A Thousand years
or the
Millennium
From the books of the Kings and Chronicles we get to know that Israel desired a king that they might be like the other nations. To please them Jehovah presented them Samuel as their king. Again to follow the wish of the people Samuel anointed Saul, son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, to be their king.
Saul did not prove to be a good king. Several times he disobeyed God in important matters that he had been commanded to do. Therefore, God rejected him from being king, and appointed David, the son of Jesse, of the tribe of Judah, in his place. It was already promised before that out of the seed of that king a great king would rise.
The king from the seed of David
God had promised David to give David a son who should sit on his throne for ever. From several prophets people got to hear that there would be set up a Kingdom in Israel that should have no end according to an everlasting covenant was guaranteed by God with David.
To the kings of the world would come a time of unrest. Lots of difficulties would come over people of all nations. Peoples will have to remember their history and the history of the People of God. For centuries there have been warnings. All the time there have been people remembering their ancestors who were led by the providential Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God’s fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were.
From the Common Era people could find the Rock Christ though for many just experiencing God’s wonder and grace didn’t seem to mean much — most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times of their life. By the years several got caught up in wanting their own way as they did and turned their religion into a circus.
To all those twisted wishes of mankind shall come an end. The sexually promiscuous and all those capable of messing their and others life up, shall be confronted with harsh times bringing this system of times to an end.
Nation shall come to fight against nation, religion against religion, but all God fearing people need to remember is that God will never let those down, who worship the Only One True God. He’ll never let them be pushed past their limit. For Jehovah God shall always have an eye on His children.
Those unified in Jesus Christ and do not reduce Christ to what they are, shall come to see how at the End-times Jesus shall come back. The one from the seed of David shall come down on the clouds and give all that are awake reason to be pleased in the moment of his return. People shall be astonished by the light from heaven. At that time everybody shall know that the Whore Babylon shall be ruined, Great Babylon, ruined! The churches of Babylon shall be in ghost towns. All nations drank the wild wine of her whoring; kings of the earth went whoring with her; entrepreneurs made millions exploiting her. But then with Armageddon everybody shall see those who got out and became part of the People of God.
Those who don’t get mixed up in Babylon's sins and don’t get caught in her doom shall find that God is willing to be near them. The kings and clergy shall who belong to Babylon shall find their wild ways to come to an end and feel torment and tears. Babylon gloated to be queen over all, but in one day, disasters will crush her — death, heartbreak, and famine — Then she’ll be burned by fire, because God, the Strong God who judges her, has had enough. The kings of the earth will see the smoke of her burning, and they’ll cry and carry on, the kings who went night after night to her brothel. They’ll keep their distance for fear they’ll get burned, and they’ll cry their lament:
“ ... Woe, woe, the great city, wherein all that had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye saints, and ye apostles, and ye prophets; for God hath judged your judgment on her.” (Re 18:19-20 ASV)
At that time everybody shall be able to see that this what Jehovah hath sworn unto David in truth He will not turn from it and the throne of the anointed of God shall be set up for ever (Ps 132:11; 89:3-4; 89:34; 89:37)
As such its real fulfilment is to be in Christ, who was born in David's line and declared to be, not only the Son of God, but the Son of David and heir to David's throne in the house for the set apart Name of Jehovah, the God of Israel. (1Ki 8:20; Ac 2:29-30)
“ so Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for him, unto salvation.” (Heb 9:28 ASV)
At his second coming Jesus will come to sit on his throne, and reign in Jerusalem as king of the Jews and ruler of all mankind. He will establish a kingdom and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even for ever. (Mt 25:31; Isa 9:7)
“ At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.” (Jer 3:17 ASV)
“ And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.” (Isa 2:3 ASV)
Beginning with people coming out of the graves
When Christ returns he will assemble all those who are responsible to judgment, living or dead. The dead he will bring from their graves; the living he will gather by his angels. They must all appear before his judgment seat, that they may receive through the body according to what they have done in this present life.
