Lesson for October 30, 2024

The Rapture to the Eternal State

Lesson 5

The Millennium

Revelation 20:1-3, “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he took hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.”

The Millennium begins immediately after the Battle of Armageddon, when Satan and fallen angels are removed from earth. Then there will be maximum spirituality – Isaiah 65:24. Evangelism will continue on the earth. Israel will be restored as a client nation to God – Isaiah 5:26-30; Zechariah 2:28-29. All the unconditional covenants to Israel will be fulfilled – Daniel 9:24; Zechariah 8:22-23, 14:9.

The nations of the world will enjoy perfect environment, including: 1) Universal peace – Psalm 46:9; Isaiah 2:4; Hosea 2:18; Micah 4:3 2) Universal prosperity – Psalm 72:7, 16 3) Perfect world government under Jesus Christ and the royal family – Isaiah 11:1-2; Zechariah 14:9 4) Perfect objectivity in the administration of justice – Isaiah 11:3-5; Psalm 72:12-14 5) Nature changes radically as Creation is released from this bondage and flowers will abound – Isaiah 35, 11:6-9, 65:25. The Gog and Magog revolution is started by Satan after his release from prison at the end of the Millennium because there are unbelievers on the earth for him to lead in a revolt against Jesus Christ – Revelation 20:7-10.

Salvation will continue to be presented to the new population of the Millennium. Evangelism reaches its peak during the Millennium. The Millennium starts out with believers only who are good parents and oriented to the rule of Christ. Yet, many of their children turn out to be unbelievers. There is a large population explosion – Ezekiel 20:34-38; Matthew 25:31-46. Since all unbelievers are removed from the earth before the Millennium begins, the earth will need to be repopulated.

Spirituality in the Millennium will be through the filling of the Spirit. There will be maximum spirituality among believers, Isaiah 65:24; Joel 2:28-29; Zechariah 14:16-17. By way of contrast, there are no ecstatics during the Church Age since Christ is absent. Perfect environment exists because Satan is bound, and fallen angels are removed. Because they are removed, there is no religion in the Millennium. Jesus Christ will rule the earth.

There will be universal knowledge of God – Isaiah 11:9; Jeremiah 31:31- 34; Hebrews 8:14, 10:15-17. There will be perfect health, so that people will have longevity of life – Isaiah 65:20.

There will be a perfect world government under the leadership of Christ and the delegation of authority to Church Age believers to rule nations – Isaiah 11:1-2; Zechariah 14:9; II Timothy 2:12; Revelation 2:25-28, 3:21, 5:10, 20:4,6.

There will be a tremendous population explosion, so that by the end of the Millennium there will exist many unbelievers on the earth who have rejected the Gospel and who will join the revolution of Satan against the rule of Jesus Christ -Isaiah 11:3-4; Psalm 72:12-14.

Israel will be regathered and restored as a client nation, Isaiah 5:26-30, 10:19-23, 11:11-16, 14:1-3; 60:4-6, 65:19; Joel 2:16ff; Zechariah 8:20-23, 10:6-12.

There will be perfect environment in nature. Creation is released from the bondage created by the fall of Adam and Eve – Romans 8:19-22. Plant and animal life will abound – Isaiah 35:1-7. Animals lose their ferocity – Isaiah 11:6-9, 65:25.

The Battle of Gog and Magog

Revelation 20:7-10, ^“When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The Gog Revolution terminates the Millennium, when Satan is released from prison after one thousand years and immediately starts a revolution to overthrow Christ’s reign. He gathers unbelievers from all nations of the earth and comes against Christ and His army of believers. The result is the defeat of Satan’s army and the carrying out of the sentence to the Lake of Fire for Satan and the fallen angels.

Great White Throne Judgment

Revelation 20:11-15, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled, and no place was found for them. 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 from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them; and they were judged, each one of them according to their deeds. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Notice there are two books that will be opened at the Great White Throne Judgment.

The first book is the book of deeds. There is a strong possibility that there will be degrees of punishment in the Lake of Fire. Even though unbelievers are not judged for their sin, their rejection of the payment for their sin by Christ means they will spend eternity on the Lake of Fire. This passage in Revelation and others seem to indicate there will be degrees of punishment based on an unbeliever’s actions (deeds) while on earth.

“But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed Who will repay each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life;but to those who are self-serving and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, He will give wrath and indignation.” (Romans 2:5-8)

“I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36–37)

“Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.” (Matthew 10:15)

“But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you … But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”(Matthew 11:22, 24)

“And faithfulness is Yours, Lord, for You reward a person according to his work.” (Psalm 62:12)

“Therefore, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.” (II Corinthians 11:15)

^“Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat what is served to you; and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ I say to you, it will be more tolerable on that day for Sodom than for that city. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that occurred in you had occurred in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you.” (Luke 10:12-14)

The second book is the Book of Life which contains the name of every human being in history. The names of unbelievers will be blotted out of the Book of Life because they rejected Christ’s payment for their sin. The result will be the Lake of Fire for all eternity. Revelation 3:5, “The one who overcomes will be clothed the same way, in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”