Could you please turn with me to Revelation chapter 20, this meeting, beginning from verse one, and I'm going to read today the first six verses. I'm going to begin with verse one. And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, Which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 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.

And I saw thrones, and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them, and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Yeshua, 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 Messiah a thousand years. 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 had part in the first resurrection, on such the second death hath no power. But they shall be priests of God and of Messiah, and shall reign with him a thousand years. That's the passage that I'm going to speak about by the grace of God today as we are going through the book of the Revelation.

Chapter 20 is a very important chapter, beloved brothers and sisters, because when we arrive to chapter 20, we are really going to talk about the Millennial Age, or as we call it from the Hebrew Scriptures, from the Tanach, the Kingdom Age, the Messianic Kingdom. You know, the Old Testament Hebrew prophets Have spoken so much about the Messianic age that God had promised to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob and their descendants, our own nation, He promised a time of peace, a time of shalom, a time where there will be a blessing to Israel, the nation, and also blessing to the nations of the world through the nation of Israel. But the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures never knew how long will that Messianic age will be. They never knew, they only spoke about the Messiah will come, and the kingdom will be established, and He will reign over our nation Israel, and the nation will be gathered back into the Promised Land, and the world will be blessed, but they never knew, beloved brothers and sisters, how long time that age will be.

It is through Yohanan that we receive, through the message that he received from the Lord Jesus, is that we find out that the Messianic age that was promised to our forefathers will be one thousand years long. That's what we find here in Revelation chapter 20. The second thing that I want to open in our thoughts before I'm going to go through these verses, is that over the years in Christendom, among Christians, among the people who confess that they belong to the Lord Jesus over the last two thousand years, there are various views about this Millennial age. First of all, even the word millennium is coming really from the Latin word that speaks about thousand years. The word millennium itself is really not mentioned here, but the word thousand and thousand years are mentioned. And so over the generation, over the years in the church age, the professing Christians have took three positions about that millennial age.

Some call themselves pre-millennial. They mean that the Messiah will come before the millennium, before the kingdom age will come. This is where I believe you and I will fit ourselves here into it. We would say, and we would understand from the scripture, that before there will be the Messianic age, Before there will be this glorious kingdom that Israel will be restored, the Messiah has to come first.

That is the position that I would take. That's the position that I trust you and I will take as we understand the Scripture that the Messiah will come before the Millennium Age will start, and He will reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This is the position that we take. But you know, there are also two other positions that Christians take, and good and godly Christians who understand this differently, some believe, and they believe that there will be no Millennial Age. They don't believe that the Millennium will even come to pass. They take the Scripture and all the promises of God that God had promised to our nation Israel, and they said, really, everything will be fulfilled when you and I, when the Church was formed, and all these promises have become part of the promises that the Church will receive or has received from the Lord Jesus. This is not a correct view as far as I'm concerned, because when God spoke through the Hebrew prophet to the nation of Israel, He had promised Israel a time of shalom, a time of rest, a time of peace.

And He promised to gather the nation together and to restore the people of Israel back to Himself and give this world to enjoy an age of peace. But that's what they believe. They believe that there will be no millennial age, no millennium, no thousand years of reign. There's a third view by Christians, and some take this view, and that view, of course, you, I do not take that view, and that is the third view that is called postmillennialism. The postmillennialism are those who believe that the Messiah will come at the end of this millennium, at the end of this thousand years spoken here in Revelation chapter 20, and that the church will bring in the millennium. In other words, that this present day church age, that we, the church, will bring a time of utopia, a time of a thousand years millennium, where there will be peace upon the face of this earth. What I do not believe that this is a correct view also is because we are already two thousand years of church history, and what we find out, that the church does not bring any peace to this world.

Look the way things are shaping up today. You know that we preach the gospel, and we are thankful for those that have accepted the Messiah, but you can see that the vast majority reject the person of the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. And really, beloved brothers and sisters, the call of the church Of the assembly is not to improve the world, not to bring in a messianic age, this is not the responsibility of the church, but God has called us to preach the message of the gospel and lead people out of this world, to be part of the ekklesia, the called out ones, which will be taken out of here before the tribulation will come.

