Ronald Weinland

The focus of this chapter is about that new era for mankind that God is about to establish once He sends Christ and the 144,000 to end WWIII and to then establish His government—His ruling Kingdom on earth. This transition is going to be awesomely enhanced by the manifestation of God’s Family who will dwell among mankind for the next 1,000 years.

This marks the beginning of a new era of great change. It is a good, inspiring, and exciting change that will begin to bring true peace and equitable prosperity to mankind that is beyond imagination. It will alter the course of the world forever.

This new era that will be ushered in will be a time of healing for mankind and healing for the earth itself. It is then that the earth will begin to become renewed and cleansed from all that mankind has so polluted and destroyed. God reveals that even the deserts will begin to be productive. Mankind will begin to reverse what it started thousands of years ago that has caused the creation and expansion of so many deserts and uninhabitable areas on earth.

God’s Oath to Mankind
It is good to see how this juncture in time is described in scripture. It is in the context of the Seven Thunders ending, which is also when the countdown comes to an end.

“Now when the seven thunders sounded, I was about to write, but then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, ‘Seal up the things which the seven thunders sounded, and do not write them.’ The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land then raised up his hand toward heaven and gave oath in Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, and declared that, ‘There should be time no longer [Gk.- no further]’” (Revelation 10:4-6).

Previously, it was told how the First Thunder began when the Sixth Seal of Revelation was opened on the 11th of September in 2001. (This book does not address all Seven Thunders, as they are covered in a previous book entitled, 2008—God’s Final Witness.) From that time, events from all Seven Thunders have been sounding. The events of all those Thunders continue sounding right up to this very moment in time being spoken of here when there “should be time no longer.”

What does this mean? It states here that an angel declared an oath that is “in God.” In other words, it is an oath from God, but declared by an angel, and is about this specific moment in time when God will begin to manifest His Family to the world. Daniel also wrote about this oath in a similar manner.

“Then as I looked, I, Daniel, saw two others standing. One here at the edge of this riverbank and the other on that edge of the riverbank, and he said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, ‘How long to the end of these wonders?’ Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and gave oath by Him who lives forever, that, ‘after a time, times, and a half, and at the completion of the scattering of the power of the holy people, all these shall be finished [to bring to a complete end]’” (Dan. 12:5-7).

As the context in both Daniel and Revelation shows, this is about the time when God intervenes in the affairs of mankind and begins to fulfill His plan and purpose for His Kingdom to reign on earth. It is when God puts an end to the time of mankind’s self-rule that has continued for 6,000 years. This marks the time for mankind’s rule to go “no further.” It will no longer continue.

God has promised mankind that there will come a prophetic time when He will bring a completion to one era of time and introduce a new one. That which is being spoken of here is that very moment when one period will be completed and it will no longer continue. It is at that time God will usher in a new age—a new and final era for mankind.

The matter of this oath and what God promised is then connected to what is revealed in the next verse.

“But in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should [now] be finished [Gk.- ‘shall be completed, fulfilled, accomplished’], as He declared to His servants the prophets” (Revelation 10:7).

The Mystery of God
This is a reference to numerous prophecies that have told about this time and of what follows. It is at the moment that the very first event announced by this Seventh Trumpet begins to take place that this verse begins to be fulfilled. It is not something that is completed at that very moment, but something that only begins until that work is finished.

This event is first and foremost referred to as a “mystery.” That is because mankind has refused to hear or accept it. Although God has sent His prophets into the world to declare this message, it has consistently been resisted and refused. So for 6,000 years God has let this remain a mystery—hidden from mankind. However, God has revealed it to those whom He has chosen to work with and who have then responded with the desire to truly obey and listen to Him.

Yet in all of this, God determined that as this moment in time was drawing near, He would begin revealing the truth about His plan far more fully and clearly to the world. Mankind will finally learn why they were born and the reason for their very existence. Even then, however, most will still not listen until many of the catastrophic end-time events actually begin.

God established a time period for when this mystery—His plan and purpose for mankind—would be accomplished. That plan for His Family will be completed and fulfilled during this final era for mankind.

God’s apostle, Herbert W. Armstrong, wrote a book entitled Mystery of the Ages (http://biblical-truth.com/books/), which is about much of this plan that God will bring to pass and its purpose. It was when he was writing this book that God began to show much more about the end-time and how close we were to entering it.

Although Herbert Armstrong wrote that book back in 1985, only a few thousand people began to understand it. God only started revealing that mystery—His plan—to a few. That book was written to tell about what God was soon going to begin revealing to the whole world, that which has been withheld from it until this end-time, just before His Kingdom is established.

As a result of what is written in this book and the current news reports about escalating tensions between nations, hopefully, it is becoming clear that we are rapidly approaching a great world war. Through Herbert Armstrong, God was proclaiming His plan and purpose for mankind and revealing that the world was then entering into a prophesied end-time. But the world has still continued on in ignorance.

