© 1998 "Yes Lord" Ministries
Leader's Guide for Revelation Lesson 10
Revelation Chapters 19:1-20:10
The Millennium
Open with Prayer -- and, as always, you do the praying.
Opening Question and Comments: I began by saying and asking: "Well, class, this week we studied about what period of time?" (Then I waited for them to answer). When someone said "The Millennium" or "The 1000 years" or "The 1000 year reign of Christ" or "the 1000 years of the Kingdom of God" or some similar correct answer, I began the visual aid by writing that answer at the top of the Board as the Title of the Visual Aid. (In ORANGE)
Then I said: "Millennium is from 2 Latin words: Mille= 1000 and Annus = years." (And I wrote those words and the definitions on the board... also in Orange) as I said... "And you will notice that we get our English word, annual =year from this same word. And, tonight this is what we are going to look at in some detail, we are going to look at the Millennium, the 1000 years, the 1000 years of the Reign of Christ before eternity begins.
So, let's begin by looking first at When and How the Millennium begins and WHO will be in it.
BEGIN Column 1 of Visual Aid
At this point, I wrote (in BLUE) the title of column 1 on the Visual aid and titled it: "When and How it begins and Who is in it:
I then told the class that we would have 3 columns on our chart tonight, but did not tell them the titles of the other 2 columns yet. (But, do let them know how many there will be. Some of your students like to know these things... so they can leave the proper amount of space.)
Then, I drew a simplified time line (not to scale, of course) at the bottom of the visual aid... and, as we did last week, as I put the timeline on the board, I used this as a "review" to put them back into the big picture of when in time the 1000 years is..... my time line looked like this:
O___F__A_____ C(____church age_____)RB<__7 years___>J(....1000 y.....) G<~~~~~
Of course, I used words, pictures, and colors... instead of just these lines and marks and letters.... but, this is my shorthand so you will know what I mentioned as I drew the time line. This is what I drew and said... you use whatever symbols, colors, words, and etc. that you prefer....
O This is where the world began....
F is Noah's Flood (and I drew a blue wiggly squiggle and wrote "THE Flood" above it)
A is Father Abraham and the beginning of the Jewish race and nation
C was the Cross of Jesus representing His death and resurrection to pay the sin penalty
(___church age----) is the period of time we are in now (I did this in GREEN)
R = the Rapture of the Church... (wrote this in green also)
B = the Bema Judgment of the Church...( also wrote this in green)
<___the 7 years___> (wrote this in black_
J = the Judgment of the nations. (I wrote this in BROWN)
(......1000 y......) (I drew this in ORANGE to represent the "golden age")
G = The Great White Throne Judgment. (I wrote this in Purple and drew a purple throne)
<~~~~~ = Eternity. (I wrote this in purple also)
Then after putting this timeline on the board (it took about 2 minutes MAX), I drew a big orange circle around the region of the 1000 years and said: "This is the time period we will be looking at tonight...."
At this point, our the visual aid looked like this:
The Millennium (the 1000 Year Millennial Reign of Christ
(Mille= thousand + Annum = Years)
When and How it begins
and Who is in it
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O___F__A________ C(____church age_____)RB<__7 years___>J(....1000 y.....) G<~~~~~
Then I began to ask questions of the class and began to fill in column 1 with some of their answers. I used Blue to write all the answers in Column 1. No real reason... just like the color and it shows up well at a distance. If you prefer some other color, that is OK. Use whatever you prefer. Also, You don't have to write everything the class tells you on the board, just the highlights and summary type statements. The purpose of the Qs and As is to get the class involved and thinking instead of just listening to you or me lecture'. But, yes, from time to time you will want to expand upon their answers. I asked such things as the following questions...and would rephrase the questions and give hints if needed, in order to get answers such as the following::
When does this 1000 years begin? After what BIG Battle? = Battle of Armageddon
Where was it? = outside Jerusalem in Valley of Meggido (Armageddon)
And who fought in this battle? = All the nations, led by B1 (Antichrist) and B2 (False Prophet).
And what happened? How did the battle end? = Jesus came with His armies
And what did the Armies of Jesus do? = Nothing... they watched while Jesus slew them
And how did Jesus defeat B1 and B2 and the Armies? = with the sword of His mouth
And what is the Sword of His Mouth= The WORD of God...
What did Jesus do to B1 and B2? = threw them ALIVE into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
What did Jesus do to the devil at the end of the Battle of Armageddon? = had him bound and thrown into the Abyss (bottomless pit / BP)...Which was locked and sealed for 1000 years
Is the Abyss the Fiery lake of burning sulfur? = No
Was the devil going to stay in the BP for ever???? = No
How long will he be there? = 1000 y
Why was the devil put in the BP? = to keep him from deceiving the nations
So does this mean that the people in the 1000 years will NOT be tempted by the devil and demons ? = yes
Then after the battle was over, there was a Judgment? What was it? = the Judgment of the nations.