“ I charge thee in the sight of God, and of Christ Jesus, who shall judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:” (2Ti 4:1 ASV)
“ And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” (Da 12:2 ASV)
“ and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.” (Joh 5:29 ASV)
“ Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.” (1Co 15:50 ASV)
“ then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (1Th 4:17 ASV)
“ For we must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” (2Co 5:10 ASV)
“ But thou, why dost thou judge thy brother? or thou again, why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God.” (Ro 14:10 ASV)
“ So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God.” (Ro 14:12 ASV)
All those who believe in the Only One True God Who is One, and those who believe in His sent one beloved son, Jesus Christ, and are baptised shall not be damned but find new life. Then people shall come to see for sure that the Elohim isn’t so easily diverted. Jehovah God sees right through all such smoke screens that man may have put up and holds everyone to what he or she has done.
“ And we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against them that practise such things.” (Ro 2:2 ASV)
It might be known that lots of people preferred the mysterious stories of man and clung to human doctrines, but at that time of restitution, a seeming moment of crisis for mankind, God-light shall stream into the world getting men and women everywhere running for the darkness, because they still would not really be interested in pleasing God. But in the end they shall have to see that light given by God, and the one sitting on the throne of David.
They shall have to recognise the Word-made-flesh that God has spoken and that no other shall have the last word. God has given Jesus the authority and people should accept that and his judgements.
“ And Jesus came to them and spake unto them, saying, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth.” (Mt 28:18 ASV)
“ And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.” (Joh 3:19 ASV)
“ He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my sayings, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I spake, the same shall judge him in the last day.” (Joh 12:48 ASV)
Grace will be given to the believers and their mortal bodies will be changed in a moment by the power of the Spirit of God.
“ Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law: but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1Co 15:50-57 ASV)
“ He hath swallowed up death for ever; and the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the reproach of his people will he take away from off all the earth: for Jehovah hath spoken it.” (Isa 25:8 ASV)
Yes, from then onwards the world shall be as renewed, not having to face all those problems and pains or suffering, neither death. To all of it shall come an end in that new era.
A second death for many
Jesus had warned that it would be difficult for people to go through the narrow gate. He also warned people would not have all the time to find the right path to that small gate. Everyone for himself or herself has to make the right choice before he or she would die.
Those who shall find the closed door or shall be rejected by Christ, will depart from his presence with shame and vexation, to suffer according as the Judge shall think they deserve, and at last to be devoured by the second death.
In the New World there is no place for idolatry or worship of false gods. In that World of God there is only place for those who want to be faithful to Him Who is the Highest Host of hosts. The millennium will start with Christ judging the people.
The good shepherd shall be pleased to find many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth having come awake, coming in front of him as his sheeps. Jesus serves as Jehovah’s “Chief Agent of life,” empowered to judge “the living and the dead.” He will also turn to the ‘goats,’ the ones on his left, considering them to be worthless goats who are good for nothing but everlasting contempt, the fires of damnation, the grave for ever, or second death.
“ I charge thee in the sight of God, and of Christ Jesus, who shall judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:” (2Ti 4:1 ASV)
“ Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs 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 judgment. I can of myself do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is righteous; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.” (Joh 5:28-30 ASV)
“ And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.” (Re 20:12-13 ASV)
“Many who have been long dead and buried will wake up, some to eternal life, others to eternal shame.” (Da 12:2 Message)
“ Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels:” (Mt 25:41 ASV)
At the beginning of that time it shall be for the people as written in the Book of life and death.
“Anyone whose name was not found inscribed in the Book of Life was hurled into Lake Fire.” (Re 20:15 Message)
Sharing the blessings of God's Chosen People
At the beginning of the thousand years the nations of the earth will all be subject to Christ, and do honour to the Jews, of whose blessedness they will share.
Christ’s reign of a thousand years begins with the binding of Satan and his abyssing. it is the adversary or all those who are against God. None of those resurrected nor any of the survivors of the great tribulation will be misled by a satan or adversary of God, because they shall be destroyed by the second death. Or it also can be said that the adversary of God will be inactive.
“ And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished: after this he must be loosed for a little time.” (Re 20:1-3 ASV)
There shall be no place for godless rulers.
Everybody shall come to see that it is to the anointed one of God, the Kristos or Christ, that is given dominion, glory, and all power to rule a kingdom that shall last for ever. Everyone — race, colour, and creed — shall come to serve him with the knowledge that his rule would be the best ever and forever, never ending. His kingly rule would never be replaced.
