“[Revelation 20:7] tells us that the Millennium, which began 40 years after Jesus’ ascension, will not last all the way to His second coming. There is a brief period of time after the Millennium in which Satan will once again be released from the Abyss. Once again he will deceive the nations, Gog and Magog (prince and people; Ezekiel 38-39), to attack the Church. This final assault will be cut short by fire from heaven and the Last Judgment.”1

The allusion to Gog and Magog brings us to Ezekiel 38-39. Satan is Haman (head), ejected from the Emperor’s court but still desiring to destroy the people of God by deceiving the nations (body). The Lord, however, has prevented him from carrying out that plan. David Chilton writes:

“The stated goal of the Dragon’s deception is to entice the nations to join forces against Christ for the final, all-out war at the end of history. Satan’s desire from the beginning has often been to provoke a premature eschatological cataclysm, to bring on the end of the world and the Final Judgment now. He wants to rush God into judgment in order to destroy Him, or at least to short-circuit His program and destroy the wheat with the chaff (cf. Matt. 13:24-30). In a sense, he can be considered as his own agent provocateur, leading his troops headlong into an end-time rebellion that will call down God’s judgment and prevent the full maturation of God’s Kingdom.”2

Not only does this identify Satan as the true Amalek, surrounding the camp of the saints as he did in Exodus 17, and the beloved city as he did in Ezekiel 38, it also identifies this Conquest period of the greater Bible pattern with the Book of Esther. It is the time of God working unseen in the affairs of mankind, masterfully orchestrating all events for His ultimate purpose. After all, the kingdom of God is like leaven hidden in dough (Matthew 13:33). It is this process Satan would wish to stop.

The “binding” does not mean Satan has no influence in the world. He was bound in one aspect of his “ministry”, that of deceiving the nations. He is unable to mount another “universal” attack—a conspiracy of nations—against the church until he is released.

Finally, Satan is loosed again. And what does he immediately do? As He did in the late 60′sAD, he AGAIN gathers a conspiracy of nations against the church, this time on a world-scale. And what does this attack do AGAIN? It brings about the end of the age and a resurrection – this time on a world-scale. The second resurrection and the final judgment.

So, hyperpreterism misunderstands and truncates this entire process back into the first century. But this limits the conquest of Christ to Garden and Land. Jesus is now conquering the World. As Greater Amalek, Satan is powerless to gather the nations as “the sand by the sea”, while Jesus, as Greater Solomon, has been given all power to do so.

“Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and rejoicing.” 1 Kings 4:20

 

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1 James B. Jordan, The Vindication of Jesus Christ, p. 84-85.
2 David Chilton, The Days of Vengeance, p. 504.

Land.

I read David Chilton’s The Days of Vengeance in 1989, and it sure surprised me to learn that the word ‘earth’ in the Bible also means ‘land.’ This simple fact alters the scope of John’s Revelation entirely. It is about God’s ending of the Covenant He restored after the Babylonian captivity, and so first century Judah is the main subject. It was a repeat of events in Jeremiah’s day, so let’s backtrack a little…

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Revelation 20-21:21 as a new Tabernacle

This passage seems to follow the Tabernacle furniture (and the Feasts, but more subtly). It concerns the inauguration of the new heavens and new land, the gospel age as a new creation, beginning with the closing of the heavy lid of the false ark.

Day 1 Throne The Ark of the Abyss – Satan thrown into the pit (cf Zechariah 5)

Day 2 Firmament The Laver of the Abyss – Satan’s final rebellion ends in the lake of fire

Day 3 Altar (Land & Sea) The Altar of the Abyss – Land and Sea give up their dead to be judged

Day 4 Lampstand The Lampstand of Heaven – the Holy City (Eve lights) is ready for her Adam light

Day 5 Altar (Incense) The Altar of Heaven – True and false Eve armies are separated

Day 6 Firmament The Laver of Heaven – the Old Covenant crystal sea is replaced with a crystal city

Day 7 Throne The Ark of Heaven – the bridal city is described as pure gold, the Shekinah

Greater Eve, the virgin bride, is enthroned over the nations, a human government in heaven.

This pattern reflects the testing of Adam in the garden. Jesus deals here with Adam’s usurper and rescues Eve from the serpent by filling her with the light of the Law. She becomes a “fulfilled Ark” as the pattern is measured out across the world.

The remainder of Revelation begins a new pattern, but it ends halfway through at the same test Adam faced – the Tree of Life.

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The image above is from Elizabeth – the Golden Age, which contains some truly awesome ‘warrior bride’ iconography. TAOTA

or Hyperpreterism: stuck on the starting line

Hyperpreterists take great delight in pointing out the inconsistencies in what they refer to as “partial” preterism. Matthew 25 is a good example. If we are going to (rightly) interpret Matthew 23 and 24 as referring to the destruction of centralised worship (the old age) and the beginning of a new age of righteousness, surely Matthew 25 is within the same context?

On this one, I agree with the hypers. Matthew 25 is fulfilled… Continue reading