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Rev. 20
What is the lake of fire, and who and what ends up there? I’m a little confused about the thousand years reign and the first resurrection. It says that the ones who come to life at the first resurrection are those who did not belong to the beast. Since there are only two choices, this means they are those who belong to Christ. It then says about these resurrected souls, “The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ” (Rev. 20:6b). We know that the second death – eternal separation from God – has no power over any who belong to Him. We also know Jesus “has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve His God and Father” (Rev. 1:6a).
The part that confuses me is the whole “those who had been beheaded” thing. I’ve seen the old movies about the Tribulation. Therefore, I am familiar with the literal theory that those who don’t get the mark of the beast during the tribulation time will be beheaded. So, presumably, it is these to whom this passage refers. But in light of the second death and priests statements, I’m not so sure that makes sense to me. Also, while the mark of the Beast may well be a very literal thing at some point in time, I believe it is also symbolic of our choice to serve either the Beast or God, taking His mark – the blood of the Lamb – instead. I wrote about this the other day.
So maybe “beheaded” isn’t literal. That is to say, maybe it doesn’t just apply to those who have literally been beheaded. The Bible is full of double meanings. Some things have both literal and symbolic meaning. Some have multiple time frame fulfillments. Still others have all of the above. As with the rest of Revelation, specifically, and prophecy in general, though, there is a main point that remains clear. Once again, I see the clear point here being the choice between life with Christ or the Lake of Fire with everything else.
Job 6-7
Of what does Job accuse his comforters? What does he ask them to do? I am trying to imagine how Job must have felt. He was sitting there suffering every kind of pain known to man and he couldn’t even find a word of comfort, encouragement, or understanding from a single soul. Not his wife; not his so-called friends. He knew his friends couldn’t do anything for him. They certainly didn’t need to add to his burden, though. I’m sure he would have appreciated if they simply believed his innocence or at least had some empathy for his suffering.
Job was experiencing a living hell. He saw no way out but death, though he stopped at merely wishing for it. I see an interesting thing in his wish for death, however. It seems it wasn’t simply to end his agony. When Job requested that God would go ahead and end his life, he followed with his reason. “Then I would still have this consolation – my joy in unrelenting pain – that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.” (Job 6:10). He then questioned his own strength to hold out. In all of his suffering, Job’s biggest concern was to remain faithful to God. Even though he believed God was attacking him, he never questioned God’s sovereignty. Though he boldly voiced his complaint, he remained humbly subject.
Ps. 92
Why is it good to praise the Lord? How could you expand your worship into each day of the week? It is good to praise the LORD because He has shown us the end of the story. He has opened our eyes to see past the age of time into eternity. Though we don’t feel it, we know that our lives are but a fraction of a moment and because of Christ we live for what lies beyond. “Senseless people do not know, fools do not understand, that though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever.” (Ps. 92:6-7). And so we praise. Because we know from the eternal perspective, the wicked are already gone.