WAKE UP!!!

I am literally appalled and dismayed at the some of the conduct of those who profess to be Christians and follow God.  There is a song by dcTalk that begins the following:

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today
Is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips
Then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle.
That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."

I totally agree with what they stated.  How sad and disheartening it is to hear stories and read stories of so-called Christians doing this.  They talk the talk but never walk the walk.  You can tell a lot by a person, not by the words they speak, but rather the actions they take.

I recently watched a video (it happened about 2 years ago), where a Westboro Church member was disowned by her family.  As I was watching this video, I could not believe what I was hearing!.  "God Hates You!" "Jews, Fags, etc will go to Hell".  They chant that American solders are evil and will go to hell for fighting because of the mean things they do.  And the people who say these things claim to be followers of God.

Now, the Bible teaches us not to judge.  However, there is something that can be done.  It is called rebuke.  Now first I want to define what this word means.

Verb:	Express sharp disapproval or criticism of (someone) because of their behavior or actions.
Noun:	An expression of sharp disapproval or criticism.

Now, there is a fine line between judgment and rebuke.  Rebuke, however is done out of love, judgement is usually done out of spite.

Judgement is seen as this:  You are going to hell because you lie cheat and steal.
Rebuke is seen as this:  Can you not see the hurt that your lying and cheating causes others?

With this in mind, Christians do have the ability to correct their fellow believers, and this is what I intend to do in this post.

God desires all to be saved, for all to know the truth.

1Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, ² for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. ³ For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  1 Timothy 2:1-4

¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. John 3:17

God does not hate us. God loves us.  Hate is the absence of Love.

⁶ For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. ¹⁰ For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. ¹¹ And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Romans 5:6-11

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

I want to look at the above verse, John 3:16.  Let's look at the word "world". Greek: "world" = "cosmos" = all mankind.  It is not selective.  It does not say "for God so loved Jews, Whites, Blacks, Catholics, Gentiles, etc".  It is ALL MANKIND, regardless of one's race, nationality, religion (or lack thereof).  It is all of mankind that He loves, every single human being who has ever walked this planet and will walk this planet.  So for a group to say "God hates you", they are TOTALLY leading people astray.  And I rebuke them saying this.  What they state is false, it is not of God, nor is it of the Bible.

There is this woman that I know.  She professed to me how she was a Christian, listened to Christian music, and disliked many things that were of the world.  Sad thing was, all that she said, it was merely a front, a mask if you will.  As I found out who she truly was, I was disheartened to even think of her as a Christian.  Numerous times was I called names by her, and not the nice ones either.  I was cursed, hated, scoffed at.  And yet, she claims herself to be a Christian!  I rebuke her in her actions.  For if one is a Christian, they do not curse another, they do not hate another, they do not scoff.  They do not tell lies, they walk in the light, they desire truth and demonstrate love.  She has shown me the complete opposite.  Despite the hurtful words she has spoken/written, there is no animosity that I have towards her.  I have no contempt, no anger, no hate, nothing.  All I have is love that one day she will recognize what she is doing and realize that it is not good nor uplifting and showing god in her actions.

Alas, I am not a perfect person.  I still struggle with my own issues. But if I am going to tell those around me that I am a Christian and a follower of God, I better show it in my actions.  When I was growing up, I was homeschooled from grade 6 to graduation.  My last year in elementary, grade 5, and I had trouble reading.  I didn't even know the difference between a long vowel and a short vowel.  So my mom decided to homeschool my brother and I as we were being pushed through the grades.  One of the years we were homeschooled, my mom told us that we had to do our best when we were out, to watch what we do, for people will be watching us, watching our actions.  Homeschooling was a new concept to some people and we wanted to show that homeschooling was not something to be afraid of or scoffed at.  It got to the point where we acted in the best way possible without even thinking about it.  My brother and I were well behaved, we volunteered lots, were part of some amazing things, and all the while, people would come up and ask us where we went to school, or why we were not in school and it would open up the conversation about what homeschooling was.

Similarly, as a Christian, we are being watched.  People are watching us, how we act, behave, what we do to others.  I can't help but sometimes take the side of an Atheist when he says "this is why I don't believe in a God, for Christians just lie, curse, hurt others, etc".  I can't help but agree with them.  This is the same for Muslims.  Because of some extreme Muslims, they all get a bad name.  Even Atheists have this issue.  Heck EVERY GROUP has this issue.  It only takes one/a few to ruin one's perception of that entire group.

Jesus is the perfect example of how we are to live and treat others.  He lived the Ten Commandments.  They are summed up perfectly.  Commandments 1-4 - Love the Lord your God with all your heart.  Commandments 5-10 - Love your neighbor as yourself.  Jesus lived this, He showed us the example we need to present to the world.  How dare we judge and say "You are going to hell" for only God knows a person's heart, He knows their struggles, the secrets they dare not share with another.  He knows their hurt, their sorrow, what their purpose is.  How dare we think we can take God's place!

 We need to be showing love for one another, for God loved mankind to send His Son to die an innocent man so that Jesus could bridge the gap that the original sin caused.  I am going to quote a verse from the Bible about love.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

 What I note interesting is a few verses down.  It reads:

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love

 Faith, hope and love.  But the greatest is love.  We can have faith in God, that He will be there to guide us.  We have hope that one day we will be with Him.  But it is the love that we show to others that draws people to Him.  It is true love, not Hollywood love.  It is the love of acceptance, of truth, justice, selfless, forgiving, never proud.  And until our actions show this, will we have people scoff at us.  And can I really blame them?

I will tell you right now the many things wrong with Christianity:

1.  The Sabbath is not Sunday, it is Saturday.  The seven day week has remained the same.  The Bible does not command a change.  In fact, man made the change.  The Catholic Church admits to changing the day and even persecuted people for not obeying their change.

2. Yes, we confess our sins to one another, but in no way can one man forgive another man's sin.  For only God can forgive sin.  For a priest or pope to claim they can forgive sin is to claim they are God.  They are NOT! They are but a man in a position of power and authority, but they are NOT God.

3. We need to be accepting of others, despite our objections.  Saying to others "God hates you, you are going to hell" is not accepting, it is judging and condemning.  And plan WRONG.  Is that loving our neighbor as ourselves?

4.  Christians do not know their Bible!  They take the sermons or the opinions they read on the internet or books and keep that as truth.  They do not challenge it with the Bible and what it says.  Understanding can only be obtained when one studies the original source.  Start reading your Bible, start studying it.  Stop relying on man and start relying on God!

5.  Enough with the talk and no action.  If you say you are going to, then do so. If you say you are a Christian, then show it.  Stop professing and start proving it.

6. Church and State need to remain separate.  The Church needs to stay out of the government and the government needs to stay out of the church.  Combining the two was never meant to be.  And we need to fight this to the bitter end.  There will come a time when it happens and there is nothing that can be done about it.  It will be the time of the end.  But until it comes, keep standing and keep supporting its separation.

7.  Help those who are less fortunate.  Stop making fun of them or scoffing at them.  Do something!  Volunteer your time.  Help them see that there is hope, that we as man kind care for one another.  Stop having the bystander affect and start doing something.  Visit the elderly who is home alone, play with the child who is left out, serve a hot meal to a family who struggles, listen to a veteran, comfort a widow, be a parent to the orphan.  Do something that gives hope!  Get off the couch and do something for your neighbor!  you hear about someone who requires help financially for their child for medical reasons, start a donation in their name.  Be proactive.

