The Millennial Reign: Part 2 (Mark 13:24-37 & Rev. 20:1-6)

In today’s article, we look at three more amazing things that will happen during Christ’s millennial reign and how we should live today in anticipation of his return.

4. Spiritual Life Will Come to the Nations

The fourth element of the millennium is that spiritual life will come to the nations. Israel won't be alone in its renewed spiritual life. The prophets clarified that the earth will experience a population explosion during the millennium. With the curse suspended or at least significantly decreased, Isaiah and Jeremiah said infants would no longer die, and everyone would "fill out their days," so that death at age one hundred would 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 worldwide. 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 others -- Satan is bound for a 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, will be 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 it all backfires on him during the millennium when he's bound. When we are living in peace, harmony, love, 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 giant 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 predatory nature -- the wolves and lambs, leopards and baby goats, lions and calves, bears and cows will intermix (Isaiah 11:6, 65:25). Children will be able to lead even the fiercest 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 that 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.

How to Live Today

32 “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” Mark 13:32-27

It is fascinating to consider how the Son does not know the day of his return. Only the Father knows, Jesus said (32). Perhaps Jesus was speaking from his earthly vantage point as a man. Or maybe he so successfully identified with us by becoming one of us that he permanently divested himself of that privilege of his divinity (32). But, at least when he said those words, Jesus did not know the day or hour of his eventual return (32). This makes it humorous, at best, and grievous, at worst, that so many speculate about the timing of his return. Nothing in his closing exhortation hints that we should try to discern the date of the second coming of Christ. I think too much time is spent reading the events of the day, asking, "Is today the day? Is now the time?" Not even the Son knows. How could we?

The Balance of Keeping Awake

Jesus is clear in exhorting us to get to work. This is why he used the illustration of a master who went away on a long journey (34). He is our master. He has gone away for a while, but one day he will return. And, just as the servants in his story should've stayed awake, so should we (34-35). But what does it mean to stay awake? It means to work until the master returns -- to do our job as his people until Jesus comes. We aren't to be apathetic to his coming, nor are we to prognosticate about the timing of his coming. Instead, we are to work hard until he arrives.

Working Is Watching; Watching Is Working

Watching is working. Too many have thought Jesus wanted us lazily but longingly looking to the sky -- watching! -- until he comes. But consider Jesus' illustration. Would a master of an estate want his staff to sit gazing out the window, waiting for his return? No! To be watching means to be working. He would want his staff to work as if he were present, to do the job they were asked to do. So, as his church, we have work to do until Christ returns. We have our jobs, we have our ministries, and we have our walks with him. We must stay diligent, grow in Christ, and tell and live out the gospel for our communities. Because, one day, our master will return. And when he does, we don't want to be asleep but at work, doing his will.