“ And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” (Da 7:14 ASV)
As God has always been with His People, the Jews, He shall receive also those who accept Jesus as their Messiah and want to come close to Jesus his heavenly Father, accepting Him as their Father too. This will open the way also for goyim to be partakers or fellow-members of the Body of Christ and to come to belong to the People of God.
Those judged by Christ to enter God's Kingdom shall find first a ruling of all nations by Christ and his people which shall last one thousand years. That time those souls of those beheaded because of their witness to Jesus and the Word of God, who refused to worship either the Beast or his image, refused to take his mark on forehead or hand — they shall live and reign with Christ for a thousand years.
“ And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as worshipped not the beast, neither his image, and received not the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: over these the second death hath no power; but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Re 20:4-6 ASV)
During that time none of the people will be eternal or immortal but Christ and his brethren -- the saints. Eternal means having no beginning and no end. All men and women had a beginning and the majority also had an end by dying. People shall be pleased that they shall be brought back to life in this ransom provision which is an expression of Jehovah’s undeserved kindness and mercy. Their life, opposite to their previous life, will be greatly prolonged, and will be a blessed and happy state. The resurrected ones shall discover what God’s Kingdom is accomplishing in fulfilling Jehovah’s purpose for the earth like He had envisioned it from the beginning.
“ 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 a hundred years old, and the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed.” (Isa 65:20 ASV)
“ Neither shall they take for their wives a widow, nor her that is put away; but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow that is the widow of a priest.” (Eze 44:22 ASV)
“ And they shall go in to no dead person to defile themselves; but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister that hath had no husband, they may defile themselves.” (Eze 44:25 ASV)
In that time of a thousand years there also shall be new children and people who were not yet to the full point of the right faith. Everyone living will delight in sharing in the vast educational work needed to teach the billions returning from the grave, who will also need to accept God’s ransom provision.
All who gain life in the righteous new world, whether by resurrection or by surviving the great tribulation, will have much to learn about Jehovah’s purpose for the earth and its inhabitants. There shall be the nice prospect of living forever and praising Jehovah for all eternity will surely make the Millennial education program a real delight. However, it will be what we do individually as we learn the contents of the scrolls that will count the most and how parents shall be able to bring their love for God unto their children born in that period.
At the close of the millennium a resurrection of life or a resurrection of judgment
Those restored to life in the resurrection will not have the kind of infirmities or disabilities presently experienced and may find brotherly love in a peaceful world where there shall be no reminding of their previous errors.
“ And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.” (Isa 33:24 ASV)
All those allowed to enter the Kingdom of Christ shall find pleasure in having a sound body. The prospect of perfect health will allow all inhabitants of the new world to share fully in the educational work of instructing those billions resurrected in the way of life. Those inhabitants will also share in the greatest undertaking ever attempted on earth—that of transforming the whole planet into a paradise to Jehovah’s praise.
The kingdom will never end: but will undergo a change at the close of the millennium.
“ and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” (Lu 1:33 ASV)
But after the thousand years Jesus shall hand over his kingdom to his heavenly Father, so that Jesus shall reign as king on earth, under the Rule of his heavenly Father.
“ And when all things have been subjected unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subjected to him that did subject all things unto him, that God may be all in all.” (1Co 15:28 ASV)
The nature of the change that will take part at the end of the millennium in its detail has not been revealed: but we know that death will then cease upon earth, and that Christ will deliver up the Kingdom to the Father, that God may be all in all.
But that shall only happen after those born in the Millennium era shall be tested. For they too shall have to prove that they go for God and His kingdom. When Satan or the adversary of God is released from the abyss for the final test, he will try to mislead humans once again.
“ And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down out of heaven, and devoured them.” (Re 20:7-9 ASV)
Yes, at that closure of the Millennium all the ‘misled nations,’, those who remain out of harmony with God will be destroyed, or groups of people, who fall under Satan’s wicked influence will meet their judgment of destruction:
‘Fire will come down out of heaven and devour them.’
For those among them who experienced a resurrection during the Millennium, this destruction will make theirs a resurrection of condemnatory judgment. By contrast, resurrected integrity-keepers will receive the gift of everlasting life. Truly, theirs will be “a resurrection of life.”
“ and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.” (Joh 5:29 ASV)