Bible Study With Jairus Revelation 20 (Part 4) The Order and Structure of God’s Judgment

As we study the judgments in Revelation 20, we will focus on two key themes. First, we will learn about the structural patterns of God's judgment. Second, we will emphasize the importance of spiritual maturity in Christ’s body.

God judges the world in a certain order, which resembles chopping down a tree in reverse. God begins by judging Babylon the Great, which ensnares God's chosen people, much like branches and leaves. Next, God judges the beast and the false prophet, who ensnare the kings of the earth and their armies, akin to the trunk of a tree. Lastly, God judges Satan and the nations he incites to rebel, which can be seen as the root of the tree.

God also judges the world in a specific pattern. He always judges both evil spirits and wicked people at the same time. While dealing with Babylon the Great, the beast, the false prophet, and Satan, He simultaneously deals with the elect who were formerly ensnared by Babylon the Great. While wicked people and defiled objects are burned, evil spirits are simultaneously judged. The kings of the earth and their armies are slain by the sword that comes from the mouth of the one who sits on the white horse, and the armies of the rebellious nations are consumed by fire from heaven. Why do these two evil forces need to be exterminated at the same time? It is logical to conclude that if there were no people strengthening the forces of evil spirits by worshiping idols and offering sacrifices to them, the evil spirits would have no authority to deceive and enslave humanity. Therefore, in judging Babylon the Great, the beast, the false prophet, and Satan, God must also judge the "fuel" behind them, which is human worship. God and Satan are both competing for human worship. So, before God judges Satan, it is necessary to expose and do away with humanity's worship of Satan. This is one reason why God temporarily releases Satan—to expose and judge those whom Satan has deceived. Of course, this includes those who refuse to repent.

In Revelation 20, when Satan is released from the pit, he deceives Gog and Magog and tempts them to fight against Jesus. I’ve been taught that Gog and Magog refer to Russia. This teaching may come from Ezekiel 39:1, which says: "And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal." The next verse mentions that they come from "the uttermost parts of the north." Some interpret this to mean that "Rosh" refers to Russia and "Meshech" to Moscow. However, I have not been able to verify this. Revelation 20:8 specifically mentions "the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog," which suggests that Gog and Magog might not only refer to Russia but also include other nations as well. Of course, we cannot be certain, because the Bible does not explicitly identify Gog and Magog. No matter what this term refers to, we know that God is judging the last remaining elements of Satan-worship that still exist in earthly kingdoms.

We see the same pattern in God’s simultaneous judgment of sinners, evil spirits, the beast, the false prophets, and Satan. Before God judges Babylon the Great, He first calls His elect out of the city. Then He judges the material objects and evil spirits that Babylon the Great used to bind people. Finally, he burns Babylon the Great. Similarly, before God judges the beast and the false prophet and throws them into the Lake of Fire, Christ slays the kings of the earth and their armies with the sword that comes out of His mouth. In the same way, before throwing Satan into the Lake of Fire where the beast and the false prophet are, God will destroy the rebellious nations surrounding the camp of the saints.

After God judges Satan, the Great White Throne judgment takes place. This judgment will determine the fate of many people. Sinners will be thrown into eternal torment in the Lake of Fire, which is the second death. God is righteous, and the wicked, especially those who cooperate with evil spirits, will first undergo judgment through the first death. Then, after God judges all kinds of evil spirits, He will condemn many sinners to the second death, which is eternal torment in the Lake of Fire.

Each stage of judgment will only arrive when a certain quota of overcomers is reached. When Christ’s bride is ready and the body of Christ is mature, God’s judgment will begin. This is because the maturity of the church and the individuals within the church is the tool through which God judges evil spirits and Satan.

