LIFE IN THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM”
1. Jesus will reign as King of the world from Jerusalem.
When the angel Gabriel appeared to the virgin Mary and informed her that she would conceive a son, Gabriel said of the son, “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:30-33).
Gabriel’s word of prophecy will be fulfilled in the kingdom age as Jesus rules over the world from His Davidic throne in Jerusalem.
As Isaiah 24:23 says: “For the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem.”
2. David will reign as a prince/vice-regent to Jesus.
Like the bodies of all the believers from the Old Testament era, David’s body will be resurrected, glorified, and reunited with his soul at Christ’s Second Coming.
David will then serve as what we might think of as a “second-in-command” (especially concerning the Jews) under Jesus during the millennial reign. In reference to this time,
God says in Jeremiah 30:9, “But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.” Other relevant passages are: Ezekiel 34:23-24, Ezekiel 37:24, and Hosea 3:5.
3. Christ’s 12 apostles will sit on thrones with Him and serve as judges over the 12 tribes of Israel.
In the kingdom age, the city of Jerusalem will be enlarged and raised up topographically from its surrounding land (Zechariah 14:10). “All the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be raised up and inhabited in her place from Benjamin’s Gate to the place of the First Gate and the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses.”
The city will also be surrounded by walls, within which will be 12 gates (Ezekiel 48:30-35).
Furthermore, each of the 12 tribes of Israel will have an allotted section of Canaan (the land of Israel). The borders of these sections are meticulously recorded in Ezekiel 48:1-29.
Jesus Himself promised His chosen 12 apostles that they will serve as judges over the 12 tribes of Israel during His reign
(Matthew 19:28 “So Jesus said to them, “Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.)”
4. Christians will reign with Jesus.
In Revelation 5:9-10, we read a quote that comes from twenty-four elders that John sees in heaven.
These twenty-four elders represent the entirety of the church in heaven following the Rapture. And what do these elders say to Jesus?
They say, “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and WE SHALL REIGN ON THE EARTH.”
5. Christians will be given varying degrees of responsibility based upon their level of service rendered in life.
In Luke 19:11-27, Jesus tells an interesting parable. It begins with a certain nobleman going into a far country to receive a kingdom. Before he leaves on the trip, he gathers together ten of his servants and gives each one a mina, along with the command, “Do business till I return.” When the nobleman returns, he finds that one of the servants has taken his one mina and through good business turned it into ten minas. The nobleman says, “Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.” Another servant’s profit of five minas is rewarded with him being given authority over five cities. But one servant does nothing to invest his mina. Instead of investing it, he places it in a handkerchief for safekeeping. So, upon the nobleman’s return, the nobleman has the one mina taken from that servant and given to the servant who has ten minas.
If we are right to apply this “kingdom” parable to delegated responsibilities in the kingdom age, it means that Christians who render the most fruitful service in life will be awarded the greater responsibilities in the millennial reign.
6. There will be worldwide peace.
Isaiah 2:4 says of the millennial reign: “He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; 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.”
The plowshare is the cutting blade of a plow. A
pruning hook is a long-handled instrument with a curved blade that is used for pruning plants.
The teaching is that warfare and military pursuits will be replaced by agricultural efforts. Another relevant passage is Micah 4:1-3.
7. The earth itself will be restored to a pristine condition.
After Adam’s sin in the garden of Eden, God told him, “Cursed is the ground for your sake…” (Genesis 3:17). God’s curse ruined the pristine natural conditions that existed before Adam’s sin.
Romans 8:18-22 elaborates on this idea by saying that creation was “subjected to futility” and now exists under “the bondage of corruption.” It “groans and labors” like a woman who is ready to give birth.
This explains why the earth is filled with such things as weeds, briars, and deserts.
But Christ’s millennial reign will feature in large part a worldwide return to nature’s once idyllic conditions.
For example, the “desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose” and “waters shall burst forth in the wilderness” (Isaiah 35:1-10).
Other relevant passages are: Isaiah 32:14-15, Ezekiel 34:26-27, Zechariah 8:11-12, Joel 3:18, and Amos 9:13.
Isaiah 32:14-15…” fortress will be abandoned, the noisy city deserted; citadel and watchtower will become a wasteland forever, the delight of donkeys, a pasture for flocks,
15 till the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest.
