THE MILLENNIUM BUG
Opening Prayer
Holy Father, open my mind to think magnificently about You. I am awed by Your great majesty.
Read REVELATION 20:1–15
[1]
Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
We need to get on with the business of preparing to meet our glorious Lord, and to help spread the saving Gospel. In doing so, we can be confident we will be pleasing God.
Think Further
Steeped in Scripture, John sees in apocalyptic imagery his longed-for realization of prophecy. We, like John, see in each vision the fulfillment of that ultimate future to which the Scriptures point.
We know that by his death Jesus disarmed Satan, defeating the power of sin (cf. Col 2:14,15), but here is a graphic portrayal of the end time demise of evil pictured concretely, verb upon verb—seize, bind, throw, lock, seal. Evil is at work in our world, but ultimately it will lose its power. God will bring all under his rule and authority (Isa. 24:21–23; 27:1). The prayer of Jesus and the church through the ages will be realized in fullness: “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10).
For John, this vision is the fulfillment of Scripture’s prophecies of peace on earth, when the wolf lies with the lamb and all sit beneath their own fruit tree (Isa. 11:6–9; Mic. 4:4). Before the ultimate peace of God’s eternity, however, comes judgment. We are protected—we whose names, through Jesus, are written in the “book of life” (12; Luke 10:18–20).
Special honor is given to the faithful who “did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death” (Rev. 12:11). These are those who had overcome the beast, who refused to receive his mark and stayed true at every cost.
Apply
What disturbs you in this chapter? Why? What do you find comforting in this chapter? Why?
Closing prayer
I thank You, God, that Your future is greater than I can imagine. I trust my future to You, confident that You are Lord of all eternity.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Encounter with God is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.