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The History of the Ages – Lesson 60

As we go back to Revelation 20, the next thing John mentions in verse 7 is Satan being loosed from the bottomless pit when the thousand years are ended to deceive the nations.  Since he skips right over the Millennium, I’ll stop here to look at that time. Then, when we’re finished with the Millennium, we’ll pick it back up with Revelation 20:7-9 and see what happens there. So, I’ll try to list in this lesson the purposes of the Millennium. As I’ve mentioned in previous lessons, the purpose of the tribulation period is to deal with the enemies of Israel and to deal with Israel in order to position them to be what God originally intended – the spiritual leaders of the earth.  


Now, I may have mentioned before that the purpose of the Millennium is to deal with the Gentile nations to get them used to the idea that God is on the earth and in charge to prepare them for the eternal kingdom. I’ll expand on that here. And in the lessons that follow I’ll try to explain the characteristics of the Millennium and some of the things that must happen before Christ can deliver the kingdom to God the Father (this is what Paul is talking about in I Corinthians 15:24-28, I suggest you read it).


  1. As previously discussed, the earthly kingdom of Christ (the Millennium) starts with His 2nd coming. So Armageddon and the judgment of the living nations is a part of that time and help us define the first purpose I want to list, which is, to put down all rebellion on the earth. This rebellion started with Lucifer (Satan) and continued with man (Adam and his descendants). The reference above in I Corinthians 15:24 tells us that Christ will abolish every rule, authority and power. Then in verse 25 Paul says, “Christ will reign until He puts all His enemies under His feet”.
  2. God always keeps His promises. The Millennium will be the beginning of His fulfillment of the covenants He made with Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), Isaac (Genesis 26:1-6) and Jacob (Genesis 28:13-14). He will restore Israel (Ezekiel 20:33-44) and make them the nation others will look to for spiritual guidance (Acts 15:13-18). 
  3. When Christ came to the earth, He was rejected and killed (Matthew 26:63-68). When He returns to establish His earthly kingdom, everyone will learn Who He is. He will be vindicated at last (read Psalms 2), as will all who have kept the faith (II Timothy 4:7-8).
  4. The Millennium is the climax of the ages in which all things both in heaven and on earth are brought into unity with Christ (Ephesians 1:10).
  5. The saints of all ages will be elevated to the priestly positions they have been promised and will administer the affairs of God to the living nations for eternity (Romans 8:16-17; Revelation 2:26-27; 5:10; 11:15-18; 12:5 and 20:4-6).
  6. During the Millennium Christ will rule the nations in righteousness and they will learn to live according to His instruction (Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:1-5).
  7. He will establish a single government on the earth that will rule the nations for all eternity (Isaiah 9:6-7; Daniel 7:13-14; Luke 1:32-33; Revelation 22:3-5). 
  8. The Millennium will be the time when God fulfills a multitude of prophecies concerning Christ, Israel, the saints, the destruction of rebellion and the eternal earth (Acts 3:20-21).
  9. There is one more thing that must be mentioned. At some point in time God is going to change the topography of the earth and the configuration of the heavens (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; II Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1). The language is specific as the NT word translated “new” is kainos, meaning “qualitatively new”. The heavens and earth are going to be different than they are now. We get some hint of this from Revelation 21:1, where John tells us with reference to the new earth that “there was no more sea”. In Revelation 21:5, we see the statement, “Behold, I make all things new.” We’ll look at this in more detail when we look at the eternal state and the things that are made new.


In the next lesson we’re going to start looking at the characteristics of the Millennium. As I’ve mentioned before, there is a lot of information about this time in the Old Testament. So, let me give you a little introductory information here. “Millennium” is like “rapture”, it’s not found in the Scriptures. The word comes from the Latin mille, a thousand, and annus, year. The term “thousand years” is used 6 times in Revelation 20:1-7.  


Probably the most common references to the Millennium in the Old Testament are “that day” and “the day of the Lord” (look at Isaiah 2:11-12 for a quick example). It’s called “the dispensation of the fullness of times” in Ephesians 1:10 and “the world (aion should be translated “age”) to come” in Matthew 12:32 and Ephesians 1:21 and 2:7. It is also called “the regeneration” in Matthew 19:28, “the times of restitution of all things” in Acts 3:21, the “consolation of Israel” in Luke 2:25, the “redemption of Jerusalem” in Luke 2:38 and “the kingdom of His dear Son” in Colossians 1:13 and II Peter 1:11. You will also see “the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ” in Revelation 11:15, and many references to “the kingdom of heaven” and “the kingdom of God” that refer to the Millennium.

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