Some people believe that we are in what they call the "LITTLE SEASON".
The phrase "LITTLE SEASON" is only used twice in the King James Version of the Bible.
1) Revelation 6:11 And WHITE ROBES WERE GIVEN UNTO EVERY ONE OF THEM; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a LITTLE SEASON, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
2) Revelation 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and AFTER THAT HE MUST BE LOOSED a LITTLE SEASON.
LITTLE
Word Summary
mikros: small, little
Transliteration: mikros
Phonetic Spelling: (mik-ros')
Part of Speech: Adjective
Short Definition: small, little
Strong's Concordance
least, less, little, small.
Including the comparative mikroteros (ik-rot'-er-os) apparently a primary word; small (in size, quantity, number or (figuratively) dignity) -- least, less, little, small.
SEASON
Word Summary
chronos: time
Transliteration: chronos
Phonetic Spelling: (khron'-os)
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Short Definition: time
Strong's Concordance
time, season
Of uncertain derivation; a space of time (in general, and thus properly distinguished from kairos, which designates a fixed or special occasion; and from aion, which denotes a particular period) or interval; by extension, an individual opportunity; by implication, delay -- + years old, season, space, (X often-)time(-s), (a) while.
From Revelation 20:3 above we know that Satan was released AFTER the 1,000 Years aka the MILLENNIUM.
All of the following Bible Verses are copied from the New King James Version unless noted otherwise.
SATAN ENTERED JUDAS AT THE LAST SUPPER
According to the following verse Satan was NOT bound during Jesus ministry...
John 13:27 Now after the piece of bread, SATAN ENTERED HIM. Then Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly."
SATAN WAS BOUND AFTER THE CROSS
John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; NOW THE RULER OF THIS WORLD WILL BE CAST OUT.
John 12:32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."
SATAN WAS BOUND DURING THE MILLENNIUM
Revelation 20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Revelation 20:2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is THE DEVIL AND SATAN, AND BOUND HIM FOR A THOUSAND YEARS;
THEREFORE THE MILLENNIUM BEGAN AFTER THE CROSS (30-33 AD).
THE DEFEAT OF SATAN WAS NEAR WHEN PAUL WROTE ROMANS (57-59 AD).
Romans 16:20 And THE GOD OF PEACE WILL CRUSH SATAN UNDER YOUR FEET SHORTLY. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
THEREFORE, THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM WAS NEAR WHEN PAUL WROTE ROMANS!
SATAN (the prince of the power of the air) - THE SPIRIT WHO NOW WORKS IN THE SONS OF DISOBEDIENCE.
Ephesians 2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
Ephesians 2:2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, THE SPIRIT WHO NOW WORKS IN THE SONS OF DISOBEDIENCE,
Ephesians 2:3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
SINCE SATAN WAS WORKING IN THE SONS OF DISOBEDIENCE SATAN WAS NO LONGER BOUND.
THEREFORE THE MILLENNIUM HAD ENDED AND THE LITTLE SEASON HAD BEGUN.
The following verses in Ephesians also prove that Satan was not bound...
Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand AGAINST THE WILES OF THE DEVIL.
Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, AGAINST THE RULERS OF THE DARKNESS OF THIS AGE, AGAINST SPIRITUAL HOSTS OF WICKEDNESS IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES.
Ephesians 6:13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
WHEN WAS EPHESIANS WRITTEN?
ANSWER: Approximately A. D. 62-63
The following verse in 1 Peter also proves that Satan was not bound...
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because YOUR ADVERSARY THE DEVIL WALKS ABOUT LIKE A ROARING LION, SEEKING WHOM HE MAY DEVOUR.
WHEN WAS 1 PETER WRITTEN?
ANSWER: Approximately A. D. 63
Chart provided by Ed Stevens - www.preterist.org
IF THE MILLENNIUM BEGAN AT THE CROSS AND ENDED AROUND 63 AD THEN THE MILLENNIUM WAS NOT 1,000 YEARS.
The 1,000 years was a symbolic number in the symbolic book of Revelation much of which people make the mistake of interpreting literally.
2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that WITH THE LORD ONE DAY IS AS A THOUSAND YEARS, AND A THOUSAND YEARS AS ONE DAY.
2nd Peter was probably written in early 64 AD after the Book of Revelation which was probably written in AD 62...
If 2nd Peter was written in 64 AD after Revelation was written in 62 AD then the thousand years he mentioned may be referring to the Millennium mentioned in Revelation.
