agency! Remember what happened to Solomon, that we covered on Day 6, that will be very important in understanding today and tomorrow.
Psalm 25:1: “To You, O LORD, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You; do not let me be ashamed, let not my enemies triumph over me.”
There won’t be any enemies around during the Millennium, but what is the greatest enemy that everyone carries right within them? Human nature! At that time it’s going to be how to overcome human nature.
Granted, it won’t be as intensely evil as it is today, however, there has to be choice, and they must choose God’s way!
Verse 3: “Yea, let none who wait on You be ashamed; let them be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.” What happens to those in the Millennium who refuse to repent?
Let’s cover the last generation as pictured by Day 7. How is God going to handle that? Especially when they won’t have time to die? But they will have time to be exiled! We’ll pick that up in a little bit.
Verse 4: “Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your Truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You do I wait all the day long…. [that’s right] …Remember, O LORD, Your tender mercies and Your loving kindness, for they have been of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions…” (vs 4-7).
Everyone is going to sin and make mistakes. It’s how it is handled and what they do! Obviously, if they repent their sins will be forgiven and they’ll be reinstated. Their sins will be covered and forgotten, and they will be removed as far is the East is from the West.
Here’s what’s going to happen at the ‘repentance centers,’ v 8: “Good and upright is the LORD; therefore, He will teach sinners in the way.” They will be taught God’s way so they can come back. But still remember that there’s free moral agency!
Verse 9: “The meek He will guide in judgment; and the meek He will teach His way. All the paths of the LORD are mercy and Truth to those who keep His covenant and His testimonies” (vs 9-10). That’s the key! That’s how it operates with us today. That’s how it’s going to operate with them at that time during the Millennium.
Let’s examine a little more concerning Day 7. Remember that all during the Millennium Satan is not around! So, independent free moral agency and what people choose becomes the most important decision in their lives. After 900 years of:
peace
prosperity
love
understanding
building
producing
making
having the greatest physical human society that the world has ever seen
What will be the main problem?
Why will there be some people who will not repent?
What happens to them?
They can’t live in the society!
They won’t repent at the ‘repentance center’!
So, just like Cain was exiled further away from Adam and Eve, they will also be exiled away! How do we know that?
Remember that we covered that Satan is going to be loosed at the end of the Millennium for a ‘short season.’ How long that is, we are not specifically told.
Revelation 20:7: “Now, when the thousand years have been completed, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.”
What for?
We’ve had a thousand years without him!
What is the need for him?
What will his job be?
Why did God do this?
Well, at the end of the thousand years there comes a time when you have to stop human production. There comes a time when there is no time for them to live a hundred years and die if they are convinced sinners and refuse to repent.
What are you going to do with them?
You can’t keep them at the ‘repentance center’ because they won’t repent! So, you send them further away.
Where do they go?
We can understand from v 8: “And he shall go out to deceive the nations that are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, of whom the number is as the sand of the sea, to gather them together for war.” Now, there’s a lot in that verse.
Is God a respecter of persons? No!
We know that at the beginning of the Millennium Gog and Magog are going to come and fight against the resettlement of the children of Israel in the Holy Land. They will be beaten back.
Gog and Magog is that great area north and way east, probably somewhere near Siberia, which is a wasteland. It is habitable, but it is difficult living. If God does not offer salvation to Gog and Magog during the Millennium then He’s a respecter of persons—is He not? Yes, He would be! So, how do we answer the question of Gog and Magog?
Let’s look at how God uses the word Israel. He uses it for the people of Israel, and He uses for the geographical area of where they live. Based on that, we can conclude that somewhere in Gog and Magog is a place of permanent exile for the unrepentant sinners who do not want to go God’s way.
You would think: With all the evidence there and 900-plus years of fantastic living for human beings and people entering into the Kingdom of God all the time; why would people choose to reject the salvation of God? It says, “…of whom the number is as the sand of the sea…” So, at the end of the Millennium they’re going to be a lot of people who will not repent, nor is there time for them to die accursed to await the resurrection to the Lake of Fire.
What happens? The sinners, unrepentant, will be sent there!
Why would they sin?
