The Watchman’s Call

Guest (Male): Standing at the intersection of the word and the world, there is a clear sound for uncertain times. Welcome to The Watchman's Call. Join us as we stand on the ramparts of scripture to examine the intersection of biblical prophecy and modern culture. The headlines are changing, but the blueprint has already been written. Listen as Pastor Andy Woods uncovers the prophetic significance of the world we live in. The Watchman's Call starts now.

Dr. Andy Woods: I want to welcome you back to The Watchman's Call where we talk a lot about cultural issues, but lately, we've been talking about Bible prophecy. Bible prophecy is a confusing subject to a lot of people, partly because their mind is like a kaleidoscope. They've been taught different things, but they really haven't had anybody put all the prophetic events in proper sequence, a proper chronological order or framework. That's what we're trying to do in this series.

These are events that are coming upon planet Earth. What we have covered thus far is number one, ongoing apostasy and societal deterioration today. That will be interrupted by event number two, the rapture, followed by the Bema seat judgment of Christ, the judgment of rewards for the Christians in heaven following the rapture, number three. Then as that is happening, we will have the seven-year Great Tribulation period happening on earth, and part of that will involve number five, the infamous Gog-Magog invasion. Chapter 38 happens towards the beginning of that time period. Chapter 39 looks like dealing with subjects that happen at the end of that seven-year tribulation period.

That leads us to number six where that time period will end with the satanically energized Battle of Armageddon, which will lead to number seven, not the rapture, but the second advent of Jesus when he comes back with judgment and justice. That's number seven, Revelation 19, the second advent of Christ. That time period will pave the way into the glorious thousand-year Millennial reign of Christ, which is something that we were describing in our last show together, a glorious time period that will last a thousand years with the prophets of old filling in specific details of that time period.

What could possibly go wrong? Well, you get to Revelation 20 and verses seven through 10, and you read these shocking words of people that have been living in utopia or perfection for a thousand years. This is what we read: "When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog."

Now, let me stop there. "Gog and Magog" there is not to be confused with what we spoke of earlier in this series, Ezekiel 38 and 39. I think it's being used here, that expression, like "Waterloo." You run into people that say, "I met my Waterloo," and they're not saying that the Battle of Waterloo is being refought. They're measuring their current conflict by a standard, a difficult ancient battle. So by the time the Millennial Kingdom takes place, what happened in Ezekiel 38 and 39 will be so famous or infamous that it will be used as the barometer to measure all current conflicts through.

But at any rate, it says in verse eight, "He," that is Satan, "will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for the war. The number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city." Interrupting myself again for a moment, the beloved city, when you trace that through the Psalms, is a very clear description of Zion or the city of Jerusalem where Jesus will be reigning during this thousand-year time period.

It goes on in Revelation 20 and verse nine, and it says, "And fire came down from heaven and devoured them." And then verse 10 says, "The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." Now you read this and you say, "What in the world is going on here?" I mean, how could people living in this glorious time period for a thousand years under the direct authority of Jesus stage a worldwide revolt against him the moment that Satan is let loose out of the abyss?

I think I have an explanation for this. There will be people who survive the Great Tribulation period. Jesus, in Matthew 25 verses 31 through 46, looks at something called the sheep and goat judgment for the Gentiles, and apparently something similar will be done for Jewish mortal survivors of the tribulation period in something called the judgment of the Jews in the wilderness in Ezekiel 20 verses 33 through 44.

At any rate, Jesus has to make a determination of these mortal survivors, which ones are believers and which ones are unbelievers. He makes the determination with the Gentiles based on how they helped Christ's brethren. You'll find all of this described in Matthew 25 verses 31 through 46. Who are Christ's brethren? Well, his literal brethren. You'll see Paul in Romans 9 verses two and three using this expression "brethren" this way. His brethren are the Jewish people who will be greatly persecuted by the Antichrist during this terrible time period called the tribulation period.

As people, Gentiles, righteous Gentiles as they are sometimes called, reach out to help the persecuted Jew during the time period of the tribulation period, they will be demonstrating or revealing their faith in the Messiah. Remember what the Book of James, chapter two, says? "Faith without works is dead," meaning faith without works is useless. And so you will demonstrate that you really are a true believer or a Christian during the seven-year tribulation period by having a natural tendency and proclivity to help Christ's brethren, the Jews, who will be persecuted during the tribulation period.

So that's how Jesus determines which of these survivors of the tribulation period are saved and which ones are unsaved. Those that helped Christ's brethren, he calls sheep, and they enter the Millennial Kingdom in mortal, non-resurrected, non-glorified bodies. And those that didn't, he calls goats, and they are cast off the earth into Hades. So the Millennial Kingdom is a very interesting time where it will begin completely with believers.