PETER WAS ALLUDING TO THIS VERSE:
Psalms 90:4 For a thousand years in Your sight Are like yesterday when it is past, And like a watch in the night.
Peter was responding to scoffers who doubted the LORD'S coming...
2 Peter 3:3 knowing this first: that SCOFFERS WILL COME IN THE LAST DAYS, walking according to their own lusts,
2 Peter 3:4 AND SAYING, "WHERE IS THE PROMISE OF HIS COMING? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."
2 Peter 3:9 THE LORD IS NOT SLACK CONCERNING HIS PROMISE, as some count slackness, BUT IS LONGSUFFERING TOWARD US, NOT WILLING THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH BUT THAT ALL SHOULD COME TO REPENTANCE.
SATAN WAS RELEASED AFTER THE MILLENNIUM TO GATHER THE NATIONS FOR WAR
Revelation 20:7 Now WHEN THE THOUSAND YEARS HAVE EXPIRED, SATAN WILL BE RELEASED from his prison
Revelation 20:8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, TO GATHER THEM TOGETHER TO BATTLE, whose number is as the sand of the sea.
Revelation 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of THE DRAGON, out of the mouth of THE BEAST, and out of the mouth of THE FALSE PROPHET.
Revelation 16:14 For THEY ARE SPIRITS OF DEMONS, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, TO GATHER THEM TO THE BATTLE OF THAT GREAT DAY OF GOD ALMIGHTY.
SATAN'S LITTLE SEASON WAS PROBABLY LESS THAN 3 1/2 YEARS AND OCCURRED FROM AD 64 TO AD 67
Revelation 12:6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that THEY SHOULD FEED HER THERE ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY DAYS.
Revelation 12:12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! FOR THE DEVIL HAS COME DOWN TO YOU, HAVING GREAT WRATH, BECAUSE HE KNOWS THAT HE HAS A SHORT TIME."
SATAN'S LITTLE SEASON WAS SHORTENED
Matthew 24:22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; BUT FOR THE ELECT'S SAKE THOSE DAYS WILL BE SHORTENED.
Mark 13:20 And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; BUT FOR THE ELECT'S SAKE, WHOM HE CHOSE, HE SHORTENED THE DAYS.
SATAN PERSECUTED THE ELECT (THE SAINTS) DURING THE LITTLE SEASON
Revelation 12:9 So the great DRAGON was cast out, THAT SERPENT OF OLD, CALLED THE DEVIL AND SATAN, who deceives the whole world; HE WAS CAST TO THE EARTH, AND HIS ANGELS WERE CAST OUT WITH HIM.
Revelation 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "NOW SALVATION, AND STRENGTH, AND THE KINGDOM OF OUR GOD, AND THE POWER OF HIS CHRIST HAVE COME, FOR THE ACCUSER OF OUR BRETHREN, WHO ACCUSED THEM BEFORE OUR GOD DAY AND NIGHT, HAS BEEN CAST DOWN.
Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and THEY DID NOT LOVE THEIR LIVES TO THE DEATH.
Revelation 12:13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, HE PERSECUTED THE WOMAN WHO GAVE BIRTH TO THE MALE CHILD.
Revelation 12:14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, WHERE SHE IS NOURISHED FOR A TIME AND TIMES AND HALF A TIME, FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE SERPENT.
Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and HE WENT TO MAKE WAR WITH THE REST OF HER OFFSPRING, WHO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND HAVE THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST.
Luke 21:11 And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and THERE WILL BE FEARFUL SIGHTS AND GREAT SIGNS FROM HEAVEN.
Luke 21:12 BUT BEFORE ALL THESE THINGS, THEY WILL LAY THEIR HANDS ON YOU AND PERSECUTE YOU, DELIVERING YOU UP TO THE SYNAGOGUES AND PRISONS. YOU WILL BE BROUGHT BEFORE KINGS AND RULERS FOR MY NAME'S SAKE.
Did the FEARFUL SIGHTS AND GREAT SIGNS FROM HEAVEN in Luke 21:11 occur AFTER the GREAT PERSECUTION of the SAINTS and BEFORE the JEWISH-ROMAN WAR?
Read what the Jewish Historian JOSEPHUS wrote in Book 6, Chapter 5, Paragraph 3 in the WARS OF THE JEWS...