Who did the Judging? = Jesus
Is this the BEMA that we studied earlier? = No
Why? Who is judged at the Bema? And when is the Bema? = Christians (the Church) are judged at the Bema and it occurs sometime AFTER the Rapture...
Is this the GWT Judgment? = No
Why? Who is judged at the GWT judgment and when is it? = ALL of the Lost are judged and it occurs at the END of the 1000 years.
So, who is judged at this Judgment of the nations? = the Nations!
And what two GROUPS do we see Christ dividing the people into? = Sheep and Goats
And what qualifies a person to be a SHEEP? (You will probably have to ask this question in several parts in order to get ALL of these answers) = a Jew who has survived the 7 years OR are a Gentile who has survived AND who had helped the Jews during the 7 years..OR are a gentile and had NOT taken the Mark..
What happens to the Sheep? = are put on Jesus' right hand and are allowed to enter the 1000 year Kingdom reign of Jesus
And who are the Goats? (Again, you will probably have to ask several questions to get these answers) = those who had NOT helped the Jews during the 7 years and or those who had taken the mark.
What happens to the Goats? = are put on Jesus's left hand and are sent to the fiery lake of burning sulfur!
Did they go to the Abyss (bottomless pit) like the devil did? = NO
Spend several minutes asking questions and discussing with your class so that they understand that the Abyss is NOT the fiery lake of burning sulfur (hell)..And.... be sure that they understand that HELL is a REAL place.... ask questions based on the scriptures they read about Hell in their lesson... The point you want to make and emphasize.. is that HELL... the fiery lake of burning sulfur is a REAL place... and it is a place of torment... and Jesus described it as a REAL place... therefore we should believe Him... Jesus would NOT lie... He cannot lie.. He will not lie... if He says something is real... it IS!
Now, ask a few more questions concerning WHO will be IN the 1000 year reign... so that you get these additional people or groups = (Rev. 20:4) the souls of those who had been beheaded..., those who had not worshiped B1 or his image so had been killed, those who had not received the mark and had been killed; also the Church, the 12 Disciples, David, ...
By now your visual aid will probably look something like this:
The Millennium (the 1000 Year Millennial Reign of Christ
(Mille= thousand + Annum = Years)
When and How it begins
and Who is in it
It is After Battle of Armageddon
B1 and B2 not in it because they are in Lake of Fire
Devil not in it because he is in abyss for 1000 y
Goats not in it because they are in Hell
............(discuss Hell in some detail at this point)
. Jews are in it
. Sheep are in it...
. Jesus is in it... He is the King
. Those who had been beheaded
. Those who had died because refused to worship B1 are in it
. Those who died because refused to take the mark are in it
. The Church will be ruling and reigning over the Gentile nations with Christ
. The 12 Disciples will be reigning over the Jews
. David will be in it... He will be ruling Under Christ but over the Jews
O___F__A_____ C(____church age_____)RB<__7 years___>J(....1000 y.....) G<~~~~
Now it is time to begin Column 2...So, at this point I said: "well we could go on and on.. But let's move on and see what happens during the 1000 years. And, I wrote (in ORANGE) on the vis. Aid: WHAT HAPPENS DURING the 1000 YEARS as the heading for Column 2. Then I began to ask questions, writing some but not all of the answers, on the board in column 2. I used ORANGE for all of this column (orange is the closest my box of colors gets to representing the "golden age" of the thousand years.... but you can use whatever color you prefer.)
The main things you want to emphasize in column 2 as you ask your questions are:
1. What the Jewish people DO during the 1000 years = they have a Temple and temple worship with sacrifices and etc.... it is the Millennial temple and worship as described in Ezekiel 40-48.. They also build houses, work, etc... and the Gentile nations serve them and work for them!.
2. What the Gentile nations DO during the 1000 years = build houses, plant vineyards, work, come to Jerusalem to worship, live to be VERY old, etc. etc. etc. etc... Also, discuss (briefly) such things as "will there be TVS, airplanes, cures for cancer and other illnesses, etc....
The point you want to make here is the fact that all of these Millennial people (Jew and Gentile) are still in bodies just like you and I have today... which can bleed and get hungry .. And can think.. And invent things.. And learn things and have desires and etc..
3. The Devil is NOT there. He is bound in the BP for 1000 years. Why Bound? = so will not deceive the nations...
Ask and Discuss with your group:
Does this mean that since the devil is bound and not deceiving, that the people in the 1000 years will not do anything wrong or want to do anything wrong? = NO
You mean people can still sin in the 1000 years? = yes
Why? = because the SIN nature is not gone....