Why would they refuse salvation?
They’re looking at a fully developed civilization of human beings, and strength, beauty, peace, righteousness and goodness for all people, but they still have free moral agency! Let’s answer the question this way:
What did we learn concerning Solomon yesterday (Day 6)? He chose to focus his mind on himself, instead of God. And to seek His way, His pleasure, His plans! What happened? We saw that Solomon left God! He even went to the point of building temples and incense centers and sacrifice centers for other gods, just across the valley from to the west from where the temple of God was.
After all, he had all those wives and concubines. We don’t find a place where Solomon repented. Maybe he did at the end, I do not know. That’s all in God’s hands! But we can learn a principle here. These people who come into the last generation, there has to be a cutting off of childbearing somewhere along the line. We could pick a year, say 950, and from then on no more children. Those who are born up to that time and choose God’s way will enter into the Kingdom of God at the end of this battle we find in Rev. 20.
How is it that they reject God? They think they don’t need God because they’re so good, and they have such intellect!
Was there a man like that at one time?
Was he protected from Satan the devil? Yes, indeed!
How did he react?
Let’s see that! Because not only are the people at the end of the Millennium going to be not repentant of their sins, but they are going to be persuaded, in their own minds and deceptions, that they are as good as the rest of those people, and they don’t need God! In fact, in some ways, they are going to think they’re better than God!
Can you think of a man who was like that?
Before we get there let’s add in something that everyone has to do: independent free moral agency! Everyone has this in life. It’s not going to be changed during the Millennium. They won’t have Satan around to tempt them as we do today. Satan is the ‘god of this world’ and as you know he became the ‘god of this world’ when Adam and rejected God’s instruction and chose to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge and Evil instead of the Tree of Life and the other fruits.
Adam and Eve had the best human nature possible, because God had just created it. It was neutral, but human nature and the ability to think and reason and having independent free moral agency, God let them choose. This is the same thing it’s going to be all during the Millennium. People are going to have to choose God’s way. If not, and they don’t repent, they’re going to die accursed, which means they are awaiting the resurrection to the Lake of Fire.
So, independent free moral agency—IFMA—is the most important thing for every human being!
Deut. 30—here is what is going to be laid out to the people, this is what we’re going to teach them, and most of them at that time will enter into the Kingdom of God. But there are some people who become so stubborn and so self-righteous that they won’t repent.
In the case of those during the Millennium, they are going to harden their hearts so hard that even in the presence of the sons of God they’re going to refuse to repent. That’s why they’ll be exiled to Gog and Magog in the last half of that last 100 years. We’ll just use that as an arbitrary figure.
They will have failed this test; and this is important for us to understand. This is talking about God brining the children of Israel into the ‘promised land’ and if they would obey Him here’s what He would do:
Deuteronomy 30:9: “And the LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in every work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your land, for good, for the LORD will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers.” This is going to be very similar to the covenant that the people during the Millennium will be given. Here’s the choice:
Verse 10: “If…” This choice laid before all human beings; it is a choice that everyone must make. Look what happened to Solomon when he chose to go against God! That’s what happened to Solomon, and it will happen to them during the Millennium. When you choose to be stubborn and refuse to repent and do not believe God:
What happens to your own mind? You justify why you are right!
Is that not what Solomon did?
Focusing on himself?
Verse 10: “If… [conditional] …you shall obey the voice of the LORD your God to keep His commandments and His statutes, which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”
That’s going to be all during the Millennium. It’s going to be all there: the knowledge of God will cover the earth like the seas cover the earth. Everything this going to be known; it is going to be marvelous indeed, beyond anything we have ever imagined or expected. And we are going to help administer that! That is going to be a great, wonderful thing that we’re going to be doing.
Verse 11: “For this commandment which I command you today is not hidden from you, neither is it far off.” It’s right here on earth, right where you are; everything is right here.
Verse 14: “But the Word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may do it. Behold, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil” (vs 14-15).
Everyone is going to have that choice. Choose God’s way and His righteousness, mercy, understanding! Are you going to live God’s way? That’s what it’s going to be.
