And so we continue in our biblical prophecy study, and as we continue this afternoon, I want us to be reminded of a couple things. Way back when we first began this study, we looked at some portions of biblical prophecy that have already been fulfilled. Do you remember what we learned about how God fulfills prophecy? The reason we began there was for this reason. You remember that we learned, we could see it so clearly. We could see that He fulfills prophecy perfectly. He will do, He does just what He said He will do. Just what He said, just exactly as He said, He brings those things to pass. Think about the prophecies of the cross of Christ. Think about Isaiah 53, that great prophecy that all of us are familiar with. Psalm 22. We can actually look at those prophecies and we can look at those prophecies and look at the cross. We can look at Christ and we can say, yes, that is exactly what He said and that is exactly what He did. Amazingly. Perfectly. Dot every I across every T. So he fulfills his prophecies just as he tells us, just perfectly. And then as we came to the book of Revelation, though yes, John saw and then tells us about some spectacular things, Things that, well, we just have to admit, they're really past our ability to fathom, to comprehend. We can't even really picture these things in our thinking. They just boggle our minds. Yet, even in those things we have clearly seen as we progress through the that when something is metaphorical or illustrative, we might be tempted to say, well, that's not really what he's saying. But we've seen, and it's clear revelation as we've come through the book now, almost to the end of it, we've seen that that which is is metaphorical, that which is illustrative, symbolic, that which is not actually literal, that the text and the context, and not just the text and the context, but actually most of the time the writer himself, John, tells us. He tells us. He will say, well, I saw something like this. We saw that over through the passage, or I think chapter 12 begins it. He says, I saw a wonder, and that word is sign. I saw a sign, a symbolic image. We've seen Him define the context, haven't we? It's been true. And as well, I think it should be apparent as we have progressed now through the book, It should be apparent to us that this book, the book of Revelation, has a logical progression. I know John sometimes gets ahead of himself. We talked about that. He has to back up and fill in the details and we dealt with that. But we can all, I think, I don't think it's just me, I think we can all relate to the fact that he's headed to a destination, right? As he writes, he's headed to a destination and there is a real perceivable progression to the revelation. Is that true? I don't think it's just me. With these things fresh on our minds, I want us to read a few passages of prophetic scripture together before we get to the text this afternoon in Revelation 20. Last week we saw the culmination of the great fierceness of the wrath of God, the vintage of His wrath, the treading of the winepress of the fierceness of His wrath. We saw that described very vividly in Revelation 19. The prophet Zephaniah He saw that same event like this. Let me read it to you. We've got a lot of Scripture to go to, so get ready to move. But let me read this one. Zephaniah 1, beginning in verse 14, he says, Near is the great day of the Lord. We know what that term means. Near and coming very quickly. This is interesting. Listen. The day of the Lord. Like it's that near, you can hear it. In it the warrior cries out bitterly, a day of wrath is that day, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and the high corner towers. I will bring distress on men so that they will walk like the blind because they have sinned against the Lord and their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to to deliver them on the day of the Lord's wrath, and all the earth will be devoured in the fire of his jealousy, for he will make a complete end, indeed, a terrifying one, of all the inhabitants of the earth." So this is where the world is headed. Has it happened yet? Well, obviously, no, it hasn't happened yet. So we hear Zephaniah and we hear the Apostle John last week in Revelation 19, and we realize they agree, don't they? The prophecies agree. There is a day coming, the day of the Lord, when Jesus Christ, He will come to this very earth and pour out His fierce wrath and great unparalleled fierceness upon sin and upon the sinners of this world. That's clear revelation. I'm not making this stuff up. We read it last week. But that's not where the story ends, is it? I mean, that's only chapter 19. What about chapters 20 through 22? Before we get there, let's go back a few hundred years and hear about it first from some of the Old Testament prophets, like Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 2. Isaiah chapter 2, beginning in verse 1. Isaiah chapter 2 and verse 1, it begins with the word that Isaiah the son of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house will be established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills. You remember we talked about the great cataclysmic shifting of the earth and we looked at several text of prophecy that indicate that this is where it's going to be, that Zion, Mount Zion, Jerusalem will be the pinnacle of the earth. And notice this, and all nations shall flow into it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of, this is important, Jacob. And He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people, and they shall beat their swords in the plowshares, and their spears in the pruninghooks. Peace! Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, Come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord. Isaiah 11. Isaiah 11 and verse 1. And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. It's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. And he shall make of him quick understanding. in the fear of the Lord. And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears. But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth. We've heard this. And with the breath of his lips, his word, shall he slay the wicked. Revelation 19. