The Thousand Years

Revelation 20 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the abyss and a heavy chain. ²He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent--that is, the Devil, or Satan--and chained him up for a thousand years. ³The angel threw him into the abyss, locked it, and sealed it, so that he could not deceive the nations any more until the thousand years were over. After that he must be set loose for a little while.
⁴Then I saw thrones, and those who sat on them were given the power to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been executed because they had proclaimed the truth that Jesus revealed and the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image, nor had they received the mark of the beast on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and ruled as kings with Christ for a thousand years. ⁵(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over.) This is the first raising of the dead. ⁶Happy and greatly blessed are those who are included in this first raising of the dead. The second death has no power over them; they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and they will rule with him for a thousand years.

The Defeat of Satan

⁷After the thousand years are over, Satan will be set loose from his prison, ⁸and he will go out to deceive the nations scattered over the whole world, that is, Gog and Magog. Satan will bring them all together for battle, as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. ⁹They spread out over the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people and the city that he loves. But fire came down from heaven and destroyed them. ¹⁰Then the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The Final Judgment

¹¹Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sits on it. Earth and heaven fled from his presence and were seen no more. ¹²And I saw the dead, great and small alike, standing before the throne. Books were opened, and then another book was opened, the book of the living. The dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. ¹³Then the sea gave up its dead. Death and the world of the dead also gave up the dead they held. And all were judged according to what they had done. ¹⁴Then death and the world of the dead were thrown into the lake of fire. (This lake of fire is the second death.) ¹⁵Those who did not have their name written in the book of the living were thrown into the lake of fire.

A Message for King Ahaz

Isaiah 7 When King Ahaz, the son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, ruled Judah, war broke out. Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, attacked Jerusalem, but were unable to capture it.
²When word reached the king of Judah that the armies of Syria were already in the territory of Israel, he and all his people were so terrified that they trembled like trees shaking in the wind.
³The LORD said to Isaiah, "Take your son Shear Jashub, and go to meet King Ahaz. You will find him on the road where the cloth makers work, at the end of the ditch that brings water from the upper pool. ⁴Tell him to keep alert, to stay calm, and not to be frightened or disturbed. The anger of King Rezin and his Syrians and of King Pekah is no more dangerous than the smoke from two smoldering sticks of wood. ⁵Syria, together with Israel and its king, has made a plot. ⁶They intend to invade Judah, terrify the people into joining their side, and then put Tabeel's son on the throne.
⁷"But I, the LORD, declare that this will never happen. ⁸Why? Because Syria is no stronger than Damascus, its capital city, and Damascus is no stronger than King Rezin. As for Israel, within sixty-five years it will be too shattered to survive as a nation. ⁹Israel is no stronger than Samaria, its capital city, and Samaria is no stronger than King Pekah.
"If your faith is not enduring, you will not endure."

The Sign of Immanuel

¹⁰The LORD sent another message to Ahaz: ¹¹"Ask the LORD your God to give you a sign. It can be from deep in the world of the dead or from high up in heaven."
¹²Ahaz answered, "I will not ask for a sign. I refuse to put the LORD to the test."
¹³To that Isaiah replied, "Listen, now, descendants of King David. It's bad enough for you to wear out the patience of people--do you have to wear out God's patience too? ¹⁴Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: a young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him 'Immanuel.' ¹⁵By the time he is old enough to make his own decisions, people will be drinking milk and eating honey. ¹⁶Even before that time comes, the lands of those two kings who terrify you will be deserted.
¹⁷"The LORD is going to bring on you, on your people, and on the whole royal family, days of trouble worse than any that have come since the kingdom of Israel separated from Judah--he is going to bring the king of Assyria.
¹⁸"When that time comes, the LORD will whistle as a signal for the Egyptians to come like flies from the farthest branches of the Nile, and for the Assyrians to come from their land like bees. ¹⁹They will swarm in the rugged valleys and in the caves in the rocks, and they will cover every thorn bush and every pasture.
²⁰"When that time comes, the Lord will hire a barber from across the Euphrates--the emperor of Assyria!--and he will shave off your beards and the hair on your heads and your bodies.
²¹"When that time comes, even if a farmer has been able to save only one young cow and two goats, ²²they will give so much milk that he will have all he needs. Yes, the few survivors left in the land will have milk and honey to eat.
²³"When that time comes, the fine vineyards, each with a thousand vines and each worth a thousand pieces of silver, will be overgrown with thorn bushes and briers. ²⁴People will go hunting there with bows and arrows. Yes, the whole country will be full of briers and thorn bushes. ²⁵All the hills where crops were once planted will be so overgrown with thorns that no one will go there. It will be a place where cattle and sheep graze."