8.  Stop thinking and talking negatively about others.  Stop gossiping.  Stop looking at another person's faults.  Find the good things they do and encourage them.  If someone is homosexual, stop condemning them and start understanding them.  Despite the sin that person does, love that person but acknowledge with them that their actions are a discomfort, but don't disown them.  Jesus never disowned anyone, what gives us the right to do that?

The above is only a small portion but you get what I am saying.  If someone does you wrong, yes you are going to be hurt, but they don't control your feelings and how you react, you do.  You decide how you are going to respond.  Sometimes that includes walking away without any animosity.  Sometimes that is being there through thick and thin.  Sometimes it is taking the beating of what they say but standing your ground in a loving way.

Jesus knew the hearts of the men and women that he conversed with, spent time with.  We don't have that luxury, but at the same time it doesn't mean we can judge them and condemn them.  We are to reason with them, to show them love, acceptance, to know that things can be better if they only recognize and do what is true, right, and just.  We do not know their hearts, we do not know the struggles they have faced and continue to face.  We can sympathize, listen, and pray for them.

I challenge all those who profess to be Christians to start showing it in their actions.  People are hurt, lost, sad, lonely and it does them no good if we condemn them and judge them, for we have no right and it is not our right to.  Only God has that right since He knows the hearts of men.

Ps:44:21: Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. 

¹⁵ And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. Luke 16:15

¹⁰ “I the Lord search the heart
    and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
    according to what their deeds deserve.”  Jeremiah 17:10

Even if we do stumble and fall, it takes a better person to rise up, admit their mistake, make it right with the  person they wronged and with God, and do their best to not make the same mistake again.  God's love will never cease.  Even those who curse God and tell Him to go away, God will always love them.  It's like a child telling a parent to leave him be and never speak to him again.  The parent will obey that child's wish, but the parent will still love their child and await the day he comes back to him. (the parable of the prodigal son comes to mind).

Though the mountains be shaken
    and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
    nor my covenant of peace be removed,”
    says the Lord, who has compassion on you. Isaiah 54:10

God only wishes we all can share in the salvation He gave to us.  It's a free gift.  We, all mankind, are His children.  He also recognizes that we have the free will to decide for ourselves.  And He is hurt when He is told to go away, for He simply wants to help and give us strength, He is hurt because He loves us, as a parent loves his children unconditionally, no matter what they do, they are still his children.  Shame on us for standing in God's way and turning people away from Him.  I rebuke those "God followers" at Westboro, for they turn people from God and curse them.  Jesus never did this while on earth, He turned NO ONE away.  What makes us think we are better?

Do not judge lest ye be judged.  Do not condemn, but show love, show biblical love, show true love.  Do not think yourself better than the next person, for if all was stripped away and only man kind stood, would we all be shown that we are indeed equal and nothing makes us greater than another.  However, reason with one another, show each other where we can better ourselves, teach one another, lift each other us.  Rebuke those who are wrong in a loving way and do not condemn them, but love and pray for them that they see what destruction their actions cause.  And if they not heed, pray for them continually.

Wake up!  Get up!  Start walking the talk you speak.  We are not perfect, but that is no excuse not to try our best.  Study your Bible, talk with God, strengthen your relationship with Him so that you can show love and help others in this world, to give them hope that there is something better.  God's people are in every church, they are everywhere.  We are united in Jesus, for he paid the price so that we can one day find rest away from the pain and sorrow this world has.  Let us share this hope!

We have this hope that burns within our hearts.
Hope in the coming of the Lord
We have this faith that Christ alone imparts,
Faith in the promise of His Word.
We believe the time is here,
When the nations far and near
Shall awake, and shout and sing
Hallelujah! Christ is King!
We have this hope that burns within our hearts,
Hope in the coming of the Lord.

 We are united in Jesus Christ our Lord.
We are united in His love.
Love for the waiting people of the world,
People who need our Savior’s love.
Soon the heav’ns will open wide,
Christ will come to claim His bride,
All the universe will sing
Hallelujah! Christ is King!
We have this hope, this faith, and God’s great love,
We are united in Christ.

2012: Is it really the end of the world?

I wrote this in 2009.  Enjoy.


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So there is a movie out called 2012. Now, in all honesty I have not seen this film, perhaps one day I will watch it, but not right now.

However, with all this interest in 2012, I decided to look into it more. First off, who are the Mayans? Are they really gone from this earth? Or are some people still have a Mayan heritage still alive? To give you an idea on some basic facts that we can anchor to things in our history that we know, here is the following information:

-- The Maya area was initially inhabited around the 10th century BC. Recent discoveries of Maya occupation at Cuello in Belize have been carbon dated to around 2600 BC

We have a basis for when the Mayan people were walking the earth. Feel free to go to Wikipedia for more information on them. There is plenty there.

Now, are these people really gone? Are there still some Mayans? Ed Dickerson wrote a story on the Mayan Calendar for 2012. He begins by stating that he went to this country and during his stay he came across someone who used a dialect from the Mayans. (www.signstimes.com/

In December 2012, at the winter solstice, when the sun and the earth precisely align with the galactic equator, the Mayan Long Count calendar will come to an end. Its beginning points back to a time five centuries before the pyramids, 1,500 years before the Exodus. The midpoint came around the time Daniel spent a night in the lions’ den. Two full millennia have passed since the birth of Christ, and still the long count continues. But now, according to this calendar, the end of this world cycle is in sight.

You may wonder what difference it makes. After all, aren’t the Mayas long gone? Actually, although the Mayan civilization came to an end long before Columbus’s first voyage, the Maya as a people still exist in Central America. I discovered this personally some years ago, when as a young man, I bargained with an Indian woman over the price of some woolen capes at a marketplace in Chichicastenango, Guatemala. As we haggled, I slowly realized that her Spanish was no better than my own few words. Later I learned that she spoke Quiche (KEE-chay), one of the Mayan dialects that still live in the mountains of Central America.

A few weeks later, walking through the vast complex of Mayan buildings at Copan, Honduras, I found it impossible not to be impressed with the achievements of this people who lived so long ago. I also understood why some people would credit them with prophetic insight. The magnificent structures, including temples, were vast man-made mountains of stone aligned precisely with the movements of the sun. There was a “ball court” with its stone goal ring, where victory and defeat determined who would be sacrificed to the gods and who would live. I saw stelae, their rectangular columns taller than a man, intricately carved with images of great leaders and covered with numbers representing dates.

Always dates. The Mayas were obsessed with time.

Now, we know when the Mayans roughly existed, and that they built a lot of spectacular buildings. But what else is there about them we need to understand first? Mr. Dickerson continues:

The Mayan civilization emerged around 500 B.C., and it dominated Mesoamerica for centuries. Yet nearly everything we know about them came to light during the last century.