Verse 16: “In that I command you this day to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments so that you may live and multiply…. [and enter into the Kingdom of God] …And the LORD your God shall bless you in the land where you go to possess it. But if… [because there’s free moral agency (IFMA)] …your heart turn away…” (vs 16-17)—a decision you make; everybody has to make it.
Remember that no one, at any time, anywhere can fool God! Not like with human beings: You can fool some of the people some of the time; you can fool all the people part of the time, but you can never, never fool God!
He’s our Creator!
He has made us!
He knows our hearts!
He tries the reins!
Verse 17: “If your heart turn away so that you will not hear, but shall be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them.” They won’t worship other gods because there won’t be any around at that time, but they’re going to want to serve themselves, and where will the other gods be? The idols in the mind! What they have chosen to believe!
This same thing is going to happen to them, v 19: “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live, that you may love the LORD your God, and may obey His voice, and may cleave to Him; for He is your life and the length of your days, so that you may dwell in the land, which the LORD swore to your fathers—to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob—to give it to them” (vs 19-20).
And the greater kingdom was the spiritual seed as the stars of heaven! That is all of those who enter into the Kingdom of God.
Let’s look at a man called Job. Let’s see what he did. Let’s see what he thought. The parallels here are not exactly complete. It’s interesting when you read about Job, especially in the first chapter.
First, God was protecting Job from Satan up to a certain point. The choices that Job made and the thoughts that he came to were not inspired by Satan; they were from himself. It’s going to be very much like the people in the Millennium. Remember what happened to Solomon when he got his mind on himself.
Job 1: “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. And that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and turned aside from evil.” Just like we read, he chose to do what was right. If you choose to do what is right…
What was the one thing that Job missed in all of his obedience to God? We’ll see about that in a little bit! I want you to think about that!
It talks about all the possessions that Job had, everything that he did, and how he was trying to keep his sons from sinning against God, and if he would offer sacrifices, perhaps that God would forgive them their sin.
Will all the people during the Millennium, the last part of that thousand years, have been protected from Satan the devil? Yes, he’ll be bound in prison, the abyss! Everything that they do will be based on what they choose and what they think. Of course, we will be instructing them. But remember, there is always free moral agency! And this is why—just projecting ahead—God is going to release Satan the devil out of his prison to gather them together to be destroyed in the final war, because they chose their own way!
Now, with everything so good, with everything so great, with everything that human beings could have, do you suppose that they might even become more self-righteous than Job?
Verse 6: “Now, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD…. [the angels of God] …And Satan also came among them. And the LORD said to Satan, ‘From where do you come?’ Then Satan answered the LORD and said, ‘From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.’ And the LORD said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil?’” (vs 6-8).
Is fearing God enough?
What about the fact that Job wasn’t sinning?
What if these people (in the Millennium) come to the point that they get their minds on themselves and they do not recognize their own sins?
and
They do not fear God, because you must first love God?
Can you keep the things of God, to a certain point, on your own strength, but not love God? Yes, indeed!
That’s called self-righteousness!
Let’s see what happened to Job, v 9: “And Satan answered the LORD and said, ‘Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has on every side?….’” (vs 9-10). God, you’ve kept me away from him! You haven’t let me get in there to get him!
“…You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land” (v 10). Think about that in relationship to the Millennium. Isn’t that true? Won’t that be so? Satan will be removed! He won’t be there! God will bless them in everything that they do!
Yes, but if they start getting their minds on themselves, as Job did, that’s a key, important thing, because when you do that, and it’s all your righteousness—even though you’re doing what God commanded to do—this is the conundrum that people cannot understand. You ask the average person:
Are you a good person? I’m a good person!
Do you deceive yourself? No!
Do you tell lies? Well, occasionally, but I’m a good person!
So, we don’t know what it was with Job.
Job had to choose! After all that he went through—and God put him through misery, short of taking his life—he was so righteous that even his three closest friends—even though they said many thing concerning right and wrong, good and evil—they couldn’t see what it was that Job was actually doing.
What was that?
He was upright and blameless, didn’t God say that was so? Yes, indeed!
What happened to Job?
