Let me begin by saying that I know that Jesus Christ is my savior, and that he died for our sins. I do however have a problem with "THE CHURCH". It has been teaching many untruths for many centuries. Rev. chapter 20 is one of the most clearly written chapters in the whole bible. And yet It is also the most obviously misinterpreted.

It begins with ... "And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. And cast him into the bottomless pit"... "that he should not deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years be fulfilled. And after that he must be loosed for a little season". This term "a little season" is a specific period of time that I have described in another HUB (a day = a year not)

At that time when the dragon is bound ... (v.4),,, And I saw the 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.

Before we read any further, I must point out that these souls had been beheaded. They have died and are now in heaven with their Lord and Savior. The only description given as to who they are is that they did not worship the beast nor take his mark. They reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Many Churches teach that this verse refers to Christ coming to the earth and reigns with the saints for a thousand years. They teach that there will be a thousand years of Peace on earth. I do not understand how or why this interpretation of these verses have come to be. How can teachers of the word of GOD understand this verse to be saying that Jesus comes down to the earth. This misinterpretation is so blatantly obvious that it originally had to have been intentionally instigated and falsely taught to our teachers. There isn't any immediate obvious answers to this question, but we have to ask ourselves why? I believe that scholars have been blinded by many hundreds of years of the teachings of interpretations.

But the REST of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

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 ......

I believe that at this time Rev. 14:13 comes into affect. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth:  Yea saith the spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them. From the time of the first resurrection occurs, when a believer dies they go to heaven. They do not stay in the grave waiting for another resurrection. To me, this is saying that at the time of the second resurrection there will be no followers in the grave to be resurrected.

John was caught up into heaven in chapter four, being allowed to see these visions from a heavenly prospective. He is still in heaven when he sees those that had been beheaded, for the word of God. These will reign with Christ in heaven. But the rest of the dead lived not, till the thousand years are finished. (v 5) Then the angel says... "THIS IS THE FIRST RESURRECTION". This chapter does not mention any of the living being caught up in the air, redeemed from among man, or being the first fruits, or anything sounding similar. At the time of the first resurrection only those that were beheaded for the word of God were seen in heaven, reigning with Christ. The 144000 first fruits are seen with Christ before the angels announce that the hour of Gods judgment has come. They were with Christ before the first resurrection. These were only 144000 who had been given the seal of God on their foreheads. These are not  '"THE CHURCH"

How do we reconcile this issue? It would seem that there is a number of " times of harvest" recorded in scripture. As was true for the farmers of that day. There was the gleaning of the fields, when the first fruits were picked and given to the Lord. These first fruits would have been the pick of the crop, blemishless. At a later time  the bulk of the crop was then harvested. And then there would be a second harvesting,

When the 144,000 who had received the mark of God on their foreheads were redeemed, being the first fruits unto the Lord. This is the same event as is described in Rev. 6: 9-11 and 6:14. This was during the time of the seal judgments. This gleaning of the first fruits occurred before the seventh seal was opened. There is a sequence of events clearly revealed in these verses. It was not until after the seventh seal was opened and after a half hour of silence that the seven trumpets are handed out to the seven angels. The seven seal judgments are finished before the trumpet judgments are to begin. A time sequence is being established in scripture right before our eyes. The first rescurrection then occurs after the sixth trumpet is sounded. The second rescurrection is to occur at some time in our future when the seventh trumpet is sounded and seventh vial is poured out

Lets return to the subject at hand; The millennial reign of Christ.

And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison (for a little season). and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth... to gather them together to the battle... and fire came down from GOD out of heaven and devoured them. In order to properly understand the millennial reign of the saints with Christ we must reexamine the coming into the world of the Beast and False Prophet as described in Rev. 13. We will not identify who this beast and False Prophet are,yet. We should first establish when they are before identifying them. All that we will be looking at for the present is this.

Rev 13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power as given unto him to continue forty and two months. Verse 2 ... And the dragon gave him his power and his seat, and great authority.

It is commonly taught that a prophetic day equals a year which I disagree with but for the sake of making my point of interest let us go with a day equals a year. The dragon gives this beast his power and seat and great authority. Some length of time after he does this, he is cast into the bottomless pit for a thousand years. This would have to represent earth years because there are no other prophesy in scripture referring to the term year except when referring to earth years. The term for fifty two prophetic weeks equate to a TIME. At some point in time the dragon is bound for a thousand years. After Satan is released to gather the kings of the earth together for the battle; the Dragon, the Beast and False prophet are seen when the sixth vial is poured out. There are three spirits going out of their mouths. This indicates that the thousand years that Satan is bound are contained within the forty two months that the Beast is given to blaspheme the Lord.

If we are watching the kings gathering for that battle in this generation; then the thousand years has to have been accomplished. This indicates that Satan was bound over a thousand years ago and the first resurrection also must have occurred a thousand years go.

This is good news. From the time of the first resurrection when a person dies in the Lord, they go to heaven to be with the Lord for ever. For them the second resurrection has no power. The second coming occurred when Gabriel and Jesus said that it would. Jesus said "Some of you stand here shall not taste of death until you see me coming in the clouds next to power"This event surely came when Jesus said that it would. In the first century.                      The first resurrection occurred approx eleven hundred years ago. Satan has been released and is gathering the kings together for battle.

To identify who the beast and false prophet are that is mentioned in chapter 13 wh only have to ask ourselves what organization has been around blaspheming the lord over the centuries.  For further clarification as to the identity of the beast and false prophet you should read my hub a day = a year not

THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS COMING TO THE EARTH SOON