God's Judgment of Satan and the Rebellious Nations Reveals That God's Cleansing of Us Is a Continual Refining Process

Before God's final judgment of Satan, He successively judges Babylon the Great, the beast, and the false prophet. Before the fall of Babylon, the beast was using Babylon for his purposes. Babylon the Great had ensnared many believers and was described as a prostitute. However, after the fall of Babylon, the beast uses the false prophet and the kings of the earth instead. He possesses them and uses them to engage in a great battle against Christ and His bride at Armageddon, only to be defeated.

The successive judgement of these individuals and spiritual forces can remind us of the way God progressively sanctifies us in our personal lives. God cleanses us through an ongoing refining process. Our salvation through faith in Christ is only the first step. Paul says, "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life" (Romans 5:10). What does it mean to be "saved by His life"? It means not only that our spirits are reborn and our souls are spared from judgment in the Lake of Fire, but also that we will experience continual renewal and transformation of our minds (Romans 12:1). Ultimately, this leads to the redemption of our bodies, where we will receive glorified bodies.

Our salvation is a threefold salvation: spirit, soul, and body. When sin entered us, it first killed our spirit, then defiled our soul, and ultimately caused our body to become sick and eventually die. God’s salvation involves the reversal of this process. God regenerates our spirit, renews our soul, and ultimately heals our body. We as believers have been filled with the “Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead,” who “will also give life to [our] mortal bodies” (Romans 8:11); yet our bodies still become sick and ultimately die. Why is this? Because healing is a gradual process. While there are times when our physical illnesses are healed by God, our ultimate and final healing lies in receiving a resurrected body. Similarly, our spiritual growth and the transformation of our souls are also gradual processes. In particular, the impurities in our soul must be cleansed through a continual refining process. Just like gold is refined through repeated exposure to fire to cleanse away impurities, we must experience repeated tests and trials in order to produce a faith as precious as gold. When gold is exposed to intense heat, the dross rises to the top, is exposed, and is removed.

In the same way, trials help expose our sin and bring it to the surface so it can be dealt with. God continually refines us through trials to help us break free from the corruption that comes through lust, so we can partake more and more in God’s divine nature. Peter makes this point very clear in his epistles. How can we escape the corruption brought by lust? The first step is often to truly grasp the depth of our sin. Our sins must be exposed so we can see them clearly and break free from them.

In many ways, the same principle is true of the church as a whole and of humanity as a whole. We can view these final tests and trials—the judgment of Babylon the Great against those it ensnared, the defeat of kings and armies in the battle with the beast and the false prophet, and the burning of the rebellious nations in the final battle with Satan—as a refining process that deals with the uncleanness of humanity. Through various trials, these impurities are exposed and dealt with. The sins of those deceived by the evil spirits of Babylon the Great, the beast, the false prophet, and Satan are revealed and removed. Once these sins are dealt with, humanity becomes purer. At this point, those who oppose God are exposed and condemned, while those chosen by God and those who have chosen God are allowed to enter eternity. God is just. If someone suffers the second death in the Lake of Fire and complains that God is unjust, God will show them the opportunities He gave them in the past, as well as how they chose to reject and oppose Him during the trials. They will have no grounds for complaint. God is a just God. He selects every person worthy of eternal life to enter eternity, while those unworthy of eternal life make their own choice. From this perspective, it is necessary to give everyone the opportunity to make a choice, as well as the chance to go through trials to prove their choice.

How God Uses the Judgment of Babylon the Great to Bring About the Preparation of Christ’s Bride

Every act of God’s judgment exposes both the sins of evil spirits and humanity, and each exposure brings about God’s judgment and cleansing. When the work of evil spirits is revealed, they lose their control over people. Evil spirits thrive in darkness. They manipulate people in secret. But when the Spirit of God comes upon the people they controlled and drives out the demons through His power, that is when the kingdom of God comes upon us—just as Jesus said in Matthew 12:29.