..."while they did not attend nor give credit to the signs that were so evident, and did so plainly foretell their future desolation, but, like men infatuated, without either eyes to see or minds to consider, did not regard the denunciations that God made to them.
1) Thus there was a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet, that continued a whole year.
2) Thus also before the Jews’ rebellion, and before those commotions which preceded the war, when the people were come in great crowds to the feast of unleavened bread, on the eighth day of the month Xanthicus, [Nisan,] and at the ninth hour of the night, so great a light shone round the altar and the holy house, that it appeared to be bright day time; which lasted for half an hour. This light seemed to be a good sign to the unskillful, but was so interpreted by the sacred scribes, as to portend those events that followed immediately upon it.
8th of Nisan, 3826 = Sat, 20 March 0066
3) At the same festival also, a heifer, as she was led by the high priest to be sacrificed, brought forth a lamb in the midst of the temple.
4) Moreover, the eastern gate of the inner [court of the] temple, which was of brass, and vastly heavy, and had been with difficulty shut by twenty men, and rested upon a basis armed with iron, and had bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor, which was there made of one entire stone, was seen to be opened of its own accord about the sixth hour of the night. Now those that kept watch in the temple came hereupon running to the captain of the temple, and told him of it; who then came up thither, and not without great difficulty was able to shut the gate again. This also appeared to the vulgar to be a very happy prodigy, as if God did thereby open them the gate of happiness. But the men of learning understood it, that the security of their holy house was dissolved of its own accord, and that the gate was opened for the advantage of their enemies. So these publicly declared that the signal foreshowed the desolation that was coming upon them.
5) Besides these, a few days after that feast, on the one and twentieth day of the month Artemisius, [Jyar,] a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared: I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve such signals; for, before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities.
21st of Iyyar, 3826 = Sun, 2 May 0066
6) Moreover, at that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by night into the inner [court of the temple,] as their custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that, in the first place, they felt a quaking, and heard a great noise, and after that they heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying, "Let us remove hence."
7) But, what is still more terrible, there was one Jesus, the son of Ananus, a plebeian and a husbandman, who, four years before the war began, and at a time when the city was in very great peace and prosperity, came to that feast whereon it is our custom for every one to make tabernacles to God in the temple, began on a sudden to cry aloud, "A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the holy house, a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice against this whole people!" This was his cry, as he went about by day and by night, in all the lanes of the city. However, certain of the most eminent among the populace had great indignation at this dire cry of his, and took up the man, and gave him a great number of severe stripes; yet did not he either say any thing for himself, or any thing peculiar to those that chastised him, but still went on with the same words which he cried before. Hereupon our rulers, supposing, as the case proved to be, that this was a sort of divine fury in the man, brought him to the Roman procurator, where he was whipped till his bones were laid bare; yet he did not make any supplication for himself, nor shed any tears, but turning his voice to the most lamentable tone possible, at every stroke of the whip his answer was, "Woe, woe to Jerusalem!" And when Albinus (for he was then our procurator) asked him, Who he was? and whence he came? and why he uttered such words? he made no manner of reply to what he said, but still did not leave off his melancholy ditty, till Albinus took him to be a madman, and dismissed him. Now, during all the time that passed before the war began, this man did not go near any of the citizens, nor was seen by them while he said so; but he every day uttered these lamentable words, as if it were his premeditated vow, "Woe, woe to Jerusalem!" Nor did he give ill words to any of those that beat him every day, nor good words to those that gave him food; but this was his reply to all men, and indeed no other than a melancholy presage of what was to come. This cry of his was the loudest at the festivals; and he continued this ditty for seven years and five months, without growing hoarse, or being tired therewith, until the very time that he saw his presage in earnest fulfilled in our siege, when it ceased; for as he was going round upon the wall, he cried out with his utmost force, "Woe, woe to the city again, and to the people, and to the holy house!" And just as he added at the last, "Woe, woe to myself also!" there came a stone out of one of the engines, and smote him, and killed him immediately; and as he was uttering the very same presages he gave up the ghost."
DOWNLOAD THE WARS OF THE JEWS by Flavius Josephus HERE: Wars Of The Jews Download
How much more evidence do you need to prove FULFILLMENT?
Luke 21:16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and THEY WILL PUT SOME OF YOU TO DEATH.
Luke 21:17 And YOU WILL BE HATED BY ALL FOR MY NAME'S SAKE.
