Much has been written about the short period of time referred to as the tribulation. Little is written about the greater period of time called the Millennium. The bible shows this to be an exciting period of time where the natural hope of Israel is realized on the earth, and the kingdom of God stands unopposed for a thousand years – A time where the saints of the previous age rule and reign with Christ and the justice of the Lord is established – An age where divine government proceeds from New Jerusalem. As one looks at what the bible has to say about this period, it adds a dimension to our hope in the future that makes the trials of this time not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed. (Romans 8:18) What follows is a look at what the bible says about the “New Day”. The Millennium.
The Revelation account of the release of Satan.
Rev 20:7-14 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 8 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. 9 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. 10 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.
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
There seems to be a sequential order to the Greek in the presentation of the events in chapter twenty. The Greek article translated ‘then’ (rev. 20:11) in the NIV, New King James, and NASU seems to fit the verb cases used in these verses. In this account, sequentially, Satan is released, goes out to deceive the nation in the four corners of the world who in turn attack the city where the saints are, fire comes down and they are devoured – killed. Then the Devil is sentenced first to the Lake of fire. Then it tells of the resurrection of the dead, and all the dead being gathered for judgment and that would include those who have attacked the city. That is the sequence that this account uses. Let’s take a ‘lets suppose’ approach here. Let’s suppose there is a group of flesh and blood survivors who are left alive at the beginning of the millennium. They live out the thousand years by making trips to the city and drinking from the river of life coming out of the city. Much the same as Adam and Eve who ate of the tree of life in the middle of the garden until they were mercifully kept from it by an angel with a sword after they fell. For that matter, dying would not be out of the question either, because death isn’t declared over until the new heavens and the new earth in Revelation 21. The devil has not been testing theirs or their children’s level of commitment for a thousand years. They have had no decisions to make about God. Why does it say, “after these things he must be released for a short time.”? (Rev 20:3) Maybe because they must be presented with a choice as we all were, including the angels? Some decide wrong and are destroyed, later to be resurrected for judgment when they will be judged according to their deeds. Maybe these of the millennium are those who aren’t old enough to take the mark of the beast during the reign of the anti-christ. Maybe there’s a small group of holdouts who haven’t gotten the mark but haven’t made a commitment to Jesus either. Maybe they are natural Israel. We won’t to try to establish who they are yet. We’re still in the ‘lets suppose’ mode. ‘The nations’ talked about in that verse have to come from somewhere. Interestingly enough the term used to describe their number is the same term used to describe Abraham’s natural seed in Genesis, again in Isaiah and quoted in Romans. [Rom 9:27-28 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. 28 For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality."] Could be just a phrase but it does seem to relate to this quite strongly.
Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth. Who will we judge? Who will we rule over?
1 Corinthians 6:1-2 Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? 2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? NASU
Questions… What world will the saints judge? When? Not in this life has it happened. Not the judgment seat of Christ as Revelation says quite plainly they will be judged by “Him who sat on it” in reference to the great white throne. So whom will we judge? It hasn’t happened yet. Is there evidence to support the concept of ruling in the millennium over the nations? If we reign with Christ whom do we reign over? All our resurrected brethren? It doesn’t seem all that necessary being we no longer have a body of sin and are under the authority of God as his priests and rulers. While we can assume there is hierarchy within the kingdom of God, the sense of ruler-ship that the passages about reigning give don’t seem to lend themselves to this concept. What has Jesus had to say about twelve thrones and judging the twelve tribes (Matthew 19:28) and some being given cities to rule who has been faithful in little (Luke 19:9-23)? What nations will the over comers of the church in Thyatira have authority over? (Revelations 2:26) So many questions and the only answer that seems to fit all questions without conflict, is the concept of nations being ruled out of New Jerusalem as the saints rule with Jesus. For a thousand years there’s a world free from the Prince of Darkness and now, under the authority of Him who rules with Justice – an iron scepter. The last Adam, a life giving spirit doing what the first Adam should have done except the first Adam didn’t defeat Satan and the rule was taken from his hand and ended up with Satan until Jesus retrieved it. He – Jesus – will lay it again with all things at the feet of the Father.
