The Millennium Reign

There are many controversial teachings on this subject. However, the Lord is faithful to afford us the ability to rightly divide the Word. To save time and energy we will go straight to the heart of this matter.

QUESTION #1: IS THE MILLENNIUM A LITERAL 1000 YEARS?

The Millennium is the seventh dispensation of man. It is also known as the Dispensation of the Kingdom. It is one thousand years of rest for planet Earth. It is also a time when all the promises of God to Israel and the Church will be fulfilled.

Revelation 20:2-7

2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

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

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the

6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

Some theologians have spiritualized the Millennium calling it symbolic. However, I might remind you that in Revelation 20:2-7 the length of this period is mentioned six times. Therefore, I think we can safely say the Millennium is a literal 1000-year reign of Christ on the earth.

QUESTION2: WILL THE SAINTS OF GOD REIGN WITH CHRIST, AND WILL THEIR REIGN BE ON THE EARTH OR IN HEAVEN?

This is important because there are so many erroneous teachings on this subject. We must allow the scriptures to answer this one as well.

First of all, note:

Revelation 20:4

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Those saints who did not betray Christ by taking the mark of the beast will live again in the first resurrection. They are priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Jesus one thousand years. This is also rehearsed in:

Revelation 5:9-10

9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Luke 1:32-33

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

QUESTION #3: WHOM SHALL WE RULE OVER IN THE MILLENNIUM; AND WHAT WILL BE THE CONDITION OF THE EARTH AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MILLENNIUM?

When the Lord returns to the earth to set up His Kingdom, it is called, “The Day of the Lord.” It is a time when the Lord will extract vengeance on the heathen. Although the focus of these teachings is the Millennium, it suffices us to discover the timeline of events that carry us to this blessed hope. In doing so and without going into all the specifics of bible prophecy we will explore the conditions of the earth and how that condition and disposition will affect the sons.

The Rapture of the Church will take place soon after the Abomination of Desolation (the anti-Christ), enters the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. Jesus taught us to look up after this event for our redemption is nigh. However, the instruction to the Jews is to flee to the mountains. This implies that we will be raptured, while the Jewish remnant will remain until the Lord actually comes back to the earth. However, the Rapture will be no secret event.

Revelation 6:14-17

14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Keep in mind here that there are many who have heard the truth but did not receive it as truth. Therefore, they will know and understand these events. They will see Jesus coming in the clouds and fear will grip their hearts. The Jews will recognize Him and begin to weep for having murdered their Messiah.

Zechariah 12:10

And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

Revelation 1:7

Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

Isaiah 24:1-3

1 Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.

2 And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.

3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.

What we see in these verses is the complete unbiased wrath of the Lord on the inhabitants of the earth. Everyone who is meet for destruction will be destroyed. Their station in life will not be a concern.

Isaiah 24:4-6

4 The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.

5 The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.

6 Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.

In comparison to the billions of people who inhabited planet Earth, only a few will remain alive at the coming of Christ. Millions, if not billions of people will be destroyed off the face of the earth.

THE CONVERSION OF ISRAEL

Zechariah 3:8-10

8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.

9 For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

10 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.

Micah 7:18-19

18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.

19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

These passages imply that the conversion of Israel will take place in one day. I would think it would happen just before the start of the Millennium, seeing as how the Jews are the keepers of the Temple and the ones who will offer sacrifices before the Lord. They would not be able to stand in this office were they not purged of their sins. Nevertheless, when the smoke clears, there will be two distinct groups of people on the earth during the Millennium; the sons of God who have received their glorified bodies; and those people who lived through the tribulation and wrath of God: the Gentile survivors and the Jewish remnant.