Especially since 9/11, God has been revealing much more about this end-time to His Church, and now at a very accelerated rate. Yet people have still refused to listen. It will sadly take the kind of catastrophic events spoken of in Revelation to finally begin awakening people so that they will begin to listen to what God has been telling us now for nearly 6,000 years.

An End to Deception and Lies
Again, it is so important that people understand why their nature still resists and refuses God. The truth is that human nature simply resists the fact that God created us and that we should live exactly the way He says we should. We have been given the freedom to make our own decisions in life, and with such freedom, in most cases, mankind will choose to live how it judges to be best. Human nature simply resists such authority. Instead, it is easier for it to stubbornly embrace false doctrines and teachings that dilute, weaken, and debase the authority of an Almighty God.

Confusion exists for mankind concerning God and His reason for creating us. This is because people have been willingly deceived into believing false truths that contradict what God has revealed through His prophets and apostles. So God’s truth remains hidden—it remains a mystery.

As an example, one such teaching that causes people such confusion is the belief that at the moment of death people either go to heaven or to hell. But as part of this subject was covered earlier, that isn’t true at all. This teaching becomes even more entangled in fable as it is used to perpetuate the lie that people have an immortal soul.

Some believe that loved ones die and go to heaven whereupon they watch over and help to protect them. Some think they go to heaven to look upon the face of God forever or to live in a kind of paradise doing those things that they loved to do in their leisure time, like fishing or playing golf for eternity.

Heaven is sometimes pictured as a place of banqueting, a place of expressing great laughter, happiness, and joy of life. Some believe that people become like angels and perhaps even have wings. Overall, there are just a lot of ideas and questions that are mixed in confusion and doubt.

The truth is that Christians have not been going to heaven after death to be there with Christ. Christ is coming here! People don’t have to wait much longer to know the truth of such matters because we are almost to that moment in time when God is going to begin revealing His Kingdom to mankind, not just in understanding, but also in seeing and experiencing it firsthand.

This false doctrine of going to heaven or hell has much to do with why the Messiah coming to earth to reign does not make sense to people. Because of this false doctrine, they have not been able to grasp the simple truth that after death all must instead be resurrected to life again at a time that God has already planned and purposed.

Because of such false teachings, people have been kept blind to what is true. To see and then grasp what is true requires that what is false must first be exposed. Once exposed, a person is confronted with making choices as to how they will address what they have come to see. Will the truth be embraced, and false teachings rejected? As individuals read this book, that is the decision before them—it is a question that only they can answer.

When the first event of this Seventh Trumpet comes to pass, which is about Christ’s coming, God will then begin to use His great power to expose and bring to an end all the lies and deceptions that have kept His plan and purpose hidden for nearly 6,000 years now. When the current countdown ends, God’s Kingdom and the purpose for His creation will no longer continue as a mystery to mankind. Again, it is because people will then be able to begin seeing it and experiencing it.

Mankind’s New Era
When this first event of the Seventh Trumpet takes place, when Christ and the 144,000 are made manifest to mankind, this is when the “mystery of God” will begin to be removed.

“The Second Woe is past [an end to the events of the Sixth Trumpet], and look, the Third Woe is coming quickly. Then the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have now become the kingdoms of our Lord, even of His Christ, and He shall reign from now and forevermore’” (Revelation 11:14-15).

This is the good news spoken of for thousands of years that God will now begin to bring to pass. This “good news” is what is translated in the New Testament as the “gospel.” Joshua the Christ said much about that good news, however, the world did not understand it, as it was yet neither the time to fully reveal it nor to begin fulfilling it.

That which will take place at this moment in time is about the beginning of the work that lies ahead. This is the first event to become established in order for God’s plan to be accomplished because it is the foundation that enables this entire plan of God to be fulfilled.

To summarize this last Trumpet in its simplest form, the Seventh Trumpet reveals the fulfillment of God’s plan and purpose for mankind that will take 1,100 years to be completed.

So when it states that the Second Woe is past and the Third Woe is coming quickly, it is showing that before the events of the Third Woe begin, which will not happen until over 1,100 years later, there is something else that happens first. It clearly states that this marks a very specific moment in time. It is when the kingdoms (the nations) of this world are no longer under the rule of mankind. This is the first event of the Seventh Trumpet when the nations of the world become the nations of Christ—under his rule.

Although this new era for mankind will continue through the Millennium and on into the following 100 years, it is important to know what is recorded about how this new era begins.

Once the events that were earlier announced by the Seventh Trumpet begin, the next verse
describes how angels in heaven respond to what happens at that time.

“Then the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, ‘We give thanks to You, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is coming, because You have taken to Yourself Your great power and reigned’” (Revelation 11:16-17).

By God sending His Son to reign in His Kingdom over the nations of the world, He is taking to Himself that which He has not done over the previous 6,000 years. Before, God allowed mankind to exercise its own kind of rule in order for it to learn the ultimate lesson—that mankind cannot rule itself. So at this moment in time, God takes control of that which is His anyway and sends His own Son to rule over His Kingdom.

