The Millennial Kingdom
Book of Revelation Chapter 20
In Chapter 19 we saw The Lord Jesus Christ bring the "Judgment" of God upon all those who had the "mark of the beast" and all those who fell down to worship the image of the beast.
The Earth is almost completely destroyed!
The Lord Jesus will now set the captives free but He will also rule for one thousand years and he will rule those who remain with a "rod of iron" which means He will make the laws, which we know will the same Word of God we have today and He will not tolerate any deviation from His law.
Jer 30:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Jer 30:2 Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.
Jer 30:3 For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.
Jer 30:4 And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.
The Lord Jesus will not rule a destroyed earth because He will remake the earth, as it was in the days of Adam, before sin entered into the world.
He will reclaim what Adam lost!
*****Rev 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Who is the identity of this angel?
We know that Satan was just and angel. He was not the greatest of angels, nor is it ever said that he was a strong angel. He was just and angel who was to lead the worship in Heaven.
Eze 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
Because Satan was just an angel, even though an Archangel (Lucifer), it will only take another angel to subdue him.
Personally, I hope the Lord just allows the smallest angel in Heaven to do this thing.
Before the Lord will begin to rule for one thousand years there are some things that need to be taken care of.
The first being Satan needs to be bound and out of the picture.
He is just a tool in the Lord's hand, and he will not be needed for those one thousand years!
*****Rev 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Rev 20:3 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 be loosed a little season.
Notice he is named the Devil, Satan, the dragon, and that old serpent, just so we will know he is the same one who deceived Eve who caused Adam to sin and who we have found throughout the Scriptures and now here in the Book of Revelation.
Satan has never been bound during the Church Age, but he is under complete control of Jehovah God, the Lord Jesus Christ. he must have the permission of the Lord before he can plague a child of God.
He is allowed a lot of freedom with those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ.
What do we know about the Devil? He was an original angel named Lucifer and dwelt in Heaven. He is one of the main reasons there will be a New Heaven, a New Jerusalem, and a New Earth. God lives in places that are pure!
He rebelled against Jehovah and was cast out of Heaven onto the earth where he became prince of the power of the air and the (little g) god of this age, he is still allowed to accuse God's children.
During the Great Tribulation he will be limited to the earth, and have no more contact with the Lord.
At the end of the Great Tribulation he will be bound, chained, in the bottomless pit for one thousand years, where he will just be one of the others who are already there. He has no importance in the bottomless pit!
This is the subject of our lesson today.
Just so we know, spirit beings can be chained with a heavenly chain!
2Pe 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
Jud 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
Those heavenly chains are chains of darkness. They are everlasting chains that only God can remove!
For one thousand years the mouth of that old accuser will be taped shut and closed.
For one thousand years old Satan will be amongst the other angels that rebelled.
For one thousand years people can live without temptation.
For one thousand years the Devil cannot lead anyone into sin.
For those who live today we see that only Heaven has the power to overcome the evil wickedness of that old Serpent who first brought sin into this world!
For those who live today, we can see that there is coming a day when doors will not have to be locked and people can walk the streets without fear of being robbed or molested in any way.
The Lord Jesus when He came from Heaven, He did not come alone!
*****Rev 20:4 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.
Just who will sit upon these thrones?
Dan 7:22 Until 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.
If there are to be "judges" then obviously there will be people to judge and the only ones who remain alive are those who refused the "Mark of the Beast".
They rejected the Mark of the Beast, but they have not yet accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.
The Millennial reign of Christ will be a time that is far different from any other period of history but there will still be only one salvation plan.
There will still be only one Word of God. The exact same book we call today the Bible, and there will be no perverted versions of the Bible.
Those that sit to "judge" will have these Scriptures as the guide to Judgment!
1Co_6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
I personally believe that the Saints of God will judge the Gentiles that remain.
I personally believe it will be the Apostles who will judge the Hebrew children who have survived.
Mat 19:28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Mat 19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
Mat 19:30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.
These are the words of Jesus so they must be taken just as they are written.
There are many who survived the Great Tribulation or there would be no need of judges.
These judges will be somewhat as described in the Old Testament to defend the truth of God!
No one will be allowed to go by their own thoughts, nor live according to their own ways!
It may also be true that the "martyrs" will remain closest to the Lord.
We have the Church (the Bride of Christ) who will be on a one thousand-year honeymoon.
We have the resurrected saints, the 144,000 Hebrew evangelist, and martyrs from the Great Tribulation.
There will be at the last a resurrection of the dead who will all go to the White Throne of Judgment where they will be judged.
This will not take place until the end of the one thousand years!
*****Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6 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.
It could be said that the Rapture of the Saints of God does not reach its climax until the Bride of Christ returns with the Lord to this earth for the Lord to rule for one thousand years.
Luk 14:13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
Luk 14:14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.
It could also be said that this is the first resurrection outside the Church Age. The period of time called the "Time of Jacob's Trouble".
Rev 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
Rev 14:2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
Rev 14:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
What do we already know?
Mat 27:50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
Mat 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
Mat 27:52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
Mat 27:53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
Mat 27:54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.
At the resurrection of the Lord, many Old Testament Saints also arose from their graves and we here no more about them.
Who is to say that some similar did not occur as the Lord Jesus sat down upon His earthly throne?
In reality there are but two resurrections!
Joh 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29 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.
1) There is the resurrection to life. Which may take place on more than one occasion.
2) There is the resurrection to damnation that will take place only once!
