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Report a TypoRevelation ◦ Chapter 20
1Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven. He had the key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand.2He grabbed the dragon–that ancient serpent who is the devil, or Satan, also known as the fallen angel Lucifer of past–and bound him for a thousand years. This symbolizes Satan being bound by the chain of circumstances upon a desolate and abysmal earth with no living creatures, for a thousand years.3The angel threw Satan into the abyss, locking and sealing him there–upon the desolate and void earth with no one to deceive–until the end of the thousand years, after which he will again have the wicked to deceive for a short time.4I looked into heaven and saw thrones, and seated on the thrones were those who had been given the ability to make correct judgments. And I saw those who — having judged God and his methods rightly — had been beheaded for giving the same testimony about God that Jesus gave, and for staying true to God's word. They did not join with the beastly power or lie about God, or model themselves after the coercive methods of the beastly power, or choose to mark themselves as loyal to the beastly power either by agreeing in heart or merely giving their support. They were resurrected at the beginning of the thousand years and reigned with Christ during the thousand years.5This is the first resurrection. (The unhealed dead were not resurrected until after the thousand years were ended.)6Happy and holy are those who arise in the first resurrection. The second, eternal death has no power over them. They will be ministers of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.7When the thousand years are over, the wicked dead from all human history will be resurrected, and thus Satan will be released from his prison8and will again go about deceiving the nations from all over the world. All those who oppose God — symbolically referred to as Gog and Magog — he will gather together for battle. The number of those who gather to war against God is beyond counting–like sand on the seashore.9Once gathered, they march across the earth and surround the camp of God's people–the city he loves. It is then that God unveils himself fully, and rivers of fire come out from him; and the fires of truth and love consume all evil and sin.10And Satan–who deceived all those outside the city–along with the beastly power and false prophet, is drowned in the lake of consuming fire coming from the presence of God. They will suffer torment of mind and agony of soul as the fires of truth and love burn through every lie, distortion and self-deception–consuming all deviations from God’s design–and the painful reality of their corrupt condition sears through them day and night for the conclusion of their existence.11While this was happening, I saw a great white throne and the One sitting on it. The sin-infected earth and sky faded from his presence.12And I saw the unhealed dead–great and small–standing before the throne, and the books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were diagnosed according to the reality of their condition developed throughout their lives by the choices they had made, exactly as recorded in the books.13The sea, death and the grave gave up their dead, and all the unhealed were raised to life; and each person was accurately diagnosed by the characters they formed from the choices they had made.14Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire–the lake of God’s fiery presence–which is the second (or eternal) death, when all deviations from God’s design for life are permanently consumed.15If anyone did not partake of the Remedy and have their character restored to Christlikeness and thus have their name written in the book of life, they were thrown into the lake of God’s fiery presence, where truth and love consumed all lies, deceit, and selfishness.