I don’t see how
@BobRyan contradicts the scriptures.
A summary.
See here for more
explanation
Rev 19:11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
Rev 19:12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.
Rev 19:13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.
Rev 19:14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.
Rev 19:15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
Rev 19:16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
This is a representation of Christ, based on the OT allusions, and appears to represent the second coming, with Christ as Conquering King with His army.
Rev 19:17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God,
Rev 19:18 to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all, both free and slave, both small and great.”
The angel calls on the birds to gather. They will eat the flesh of various ones, kings, captains, mighty men, horses, riders, of all ranks, slave and free.
These are all descriptive of dead left from armies, including horses. So the birds are gathered, and told to prepare to eat flesh, at a battlefield.
Rev 19:19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army.
The beast and the kings of the earth with their armies are gathered to make war against Christ. However, the war is quickly ended, with the beast and the false prophet captured, and thrown into the lake of fire, and the rest of the armies were slain by the sword that comes from the mouth of Christ. The birds that were gathered to that place then feast on the flesh of the armies that were gathered.
Rev 19:20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
Rev 19:21 And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.
Adventists see all the wicked killed at this point. But Revelation does not state that here, referring to the gathered armies instead. Revelation shows the destruction of the armies of the kings of the earth, but not all the people on the earth. That means there are still people, which it refers to as nations.
Rev 20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.
Rev 20:2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
The text indicates that Satan is bound so that he may not deceive the nations. Or, to put it another way, if Satan were not bound, he would deceive the nations.
This then assumes the presence of nations to be deceived. And we see in fact there are such nations when the 1k years are ended.
The Adventist view of the pit of the abyss confuses the issue, and is unsustainable in light of the text of Revelation.
SDA Fundamental 27:
The millennium is the thousand-year reign of Christ with His saints in heaven between the first and second resurrections. During this time the wicked dead will be judged; the earth will be utterly desolate, without living human inhabitants, but occupied by Satan and his angels. At its close, Christ with His saints and the Holy City will descend from heaven to earth. The unrighteous dead will then be resurrected, and with Satan and his angels will surround the city; but fire from God will consume them and cleanse the earth. The universe will thus be freed of sin and sinners forever. (Rev. 20; 1 Cor. 6:2, 3; Jer. 4:23-26; Rev. 21:1-5; Mal. 4:1; Eze. 28:18, 19.)
So this indicates that satan is on the earth itself, per official Adventist teaching, and that the earth is without humans, but only the devil and his angels.
The
clarifying notes on the official Adventist site Adventist.org
So where is this pit where Satan is to be locked up so he ‘might not deceive the nations any longer’? Though the Bible doesn’t specifically state it, we can infer this pit refers to the earth after the resurrection of the saints.
Later it says:
There is no one on earth for Satan to deceive. The entire planet is empty, left in ruins, without a single human being (Jeremiah 4:24-26).
However, this does not match up with what the Scriptures say.
Revelation already describes what the pit (Greek abyss) is, and it is not a desolate earth with no human beings.
In Revelation 9 the description is given of the pit of the abyss. It has a key. Things go up out of it, and then those things impact the earth. It is a place of holding. There are still people on the earth at this time which are impacted by the things coming out of the pit.
Rev 9:1 And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.
Rev 9:2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft.
Rev 9:3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth.
Rev 9:4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.
Chapter 20 is consistent with the explanation in 9. The abyss still has a key. satan is thrown into the pit and it is sealed OVER him. Previously things had to go up to come out of the pit to the earth, and now he is thrown in and covered over. The abyss is still a holding place as before.
Rev 20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.
Rev 20:2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
Satan is bound in the abyss, so he cannot deceive the nations. And when he comes out of the abyss the nations are still there to go and deceive.
It is only when he comes out of the prison that he goes to the four corners of the earth. This is consistent with the information in Rev. 9 where entities only impacted the earth once they left the abyss prison.
Adventists try to change the meaning of abyss already established in Rev. 9. But in both Rev. 9 and 20 it is consistent. The abyss is not the desolate earth. And satan is released FROM it before he goes to the four corners of the earth. And there he finds nations to deceive.
A non-apocalyptic text references the abyss as a place of holding for demonic entities as well:
Luk 8:27 When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs.
Luk 8:28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.”
Luk 8:29 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.)
Luk 8:30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him.
Luk 8:31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss.
Here we see, long before any proposed empty earth, during the earthly ministry of Christ, that the demons beg Him not to command them to depart into the abyss.
And Satan is put there in Rev. 20 so that he will not deceive the nations.
The pit of the abyss is not the desolate earth. The earth is not desolate. The nations are there. Satan is placed in the abyss so that he might not deceive them.
Rev 20:4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
This describes Christ reigning for a thousand years, and those who reign with Christ for a thousand years. Among those who reign with Him are those in the first resurrection. In the text of Revelation the group is more limited than the Adventist view, noting those who have been beheaded, etc., rather than all the saints.
If Rev. 19's battle is the second coming, then we can take in other texts regarding that. So in 1 Thessalonians we have all the dead in Christ rising. We could also, with that understanding, include the living in Christ at that time, as they are also caught up in the air in 1 Thessalonians.
Adventists apply
Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed, to the saints as a whole based on I Corinthians 6. And while the text in Revelation does not spell that out as thoroughly, the argument seems sound enough otherwise
1Co 6:2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?
So with that in mind, at the coming of Jesus we could summarize the groups thus:
Dead in Christ-raised, reigning with Him.
Living in Christ- reigning with Him.
Dead wicked- not yet raised
Living Wicked-what is left of the nations being reigned over.
Now there is the question of whether Christ and the saints are reigning on earth or heaven. In favor of heaven you could argue from 1 Thessalonians 4 where they meet Christ in the air. But it doesn't elaborate.
However, the rest of the context of Rev. 20 suggests that Christ and the saints are not in heaven, but on earth. Because as we will see when satan is released from the abyss he goes out to deceive the nations, and surrounds the camp of the righteous, which is already seen as on the earth.
There is no mention of a third coming, the righteous returning from heaven, Christ returning from heaven, etc. So most naturally in the context it would make sense that Christ and the saints reign on earth, from the beloved city Jerusalem, which is seen as still standing.
Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison
Rev 20:8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them
At the end of the 1k years satan is released from his prison. He goes to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth. They surround the beloved city. But then fire comes from heaven and consumes them.
So the nations that are alive at the time of the end of the 1k years are consumed in fire that comes from heaven. Those who died before the end of the 1k years would then be included in the 2nd resurrection, which per the text has not happened yet.
So now we have:
Dead in Christ-raised, reigning with Him, surrounded by nations but delivered.
Living in Christ- reigning with Him, surrounded by nations but delivered.
Dead wicked- not yet raised
Living Wicked-the nations surround the city but are consumed by fire.
At this time also Satan, who led the nations, is placed in the lake of fire
Rev 20:10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
And following those events we now see the second resurrection and the Great White Throne Judgment, involving the wicked dead.
Rev 20:11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.
Rev 20:14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
Rev 20:15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Those not found in the book of life are thrown in the lake of fire, so all the wicked dead are raised, and judged, and are thrown in to the lake of fire.
It is only after the destruction of the wicked that we see the New Heavens and the New Earth, and the old earth passed away:
Rev 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
This is in line with the more literal description in 2 Peter 3.