It is only in this way that a new era for mankind can begin. It is the only way that peace can be assured for the next 1,100 years. It is the only means by which mankind can begin experiencing an advanced level of maturity, the opportunity for equitable prosperity, and the exercise of the right use of highly advanced technology far beyond what is even known today.

A True Government FOR the People
The kind of government that God is giving to mankind is one that is righteous: void of corruption, bribery, injustice, politics, partiality, preferential treatment, and all such things that have embodied the governments of mankind.

Revelation 11 tells of God’s Kingdom coming to this earth. The following verses go into even more detail, describing what this event entails. This is the story of what unfolds when the events of the Seventh Trumpet begin to bring an end to mankind’s self-rule and then establish God’s rule.

“Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb [Christ] was standing on Mount Zion, and with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand, having his Father’s name written on their foreheads [not literally, but metaphorically, which is about them being in Elohim]. Then I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps as they sang about these new things in a song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders. None were able to know that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed from mankind, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb” (Revelation 14:1-4).

These 144,000 are described as being redeemed from among mankind over the previous 6,000 years and of not being defiled by false churches (“loose women”) because they are virgins spiritually. They have been faithful to God, Christ, and God’s Church. These are further described in scripture as being the firstfruits of God’s plan of salvation, with Joshua the Christ described as being the first of the firstfruits.

This is about the first phase of God’s plan for His government to become established. It is about those who will be the first to become part of what is described in the Old Testament as Elohim—the God Family.

Next, the story picks up once again as those 24 elders and other angelic beings who are in heaven are rejoicing over the fact that God has taken to Himself rule over the nations of the earth as He begins to establish His Kingdom.

“The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, ‘Amen! Hallelujah!’ Then a voice came from the throne, saying, ‘Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!’ Then I heard what this was about in the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thundering, saying, ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready.’ To her it was granted to be clothed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints” (Revelation 19:4-8).

While Revelation 11 described God’s rule being established through the reign of Christ, these verses in chapter 19 add more to reveal what this means. It now shows that there are 144,000 that are symbolically referred to as those who have made themselves ready for the marriage of the Lamb. They are the ones who are resurrected at this time and will be coming with Christ making up the Kingdom of God that will then begin to reign on earth.

This is the first phase in God’s plan for His Family because these are the first to enter that Family. Again, this is only the beginning event of the Seventh Trumpet. It then goes on to show what they will do first, once this government becomes established. Those who come with Christ are described as an army coming with him to engage in war. This is actually about the very means by which God is going to bring an end to WWIII. Those nations that are fully engaged in war at this time are going to be stopped by Christ and his army.

“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war [Gk. – wages war]. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head many crowns [figuratively—now ruling over all nations]. He had a name written that no one knew except himself, and he was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called The Word of God [who is Joshua the Christ]. The armies [the 144,000] in heaven [the heaven of the atmosphere above the earth (in the sky)], clothed in fine linen, white and pure, followed him on white horses. Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should strike the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God, and he has on a robe and on his thigh a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:11-16).

The wrath of God being spoken of is not what most believe it to be. This is actually speaking of an “execution of judgment” that comes from God. It is that which God has deemed just and right. It is about those who come in God’s righteousness to execute judgment by waging war against those who are warring on this earth. If Christ and his army did not intervene to stop it then the earth would be completely destroyed. This righteous execution of judgment that is waged by Christ and the 144,000 is the war that will end all wars for all time.

Christ is coming back this second time as the Lion of God. He is not coming as he did the first time as the Lamb of God who humbled himself and did not resist when he was beaten and then killed in order to become the Passover for all mankind. This time, he is coming as the Lion of God—as a great King, and he will begin his reign by destroying those who will not cease from destroying God’s creation.

Notice something else that was added to what was being said by the angels when they were first thanking God for now taking to Himself His power to begin reigning over the nations of the world.

“Then the twenty-four elders [highly placed angelic beings] who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, ‘We give thanks to You, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is coming, because You have taken to Yourself Your great power and reigned. Even as the nations were angry, and your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged and that You should give reward unto Your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and those who fear your name, small and great [a revelation of the judgment for 144,000 who have now become resurrected to rule with Christ] and that You should destroy those who are destroying the earth’” (Revelation 11:16-18).

The first thing that God will do after He retakes the full reign of His own creation is to stop this world war. Christ and 144,000 will do just that. They will use great power, such power never experienced by mankind, to begin destroying those who are destroying the earth.

This reign of Christ and the 144,000 is spoken of further, and even the length of that reign is defined. It also describes what is done to Satan at this time.

“Then I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, who 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 no more deceive the nations, until the thousand years should be fulfilled, and after that he must be let loose a little while. Then I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them [to the 144,000 who reign with Christ], and I saw the lives of those who had been cut-off for the witness of Joshua [cut-off from the world], and for the word of God, those who had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark in their foreheads, or in their hands, and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection” (Revelation 20:1-5).

First, it addresses how Satan will be put back into a spirit restraint. This is a restraint that he has been in several times before as it was earlier described concerning the different revivals of the European empire. However, something new is now added. It makes it clear that he is not only put back into that spirit restraint, but that this time, a seal is being set upon him so that he has no power whatsoever to deceive the nations while in this final restraint.

