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What is yet to happen to earth?
The Lesson: “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.” Revelation 20:4 Perhaps no prophecy has created greater excitement and fanciful interpretations than the one thousand-year prophecy. The redeemed saints live and reign with their Maker for one thousand years. Surely each of us desires to be among that happy company, but what will be the state of the wicked during this time? Where will the righteous be reigning? What marks the beginning and end of the one thousand years? When Does the Millennium Begin? “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.” From this verse, the one thousand-year reign of the saints begins at the first resurrection. If we think about this, it really makes sense. How could the saints reign with Christ when they are still sleeping in the graves? They could not. The beginning of the one thousand-year time period is marked not by a date, but by an event. The millennium did not begin at AD 1000, AD 2000, AD 2001, or any other time like this, it begins at the first resurrection; the resurrection in which the righteous of all ages are raised to life. Two Resurrections “Marvel not at this: 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 John specified that the millennium begins at the first resurrection because there are actually two resurrections—the resurrection of life and the resurrection of condemnation. The first resurrection is when the righteous come forth clothed with immortality, and the second is when the wicked are raised to receive their final reward. Every person who has ever died will come forth in one of these two resurrections. If we are listening to the voice of Jesus and obeying His Word today, we will become accustomed to obeying the voice of our Lord. When He calls His people forth we shall know His voice and come forth the first time that He calls. Those who have heard the voice of Jesus speaking to their hearts, but delayed or rejected it will rise at Jesus’ second call. They have formed the habit of ignoring Jesus’ voice and when He calls the first time, they know it not. Which group are we in? All who pass under the power of death will be in one of these two camps. Are you hearing and obeying the voice of Jesus now so that you will hear His voice and come forth when He calls the first time? The resurrection of the righteous actually occurs at Jesus’ second coming. When the Lord descends from heaven with a shout, He blows the trumpet of God and with the voice of the archangel, calls the sleeping saints from their graves. Then is the resurrection of life or the resurrection of the just (Acts 24:15), which marks the beginning of the millennium. When the millennium begins it will be the most glorious event the world has ever witnessed. The Lord will descend with all the holy angels in power and great glory. The glory of God will fill the sky as every eye (Revelation 1:7) witnesses the King of Kings coming in His glory. Thus the millennium will be ushered in as the grandest event of all time, the climax of the ages. There will be no doubt about the fact that the one thousand-year prophecy has begun. Righteous Ascend to Heaven “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:1-3 When the Lord comes to rescue His saints, He does not establish His kingdom on the earth at this time. The Lord Jesus, with the faithful of all the ages, returns to the glorious place that Jesus has prepared for His bride, His church. An earthly kingdom is not set up; rather the earth is devastated by the power and glory that accompanies the second coming. When Jesus comes, He does not meet His faithful people on this earth; they meet Him in the air. From the clouds they ascend together to the mansions that our Lord has prepared for us. The thousand-year reign of the saints does not take place here on this earth, but in the kingdom of heaven. Earth Decimated “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?” 2 Peter 3:10-12 “And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.” Revelation 16:18-21 When earth’s Creator comes to save His people, the entire earth gives way before her coming Maker. The earth goes into convulsions, such as have never before been known. The earth reels to and fro with the mightiest earthquake—far exceeding the Richter scale. Thunder peals through the earth and lightning illuminates the sky. The glory of the Lord is so great that nature bursts into flames. The prophet describes the elements melting with fervent heat and the heavens dissolving. It is no wonder that the Lord does not establish the one thousand-year reign here on this earth. Earth is no place to be. The beautiful scenes have vanished and in its place is destruction from the presence of the Lord. At the beginning of the millennium, when Jesus comes, the earth is devastated by His presence and glory. Wicked Consumed by the Brightness of His Coming “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 “And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Revelation 6:14-17 While the righteous are rescued from the chaos into which earth has been thrown, the wicked flee in abject terror at the glory of the Lord. The righteous have communed with their Lord throughout their lives. They have gotten to know Him as their one and only Lord and Saviour, and when His glory