THE SECOND COMING: PART 2 - THE MILLENNIUM

The Second Coming | Part 2 - The Millennium


The 1,000-year millennium following the Christ's return for His faithful, waiting people has been the focus of longing hearts ever since a glimpse into the future life was provided in the book of Revelation.  There are many different theories regarding the millennium, the events surrounding it and who is alive during that time.  Scripture presents a clear delineation of events surrounding the 1,000 year reign of Jesus with His people and it is quite different from the beliefs held by most.

Millennium Timeline (Revelation 20:5-6)Scripture reveals that there will be two resurrections:

   At the beginning of the millennium;
   At the end of the millennium.

“For the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”  (John 5:28, 29, KJV)

All who have died loving God will have a part in the first resurrection.

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.  (See Revelation 20:5b, 6.)

Those who have persisted in rebelling against the divine law will be raised in the second resurrection, to meet their punishment on the earth.

“But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” (Revelation 20:5a)

There is no opportunity for anyone to repent during the thousand years that follow the Second Coming.  No one who has rejected the leadership of the Creator and rebelled against His holy law will still be alive at that time.  Therefore, any repentance must take place before Christ returns or it is forever too late.  When the Christ returns, His face will shine brighter than the sun.  The immense energy radiating from that holy countenance will be health and life to the righteous, but destruction to the wicked:

. . . when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,  In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Master, and from the glory of His power. (See 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9.)  

“And then shall that Wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.”  (2 Thessalonians 2:8)

For those who quote Isaiah to prove that some humans are left on earth after the 2nd coming:

(Isaiah 13:9 and 24:1-6 speak of desolation, but verse 6 (chapter 24) also says there are "few men left.")

Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. (See Isaiah 13:9.)

Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. . . . The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. 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. (See Isaiah 24:1-6.)

The few men LEFT are the RIGHTEOUS ones that are preserved - the wheat in the barn, those in the ark, Lot and his family etc.

Examine carefully all of the texts concerning the destruction of the wicked and you will find that they are the first to be taken / garnered / reaped - the tares from among the wheat, the flood came and took them all away, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.

"Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn." (Matthew 13:30)  [Note: The wheat is LEFT safe in the barn.]  

"As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world." (Matthew13:40)  

"And knew not until the flood came, and took them all [the wicked] away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." (Matthew 24:39)                                                              

"And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. . . . the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. . . .  But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.  Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." (Luke 17:26 -30)

Conclusion: NONE of the wicked will remain alive on the earth at the 2nd coming of Jesus.

After the wicked are destroyed by the brightness of Jesus' coming, the dead will be from one end of the earth to the other with none left alive to bury them.

“And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.”  (Jeremiah 25:33)

After all who have died loving the Lord have been raised in the first resurrection, “then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”  (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
smiling woman dressed in white

              All who have died loving God will be raised in the first resurrection.

After being taken to Heaven, the righteous receive their reward:

“And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.  And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.”  (Revelation 15:2, 3)

The righteous will not be idle during the millennium.  There is rest for the weary, but none will be indolent.  The saved have a special work to do during the 1,000 year reign with the Christ: the judgment of the wicked.

“Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? . . . Know ye not that we shall judge angels?”  (1 Corinthians 6:2, 3)

This judgment will be presided over by Jesus and the saints.  All who have loved ones who are not in Heaven will understand the love God exercised in their behalf and agree with the justice that excludes them from Heaven.

Just sentence will be passed, not only on the lost sinners, but on Satan and his angels.

“The Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom . . . the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his [Satan’s] dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.  And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom . . . .”  (Daniel 7:22, 26, 27)
Satan bound (eye looking through a keyhole)

Satan will be bound to the earth while the righteous
reign for 1,000 years in Heaven with Christ.

During the millennium, only Satan and his angels will be left alive on Planet Earth.  It will be a scene of devastation and destruction.  All will see that the results of rebellion against the Kingdom of Heaven are death and destruction of life.

Scripture presents a clear order of events surrounding the millennium.  The resurrection of the righteous begins the millennium; the resurrection of the wicked ends the millennium.

   The earth is left in utter ruin by a devastating earthquake and hailstorm during the last plague (Revelation 16:14-21).
   Second Coming of Jesus for the righteous (Matthew 24:30, 31).
   Resurrection of the Righteous (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17).
   The righteous are given immortality (1 Corinthians 15:51-55).
   The living righteous are given new, immortal bodies (1 John 3:2; Philippians 3:21).
   All the righteous are caught up into the clouds with Jesus (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17).
   The living wicked are slain by the brightness of the Christ(2 Thes.1:7-9; 2 Thes.2:8; Matt.24:29; Luke 17:26 -30).
   The wicked dead remain dead until the end of the millennium (Revelation 20:5).
   Jesus and the righteous go to heaven (John 13:33, 36; 14:1-3).
   Satan bound on the earth (Revelation 20:1-3).

John the Revelator was shown Satan being bound to the earth while the righteous reigned for 1,000 years in Heaven with Jesus:

“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

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

“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 be loosed a little season.

“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.

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

"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.”  (Revelation 20:1-7)

earth wrapped in chains The phrase “bottomless pit” comes from abussos which is the same word as “abyss” or “void”.  Scripture describes the pre-Creation world as “without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.”  (Genesis 1:2)

Long ago in Heaven, Satan had boasted that he would be like the Most High.  Scripture records both his boast and the sure result that will come upon him for his rebellion:

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

“For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

“Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”  (Isaiah 14:12-15)

The earth has been destroyed by the seven last plagues and returned to its pre-Creation state.  People are either dead or are in Heaven.  The millennium is Satan’s opportunity to make good on his boast.  But Satan is not like the most High; he can neither create anything nor deliver himself from his prison of darkness.  He can only wander up and down in the broken chaos that remains of earth.  His own choice determines his destiny.

In like justice, the choice of each person during the probationary time of his/her life, determines each destiny.  What choices are you making today?  Will you choose to spend the millennium in heaven with your Jesus and the redeemed of earth?