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins." Revelation 19, he has something written on his loins. He's faithful and true. Now watch. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed. Their young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling child, the nursing child, a baby, shall play on the hole of an asp of a cobra. And the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den, a viper's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people. To it shall the Gentiles seek, the nations seek, and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left. from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off. Ephraim shall not envy Judah, Judas shall not vex Ephraim. They shall fly up on the shoulders of the Philistines towards the west. They shall spoil them of the east together. They shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon shall obey them. And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in seven streams, and make men go over Drishad, and there shall be a highway. for the remnant of his people which shall be left from Assyria, like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. He's talking very specifically, even giving locality here. Chapter 24. Chapter 24. Verse 21. And if we need a little timeline, just glance at 19, that precedes Revelation 19, the earth really to and fro like a drunkard. And then 21, it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high. What did we read that he would pass Satan into the earth and his angels? And the kings, he's going to punish the kings of the earth upon the earth. Revelation 19, every high person shall be brought low and they shall be gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the pit and shall be shut up in the prison and after many days shall they be visited. We're going to see that. Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion. The glory of the Lord is going to outshine the brightness of the sun or the moon. That's what it means, but they will be ashamed. when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before his ancients or before his elders gloriously. Go back now to Psalm 72. I'm going to interject this psalm here. This is David's psalm for Solomon, but you're going to see something interesting in this psalm. Give the king thy judgments, verse 1. Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son. He shall judge thy people with righteousness and thy poor with judgment. The mountains shall bring peace to the people and the little hills by righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people. He shall save the children of the needy and shall break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear Thee as long as the sun and moon endure throughout all generations. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass as showers that water the earth. In His days shall the righteous flourish in abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him, and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall bring presents, the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him, all nations shall serve him, for he shall deliver the needy when he crieth, the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence and precious, precious shall their blood be in His sight. He shall live and to Him shall be given of the gold of Sheba. Prayer also shall be made for Him continually and daily shall He be praised. There shall be a handful or an abundance of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains. The fruit thereof, which are a rock by the way, The fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon, and they of the city shall flourish like the grass of the earth. His name shall endure forever. His name shall be continued as long as the sun, and men shall be blessed in Him. All nations shall call Him blessed. Blessed be the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things, and blessed be His glorious name forever, and let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and amen. The prayers of David. Son of Jesse are ended. Now this was a prayer for Solomon, but obviously there's a greater Solomon that this is referring to here in this psalm. Now back over to Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter 3. Jeremiah 3 verse 14. Jeremiah 3 verse 14, Turn, O backsliding children, say of the Lord, for I am married unto you, and I will take you, one of a city and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion. And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding, and it shall come to pass when ye be multiplied and increased in the land. And those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more of the ark of the covenant of the Lord, neither shall it come to mine, neither shall they remember it, neither shall they visit it, neither shall that be done any more. Why? Because at that time they shall call Jerusalem to the throne of the Lord. And all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem. Neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. In those days, the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, shall be Jacob. And they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers. And chapter 23, Chapter 23, verse 5. Chapter 23, verse 5. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. Literally, that word earth is land. In the land. In his days, Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his name, whereby he shall be called this king, the Lord, our righteousness. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, the Lord liveth which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but the Lord, this is what they'll say, the Lord liveth which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them, and they shall dwell in their own land. And we could go to Micah, We could go to Zechariah, and we could go to Ezekiel, and we could go to many, many other places, and we will hear the exact same thing, and we will hear nearly word for word. Now, when we read these passages, what do we see? Well, obviously, we see something glorious. We see the revelation of a great change, a great transformation of the earth. We see a physical change, we see a political change, a cultural change. Even the animal kingdoms are changed, but especially we see a spiritual change. Here it is. What is at the center of this change? Now, I'm asking you this. Y'all fight those tendencies. Go to sleep. Stay awake. Hang in there. This is important stuff. I know the flesh is the flesh. Y'all hang in there. What is the center at the center of this change, of this transformation? What I'm asking us is, what does Scripture say? What does God's Word say? I could come to you this afternoon and give you all the theories of pre, post, and all millennialism, and I might want to. I might want to argue my point. I might want to argue my beliefs. But I am intentionally going to try, I'm going to try not to, because none of those theories really matter. None of those really matters. What does the book say? What does the book, what is the clear, consistent teaching of God's Word? What does it say? It's simply this, we've read it over and again already. It is simply this, there will be a great king who will reign on the earth, He will reign over all the earth, and He will reign over every nation of the earth. Now, we've been studying about a great king, haven't we? In both services, actually, as the Lord would have it. The King of Kings. And yes, these are all prophetic passages that we are dealing with, but I want to ask you a question. Are we to interpret prophetic scripture any differently than other scriptures? Do the rules of interpretation just go out the door because it's prophetic Scripture? If so, if that's the case, then where is that revealed to us? That we are to interpret prophetic Scripture differently than any other Scripture. And how exactly, where is that revealed to us, and then how exactly, how differently? What is the difference? Where is it revealed that there is a difference? And then, what is the difference supposed to be to interpret these passages? What I'm asking you, who sets the standard? Who sets the standard? I believe that in God's Word it's clear that we interpret all Scripture the same way. There are rules of interpretation. We interpret prophecy with the understanding that it's prophetic. But it's interpreted the same way. We look for the context. We look for consistency. We look for clear revelation. We look for past fulfillment. To see how God fulfills Scripture, it's line upon line, precept upon precept, context, context, context. It's what sayeth the Word of God. And here it seems they are all clearly telling us, everything that we have read in these prophetic passages, they are all clearly telling us about the same coming time on the earth. So, with these in our mind, let's turn together now to Revelation chapter 20. Revelation chapter 20. I know it took us a while to get there, but it's needed. Revelation chapter 20, now we're going to be camping in Revelation 20, even in these first 10 verses for quite a while, most likely, if the Lord leads. But I just want us to read enough today so we can kind of get our bearings. So when we read these first 10 verses, I don't want you to think, well, what is that? And what is that? What is that? What is that? Because it kind of unfolds that way in this passage. But we'll get to them, Lord willing, we'll get to them. So we remember chapter 19. We remember the day of the Lord being revealed, the glorious coming of Christ to the earth, the day of His great wrath, the treading of the winepress of the wrath, of the fierce wrath of God Almighty. And then chapter 20, And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years should be fulfilled. And after that, he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones and they sat upon them. The judgment was given to them, and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. On such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they, this army that he has gathered, went up on the breadth of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints about. And the beloved city and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of the fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. Now let's take our breath here. Let all of what we have read from the Old and the New kind of sink in a minute. Those Old Testament prophecies and this New Testament prophecy, which together realize makes up the fullness of prophecy, they really all say the same thing. The name of this book that we have been studying through is Revelation. The revelation of Jesus Christ. The revelation, the unveiling of the true Christ. Of this one Christ. And what a revelation it is. Jesus Christ is coming. And when He comes, When He comes, the revelation is this Christ, this real, true Christ of God, He is coming and when He comes, we've seen it, we've covered 19 chapters, when He comes there will be none that are able to stand against Him. None. But when He comes, He will defeat, He will destroy, and He will subdue all opposition to Himself, all opposition to His kingdom, and He will reign alone as King. Oh, it is true that Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords today, but today, let me ask you, does He not still have enemies? Does he not really today, just think about it, look around you, does he not today have active, living, real, opposing enemies? Of course he does. As a matter of fact, wouldn't this be the more fitting description of His rule today. It's recorded in Mark 12, 36. And by the way, we know that this text is Jesus here expounding the text. We know this is talking about Him. In Mark 12, 36 it says, For David himself saith