The Mayas kept records on tree bark, which they formed into books by folding the leaves accordion-style. But their great cities were abandoned, their civilization replaced by the Aztecs and others before the arrival of the Spanish. Unfortunately, most of their books were destroyed by Cortez and the priests that accompanied him during the Spanish conquest in A.D. 1519. Only four of these ancient Mayan books are known to exist today. With the books gone, most of the remaining evidence of their civilization exists in stone carvings lost in the jungles of Mesoamerica. It wasn’t until the twentieth century that explorers for the Wrigley Company, seeking sources of chicle for chewing gum, stumbled upon the remnants of the Mayan civilization overgrown by rainforests...

The Mayas saw time as an ever-changing river, not of water, but of energy, ebbing and flowing, full of crosscurrents and eddies, making a sort of music as it flowed along. Their weeks, which consisted of thirteen days, were known as “tones.” For the Mayas, dates designated both a point in time and the “energy signature” of the universe at any one point in time.

Their fascination with time led them to devise at least 17 calendars, many of them far more accurate even than the Gregorian calendar we use today. Viewing time as a river of energy, the Mayas considered their calendars to be prophetic, describing the energy state of the universe past, present, and future. And they took a long view—a very long view.

Now we get into the calendar and what it means for us. Mr Dickerson wrote about the calendar. He first explains the calendars and how they came to be as the Mayans had at least 17 of them. The one we are all focused on is the Long Count Calendar, explained below:

The Mayan sacred calendar, called the Tzolkin, consisted of the 26,000- year cycle of the Pleiades that was then condensed into 260 days.

The 260-day Tzolkin used 13 numbers or “tones” and 20 “glyphs,” which represented various things in the real world. Children were named after the tone and glyph of their birth, such as “1 Monkey,” or “12 Storm.” The Mayas believed that the day of a person’s birth was the day he “stepped into the River of Time,” and it described who he was and defined his relationship to the universe.

This sacred calendar is still being used for divination by the traditional Mayas all over the Yucatan, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras.

The Long Count calendar. But the calendar exciting all the interest these days is the Mayan Long Count calendar. Twenty days in this calendar made a uinal, the Maya equivalent of a month. Eighteen uinals made a tun, the Mayan civil year of 360 days. Twenty years made a katun, and 20 katuns made up a baktun. After 13 baktuns—5,200 years— the numbers reset. At that time, in the Mayan view, the level of energy changed and the world with it. And while the tones and glyphs repeat, the Mayas believed they did so at a higher energy level each time.

This would be similar to the musical notes on a piano. Starting at middle C and progressing up the scale, every eighth white key is another C an octave higher, vibrating exactly twice as fast as the previous C. On the Mayan Long Count calendar, every baktun is a new octave.

The Long Count calendar began its cycles, its first baktun, in the year 3114 B.C., so the energy has been building up for a very long time. According to Maya belief, at the end of the thirteenth baktun, this cycle of the world’s history will come to an end, and the discharge of that accumulated energy will occur at the winter solstice, on or about December 21, 2012.

Now let's stop there and get a better idea of how this calendar has been in effect for. Another source that wrote an article on 2012 giving more details about this calendar and its existence. www.gotquestions.org/questweek.html

The ancient Mayans, based on star charting, prophesied that December 21, 2012 would be the end of the world (or at least some form of universal catastrophe). Meso-American star charting started around 680 B.C. by the Olmec civilization who were recording astrological patterns in the sky and eventually shared this information with the Mayans. The Mayans had a long history of tracking the winter solstice (probably for planting crops) and creating calendars (at least 17 that we know of). At some point, they developed the belief that our sun is a god and that the Milky Way, called the “Sacred Tree,” was a gateway to the afterlife. After learning from the Olmecs, they began keeping records of the stars’ patterns of movement and continued to do so for the next 200-300 years. The Mayans then developed their own calendar (The Long Count) ca. 355 B.C. They were able to use their observations and mathematical prowess to calculate the future movements of stars across the sky. The result was that the Mayans discovered the effect of the earth’s wobbling as it spins on its axis. This wobbling rotation causes the stars’ patterns of movement to drift gradually in the sky (called “precession”) in a 5,125-year cycle. The Mayans also discovered that once every cycle the dark band at the center of the Milky Way (called the Galactic Equator) intersects with the Elliptical (the plane of the sun’s movement across the sky).

During that year, the sun reaches its solstice (a brief moment when the sun’s position in the sky is at its greatest angular distance on the other side of the equatorial plane from the observer) on December 21 for the Northern Hemisphere and June 21 for the Southern Hemisphere. That year, the solstice occurs at the moment of the conjunction of the Galactic Equator with the Milky Way. The year this occurs (in relation to our Gregorian calendar) is A.D. 2012, and happened last on August 11, 3114 B.C. With Mayan mythology teaching that our sun is a god and the Milky Way is the gateway to life and death, the Mayans concluded that this intersection in the past must have been the moment of creation. Mayan hieroglyphs seem to indicate that they believed the next intersection in 2012 would be some sort of end and a new beginning of a cycle. The Mayans also believed that the blood of human sacrifices was what powered the sun and gave it life.

Now, as you can see, the Mayan calendar revolves around thier religon. It is interesting to note following the above paragraph and what is said:

All the so-called “Mayan prophecies of 2012” are nothing more than wildly speculative extrapolations, which are based on the yet uncertain interpretations by scholars of Mayan hieroglyphs. However, the truth is that apart from the astrological convergence, there is little indication that the Mayans prophesied anything specific regarding the events of this distant future. The Mayans were not prophets; they were not even able to predict their own cultural extinction. They were great mathematicians and accomplished sky watchers, but they were also a brutally violent tribal people with a primitive understanding of natural phenomena, subscribing to archaic beliefs and the barbaric practices of blood-letting and human sacrifice.

And Mr. Dickerson goes on to say:

You’ve no doubt heard about the year 2012, when cataclysmic and apocalyptic events are predicted to occur, possibly precipitating the end of the world. Numerous books have been written about 2012, and Hollywood has produced a science fiction film called 2012: We Were Warned that’s set for release in early November this year. It depicts global disaster on a massive scale. And it’s all based on the Mayan Long Count calendar.

Surely the sophistication and complexity of Mayan mathematics— they were the first to discover and use the digit zero—make their predictions difficult to ignore. And, for all our differences from the Mayas, we moderns share a fascination with the future and a desire to control events, or, failing that, at least to foresee them.

Now, that is the basic background history I have come across, sure there are lots of articles written about it as well. Now before continuing further I do want to state that from here on in, it is going to be explained from a biblical point of view what this Mayan 2012 Prophecy really means. So considering not everyone is a believer in God, if you are not, you will not get anything more out of what is ahead. You are welcome to read, but realize it is coming from a biblical view point.

Now, in both articles above, each one gets into what the Bible says about this prophecy. Let's look a a few brief verses about prophecy. Mr. Dickerson does this so well, I will quote what he has written:

How does all this relate to the Bible’s prediction of the end? Actually, there are some similarities. The Old Testament book of Joel, using imagery the Mayas would have recognized, warns of “wonders in the heavens / and on the earth, / blood and fire and billows of smoke. / The sun will be turned to darkness / and the moon to blood” (Joel 2:30, 31).

Jesus declared that at the end of the world, “ ‘There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. . . . Signs in the sun, moon and stars’ ” (Luke 21:11, 25).

Nor will all of these miraculous signs originate with God. Paul warned the Thessalonians that “the work of Satan [will be] displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders” (2 Thessalonians 2:9). And Revelation depicts a false prophet who is empowered to perform “great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. . . . [In order to deceive] the inhabitants of the earth” (Revelation 13:13, 14).