Rev 2:26 To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations-
Rev 5:10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
The account in Revelation says only that those who have part in the first resurrection are blessed because they have nothing to fear from the second death. It has no power over them. It does not say that everyone who takes part in the second resurrection is thrown into the lake of fire. Do those of the nations who are not deceived by Satan find their names in the Lamb’s book of life, their deeds during the millennium not bringing them into judgment because they have chosen God through Jesus reigning in the city? What prevents it from being so? There seems to be biblical support for it.
The Bible says there will be a resurrection of the just and the unjust. Some assumed they would take place at different times, but the resurrection of the two types – just and unjust are never given as separate resurrection times. Just separate outcomes of an event – the resurrection. There are two resurrection types – just and unjust. It is only in Revelation that the two times for the resurrection are introduced. While it’s clear there are no unjust in the first resurrection, it isn’t clear that there are only unjust in the second resurrection. It could then follow that not every one resurrected in the resurrection that is other than the “first resurrection” is found absent from the book of life. This argument will be discussed in greater detail later. For now just note that they too, could have chosen right and been given at the judgment their new resurrected body for the new heavens and new earth that is to come while hell and death (including those whose death followed the attack on the city) are resurrected for the second death at the same resurrection time and thrown into the lake of fire.
Is there evidence that would seem to indicate that some survive all the plagues and that there are natural people alive during the millennium?
There seems to be looking at the following scriptures. These passages create so many questions again, that seem to only have an answer in the concept of people giving birth and visiting the city of God that houses the saints – of coming down to drink from the river of life – of living in a creation at peace with itself, the curse lifted and Satan locked up. Jesus says that the resurrected will be as the angels, neither marrying or being given in marriage, so who’s having children? Not the saints. It would have to come from flesh and blood not yet resurrected.
Isa 11:6-9 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
Isa 65:19-25 I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. 20 “Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. 21 They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands. 23 They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them. 24 Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. 25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” [Great similarities between this and the Isaiah 11:6-9 passage. These don't seem to have any possible fulfillment outside of the millennium]
Zechariah 14 comparison with other end time passages [Zechariah scriptures in orange]
Passages with similar wording are colored the same to reflect their relevancy
| Zechariah 14:3-5 Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle. 4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. 5 You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah
Rev 16:17-19 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. Rev 19:11-15 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 6 On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. 7 It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime-a day known to the LORD. When evening comes, there will be light. 8 On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem , half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter. Rev 22:1-5 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit , yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. Ezek 47:6-12 Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. 8 He said to me , “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. 9 Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. 10 Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds-like the fish of the Great Sea. 11 But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. 12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”] 9 The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name. 10 The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up and remain in its place, from the Benjamin Gate to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal winepresses. 11 It will be inhabited; never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure. 12 This is the plague with which the LORD will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. 13 On that day men will be stricken by the LORD with great panic. Each man will seize the hand of another, and they will attack each other. 14 Judah too will fight at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected-great quantities of gold and silver and clothing. 15 A similar plague will strike the horses and mules, the camels and donkeys, and all the animals in those camps. 16 Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles . See Ezekiel 38 and 39 [It is interesting to note that all the Old Testament Feasts except the Feast of Tabernacles has a New Testament fulfillment. We are still looking for the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles.] Zech 8:20-22 This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, 21 and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the LORD and seek the LORD Almighty. I myself am going.’ 22 And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the LORD Almighty and to entreat him.” |
So we find that little children and infants are present in circumstances that haven’t happened yet and don’t seem likely this side of the millennium. We find nations outside the city coming to the city for healing and a river of life flowing from the city to the east and the west. One keeps coming to the same conclusion as the Jews who were waiting for Jesus to restore the kingdom to Jerusalem. [“So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" Acts 1:6] It seems that the Jews felt and that the Old Testament indicated that at sometime after the time of the Gospels, the nations of the earth relate to Jerusalem as the governmental center and seek the Lord there. At sometime the Lord reigns from Jerusalem over the nations of the earth with his people. This “sometime” hasn’t happened yet. Everything seems to point to a millennium government over natural people. Those in the city are related to as the people of God. His chosen ones are now those in the city and the city seems much sought by those who live outside the city on the face of the earth. The Jews were thinking it would be them in the city, but the promise went to the spiritual first and not the natural. (See Paul’s letter to the Galatians on this subject) Year after year they go up to the City. The leaves on the trees in the city are for healing. The resurrected saints don’t need healing. The saints have eternal life in their new resurrected bodies. The resurrected saints don’t need the river of life. If however you have a natural people who are propagating the Earth, you still have need of healing from environmental aging and injury until the governmental period is over and the final resurrection takes place. This last resurrection will be a resurrection of the unjust for those already dead apart from God and for those who attack the city, but a resurrection of the just for those who don’t attack the city when Satan is released – those who do not align themselves with Satan and who chose the Lord reigning in Jerusalem with his previously resurrected saints. Everyone gets resurrected. Those who have done evil are thrown in the lake of fire and those who have called on the name of the Lord are part of the new heavens and the new earth.