by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand. Where's the Lord? Where's Christ today? He's at the right hand of God. Sit thou on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Wouldn't that be the more fitting description of the rule of Christ today? Yes, absolutely. Jesus Christ is indeed King. Absolutely. His Kingdom is here. It has come. We've seen that in Matthew. But the fullness of it has not been established. It's like God does so many times in Scripture, He uses time. Just like Satan. Is Satan a conquered foe? Satan is a conquered foe, but the fullness of that has not been realized yet. We just read the fullness of that. It's as good as if it was done. But it hasn't been fully seen in the experience of time. The kingdom of Christ, it is, it's real, but the fullness of it has not been established yet. But as we have just read in all of these passages, including the one right before us, it soon will be. So here, as we get our feet wet in this text, in the text, from the text. I want us to consider three things in the text, from the text, that are here confirmed and revealed concerning the fullness of the kingdom of Christ. These three things. Number one, when? Number two, where? And number three, how long? When, where, how long? Number one, when will this widely prophesied reign of Christ, of Jesus Christ, when will it come to be? Well, obviously we don't know the exact day or the hour, but there is something about the timing of this rain that we can know. Right here from the text. First flip back to chapter 19, verse 20. Chapter 19, verse 20. And notice what it says here. And the beast was taken. and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image." Notice, these both were cast alive into the lake of fire, burning with brimstone. So here, it is clearly revealed in this text that on the day of the Lord, when the Lord comes in great glory, we are told that He at His coming, Jesus, will take the beast, who we know from the book, the beast is the Antichrist, the person of Antichrist. He will take him and his false prophet, his religious czar, which are both people, it's clearly revealed in the book of Revelation, and He will cast them into the lake of fire, right? Is that what it says? That's what it says. Now, in this book, that we have searched through. There has been much revealed about the Antichrist and the false prophet, right? Several chapters are given to describe them and to describe their actions, describe their evil. But I want us to think about something. Think about all that we have learned about them from God's Word. The beast, the antichrist, the person of the antichrist, the false prophet, his religious czar. Think about what has been revealed. Think about what we have learned. We have searched the scriptures for the description of them. And ask yourself this, has there ever been anyone in history to equal them? Has there ever been any political, religious leader who actually deceived and ruled over the entire earth? Oh, there have been people like him. might be Antichrist because the spirit of Antichrist has always been just like this apostle, this man John witnessed to us in his epistle. But no, there has never been no single person or even single religious political organization that we could find in all of history and say, that's him. Remember, God fulfills prophecy. He gives us several chapters of this description of the person and the workings of the Antichrist. Of what he will do. And we can search history out. Will we find this one person and be able to say, that's him, here he is, aha, that's him, he's the fulfillment. This person or these persons are the fulfillment of this prophecy concerning the Antichrist. As a matter of fact, realize if there was such a person in history, he would be ruling today. Because surely chapter 19 has not happened You hear what I'm saying? The Antichrist, when he takes rule, he will rule over the whole earth until chapter 19 is revealed. Until the coming of the Son of God. Just read the text. Go back and read through the book of Revelation. That's the progression of it. And chapter 19 definitely has not... God has not came and conquered all of His enemies. He has not treaded the great winepress of His wrath. He's not. The Antichrist, His rule will end, His reign will end with the glorious coming of Christ in chapter 19. So if He has come to power, if the person of Antichrist has come to power, He would exist today and reign in power today. Do we have such a person? We might have some people that act a lot like him, but do we have the person that's revealed in Scripture? Now notice back in chapter 20, verse 1. Chapter 20, verse 1, the first word, and. This word, and, is a word that indicates chronological progression. We could even translate it, and some translations do. Then, after the revelation and the destruction of the Antichrist and the false prophet, after they're cast into the lake of fire from chapter 19, Remember, the Antichrist and the false prophet. After that, then, then, verse 1, then, look, I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand, and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. After the person of Antichrist, has been revealed, taken reign, His false prophet gathered to Himself them in conjunction with the kings of the earth, after they have taken control of the earth, after then, after their destruction, when Christ comes and casts them into the lake of fire, after that, then, right here before us, then the first person of the evil trinity, the dragon, the devil, Satan, he will be bound, he will be cast and sealed in the abyss. And I want us to see this, even without the word here, and. We can know that this happens after the revelation of Antichrist. Because in verse 10, look at verse 10. It says, and the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. Notice this, where the beast and the false prophet are, where they already were. So we know that this, what we're reading, comes after the