Will all of this take place at the end of the Long Count calendar? Certainly, we would all like to know. The twelve disciples asked Jesus directly, “ ‘What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? ” (Matthew 24:3). In His reply, Jesus warned, “ ‘Watch out that no one deceives you’ ” (verse 4). Then, after describing a series of events close to the end, Jesus declared, “ ‘When you see all these things, you know that [My return] is near, right at the door’ ” (verse 33). Many Bible students agree that we live in the times described by Jesus; that His return is indeed “near, right at the door.” 

But what about December 21, 2012? Jesus also cautioned us that “ ‘no one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father’ ” (verse 36). “ ‘Therefore keep watch,’ ” He said, “ ‘because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. . . . You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him’ ” (verses 42, 44).

Notice that Jesus said neither we nor even the angels in heaven know when He will return. So if the angels do not know the time, then neither did the ancient Mayan priests and astrologers who devised the Long Count calendar. The Long Count calendar of the Mayas—with its precise calculation of the positions of heavenly bodies over a span of more than 5,000 years—is a remarkable human achievement, but it is not prophetic. The Mayas demonstrated great knowledge about mathematics, but God “determines the number of the stars / and calls them each by name” (Psalm 147:4). The Mayas may have observed the Pleiades and based a calendar on their movements, but God “ ‘is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, / the Pleiades and the constellations’ ” (Job 9:9).

So just out of that, even though there are some similarities within the Bible about this Mayan Prophecy, as Christians and those who believe in the Bible will see that no one will know the day nor the precise time. Only God knows. So if this is the case, right there and then the Mayan Prophecy is dismissed because on a Biblical standpoint when the world ends, we won't have a warning, we will have signs of it's end, but not a date as the Mayan Calendar indicates. As Mr. Dickerson sums up, the end is near, we will never know its time, and that is why we need to look into these things further and use the Bible as the founding source. The Bible tests the spirits.

Will the world as we know it end? Certainly! Will it end on December 12, 2012, as some believe the Long Count calendar predicts? Probably not. It is God who set the planets and stars on their courses. He determines their movements; they do not determine His. But the Bible is clear: we know that His coming is “near, even at the door,” and that “in just a very little while, ‘He who is coming will come and will not delay’ ” (Hebrews 10:37).

In closing, if you want to believe in the Mayan prophecy, read below:Accepting the Mayan 2012 prophecy logically requires acceptance of the following theories: our sun is a god; the sun is powered by the blood of human sacrifice; the creation moment occurred at 3114 B.C. (despite all evidence that it happened much earlier); and the visual alignment of stars has some significance for everyday human life. Like every other false religion, the Mayan religion sought to elevate to the point of worship that which was created in place of the Creator Himself. The Bible tells us about such false worshipers: “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25), and “since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). To accept the Mayan 2012 prophecy also denies the clear biblical teaching about the end of the world, because Jesus told us “…of that day and hour no one knows, no, not the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but the Father” (Mark 13:32).

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Now, I wanted to add one thing in. Prophecy. I enjoy this subject so well only because I have understood it. If you don't know already, Daniel is a prophetic book. Just to show you it's truth within the book, here is the prophecy about the Golden Statue.

Remember Nebuchadnezzar? And the dream about the statue he had? Let us read the verse in the Bible.

Daniel 2:26-35“The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Are you able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? 27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king has demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king; 28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, are these; 29 As for you, O king, your thoughts came into your mind upon your bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to you what shall come to pass. 30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that you mightest know the thoughts of your heart.” 31“You, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before you; and the form thereof was terrible. 32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 34 You sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” NKJV

Daniel then interprets the dream. The following is an explanation of the statue from a Daniel Bible Study site. www.danielbibleprophecy.org/daniel2.html

This dream was related to the king in the form of an image with different types of metals, something the idolatrous king could relate to. The brightness of it was excellent and the form was terrible/dreadful.

The head of this image was made not just of gold, but of fine gold. The chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, and feet part of iron and part of clay. Then a stone that was cut out without hands smote the image at the feet and not only was the iron and clay broken, but all the other metals were broken with it. They became as chaff of the summer threshing floor and the wind came and blew them away. No place was found for them, and the stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

A few things to notice are that each metal is inferior in value to the other, but though they are inferior each metal is stronger than the preceding one.

Now here is the cool thing. The interpretation!! I love this part because it is a part of our history and not just in the Bible! I will leave you with the explanation to the dream and it's meaning.

Daniel 2:36-39 “This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 37 You, O king, are a king of kings: for the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven has he given into thine hand, and has made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold. 39 And after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.”

Now Daniel gives the interpretation. He starts by telling the king that he is a king of kings, but also reminds him that it is the God of heaven that gave to him this kingdom and power, strength, and glory, so as to not allow the king any pride or self glory in the matter, but remind him of the true God. Babylon thought itself above retribution, and trusted in their spiritual leaders, but they were being lead astray by them. (Isaiah 47:7-8, 13) Babylon should not have been glorying in its own wisdom but glorying in the fact that they were given an understanding of and a knowledge of the true God. (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

Verse 38 tells us a little of how great his dominion was and to the extent of what he ruled over. Daniel now reveals to us, and to Nebuchadnezzar, that he is the head of gold. Babylon ruled the world from 606 B.C. to 538 B.C.

After the Babylonian kingdom there was to arise another kingdom inferior to it, as silver is inferior to gold but stronger. From chapter 8 and verse 20, and 5:28-31, we see that it was the Medes and Persians that took over the Babylonian kingdom in 538 B.C. under the rulership of Darius the Mede, 5:31. They were inferior in wealth, luxury, and magnificence, not in power or in the extent of the kingdom for they were mightier and ruled over a larger area than Babylon. Medo-Persia ruled from 538 B.C. to 331 B.C.

Another third kingdom, the belly and thighs of brass, was to arise after the Medo-Persia kingdom. This kingdom was the Grecian empire as stated in 8:20-21. The final deciding battle was at Arbela, 331 B.C., between Alexander the Great and Darius Codomannus the last of the line of the old Persian kings. Alexander and his Grecian army were out numbered 20 to 1 by the Persians, but Alexander was entirely victorious with Darius being killed by his own men when refusing to make a more hasty retreat. Alexander now became absolute lord of the Persian Empire, to a greater extent than any of the Persian kings before him. The Bible says that this kingdom was to bear rule over all the earth. The Grecian kingdom did, for it ruled from Greece across to the borders of India and down to Egypt. Greece ruled from 331 B.C. to 168 B.C.

Daniel 2:40 “And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.”

Here we find the fourth kingdom introduced. It was to be as strong as iron, for iron breaks and subdues all things and would break all the other metals before it. It would break them in pieces and bruise. This Rome did. It conquered Greece and subdued all things and broke nations and bruised them. It was always victorious in war, and made its way to the Euphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, and the ocean. The nations fell and were broken by the iron monarchy of Rome.

The Bible makes a clear statement in Luke 2:1 that Rome ruled the world, for you cannot tax the world unless you rule it. In its height it ruled the whole south of Europe, France, England, the greater part of the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the south of Germany, Hungary, Turkey, Greece, and parts of Asia and Africa. Rome ruled from 168 B.C. to 476 A.D.