In the millennium, the curses are gone and the blessings remain. For a thousand years the land produces and the labor of the nations is no longer cursed. The Prince of Darkness is in chains being held for one final release to give those born during the millennium a chance to exercise their freedom of choice. Does natural Israel find its part in the millennium? Is this the mystery that Paul talks about in Romans 11:25-28? (It would not be out of the question that the age of the gentiles might very well come to an end at the end of this age and the age of natural Israel begin again at the start of the millennium. It says that in the fullness of time God will again call Israel but their hearts are hardened until the time of the gentiles is over.??!!)
Having natural peoples/nations in the millennium seems probable. It fits the sequential tenor of the account in Revelation. It doesn’t disagree with any of the basic foundational doctrines of salvation through Jesus and the coming judgment and the resurrections. It fits with the concept of the kingdom of God vs. the kingdom of Darkness. The current legal position of the saint as an ambassador of the kingdom of God to this world – representing His authority in the kingdoms of this world – lends itself also to a coming governorship in a millennial kingdom. And this is the point that seems to seal it. The first will be last and the last first scripture (Matthew 19:28- 20:16, Mark 10:29-31, Luke 13:28-30) finds greater definition in light of these things and relating it to the resurrection. Those chosen first are the last to be resurrected. Those chosen last are those in the first resurrection. The time of the Gentiles are over and now in preparation for the last, Israel – natural Israel spends a thousand years preparing for its resurrection. In the parable of the laborers that receive reward for the labors, the owner paid the last of those to be hired first – with the resulting complaints which he answered and then gave the first/last reply. Then the scripture that Paul talks about in Romans 9:27-29) while quoting Isaiah finds fulfillment. There are other minor passages that also lend themselves to this line of thinking, but these are the main ones.
Conclusion
The unsaved gentiles come to the end of their time by giving ruler ship and allegiance to the anti-christ. God’s judgments are brought on the earth. Right before the earthquake, the voice shouts “it is done!” (Revelation 16:17) [an interesting parallel to the start of the time of the Gentiles] and thus ends the time of the Gentiles. Christ returns to rule with his saints over the natural Israeli survivors of the attack of Armageddon and there is the subsequent earthquake. The time of the gentiles is concluded and their full number brought in. God now turns to complete His promise to the Jews. All the Old Testament prophecies that remain are completed in the millennium and the Jews accept the kingship of the one they pierced. We, the last to be chosen and the first to be resurrected, rule and reign with Christ and His twelve disciples of the lamb who are sitting on twelve thrones and ruling over the twelve tribes of Israel with all the rest of us who are in Christ. After the thousand years, the first to be chosen, natural Israel, is the last to be resurrected. In the second resurrection we have both the resurrection of the just to eternal life and a new resurrected body and a resurrection of the unjust to judgment. The earth and heavens are “made new:” and the former things are remembered no more as an eternity with God in His creation begins. We will then no longer have times and years but the eternity as all of the prophecies and promises of God to the earth and to His people have been fulfilled.
While I do not yet teach this as established doctrine, I am convinced that this interpretation of the relevant scriptures answers many of the doctrinal questions that a “resurrected only” populated Millennium doctrine leaves unaswered. I find it answers many questions that linger over the unfulfilled prophecies in the Old Testament. I believe it brings more satisfactory answers to some questions and creates less if any conflict with present truth. I welcome any further input or biblical textual problems the reader might see in this presentation. This is my belief and the results of my study on the Millennium.
Pastor John