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The 1,000 Year Reign of the Lord Jesus Christ

The Lord Jesus Christ will return as King of all kings and Lord of all lords with great glory and power at the time of the Second Advent and will defeat Satan and the forces that have persecuted believers during the Tribulation. We read in Revelation 19:11-16;

^“11 Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. ¹² His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. ¹³ He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. ¹⁴ The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. ¹⁵ From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. ¹⁶ On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.”

The Beast and the False prophet are thrown into the Lake of Fire with all who have taken the mark of the beast while Satan is thrown into the abyss where he will remain for 1,000 years. Those who have received Christ as Savior during the Tribulation and lived will go into the Millennial kingdom to populate it and enjoy the blessings of Christ’s reign. All Old Testament and Tribulation saints who have died will be resurrected and given their eternal bodies.

The Mysterious 45 Days

In Daniel 12:12 there is referenced a mysterious period of 45 days:

^“11 “From the time the daily sacrifice is stopped and the sacrilegious object that causes desecration is set up to be worshiped, there will be 1,290 days. ¹² And blessed are those who wait and remain until the end of the 1,335 days!”

The 1,290 days mentioned is the Great Tribulation, the second half of the Tribulation when judgements will become more severe; the additional 45 days would bring the total to 1,335 days and may be the time the Lord Jesus Christ is preparing the earth for his Millennial reign. The Tribulation will produce massive destruction which would certainly not be consistent with the Millennial Kingdom.

We are told those who had received the mark of the beast will be removed from the earth; only those who had been saved by faith in Jesus Christ would remain until the 1,335th day and are the blessed ones who will repopulate the earth.

Who will Live on Earth during the Millennial Reign?

There will be a core group of mortal believers who will survive the Tribulation; these believers will have a new start in life after the Millennial Kingdom is established. There are indications that those believers will live very long lives and have many children; although it is not specified I’m inclined to think the environment will be more similar to the earth before the flood.

Although the Millennial Kingdom will start with believers exclusively, they and the children born to them, will still have a sin nature. There will be those born who reject the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. This shows that perfect environment is not the answer to the sin problem as the only lives they will know will have been lived in a perfect environment.

Just as Adam could only violate one commandment those living during the Millennial reign, (just as all of us born after the First Advent, see “Is There One Unforgivable Sin?“), have only one commandment separating them from God, reception of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; Christ died for their sins too.

In addition to the mortal believers there will be the Old Testament saints, and Christians who will have access to the earth. The land of Israel is God’s gift to the Jewish nation, the spiritual descendants of Abraham. Christians on the other hand have been promised a city, the New Jerusalem. Christians will likely have occupied the New Jerusalem from the time of the Rapture. While we will have access to earth our home will be in heaven in the New Jerusalem.

The New Jerusalem

It is not clearly expressed in the Bible but the general thinking is the New Jerusalem will not descend to earth until the time of the creation of the New Heaven and the New Earth. This is mentioned in Revelation 21:1-4 where it is written:

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. ² And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

³ I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. ⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

The Final Battle of Gog and Magog

We are given an assortment of clues about life during the Millennial reign and I have no doubt it will be wonderful indeed; people born during the Millennium will have only known the perfection of life in a perfect environment in a perfect society.

It is almost shocking to discover that many of these people will turn on the Lord and seek to destroy all they have known when Satan is released from his prison at the end of the Millennium; it certainly demonstrates the perversity of the fallen human sin nature.

Despite the wonder and perfection of the reign of the Lord at the end of the 1,000 years Satan is loosed from his prison and foments a massive rebellion against the Lord and his rule. We have a reference to this in Revelation 20:7-9 where it is written:

^“7 When the thousand years come to an end, Satan will be let out of his prison. ⁸ He will go out to deceive the nations—called Gog and Magog—in every corner of the earth. He will gather them together for battle—a mighty army, as numberless as sand along the seashore. ⁹ And I saw them as they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded God’s people and the beloved city. But fire from heaven came down on the attacking armies and consumed them.”

Satan’s Judgement

The Bible then tells us of the fate of Satan; in Revelation 20:10 it is written:

¹⁰ Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

This verse reveals an interesting fact, after 1,000 years of burning in the Lake of Fire both the beast and the false prophet are still identifiable individuals.

We will consider the Great White Throne Judgement and the future facing the earth next time.