Before this, Satan was only restrained from having power to be able to bring nations to war, but he was still able to deceive people. When this event takes place, he won’t have any power.

The final restraint is for 1,000 years so that he cannot interfere in any way with what God will work to accomplish when the Kingdom of God is reigning. The Millennium will be a far superior time for humanity just in the fact alone that Satan and the demons cannot work to deceive and stir mankind to evil as has been taking place for the past 6,000 years.

It also reveals in these verses that the 144,000 had been cut-off from the world (many translations say “beheaded,” but that is incorrect). They had been cut-off, or separated, to live God’s way of life and to become fashioned and prepared to become part of God’s future government in order to then reign with Christ for 1,000 years and beyond.

These are described as not having the beast’s mark (Satan’s mark) in their foreheads. It is not a literal mark, but it is metaphorically speaking of what distinguishes a person and identifies (or marks) the thinking of a person (as coming from the mind in the form of one’s thinking or belief). These expressions of what marks the forehead and hand are symbolic concerning God’s Sabbaths. These people are those who lived by the truth of God by keeping the correct Sabbath day on the seventh day of the week—Saturday, and not the false one that the Beast power promoted on the first day of the week—Sunday.

Scripture reveals that the first identifying sign of those who seek to obey God is their proper observance of His weekly and annual Sabbaths. So this is a matter of the belief of God’s Sabbaths that is in their mind—in their thinking.

The mark on the hand is about the same thing—God’s Sabbaths. This mark on the hand is not literal either, but again, it is metaphorically speaking of those whose actions (their work) follow their thinking about their observance of God’s Sabbaths. What they do with their hands symbolizes their work. They work on six days of the week, but on the Sabbath they will not engage in any kind of customary work that should be done on those first six days of the week and they rest from that work as God commands.

Resurrections Beyond That of the 144,000
There is another vital element about the revelation of God’s plan that will become complete during this period of Christ’s reign for the next 1,100 years.

That last verse refers back to those 144,000 who will come with Christ and reign with him for 1,000 years and it states that those who come with Christ are of the first resurrection. It is not referring to when Christ, the Son of God, was resurrected first nearly 2,000 years earlier. This resurrection spoken of in these verses is the first great resurrection from among mankind. God has revealed that following this there will be other resurrections at different times during the completion of His plan.

As stated earlier, upon death people do not immediately go to a heaven or hell. They remain dead until God resurrects them. This is a great truth that is part of the mystery of God that will be revealed to all throughout the following 1,100 years.

Traditional Christianity would have people believe that upon death people go immediately to heaven or hell because they believe that people have an immortal soul, which is not true. Only God Almighty has immortality inherent in Himself.

The truth is, that once a person dies, they remain dead and the physical body decays, and in time, they will eventually turn into dust. One place in scripture where the truth of this matter is revealed concerns king David who reigned over Israel. He proved to be a great king and was faithful to God. He wrote many Psalms and many of those were prophetic. He was a king over Israel, but God also called him a prophet.

On the Day of Pentecost, when God raised up His Church in 31 AD, Peter made some rather pointed statements to the Jews. He had quoted some of the prophecies that David had written about the Messiah and how those things had now become fulfilled in Joshua the Christ.

The Jews of that time had strayed far from the teaching God had delivered to them through Moses long before. Many of them did not understand what David wrote because they thought certain verses in Psalms were about David himself, but they were not. One statement is very telling for those who hold to the concept that upon death the faithful go to heaven. If this were true, then most certainly David, one whom God said was “after His own heart,” would be there.

“Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you about the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on His throne; he [David], foreseeing this before, spoke concerning the resurrection of Christ, that his soul [life] was not left in hell [Gk.— “hades” meaning the grave], nor did his flesh see corruption. This Joshua, God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses” (Acts 2:29-32).

It is stating at the end of these verses that Christ’s body would not see corruption (decay), and it did not since he was only in the tomb for three days and three nights. It is making it clear here that these verses being quoted from the Psalms were about Christ who would be resurrected before his body would decay. Peter also made it clear that this was not about David because his body did see corruption (decay), and Peter clearly stated that his body was buried and in the tomb to that day, many hundreds of years later. David did not go to heaven, but instead will be one of those resurrected at Christ’s coming and will reign with him.

Since traditional Christianity does not believe in a resurrection, they steer clear of the verses from Revelation 20. How could they possibly make sense of them when it contradicts their own beliefs?

But those verses also address another incredible subject that is never spoken of—a subject that is actually exceedingly encouraging concerning God’s plan and purpose for all who have died and remain dead. It is part of the true gospel—the good news!

The verses of Revelation 20 speak of the time for the Millennium (1,000 years) when the 144,000 reign with Christ over the nations of this earth. Then after mentioning all those resurrected to reign for that 1,000 years, it states: “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.”

Who are the rest of the dead?