Because they will be in mortal, non-resurrected bodies, very different than the church, very different than Old Testament saints that seem to be and tribulation martyrs for that matter that are resurrected at the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom, this crowd will not be in resurrected bodies. They will be in mortal bodies, and they will have children, and their children will have children. Over the course of time, a thousand years, the earth will be repopulated.

However, the sin nature will be passed down. And so by the time you get to the end of the Millennial Kingdom, there will be a group of people living on the earth that will be in mortal bodies with a sin nature, and they will hate Jesus. There are some references to this in Zechariah 14 verses 16 through 18 where they won't want to go to Jerusalem to worship the king. Now keep in mind that if you're a member of the church, you're not part of that group because you're ruling and reigning with Jesus over this group during the thousand years.

But these are people who have a sin nature, they have animosity towards Jesus. Jesus sees it because he's omniscient, and so he lets Satan loose for one last hurrah. This is why Satan is not thrown into the lake of fire immediately when Jesus returns in his second advent like the beast and the false prophet had been thrown into the lake of fire. He's thrown into a different place called the abyss because Jesus has one more purpose for Satan. Remember, Satan is God's devil. God actually uses Satan for his own purposes.

So Satan is let loose. He stimulates or reveals this sinful motivation happening in the hearts of people. There's a worldwide rebellion against Jerusalem. Those involved in the rebellion are as the sand of the seashore. God doesn't put up with it for very long because fire comes down from heaven according to Revelation 20 verses seven through nine and consumes these adversaries. And then Satan is escorted into the lake of fire where the beast and the false prophet are. They're still in there a thousand years later.

So that's where this rebellious group comes from. If you don't understand that sequence, it's confusing as to why there could be this mass rebellion from the population at the end of the thousand-year kingdom. And this is allowed by God to answer a final question. The final question is: where does evil come from? Does evil come from people's environment? A lot of sociologists say that. People would stop doing evil if you could fix their environment.

But look at this. Here people are living in a perfect environment, and they still rebel against God. So evil must emanate from the heart, not from the environment. Man, if left to his own devices, has a sin nature. Jeremiah 17 and verse nine talks about this: "The human heart is deceitfully wicked, it's beyond cure, who can understand it?" Jesus in Mark 7 verses 20 through 23 talked about how out of man, out of man's heart, comes evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, idolatry, and the like.

So where does evil come from? One of the great questions that people wrestle with. That gets answered during the Millennial Kingdom as you have people, these would be descendants of those who began the Millennial Kingdom in mortal bodies as sheep, having children, their children having children, etc. The sin nature being passed down, that's where this rebellious group comes from. It comes from people living in perfection at the end of the thousand years that still have a proclivity and a tendency for evil.

And so finally, once and for all, that question is answered, and now we can begin the eternal state. You see, Christianity is unique and Christianity is different because it says what will help people is not changing the outside, but changing the heart. And that's why there's so much in the scripture about the heart. 1 Samuel 16 talks about how God always looks at the heart. He doesn't look at stature the way man does, but he looks at the heart, and he offers us a new birth, being born again, a revolution from within. John chapter three verses three through seven speaks of it. A new nature, 2 Peter chapter one verse four speaks of it.

And so that's what Christianity is all about, and the reason it's all about that is God understands really what is wrong with people. It's not fixing the environment, it's not fixing the outside, it's not giving them more education. Because if you educate a blue-collar thief, he will become a white-collar thief if his nature is not changed from within. What Christianity offers is a revolution from within by being born again, born from above.

Our need for this new nature is typified, it's taught beautifully in this rebellion that takes place at the end of the Millennial Kingdom described in Revelation chapter 20 verses seven through nine. And this is why the kingdom age itself ends in such a disaster. God is teaching humanity one final lesson on what's really wrong with us and why we desperately need Jesus living inside of us via the power of the Holy Spirit.

And so that ends event number eight, the Millennial Kingdom, and then we move on to event number nine of 10, the Great White Throne Judgment, which is described in Revelation chapter 20 verses 11 through 15. Let's read those verses. It says, "Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

Now, this is a, I would call it a terrifying judgment. To me, it's some of the most frightening words that you can read in all of the Bible. It's describing a resurrection of all unsaved people. They're brought out of Hades. Hades is a temporary holding place for unsaved people. It's described in Luke 16 verses 19 through 31. It's a place of torment, but as people are brought out of Hades, they're placed in resurrected bodies. So you'll notice that unsaved and saved are resurrected alike in the outworking of God's plan and God's program.

All of these unsaved people will stand before the Lord at this ninth prophetic event called the Great White Throne Judgment. It talks here about different sets of books. Revelation 20 and verse 12 says, "And another book was opened, which is the book of life." Now, what is the Book of Life? The Book of Life, I believe, is a record of all people throughout the ages that have trusted in Christ for salvation: Old Testament folks looking forward to a coming Messiah not knowing his name, New Testament and post-New Testament people looking backward to a Messiah that came and we do know his name.

