Saturday, August 23, 2014

THE MILLENNIUM

“And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4).

The Millennium is a one thousand year period in which our Lord Jesus Christ will reign over all the earth from Jerusalem. At the beginning of the Millennium, Satan is bound by an angel of God and thrown into the bottomless pit. He will be kept there during the Millennium to prevent him from deceiving the people on earth. The Millennium is 1,000 years of peace and godly rule that begins when Satan is bound by the angel.

Chapters 20 and 21 of the book of Revelation record a series of events which will occur of the first day of the Millennium. Except for the parenthesis found in Revelation 20:7-15, these events described by John clearly occur in succession, one right after the other.
        
“And I saw and angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he should not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time” (Revelation 20:1-3).
        
“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the 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 upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4-6).

“And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2).

These four “I saw” phrases give the sequence of events that occur at the beginning of the Millennium as follows:

First Event: Satan is bound (Revelation 20:2-3)

Second Event: The Sheep and the Goat Judgment of Christ (Matthew 25:31-41,46)

Third Event: The Resurrection of the “beheaded” tribulation martyrs (Revelation 20:4-6).

Fourth Event: The descent of the New Jerusalem, the bride, down to earth (Revelation 21:2-27).
                  
These then are the events that need to be looked at carefully to complete our discussion of all the preceding end-time events and to have a better appreciation of the millennial kingdom over which Christ will rule.

But for now, it suffices to say that under the righteous rule of our Lord Jesus Christ, the entire earth will experience a time of peace and prosperity. Without the deception of Satan, people will not fight or deceive one another. For 1,000 years, conditions for mankind will be ideal—yet man will still follow evil when the opportunity presents itself again.

At the end of the 1,000 year Millennium, Satan will be loosed from his bonds for a short while. He will go out to deceive the nations, including Gog and Magog (Revelation 20:7-8). These nations will decide to rebel against Jesus and attempt an attack on Jerusalem. This will not be much of a war since fire will come down from God and destroy them (Revelation 20:9). Satan will then be thrown into the lake of fire where he will be tormented forever (Revelation 20:10). He will never be allowed to deceive people again. Immediately after Satan is thrown into the lake of fire, the first heaven (i.e., universe) and first earth will disappear and the Great White Throne Judgment will begin.

SUMMARY

Term Definition:

Millennium is “1. a period of one thousand years. 2. The millennium, the period of a thousand years during which Christ will reign on earth. Revelation 20:1-7... (The Random House College Dictionary, Revised, Unabridged Edition, 1980, p. 848)

Significance of the Millennium:

The Millennium will be a time when Satan is prevented from deceiving man for one thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3). At the end of the one thousand years, men will again follow Satan in attacking God's people (Revelation 20:7-9). This shows that unregenerate man turns to evil at the first opportunity, even after 1,000 years of an ideal environment. Therefore, it is not a person’s environment that makes him do bad things—it is rebellion against God (Romans 1:20-21,28-32; John 3:19-20).

Source of the Millennium:

God will have Satan bound to prevent his interference with the millennial peace (Revelation 20:1-3). Christ and His people will rule over all the earth and over all people (Zechariah 14:9,16-17; Revelation 20:4,6).

Length of the Millennium:

The Millennium lasts one thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3).

Events Prior to the Millennium:

The Wrath of God and the battle of Armageddon will occur before the Millennium (Revelation 19:17; 16:12-21). Just before the beginning of the Millennium, the Beast and False Prophet will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20). At the start of the Millennium, Satan will be bound by an angel of God and cast into the bottomless pit (Revelation 20:1-3).

Events of the Millennium:

Satan will be bound during the entire 1,000 years of the Millennium so that he cannot deceive people (Revelation 20:2-3). The people of God will reign with Christ Jesus (Revelation 20:4-6). Jerusalem will be safely inhabited (Zechariah 14:10-11). Those who will populate the earth during the Millennium will be required to go to Jerusalem each year to worship the Lord Jesus and keep the Feast of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16). Any who fail to worship will not receive rain, and they will receive a plague from the Lord (Zechariah 14:17-19).

God During the Millennium:

The Lord Jesus will reign from Jerusalem and will withhold rain and send a plague upon those nations who fail to worship Him yearly in Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:9,16-19).

Christians During the Millennium:

Christians will reign with Christ during the Millennium (Revelation 20:4).

Satan During the Millennium:

Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit during the Millennium (Revelation 20:1-3).

Beast During the Millennium:

The Beast and the False Prophet will be in the lake of fire during the Millennium (Revelation 19:20).

Non-Christians During the Millennium:

Those who will populate the earth during the Millennium will be required to go to Jerusalem each year to worship the Lord Jesus and keep the Feast of Tabernacles. If they fail to do so, they will not receive rain, and they will suffer from a plague (Zechariah 14:16-19). Those non-Christians who die before the start of the Millennium will not be resurrected until after the Millennium is over (Revelation 20:5,11-13).

Events Following the Millennium:

At the end of the Millennium, Satan will be loosed from his bonds for a short time (Revelation 20:3,7). Satan will deceived Gog, Magog, and the nations into attempting an attack against Christ and His people in Jerusalem (Revelation 20:8-9). The attackers will be destroyed and Satan will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:9-10). Immediately after this, the Great White Throne Judgment will take place  (Revelation 20:1-15).

Scripture references for the Millennium:


Matthew 19:28; Luke 1:32-33; Revelation 2:26-27; Revelation 5:10; Revelation 20:1-10; Isaiah 2:2-4; 65:25; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Daniel 2:44; 7:13-14, 27; Amos 9:11-15; Micah 4:1-4; Zechariah 8:3; 14:6-11, 16-21