Mon.’s Devo- The 1,000 Years

Read: Zechariah 14:1-21; Revelation 20:1-15; Psalm 148:1-14; Proverbs 31:8-9 Zechariah describes the Day of the Lord. All the nations will come to fight against Jerusalem. It will be plundered and half of the people captured and the rest left to live among the ruins. *** The Lord will go fight against Israel’s enemies. His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives and it will split apart making a valley. The people will flee across the valley. The Lord will come with all his holy ones. *** The sun and moon will not shine, yet there will be continual light. Life-giving waters will flow from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea and to the Mediterranean. They will flow all year long. The Lord will be king over all the earth. He will be the only one worshiped. The land south of Jerusalem will become a plain, but Jerusalem will be elevated and inhabited. It will be filled with people and a safe city of blessings. *** The Lord will send a plague on the nations who fought against Jerusalem. It will cause their bodies and the bodies of their animals to rot away causing terror and panic. There will be hand-to-hand combat in which the wealth of all the nations around Jerusalem will be captured. *** The people who survive the plague will go to Jerusalem every year to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. If they don’t, they will have no rain that year and they will suffer the plague. *** In that time even the harness bells of the horses will be inscribed with the words, “Holy to the Lord.” Even their cooking pots will be holy and all who come to worship will be free to use any of these pots to boil their sacrifices. There will be no unbelievers in the Temple of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. *** In Revelation, John saw an angel coming from heaven with the ey to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He bound Satan with the chains and threw him into the bottomless pit. Then he shut and locked in in the pit for 1,000 years. Then, he would be released for a time. *** John saw thrones and people on the thrones who had been given authority to judge. He also saw the martyrs for Jesus who had not worshiped the beast or his statue or taken his mark. They all came to life again and reigned with with him for 1,000 years. This was the first resurrection. *** The dead who were not believers did not resurrect until the judgment after the 1,000 years. After the 1,000 years, Satan would be let out of his prison and go out to deceive again. He will call Gog and Magog to battle with him to surround God’s people in Jerusalem. God will rain down fire from heaven to consume their armies. The devil will be thrown down again, but this time into the lake of fire along with the beast and the false prophet. They will be tormented day and night forever. *** John saw a great white throne and God was sitting on it. The earth and sky ran from his presence but found no place to hide. The dead stood before the Lord to be judged. The Book of Remembrance was opened first and they were judged according to their deeds. Next, the Book of Life was opened. Death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire signifying the second death. Anyone whose name was not in the Book of Life was thrown there also. *** Lord, thank you that we know our names are written in your books. May our works magnify your name and do your will. Thank you for Jesus who made a way for our salvation.