The Millennium

Rev 20:1-4 January 1, 2017

Angel Michael Binding Satan by W.Blake(1805)

“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 for a thousand years.” Rev. 20.1‑4

As Act 6 opened with the Antichrist sitting on God’s throne, Act 7 opens with the rightful heir to the throne, Christ, sitting in a cleansed Temple on his beautiful and glorious throne. A rainbow is above him, he is encircled by the Apostles and the Patriarchs of Israel and in his hand is a rod of iron with which he will rule the nations. This is the Christ seen in the opening chapter of Revelation – his hair is white as snow, his eyes blaze like fire, his feet are like brass glowing in a furnace and when he speaks his words are heard above any noise on earth. Israel, the world, and all its people, are at his feet, finally under His exclusive leadership.

But because of this picture, the Millennium is an oft misunderstood age. Common presumption has it that this 1,000 year period will be a perfect age of bliss, filled with nothing but peace and tranquility. – But hold it a second. Though it is the perfect 1,000 year rule of the perfect king it is not quite yet time for the Utopia that God has promised for those who surrender their will to him.

Chapter 20 of Revelation explicitly declares that, while Satan will be chained up for those 1,000 years, he will be allowed to lead one final rebellion at the end of the Millennium. In the prophetic word we are told that any nation which refuses to go up to Jerusalem during the Millennium with offerings of worship on the major feast days will be punished for their indifference by being plagued with drought. The Lord, the Scriptures say, will rule with a rod of iron along with his saints. Such prophecies presuppose a need for discipline. And if there is a need for discipline then everything is not in perfect harmony with God’s will just yet.

Still, despite contentions, the Millennium will be a period of great rest for the earth and its people. A thousand years is as one day to God notes 2 Peter 3.8. Just as God worked the first six days and rested on the seventh, so he has labored with Man and Man’s government for six thousand years (days), and for the last thousand years (day) the world will rest under the perfect government of Christ. A young man, we are told, will be 100 years old. The lion will lie down with the lamb. Nature will be in unison. Justice will prevail. Righteousness will be a constant force emanating from Christ’s holy throne in Jerusalem. Restoration and redemption of all things will begin to take shape.

Man’s heart is Desperately Wicked
There will be, however, a wild card stirring up problems in this harmonious world which will cause imperfection and disruption. This time it will not be Satan’s fault, nor will he be able to be blamed, no, Satan will be chained in the bottomless pit, this time the rebellion and sin in the world will be the exclusive responsibility of Man. Jeremiah was moved by the Holy Ghost to reveal the truth about Man’s “goodness” when he declared, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: Who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” Jer. 17.9-10 Much of the Millennium and its redemption work will be to bring out the truth about Man and his deceitful heart.

At the end of the 1,000 years Satan will be unloosed and sent out to deceive the nations, and the nations which “number the sands of the sea” will surround the camp of the saints and the holy city in battle against God and his people again. How can it be? After Jesus’s death and resurrection, after his second coming in power and glory, after his perfect rule, Satan will still find millions who think there is a better way. Only the all consuming fire from God sent to totally destroy the nations will put down the final rebellion. Satan is then thrown into the lake of fire, the same lake where the Beast and the False Prophet were sentenced to 1,000 years earlier. There, the unholy trinity will be tormented night and day forever.

At the end of the Millennium, the book of judgment will be opened and all those who have not been resurrected yet will be judged according to their works. Death and Hell will be cast into the fire. And anyone not found in the book of life will also be cast into that dreadful lake of fire where Satan and his cohorts languish.

After 7,000 years God’s work of redeeming Man unto himself will be done and our eternal relationship with him will stand bright on the new horizon.