So, there are those who believe that there will be no millennial age, no millennial. There are those that call themselves post-millennial, believing that the Messiah will come at the end of the millennium, and there are those, such as what we understand, that we are pre-millennial, who believe that the Messiah will come before the kingdom age will start. And the length of this age is one thousand years, as we have in Revelation chapter 20. Now, let's move on here into these verses, but I'm going to make a reminder here that when we concluded in Revelation chapter 19, what did we find out?

That in chapter 19, at the end of the chapter, we find out that the two beasts That we saw them in Revelation chapter 13, the beast that came out of the sea, and the beast that came out of the earth, those two beasts, those counterfeit Messiah and the false prophet, have been cast into the lake of fire. You remember we read verse 20 in chapter 19, and the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet, that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These, that's where we ended in the last ministry together, at the end of chapter 19, these, both of them, were cast alive into the lake of fire, burning with brimstone.

We were speaking about the Lake of Fire, and this is the final judgment that is going to come on all those that rejected Yeshua, the Messiah that will ultimately will be cast to the Lake of Fire, but we find out that the first ones that have been cast into the Lake of Fire are these two beasts, the political ruler, which we understand to be the counterfeit Messiah, the Antichrist, and the religious ruler, which we understand to be the false prophet, both of them were cast into the Lake of Fire. And that's where we introduce now into chapter 20, and brothers and sisters, chapter 20 brings us into the Messianic Age. Into the kingdom. You see, the tribulation will be over at the end of chapter 19. The Messiah have come at the end of chapter 19. He have destroyed the enemies of Israel at the end of chapter 19. We saw heaven open and the Messiah coming, and now John receive an additional revelation about what is going to happen after the Messiah's second coming.

And look what we read in verses 1, 2, and 3 of chapter 20. We find out now that Satan, you know, that deceiver, this angel that was created by God, this beautiful angel that fell and became Satan, And became a deceiver, a liar, a one that have caused so much problem to the human race, we find that now God is going to bound him for a thousand years. Look, it says in verse one, And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain is in his hand. Now John sees that one angel, and this angel it says that he have a key in his hand, and that key is the key of the bottomless pit. That word in the Greek here is the abyssos or the abyss.

It is a place where all the fallen angels are being confined. It is the abyss where we find that this angel, he has a key in his hand, and he has the key to this open and close, or open and lock this bottomless pit, and he has a long chain with him in verse 1b we read. Now that bottomless pit, we read already about in chapter 9 of the Revelation. You remember when the seal was open, and then we find out that there was demons that came out of the bottomless pit. This is Revelation chapter 9 and verses 1 and 2 and verse 11. The bottomless pit is where the demons, the fallen angels are being confined, being locked in and being preserved for the final judgment. And so this angel is coming, he has the key in his hand, he has a chain in his hand, and what does he do?

It says in verse 2 now, the angel is bounding Satan for one thousand years. Look at this, verse 2, And he laid hold of the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and he bound him for a thousand years. Now can you imagine, brothers and sisters, now this is by the way the first time we get the number thousand years here in Revelation chapter 20, and we find out that Satan will finally be bound for a thousand years. Now you remember, before this event here at the end of the Tribulation, at the middle of the Tribulation, Satan was cast to earth.

And he was here on earth for three and a half years of the second half of the Tribulation. And he caused havoc among the people of Israel. He persecuted the people of Israel, the Jewish people, who fled into Petra, Bozrah that we know, present day Jordan. But now we find him, after he was cast down from heaven to the earth, we find him now being cast out to another area, and this time the Bible called it the abyss, the bottomless pit.