Could this be the sin that those in the Millennium—the last half of the Millennium—will commit by free choice?
(go to the next track)
Before we continue in the book of Job and find the answer, let’s remember several Scriptures:
2-Tim. 3—perilous times shall come in the last days because men shall be ‘lovers of self rather than lovers of God’! In between that it talks about all the horrible characteristics of human nature cutoff from God.
Now then, during the Millennium the people we’re talking about now will be exactly in the same situation as Job and Solomon. Remember that Solomon, as we covered yesterday, got his mind on himself and on this wives and concubines, and off the true God. He even made the temples and so forth and sacrificed to the gods of his wives. That is because he got his mind on himself, rather than on God! He forgot the first lesson: you have nothing you didn’t receive! Everything physical and spiritual comes from God.
Let’s see how God is going to do the judging. At the end of the Millennium people will be in greater shape than Job was, and thinking that all of this is coming because of them. Even when some of the children and the elders of Israel were sent off into captivity, they still did not learn the lesson.
Ezekiel 14:1: “And some of the elders of Israel came to me [Ezekiel] and sat before me. And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I at all be inquired of by them?’” (vs 1-3). No!
What was the idol of Job? Though he was righteous, he worshipped himself instead of God! We’ll see that. He may have had the sacrificed that he offered. There’s no account that the Spirit of God was within him as conversion until way at the end of the book of Job.
Here’s going to be the sin of those during the Millennium, the last generation that refuse salvation and are exiled to the geographical area of Gog and Magog. They have refused to love God, to obey Him because He is God, and all of their obedience should all be credited to God, not to themselves!
Verse 4: “Therefore, speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Every man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face…”’’ Notice what he is doing:
It is to the self!
Loving self!
Concentrating on self!
Looking to his or her own human ways rather than coming from God!
“…and comes to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him according to the multitude of his idols” (v 4).
We will see that Job makes mention of God, just like Solomon did—hear the conclusion of the matter, keep His commandments—that’s what we should do. But how should we keep them?
knowing that they all come from God
praise God and give Him the glory for everything
that we are thankful for God giving us the knowledge of it
giving His Spirit so that we can love Him and obey Him!
It’s also interesting that, in this case, remember that Solomon loved his foreign wives more than God. So, here with Job, he loved himself and he was the idol in his mind, not really giving credit that all of these things came from God! That will be the quirk of human nature that will take place at the end of the Millennium!
Job gives some credit to God, but not the way he should, Job 31:1: “I made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I look upon a virgin? For what is the portion from God above? And what is the inheritance of the Almighty from on high? Is not destruction for the wicked…” (vs 1-3)—instead of repentance and salvation, God is just going to destroy the wicked, that’s it!
“…and calamity to the workers of iniquity? Does He not see my ways…” (vs 3-4). There are 38 me, my and myself; 25 Is in this one chapter! Do you suppose that that Job was loving himself more than God? While at the same time giving a little credit to God?
“…and count all my steps? If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot has hurried to deceit, let me be weighed in an even balance so that God may know that I am blameless” (vs 5-6)—I have never sinned!
IF you have that attitude, what is there to repent of? When it comes to that point, they will be exiled! Job says, “…I am blameless.”
Verse 7: “If my step has turned out of the way, or my heart has walked after my eyes, and if any spot has cleaved to my hands; then let me sow, and let another eat; and let my harvests be rooted out. If my heart has been enticed by a woman, or I have laid wait at my neighbor’s door, then let my wife grind for another, and let others bow down upon her. For that would be a heinous crime; yea, it would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges. For it is a fire that devours to destruction, and it would root out all my increase” (vs 7-12).
He’s saying, ‘No, I didn’t do that.’ And some of his three friends said that ‘you did this, you did that.’ No! No, I didn’t do it!
Instead of thinking that everything that he has comes from God, and that even the ability to love… Let’s put it this way: It doesn’t show very much love of God here if any. What is the first and greatest commandment? You shall love the Lord your God with all heart, with all your mind, with all your soul and with all your being!
