Chapter 20

1And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

2And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

3And 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.

4And 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 worshipped 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.

5But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

6Blessed 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.

7And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

8And 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 of whom is as the sand of the sea. 

EARTH S GOLDEN AGE

• "the world to come",    Heb. 2:5,
• "the kingdom of God", Mark 1:14,
• "the last day", John 6:40,
• "the regeneration", Mart. 19:28,
• "the times of refreshing", Acts 3:19,
• "the restitution of all things", Acts 3:21, and
• "the day of Christ", 1 Cor. 1:8; 5:5; 2 Cor. 1:14; Phil. 1:6.

For 4000 (from the flood)years of recorded history, men have tried all sorts of schemes and laws and regulations for improving the lot of mankind; they have striven for peace and prosperity, but all man's efforts have failed. There is universal unrest and distress, and conditions are only getting worse. Man's endeavors to produce a Golden Age of peace and prosperity have failed! But God has promised to establish His rule and reign of righteousness upon the earth. It is for this we pray when we say, "Thy kingdom come", Mart. 6:10; and His kingdom will only come when the King Himself comes. That He must come before the Millennium, in order to usher it in and establish it, is obvious. We are not in the Millennium now; we cannot produce or bring about the Millennium; only the Lord can do that, and He will! What will the Millennium be like? "What will it be when the King comes?"

 1.   It will be a time when Satan is bound and cast into the bottomless pit.

 2.   It will be a time during which the Lord Jesus will personally and visibly reign upon the earth.

 3.   It will be a time when the saints will rule with Christ.

 Look at Rev. 20:4; 3:21, and compare Matt. 19:27-28. What an amazing privilege and responsibility this will be!

 4.   It will be a time when sickness will practically disappear from the earth. We learn this from Isa. 33:24 and Zechariah 14.

 5.   It will be a time when the power of death will be restrained and destroyed.

 Look up Rev. 20:14, and compare Isa. 65:18-20 and   1 Cor. 15:15. During the Millennium death will not be prevalent; indeed, it will be inflicted only judicially.

 It would seem from scripture that those who share in this wonderful period of a thousand years will live right on through the entire period.

 

6.   It will be a time of blessing even for the animal creation. Look up Isa. 11:6-9

                     6The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie 

   down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
7And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice'den. 
9They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge OF THE LORD, as the waters cover the sea.

 and 65:25. 25The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent' meat. 

                      They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith THE LORD.

 7.   It will be a time when war and want will be  abolished.

 8.   It will be a time of wonderful blessing for Israel and for the Gentile nations who have survived the battle of Armageddon. 

9.   It will be a time when righteousness will be everywhere triumphant.

 During the present age, God's people are called upon to suffer for righteousness' sake; but see how different it will be during Christ's reign,

 look up Isa. 1:16-18; Jer. 33:15; Hab. 2:14.

 10.  It will be a time of unified worship.

 11.  It will be a time when the curse is removed.

 The original curse placed upon Creation will be removed, Gen. 3:17-19, so that God's presence will be fully realized and fellowship with Him will 

be experienced to an unprecedented degree, Ezek 37:27-28; Zech. 2:10-13;

 Rev. 21:3.  3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will  dwell with them, and they

                  shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

12.  It will be a time which finally merges into eternity.