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I would offer the comment that many amills think that there will be an unusually bad period of tribulation concluding our millennial period. Don't ask me to defend their position. (I try not to argue for something I can't really prove, even if I suspect that it is correct.) 476 posted on 11/03/2002 8:25 PM PST by the_doc

Let's start by examining some key Scriptures...

II Peter 3
1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

II Timothy 4
3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Revelation 20
1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

Isaiah 24
15 Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.
16 From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

Alright, lemme try to synthesize all this together...

In the Last Days:

1.) Satan will be loosed from the Crucifixion-Binding to once again exercise a Dominion of Deceit over the Gentile Nations (Revelation 20:3,7).
- Note -- It is possible (perhaps probable?) that this period of Gentile Blindness will be marked by a Great Conversion of the Jews, assuming a cross-reference to Romans 11:25-26: "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob."
2.) The world will turn away to their own lusts, denying that Jesus Christ will return (II Peter 3:3-4).
3.) The world will be as the Days of Noah, overflowed with Apostasy, atheism, and hedonism (II Peter 3:5-6).
4.) The world will cease to respond to the Gospel (II Timothy 4:3-4). Cross-reference with the fact that Satan will be loosed from the Crucifixion-Binding to once again exercise a Dominion of Deceit over the Gentile Nations (Revelation 20:3,7).
5.) And then, when all Hope seems lost (sorry, momentary "Fellowship of the Ring" moment) Satan will be defeated forever at the Lord's Second Coming. "He that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare:" (Isaiah 24:18) "fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." (Revelation 20:9)
6.) The earth will be utterly dissolved (Isaiah 24:19); "The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up" (II Peter 3:10).
7.) AND THEN "the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously." (Isaiah 24:23)
- "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." (Revelation 21:1-3)

Submitted for consideration and comment.

I couldn't have said it better myself!

Jean

***The earth will be utterly dissolved (Isaiah 24:19); "The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up" (II Peter 3:10).***

When will this happen?: When the Lord comes to be glorified ~IN~ His saints and admired among all those who believe. In fact, the Lord will be revealed from Heaven with ~fire~. (2 Thes 1).

Does that comment agree with you?

4.) The world will cease to respond to the Gospel (II Timothy 4:3-4). Cross-reference with the fact that Satan will be loosed from the Crucifixion-Binding to once again exercise a Dominion of Deceit over the Gentile Nations (Revelation 20:3,7).

Thanks for your distillation OP, *hic*. ;^)

You say that once Satan is loosed that the world will cease to respond to the Gospel. What did Satan blind the world to before he was bound?

I guess we could describe "the Gospel" as God's truth about Salvation. Would you make the case that Satan was keeping the world from responding to God's truth about Salvation pre-Calvary?

Excellent, thought-provoking post. Reflects my personal views on the subject.