What Is The 1000 Year Reign Of Jesus On Earth?

What exactly is the millennium or the 1,000 year reign of Christ?

What is the Millennium?

The Millennium is a thousand year period of time where it is thought that Jesus Christ will reign and rule for a thousand years but is the 1,000 years only descriptive of a long period of time or is it a specific one thousand year time period? Is this what Isaiah the Prophet wrote about in Isaiah 2:4 which says “the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it” and “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” (Isaiah 2:3). It will be at that time that “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 2:4). Does this mean that right after this period, Satan will be allowed to freely roam the earth again to deceive? Some Bible scholars believe, that “the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while” (Rev 20:3-4)?

Why only 1,000 Years?

Is the millennium an exact period of time of 1,000 years or is it basically symbolic of a great period of time of peace and prosperity? We cannot be absolutely certain. Sometimes numbers are given in large quantities (e.gl, 1,000 years) to indicate a very long period of time. God made a covenant long ago with King David where He told him “your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever” (1st Sam 7:16). Sometimes the future is spoken of as “years” as in Jeremiah 31:33 where he wrote that the “covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jer 31:33) and again to Israel, “You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God” (Ezk 36:28).

What about Eternity?

We can be wrong about the time period of the millennium, the tribulation, or the rapture but we dare not be wrong about the Second Advent where Jesus Christ returns to judge the world in righteousness because that is a certainty. Jesus said, I am coming again and when He does, some will weep and mourn over His appearance (Rev 1:7) while others will rejoice and shall “Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants” (Isaiah 42:10). What will it be for you? Will you continue to reject or suppress (Rom 1:18) the obvious existence of God, being you have no excuse (Rom 1:20)? Many others will believe that they are Christian but not living as one (1st John 3) and it will be just as Jesus said; “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matt 7:22-23).

Conclusion

Some believe in the millennium, some don’t; some believe in the tribulation, some believe it came in 70 AD with the fall of Jerusalem; some believe in the rapture while others don’t, so as for the millennium, we can be wrong about this and still be saved. When I am asked whether I hold a postmillennial view, the a millennial view, or a premillennial view, I tell them that I am a pan-millenniast because I believe it will all pan out in the end. I am only concerned with the fact that Jesus could come back at any moment and that we must warn the lost. That is how we should live. Live like He’s coming back today but plan for His return tomorrow, but for those who reject repentance and faith in Christ, it is “because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works” (Rom 2:5-6) and “There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek” (Rom 2:9) but “glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek but to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life” (Rom 2:7).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.