Daniel 2:40“And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.”

Here we find the fourth kingdom introduced. It was to be as strong as iron, for iron breaks and subdues all things and would break all the other metals before it. It would break them in pieces and bruise. This Rome did. It conquered Greece and subdued all things and broke nations and bruised them. It was always victorious in war, and made its way to the Euphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, and the ocean. The nations fell and were broken by the iron monarchy of Rome.

The Bible makes a clear statement in Luke 2:1 that Rome ruled the world, for you cannot tax the world unless you rule it. In its height it ruled the whole south of Europe, France, England, the greater part of the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the south of Germany, Hungary, Turkey, Greece, and parts of Asia and Africa. Rome ruled from 168 B.C. to 476 A.D.

Daniel 2:41-43 “And whereas you sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as you sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. 43 And whereas you sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.”

After the Roman Empire the kingdom was to be divided, but with some having the strength of iron and others being weak like clay. The Western Roman Empire divided into ten separate parts as will now be listed.

The ten divisions of Rome

1. Heruli. 6. Burgundians.

2. Ostrogoths. 7. Lombards.

3. Vandals. 8. Anglo/Saxons.

4. Franks. 9. Alamanni.

5. Visigoths. 10. Seuvi.

Mingle themselves with the seed of men - Even though the kingdoms were divided, the monarchies of different countries tried to unite them through marriage and thus gain the supremacy this way. The only thing it resulted in was family feuds between countries.

Many have tried to rule the world through military conquest, Charlemagne, Napoleon, and Hitler to name a few. But all efforts have come to naught for the Bible is in opposition to them all, as it is written “they shall not cleave one to another”, for clay does not cleave to iron and vice versa.

Clay and Iron – The iron and clay are much more than just the divided kingdoms. Whilst looking back through this prophecy, all the metals have been representative of kingdoms/nations/states. But what does the Bible represent clay as?

In Jeremiah 18:6 and Isaiah 64:8 we find that God’s people, which are His church, (Acts 7:38 ) are likened unto clay. But this is miry or dirty clay, which means a dirty or apostate church. Daniel 2 shows to us that there is to be a uniting of church and state during the time frame after the Roman Empire. But God also shows to us that church and state should not be united together for the very fact of that, iron does not mix with clay, it is not God’s system to mix the two together they are to remain separate.

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Now the above does continue, but that gives you a taste of Biblical prophecy in the works. Daniel prophesied 10 kingdoms after the fall of Rome. Within history we have these 10 kingdoms. 7 are modern day Europe:

The ten divisions of Rome

Ostrogoths - Exterminated.
Vandals - Exterminated.

Franks - France
Suevi - Portugal

Alemanni -Germany
Anglo-Saxons - England

Heruli - Exterminated
Lombards - Italy

Burgundians - Switzerland
Visigoths - Spain

Peace Unto You!

Meaningful Relationship Quotes

Relationships are something that requires constant attention and hard work.  One cannot simply expect the relationship to be easy and a "breeze".  You are either committed or you are not.  Regardless, listening is the best thing in any relationship, to hear what the other is saying, how they feel, what they think.  You need to listen to this and not become defensive.  They may be right, they may be wrong, but that is not the point.  The point is you both are talking and listening to one another to be able to overcome the issues you are facing.

It is all too often that relationships end simply because one person does not want to change or work through problems.  Either they see nothing wrong (don't want to see anything wrong) or they do see something wrong, but don't care to change it.

But if you both are willing to work on your relationship together, make stronger your friendship.  Go out and do the things you are both interested in, have fun.  Learn something new together.  Do what friends would do.  When your friendship grows stronger, so will your relationship.  

We all know men and women think differently about things.  Women would rather talk about their issues in great detail and men just need a solution to their issues.  Men, listen to your partner, listen to the details.  Not always do they need a solution, but rather someone to listen to what they are saying.  Women, don't go into detail about a man's issue.  Provide them with some solutions and how you think it may work.

In your relationship, be intimate.  This does not mean you need to end your intimate times with intercourse.  Men, find out what your woman likes.  Does she like massages, her hair combed, being held in your arms, going for walks, getting flowers, special gifts, spending time with you?  Find out what she likes and do that for her.  Don't do it because you have to, do it because you want to.  Show her that she is important to you and you want to show her that she is special to you and that you care about her.  Women are emotional, so be emotional as well.  When it comes to intercourse, show her passion, love, intensity.  Don't have sex because you are wanting it, have it because you want to show your love in the most intimate way.  Women need to be worked up to achieve the most emotional connection during intercourse, it does not come easy as it does for men.  Start with playing with her hair, caress her face, give her a massage, let your emotions of love for her flow through what you do.  Trust me she will pick up on it!  Don't be fast.  Please her in what you know she enjoys.  Intercourse builds the emotional bonds between the two of you.  If you are "done" and she is not, don't just stop there.  Do something for her!

Women, listen to your men and what their interests are, what they want to accomplish.  What men need to know is that you support them.  Encourage them and strengthen them.  Listen to what their goals are.  Do they want to accomplish a project in the yard, do they want to fix up the family car.  These simple things are big deals to them.  So support your men in what they do (so as long as it does not hurt you or your family).  Take the children to the park so he can work on the yard or car.  Offer your help, ask if you can spend time with him, you might even learn something.  Do something they enjoy doing.  They like fast cars and races, go with him to the race track!  Be intimate with them.  Men also like feeling close.  They want to know you love them, support them and are proud of what they do for you and the family.  Use encouraging words to show your appreciation, let them know you are proud of what they have achieved.  Do things for them, let them have an evening with the guys.

Know what your partner likes and even dislikes.  Don't do things you know will annoy them.  Do things you know they will enjoy and be thankful for.  Listen to them, enjoy their company.  Work on relationship problems together, do things together.  Build up your friendship to each other.  What may bother you may not bother them, so look to yourself and see why it is bothering you.  Is it your perspective?  Is it something about you that needs to change?  Maybe it is something that they are doing that you know is not best for you and the family.  So speak with them, don't give them the silent treatment.  Don't be selfish in your relationship, be selfless.  Think of what impact your decision or behavior has on your family.  Is it positive or is it negative?  If it is negative then you need to find a solution or compromise so that your family flourishes.

I came across these quotes that spoke to me and I would like to share with you all.  Enjoy :)

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When you struggle with your partner, you are struggling with yourself. Every fault you see in them touches a denied weakness in yourself.

Deepak Chopra

A man's sense of self is defined through his ability to achieve results.

John Gray

A woman's sense of self is defined through her feelings and the quality of her relationships.

John Gray

Just as a man is fulfilled through working out the intricate details of solving a problem, a woman is fulfilled through talking about the details of her problems.

John Gray

However good or bad you feel about your relationship, the person you are with at this moment is the "right" person, because he or she is the mirror of who you are inside.

Deepak Chopra

Trust is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It's the foundational principle that holds all relationships.

Stephen R. Covey

Some of the biggest challenges in relationships come from the fact that most people enter a relationship in order to get something. They're trying to find someone who's going to make them feel good. In reality, the only way a relationship will last is if you see your relationship as a place that you go to give, and not a place that you go to take.