blazes across the sky they are prepared to meet Him. For the wicked, the story is reversed. They have despised His Word, been disobedient to His Law and rejected His voice. Now they are sorry. When Jesus speaks, they know His voice, not as a familiar acquaintance, but as a voice that spoke to their heart and from which they turned away. When His eyes light upon them, they feel that it searches them through and through. They run. They long to hide from the One who died to save them. They flee from the presence of the One who loves them so much. They did not prepare and now it is forever too late. They call for the rocks and mountains to fall and hide them from His presence. Those who are not dashed in pieces by the rocks which are hurled about by the shaking earth are destroyed by the brightness of Jesus’ glory. The glory, which will be the delight of the righteous for eternal ages to come, is the means of death to those who have refused to follow and obey their loving Lord. The beginning of the millennium is marked by the most glorious and catastrophic event ever. The Lord Jesus comes for His faithful people and takes them to the place He has been preparing for them in Paradise. The earth is wrecked by the glory of the Lord and all the wicked are destroyed by the majesty and power of Jesus’ second coming. During the Millennium “Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.” Jeremiah 25:30, 33 “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.” Jeremiah 4:23-26 During the millennium not one human being is left alive upon the face of the earth. The slain of the Lord cover the ground from one end to the other. They are not buried. No one mourns. There is no one left. All of the righteous are with their Lord in their heavenly home and all the wicked have been destroyed by the glory of the Lord. It is a fearful time that the earth has never seen before. A time has never been when there was none to mourn for or bury the dead, but during the millennium that time comes. The desolations of the earth are so widespread and destructive that the prophet says it is as if the earth was without form and void. The same description was used before the earth was created. (Genesis 1:2) This world, the habitation of sin for six thousand years, has now become a cold, dark, lifeless pit. Satan Chained to this Pit “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.” Revelation 20:1-3 The devil, who has caused all the ruin in this world, is now chained to this cold, dark, bottomless pit. The Greek word translated “bottomless pit” is abussos (our word abyss comes from this Greek word). Abussos literally means “without bottom.” The Hebrew equivalent for abussos is tehom, which is the same word used in Genesis chapter 1 describing the earth when it was without form and void, the same description given by Jeremiah. Comparing these words and the description of the millennium, we understand that Satan is going to be chained to earth, this cold, dark, lifeless, bottomless pit. For six thousand years the devil has spread spiritual darkness over the face of the earth, now it is time for the devil to begin to pay for his deeds. The worst prison cell to be in is solitary confinement, and now the Lord puts the devil in solitary confinement for one thousand years. There is no one to tempt, no one to harass. Just one thousand years of contemplating the ruin and desolation that he has caused. The chain that binds him is a chain of circumstance. There is no one to tempt and annoy. They are either a carcass upon the ground or reigning with Christ. Can you imagine the devil pacing back and forth across the earth contemplating how he caused this person and that one to be his lifeless companion? We can determine not to be among them. The Saints during the Millennium “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? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?” I Corinthians 6:2, 3 “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.” Revelation 20:4 The one thousand years is the saints’ introduction and orientation to eternity. They will have the ceaseless cycles of eternity stretching before them, but this is the prelude to it. I am sure that acquaintances are made and renewed, but there is a very important work the Lord has for them to do. It is the work of judging—not to determine who is saved and lost; that has already been decided. The investigative phase of the judgment took place even before Jesus came, but now is the sentencing phase. The books are open for all to see. If there are any questions as to why someone is not there or why someone is there, the truth will be made plain. The millennium is the beginning of retribution for the devil and his rebel demons. The earth is desolate, without form and void. The wicked have all perished at Jesus’ second coming, so they are sleeping, awaiting the second resurrection. The devil is chained to the dark, bottomless pit of this earth to ponder over the work he has wrought. Meanwhile, the saints are becoming familiarised with their new existence, living, reigning and judging with Christ. The End of the Millennium “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband… And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.” Revelation 21:2, 10 “And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God” Zechariah 14:4 “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.” Revelation 20:5 At the end of the one thousand years, the forces of good and evil meet again. The finishing work of the judgment and the execution of the punishment take place. For one thousand years the earth has been a dark desolate waste, but then John sees the New Jerusalem descending from heaven accompanied by King Jesus and the saved. It is at this time that Jesus stands upon the Mount of Olives and it becomes a mighty plain prepared for the New Jerusalem to settle on. When the Holy City decends with the saved people of God, the wicked are then resurrected, for the “rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.” The time has now come for the resurrection of the unjust and of condemnation. The one thousand years has concluded and eternity will soon be ushered in. The final phase of the great controversy is about to end, but first the final scenes in the drama of the ages must transpire. The Final Attack “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 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.” Revelation 20:7, 8 With the resurrection of billions and billions of the lost throughout the ages, the devil is loosed from his prison of solitary confinement. No longer does the chain of circumstance bind him. Immediately he sets about his fiendish work of deceiving the lost again. This final act proves to all the heavenly hosts that neither the devil nor his followers have changed. Repentance is not heard, but a final desperate attack is made upon the camp of God’s people. Surrounded by the brightest military commanders who never lost a battle, an assault is staged, but God does not allow the capital and throne of the universe to be overcome by the foe. The final executive phase of the judgment brings a halt to the well developed plan for the overthrow of God’s throne. The Lord reveals to each and every one why they are lost, when and how they rejected truth. Every deed is shown in living colours and there is not one word of defence given. Each can see that they have lost the glorious inheritance that they could have enjoyed. With the realisation of God’s great justice, every knee bows and every tongue confesses the righteousness of God. “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. 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. 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.” Revelation 20:11-13 “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:10, 11 Wicked Consumed “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… And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” Revelation 20:9, 14 “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28 “Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” Jude 7 “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts.” Malachi 4:1-3 After each one has seen why they are lost and where they rejected the call of mercy, the punishment is meted out, but even in the punishment it can be seen that God is a God of love. Since “righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne” (Psalm 97:2), He must be just and execute the sentence upon the disobedient, but it will not be an eternally burning condemnation. God in His love destroys the sinner, but does not cause him to suffer throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity. The wicked are turned to ashes. They suffer the second death. They are destroyed by the eternal results of eternal fire, but they do not burn forever and ever. Each will be rewarded proportionately to their works, but no one will continue to burn throughout eternity. When all sin is consumed, the fires will go out, and all sin and sinners will have been reduced to ashes. All Things New “For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Psalms 37:9-11 “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.” Revelation 21:1-5 With the extermination of all sin and sinners, the Lord recreates this world into its primeval beauty and gives it to His faithful children. No stain or trace of sin can be found anywhere, but all nature sings praises to its King. Unity and accord is restored to the universe again. “God is love” beats with one throb throughout all creation. The sorrow and suffering so common to the world we know, have long since passed away. Nevermore will pain or temptation harass the saints again, it Have you made the decision to obtain this eternal inheritance regardless of the cost? You must be willing to follow the Lord Jesus wherever He leads. It may cost you friends. Your family may mock and ridicule. Your employer may threaten your job, but if we realise the value of the kingdom of heaven, the trials will seem trivial in comparison with the prize. Are you willing to keep all of God’s commandments? Are you willing to do whatever He asks? Will you make the decision to be among the number safely inside those pearly gates? |
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A Prophetic Glimpse
into the Future
has sunk into the records of the past. But there is one thing that will never become an insignificant memory. It is the great love and humiliation that our Saviour endured to save mankind from the pit of sin into which he had sunken. The story of redemption will ever be upon the minds and lips of the redeemed host. The earth made new becomes the eternal abode of the righteous throughout the eternity to follow.
