The Bible Concept Of the Millennium Compared to Popular Belief

THE MILLENNIUM BEGINS

PROPHETIC SCRIPTURE

COMMENT

Isa. 24:1-6

"Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; ...The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word.… The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof: because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, ...therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left."

The condition of the earth and the condition of its inhabitants after Jesus has come!

Luke 17:29, 30, 34-37

"But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed....

I tell you, in that night there shall be two in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other left....

Two shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together."

The destruction of the wicked when Jesus comes will be like the destruction of Sodom: by fire from heaven.

The body of the one taken will be where the eagles are.

(See also Matt. 24:39,40)

Matthew 24:27,28

"For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even to the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together."

The eagles will gather where the carcasses of the wicked are.

PROPHETIC SCRIPTURE

COMMENT

Revelation 19:11, 16-18

" And I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.... And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angle standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men..."

The wicked will be food for the birds. (eagles)

Zephaniah 1:3,18

"I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the lord. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land."

God will destroy all life on earth when He sends fire upon it. The earth will be empty.

Jeremiah 4:23-27

"I beheld the earth and, lo, it was without form and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger. For thus hath the Lord said, the whole land shall be desolate: yet will I not make a full end."

The whole earth will be empty and desolate, but God will not make a full end yet.

PROPHETIC SCRIPTURE

COMMENT

Isaiah 24:19, 21-23

"The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited."

While the earth is desolate the wicked are dead for a long time.

Revelation 20:1-3

"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the Dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season."

The Devil will not be able to deceive anyone for a long time (1000 years)

Revelation 20:4, 6, 5

"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment 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, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.”

During the 1000 years the righteous will be living and reigning with Christ in heaven because the earth will be desolate.

During the 1000 years the wicked will all be dead

PROPHETIC SCRIPTURE

COMMENT

Revelation 20:7, 8

"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number which is as the sand of the sea."

After the 1000 years the wicked are resurrected and Satan gathers them for battle.

Zechariah 14:1-5, 9

"Behold, the day of the Lord cometh...

For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; ...

Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations...And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, ...and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley... And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee... And the Lord shall be king over all the earth:..."

After the 1000 years Jesus returns to the earth for the 3rd time and His feet touch the mount of Olives.

The righteous who have been in heaven return to earth with Him.

Revelation 21:2, 10

"And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city the holy Jerusalem, descending out of the heaven from God."

The holy city, new Jerusalem comes down out of heaven and comes to rest on earth where the mount of Olives was before the feet of Jesus split it.

Revelation 20:7-9

"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan... shall go out to deceive the nations... to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them."

Satan and all the wicked surround the holy city and God destroys them with fire from heaven.

PROPHETIC SCRIPTURE

COMMENT

Nahum 1:9, 10

"What do ye imagine against the Lord? He will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time. For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry."

God will make a complete end of the wicked.

Malachi 4:1,3

"For, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts."

The wicked will be burned up completely leaving only ashes!

Isaiah 47:14

"Behold, they shall be as stubble: the fire shall burn them: they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it."

After the fire has burned up the wicked it will go out!