When Jesus returns, it appears that the primary, if not only, sin for which he will judge the nations is their hatred of his people, the sons and daughters of Abraham. I also believe that the End Time Bride preparing herself for the coming of the Lord is connected largely with having a proper biblical view of His chosen nation—with loving and blessing Israel. In fact, as we will see below, attacking Israel will be the primary temptation for the nations after the 1,000-year millennial reign.
I am Jewish, so it would be easy to conclude that I have some ulterior motive. I do! But it is not for me but rather for you. I already live in an antisemitic world. I experienced Jew-hatred online almost every day, and sometimes in person (as we recounted last week). My concern is for the church—that Satan would not deceive her in the End Times.
End of the Millenium
I was reading this morning in Revelation 20, and I saw something in v. 3 I’ve never seen before. After the coming of the Lord, Satan is bound for 1,000 years in the Abyss. The reason is “to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore...” The word anymore is the key. Satan will not be able to deceive the nations in the same way he did before the Second Coming of Messiah.
How did he deceive the nations before His coming? By convincing the antichrist and his empire to attack the nation of Israel. Satan has been inciting the nations since the time of Egypt to destroy Israel.
• Pharaoh tried to kill the babies of Egypt.
• Herod murdered Jewish babies in Bethlehem.
• In the Middle Ages, the Church was his tool to persecute and often killed Jewish people.
• Hitler killed 6,000,000 Jews.
• Earlier, Hamam was able to convince the king of the Persian empire to commit 100% genocide against the Jewish people.
Genocide Against Jews
I’ve shared this with you many times, but people need to see how evil and long-lasting this anti-Semitic plot is. The king of Persia called for the complete genocide of all Jewish people.
“Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day” (Est 3:13).
This incitement against Israel continues with the conquering of the ten tribes of Israel (721 BCE) and then the southern kingdom (586 BCE). Rome crushed Jerusalem in 70 CE and then again in 132 CE, exiling as many Jews as possible and changing the name from Judea to Philistia (Palestine)—yes, the word Palestine came from Rome, not Arabs. No other group has suffered such persecution and devastation as the Jewish people. And yet God has preserved Israel and even brought her sons and daughters back to their own land in these days just as the prophets foretold (Ex. 36:24, Jer. 31:10). As evil as Satan is, God's faithfulness is even more powerful!
What does Jesus say when He returns?
Revelation 20:3 says that Satan would be locked up for 1,000 years, so he could not deceive the nations anymore. But then he will be released for “a short time.” Why is he being released? To deceive the nations again. Now understand: his primary deception at the coming of the Lord is over Israel and Yeshua.
• Psalm 2 predicts the kings of the earth get angry at God because of his sovereignty over Jerusalem (my holy hill) and the Messiah.
• Zechariah 14 says that the nations will ruthlessly attack Israel, and Yahweh will come and rescue them.
• Matthew 25 has Yeshua confronting the nations at the outset of the Millennium over their treatment, good or bad, of his brothers, the Jewish people.
• Moved by “demonic spirits,” the evil kings mentioned in Psalm 2, gather in the valley of Har Megiddo (Armageddon) before marching on Jerusalem (Rev. 16:14-16).
However, after Yeshua comes to defeat Satan and locks him up for 1,000 years, he is released. At this point, Yeshua reigns as the worldwide king from Jerusalem. Look what happens.
“When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and gather them for battle. In number, they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.” (Rev 20:7–9)
“God’s People” is most likely Israel. When Gog and Magog attack in Ezekiel 38-39, it is against Israel. This doesn’t mean that all believers are not “God’s people”—they are. But geographically, the armies march to a physical location: “the city He loves”—Jerusalem.
Antisemitism—the Universal Civil Sin of the Nations
I do not want to make light of other sins, as the Bible points out many moral issues, from sexual immorality to dishonoring our parents. But the great universal, civil sin of the nations will be its hatred for God and his people, Israel. While this began thousands of years ago, it will exist until the end of the millennium and the beginning of the Great White Throne Judgment. It is no wonder that where one stands on the nation of Israel has become the most divisive issue in the world.
Can't say that I agree with you here, Ron, unless you are willing to redefine WHO "Israel" and/or "God's people" is/are. Why do I say this? Because everything changes at the beginning of the thousand-year reign, when Messiah comes. When He comes, ALL those found in Messiah, both those who have died and those still living, will ascend to meet with Him in the clouds and then travel with Him to Jerusalem, in their redeemed bodies, to help form His thousand-year government...these are both Jewish and non-Jewish individuals. Besides this, when all of us receive our glorified form, the distinction between Jew and non-Jew will cease to exist. Yes, hasatan and armies will come up against Jerusalem, but that's m…