what I have recently been bringing up in regards to Amils having every single person satan deceives after the thousand years, where their number is as the sand of the sea, Amils have these already being deceived during the thousand years even though that is the reason satan is bound to begin with, so that he can deceive the nations no more.
Except Amils insist 'no more' doesn't literally mean what it says, but if one does an exact phrase search in the KJV for 'no more' in the book of Revelation, every single place it's used elsewhere it appears to literally mean what it says. And you have room to talk about hermeneutics that are so loose and questionable when not one single other passage in Revelation involving the phrase 'no more' agrees with how you are interpreting that same phrase in Revelation 20:3?
Revelation 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
Revelation 7:16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
Revelation 18:14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.
Revelation 18:21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
Revelation 18:22 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
Revelation 18:23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
Revelation 20:3 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.
Revelation 21:1 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.
Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Revelation 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
These are the passages in Revelation containing the phrase 'no more'. which of these passages do you propose 'no more' is meaning like you are taking it to mean in Revelation 20:3?
This is basically a general statement that is repeating what the rest of Scripture is saying, telling us: through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Gentiles would no longer be deceived. It is a sweeping statement. It is a generality. Scripture does that often.
You need to see, the Greek word interpreted “nations” in Revelation 20 in the King James Version is the Greek
ethnos which is repeatedly translated
Gentiles throughout the whole of the New Testament. In essence it means the nations, the heathen, or the non-Jews. The word is rendered Gentiles in the following passages: Matthew 4:15, 6:32, 10:5, 18, 12:18, 21, 20:19, 25, 21:43, Mark 10:33, 42, Luke 2:32, 18:32, 21:24, 22:25, Acts 4:27, 7:45, 9:15, 10:45, 11:1, 18, 13:46, 47, 48, 14:2, 5, 27, 15:3, 7, 12, 14, 17, 19, 23, 18:6, 21:11, 19, 21, 25, 22:21, 26:17, 20, 23, Romans 1:13, 2:14, 24, 3:29, 9:24, 30, 11:11, 12, 13, 25, 15:9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 18, 27, 16:4, 1 Corinthians 5:1, 12:2, Galatians 2:2, 8, 12, 14, 15, 3:14, Ephesians 2:11, 3:1, 6, 8, 4:17, Colossians 1:27, 1 Thessalonians 2:16, 4:5, 1 Timothy 2:7, 3:16, 2 Timothy 4:17, 1 Peter 2:12, 4:3, Revelation 11:2.
In fact, the most common rendering of the word in the New Testament is the word
Gentiles, with eighty-three references in total in the King James Version, many of them key passages that relate to the Gospel going out to the darkened Gentiles after the Cross. Such a consistent translation shows that the interpreters could have reasonably interpreted the Greek word
ethnos in Revelation 20:3 as Gentiles.
Notwithstanding, the term “the nations” (plural) is used repeatedly in Scripture to represent the Gentile nations and particularly to distinguish them from “the nation” (singular) of natural Israel where God chose to exclusively manifest His glory for thousands of years before the Cross. Incidentally, this differentiation is common in both the Old and the New Testament. The nation of natural Israel was the sole national carrier of the favor of God for most of history; therefore, all nations outside of that “nation” were rightly viewed as heathen, idolatrous and unregenerate. The prophets and disciples would have often of used varying terms like “the nations,” “the heathen,” “the whole world” and “the Gentiles” to describe the exact same once totally deluded non-Jewish people. Many Bible students totally ignore this fact and consequently force an interpretation upon Revelation 20 that can in no way be corroborated by other Scripture. In reality, the binding of Satan relates exclusively to the actual curtailing of Satan from specifically deceiving the Gentile nations as he once did before, prior to Calvary.
Throughout the Old Testament the prophets repeatedly spoke, and looked forward to, a period in time when the heathenish Gentile nations would eventually accept the glorious Gospel of truth and would therefore graciously receive salvation. Notwithstanding, before this marvelous change would happen, Messiah had to come and defeat Satan, that great deceiver of “the nations,” and consequently forcefully remove him from his previous haughty place of complete deception of the nations.
