billy-brown 2

It appears that the second death is spiritual separation from God for all eternity.

And there is torment and punishment in that place forever; thus, it is not a "cessation" from existence at all for the participants. And remember, forever is a mighty looooooong time, yes?

So now, let's look at the fate of the "unholy trinity" and so on in Rev. 20:10. Notice that the fate of the "unholy trinity" is linked to the fate of ...

One of the critical aspects of the "millennium" has to do with the beast in this verse:

Rev. 20
4Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with

...

The following vision excerpt from John the Revelator below:

Rev. 15
1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.
2 And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God.
3 And they sang

...

There seems to be much eschatological investigation in our time which excludes routinely any notion that many of the 1st-century Christians experienced these things:

"persecution", "punishment", "imprisonment" and "death"

from the hands of those who are influenced by the beast/false prophet/dragon conglomerate of the Book of Revelation.

Let us observe the following scriptures from the Apostle ...

For the record, I have always taken "the Mark of the Beast" in the Rev. 20:4 scripture literally.

Specifically, the Mark (of the Beast) in that passage is indeed literal--it is literally spiritual.

And because the Mark (of the Beast) is literally spiritual in Rev. 20:4, I can conclude that the Mark (of the Beast) is not just future in the scripture.

In my mind, the Mark of the Beast is a seal of ownership which is placed upon people ...