The 7th and last period of testing is Divine Government. This period is identified in Scripture as the Millennium or the thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth. Just to get the proper perspective here regarding things yet future, this period follows such notable events as the rapture, the 7-year tribulation period (with all the amazing things that accompany this time frame), the 2nd coming of Christ with His saints, the battle of Armageddon, the judgment of the living nations and the binding of Satan, all at the end of the Age of Grace. And just a reminder, these events were not discussed in Lesson 21, but will be examined in detail in future lessons.
The length of this period is 1,000 years (Revelation 20:1-6). (Just a note here, the term “Millennium” is not found in Scripture. However, the term “thousand years” is mentioned six times in the first seven verses of Revelation 20. As you go through this lesson I will explain the conditions, the purpose, the failures, etc., but will not go into the extensive Old Testament passages that explain these things in detail. I do that in the series on John’s Revelation.)
The conditions under which mankind will live during this period will be better than all previous periods of testing, except the first – Innocence. Actually, there is a trade-off. During the age of Divine Government, the influence of Satan is removed (but it was this influence that deceived Adam and Eve in Innocence). However, in Divine Government man still has to deal with his carnal nature, something Adam and Eve had not experienced until they disobeyed.
Adam and Eve enjoyed regular fellowship with God in the Garden before they sinned. In Divine Government men will have the advantage of the literal presence of Christ on the earth, the righteous rule of the saints and the law of the Kingdom to guide them. Therefore the test of this age is for man to obey Christ and submit to the will of God under these conditions.
When you study the meaning of numbers in Scripture, you’ll find the number 7 is the number of completion. This is the 7th period of testing and it has, I believe, 7 purposes that have to do with the plan of God to redeem man and restore His creation back to the conditions that existed before Lucifer’s rebellion. I’ll list these 7 things, but will not explain them in detail here, as they will be discussed in future lessons.
The first is to put down all remaining rebellion on the earth and in the spirit realm. The second is to fulfill all his covenants and promises. The third is to vindicate Christ and all believers who have trusted and served Him. The fourth is to elevate believers of all past ages to promised kingly and priestly positions. The fifth is to restore earth to its original owners (mankind, not Satan). The sixth is to restore Israel as head of all nations and the spiritual leader of the earth as promised. And finally, the seventh is to complete His plan to destroy all the enemies of God and bring back conditions as they were in His original creation – everything and everyone in the universe in harmony with Him!
How does He do the things just listed above? He sends Christ, faithful angels and the saints of all past ages back to the earth to do 3 things. The first is to establish one government on the earth in true righteousness under the direction of Christ Himself. The second is to administer this divine government with the support of angels and saints to discipline the nations, so they can learn to reject their carnal nature and submit to the rule of God (during this age, the consequences of disobedience are real, immediate and obvious to all concerned).
Then, the third is very interesting and will be examined in some detail in the series on John’s Revelation, which is, the removal from the earth of the curse initiated with the fall of man in the age of Innocence. Take the time to go back to Genesis 3 and read the description, then try to imagine a world without the conditions caused by the curse.
What will be man’s failure during this age? First, there will be both individuals and nations that will refuse to submit to the rule of Christ during this time. Then, at the end of this age Satan will be loosed from the abyss (the bottomless pit of Revelation 20:2-3) to deceive the nations one last time and give mankind his final opportunity to rebel against God. Great multitudes will follow Satan in this attempt to overthrow God’s earthly rule and government (Revelation 20:7-9).
What is God’s judgment? Regarding the disobedience and rebellion of both individuals and nations, as stated above, the consequences of such actions will be real, immediate and obvious to all concerned, as ruling saints according to the law of Christ deal with these issues. As for the multitudes that follow Satan, fire comes down from Heaven to devour all the rebels (Revelation 20:9b). And regarding Satan, he’s thrown into the lake of fire (eternal hell), where he will remain for all eternity (Revelation 20:10).
Everything that God has promised man in His plan of redemption is finally realized (Romans 8:19-25). God Himself has come to earth to dwell eternally with His fully redeemed creation (Revelation 21:2-3). The eternal state with a creation once more in harmony with God is initiated (Revelation 22:1-7).
There are several misconceptions regarding the future that arise from either misguided assumptions or the lack of teaching in churches suffering from the effects of ignorant leadership or the distraction of wrong priorities connected to the perpetuation of their religious institution (we have to get bigger, bring in more money, build more facilities – so we have to make people comfortable, entertain them well while they’re here, hope they like us and come back and get them to contribute to what we’re building here, read “The Priesthood of the Believer” to understand God’s plan and purpose for each individual believer).
These misconceptions are: that all believers will spend eternity with God in heaven; that heaven is a “spiritual” or immaterial place where everyone floats around on clouds with a halo on their heads, playing a little harp; that all natural life as we know it is ended and only perfected saints inhabit eternity. These and other ideas will be deconstructed in future lessons.