revelation of the Antichrist and the destruction of the person of Antichrist and the person of the false prophet. After. So this is, it's clear. It's absolute. It's clear. Clearly after the revelation and destruction of the beast and the false prophet. Do you see it? We're not doing any textual gymnastics here. It's not what I think. We see it from the text. We see it in the text. It's not about opinions. It's what God has clearly revealed in His Word. So when will the fullness of the kingdom of Christ begin? The text clearly reveals that it is yet future. It is future. Do you see it in the text? It's future. After the revelation and the destruction of the Antichrist and the false prophet as well as after, therefore, the tribulation period and the day of the Lord's wrath, it's absolutely future. And then where, number two, where will this kingdom, this reign of Christ culminate at? Well, if you'll look in verse 3, it speaks of nations. Because and since Satan will be in the abyss, he will not be able to deceive the nations, the existing nations. Isn't that clearly what it's saying? That he will not be able to deceive the nations. But then notice when he is revealed, and we will get to all of this, Lord willing, not today, another day. Then, he will be released. He will be released, but verse 8 and 9, verse 8 and 9, and shall go out to the sea. After He's released, He will go out to the sea, the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And here's what will happen when He gathers them up. And they went up on the breadth of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints about, And the beloved city. Do we know what the beloved city is? Yeah, from the rest of the book. It's Jerusalem. Fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. So let's forget about our ideas. What does the text say? That's what we've got to get at. What is God's Word revealing to us? It's obvious. This is talking about, the Lord is speaking about a physical earth. He's speaking about this earth in a specific, very specific place. This is going to happen in Jerusalem, the beloved city. So do we have any scriptural reason that what this is saying is anything but literal? Is there any indication here? that what this is saying is anything but literal. Now as a matter of fact, we've already read passage upon passage of Old Testament passages that speak with exactly the same kind of literal speech to tell us plainly that not only will the coming culmination of the reign of Christ be upon the earth, but it tells us it will be in Israel, then it even brings it into a more specific, it will be in Jerusalem, it will be on Mount Zion, which is Jerusalem. As a matter of fact, just before this king's physical birth, do you remember what the angel told his mother Mary? Luke 1. Let me read it to you. You can go there if you want to. Luke 1, verse 32. This is what it says. The angel speaking to Mary, he shall be great, speaking of her son, and shall be called the son of the highest. Listen, the Lord God shall give unto him the throne. of his father David and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom there shall be no end. A minute ago we read Psalm 72. David spoke of these great things concerning his kingdom and his descendants, especially Solomon. I want to ask you something. Where did David, where did he get all those ideas of grandeur that he lays out there in Psalm 72? Where does he come up with that? Is it out of thin air? No, he comes up with that because God promised those things to him. He promised them to him and his physical descendants. And so much of the time, because to be quite honest with you, we're unlearned about it, we forget about the Davidic covenant that God made how it pertains with this king the covenant that God made with David, and what that means for this king. We forget about it, but I'm gonna tell you something, John didn't. John didn't, you know why? Back in chapter five. Who prevailed, who overcame to open the seven sealed book? The lion, the king from the tribe of Judah, David's promised descendant. the greater Solomon, who fulfilled everything that was recorded there, and who has, is, and will fulfill everything that is recorded there in Psalm 72. The ultimate heir of the throne. An earthly throne. A literal throne. David has no throne in heaven. As a matter of fact, that passage out of Mark that we read, David is saying, the Lord said unto my Lord, Nowhere in that is David perceiving that he'll be on a throne in glory. He'll be ruled over, ruled upon, but he'll not rule. His ascended will, his promised ascended that God made with him in the Davidic covenants, he will rule over the throne of his father David. The angel tells Mary that her son will reign over the house of Jacob again. That's so important. We go right over that. We don't think about what that's saying. Every time we see that, especially in prophecy, it's very important, because that meant something very specific to Mary. As a matter of fact, we have her Magnificat, and there's trailings of that in there. She's giving praise for this revelation. that God has given to her, that she being of the tribe or really the remnant of Judah, she's never seen a day where a king reigned over all 12 tribes of Israel, where a king reigned over Judah. She'd never even conceived that. But the angel was telling her, Mary, your son will be the one. Your son will be the king who will rule not over just Israel and Judah, He will rule over them together. And finally, they've never been so since Solomon. Finally, they will be called Jacob once again. The culmination of the reign of Christ will be upon this earth. And I know it's hard to imagine, especially in our western minds. I mean, how could this be? How could it be possible that the earth be filled with righteousness? Man, that's a long stretch from where we're at right now. How could it be that the world be filled, the earth be filled with goodness and justice? How could it be that upon the world, right