Anthony Robbins

Little kindness and courtesies are so important. In relationships, the little things are the big things.

Stephen R. Covey

A man in a relationship trades intimacy to get sex. A woman in a relationship trades sex to get intimacy.

Old Proverb

The more connections you and your lover make, not just between your bodies, but between your minds, your hearts, and your souls, the more you will strengthen the fabric of your relationship, and the more real moments you will experience together.

Barbara De Angelis 

If we are incapable of finding peace in ourselves, it is pointless to search elsewhere.

Francois de la Rochefoucauld

Love is not about finding the right person, but creating a right relationship. It's not about how much love you have in the beginning but how much love you build till the end.

Unknown

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.

Helen Keller

Love means to commit oneself without guarantee, to give oneself completely in the hope that our love will produce love in the loved person. Love is an act of faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love.

Erich Fromm

Love is like a friendship caught on fire: In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable.

Bruce Lee

Find a guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot, who calls you back when you hang up on him, who will lie under the stars and listen to your heartbeat, or will stay awake just to watch you sleep... wait for the boy who kisses your forehead, who wants to show you off to the world when you are in sweats, who holds your hand in front of his friends, who thinks you're just as pretty without makeup on. One who is constantly reminding you of how much he cares and how lucky he is to have YOU... The one who turns to his friends and says, that's her...

Unknown

Give her two red roses, each with a note. The first note says 'For the woman I love' and the second, 'For my best friend.'

Unknown

Love is a language spoken by everyone, but understood only by a heart.

Shirley Rindani

Maybe God put a few bad people in your life, so when the right one came along you'd be thankful.

Andrea Kiefer

Say I love you and mean it, don't just say it cause you can.

Unknown

Never say goodbye when you still want to try. Never give up when you still feel you can take it. Never say you don't love a person when you can't let go.

Dons

1 Corinthians 13:4

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast,
it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered,
it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.

The Millennium -- Two Resurrections

What happens when the wicked die at the second coming?

 

*NOTE: unless otherwise mentioned, all biblical text comes from the New King James Version (NKJV)*

It is well known that when Jesus comes, those who are dead and alive in Christ will rise up and meet him in the sky.

¹⁵ For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

But what happens to those who are left? Those who did not choose to believe in the God of the Bible?

² For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. ³ For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 1 Thessalonians 5:2,3

The above verse is talking about the coming of the Lord. It mentions that when Jesus returns, sudden destruction comes upon those who were not saved. It ends with “and they shall not escape”. But this verse doesn’t say anything about them dying. However, let’s see what Jesus has to say about His own coming:

²⁶ And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: ²⁷ They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. ²⁸ Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; ²⁹ but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. Luke 17:26 -30

So what happened in the days of Noah? When Noah and his family entered the ark, those who did not believe died immediately at the flood. What happened in the days of Lot? When Lot finally left Sodom and Gomorrah, fire and brimstone destroyed those cities instantly. Jesus finishes that so it will be like this the day when the Son of man returns.

So we know that those who believed in God are saved when Jesus returns and those who did not believe do not escape from the sudden destruction. Other texts make it clear that when Jesus returns, those left behind will be destroyed, not given another chance during some hypothetical “seven-year Tribulation” (which, by the way, is nowhere specifically referred to in the Bible). Here are just a few texts describing the global desolation that follows Jesus’ return.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 - When Jesus returns in flaming fire, the lost will be destroyed.
Revelation 16:17-18 – At Armageddon, cities crumble around the world.
Revelation 6:14; 16:20 - Every island sinks, and all the mountains disappear.
Jeremiah 4:23-26 - Planet Earth is totally devastated, with “no man” left alive.
Jeremiah 25:30-33 - Those slain by the Lord lie dead, unburied, all around the world.
Revelation 19:17-18, 21 - The birds eat the flesh of every human being worldwide.

These verses teach that those not “caught up” when Christ returns will be destroyed, and the destruction will encompass all the earth, as it did during Noah’s flood. Jesus Himself taught this. “The flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the son of man be” (Matthew 24:39). So to conclude, when the true believers are resurrected, the rest of those who are unjust literally die.

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It is at this point that we introduce the Millennium. This is mentioned in the book of Revelations. There is massive confusion about the “Millennium” in Christian churches. Some teach it is entirely symbolic, some teach that it is not worth fretting over. Some say that this period is now. Most prophetic teacher contend that this apocalyptic period is still future and will follow the Second Coming of Jesus and will be a universal peace on earth as Jesus governs all nations from Jerusalem.

To discover the answer, we must carefully examine the only authoritative source where it’s taught, the Bible, especially chapter 20 in the book of Revelation. Let’s see what Revelation 20 actually says, and doesn’t say.

Revelation 20

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.

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.

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.

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.

Now here’s a brief summary of each verse (we will soon take a closer look at these events):

vs. 1 - An angel descends from heaven with a key and a chain.
vs. 2 - He binds Satan for 1000 years.
vs. 3 - During the 1000 years Satan cannot deceive the nations any more.
vs. 4 - Martyrs are resurrected to reign with Jesus Christ for 1000 years.
vs. 5a - The rest of the dead will be raised at the end of the 1000 years.
vs. 6 - Those in the first resurrection will reign with Jesus for 1000 years.
vs. 7 - Satan will be loosed at the end of the 1000 years.
vs. 8 – After the rest of the dead are raised, Satan deceives them again. There will be billions - like the sand of the sea. They are called Gog and Magog. Satan gathers them for a final battle.
vs. 9 - Satan and this host surround God's City. Fire comes down and devours them.
vs. 10 - Satan, the Beast, and the False Prophet end up in this lake of fire.
vs. 11 - Before this fire falls, a final judgment occurs.
vs. 12 - All the resurrected lost are judged.
vs. 13 - Another description of the resurrected lost being judged.
vs. 14 - Death and Hell [Hades-Grave] are cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death.
vs. 15 - All the resurrected lost are cast into the lake of fire.

Remember earlier how I mentioned that there was a resurrection for the living and one for the lost? To break down Revelation 20 further, there is a ‘good resurrection’ (called “the first resurrection”) at the beginning of the 1000 years (vs. 4-6), whereas “the rest of the dead” are resurrected at the end of the 1000 years (vs. 5a). Satan is bound during the 1000 years (vs. 3), but is loosed “when the thousand years are expired” and “the rest of the dead” are raised (compare verses 5a and 7). Satan gathers the lost for a final battle against God's City (vs. 8). A final judgment occurs, and then the lost are punished in the lake of fire (verses 9, 14-15). Then the old earth passes, and the new earth comes (Revelation 21:1).

The above points are undeniable, for this is exactly what Revelation 20 says. Two significant facts should be noted:

Revelation 20 doesn’t say there will be peace on earth during the 1000 years.

Revelation 20 doesn’t say Jesus Christ will rule during the 1000 years from the present city of Jerusalem. 

These common doctrines are being taught worldwide but are not found in Revelation 20, the only place in God’s Word that specifically mentions the 1000-year period. Now let’s go deeper.

Now, let’s discuss these two resurrections. Jesus did teach two resurrections. 