What is the second commandment? You shall love your neighbor as yourself! We’re going to see that Job left off that first commandment.
yes, he took care of his neighbors
yes, he took care of the poor
yes, he had a perfect life in the letter of the Law
But he loved himself and his idols were in his mind! He worshipped himself!
Verse 13: “If I despised the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they complained against me; what then shall I do when God rises up? And when He calls me to account, what shall I answer Him? Did not He who made me in the womb make him also? And did not one fashion us in the womb? If I have withheld the poor from their desire…” (vs 13-16). Yes, I was born of God, but…
“…or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it—for from my youth he grew up with me, as with a father, and from infancy I guided her—if I have seen any perish for lack of clothing, or there was no covering for the needy; if his loins have not blessed me, and he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep; if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless when I watched over my help in the gate; then let my arm fall from the shoulder blade, and let my arm be broken from the elbow. For calamity from God is a terror to me, and by reason of His majesty I could do nothing” (vs 13-23).
Couldn’t stop the calamity! Here he was all himself. He was doing this, and God had to answer to him!
Verse 24: “If I have made gold my hope, or have called fine gold my confidence; if I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much; if I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness, And my heart has been secretly enticed, or my mouth has kissed my hand; this also would be an iniquity for the judges to punish; for I would have lied to God who is above” (vs 24-28). He didn’t do any of that! But he didn’t see that he was worshipping himself!
Verse 29: “If I rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or exulted myself when evil found him; verily I have not allowed my mouth to sin by wishing for a curse on his life; if the men of my tabernacle did not say, ‘Who can find one who has not been satisfied with his meat?’” (vs 29-31).
Look, I fed everybody; I took care of everybody. Look how good I am! Can’t you see that? Yes, he gives some credit to God, but he doesn’t understand that the great sin is self-worship even though these were the commandments of God! ‘If I’ve done this and that and the other things, God shouldn’t be angry with me. Look at all these good things I have done.
Verse 32: “The stranger did not sleep in the street, for I opened my doors to the traveler. If I covered my transgressions like Adam, by hiding my iniquity in my bosom, then let me tremble before a great multitude, and be terrified by the scorn of families; and I will be silent and not go out the door” (vs 32-34). I will stand there and take it!
Verse 35: “Oh, that I had one to hear me!…. [you three friends aren’t worth anything] …Behold, my desire is that the Almighty would answer me, and the indictment that my adversary had written.” Yes, let God talk to me, and I will tell Him a thing or two!
He said in one place that he wanted to take God to court, and that there would be umpire between him and God so that God would see how good Job really, really was!
Verse 36: “Surely I would carry it on my shoulder… [yes, I’ll let that be known] …and bind it like a crown upon my head. I would declare to Him the number of my steps; like a prince I would come before Him” (vs 36-37). How’s that for repentance? That’s not very much repentance!
Think what it’s going to be like with all the people in that last generation that don’t have time to live a hundred years and die accursed. They refuse to repent, so they are exiled to Gog and Magog. They’re going to be there talking with one another, that God just doesn’t understand! Just like Job. They are going to think that they are right. Then we’ll see when Satan is let loose upon them.
Verse 38: “If my land cry against me, or its furrows weep together; if I have eaten its strength without paying for it, or have caused its owners to lose their life, let thorns come forth instead of wheat, and weeds instead of barley.’ The words of Job are ended” (vs 38-40).
We’re going to look at some things here that are very important to understand. Unless there is repentance, and they didn’t repent… What did it take to repent? Well, God came and told him! We’ll see that in a little bit.
Didn’t these people who were exiled living under the Kingdom of God? Yes!
Were not all the sons and daughters of God there to teach them? Yes, indeed!
Did they not see these people transformed from flesh to spirit and enter into the Kingdom of God? Yes, indeed!
They did not want to recognize the sin within. Instead of repenting and understanding that God alone knows everything, like Job finally came to see, ‘O Lord, no thought can be withheld from You.’ They were given chances to repent and they didn’t repent. Just like Job, what do you do?
Job 32:1: “And these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.” Isn’t that something?
The youngest one there, Elihu the son of Barachel said, ‘I didn’t really want to speak but I had to understand that great men are not necessarily wise.’