The “rest of the dead” should be self-explanatory. They are the people who have lived and died throughout the past 6,000 years who were not part of the first resurrection of the 144,000.

For now, all that have lived and died have returned to the dust of the earth just as God said would happen (Eccl. 3:20), but there comes a time in God’s plan when these people will have the opportunity to be resurrected to life once again. Going on in this verse, it shows when they will be resurrected. It states that they will “not live again until the 1,000 years are finished.” Notice what is added next in those verses of Revelation 20.

“But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection, because on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years” (Rev. 20:5-6).

After stating that the rest of the dead did not live again until after the Millennium, it then refers back to the 144,000 who were resurrected to come with Christ. It says that they are blessed who are part of this first resurrection “because on such the second death has no power” over them. That is because they are not given a second physical life and are instead created as spirit beings in the God Family. They can never die.

Establishing the Final 100 Years
There is an incredibly great event that takes place just before the resurrection to a second physical life for “the rest of the dead.” Before those who have lived and died over the first 6,000 years are resurrected to a second physical life, another resurrection to spirit life in the Family of God takes place first.

Just before this final 100 years begins, there is a resurrection that takes place that is similar to the first one of the 144,000, but this time, it is much, much larger. This is a resurrection for those who have lived and died during the Millennium and have had the opportunity to learn God’s way of life. Those who have made the choice to faithfully live His way will now be resurrected into spirit life—into the Family of God as spirit beings just like the 144,000 had been.

God has great purpose for this resurrection to take place at this time, rather than at the end of the 100 years. It is for the purpose of the massive job that lies ahead in the governing, teaching, and aiding of all the billions who are about to be resurrected to a second physical life.

After this second great resurrection into the God Family, the final hundred years begins—the final years of mankind’s existence. God refers to this period as the Last Great Day. It is the time when billions will be resurrected to a second physical life. This time period is also known as the Great White Throne Judgment. This descriptive title is used to identify this period as a time of final judgment upon mankind.

“Then I saw a great white throne and He who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away [Gk. – escaped or fled away from] and no place was found for them as I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books being opened. Also another book was opened, which is of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books” (Rev. 20:11-12).

This is about the resurrection of billions to a second physical life. It is a time when these billions will now come into a period of judgment for how they choose to live their second physical life. In their first life, they did not know the truths of God. It was not His purpose to reveal His truth to them at that time. During this time, the only ones to whom He revealed His truth were the ones that were prepared to become part of His government—part of the 144,000.

All these will be resurrected to physical life once again in order to be taught what is true from God. This will be their time to choose how they want to live—by the ways of God or by their own ways as they had lived before. Babies and children will be resurrected whole and complete—healthy and without handicaps of any kind. People who died of old age will be resurrected to whole and healthy bodies as well—in bodies that are not of old age, but middle-aged.

In this resurrection, it needs to be understood that God has given the first 7,000 years for the reproduction and growth of mankind. After the 7,000 years has ended, which is when the Millennium comes to an end, there will be no more reproduction. When this final 100 years is established, and there is a great resurrection to physical life once again, God will have removed from mankind the ability to reproduce human life. Women will not have the ability to become pregnant and no children will be born during this time.

God makes it clear that when He calls someone and then gives them the ability to see His truth, then at that time they begin to come under judgment. It is during that period that they must, according to their own will, choose between God’s way or the way of self (the way of the world, Satan, and/or others). When all are resurrected to a second physical life, they are able to now come to know God’s truth. It is then that they will have to begin to choose between God’s way or their own way.

John’s description of a great white throne is symbolic of a time of judgment before God. It states that the heaven and earth had fled away or escaped. It is showing that until this moment, this mass of people had not come under the judgment of God but had, in a manner, escaped it during their first life. They will be resurrected in a much better world where the potential for choosing God’s way of life is now much easier to do. They will now live in a world where Satan and the demonic world are no longer present, and in a world where deception, lies, and false religions no longer exist.

It is in this final age of mankind that people will begin to experience righteous government and justice. During the previous 1,000 years, the Kingdom of God will have reigned over the earth and the world will have changed in ways that are difficult to imagine at this time. Science and technology will take a massive leap forward. These things will all work together in such a manner as to increase productivity and prosperity in human life, far, far beyond what one is able to imagine.

It is in this resurrection to physical life again that God’s judgment finally comes upon all the rest of humanity. All in this great resurrection are given life in a new world that is governed and taught by God’s Son and all those who are now in the Family of God. It is showing in these verses that all people through time, the small and great of their time, are now resurrected before God to receive His truth through His word that is clearly opened (the books being opened) to their understanding.

In addition, it refers to another book being opened to them—the Book of Life. They will have the opportunity to have their names (their life) added to those who are in the Family of God and living into everlasting life. These too must go through a process of choosing whether to live by the Word of God in how they live their life. Will they work to live by God’s way or not?

The following verse is a summary of the last 100 years of mankind. It begins with describing a great resurrection of all who have died. Notice what is stated about the judgement after these 100 years are completed.