GREAT PERSECUTION OF THE SAINTS BEGAN IN 64 AD WHEN NERO BLAMED THE CHRISTIANS FOR THE FIRE IN ROME!
ED STEVENS - March 17, 2013 Podcast: FIRE IN ROME & PERSECUTION
DOWNLOAD LINK for PODCAST NOTES
PERSECUTION CAUSED MANY TO FALL AWAY (APOSTASY) BEFORE THE COMING (PAROUSIA) OF CHRIST.
FALLING AWAY
Word Summary
apostasia: defection, revolt
Transliteration: apostasia
Phonetic Spelling: (ap-os-tas-ee'-ah)
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Short Definition: defection, revolt
Strong's Concordance
falling away, apostacy
Feminine of the same as apostasion; defection from truth (properly, the state) ("apostasy") -- falling away, forsake.
2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless THE FALLING AWAY COMES FIRST, and THE MAN OF SIN IS REVEALED, the son of perdition,
2 Thessalonians 2:4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
SATAN WAS CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE (PROBABLY AT CHRIST'S SECOND COMING)
Revelation 20:10 THE DEVIL, WHO DECEIVED THEM, WAS CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
TO CLAIM THAT WE ARE IN THE LITTLE SEASON NOW IS TO DISREGARD SCRIPTURE!
When Jesus prophesied about the Destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem he said...
Luke 21:22 For these be the days of vengeance, that ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN MAY BE FULFILLED.
"ALL THINGS WRITTEN" may refer to the OLD TESTAMENT only.
Luke 21:24 And THEY WILL FALL BY THE EDGE OF THE SWORD, AND BE LED AWAY CAPTIVE INTO ALL NATIONS. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
The DAYS OF VENGEANCE refers to GOD'S WRATH on the Judeans via the Jewish-Roman War.
According to the Jewish Historian JOSEPHUS in Book 6, Chapter 9, Paragraph 3 in the WARS OF THE JEWS...
"Now the number of those that were carried captive during this whole war was collected to be ninety-seven thousand; as was the number of those that perished during the whole siege eleven hundred thousand, the greater part of whom were indeed of the same nation [with the citizens of Jerusalem], but not belonging to the city itself; for they were come up from all the country to the feast of unleavened bread, and were on a sudden shut up by an army, which, at the very first, occasioned so great a straitness among them, that there came a pestilential destruction upon them, and soon afterward such a famine, as destroyed them more suddenly.
Prophecies about the New Jerusalem, New Heavens and New Earth are written about in Isaiah...
Isaiah 65:17 "For behold, I CREATE NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
Isaiah 65:18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I CREATE JERUSALEM AS A REJOICING, AND HER PEOPLE A JOY.
After the apostle John tells about his vision of the New Jerusalem, New Heavens and New Earth in Revelation 21 he was told...
Revelation 22:6 Then he said to me, "These words are faithful and true." And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants THE THINGS WHICH MUST SHORTLY TAKE PLACE.
Revelation 22:7 "BEHOLD, I AM COMING QUICKLY! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."
What verse in the Book of Revelation states that any part of the prophecy is far away in the future?
Prophecies about the Great Tribulation, the Deliverance of the Elect, the Resurrection of the Just & Unjust and their Judgement are written about in Daniel 12...
Daniel 12:1 "At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And THERE SHALL BE A TIME OF TROUBLE, SUCH AS NEVER WAS SINCE THERE WAS A NATION, EVEN TO THAT TIME. AND AT THAT TIME YOUR PEOPLE SHALL BE DELIVERED, EVERY ONE WHO IS FOUND WRITTEN IN THE BOOK.
Daniel 12:2 AND MANY OF THOSE WHO SLEEP IN THE DUST OF THE EARTH SHALL AWAKE, SOME TO EVERLASTING LIFE, SOME TO SHAME AND EVERLASTING CONTEMPT.
Daniel was even told when all those things would be finished...
Daniel 12:7 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 swore by Him who lives forever, that IT SHALL BE FOR A TIME, TIMES, AND HALF A TIME; AND WHEN THE POWER OF THE HOLY PEOPLE HAS BEEN COMPLETELY SHATTERED, ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE FINISHED.
The Power of the Holy People (The Hebrews) was the Covenant they had with GOD.
Their Power was shattered by GOD with the Destruction of their Temple, City and Nation in AD 70!
According to Scripture and History - SATAN'S "LITTLE SEASON" was almost 2,000 years ago!