Matthew 12:17-21 explains how through the person of Christ, and by His
First Coming, the Gentile nations would finally believe. He said all this after the religious Jews had just threatened to kill Him. He asserts that it was
“spoken by Esaias the prophet (in Isaiah 42:1-3)
, saying, Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles [Gr.
ethnos].
He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles [Gr.
ethnos]
trust.”
Christ’s rejection by his own house (Israel) saw Him turn to the Gentiles and the formerly outcast. He was now going to invade the devil’s house and acquire a spoil. Immediately after the Jews turned on Him in this story He delivers one of Satan’s household – a demon possessed man – thus illustrating that there was a darkened people out there that would come to faith in Christ. He used this man who belonged to the devil’s own house (kingdom) to impress the direction of the Gospel from hereon. Now, my main point is this: this reading expressly declares
“in his name shall the Gentiles trust.” Using the Premil argument: all the Gentiles must trust, or this cannot apply today. What I am saying is, if you were to apply this argument namely that the fact that the vast bulk of Gentiles still remain deceived is evidence why we can’t be in the millennium now then we must (if we are consistent) apply the same rule to this statement to show that it can’t be relevant to today. It cannot relate to the here-and-now because the majority of Gentiles still don’t trust God. Of course, that would be preposterous. Such a statement is a general reference to the removal of the veil deceiving the Gentiles as a whole after the cross.
Even Caiaphas, the High Priest, speaking of the elect of God in the nation of Israel, prophesied in John 11:51-52,
“that Jesus should die for that nation; And not for that nation only (natural Israel)
, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad (the Gentiles).”
Calvary is seen to be the event that caused the spiritual merging of the believing Jew and Gentile, and that demolished forever the distinction that separated them. Scripture demolishes the notion that God has two distinct peoples (Jews and Gentiles), which will come to Him in two different ways and in two different time periods. Such is
not the case and will
not be the case in the future. Notwithstanding, there may undoubtedly be a greater ingathering of Jews in the days preceding the glorious Second Advent than there previously has been since the cross, however, it will be through the sole mechanism ordained of God of God – the Church of Jesus Christ.
In John 12:31-33 Christ assuredly predicted shortly before He defeated the power of Satan at the cross,
“now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. this he said, signifying what death he should die” (John 12:31-33).
This passage plainly highlights the powerful victory that was wrought at Calvary and the deep impact that it had upon Satan. It shows us that Satan is now under Christ’s feet and is now subject to His Sovereign will. Moreover it highlights the significance it had for the whole world. Jesus here plainly predicted the opening of salvation to all nations, saying,
“If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me.” Therefore, the glorious life-giving Gospel of Christ that the nation of Israel alone once enjoyed (at the time of this prophecy) would now soon (through the cross) be graciously offered unto, and received by, a previously blinded Gentile world.
The vehicle He would use would be the New Testament Church. Jesus said, in Luke 24:46-47,
“thus it behoved Christ to suffer (through the cross)
, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations [Gr.
ethnos]
, beginning at Jerusalem.”
Christ had to first suffer and die in order to fulfil Scripture and defeat the awesome global control of Satan over the nations, before the Gentiles could ever enter into the full realization of salvation. The empowerment for the Church came at Pentecost as Christ promised in Acts 1:8. The passage records,
“ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” This ‘kicked in’ after Pentecost, after the heavenly power to perform such arrived.
Matthew’s account in Matthew 28:19 says,
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations [Gr.
ethnos]
, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
Throughout the OT the prophets spoke of "the nations" or "all nations" coming to God at a particular time. The term were interchangeable with the term strangers / heathen and Gentiles.
The Gospel was now no longer limited to the small nation of Israel but was rather, through Christ, opened up to all the nations. This is revealed in the great commission to the Church, after His resurrection, in Mark 16:15-16, where Christ declared,
“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”