“The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and the grave [some use the actual Greek word ‘hades,’ and others use ‘hell’] delivered up the dead who were in it. Everyone was judged according to their works. Then death and the grave were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:13-15).

The grave is spoken of because it symbolically pictures how most bodies are dealt with upon death. The word “grave” has been commonly mistranslated as “hell.” The concept of a place of punishment called hell is simply one of so many false teachings of traditional Christianity.

Then upon being given a second life and the ability to know God’s truth, people are then judged according to their free choices and the works in their life that reflect those choices.

Finally, the end comes when those who have chosen to live God’s way are judged to be received into His Family in everlasting life. However, those who chose to live other than God’s way are judged to receive a second death—death for all time.

A Second Death
How is the second death taught in traditional Christianity? It is clearly in scripture, but ministers and teachers steer clear of saying anything about it because it conflicts mightily with what they believe. They cannot begin to grasp how anyone could die twice because that would mean that they have to live twice.

Although many will have chosen to live God’s way of life during that 100 years, there will be those who just do not want to live that kind of life and will instead choose to live how they did in their first life, which is the way of self—the way of selfishness—the way of the world. God has allotted 100 years during this time period for people to make a choice as to which way of life they want to live.

Those who choose their own ways—the ways of their previous life—are free to do so, but they will not be given life beyond that 100-year period of the Great White Throne Judgment. Instead, their judgment will be one of eternal death. Eternal death is another area of great misconception and misunderstanding in traditional Christianity because they believe such expressions of judgment to be about “eternal punishment—of being punished forever.”

God’s way is not one of having any be tortured or punished for eternity for not choosing His way of life. It is just an “eternal judgment” of eternal death—never to be resurrected to life ever again. God is not vindictive or cruel as so many have made Him out to be. He does not want to see people live in torture and torment for everlasting life for not obeying Him. That would indeed be a sick mind to place such a punishment on anyone. Thankfully, God is nothing like that! He is not the type of God that traditional Christianity has portrayed Him to be by their perverted teaching of hell and hell fire.

For those who do not choose to live God’s way of life by the end of that 100 years, they are not tormented for everlasting life. Instead, they are simply sentenced to an eternal judgment of death—a second death—never to have life again. This end of life does include fire which destroys life. It is a judgment of fire that occurs quickly without torment. It is a fiery judgment that is eternal because it results in death for all time—never to be resurrected to life again.

The world of traditional Christianity came up with a concept of being punished by fire for all eternity in a hell fire for not obeying God. But the judgment of eternal fire is not something that lasts forever. It is simply a fire that brings an end to life because of God’s judgment to end that life forever.

The Choice of Life
The period of the Last Great Day is all about the choices people will make during that final 100 years. It is a time to choose life, or not. It would seem a simple choice, but it will not be so.

Things are much different in the lives of mankind during that final 100 years. This second chance for physical life takes place in a world that is vastly different from the world they encountered previously. What remains the same, however, is the same human nature that molded them into what they became in their first life.

Obviously, babies and children who are resurrected to a second life will not have the experiences of sin-filled choices that teens and adults have had. But for those who are older and who were more fully set in their own ways upon death, many things that they have previously lived have not been in agreement with God’s way of life. Those ways are not easy to change. Even after God has provided so much to those resurrected to a second physical life, there will be vast numbers who will simply choose not to change. They will still want their old ways and not God’s.

Such people will still prefer to live a way that produces drama, including such things as unfaithfulness in marriage, theft, corruption, politics, drunkenness, drug addiction, sexual perversion, unrestrained reveling, hatred and jealousy of others, self-recognition above others, lust of power and wealth, and all other ways that are produced by the choice of living by selfish human nature—by what self wants.

Although billions will be resurrected to a second physical life, not all will want to change. All will not want the way of God that is shown to them at that time. Instead, they will resist that way. Many will simply conform because of the kind of society that is being governed by the Kingdom of God reigning over the nations, but they will not agree with it and will not want it.

Only those who actually choose and want God’s way of life will be able to make the kind of changes in their life that are required in order to grow to a spiritual level that God will receive them into His Family. God does not owe anything to anyone. He has already given us everything that we have. If it comes down to a person simply choosing that they want their own way of life and not God’s, then that is their choice. God’s way cannot and will not be forced upon anyone. His way must be freely chosen.

So, at the end of that 100 years, it will be clear to God who those are that will become part of His Family into everlasting life. It will also be clear who those are that have chosen their own ways and not God’s.

By that time there will be billions who will have chosen to live God’s way of life. They will have chosen life. They will have taken hold of the opportunity God placed before them to become part of His Family in everlasting spirit life.

However, there will potentially be billions who will not have accepted God and His way by the end of that 100 years. Instead, they will have chosen their own ways just as the archangel Lucifer did vast millennia before.

It was Lucifer who first rebelled against God and then became known as Satan the Devil, as well as the Beast and False Prophet. He led a third of the angelic realm with him in his way of selfishness and pride in order to get more of what he wanted in wealth and power for himself. Those who rebelled with him became known as demons, and they too have opposed and fought against God ever since their rebellion.

