We are currently living in the church age where God is using the church to spread the message of hope through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. According to Scripture the next major event on God’s prophetic timeline is the rapture, an unknown time when Jesus will appear in the clouds and receive all those who have believed in Him into heaven (John 14:2-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:50-55). This means that all Christians will be removed from the earth during the rapture. The rapture will set in motion a series of events such as the tribulation, the millennial reign of Christ, and eternity. Immediately following the rapture, a seven-year tribulation period will be experienced by all unbelievers on earth when God pours out His wrath on them. These judgments will be composed of natural and supernatural disasters that will bring unparalleled destruction on human life as well as the environment. Revelation 6-18 provides the details surrounding the tribulation period.
At the conclusion of the tribulation, Jesus Christ will return to earth in order to establish His kingdom. Christ’s return, following the tribulation, should not be confused with the rapture, when Christ only appears in the air. This particular event taking place in Revelation 19 is known as the second coming of Christ. Heaven opens and Christ descends riding on a white horse (Revelation 19:11-16). Believers from all ages will also return to earth with Jesus, but His first order of business is to destroy His enemies. He enters into a battle known as the Battle of Armageddon; however, this battle will not be much of a fight since Christ will quickly capture the Antichrist and the false prophet and cast them into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:17-20). After the world’s leaders are removed, Christ swiftly defeats the rest of His enemies (Revelation 19:21). An angel then descends from heaven and casts Satan into the “bottomless pit” for 1,000 years so that he cannot deceive people during the millennial reign of Christ (Revelation 20:1-3). The removal of Satan will drastically alter the happenings on earth during this time. Without their tempting forces, people will only be left to deal with temptations through the world and the flesh.
Although the book of Revelation does not give us a ton of details about the 1,000 year that Christ will reign on the earth, John does provide a little glimpse of the things which will govern this kingdom. He writes, “I saw thrones, and they sat on them and judgment was committed to them…and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years…they shall be priests of God and of Christ” (Revelation 20:4-6). These verses imply that believers from all ages will rule with Christ during His millennial reign; furthermore, His reign on earth will bring a different type of kingdom. Instead of being characterized by sin and rebellion, the earthly kingdom of God will be established in righteousness. Here are some Old Testament references that reveal interesting things concerning the Millennial Reign of Christ:
- It will be popular to do right (Psalms 72:6-7)
- War and crime will cease (Isaiah 2:4)
- People will live a long lives (Isaiah 65:20)
- There will be pure hearts and speech (Zephaniah 3:9)
- Animals will be tame (Isaiah 11:6-9)
- There will be joy (Isaiah 61:7, 10)
- There will be much comfort (Isaiah 40:1-2)
- There will be no poverty or sickness (Amos 9:13-15; Joel 2:28-29)
This series, End of the World, includes the following posts:
End of the World
End of the World – Rapture
End of the World – Tribulation
End of the World – Millennial Reign of Christ
End of the World – Eternity
