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“Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, shall reign with Him a thousand years” (Rev. 20:6). I have never heard a sermon on the Millennium. In fact, I doubt many Christians have even given it much thought. Have you? I couldn’t even find a book at Amazon written on the subject! Yet, the Bible says a great deal about this 10-century future period of human history. Let’s have fun exploring it together.
First, it is important to note that although we will spend a short time in Heaven after the rapture. Maybe 3-7 years, depending on your beliefs, though it could be a matter of just days! We will then return to the Earth to live here for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4). It will still be our present Earth, but there will be a BIG difference! Satan will be “cast into the bottomless pit” so he can no longer deceive people (Rev. 20:3). This will keep evil at a bare minimum for this period. The Bible doesn’t mention demons during the Millennium. They could be bound away with Satan, or they could still be allowed to roam the Earth. But that will just give us more fun things to do: like casting demons out of New Converts!
Jesus will set up His “headquarters” in Jerusalem (Zech. 14:16, 17). And the redeemed shall “reign with Christ for a 1000 years.” This Millennial reign of Christ excites me for a lot of reasons. Consider, “the Lord shall be King over all the earth” (Zech. 14:19, 20). And He “shall rule them with a rod of iron.” And, the neat thing is, we get to rule with Him! “The time came that the saints possessed the kingdom” and “the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to … the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him” (Dan. 7:22, 25). I often revel in prayer about this coming privilege! As I’ve prayed, “For thine is the kingdom,” I’ve reminded myself and thanked the Lord that I will be a part of this coming kingdom!
Neither Hollywood nor Washington will any longer be Earth’s most influential city. In this kingdom, Jerusalem will be the very center of the earth! All nations will at least once a year journey to worship Him there (Zech. 14:16, 17). Many make it a big deal to go to the Holy Land and see all the sites. That has never been important to me. Why? Because, during the Millennium, I’ll get to visit the Holy Land at least 1000 times! Why spend hard-earned cash to go there now and see sites that are reputed to be the place where events took place when actual Bible characters that lived there can show us the REAL sites and relate to us personally how things went down!
What will life be like during the Millennium? First, surely the promise of Rom.
8:20 shall be fulfilled: “The creature (creation) itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” The planet, the people, and even animals will all experience the benefit of the church manifested to the full measure of its glorious destiny! There will be many unsaved men and women who “happened” to have survived the horrors of the Great Tribulation. We don’t know how many, but we do know that there are over 8 billion on Earth today. Rev. 6:8 speaks of a 1/4th of all humans dying, and Rev. 9:15 speaks of an additional 1/3rd killed. That adds up to over half the population of Earth gone! So there will still be billions left! That is many people for we believers to help “rule over.”
What will our rulership entail? We’ll likely be Governors, Senators, Mayors, Chiefs of Police, college Regents, and school Principals. And we will undoubtedly need a lot of pastors, teachers, and missionaries to teach the nations the way of the Lord. Isa. 11:9 says, “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the lord as the waters cover the sea.” Oh, what a joy to get to spread the gospel and lead people to Christ without the opposition of the devil (Luke 8:12). Churches, auditoriums, and Stadiums will be filled!
Imagine the revival taking place worldwide!
I believe that this will especially be true of the Muslim World. Isa. 19:18-25 could speak to this: “Then the Lord will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day . . . Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria.” Muslim Terrorists will be quickly executed when the Lord rules with His “rod of iron!” Crime will be greatly minimized! (No more “no-bail” release to the streets!).
The tribulation judgments, which
will have destroyed much of the earth, will be but the terminal reaping of what was sown by Adam in the fall of man. Then, many of the effects of the fall will be reversed during the Millennium. The Lord could do this instantly with a wave of His hand. But, just as He allowed angels to do many things on His behalf, surely He’ll allow us the privilege of doing the same. One of the first things we’ll likely need to do after our return is to start the restoration process for this planet. There will be a big mess after seven years of judgment! 5 earthquakes are mentioned in Revelation: 6:12, 8:5, 11:13; 11:19; 16:18, 19: (the last being the greatest of all time).“There was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell.” We’ll need major citywide construction projects, necessitating engineers, builders, job site superintendents, etc., to literally rebuild the cities of the earth. The church will surely lead this biggest building project in history (2nd only to the Tower of Babel, ha, ha!).
There won’t be an unemployment problem during the Millennium. Many of us will likely use the skills we picked up in our lifetime and continue in the same career (But no longer
the guy on the bottom digging the ditch; instead, up on top giving directions! Ha, ha!). Others could enroll in a university to study for the career they’ve always wanted. Doctor? Become one! Maybe I’ll be your teacher if you want to be an evangelist! Or, maybe I’ll sit down in the class with you while an angel teaches us! (However, there is no mention of what angels do during the Millennium, so they may still remain invisible, working in the background while we visibly work in the foreground!). I personally believe one purpose of the 1,000 years is to even things up a bit. God is a fair God! Many women would have loved to have had children but couldn’t or lost theirs. No problem: they will have their own preschool and nursery and raise children like their own family! Neglected Down Syndromes? They’ll be Ph.D. professors! Low-paid LVN nurses will be chief surgeons in hospitals. A life of poverty for 80 years? Faithful saints will live in unoccupied Beverly Hills Mansions for 1000! All this is just my opinion, and I can’t prove it, but neither can you
disprove it!
