Corona Chronicles - Crown of Gold

We're back again in Revelation 20. Pretty, pretty, pretty big chapter really. So we've we've seen that Satan's bound for this thousand years which is now. He's vicious. He's a vicious dragon.

He's a vicious serpent, but he he can't stop the gospel going out. That's that's really what we're seeing. Christ will rain. He is raining. And we're in verse 7.

When the thousand years was over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the 4 corners of the Earth, GOG and Magog. And to gather them for battle, in number, they are like the sand on the sea shore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur.

Where the beast and the force profit had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 1 of the things that we've seen a few times so far in revelation is the surprise that things which look so powerful can be undone in such a short space of time. When Babylon had spent a long time looking at Babolon, it's like woe to her in 1 hour her doom has come, you know, they keep stressing this this the shortness of the destruction and how surprising that is given how powerful the enemy was. And this is the kind of thing we've got going on.

So we're at the end of the thousand years, And it does seem to be that the thousand years to be the present reign of the Christ and his people, but it does seem to be that as we approach the return of Christ and that the great white throne and that eternal creation or the eternal damnation, there is going to be it's building up to some kind of climactic war where where there is going to be perhaps an intensification of with hidden nurse and a kind of intensification of persecution upon the church and maybe other things as well. And so that's what we've got here. Satan is coming out and he's going out into the world and he's trying to rally his troops. You know, from the 4 corners to say, come on, lad. So let let's all get together.

1 last push. Let's see what we can do. And then they're marching across the brick of the earth as many as sand on the sea shore. And that's quite a, you know, it's quite a frightening image, isn't it? It reminds me of the sort of you know, Jurassic Park where a very first 1 where you you hear t rex before you see it.

Mhmm. You know, it's the water. A little water is full. It's just the sound of the marching coming across, you know. I know it's picture language, but that that's the kind of thing, isn't it?

And so, yeah, the enemies are out and they're amassing. It's interesting how they're doing that though, isn't it? Because I think yeah. I mean, I like your illustration of the tyrannosaurus race and then you see the thing in the water. But how he's doing it here is by deception.

Yeah. It's lying, isn't it? Yeah. Because that's what he's really good at. Yeah.

And so he's spreading out. The trouble is with with lies. You you you you don't necessarily see the water, do you? He's spread he's He's spreading his lies and we're imbibing lies. Yep.

So he somehow, for some reason, that Christ said, okay, you can go and you can go and spread your lies. Mhmm. But as you say, it's not for long. Short time. Mhmm.

We don't know how long that is. I know people have theories about the length of time, but it does seem to be all over before he's allowed to do, you know, to to go on for too for too long. Yeah. It does. And and I think that, you know, is amazing because even that little word released, you know, he can't break out.

No. You know, God has to let him out -- Yeah. -- and, you know, similar to the story of Job. You know, he's allowed to he's allowed to go this far and no further, you know. And so the fact that he's released and then the fact that the the judgment falls and just wipes out this army instantly -- Yeah.

-- shows everything we saw in Revelation for. The lamb is on the throne, you know. Yeah. Yeah. And this will be the end of satan -- Mhmm.

-- and all his deceit and all his force building of kingdoms and All that he's been allowed to do on a chain, but he's been allowed to do all the wickedness and evil is now thrown into into the abyss and he's gonna be tormented day and night forever. That's the end. That's the end. You know, that's the end of it. And that is really very good news.

Yeah. And and if you think about the big stories that people love, they reflect this sort of thing, weren't they? You know, that there there is an end to witness. There is a new start where people can live in peace and harmony. Their gifts can grow.

There's no deceit and and so forth. There there is a sort of longing for this written within and that we write in our stories. Mhmm. That's right. And I've just it's just sort of struck me a bit now is that We see before this as you were saying, tormented daylight forever and ever.

And in Revelation 19, you know, the smoke of her torment goes up forever and ever. And I wonder if the reason that is emphasized is to say it's as you said, it's never coming back like forever and ever and ever because presumably Christians in this century and around the world today. There are there are times when they might have a good leader and enjoy a time of relative peace and prosperity, but just 1 election away could be a nightmare top, you know, and then everything would be awful again or, you know, maybe 1 sort of radical persecuting group is wiped out. But just a month later, another 1 could come up. Yes.

And so there might be periods of up and down, but this is no like when this comes forever and ever and So they're never gonna come back again in any form. You know, that's it. That's it gone. Yeah. Yeah.

Absolutely. And and I think that's that's the hope isn't it that that that we have, there's going to be an end to the devil all his wicked ways and this gonna be this new creation coming, which we're we're we're nearly there. Yeah. In 20 21. So I think we'll just leave it there.