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THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM

Rev. 20:2-8 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand  years, 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. 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 . 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 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. 7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 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.

The verses in the above passage are the only place in the New Testament where an earthly, one thousand year Kingdom of Christ is mentioned. But that does not mean they should be ignored or explained away as being some kind of metaphor. Jer. 23:5-6 clearly promises that Jehovah will raise up a Branch of David (Jesus Christ) who will reign on earth, and, when that happens, Israel will no longer refer to Jehovah as having brought them out of captivity in Egypt, but, from that time forward, they will refer to Him as having led them out of captivity from all countries. This clearly has to refer to a time after the Dispersion in A. D. Seventy when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple. Rev. 5:10 says that Jesus will make the 24 Elders, who represent the Saints from both the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, to reign with Him on Earth.

Ps. 2:8-9 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

Rev. 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

Ps. 2:8 says that Jehovah will give the heathen (the Gentile Nations) to Jesus, who is Jehovah in fleshly form, the for His inheritance. Rev. 2:6 says that Jesus will then in turn give His Church power over those Nations. The Millennial Kingdom is the fulfillment of that promise and prophecy. The Time of the Millennium is not the time of peace and tranquility that expositors and pop religionists have made it out to be. In Truth, it is the time when Jesus brings all the Nations of the Earth under His subjection and rules them with a rod of iron. The Constitution for His Kingdom will be the Word of God. Sin will immediately result in judgment. The only rights that mankind will have will be in obedience to the Word of God.

Isa. 65:20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. It is obvious that Isa. 65:20 above cannot be applied to either the Old Testament Covenant or the New Testament age. Likewise it cannot be true of the Eternal Kingdom because there will be no death there. Therefore, we must understand that it applies to the Millennial Kingdom, which means that the Millennial Kingdom is not an allegory.

Isa. 30:21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. This then is the way in which the population of the Millennium will be governed. When one of Jesus’ subjects shall think to transgress, they shall be admonished by a word that they will hear coming from behind them telling them the right way to go and do. If they then shall willfully transgress, judgment will immediately fall upon them.

The question then arises as to who will populate the Earth during the Millennium. Israel will be a Nation of Priests. (see Ex. 19:5-6, Isa, 49:6, Ez. chapt’s. 47 & 48, Zech. 8:22-23) The Gentiles will be His subjects. (Zech. 14:16-17) The Earth will be repopulated and replenished for 1000 years while Satan is bound and can not tempt and lie to the nations. The population of Earth will be as the “sands of the sea” at the end of the thousand years.  But, it must be remembered that the people of earth have not been regenerated. They are yet in the flesh, the same flesh as Adam. The final lesson for which the Creation has been groaning will come when Satan is loosed out of the Bottomless Pit and goes all over the Earth deceiving the Nations once again, assembling them to overthrow the Lordship of Jesus Christ one last time.

But what will life be like during the thousand year reign of Christ? 

Micah 4:1-4 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. 2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. 4 But they shall sit every man under his  vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.

Isa. 11:1-11 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: 4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. 5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. 6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. 7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.

Isa. 65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.

According to the three passages above, life during the Millennial Kingdom will be peaceful, idyllic, and pastoral. It is a testimony to Satan’s deceptive powers that after living like this for one thousand years mankind once again falls under his spell.