This is exactly what we understand from verse 6.
All those who serve with the Lord when He sits as King of kings and Lord of lords, are all part of that group who are those who have been resurrected to life and the second death holds no power over them.
We should understand that there will be many alive that are not in glorified bodies at this time but have lived through the Great Tribulation or there would be no need for judges or priests.
All these will live for one thousand years under King Jesus as He rules with a rod of iron.
There will be many births but there may be no death or limited death.
The earth will be restored to be like it was in the first days of Adam before sin entered in this world.
There has been no temptation.
No one can be in the family of God who has not been tempted to do evil.
We must all have a testimony!
To accomplish this, The Lord will release Satan for a short season.
*****Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
What has happened during those one thousand years?
1) To begin with:
Amo 9:13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
Amo 9:14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
Amo 9:15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.
Eze 36:33 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.
Eze 36:34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.
Eze 36:35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.
Isa 35:1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
Isa 35:2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.
Isa 35:4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
Isa 55:12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Isa 55:13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
Joe 3:18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
But the Lord will rule with a rod of iron:
The population will have grown tremendously.
God has one rule.
All those who will live throughout eternity with Him will choose to do so. Jehovah, the Lord Jesus Christ does not force Himself upon anyone!
Even these who have been raised in perfection must get the opportunity to hear the lies of Satan and then make their choice.
The end is always the same! To be on the side of the Lord is to be on the winning side!
The One who turned Satan loose is the same one who bound him. He is just a tool in the hands of the Lord who has a purpose just as we all do.
One thousand years locked up in Hell's prison will have no effect in rehabilitation for Satan. He is the same evil and wicked person he has always been, and he will immediately seek an army to battle again with the Lord.
He does not seek angels.
He is still limited to the earth.
He will again try to bring chaos to this earth.
We should understand that most of Israel and over the one thousand years many have been born and the population of earth is tremendous.
They have lived one thousand years under the hand of King Jesus and the Saints of God.
The Lord has met all the needs of the people all these years.
The one thing missing has been "temptation" and we will see how easily it is for humans to be deceived.
*****Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Again a mighty army has been put in place to march on Jerusalem.
Notice the Lord allows these things to take place up to the point that Jerusalem is again cut off.
God does what God does! He will put an end to rebellion for ever!
God will eliminate the last army to come against Him.
He will not use other humans for they have proved to be loyal and faithful.
The Antichrist and the False Prophet are still in the Lake of Fire and Satan takes on whatever shape he needs, to deceive, and he is good at it!
When God sends fire down from Heaven every sinner of those one thousand years will be destroyed instantly and the only one standing will be Satan and he will be totally humiliated before the Lord confines him to the Burning Lake of Fire for eternity.
Isa 14:12 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!
Isa 14:13 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:
Isa 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Isa 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Isa 14:16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
Isa 14:17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
Satan will join those who he had enlisted to help him.
*****Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
There will no great reunion when these three are in the same place. We could say that misery loves company, but they will not ever see each other again.
Satan will live forever knowing that he had been to Heaven and he knew how wonderful Heaven was and he will now be where all those who rebel against our Heavenly Father and His Son and His Spirit and he will feel that misery forever.
Remember this place was specifically designed just for Him.
This is his "final judgment"!
He will never be loosed again!
Satan and all his demons knew this day was in their future!
Mat 8:28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
Mat 8:29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
Their freedom to torment humans was finally over!
There was but one thing that remained for all those who had rebelled against the Messiah.
Judgment Day
*****Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
We can be sure that God promises a "final judgment"!
A "judgment" when all those who have rejected the truth of the Scriptures will be resurrected to face the Lord Jesus Christ as he will judge them.
Act 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
Act 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
Act 17:32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.
The righteousness is "being right morally" according the truth of the Scriptures and the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was raised from the dead to be King of kings and Lord of lords, but also Judge of judges!
We already know that God does exactly what He says He will do and this fixed day is according what we see written in our Scripture in Revelation 20 verses 11-15.
2Ti 4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
This would be at the end of His Millennial Kingdom.
There is every reason to believe that we will all face "judgment" at one time or another!
Rom 2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
Rom 2:6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:
Rom 2:7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
Rom 2:8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
Rom 2:9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
Rom 2:10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
Rom 2:11 For there is no respect of persons with God.
The theme of our passage in verse 11 is that this will be the "final Judgment" of all those whose names are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
Even all secrets will be revealed!
Luk 12:2 For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.
Luk 12:3 Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.
Luk 12:4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
Luk 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
The bottom line is, that it is far better to confess your sins, which God will immediately forget, and repent to live a life according to the Scriptures, and confess the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.
Psa 103:8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
Psa 103:9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
Psa 103:10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
Psa 103:11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
Psa 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Psa 103:13 Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
Psa 103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
Mic 7:18 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.
Mic 7:19 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.
Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
No matter who we are or what we have done in our life, if we are serious with Jesus Christ and confess our sins, they will not be remembered in Heaven!
God has the records of our guiltiness and it would be far better for us if our life of sin would be blotted out of those books and our name found written in the Lamb's Book of Life!
You see it is also at this time that death will be cast into the Lake of Fire and there will be no more death only life eternal.
This is also the time that Hell will be cast into the Lake of Fire which is the new home of all those whose name cannot be found in the Lamb's Book of Life.
We must have faith in the truth of God and the truth of our Savior.
I cannot imagine anyone who would want to spend eternity in misery in the Burning Lake of Fire.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know.
Amen