We find here in verse two that his name is being repeated, or the activities and the way he function is being described by the name that he received here. He is called the dragon, that speaks of his viciousness. He is called the old serpent in verse two, that speaks of his sneaky way and deceit in which he is acting. And then he is called the devil, and the devil would speak about him, the one that is opposing the people of God. And finally he is called here in verse two, he is called Satan. Just the same titles that we saw in Revelation chapter twelve and verse nine. The dragon is his viciousness, the serpent is his lying, the devil, this is the accuser, and Satan, this is his adversary. He is against the people of God. Now he's bound for a thousand years.

Now can you imagine what will happen here when Satan is bound for a thousand years? You know the enemy of God's people, whether it is Israel or whether it is the church, is Satan. He always cause problems among the people of God. He deceive them. There's a roaring lion going against them, 1 Peter chapter 5. And he's as an angel of light deceiving the people of God. You know, you and I, in our lives as believers, often time the greatest enemy that we have in our life is Satan himself. He's constantly deceiving us, constantly coming against us, and he's causing friction among the people of God. And that's what his job was his all entire life. He was the dragon, the old serpent, the devil and Satan that opposes God and God's people.

And now at the end of this tribulation period, he gonna be locked for one thousand years, beloved brothers and sisters. He gonna be locked here. And that word here in the Greek for thousand is kilioi in the Greek. That is simply mean one thousand years. He's going to be locked and he's gonna be bound. That angel took him and he bound him for a thousand years. At the millennial age or at the kingdom age, one enemy less the people who gonna live in the kingdom will have, and that enemy will be, of course, Satan himself. They will not have what you and I experiencing today, the animosity of Satan, the constant deceiving of Satan, the constant hatred that Satan will produce. They will not have it during the millennial age at all, because Satan is going to be bound for a thousand years. Now, notice in the next verse, beloved brothers and sisters, it says here in verse three that he was not only bound, but he was cast into that bottomless pit, into the abyss.

It says in verse three, he cast him into the bottomless pit, and he shut him up. And he set a seal upon him that he should deceive the nations no more. But then it adds something that it's amazing to know why, how God who is sovereign, because it said at the end of verse three that he will be cast into the bottom of a pit and seal gonna be set upon him that he will not deceive the nations anymore, but it's only gonna be until, note that word here, until a thousand years should be fulfilled and after that he must be loosed for a little season. You know that's verse really show us, brothers and sisters, that God is in full control over everything that he allows here in this world. You know we sometimes ask the question, why does God allow Satan to tempt Eve in the Garden of Eden?

We ask other questions. Why does God allow Satan to come and constantly accuse the nation of Israel? Why can't God finish with him? And we may ask the third question again. Why does God place Satan in the bottomless pit for a thousand years and then he allows him to be loosed for a little while? You know, this is amazing. When we preach the gospel, brothers and sisters, we tell people, just the same like we tell it to ourselves, that God says that man by nature is depraved. Man has a sin nature and he or she cannot improve themselves. We are dead in trespasses and sins. What we learn here, brothers and sisters, and we're going to see it in the next verses, that even after Satan is bound for a thousand years, when the thousand years are over, and Satan will be freed for a little season, people will still follow him.

Men will still be influenced by him. It shows us that even after a thousand years of shalom, of peace, the human nature is still depraved, and still will not follow God, but will follow after Satan. Men by nature is not desiring the things of God. As John said it in the gospel, men love darkness rather than light.

I had a man in the preaching of the gospel just last night. Who approached me and said, do you mean that when God look at us, that we are depraved and sinful, and this is the inner man, this is our condition? I said, yes. I didn't say it. I didn't come to this conclusion on my own. God said it. Already in Genesis chapter 6, he says, when he saw that the wickedness of men was great in this earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart is evil all the day long.

I didn't say it. The Bible says it. And here we find out that Satan will be bound for a thousand years, but he's going to be loosed. For a little while, at the end of this thousand years millennial age, at the end of the kingdom age. Now, we move on into next verses, dear brothers and sisters, in the next verses, we find out again that the New Testament, the Brit HaChadashah, gives us the length of the kingdom of the Messianic age in verses four, five, and six, and it gives us here those that will reign with the Messiah over these thousand years of the kingdom age. Look what it says here in verse four now. It says, And I saw thrones, and they that sat upon them.

