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Devil. The Psalms, many of which are prophetic, are full of complaints and prayers
concerning the enemy, the deceitful man, the persecutor, the betrayer.
Where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, the believing remnant of Israel, and of "all
Israel" that will ultimately be saved come in this period and sphere, must be gathered
from other Scriptures. Abraham, we know from Heb. 11:, will find his place in the
heavenly Jerusalem but this does not descend to the earth until the thousand years are
finished. The one positive teaching of Rev. 20: 1-6 is that the martyrs of the final three
and a half years of Gentile dominion, shall "reign" and be "priests" of God and of Christ.
Three Days
Before we consider the teaching of Rev. 20:, concerning the Great White Throne, let
us gather what we may from the testimony of 2 Peter chapter 3: He speaks of:
(1)
The
day of the Lord (II Pet. 3: 10).
(2)
The
day of God (II Pet. 3: 12).
(3)
The
new heavens and earth (II Pet. 3: 13).
(4)
The
day of the age (lit.) (II Pet. 3: 18).
The wording of the A.V. obscures the relation of the day of the Lord with the day of
God, the R.V. is nearer to the original.
"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; IN THE WHICH the heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the
earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up."
"Looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God BY REASON OF
WHICH the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat?" (II Pet. 3: 10-12 R.V.).
"In the which", "by reason of which" clearly distinguishes the one from the other.
The day of God succeeds the day of the Lord and is beyond the dissolution of heaven and
earth. For that day, said Peter, we look, and that day of God is explained further to be :
(1)
The new heavens and new earth.
(2)
The Day (pre-eminently) of the age hemera aionos (2: Pet. 3: 18). The
Millennium is not the goal, the goal is the Day of the Age, the Day of God,
symbolized in the typical Scriptures as "the eighth day" the first day of a
new week.
When we consider the opening of the seals, we find that the sixth seal (Rev. 6: 12-17)
takes us to the frontier of the Millennium. The sun becomes black, the moon like blood,
the heavens depart as a scroll, the day of His wrath is come. There can be no more than
one occasion when the heavens depart as a scroll.
Psalm 2: speaks of the gathering of the kings and rulers of the earth and is quoted in
Acts 4: 26, 27 of Christ. The kindling of the wrath of the Son is parallel with the
passage quoted from Rev. 6: