Revealing Revelation – #8

Both the Old Testament and the New Testament speak of a thousand years after the end of the Tribulation where Jesus will reign, and we—His believers—will reign with Him.  It’s called The Millennial Kingdom.
 
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.
 
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.  5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 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 and shall reign with Him a thousand years (Revelation 20:1–6).
 

The Tribulation has been a time when Satan’s activities have been in full play, but at a certain point God will put a stop to his destructive ways; he will be locked up for a thousand years, and Christ—along with His true believers—will reign during those thousand years. Even so, at the end of those thousand years, Satan MUST be released for a short period of time. In God’s fair judgment, all those who made it through the Tribulation without receiving the mark of the beast or have not worshiped the beast, must be given one more chance to surrender their lives to Jesus Christ.
 
After Satan is released, all people who have lived on the earth will come back to life. That’s called the First Resurrection. Biblically, this resurrection starts with the resurrection of Jesus and ends with the resurrection of the martyrs, those who surrendered to Jesus during the Tribulation. At the end of the thousand years there will be the Second Resurrection, when all the unbelieving dead will be raised so that they can have their last chance to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. For those who participated in the First Resurrection, the second death has no power over them, because God will have judged all humanity. Some that He has judged will go to eternal life with Him, and some will go to eternal damnation with Satan.
 
The question all of us must ask ourselves today is what have we done for God? What has pleased Him about our lives? The big, bold answer can be found in this question: have we been born again and made Jesus our Lord?  Then the next level of questioning can be found in this question: What did we do for Israel, God’s chosen country? And how did we treat our neighbor? Did we obey Him? Did we worship Him? You can deal with your own heart at this point and change your ways, because in the Millennium there will be no opportunity for promotion.
 
As for the O.T. instructing us about the Millennium, there are more verses about this kingdom in the O.T. than there are in the N.T. Let me give you a synopsis of what they say:
 

• The reign of Jesus and His believers will be world-wide.
• It will be peaceful, righteous, and just.
• The Lord’s throne will be in Jerusalem.
• Jesus will rule as king, legislator, and judge.
• The redeemed will reign as princes.
• The leading nation of the world will be Israel.
• The glory and the holiness of the Lord will be manifested.
• There will be an atmosphere of joy and praise.
• There will be joyful shouting.
• Sorrow and sighing will flee away.
• The temple will be rebuilt as the worship center of the world.
• The Shekinah glory of God will hover over Jerusalem.
• The earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord.
• The animal kingdom will be restored to its original perfection.
• Poisonous animals will cease to be poisonous.
• Meat-eating animals will become herbivores.
• All members of the animal kingdom will live together in perfect peace and also with mankind.

 
Then, for a short period of time, this wonderful kingdom must cease, giving Satan time to corral those who will choose him over Jesus. May you and I be firmly established in this The Millennial Kingdom! Because after this comes Eternal Life with more glory than we can fathom in these earthly bodies and souls.