And judgment was given unto them, and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Yeshua 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 now look what it says here at the end of verse four, and they lived and they reigned with the Messiah for a thousand years.

Now we find out those that will reign with the Messiah, apparently, you see, we find out here in verse four that the Mashiach, the Messiah, will reign for one thousand years. But he's not going to reign alone, because there will be those around him who are going to reign with him. He is going to have the churches reigning with him. We're going to have Israel, the nation restored, reigning with him, and he will reign over them, and the nation, as a restored nation, are going to be with the Lord Jesus in the coming kingdom. But verse 4 gives us two groups, really, that are going to be reigning with him. First of all, notice it says in verse 4a, we see the church saints that are going to reign with the Messiah.

I saw thrones and they that sat upon them. Who are those that sit on the throne? You remember we read earlier in the Revelation chapter 3 and verse 21, and then Revelation chapter 4 and chapter 5, we saw that around the throne of God, there were these 24 elders representing the church saints. There in the presence of the Lord Jesus in heaven, in the presence of God, and the church saints are going to reign with the Messiah for a thousand years. That's what it says in verse four, I saw thrones and they that sat upon them. Look, it said that judgment was given unto them. You know that you and I, the believers of the present day church age, will be really like, actually even first Corinthians six says, don't you know that we will judge angels?

The Bible tells us that the believers, the church will be judging, will be sitting with the Messiah and reigning with him in the millennial age. But not only them, not only the church. Because in verse 4b, we see additional group who is going to reign with the Messiah. Notice that. It says in verse 4b, And I saw the souls of them which were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, which had not worshipped the beast, neither the image, neither had received the mark upon their foreheads and upon their hands. Now who are these? These are tribulation saints. Do you remember in the middle of the tribulation, many of the Jewish people, the people of Israel, who have become believers in the Messiah, Yeshua, during the tribulation.

And you see, they have been beheaded. It says here in verse 4b, they that were beheaded for the witness of Yeshua. You know there will be suffering saints, Jewish saints and also non-Jewish saints, who will suffer during the tribulation and they will give a good testimony for the word of God. And they're gonna lose their lives, as we read it already in Revelation 6 and verses 9 and 10. They were crying in heaven and said, Lord, how long you will allow these things to keep on going here in this world? They will reign with the Messiah. The tribulation saint will reign with the Messiah, because it says here in verse 4b, they did not worship the beast.

And neither did they worship his image. Do you remember Revelation chapter 13, the second beast, the false prophet made an image. And he asked everyone to worship that image. But there will be saints, believers who says, no, we are not going to worship that beast, we are not going to worship that image, and they will pay a price for that. And so we read in verse 4b, it says they didn't worship the beast, neither did they worship his image. That's the second stage of the abomination of desolation which is going to happen in the middle of the tribulation. They didn't take the mark of the beast, brothers and sisters, when we study this in chapter 13, in order to buy or sell, in order to have a business in your life, in order to be able to take care of your family, you will have to take the mark of the beast.

And many have taken the mark of the beast, but there will be those who will not. And because of their faithfulness to the Lord, they didn't worship the beast, they didn't worship his image, they didn't take his mark upon their forehead or their right hand, they will pay a price for that. But the Bible tells us in this chapter, chapter 20, that they will live and they will reign with the Messiah for one thousand years. That's the Kingdom Age.

They suffered for him, but they will reign with him. They've experienced sorrow and trial and death in the tribulation period, but they're going to be brought at the end of the tribulation, and they will reign with Yeshua the Messiah for a thousand years. It's amazing to think about it. The Lord is faithful. He's going to reward those that have been faithful to Him, that stood for His word and gave a testimony to the name of Yeshua the Messiah. They will ultimately will receive their reward, and they are going to live and reign. Notice this expression. To reign means that you are being a king. You are ruling over someone. They are going to reign with Yeshua the Messiah for one thousand years.