²⁸ Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice ²⁹ and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. John 5:28-29

Paul also taught two resurrections:

15 I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. Acts 24:15
 

So we see that both Jesus and Paul teach about two resurrections, one for the living (just) and one of condemnation (unjust). Revelation 20 revolves around these two resurrections. We know from Rev 20:4-6 that the first resurrection takes place before the 1000 years and the other resurrection takes place at the end of the 1000 years. It reads:

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. Rev 20:6

But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. Rev 20:5a

It is plain that there are two resurrections. One at the beginning of the Millennium, where true believers in Christ are raised to eternal life and one at the opposite end of the Millennium, where the “unjust” awake to something else entirely.

Before we figure out what the “unjust” awake to at their resurrection, what happens after those who are true believers are caught up to meet with Jesus?

The last sentence in Revelation 19 describes birds feasting upon “the flesh of all men” (vs. 21). Immediately following is Revelation 20, which depicts the binding of Satan so that he can “deceive the nations no more” during the 1000 years (Revelation 20:1-3). Why not? The answer’s easy--there’s nobody left alive on earth to deceive. Those in the first resurrection were “caught up” to be with Jesus, and the rest, those left behind, were slain.

This helps explain what follows (Read carefully): “that he [Satan] should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years should be fulfilled” (Revelation 20:3). Notice these three words “no more until.” What do they tell us? They teach that those “nations” are entirely Satan’s nations. Satan is deceiving them now, but can’t continue deceiving them during the Millennium, “until” a certain time.

What time is that? When the 1000 years are over, obviously. Now put two and two together. At the end of the Millennium, “the rest of the dead” (who missed “the first resurrection”) are raised back to life. Then Satan deceives them again. Look again, and don’t let anyone convince you otherwise:

Verse 5a - “The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished”

Verse 7 - “When the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison”

At the end of the 1000 years, “the rest of the dead” are raised, and Satan is “loosed.” Therefore the raising of the “rest of the dead” is what “looses” the devil. Satan then swoops into these resurrected nations (now alive in the four corners of the earth), deceives them again, and then gathers them for the grand finale (verses 8-9).

What does all this mean? The answer will come shortly after we examine a few more crucial points.

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What is crucial to understand about the Millennium is the first texts of Revelation 20:1,2. These verses read:

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

According to the text, Satan is bound by a great chain and thrown into a bottomless pit. The expression, “a great chain,” doesn’t mean a literal chain. Even today, all of “the angels that sinned” with Lucifer are described as being in “chains of darkness” (2 Peter 2:4). These words do not refer to actual clinking and clanging metal, but to circumstances of darkness that these angels find themselves in after having been booted out of heaven.

During the 1000 years, Satan is bound with a chain because of his new circumstances that prevent him from deceiving the nations. What are these new circumstances? Everyone left on earth is dead.

Now, what is this “bottomless pit?” The Old Testament defines the word “pit” as a grave, cemetery, or to the place of the dead. Here are some texts:

Psalms 55:23 - Evil men will go “down into the pit of destruction.”
Numbers 16:32-33 - “the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up ... into the pit.”
Ezekiel 32:22-23 - “his graves are about him ... in the sides of the pit ... all of them slain.”
Psalms 28:1 - David prayed not to “become like them that go down to the pit.”
Psalms 69:15 - “Let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.”

Isaiah 14 contains one of the clearest prophecies about Satan. It reads:

¹² “ How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
¹³ For you have said in your heart:

‘ I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
¹⁵ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit.
¹⁶ “ Those who see you will gaze at you,
And consider you, saying:

‘ Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,
¹⁷ Who made the world as a wilderness
And destroyed its cities,
Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’
¹⁸ “ All the kings of the nations,
All of them, sleep in glory,
Everyone in his own house;
¹⁹ But you are cast out of your grave
Like an abominable branch,
Like the garment of those who are slain,
Thrust through with a sword,
Who go down to the stones of the pit,
Like a corpse trodden underfoot.
²⁰ You will not be joined with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land
And slain your people.
The brood of evildoers shall never be named.
²¹ Prepare slaughter for his children
Because of the iniquity of their fathers,
Lest they rise up and possess the land,
And fill the face of the world with cities.”

He was cast out of heaven (vs.12) for exalting himself (vs.13). He is to be brought down “to sheol”(sheol means grave, pit) (vs.15). And interestingly enough, Isaiah 14:18-21 parallels perfectly the prophecy in Revelation 20:1-3. 

When Revelation 20:1-3 describes Satan as bound with a chain for 1000 years, this means that a chain of circumstances will prevent him from deceiving the nations. The major circumstance is the return of Jesus Christ in “flaming fire” (2 Thessalonians 2:8), the “sudden destruction” of sinners (1 Thessalonians 5:3), the largest earthquake in history (Revelation 16:18), the global crumbling of cities (Revelation 16:19), the disappearing of mountains and islands (Revelation 16:20), and the total depopulation of planet Earth just like “it was in the days of Noah” (Matthew 24:37-39). This “great day of the Lord” will come “as a destruction from the Almighty” (Joel 1:15). “And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be as dung upon the ground” (Jeremiah 25:33).

Earth will be like one gigantic bottomless pit, a huge cemetery. Jeremiah predicted: 

²³ I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void;
And the heavens, they had no light.
²⁴ I beheld the mountains, and indeed they trembled,
And all the hills moved back and forth.
²⁵ I beheld, and indeed there was no man,
And all the birds of the heavens had fled.
²⁶ I beheld, and indeed the fruitful land was a wilderness,
And all its cities were broken down
At the presence of the LORD,
By His fierce anger.

Jeremiah 4:23-26

Satan and his angels can only wander about the earth and contemplate with trembling, the finals events to occur at the end of the 1000 years.

Far from a time of glory when Jesus reigns in Jerusalem, the Millennium is a time when the earth lies in waste, in desolate ruins, a prison house for Satan and his angels.


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The Millennium is not some idyllic era of peace and goodness, but a time of utter devastation and judgment. Now what about God’s people during this 1000 year period? Those who were part of the first resurrection?

Jesus stated in John 14:1-2 that he would be preparing mansions for us and that when He returns will he take us to Him so that where He is, we may be with Him also (vs.3). John beheld God’s saints in heaven:

¹ After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God! ² For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.” Revelation 19:1-2

Now, according to Revelation 20:4,6 the saints will “reign” with Jesus for 1000 years. This does not say they will reign on earth with Jesus. Why would Jesus and his people rule over a devastated and ruined world anyways? The Bible says we will soar upward when Christ returns (1 Thessalonians 4:17), that He will take us to the New Jerusalem (John 14:1-3), and that we will then be in heaven praising God (Revelation 19:1-2).

Some might ask, How can we “reign” for 1000 years if we’re in heaven? Don’t we have to be on earth to “reign” over others during this time? Not necessarily. The Bible also says the saints will “reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:5). Thus this “reign” idea implies we will be in some position of authority, just as Adam originally exercised dominion over the earth, that’s all.

Now, if the earth is desolate with no survivors, aside from Satan and his angels, and the saints are in heaven, what is the purpose of the 1000 years? There are a few possibilities that exist.

      1) It gives the loyal universe an opportunity to behold the terrible results of Satan’s rule;
2) It gives the saints in heaven an opportunity to go through heaven’s records and to have all their questions answered about why some of their loved ones are there and some are not;
3) It provides a period of time when Jesus and the saints together can make decisions about the just punishments to be carried out upon the lost at the end of the 1000 years (see 1 Corinthians 6:2-3);
4) It also gives the saints a period of time to prepare mentally for the events at the end of the 1000 years, at which time many of their loved ones will be resurrected, judged, and sentenced to the lake of fire (Revelation 20:5a, 11-15).