Job 33:1: “Wherefore, Job… [Elihu says to him] …please hear my speech, and hearken to all my words. Behold, now I have opened my mouth, my tongue has spoken in my mouth, my words shall be from the uprightness of my heart, and my lips will clearly speak knowledge. The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. If you can, answer me; set yourself in order before me, stand up. Behold, I am according to your wish in God’s stead; I also am formed out of the clay” (vs 1-6).
Now, I will leave it up to you to read all the rest of the book of Job, from that place until the end. Here is the heart and core of it.
Job 34:35: “‘Job has spoken without knowledge, and his words were without wisdom.’ My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end because his answers are like those of wicked men…. [What is that?] …For he adds rebellion to his sin; he claps his hands among us, and multiplies his words against God” (vs 35-37).
The first part of Job 35 is the most important thing, because this defines Job’s sin and rebellion, which will be the same as those during the Millennium, toward the end of the Millennium, when there’s not time that they live to be a hundred and die accursed, the unrepentant. Their sin will be that they will think that they are as good as God, or better than God. That’s what Job thought! He thought, as I mentioned earlier, that if weighed in the balance, he would be better than God!
Job 35: “And Elihu answered and said, ‘Do you think this to be right, you that say, “My righteousness is more than God’s”?’” (vs 1-2). Is that not an unpardonable sin? If there is no repentance, it is! That’s what these people will do toward the end of the Millennium.
Verse 3: “For you say… [God]: …’What advantage will it be to You? What profit shall I have, more than if I had sinned?’ I will answer your words, and your companions with you” (vs 3-4). Then Elihu tell them all about God, what He does and so forth!
God answered Job directly. Didn’t Job say, ‘O would God talk to me’? Yes, indeed! He sure did! You read all the rest of what Elihu said. He said, ‘My knowledge comes from God, my words are from God, this is for you to understand.’
Job 38:1: “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now gird up your loins like a man; for I will demand of you, and you shall answer Me’” (vs 1-3). Then He declares everything that He has done.
Let’s see God’s final words to Job, and this becomes the sin of Job; this is his sin, his rebellion and this is going to be the sin and rebellion of those people toward the end of the Millennium. Maybe even all the way through and they die accursed at a hundred. We don’t know for sure, but here is God’s final answer to Job, after explaining to him everything that He had done in creating, everything that He had made, all of these things.
Job 40:1: “And the LORD answered Job and said, ‘Shall he who contends with the Almighty instruct Him? He who reproves God, let him answer it.’” Here’s the difference between Job and those who will be exiled. They do not repent! Job did!
I wonder what kind of sessions we will have with those whom we lay before them the things they need to do to repent, because God is not anxious that any die, but come to salvation, come to repentance. That’s a choice, independent free moral agency!
Notice Job’s answer, v 3: “And Job answered the LORD and said, ‘Behold, I am vile! What shall I answer You? I will lay my hand on my mouth. Once I have spoken; but I will not answer; yea, twice, but I will proceed no further.’” (vs 3-5). Job finally got the point! That’s what God wants with all of us:
that we finally get the point
that we don’t exalt ourselves above God in our mind
that we don’t think that we are sufficient unto ourselves
Then gradually come to think that God is not right like Job did!
Verse 6: “And the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, ‘Gird up your loins now like a man. I will demand of you, and you declare unto Me. Will you even annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me so that you may be righteous?’” (vs 6-8).
That will be the unpardonable sin. Unless repented of by these people during the Millennium, having lived under the Kingdom of God: God’s servants, His sons and daughters, everything spiritual and everything there for them, and then they accuse God! Why? Because they get their minds on themselves!
Verse 9: “And have you an arm like God? Or can you thunder with a voice like His?” Then God challenges Job: If you think you’re sufficient unto yourself, and if you think that your righteousness is going to bring you something greater than me, think on this; this is a challenge to all human beings; I’ll summarize it this way:
Job, can you transform yourself into a spirit being?
Job, can you make yourself have the glory that I give to My saints? Of course not!