Now in the next verse, verses five and six, We find out about the two resurrections, the first resurrection, and we're also gonna speak a little bit about the second resurrection, which is gonna come up a little bit later on at the end of chapter 20. But look what John, information that we have here, that are very important for us to understand. It says here in verse 5, it says this, And the rest of the dead, these are the unbelievers who left this world without the knowledge of the Messiah, without the knowledge of sins forgiven, the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.

This is the first resurrection. Now that's, often time we have a problem with understanding, what do you mean when you say the first resurrection? And secondly, if there is a first resurrection, therefore it means that there is a second resurrection. And often time people got so mixed up with these words that they start to say certain things that are not biblical and not correct. And I would like us, brothers and sisters, to look at couple of passages in order to help us to understand this expression. First of all, turn with me to the Gospel of John in chapter 5, please. And I would like to read couple of verses there. Yeshua, while he was here on earth, before his death, burial, and resurrection, he says in John in chapter 5 and verse 28 and 29, those words, Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth They that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.

Let me repeat it. It shall come forth, it said, and shall come forth, verse 29, that everyone will hear his voice, as it says already in verse 28. They that have done good will come out of the grave unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil will come out unto the resurrection of damnation. Here the Lord Yeshua the Messiah gives us clearly two resurrection, resurrection unto life and a resurrection unto damnation, unto judgment. They're all gonna hear the voice of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, and all are going to be resurrected, some will be resurrected to the resurrection of life, and some to the resurrection of damnation.

But important for us to understand that there will be distinctive in timing of when the first resurrection gonna occur, and when the second resurrection is going to occur. In fact, there is at least a thousand years different in the timing of the resurrection. The resurrection of life gonna happen thousand years earlier than the resurrection of damnation. Those thousand years of the millennial age will be that different in the timing. The resurrection of life is all believers that trusted in God and accepted the Messiah. The resurrection of damnation will be all the unbelievers who have rejected God and have rejected His will. But there will be different timing altogether. The believers will rise from the dead at least a thousand years before the unbelievers.

That's the first point that I want us to understand this message. Secondly, turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 for the next thought that we need to bear in mind as we are talking about the first resurrection. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 20 to 23. And here the apostle Paul, Shaul, is speaking to the Corinthians and dealing with them concerning the issue of the resurrection. And here he's saying to them, notice that, in verse 20, But now the Messiah is risen from the dead, and he become the first fruit of them that slept. For since by man come death, and by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all died, even so in the Messiah shall all be made alive. Now notice verse 23. But every man in his own order, or his own rank, Messiah the first fruit, afterward they that are belonging to the Messiah at his coming. Let me read it again, verse 23. Every man in his own order, Christ the first fruit, Afterwards they that are Christ's or Messiah's at His coming. So what we learn here from Revelation chapter 20 as the Apostle John was speaking, he says that the first resurrection will be prior to the Millennial Age and the rest of the unbeliever will not rise until the end of the Millennial Age. And therefore he's speaking about the first resurrection, which is the resurrection of life, the resurrection of all those that believed God and believed the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. But Paul comes here in chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians and help us to understand that even in the first resurrection unto life, there is order.

There is a process. And you notice he says in verse 23 of 1 Corinthians 15, every man in his own order. And then he gives us the order. The first thing, he says the Messiah as the first fruit. You see, the first resurrection has to do with only believers, and it's starting with the resurrection of our Messiah himself. And when was Yeshua the Messiah raised? He rose already two thousand years ago or so, after he was three days and three nights in the heart of this earth, he rose from among the dead, and he's seated now at the right hand of God the Father. He had been resurrected already. He is the first fruit as we have here in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 23.

But then the Apostle Paul gave us additional information about that order in which it's going to happen. He says, afterwards, they that belong to the Messiah at His coming. Now that is also fascinating is because we want to know, what does that mean? There will be that resurrection at His coming. Now, here we learn the additional information about the resurrection of the believers. You see, if those believers are going to reign with the Messiah for a thousand years of the Kingdom Age, they have to be resurrected before the Kingdom Age.