If such a great number of spirit created angelic beings could make such a choice over a vast period of time and turn away from what God had offered them, it should not be difficult to understand how great numbers of carnal, selfish human beings will do the same thing over a short period of time.

God’s Plan Nears Completion
After the last 100 years of mankind has come to an end, there is a space of time that follows which God has not yet shown the exact duration, but it is short. It is a time for the final judgment of God to be administered to mankind. This will conclude the Great White Throne Judgment of God.

The exact sequence of all the events that follow has not yet been shown by God, but He has clearly given what will come of all who have chosen His way of life and those who have rejected it.

It is an incredible story how all this transpires and concludes the age of mankind. God has shown how he concludes this age and the process whereby He administers final judgment to all who have refused Him through time.

In Revelation 20, when Satan has a seal set upon him, it is stated that he should be confined there “until the thousand years should be fulfilled, and after that he must be let loose a little while” (verse 3). It does not specify the exact moment he is released after the 1,000 years is completed, but in other verses, the context shows that it cannot be until the end of the 100 years that follow the Millennium. Then it goes on to show what happens when he is released.

“Then when the thousand years have ended, Satan shall be let loose out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for battle, and their number is as the sand of the sea” (Revelation 20:7-8).

Satan must be released from his confinement one last time in order to help bring a completion to God’s plan for all mankind and an end to mankind’s existence. Satan will fulfill what he is best at accomplishing, by the way of deception and destruction, just as one of his names signifies: The Destroyer.

Satan has always served to help speed the process of bringing nations to war. Throughout history, nations over time have always built up to war. War between nations has always been inevitable, an absolute. It is the way of mankind. But as part of God’s plan, the destructive nature of that being has often worked to bring the certainty of eventual war between peoples and nations to a quicker conclusion so that the amount of suffering and evil that would otherwise come from longer wars could be lessened.

With mankind, wars are the inevitable result of selfish human nature. They are certain to come to pass because of the inability of mankind to live the way that produces peace—the way that can only come from living God’s way of life when being governed by God’s Kingdom. During the Millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment periods, mankind will have the opportunity to learn the way of peace. God will not allow conditions to come to a point where anyone will have the ability to engage in war. The rule of God’s government will ensure peace between nations.

However, once Satan is released, all his effort will be used once again to lead mankind to engage in great war—a war that will be stopped before it ever begins.

Satan is easily able to influence those who have now lived twice and have not chosen God’s way of life. Those who choose to live in a different manner than what God has revealed as true and right are living in sin. That is the definition of sin—to live against what God has shown is right.

As Satan is released to go out into all the world, the expressions of “Gog and Magog” are used as prophetic symbolisms for the masses and kinds of people who have refused God’s way of life. It is further described that the number of these people are as the sand of the sea. Considering the population of mankind throughout its thousands of years of history, the number of those who actually refuse God and His way of life will be several billion.

One cannot fully grasp the thinking of an unsound mind. It is difficult to grasp what Satan is doing except to know that his hatred for God’s plan and his hatred for mankind is so deep that he simply wants to cause and see as much destruction of God’s creation as possible.

Although Satan has consistently fought against God and tried to destroy all that he can, he has never remotely come close to thwarting anything that God has purposed, but still, he tries. Just the same, in this final period at the end of 100 years, he will still work to unite as much of mankind as possible to fight against God’s Family, even though there is no way they can possibly succeed. Satan must, in some manner, deceive billions into believing they can succeed. God has simply not revealed how such a thing can transpire, but it is recorded what they will attempt to do.

“They went up over the breadth of the earth and surrounded the stronghold of the saints, even the beloved city, and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them” (Rev. 20:9).

This verse shows how these vast numbers of people who are led by Satan will come up against God’s people with the purpose of warring against them. God’s people are referred to in many different ways prophetically and here it states that they comprise the beloved city. It is not the actual physical city of Jerusalem, but the spiritual one of God’s people.

It then shows that God stops Satan and those who have followed him from starting a war. Even though their purpose will be to war, God will not allow a war to start, but will simply destroy Satan and that army.

There are verses that describe seven angels that have seven vials (of seven plagues) that are to be poured out upon mankind. It is shown that one of these seven angels is present during this time period at the end of the 100 years. Although these seven plagues that are to be poured out upon mankind are not yet understood, it is shown by this that this is the Third Woe spoken of that is to take place during the fulfillment of the Seventh Trumpet. Remember, it takes just over 1,100 years for the events of the Seventh Trumpet to become completely fulfilled.

The events of the Seventh Trumpet begin with Christ’s coming, establishing God’s Kingdom at the beginning of the Millennium. Then, just after 1,100 years, these events of the Third Woe are fulfilled by those seven angels pouring out their vials upon the earth.

This is the final Woe upon mankind. It brings an end to the existence of mankind. It is powerful and it is swift. It brings an end to Satan’s feeble attempts to fight against what is God’s.