Babylon the Great is like a vast and complex spiderweb. Satan and evil spirits weave this web of lies and deceit. The web includes systems of sin and wickedness. Sinners not only contribute to weaving this web through their sinful choices, but they are also ensnared in it. Even many of God’s chosen people have been trapped in it due to their sins. Therefore, before judging Babylon the Great, God specifically calls His chosen ones to come out of her. God then judges Babylon’s treasures—material objects that once dominated His people in many ways. By stripping away these enslaving elements, God frees His chosen ones from this web of captivity.

Let me share a modern-day example of being trapped in Satan’s web. In today’s world, many individuals who from Christian families have drifted away from God because of the hectic pace of working on Wall Street. In addition, many children are negatively influenced by the content produced in Wall Street. If God were to remove Wall Street, it would help free these individuals from the snares of Wall Street’s influence. This does not mean that Wall Street has no good aspects. Like the golden cup full of abominations (Revelation 17:4), it has some beautiful and shiny aspects. However, its net influence is negative.

God's judgment of Babylon is a judgment against the harlot, against the adulterous woman. Through this judgment, some of God's elect are delivered from the great harlot and become part of the Bride of Christ, the body of Christ. Through suffering, they reach maturity and ultimately become a bride prepared for her husband, as mentioned in Revelation 19. The Holy Spirit sanctifies us so we are prepared to meet our bridegroom, Jesus. Jesus sanctifies us and presents us to Himself a spotless virgin (Ephesians 5:25-27). This passage reminds me of Abraham's servant bringing Rebekah to Isaac to become his bride. It also reminds me of the process Esther went through to prepare to meet the king. The eunuchs gave her beauty treatments and then presented her to the king. In the same way, the Holy Spirit will prepare the church to meet her heavenly Bridegroom.

How God Judges the Beast and the Kings to Bring About the Millennial Kingdom

Once the Holy Spirit completes His work of preparing the bride, the marriage supper of the Lamb may begin. At this supper, Jesus Christ and His bride celebrate their union. This union must take place before the battle at Armageddon, where the Lord and His bride (the heavenly army) confront the beast, its kings, and their armies. This great battle occurs after the destruction of Babylon the Great, after God's elect have been rescued from the snare of Babylon the Great. At this time in history, the kings aligned with the beast and the false prophet are likely in opposition to God. The Lord uses the sword from His mouth to slay the kings and their armies, and the birds of heaven feast on their flesh.
There are two groups of believers in Babylon the Great. The first group consists of those who refused to compromise with the great prostitute and who were martyred for their faith. These believers are the overcomers. The second group consists of the believers who were deceived by Babylon the Great and then rescued by God's mercy from her snare. They may not necessarily be overcomers, but because they are elect, they might enter eternity with the overcomers.

Similarly, at this moment in history when humanity is tested by the beast and the false prophet, it exposes the heart of humankind and separates them into two different groups of people. The first group is those who refused to worship the beast and its image, and who did not accept the mark of the beast. These people are also overcomers. They will also be part of the first resurrection of the Millennial Kingdom, along with all the previous overcomers, and will reign with the Lord for a thousand years. All those who worship the beast and its image and accept the mark of the beast will share the same fate as the beast and the false prophet, being cast into the Lake of Fire. Thus, God once again separates those who are worthy to partake in the first resurrection and reign with Christ from those who are not. In other words, when humanity is tested by the beast and the false prophet, this trial refines one more final group of overcomers so they can receive their reward in the Millennial Kingdom. They will then reign with Christ for a thousand years, ushering in the coming of the Millennial Kingdom.

How God's Judgment of Satan and the Rebellious Nations Brings About the Arrival of Eternity

The Millennial Kingdom will not begin until Christ’s bride is prepared, Christ and His bride have won the victory over the beast and the false prophet, and the angel has bound Satan for a thousand years. This thousand-year period serves as further preparation for the arrival of eternity. Our destiny is to reign with Christ for all eternity. In comparison, this thousand-year reign with the Lord is a brief period of training. I believe those who reign with the Lord are the overcomers, and they will be the first to be resurrected and be free from the second death. Their mission is to continue leading more people to Christ and bringing them to maturity.