This is obvious. And so, the order is the Messiah first, But then we discover that the church saints are going to be resurrected, not only before the kingdom, but even before the tribulation period. That is one thousand years the kingdom age, seven years the tribulation period, and before the beginning of the tribulation period, the church saints are going to be resurrected and ascended to meet the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, in the air. Let me show this to you from 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Please turn now to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, and I hope you are following after me, because it is not easy to grasp this order. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, here we find in verse 16, I read just this one verse. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. Here Paul speaking about the rapture of the church, not the second coming.

The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. Listen to that, brothers and sisters, and the dead in Messiah shall rise first. The dead in Messiah, this is the church saints, will rise first. And then it says here, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together to meet Him in the cloud, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. You see, the order in the first resurrection is the Messiah first, two thousand years ago.

Then what is known to be the church Saints, these are believers of the church age, since the Messiah died and was buried and rose again, and the Spirit of God came to form the body of the Messiah, all the believers who died in the Messiah will rise first, prior to the tribulation period. And we which are alive and remain, if it will happen today, will be changed and caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. This is prior to the tribulation period. This is the rapture of the church, as he says here, the dead in the Messiah will rise first. But then we talked about the tribulation period, didn't we? And we saw that there will be tribulation period, Sarat Yaakov, where Israel will experience sorrow like they have never experienced before. And God gonna save our people Israel through the tribulation. But during the tribulation period, many Hebrews, many Jewish people will die.

As we have already read, the soul of them that have been beheaded for the witness of Yeshua and for the word of God, some of them will die during the tribulation. Those are called tribulation saints. They will not rise until the end of the tribulation, before the kingdom start. And they will rise together with all the Old Testament Hebrew saints of old. Who have waited for the resurrection, for the time when God is going to restore our nation back to Himself. I want to show you a verse, please, if you turn with me to the book of Daniel, chapter 12, right now, in connection with this. And I think it's good for us to see the total picture, if we are going to understand things the way the Lord presenting for us in the Scripture. Daniel, chapter 12, and here's a promise of God to Daniel for the future people of Israel. It says in chapter 12 and verse 1, And at that time shall Michael stand up, that great prince, which standeth for the children of thy people, this is Israel, and there shall be a time of trouble, this is the tribulation period, such as never was since there was a nation.

Even to that same time, and at that time, Daniel, thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And here Michael continued to say in verse two, many of them that slept in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting contempt. You see again, we read what Yeshua said in John five, there will be a resurrection, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting contempt.

So what we learn here from Daniel chapter twelve and verse two, and other passages such as Isaiah chapter twenty six, that there will be a resurrection of the Old Testament Hebrew saints and non-Hebrew saints, that the fall of God Abraham, Isaac, Yaakov, and Moses, and Samuel, and all the godly men that God had raised from among the people of Israel, Noah, and many others that will even before the nation of Israel, they will be resurrected at the end of the tribulation, and just before the kingdom age will start, in order to reign and rule with the Messiah for a thousand years.

So brothers and sisters, if we have learned this statement that God put it for us here in verse five of Revelation chapter twenty, The rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. This expression, this is the first resurrection, is an important expression that we have here in this Revelation chapter 20. The resurrection that is called the first resurrection. And it comes in stages. There are stages.

Stage one is the Messiah. Stage two is the church saints. And stage three is the tribulation saints and the Old Testament Hebrew saints that will rise at the end of the tribulation to enter and rule with the Messiah during the kingdom age. Not easy passage to understand, but I hope that I conveyed this clearly to us all today. Now, look at the next verse, brothers and sisters. Here in the next verse, the next verse speaking about Again, in verse six, he's speaking about the first resurrection, and it adds to us another word, and that word called the second death. And I want to elaborate on this a little bit as well in this meeting. Look, it says here in verse six, Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over such.

But they shall be priests of God and of the Messiah, and shall reign with him for a thousand years. Now, here's another statement that we maybe have a problem with understanding. The thought here, the expression here, the second death, what does that mean, the second death? Let me try to kind of explain this to all of us. The word for death in Scripture, Simply means separation.

