“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: AND THE GOVERNMENT (capitals mine) shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgement and justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

Isaiah 9:6-7

In the Old Testament Book of Isaiah, written approximately 700+ years before the birth of Jesus Christ, we are told clearly of a time when “…unto us a son is given“,“…The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Price of Peace” would finally establish His government on the throne of David. Of course this is telling us at some time in the future the Messiah would come to earth and establish His government in Jerusalem (the throne of David) and it would be  a place of “…judgement and justice forever.” Primarily due to this passage, Jews for hundreds of years, right up until today, have been waiting for their Messiah to come and fulfill the Promises made by God to the Jewish people. He Promised in Isaiah 42:9, “Behold, the former things are come to pass, AND NEW THINGS DO I DECLARE (capitals mine):before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

There is only one problem! Jesus did come exactly as was prophesied but the Jews rejected Him as their Messiah because at His first coming, He did not defeat the Romans (the empire in control of Jerusalem at the time) as they expected so they instead cast Him aside to be crucified by the Romans. This act of rejection then brought upon the Jewish people almost 2,000 years of God’s Wrath, until the prophecies of Ezekiel were fulfilled. After all that time they were finally brought back from their dispersion to the four corners of the world and the Nation of Israel was reborn on May 14, 1948.

One of the things I find so fascinating is in the Old Testament, written before Jesus was even born, the Jews were Promised a Messiah. Their understanding at the time was He would come and reign over a perfect world. What they were not told, however, was they would reject Him and He would then Return later at His Second Coming and His reign on this earth would last for 1,000 years. In other words, the prophecy of Jesus’s reign of righteousness and justice was explained thoroughly in the Old Testament Book of Isaiah but it wasn’t until the New Testament Book of Revelation that a one thousand year time span was established for His reign on this earth.

“And I saw thrones, and they that sat upon them, and judgement 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 (the Bible), and which had not worshipped  the beast (the anti-christ), neither his image, neither had received his mark (the Mark of the Beast) either upon their foreheads, or in their hands; AND THEY LIVED AND REIGNED WITH CHRIST A THOUSAND YEARS (capitals mine).”

Revelation 20:4

Again, what we know from the Bible is after Armageddon the world will be ruled by Jesus for 1,000 years, a time period also referred to as the Millennium. I like to think of this time period as very similar to what the Garden of Eden would be like today if man had not fallen in sin but had continued to walk with God on earth. We know:

• Jesus will rule the world with a “rod of iron” and be assisted by those Christian saints which had been previously Raptured to Him.

“And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”

Revelation 19:15

• Satan and sin will be totally absent from this 1,000 year time period.

“…that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled:”

Revelation 20:3

• Death for the inhabitants of the earth during the Millennium will be exceedingly rare and apparently only those who sin during the Millennium will die. Those men and women who came to know Jesus who did not die during the Tribulation will still be in human form when Jesus Returns will marry and multiply during the Millennium.

“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 an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.”

Isaiah 65:20

“And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.”

Isaiah 54:13

Did you know before the Flood, Methuselah lived to be almost 1,000 years old? Prior to the Flood mankind was deemed to be able to live that long but God brought His Wrath upon a sinful world with the Flood and also “reduced” the typical lifespan of mankind.

• At the end of the 1,000 years Satan will be set “free” for a very short period of time and will persuade some (probably those born to those who went through the tribulation as newly born Christians and entered the Millennium as humans) to rebel against the iron rule of Jesus for a very short “season”.

“And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. And shall go out and 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

“…and after that he (Satan) must be loosed (from the bottomless pit) a little season.”

Revelation 20:3

• At the conclusion of the 1,000 Millennium rule of Jesus, there will be a Great White Throne Judgement where the sinful dead will be raised, sentenced and given their eternal punishment in Hell.

“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. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.”

Revelation 20:12-14

• The righteous in Christ will receive their just rewards (not punishment).

“Then shall he  say also unto them on the left hand (those that has rejected Christ), Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.”

Matthew 25: 41 & 46

• There will be a new heaven and a new earth after the Great White Throne Judgement at the end of the Millennium!

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth WERE PASSED AWAY (capitals mine); and there was no more sea.”

Revelation 21:1

So, here we have multiple scriptures that talk about the battle at Armageddon; Christ’s triumphant Second Coming; the defeat of Satan; and, the beginning of a much sought after 1,000 year Millennium period with Christ at the helm, ruling with a rod of iron in pure justice and with sin dispersed from the world. As I said earlier, if you can imagine Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden BEFORE the fall, when they walked daily with God and had work they were responsible for, that is what awaits us in the future! We Believers will reign with Christ! The unrepentant dead will be in Hades awaiting their ultimate judgement at the Great White Throne Judgement of God. The faithful followers of Christ will help rule with Him having been either raptured previously and ascended to heaven or saved during the Tribulation period and now living in the 1,000 Millennium. In Revelation 21:6 Jesus says:

“And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.”

Going through life knowing the consequence of our existence and the very simple path to eternal life with Christ is more comforting than anything else I can imagine. The Holy Bible makes it clear what is coming, both before Christ returns and after. By knowing of this beforehand, I remain comforted by His words and I encourage you, as always, to “…therefore, comfort one another with these words.” Do all you can in these Last Days to tell others, friends, and family, the end is coming soon and they can either enjoy 1,000 years reigning on this perfect earth with Jesus or waiting to be raised again to face His Judgement at the Great White Throne. I know what I will continue to do!

May God Bless you as you help others come to know God’s Promise to us!