Indeed, God’s plan includes the ultimate destruction of Satan, which must be accomplished in order for God’s plan for mankind to be fulfilled. This is addressed in the very next verse.

“Then the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone wherein this beast and false prophet shall be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev. 20:10).

During this current time period, in the countdown leading up to WWIII, God has revealed to His Church that Satan is actually going to be destroyed—his life will be brought to an end. Although this is spoken of in prophecy, it had not been fully understood until this end-time. This has been part of a mystery unknown to the world and to God’s Church until God revealed it. It is still not known by the world, but it is known by the Church.

Many have believed that since God created Lucifer as an archangel, a spirit creation, that he therefore had eternal life. But that is not true. He was a created being. Only God has immortal self-sustaining life inherent in Himself for all eternity. The angels do not have such self-sustaining life in themselves and were simply created as spirit beings. Physical life or spirit life, which God has created, can also be taken away or ended by God.

It is that knowledge that torments Satan about his future fate. This being has existed as a false teacher (false prophet) and he has always lied about God and God’s purpose for His creation. Satan is the one who has deceived mankind with all his false teachings that led to a false Christianity with all its false doctrines.

So indeed, Satan is “the” false prophet and also the beast. That beast is the one who raised up the prophesied revivals of the European empire. His power as the beast and his deception as the false prophet will carry over into the Great White Throne period of that final 100 years. This is because a vast number of people lived their first life when Satan had great influence, and they will still have those memories of that time when they are resurrected to a second life. Many of them preferred the life of that deception they had embraced back then, and therefore, they still do not want the truth that God has placed before them.

The reality is, many will still choose the way of Babylon, the false beliefs and practices, the deceitful practices of past governments, and all the false ways of life people lived before. They prefer that life above God’s. Those false ways are symbolized in the expressions that identify Satan’s work of both a beast and the false prophet. Those ways can only be fully destroyed when those who have embraced those ways are fully destroyed.

Before this, those false ways will begin to be destroyed through the work that takes place during the Millennium, although they will be brought right back to the forefront when all the people who had practiced them all their life are then resurrected to a second physical life. Many choose to reject that former life and receive what God has revealed, but many will not.

In the verse above, it states that Satan “shall be tormented.” He is tormented with the knowledge of his demise. The expression translated as being tormented forever and ever does not mean into everlasting time but is used in the Greek language as a span of time that continues as long as specific conditions last. If the end to an age comes to pass, then so do the conditions that surround it.

Once Satan is thrown into the kind of fire that God is describing (not something that is physical), then that age of his existence comes to an end, but until then he is constantly tormented by the knowledge of what is yet to come.

God’s Plan Fulfilled
At some point during these final events that have just been addressed, all who have chosen and faithfully lived God’s way of life are changed—resurrected—to spirit life in God’s Family Elohim.

This is a time that marks the complete fulfillment of God’s plan and purpose for having created mankind. Then, the spiritual Family of God is complete. God explains this time in many different ways.

“I also saw a new heaven and a new earth because the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no more sea” (Rev. 21:1).

In this verse, John is explaining how a great change has now taken place on earth and nothing is as it was before. Everything was being made new and different.

The expression about there being “no more sea” is not literal concerning the seas and oceans of the world. It is a prophetic symbolism for the fact that there is no more “sea” of humanity as has existed over the previous 7,100 years. The age of mankind and God’s purpose for the creation of mankind has now been accomplished—it is complete—the mystery of God is fulfilled and there is no more human life.

“Then I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven [the heaven above the earth—the sky] from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I also heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them. God will even wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away’” (Rev. 21:2-4).

Those who are resurrected are now added to what is described as the new Jerusalem, which is a spiritual dwelling together of God’s people who have entered into His Family. These verses show that since they are now delivered from death, sorrow, pain, and tears that existed in their physical lives, they will no longer experience such things since they are born into a spirit creation—composed of spirit. Then a great declaration follows once these have all been delivered from among mankind to be in the God Family.

“Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Look, I make all things new.’ He also said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’ Then He said to me, ‘It has been done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to him who is thirsty of the fountain of the water of life freely’” (Rev. 21:5-6).

It is at the time when the purpose of the Great White Throne period is accomplished and all existence of mankind has ended, by either receiving of a second death or of being resurrected into everlasting spirit life, that God declares He has now made “all things new” and that “it has been done!” The mystery of God—His plan and purpose for the creation of mankind—has been fully revealed and completed. The events of the Seventh Trumpet have ended.

After God has declared what He will fulfill, He continues on with a final warning to mankind.

“Those who overcome shall inherit all things, and I will be their God and they shall be My children. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.’ There came unto me one of the seven angels who have the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues and he spoke with me, saying, ‘Come, I will show you the bride of the Lamb—the wife.’ Then he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, holy Jerusalem, descending out of the sky from God” (Rev. 21:7-10).

Toward the end of all His written word, God has once again stressed the importance of choices that people are free to make, and that with wrong choices there are consequences. There are those at the end of the final 100-year period of mankind’s existence who will experience a second death, and then there are those who will become God’s children into everlasting life.