Since 1/3rd of the trees and grass are burned
up (Rev. 8:7), there will likely be a massive agricultural revolution to restore the earth to its pre-fall Garden of Eden-like splendor. (You farmers and women who love gardening will have a ball!) And watch how we totally eradicate weeds! Pests? There should be none! “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb …and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain” (Isa. 11:6-9). Animals began killing and eating one another after the fall, but during the Millennium, it appears all animals will be vegetarians (Maybe even mankind also! If so, I assure you they will have some fantastic veggie burgers available by then!).
Rev. 9:8 speaks of a, “great mountain burning with fire.” A comet or meteor, will destroy 1/3 of sea life. That event will require quite an ecological strategy to restore the ocean, clean up shorelines, and rebuild coastal communities. A hard job, but in our glorified bodies, all work will be fun and exciting (Like it must have been for Adam before the Earth was cursed!).
Isaiah 65:20 (GW) also gives us a fabulous glimpse into the Millennium: “There will no longer be an infant who lives for only a few days or an old man who doesn’t live a long life. Whoever lives to be a hundred years old will be thought of as young. Whoever dies before he is a hundred years old will be cursed as a sinner.” Think of it! Childhood diseases will be eradicated. Medical and health advancements will make living over 100 years of age easy to reach. Many of us could have the job of being “miracle workers” stationed at hospitals: ready to pray for “stillborn” infants or dying patients. Others could be riding in ambulances, ready to heal the sick or wounded or even raising the dead! Notice Isaiah mentions death. Though we, the redeemed, will be in our glorified bodies and never again experience death, the Earth will be populated by people who will die. Hopefully, most of the unsaved left on Earth (or born during the thousand years) will submit to the gospel and be ready to face eternity.
Yet, many will reject the gospel (Even in the face of Christ’s rulership and grace!). Some will likely die by disease, murder, or accidents (Though such things will be greatly minimized by our glorified-leadership and oversight, and “witty inventions” to restore earth). Nevertheless, as a form of judgment because of their stubborn sin or unbelief, early death will come to those whom, as Isaiah predicts, will be considered, “cursed as a sinner” (Isa. 65:20). Further evidence that many will remain unsaved and unbelievers, in spite of our best efforts, is revealed in Rev. 10:1, 2, 7-9. After 1000 years, Satan will be unleashed from his chain in his hellish prison and once more deceive a, “number as the sand of the sea” (Rev. 20:8).Their rebellion, thankfully, is short-lived and unsuccessful. The Lord never has and never will MAKE people love Him, even during the 1000 years!
What a reward awaits the righteous! We’ll have a thousand years to see everything we ever wanted to see and do everything we ever wanted to do. We may be able to fly or, like Philip, quickly move from one location to another. Since we won’t have to sleep anymore, maybe we’ll have wonderful fellowship services or parties every night! Before we leave this ol’ earth behind, we’re going to have a long, glorious farewell ceremony! Some may feel a certain sadness at the thought of ever having to say goodbye to this planet. But learn something from my experience. I have preached in all 50 states. I have flown into most major cities. I have seen most of the great tourist sites of our nation: I’ve climbed the Empire State Building, ridden on the Gateway Arch across the Mississippi, felt the mist at Niagara Falls, seen the stately Newport Mansions in Rhode Island, been to Disneyworld, walked the River Walk in San Antonio, TX, strolled the Smithsonian Museums in Washington D.C. and on and on and on. I have seen so much of America after seven decades that now, when I go to a city for a crusade, I almost never take time to see any of the sites. I go from the Airport to the motel, to the restaurant, to the gym, to the church, and repeat again and again until I fly back home.
If traveling for a career has sated my need to see much else in America, imagine after you have had 1000 years to explore your planet! Don’t you think you will be ready for the new heavens and new earth by then! I’m sure you will. For many of us (certainly for me), it is hard to imagine what heaven will be like; so we can then find comfort in the truth that we will be right here on terra firma, home sweet home for longer than we can imagine before we finally say adieu! For many years now, I have often tried to imagine how long 1000 years is. When I was 50, I probably thought to myself:
“Wow, I have had a lot of experiences and seen so many things. But, I can look forward to 20 times as many years to enjoy the Millennium.”
At nearly 75 now, that period is about 14 times as long! I feel I have lived a fabulous life! Still, I genuinely look forward to over 365,000 days of enjoying the Lord’s presence on Earth and His church promoted to all its destined splendor and glory! I’ll visit the sites at the Holy Land! I’ll fly to Saturn and see what the rings look like. I’ll preach the gospel with joy and power like never before. This wonderful time is just ahead of us, but first: the greatest trial the earth has ever known will begin. When it does, don’t fall away! Keep the faith! Because then, you have eternity in heaven; but 1st you get to see
What the Millennium Will be like!
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