Correct!....
Now....spend a few minutes asking questions and discussing the sin nature of man... how it came about (because of sin of Adam and Eve... )... what it caused (ALL evil and problems in the world, ....cancer, illness, death, sickness, dishonesty, meanness, jealousy, bitterness.. Etc....) And what can be done to get rid of the sin nature ...(it can only be eradicated by the Blood sacrifice of Jesus....if a person does not confess sins and turn from them and accept the gift of Jesus' Blood sacrifice, the sin nature can never be overcome.... but... if this is done... then a person has the power to overcome the sin nature...but... it will never be TOTALLY overcome until God gives us new bodies which have been cleansed from the sin nature... and this will not happen until AFTER the GWT and AT the time that Eternity begins.......)
The MAIN points to emphasize in this part of your discussion are that ...
1. Even though the devil is bound... people still can sin..
2. That not all sin is due to temptation by the devil...
3. That the sin nature is responsible for sin also....
4. That the reason for the temple sacrifices and etc. are to show the Jews, and anyone who will pay attention, that "keeping the Law is not enough to earn salvation...."
5. That the Temple sacrifices and rituals do NOT save but are types and symbols which point to CHRIST as the Savior and Redeemer.....
6. To show the gentile nations, as well as the Jews, that obeying the law and living a good life and etc. is NOT enough to earn Salvation... that the only way to be declared holy and righteous is to accept the atonement provided by the Blood sacrifice of Jesus.
7. Etc.
By now... your column 2 might look something like this:
The Millennium (the 1000 Year Millennial Reign of Christ
(Mille= thousand + Annum = year
What Happens during the 1000 years
. No devil (he is bound in the BP)
. Jesus rules (With the church and others ....) With rod of iron...
. Millennial Temple is built (see Ezekiel 40-48)
. Temple worship, sacrifices, rituals, etc. resumed as in days of old...
. peace
. prosperity
. Long lives
. Enjoy work
. build houses
. Grow vineyards....
. ???? TV, airplanes, rocket ships, great medical advances, etc. etc. etc.
..........Etc
. The SIN NATURE is still present (but not as visible' because of the Rule of Christ...)
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and, of course, column 1 and your time line are still on the visual aid....
Now that you have had your discussion of Sin nature and how it is still present, though being held pretty much in check by the Rule of Christ (with His rod of iron), it is time to begin Column 3 ... which flows out of this discussion... because..at the end of the 1000 years, what happens? = the Devil is released from the BP... and goes out to deceive the nations...
So, in BLACK, I wrote the heading of Column 3 on the board:
"WHEN the 1000 Years ENDS and HOW"
Then ask various questions so that you get the information about the things that occur when the devil is released from the BP = The humongous number of people who rebel,
and why (because of the sin nature still being present, etc. as we just discussed).
Also, use your Qs and As to determine How the rebellion is ended (Christ comes and kills all the rebels, throws the devil into the lake of fire, etc.)
By the time you finish these Qs and As your third column (all written in Black) on the Vis. Aid will probably look something like this:
The Millennium (the 1000 Year Millennial Reign of Christ
(Mille= thousand + Annum = year
WHEN the 1000 Years ENDS and HOW
. Devil released
. Devil stirs up a rebellion ...from all over the world!
. Big rebellion (as many as the sands on the seashore!)
.(What they do?) = rebel against the Rule of Christ.
. assemble outside Jerusalem to attack it...in attempt to overthrow the rule of Christ
. They (the many as the sands....) do not Choose to serve Christ but choose to serve the devil!
. (Why?) = because sin nature still present
. Jesus stops the rebellion.... killing all those who did NOT choose to serve Him
. Jesus throws the devil into the Fiery lake of burning sulfur
.... and the 1000 years ends....
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And, of course, columns 1 and 2 and your time line are still on the vis. Aid
And, now it is time to wind up your discussion.... I ended with something like:
"Well, again, we have only scratched the surface of the many things which happened in and around the time of the 1000 year Millennial Reign of Christ.... Next week we will pick up at this point... where the rebellion has been put down and those who did not choose to serve Christ were killed and the devil was thrown into the lake of Fire. We will not see the devil again.. But we will see those who rebelled... and all the others who refused to serve and worship Christ down through the centuries and millennia which have occurred since the creation of the world. Because, Next week we will look at the Great White Throne Judgement, ...who is there... how they are judged.. and why....and what happens as a result of their judgment.... So, do your homework.. And we will see you next week.
Close with Prayer... (and, as always, you do the praying).
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