大試驗─啟示錄 

接下來我們要談到的經文在啟示錄二十章7-10節： 

那一千年完了，撒但必從監牢裡被釋放，

出來要迷惑地上四方（原文是角）的列國，就是歌革和瑪各，叫他們聚集爭戰。他們的人數多如海沙。

他們上來遍滿了全地，圍住聖徒的營與蒙愛的城，就有火從天降下，燒滅了他們。

那迷惑他們的魔鬼被扔在硫磺的火湖裡，就是獸和假先知所在的地方。他們必晝夜受痛苦，直到永永遠遠。 

自從約翰分享啟示錄以來，這是一段很有挑戰性的經文。在一千年後─經過萬物復興和基督掌權的千禧年─撒旦再次被釋放出來迷惑列國！這引起兩個重要問題：  

第一，為何主允許此發生？

第二，主在地上掌權一千年後，怎麼還會有人再次被撒旦迷惑？  

關於第一個問題的答案，我們擁有聖經的見證，神要祂所有的工程都經過試驗，才能決定品質好壞，祂也會允許祂被重建的世界經過試驗（參考哥林多前書3:10-15）。 

第二個問題則屬於PAC教義（人們瘋了People Are Crazy）！看看在我們世代一些很流行卻直接與聖經衝突的怪異教義，有許多基督徒陷入其中。從亞伯拉罕到耶穌這兩千年間，以色列有多少次目睹神美好又令人敬畏的工作，然後再次跌倒後退呢？那教會又如何呢？那我們自己又如何呢？當重建的工作完成了，主將允許此工程再次經過試驗，好讓存留的絕不會再次遠離祂。  

在每週一話的格式中，我需要花很長時間才能清楚表明此，卻很值得。你若活出得勝的基督徒生命，當你與祂在千禧年一起掌權時，代表你已經通過試驗─因此最後的試驗不是為你預備的。對那些沒有從蛇的本質被釋放的人─就是我們所謂『狡猾的人』，尋求盡可能逃過，最後的試驗將是非常嚴肅以待的。 

在這段經文中我們也當注意到，在千禧年結束時，歌革和瑪代將率領攻擊『蒙愛的城』耶路撒冷。欺騙的根源可以追溯到拒絕明確的聖經證明，那即是神是何等愛耶路撒冷和猶太人。正如保羅所警告的，許多基督徒因『像舊枝子誇口』而跌倒（羅馬書11:18）。拒絕任何在聖經中如此清楚的教導，顯示想要改變或增加神話語的心態，導致在其他方面的欺騙。 

許多人的末世論認為此針對耶路撒冷而來的戰役將發生在這世代末了前，也就是『大患難時』。很奇妙的是閱讀整本聖經可以何等影響一些末世觀，有許多好的理由質疑歌革和瑪代到底指的是誰，但這需要另一個研讀來提出。 

在我們時代所發表的一些教義說，神不會再審判世人，因為十字架已經為我們的罪付上一切─我們的過去，現在和未來。真的嗎？直到你讀了聖經，教義才會合理。耶穌自己駁斥了這樣愚昧的教義，正如祂在新約的話語，還有到啟示錄末了的話語。  

我們必須瞭解祂的審判是為著我們救恩之故而來，因為祂愛我們，而不是因為祂想要毀滅我們。然而，毀滅，就是第二次的死亡，再也沒有復活或重建，是對那些拒絕祂的公平與審判之人將付上的代價。 

與其教導或擁抱與整本聖經抵觸的教義，我們不如詢問要如何為祂的審判來預備，好讓祂對我們的審判將是：『好，你這又良善又忠心的僕人』（參考馬太福音25:21）。聖經告訴我們『我們要自己審判自己，免得我們被審判（參考馬太福音7:1）。當某件事情很清楚將會臨到，為其預備才是明智之舉，而不是捏造一些事情來抵觸將臨到之事。 

(摘自喬納word for the week, Week 38, 2018)

 
The Great Test—The Book of Revelation
Week 38, 2018
Rick Joyner 

The next text to be covered is Revelation 20:7-10: 

                  When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison,

       and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.

       And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.

       And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 

         This has been a challenging text for many since John first shared the Revelation. After the thousand years—the period of the restoration of all things and the millennium in which Christ reigns—Satan is let out again to deceive the nations! This leads us to two important questions: 

         First, why would The Lord allow this? 

Second, how could anyone be deceived again by Satan after Jesus reigned over the earth for a thousand years? 

         To answer the first question, we have the testimony of Scripture that God is devoted to having all of His works tested to determine the quality of the work. He will allow His restored world to be tested as well (see I Corinthians 3:10-15). 

         The answer to the next question comes under the doctrine of PAC: “People Are Crazy!” Look at the bizarre doctrines that are in direct conflict with the Scriptures that are gaining popularity in our own times. So many Christians are falling to them. In the two thousand years from Abraham to Jesus, how many times did Israel see the wonderful and awesome works of God and then backslide? How about the church in our history? How about us? When the work of restoration is completed, The Lord will allow it to be tested so that what remains will never turn from Him again. 

         It would take me too long to establish this as it deserves in this Word for the Week format, but if you have lived the overcoming Christian life so as to reign with Him in the millennium, then you have already passed the test—this test at the end will not be for you. For those who have not been delivered from the nature of the serpent—who we are told was “crafty,” which implies always seeking to get away with as much as possible—then this will be a serious test. 

         We should also note in this text that it is at the end of the millennium that Gog and Magog lead the attack on the “beloved city,” Jerusalem. A root of much deception can be traced to the rejection of the clear biblical testimony of how much God loves Jerusalem and the Jewish people. Many Christians have stumbled over what Paul warned about—becoming “arrogant toward the natural branches.” Rejecting any teaching that is so clear in Scripture reveals a mentality about changing or adding to the Word of God that leads to deception in other areas. 

Many have an eschatology that has this coming battle over Jerusalem happening before the end of this age, in the “great tribulation.” It is amazing how reading the whole Bible can affect some eschatology. There are also many good reasons to question some assumptions about who Gog and Magog are, but that will have to be addressed in another study.    

         There are doctrines being promulgated in our time that state God does not judge any more since the cross paid for all of our sins—past, present, and future. Really? The doctrine only makes sense until you read the Bible. Jesus Himself refutes this foolishness, as does His Word right through the New Testament and to the end of the Book of Revelation. 

We must understand that His judgments are for our salvation and come because He loves us, not because He wants to destroy us. However, destruction, the second death from which there is no resurrection or restoration, will be the price paid by those who refuse His justice and judgments. 

         Instead of teaching or embracing doctrines that are refuted by the entire Bible, we should be asking how we prepare for His judgment so that His judgment of us is,“Well done, good and faithful servant” (see Matthew 25:21 NKJV). We are told that we can “judge ourselves lest we be judged” (see Matthew 7:1). When something is clearly going to come, it is wisdom to prepare for it rather than make up things to refute what is coming.