But this is the plan of salvation in every age. You're trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ. And if you have done that, then your name is inscribed in that book, and according to Revelation 3 and verse five, nothing can take you out of that book once your name is inscribed in it. This is why Jesus made the following comment to his disciples in Luke 10 beginning in verse 17. It says, "The 70 returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.'"

Now here's Christ's response, verse 20 of Luke 10: "Nevertheless," Jesus says, "do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven." You see, once a person trusts Christ, their name is recorded in this book called the Book of Life. And what is happening at this Great White Throne Judgment as all of the unsaved are summoned from Hades and placed in resurrected bodies is they're being shown here at this judgment that their name is not there. In other words, they've gone through their entire life and they've never trusted in Christ for their personal forgiveness of sins.

They've never trusted in Christ as their Savior, so their destiny is the lake of fire where Satan had been thrown at the end of the Millennial Kingdom, Revelation 20 verse 10, and also where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown relative to the second advent, Revelation 19 verse 20. Now then it talks about another set of books. Talks about a book, the Book of Life, and then it talks about the books which were opened.

Let's read those verses again. Revelation 20 and verse 12, it says, "I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life." Down in verse 15 of Revelation 20, it says, "If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." So if your name is not in the book, you're going into the lake of fire.

Now, if that's true, then what are the books for? The books are there to determine the degree of torment a person experiences forever in a resurrected body in the lake of fire. You see, hell is hell, but it's more hell for some people than others, which to me makes sense in light of God who is a perfect judge and brings perfect justice. We would not expect just an average Christ-denier to be punished exactly the same way as a Stalin or a Hitler or a mass murderer.

So if your name is not in the book, then you're going into the lake of fire. The books are there to determine one's torment forever and ever and ever in the lake of fire. Boy, this is scary stuff, and this explains the urgency of the gospel, why we want people to trust in Christ for salvation now so that they won't show up at this particular horrific judgment. But this becomes the ninth major prophetic event that will transpire yet future.

And so what have we looked at so far? We've looked at nine prophetic events: apostasy and deterioration in our age, interrupted by the rapture of the church. Once the rapture of the church happens, number two, that will take us to number three, there will be a judgment seat of rewards for the church age believer in heaven. And then what will follow as that is happening is the seven-year tribulation period on the earth, number four. Part of that tribulation period involves the infamous Gog-Magog invasion, Ezekiel chapter 38 happening towards the beginning of that tribulation period, chapter 39 towards the end.

That tribulation period will culminate in number six—number five, the Gog-Magog invasion, number six, the Battle of Armageddon, where the nations of the earth will be summoned to the valley in Northern Israel for the final conflict where the blood will flow as high as the horse's bridles for 200 miles. And that will be interrupted by the second advent of Jesus, not the rapture. In this case, his feet will touch the earth, and he will bring violent judgment to those that have come out to oppose him at his second advent.

And then that second advent, earthly coming of Christ, will pave the way into the glorious thousand-year reign of Christ, which will be a wonderful time period. But there will be a giant rebellion at the end. I've tried to spend some time in this session explaining what that rebellion at the end is like, why it's there, who was involved, etc. And then the Millennial Kingdom will pave the way, number eight Millennial Kingdom to number nine, the Great White Throne Judgment, which is a judgment for unsaved people.

As their name is not found written in the Lamb's Book of Life, they will be thrown into the lake of fire, and the degree of torment that they will experience in the lake of fire is determined by what is recorded in the books, which is a record of their sins. So number one apostasy, number two rapture, number three Bema seat, number four tribulation period, number five the Gog-Magog invasion, number six Armageddon, number seven the second advent, number eight the Millennial Kingdom, number nine the Great White Throne Judgment.

Guess what folks, we've just got one more to cover, and that is the eternal state. The eternal state is described in Revelation 21 and 22. Some have looked at the Millennial Kingdom as the Kingdom of God the Son, but the eternal state will be the Kingdom of God the Father as God the Son hands over his kingdom to the hands of God the Father, who will rule forever and ever. And this is where humanity is headed. This is the end product, this is the endgame. It's described in Revelation 21 and 22.

There are so many exciting details about this that I can't cram them into the time segment that I have with you here, but we will take a look at those in our next show together, which will be our final show as we have been trying to take prophetic events and organize them into a chronological framework for you. Hope you're enjoying this series. I hope you share it with your friends. I hope you make people aware of our program because these are very important things to consider because they're coming. We can't change that, but we can get on the right side of God in the here and now. See you next time.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to The Watchman's Call, exploring the intersection of prophecy and culture. This program is a ministry of Sugar Land Bible Church, a place where the Bible is taught and the times are discerned. Visit this Sunday in person or connect with them anytime at slbc.org. That's slbc.org. Until next time, may the Lord give you a spirit of discernment in the week ahead.