Isaiah's Son as a Sign to the People

Isaiah 8 The LORD said to me, "Take a large piece of writing material and write on it in large letters: 'Quick Loot, Fast Plunder.' ²Get two reliable men, the priest Uriah and Zechariah son of Jeberechiah, to serve as witnesses."
³Some time later my wife became pregnant. When our son was born, the LORD said to me, "Name him 'Quick-Loot-Fast-Plunder.' ⁴Before the boy is old enough to say 'Mamma' and 'Daddy,' all the wealth of Damascus and all the loot of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria."

The Emperor of Assyria Is Coming

⁵The LORD spoke to me again. ⁶He said, "Because these people have rejected the quiet waters of Shiloah Brook and tremble before King Rezin and King Pekah, ⁷I, the Lord, will bring the emperor of Assyria and all his forces to attack Judah. They will advance like the flood waters of the Euphrates River, overflowing all its banks. ⁸They will sweep through Judah in a flood, rising shoulder high and covering everything."
God is with us! His outspread wings protect the land.
⁹Gather together in fear, you nations! Listen, you distant parts of the earth. Get ready to fight, but be afraid! Yes, get ready, but be afraid! ¹⁰Make your plans! But they will never succeed. Talk all you want to! But it is all useless, because God is with us.

The LORD Warns the Prophet

¹¹With his great power the LORD warned me not to follow the road which the people were following. He said, ¹²"Do not join in the schemes of the people and do not be afraid of the things that they fear. ¹³Remember that I, the LORD Almighty, am holy; I am the one you must fear. ¹⁴Because of my awesome holiness I am like a stone that people stumble over; I am like a trap that will catch the people of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel and the people of Jerusalem. ¹⁵Many will stumble; they will fall and be crushed. They will be caught in a trap."

Warning against Consulting the Dead

¹⁶You, my disciples, are to guard and preserve the messages that God has given me. ¹⁷The LORD has hidden himself from his people, but I trust him and place my hope in him.
¹⁸Here I am with the children the LORD has given me. The LORD Almighty, whose throne is on Mount Zion, has sent us as living messages to the people of Israel.
¹⁹But people will tell you to ask for messages from fortunetellers and mediums, who chirp and mutter. They will say, "After all, people should ask for messages from the spirits and consult the dead on behalf of the living."
²⁰You are to answer them, "Listen to what the LORD is teaching you! Don't listen to mediums--what they tell you cannot keep trouble away."

A Time of Trouble

²¹The people will wander through the land, discouraged and hungry. In their hunger and their anger they will curse their king and their God. They may look up to the sky ²²or stare at the ground, but they will see nothing but trouble and darkness, terrifying darkness into which they are being driven.

The LORD and His Chosen King

Psalm 110 The LORD said to my lord,
"Sit here at my right side
until I put your enemies under your feet."
²From Zion the LORD will extend your royal power.
"Rule over your enemies," he says.
³On the day you fight your enemies,
your people will volunteer.
Like the dew of early morning
your young men will come to you on the sacred hills.

⁴The LORD made a solemn promise and will not take it back:
"You will be a priest forever
in the priestly order of Melchizedek."

⁵The Lord is at your right side;
when he becomes angry, he will defeat kings.
⁶He will pass judgment on the nations
and fill the battlefield with corpses;
he will defeat kings all over the earth.
⁷The king will drink from the stream by the road,
and strengthened, he will stand victorious.