Verse 10: “Deck yourself now with majesty and excellency, and array yourself with glory and beauty. Cast abroad the rage of your wrath; and behold everyone who is proud, and abase him. Look on everyone who is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place. Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in darkness. Then I will also confess to you that your own right hand can save you” (vs 10-14).
No human being can save himself! That’s going to be the great sin of those toward the end of the Millennium! They will have had every chance to repent. They will be given every opportunity to turn back. But since they steadfastly refuse, they will be exiled!
Revelation 20:7: “Now, when the thousand years have been completed, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.” For the purpose of gathering together the mass of unrepentant people, probably from many places on earth, exiled to the area of Gog and Magog where they will be all together.
They will still be living in the flesh. None of them will see any reason to repent. None will be brought back out of exile, because they’re unrepentant and self-righteous, and know that they are ‘better than God.’ Was that not the original sin of Satan the devil? Yes! He didn’t repent of it—did he? No! that was the sin of Solomon. We don’t know if he repented or not, we’re not told. The sin of Job was the same thing. We know that he repented! He repented in sackcloth and ashes, and said, ‘Now my eye sees You!’ So, during the Millennium if people come to the point that they repent, they’re not going to be exiled.
But since they—those who don’t repent—can’t live out to be a hundred years-old, the Millennium has to come to an end, God uses Satan to gather them together.
Verse 8: “And he shall go out to deceive the nations that are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, of whom the number is as the sand of the sea, to gather them together for war.”
He’s going to be loosed and he’s going to tell them that, ‘Yes, I’m finally out of prison. This God down there in Jerusalem didn’t know what He was doing when He got rid of me and put me in prison, but I have gotten out and I have come to you.’
All the demons will be there with him, as well. Think of what supposed glorious miracles that they will do. We don’t know how long it will be to get them ready for battle, but they are going to further harden their hearts, harden their minds, and be absolutely adamant against any kind of repentance.
Verse 9:” Then I saw them go up upon the breadth of the earth and encircle the camp of the saints…” Is this during the time of the Feast of Tabernacles? Don’t know!
“…and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven and consumed them” (v 9). This is their first death! That’s why they were exiled.
they didn’t repent
there wasn’t enough time for them to live to be a hundred years old and be accursed and be in the resurrection for being cast into the Lake of Fire
So, God used Satan the devil to bring them to this battle to fight, to be killed and to end their first life. Because you cannot have a second death unless you have die twice, and you can’t have a second death unless you die the first time and are resurrected again so that you can be cast into the Lake of Fire; all the wicked together!
Verse 10: “And the Devil, who deceived them, was cast into the Lake of Fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet had been cast; and they, Satan and the demons, shall be tormented day and night into the ages of eternity.” Satan is thrown in there with all the demons, and the Lake of Fire does not destroy them. They are tormented while they’re in the Lake of Fire.
Now then, Satan the devil and the demons will be removed because of the Last Great Day and God’s further plan for salvation. They will end up, as we see in the book of Jude. These are ‘wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackest darkness forever’! That’s where their torment will continue.
They will be locked into this place of imprisonment, and that will be a spot in the universe where we will all know there will never ever, ever, ever be any rebellion against God! Never again! The reason is because God’s plan is so great, and so fantastic, and so awesome—which he has displayed with the universe that we can see.
where there is no room for rebellion
where there is no room for any self-willedness
But to love and to serve God and to do as He shows us and teaches us and gives us of the power and understanding to do so! Way beyond what anything we can ever think or do on our own! Think of that!
What a wonderful calling that God has given to us; that we can participate in this and participate in His goodness! That we will dwell with God forever and ever and ever!
So, come back tomorrow for day #8, the Last Great Day!
Scriptural References:
Revelation 20:2-3, 5-7
Psalm 25:1-10
Revelation 20:7-8
Deuteronomy 30:9-11, 14-17, 19-20
Job 1:1, 6-10
Ezekiel 14:1-4
Job 31:1-40
Job 32:1
Job 33:1-6
Job 34:35-37
Job 35:1-4
Job 38:1-3
Job 40:1-14
Revelation 20:7-10
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
1 Corinthians 2
Revelation 20:4
1 Corinthians 15
Isaiah 65
2 Timothy 3
