'Left Behind' Bible Study: Week 12, “Christ Reigns”

(Bible study by John Myers)

The Seven Bowl Judgments

Commentary from "Revelation Unveiled" by Tim LaHaye, pages 317-366

Satan Bound 1,000 Years

Revelation 20:1-15

    ¹ Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
    ² He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;
    ³ and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

The Saints Reign with Christ 1,000 Years

    ⁴ And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
    ⁵ But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
    ⁶ Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

Satanic Rebellion Crushed

    ⁷ Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison
    ⁸ and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.
    ⁹ They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
    ¹⁰ The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The Great White Throne Judgment

    ¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
    ¹² And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
    ¹³ The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
    ¹⁴ Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
    ¹⁵ And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

The New Heaven and New Earth

Revelation 21:1-27

    ¹ Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.
    ² Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
    ³ And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
    ⁴ And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
    ⁵ Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."
    ⁶ And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.
    ⁷ He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.
    ⁸ But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

The New Jerusalem

    ⁹ Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife."
    ¹⁰ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
    ¹¹ having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.
    ¹² Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
    ¹³ three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.
    ¹⁴ Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
    ¹⁵ And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall.
    ¹⁶ The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal.
    ¹⁷ Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.
    ¹⁸ The construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass.
    ¹⁹ The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,
    ²⁰ the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.
    ²¹ The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

The Glory of the New Jerusalem

    ²² But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
    ²³ The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.
    ²⁴ And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.
    ²⁵ Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there).
    ²⁶ And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.
    ²⁷ But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

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(John Myers has been a Christian speaker, Sunday School teacher and Bible study author since 1977.)