is right and wrong is wrong? And there's no middle ground, and there's no fence to climb on. Right is right and wrong is wrong. How could it be? What would this world look like if that was the case? What would this world look like if truth reigned supreme? How could it be possible that the earth, the earth that we are living upon and experience, how could it be possible that it be transformed to such a state that even the deserts bloom and flourish like the Garden of Eden? How could it be possible that lay down together. How could it be possible that a little baby handle a scorpion or a cobra and not be bitten, not be hurt? How could it be possible that the curse of death be obliterated? How could it be possible? With God, all things are possible. We've got to be careful. When we take scripture and see these things that we can't fathom, okay? There's no lion will eat straw. We know a lion that if our children get out with a lion, he's gonna run our children down, he's gonna eat them. That's what we know about a lion. That's not the way it's gonna be here, then. But we can't see these things and run so far the other way because we can't fathom it in our mind that we disregard It's a clear teaching of God's Word. With God, all things are possible. And in this day that it is speaking of here, His glory and His power and His presence will fill this earth on this future day. Oh, glorious day. Number three, for how long? Back to Revelation 20. Let me put it like this. If your father said to you, clean up your room. Clean up your room. Clean up your room. Listen, clean up your room. Clean up your room. Clean up your room. If your father said that to you, What would it mean? Well, it would obviously mean he thinks you're a little hard of hearing, right? But also, it would mean that there is something that he really wants you, he wants to be sure that you understand, that you clean up your room. Something important. So children, I'm talking to all of us, listen to your father. And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and the great chain in his hand, and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more till a thousand years. and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years, but the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. On such, the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of prison." In this future day, let me just put it like this, what is our Father emphasizing? What is He making sure that we understand? How long, saints? How long will He reign on this future day on the earth? How long? It's clear, isn't it? Seven times in six verses, a thousand years. A thousand years. In this future day, the reign of King Jesus will culminate and exist upon this earth in a specific locale for a duration of a thousand years. That is the clear teaching of the text and of all the other texts that we read. Well, some may ask, how can we be sure that this is a literal number? A thousand years. I want to ask you like this, what in the world would ever make us question that this is a literal number. The text surely does not. As a matter of fact, have you realized as we progress through the book of Revelation that this book, we have been encountered with number upon number upon number upon number. Sevens, twelves, twenty-fours. over and over and over, all through the book. And I want to ask you, throughout this study, throughout this book, is there any of these numbers that we can go to and we can say, we can absolutely say, that's not literal? I want you to go back and look at some of the numbers. That what John is describing, as he saw them, it wasn't a literal number that he saw and described. And you will find of all the numbers, the many massive numbers that are calculated and given to us through this book, there's not one of them that you can go to and say, that's not literal. As he saw, as he described it. Now they may picture something else that will be revealed in the text. But what he saw and what he gave us is a literal number. A literal number. We have no reason to think that this number here is anything but literal. No scriptural reason to think that this number is anything but literal. Why would we go through and see all these numbers through God's Word and believe that they're literal numbers and then come to Revelation chapter 20 in this most glorious, exalting, magnifying, wonderful reign of King Jesus and say that's not literal? I'm going to tell you that's the same kind of thinking that says, well, the seven days of creation are not seven literal days. Church, God knows how to tell time. He knows what a day is and what a year is. He created them on the first day. When? A soon coming future day. Where? Upon this earth from and in Jerusalem. For how long? A thousand years. A thousand glorious years. And I'll give you a hint. Oh, that's just the beginning. When the angel said he would reign forever and ever, we're going to see it. We're going to see it. May the Lord give us hope, expectation of this coming day, a longing for this day to be filled. Listen, I want to see what this world's going to look like when the Lord restores it. What a change there's going to be. What a change. I want to see. Don't you want to see the man Christ Jesus? Same man who walked upon the face of the earth 2,000 years ago. Don't you want to see him vindicated? He came and declared He was the King as we're seeing in Matthew. They said, nah, we don't want you. Don't you want to see Him sit upon the throne that is His and rule in supreme majesty? I just believe it's going to be glorious. Now, I don't understand how it's all going to work out. I don't understand all I know about it. But we can see what the text is saying, can't we? We can see the clear revelation, the unity of these texts that we have looked at. May the Lord give us a longing to see the King high and lifted up, reigning in righteousness over the whole earth. All the kings of the earth flowing to Him to give Him worship and praise.