Wrong! Dead wrong!
For decades, I blamed all sin in the world, and in
my life, on the presence of a devil and his cohorts operating in the earth –
steadfastly resisting every good thing of, and from God, and desperately hateful
of mankind whom God loves. After all, I understood the message of the
original sin, and clearly saw the role satan played in tempting and deceiving
Eve. Yes, The Bible clearly says Adam was not deceived, yet he sinned
anyway. And yes, it also says:
Then the The Lord
saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis
6:5)
Honestly, it just felt, and still feels good to
blame the devil. No doubt this is the ‘Adamic’ nature within me that
seeks a scapegoat for my own sin. How about you? Perhaps, like me,
you may also be snuggled up closely to the ageless excuse that says:
“the devil made me do it!”
News flash: The devil & co. cannot make you or me
commit sinful disobedience against the immutable laws of God, any more than they can make us drink sea water when we are desperately thirsty. They can and
do, however, do their level best to tempt you and me to the point that
committing sin seems like 'the best thing since sliced bread', and to have a
glass of cool (sea)water to wash it all down our dry, thirsty throats!
Not yet convinced that the title of this post is
wrong, dead wrong? Consider this little recognized connection between two
prophecies tucked in the back of the Books of Zechariah and Revelation:
- Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil and satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years [Millennial Reign of Jesus] were finished. (Revelation 20:2-3)
- And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem [in the 1st War of Gog and Magog, per Ezekiel 38] shall go up from year-to-year to worship the King, The Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the Earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, The Lord, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which The Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. (Zechariah 14:16-19)
Do you see what I see?!
These passages outline key parts of the Millennial Reign of Jesus on Earth, following the incredibly destructive Great Tribulation
period, and His rather dramatic end to the War of Armageddon (possibly as noted in Zechariah 14:12 and Revelation 19). As with every period of God’s punishment of persistent, unrepentant
sin on Earth, there will be a remnant of mortal humanity across the world to survive this
horrible punishment. They and their descendants will repopulate Earth, and will exist along with the resurrected immortal saints who will have returned to Earth with Christ
(following our 7 year absence during the predicted Tribulation and Great
Tribulation periods). Ponder that– both mortals and immortals simultaneously residing
on Earth. Even though satan and co. will be bound, locked up for
the thousand years of Jesus’ reign, the mortals will still be
capable of sin -- disobeying His requirement for people (individuals or family reps?) from nations to travel annually to the new world capital, The New Jerusalem, to worship Him
as King of the world, and to keep His Feast of Tabernacles! This includes the small remnants in nations that engaged in the 1st War of Gog and Magog, nations The Lord will have ‘sought to destroy’. (See: Ezekiel 38 and likely Zechariah 12:9)
wOw, you would think with no devils
around anywhere on Earth to tempt people into sinful disobedience, the
natural result would be joyful obedience in doing what is right, right?
Wrong! Dead wrong!
If there was to be blissful obedience, there would
be no need to make reference to a potential punishment for disobedience during
that period. Mind you, this thousand year period is not that period which
The Bible refers to as eternity, as hinted in The Book of Revelation 21:1-8,
and in Daniel 12:3. The Millennial Reign, if you will, is pre-eternity. At its end, the devil & co. will be released for a while to tempt the
nations, again!, drawing out what is tucked away in of the hearts of
mortals on Earth, namely their will to disobey/sin against God, and receiving
due punishment. After all, our incessant will to sin is exactly why The Lord’s reign is referred to In The Bible as His iron rod reign!
I hope this note really upsets your applecart if
you, like me, may feel comfortable blaming the devil and his crew for your
willful, sinful disobedience against God’s immutable laws. Perhaps you
may owe the devil an apology, but don’t even bother! Rather, apologize
(repent) to God for the evil intent and motives of the thoughts and deeds that proceed from
your heart (your spirit), and then enthusiastically accept His loving
forgiveness, graciously made available for you personally through the
sacrificial death of Jesus Christ as payment for your personal sin. Once
you do, daily get into His love letter, His multi-millennial strategic plan for humanity, The Bible, and allow the Spirit of God
to enlighten, encourage and equip you to live a life that is both pleasing to
Him and worthy of His calling.
Search this blog for much more on The Millennial Reign.