When God created Adam in the Garden of Eden, and then Adam's rib he brought and he built his wife Eve, these two, as long that they didn't sin, they were not separated from God. They were totally in relationship with God. They have enjoyed God tremendously. But disobedient came, and sin came when they ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God said to Adam, if you remember the day that you will eat out of this tree, you will surely die, mean that you will surely be separated from me. Well, lo and behold, Adam and Eve disobeyed God. And Adam ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the moment he ate from that, he and his wife, they were separated from God spiritually.

Adam and Eve that moment died spiritually, even though they didn't die yet physically. They were still alive. He had to chase them from the garden. They were still alive. They had family. They had Cain. They had Abel. They had their family, and the whole world developed over the life of Adam and Eve, but they were dead spiritually. That means that now because of their sin, they died and of course God had to cover them with the death of the animal and that's why they received their life again, spiritual life, that they could now be restored with God. And since that time, everyone that was born to this world is dead spiritually. Ephesians chapter 2, as we have learned it, you were dead in trespasses and sins. So the spiritual death applied to everyone that is born into this world. But now that a person is born into this world, he has his life to live and he has a time during his life to make a decision to accept the Lord Jesus the Messiah.

And as time passes by, we all get old, and we decline in our health, we decline in our ability to move and to control things in our life, and ultimately, the Bible tells us, as it is appointed unto men once to die, Hebrews chapter 9, and after this the judgment. Everyone of us that was born into this world, whether we are male or female, whether we became believers in the Messiah or not believers in the Messiah, the natural order of things it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment. The only exception to this rule is the rapture of the church. And the two ones, Enoch and Elijah, that have been taken out of this scene a long time ago. But the normal way of life, it is that everyone will die physically. That is called, by the way, in the scripture, the first death.

Though we all already died, or we were born dead spiritually, but the first death is called in scripture when we are physically dying. That's the first death. Now, what happened to a person that lived a life here and have rejected to accept the Lord Jesus, the Messiah? That person, not only that he dead spiritually, not only that he will die eventually physically, but he will have to experience the second death. Which the Bible calls here the second death, which means eternal death, eternal separation from God. That's what we learn here, brothers and sisters, here in verse 6, blessed and holy is He that has part in the first resurrection. This is the resurrection of life. And on this one, verse 6b, the second death, means the eternal death, has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of the Messiah, and shall reign with Him for a thousand years.

Now there are people today that heard the gospel, and may leave this scene without accepting the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. They will end up, beloved brothers and sisters, experiencing the second death. Which is the eternal separation from God. But upon those that have accepted the Messiah, there is no power of the eternal separation upon those that have accepted the Messiah. Because of what He has done for us, because we have accepted the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, we will never be separated from God throughout eternity because the Messiah paid for our sins, and we have accepted the work of the Messiah. That is a wonderful truth to get a hold of, as we have here in this verse six, the second death. And if you want to have those notes in your Bible, the first death has to do with the physical death.

Hebrews 9, it is appointed unto men once to die, Hebrew 9 27. The second death has to do with the lake of fire, which is found in Revelation 20 in verse 6 here, and ultimately in verse 14 and 15 that has to do with the eternal judgment of the unregenerated individual in the lake of fire. Very sad to think about that, but apparently there is a second death that is coming upon those that rejected Yeshua the Messiah. Now I would like to mention a couple more points here, and then I'm going to wrap this up, this message for today.

Many people over the years say to us these words, they say, in the New Testament we don't read about the millennial age per se, and you cannot base yourself On those three verses that this is the kingdom because it says here a thousand years, you cannot take out of these verses and tell us about the kingdom that's going to come.

While it is true that it's hard to take out of these verses and to say this is the kingdom age, but we have to realize that if we take the whole canon of Scripture, not only the New Testament, the Brit HaChadashah, also the Old Testament together, we learn throughout the whole Old Testament that God had promised a kingdom to the nation of Israel, which He haven't fulfilled as yet. It haven't come about. When Abraham was promised unto thee and out of thy seed I will give this land, Abraham never received the land of Israel as yet.