We don’t truly know what will happen during this reign, but the above is what is told to us through the Bible. My thinking is that the saints will go through all these “records” and will see all the times God tried to show his love to the “unjust”, all the chances he gave them to turn from their ways, as well as all the times He was rejected, was told to go away, all the times people denied and never wanted to believe. I think it will be a time where we will agree with God about the judgment of the unjust, those loved ones who turned away from God, the saints will agree with God’s judgment that he was fair, just, graceful, merciful and did his best to try and get as many of the unjust as possible into heaven. But of course, he doesn’t force anyone to decide and I would think that we would see that it was the “unjust’s” choice not to be a part of God’s kingdom. This is my interpretation and further thinking about the 4 possibilities that were mentioned above.

When really thinking about it, it is in harmony with the whole Bible itself. Where God says we have free will, and that He stands at the door and knocks at our hearts, hoping that we will freely welcome Him in to transform us to become just.


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Okay, we have seen that at the Second Coming, Jesus returns, the saved (both the resurrected dead and those alive at His return) are taken to heaven where they “reign” for a thousand years, the earth is destroyed--and Satan remains captive there for the allotted thousand years. What then happens at the end of the thousand years?

Revelation 20 states two clear events that will happen at the end of the Millennium. The first is that the rest of the dead are raised to life (vs.5a) and that Satan is loosed (verses 3,7). Both of these events happen at the same time. When the lost are resurrected, Satan now has people he can once again deceive. He 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” (verse 8). The “sand of the sea” is all the people from the time of Adam to those who died at the sudden destruction. This is every unjust person who has ever lived on the earth from its beginnings.

Once the lost are resurrected, Satan gathers them together for battle. So who will this terrible army attempt to fight? The Bible makes it perfectly clear who they will engage in battle: “They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city.” Revelation 20:9. This is the New Jerusalem, the home of the saved (Revelation 3:12; 21:10), which descends from heaven to the earth (Revelation 3:12; 21:2) right before the second resurrection. Then Satan and his macabre army surround the “camp of the saints” in a last-ditch effort to conquer God's fortress.

This is Satan's last stand, his final opportunity to conquer Jesus Christ, His New Jerusalem, and the redeemed of all ages. But he can never defeat the King of the Universe. He failed miserably when Jesus was a lowly carpenter in human flesh. What chance does he have against Him now as King of the New Jerusalem? None whatsoever!

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After Satan’s army surrounds God’s city to make war against it, what will happen next?

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. Revelation 20:8,9

 

The fate of this army is what is mentioned in verse 9, “fire came down from God out of Heave and devoured them.” Before the fire falls, however, a vast judgment unfolds:

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. Revelation 20:11-13

This judgment occurs while Satan and his army are gathered around the city. It only concerns the unjust, who are judged according to their works. As the books are opened above them, they are allowed to see the complete record of their lives. They are shown why they are lost, why they are outside of God’s city, why they have forfeited eternal life with Jesus. As the book of life is opened, they will see their names are not in it. Then Jesus will undoubtedly show them how much he loved them, how much he tried to save them, and yet by their own persistent efforts, they resisted his tender appeals. Yes, they will see that Jesus died for them, that he paid the penalty of death for them, that they could have been inside the city with the saints; but they choose their master and are with that master outside of the city. They will see that, though Jesus willingly took upon Himself the punishment that was theirs, they spurned Him, and now they are forced to stand before His holy majesty in the shame of their spiritual nakedness, with every wrong thought, every wrong word, and every wrong deed bearing down upon their consciences to condemn them, and there is no longer any Mediator to represent them and intercede for them.

After sentence is pronounced, the fire of God brings final retribution upon the lost. By this time, all the unsaved understand why they are lost. This destruction is an act of justice, not cruelty. The book of Revelation is very clear about God’s uprightness. “Just and true are your ways, O King of the saints” (Revelation 15:3); “You are righteous, O Lord ... Because you have judged these things” (Revelation 16:5); and “For true and righteous are His judgments” (Revelation 19:2).

The judgment at the close of the Millennium will be perfectly just, without any taint of imperfection chargeable upon God. By rejecting His love and mercy, and by a life of continued sinning, the lost have earned their just reward. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). The Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, holy angels, and the saints will all weep over the unsaved. But nothing more can be done. Now it’s too late.

Revelation 20:8 says the lost will march across “the four quarters of the earth” right before the fire falls upon them. Thus we conclude that God’s fire will descend all over planet Earth. This unquenchable downpour will become a “lake of fire” (14-15) boiling everywhere. Malachi 4:1, 3 says that entire fateful day will “burn as an oven.” 2 Peter 3:10 adds “...the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” Thus God will totally purify and cleanse our sin-polluted earth with flames. In fact, 2 Peter 3 parallels the destruction of the world by water in Noah's day with the purification of the earth by fire at the end of the 1000 years (2 Peter 3:5-7). In Noah's day, the whole earth was under ‘a lake of water’; at the end of the 1000 years, this planet will be wrapped in “a lake of fire.” In Noah's day, God's people floated in the midst of the water but were protected inside the ark; at the end of the Millennium, when a lake of fire envelops our planet, God's saved “saints” will be right there, riding the storm safely inside the New Jerusalem.

Revelation 20 concludes with these solemn words, “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). Fortunately, that’s not the end of the story. The next verse reads: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Revelation 21:1).

There is a new heaven! A new earth! What happened to the old ones? We just saw, a lake of fire consumed them. After God’s fire completely purifies this planet and its atmosphere, He will recreate the earth and sky-- a new heaven and a new earth. This cleansing fire will disappear as it purifies the earth of every trace of sin, sinners, Satan, and his angels. Everything will be made new again!

¹³ Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 2 Peter 3:13

Revelation 21 also adds: 

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.” Revelation 21:4-5

As Noah and his family finally walked out of the ark onto a cleansed world, so will God's faithful saints finally step out of the New Jerusalem into a brand new world.

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To conclude, contrary to popular belief, the Biblical Millennium is a time of desolation and ruin, followed by more rebellion, then judgment, and finally a re-creation of the heavens and the earth. There are two resurrections as clearly indicated by the Bible itself, with a lot of support. Scriptures are in harmony with one another. One must always remember to pray for understanding and clarification. That the will of their heart be dissolved and that the will of God be pronounced. 

The most important issue, however, isn’t so much our knowledge of millennial details but our knowledge of the God who has revealed the truth about it. What this entire post, paper, message, whatever you want to call it, has shown is that there is no second chance; there is no middle ground, no neutrality. This is a great war between Christ and Satan, and we happen to be caught in the middle of it. The outcome has been decided. All we can do is decide: are we for Jesus and are on his side? Or are we against Jesus and thus with Satan? There is no middle ground. The unjust will cease to exist at the end of the Millennium judgment and the saints will live forever.

Open the eyes of my heart Lord, I want to see you. Be blessed and glory and honor and power forever! Perfect are your ways, oh Lord. For the beginning of wisdom is knowledge and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding!