"...They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years." (from Revelation 20:4,6)

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The Character of the Millennium

Revelation 20 has caused no small controversy throughout the life of the church. My view is that the received position of the early church was that Jesus would one day return literally and visibly to reign on earth for a thousand years. Over and over again -- six times! -- Revelation says Jesus will reign for a thousand years (Revelation 20:2, 3, 5, 6, 7). Though many I love and respect do not, I take this to mean that Jesus will reign on earth for a thousand years after he returns.

But what is the purpose of Jesus reigning on this earth for a thousand years? Why not graduate us to the new heavens and new earth right away? Why wait? What will happen during those thousand years? Why will they be so special?

The answers lie in the pages of the Old Testament. From the beginning, God had made promise after promise about a coming age of glory, peace, prosperity, righteousness, and justice. He had promised he would reign over a golden age of human existence, one where mankind is devoted to God. And many of those Old Testament promises must still come to pass. They will, during the millennial reign of Jesus after his return.

Let me show you six amazing things that will happen during this future time.

1. Christ Will Visibly Reign

The first element of the millennium is that Jesus Christ will visibly reign. Many people will survive the tribulation -- it is the armies of the nations and the beast that are killed or judged -- and Jesus will rule over remaining humanity. From Jerusalem, often called Zion in the Bible, Jesus will lead. And people will love his leadership! Consider:

Isaiah 2:3–4 (ESV) — 3 Many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.

Isaiah's description is of an age of total peace, one where Christ is judging the nations. On that day, Zechariah says, "the LORD will be king over all the earth" (Zechariah 14:9). David was promised a descendant to sit on the throne forever, and Jesus is that descendant (Jeremiah 23:5). So the first element of the millennium is that Christ will visibly reign.

2. The Church Will Reign With Him

The second element of the millennium is that the church will reign with Jesus. Believers today will be with Christ tomorrow, leading and living in glorified bodies during the golden millennial age.

Consider these statements from Paul:

1 Corinthians 6:2 (ESV) — 2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world?

2 Timothy 2:12 (ESV) — 12 If we endure, we will also reign with him...

This idea is pictured in Revelation 20, which we read earlier. Not only does Christ reign, but John also " saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed" (Revelation 20:4). They will reign with him for a thousand years (Revelation 20:6).

Every summer, my family goes to Tahoe City on the northwest side of the lake. Word is, the actress Helen Mirren has a house on the coastline there. I've never seen her. But the running joke in our home is that I am trying to do a good job as a pastor so Jesus will make me mayor of Tahoe City in the millennium. And maybe he'll give me Helen Mirren's house.

Ridiculous, I know, but there are plenty of passages about the thrones and crowns and rewards Jesus will dole out to his people -- people saved only by his precious blood and not by their works -- and I believe many of these might be positions of responsibility in his kingdom. I don't know about you, but I'm hoping for a promotion. So the second element is that we will rule with Jesus.

3. Spiritual Life Will Come to Israel

The third element of the millennium is that spiritual life will arise in Israel. Jeremiah spoke of a day when the law would be written on Israelite hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). Ezekiel saw a day when the dry bones of Israel are raised to life and given the breath of God's Spirit (Ezekiel 37:1-4). Zechariah described a future day when Israel would have a spirit of grace and prayer for mercy, mourning over Jesus (Zechariah 12:10).

He went on to say:

Zechariah 13:1 (ESV) — 1 “On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness."

With this renewal and vigor for God, Israel will rise to prominence, partly because Jesus will reign from Jerusalem. As Paul said, a partial hardening has come upon Israel during our current church age (Romans 11:25). One day, however, God will revive Israel. This revival seems to start in the tribulation and come to full completion during Christ's millennial reign.

4. Spiritual Life Will Come to the Nations

But Israel won't be alone in its renewed spiritual life. The fourth element of the millennium is that spiritual life will come to the nations. The prophets made it clear the earth will experience a population explosion during the millennium. With the curse suspended or at least greatly decreased, Isaiah and Jeremiah said infants would no longer die, everyone will "fill out their days," so that death at age one hundred will be considered young (Isaiah 65:20, Jeremiah 30:20).

And the new human population will grow to love and adore Christ. Listen to the prophet Micah:

Micah 4:1–4 (ESV) — 1 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it, 2 and many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 3 He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore; 4 but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid, for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.

All this will lead to joy, happiness, and biblical justice throughout the world. It will be a time when “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9).

5. Satan Will Be Bound

The fifth element I want to mention about the millennium happens before many of the others -- Satan is bound! We already read this in Revelation 20 -- he is bound for the thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3). At the end of these thousand years, the books will be opened, and those who belong to Death and Hades, along with Satan, are thrown out of God's presence into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10, 13-15).

On earth today, much of humanity has been conditioned to use Jesus' name as a swear word. Hit your thumb with a hammer? Some people accusingly say his name. I think the devil loves it. But I wonder if, during the millennium, when he's bound, it all backfires on him. When we are living in peace and harmony and love and justice and goodness, I wonder if we will start saying Jesus' name whenever something good happens. Maybe we will all have learned that Satan's presence did nothing good for us but that so many of the pains of life were his doing.

6. Nature Will Be Reborn

The sixth element of the millennium is that nature will be reborn. The earth's topography will also be rearranged as the wilderness and dry land become lush and fertile (Isaiah 35:1). Thorns and briers will be replaced by huge trees, providing clean air and shelter (Isaiah 55:13). Crops will grow with ease. Food will be plentiful (Joel 2:24-26). Everyone will be able to afford organic!

The animal kingdom will no longer have a predatorial nature -- the wolves and lambs, leopard and baby goats, lions and calves, bears and cows will intermix (Isaiah 11:6, 65:25). Children will be able to lead even the strongest predators because they will all become herbivores (Isaiah 11:7). And we will no longer have an adversarial relationship with the animal kingdom as even wild beasts and poisonous snakes become docile and safe under King Jesus' leadership (Ezekiel 34:25, Isaiah 11:8-9).

I've already pointed out human life will flourish -- people won't die young and will be healthy for much longer (Isaiah 65:20, Jeremiah 30:20). Isaiah says there will be much less disability (Isaiah 35:6). Christ's presence will curtail cancers and make us new. The dominion we lost at the fall of Adam will be restored.

The Uncorrected Jewish Expectation

Perhaps you can't tell, but I rejoice that this day is coming. There is so much beauty and goodness and joy on this earth, but there is also so much dysfunction and disease and poisonous thinking. So I celebrate the idea that Christ would come to unite all things to himself (Ephesians 2:10). I can't wait to worship, create music, and eat pizza in a renewed earth he oversees. What a world it will be. I know new heaven and earth will come out of it after the thousand years are over, but a thousand years is a long time to watch Jesus get the job done right. I think about this coming day nearly every time I witness the ineptitude of a political regime. Where kingdoms, dictatorships, communism, or democracy fail, Jesus won't.

All these elements were spoken of in the Old Testament, so they were the expectation of Israel when Jesus came. And they weren't wrong -- they just didn't know the Christ had to first suffer and die. They hadn't understood the prophecies about the suffering savior, but those prophecies had to be literally fulfilled. And, one day, so will all the prophecies about Christ's reign on earth.

Jesus never corrected this line of thinking. He talked of thrones and let his disciples look forward to the restoration of Israel (Luke 22:29-30, Acts 1:6). If his literal reign on earth was not the plan, since everyone thought it was, you'd think he would've combatted that teaching all the time.

Instead, the whole story of Jesus' life kicked off by affirming that plan. The angel Gabriel said to Mary, "Jesus will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 1:31-33).

Count me in.