And if you remember the place that he was buried, he had to buy it with money. Abraham did not receive yet the promises of the land to be given to him and to his seed. Even he himself haven't enjoyed to have all the promised land that God had promised to Father Abraham. And you notice that in Scripture it is not only promised to Abraham's descendant, but it promised to him himself. Abraham and Isaac and Jacob have been promised to have a land and to have a kingdom or a time when there will be a blessing to all the nations of the world. Abraham never experienced this as yet.

He died, and he went to be in the presence of the Lord, and then his son Isaac was promised, and he died. And then Yaakov was promised this, and he died. The heaven received the promises that God had given to them. But God had promised in the Hebrew Scriptures to our people Israel that He will give them a land and a kingdom and the rule of the Messiah in a day when He is going to restore them in the coming days. And I would like, please, brothers and sisters, to turn to the Old Testament with you for a moment, to Isaiah chapter 2. There we read one of the promises that God used Isaiah to give the Hebrews when Isaiah was preaching to the nation who was in rebellion. Isaiah chapter 2 and verses 1 to 5. The word of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, that he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days.

That the mountain of the Lord's house, the word for mountain is the kingdom, is the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. Many people shall go and say, Come, come ye, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his path. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Isaiah, who was used by God to present the hope of the nation of Israel, he's appealing to the nation of Israel. And he's saying to them, listen, there is coming a day in the last days When the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established above all mountains, and that often time in the Bible when you speak of a mountain, you speak of a kingdom, and the kingdom of the Lord will be established, and then all the nations will flow into it. Dear beloved brothers and sisters, look at this today.

The nations don't flow into Israel. The nation are ready to flow against Israel, to do away with the nation of Israel. There will be gathering nations in the future day who will attack the nation of Israel, who will seek to destroy the Jewish community. But there is coming a day that the nation shall flow unto the land of Israel, and they will say, Come, let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.

And He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His path. You know, this is the future glorious kingdom that is going to come, that we have the length of it in Revelation 20, one thousand years, but the promise of that kingdom is found through the Hebrew prophets. Whom again and again, and I have so many passages that I could read you. Isaiah, we read in Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6 and 7, Isaiah 11 verses 1 to 5, Jeremiah 23 verses 1 to 6, Jeremiah 33 verses 13 to 17, there are many of the prophets of the Hebrew prophets that spoke about the coming kingdom.

It's not yet today, it had never been since the promises have given to Israel, but it will be at the end of the tribulation period where God is going to establish the kingdom of the Messiah over the nation of Israel and over the nations of the world. Now, finally, I just want to read one more verse in Luke, the Gospel of Luke, and we're going to conclude with this for today. Luke chapter 1, verse 30 to 33. Here is the angel is speaking about the future kingdom, Luke 1, 30 to 33, where the angel is speaking to Miriam, the mother of Yeshua, the Messiah, and look what he's saying to her. It says, Fear not, Miriam, verse 30, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and you will bring forth a son, and you will call his name Yeshua. He shall be great.

He shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give, listen to this, the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end. That's what we read, brothers and sisters. That's what the angel was saying to Miriam, the mother of Yeshua, concerning the coming kingdom that the Hebrew prophets were speaking about in so many passages, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, almost every prophet spoke of the kingdom.

And here we find out that the duration of the kingdom is going to be one thousand years, and the nation of Israel will reign, the church will reign with the Messiah, and ultimately Yeshua himself will take his right place there in that kingdom. This is the first resurrection. All those who are part of the first resurrection, the second death have no power. And they shall be priests of God and of the Messiah, and shall reign with Him for a thousand years. Oh, what a day that will be, when we're gonna reign with Him and be there with Him, Israel restored, the Messiah take His place, and we're gonna enjoy the thousand years of peace in that coming day. Can you say amen to that? Amen.