Trials help bring people to maturity, and they also expose which people truly believe in Christ and which do not. A person may appear godly on the outside but not truly believe in Him on the inside. However, trials help expose our true selves. Someone who seems devout on the outside may deny the Lord when trials come, just as Peter did. This is why trials are essential, even during the Millennium Kingdom.

I don't understand why some people will still turn against Christ during the Millennium Kingdom, after seeing the Lord reign on earth. But we also don't know why Satan and a third of God’s angels rebelled, despite knowing being with God face to face. This shows how cunning and deceitful Satan is. It shows that seeing the Lord is not necessarily the same thing as believing in Him. Even when Jesus came to earth in the flesh, many saw Him but still did not believe in Him.

To help us further understand how people can turn against Jesus’ leadership after a thousand years of peace, let us look at some examples from history. Both the United States and Israel experienced long periods of peace followed by a sudden descent into destruction. As long as our sin natures remain, we are at risk of falling into sin. In Deuteronomy, Moses warned the Israelites that after entering the Promised Land, they would gradually forget God. He said, “When you father children and children's children and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger” (Deuteronomy 4:25). Just as Moses prophesied, the Israelites, after settling in the land, grew weak and fell away from God. The same thing happened in the United States. At one point, America began walking down a path of decline. Many people abandoned God and began worshiping idols. These idols included money, entertainment, evil spirits, and so on. Therefore, God's discipline came upon the United States. However, countless Christians prayed for repentance, and I believe circumstances are changing and a revival is coming. Both the history of Israel and the history of America (a Christian nation) demonstrate that nations can deteriorate after long periods of prosperity. In the same way, during the Millennial Kingdom, many people will grow weak and falter after living in peace for so long.

After the thousand-year period is over, Satan must be temporarily released. The trials he brings will demonstrate which people are worthy of eternal life and which people are not. After this separation takes place, eternity will begin. The Bible does not tell us whether new overcomers will emerge during this time, but I certainly hope that there are. I believe that anyone who seeks God will receive His reward. However, one thing seems clear: the people who participate in the rebellion will be consumed by fire from heaven. The Bible does not say that these people are thrown into the Lake of Fire. After this judgment, the Great White Throne judgment will occur, and anyone whose name is not found in the Book of Life will be cast into the Lake of Fire.

Conclusion

The Bible contains many things that we cannot know for sure, such as the exact identity of Gog and Magog. Many speculate that they refer to Russia, but we cannot determine if this interpretation is correct. These names may simply refer to the nations who participate in the rebellion at the end of the millennial kingdom and receive God’s judgment. We will only know for sure who Gog and Magog are when God reveals their identity at the end of the millennial kingdom. However, their identity is ultimately not important or relevant to our spiritual growth.

When reading Revelation, many people focus on speculating about who is who, what will happen when, and other details. But this is a waste of time. When we read Revelation, we must focus on the roadmap that God gives to the church for how the church will grow and mature. We must learn how to build up the body of Christ and prepare the bride for her future Husband. Only then will she be ready for the marriage feast of Christ and His bride, the battle of Christ and His army against the beast and the false prophet, and God’s ultimate judgment against them in the Lake of Fire. The bride’s maturity and preparedness will ultimately usher in the millennial kingdom and the eternal state.

The body of Christ is not just an abstract concept; it is made up of individuals like you and me. Every member of the body is important. The degree to which you and I, as members of the body, mature in our spiritual lives will ultimately determine the degree to which the body of Christ matures. We must seize every opportunity to grow spiritually. This includes embracing trials, which are God’s tools to help us mature. If we are not spiritually mature, we can never progress to the next stage of God’s eternal plan. This is why speculations and fantasies are a waste of time compared to the ongoing work of sanctification and preparation for eternity.