Amos 9:13….”Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it.”
8. All the earth’s fierce creatures will become tame and docile.
Isaiah 11:6-8 says that in the millennial reign: the wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the kid goat, the calf will lie down with the young lion, the cow and the bear will graze together, the lion will eat straw like the ox, and deadly snakes will not strike.
In other words, all the carnivorous beasts and dangerous creatures will stop their killing and their flesh eating.
9. Life will return to simpler times.
The Bible’s descriptions of Christ’s millennial reign consistently teach that life on earth in those days will be a return to simpler times.
Isaiah 61:5 speaks of flocks, plowmen, and vinedressers.
Isaiah 65:21 speaks of vineyards.
Jeremiah 31:12 speaks of wheat, new wine, oil, flocks, and herds.
Joel 2:18-24 speaks of grain, new wine, oil, open pastures, fruit-bearing trees, fig trees, vines, and threshing floors.
Amos 9:13-14 speaks of plowing, sowing seed, reaping, making gardens, planting vineyards, treading upon grapes, and drinking wine from them.
Micah 4:4 and Zechariah 3:10 both speak of grapevines and fig trees.
Zechariah 2:4 speaks of livestock.
Zechariah 8:12 speaks of seed, vines, and grounds giving their increase.
#10. Jesus will provide physical healing for the tribulation-period survivors who go into the millennial reign in their earthly bodies.
Earth’s inhabitants during the 1,000 years of the kingdom age will be a mixed assortment of believers existing in eternal, glorified bodies and believers existing in normal, earthly bodies.
Concerning the believers (Jewish and Gentile) who live through the tribulation period and go into the millennial reign in their earthly bodies, Jesus will heal them of all their physical infirmities at the beginning of the 1,000 years.
Isaiah 35:5:-6 says of that time: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing…” Jesus will heal those people of their diseases, infirmities, and sicknesses as easily as He healed people during His first coming.
11. The tribulation-period survivors will live to extended ages.
Some factor or combination of factors about the kingdom age will allow people in their normal bodies to live to incredible ages. Perhaps it will be the fact that Jesus heals those bodies completely at the start of the 1,000 years.
Perhaps it will be the fact that the earth will no longer be under God’s curse. Perhaps it will be the return to the rural, agriculture-based society and diet. Perhaps it will be all of these factors working in unison.
Isaiah 65:20 teaches that if someone dies at the age of 100 it will be as if that person died as a child.
Zechariah 8:4 says that Jerusalem in the kingdom age will feature old men and old women who are of “great age.”
The average lifespan in the millennial reign will be much longer than the lifespans to which we are accustomed today.
The tribulation-period believer who goes into the kingdom age in an earthly body will eventually die, even if it takes several centuries to do so.
We must keep in mind that the tribulation-period survivors will still have the inborn, Adamic nature of sin coursing through them.
There will inevitably be a certain amount of sin in the millennial reign and sin ultimately leads to physical death for the sinner (Romans 5:12).
So there will be deaths in the millennial reign as well.
12. The tribulation-period survivors will rebuild old ruins, build new houses, and rebuild cities.
The events of the tribulation period will lay waste to the houses, structures, towns, and cities of the world. The planet will be dotted here, there, and everywhere by ruins and rubble.
Isaiah 61:4 says of the millennial reign: “And they shall rebuild the old ruins, they shall raise up the former desolations of many generations.”
Isaiah 65:21-22 says: “They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat…And my elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.”
Amos 9:14, where God says, “I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them…”
There will be much building work done in the kingdom age. Going all the way back to Adam and Eve tending the garden of Eden, God’s plan for the human race has always included a balanced, healthy, productive dose of work.
13. The tribulation-period survivors will bear offspring in the kingdom age.
If men and women go into the kingdom age in their earthly bodies, have those bodies completely healed at the outset, and live lives of extended ages, the natural result will be lots of offspring.
Isaiah 65:23 says that kingdom couples will not “bring forth children for trouble.”
Likewise, Isaiah 11:8 speaks of nursing children and weaned children.
Zechariah 8:5 says: “The streets of the city (Jerusalem) shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.”
The kingdom age will feature a population explosion.
It should be noted, though, that these children will be born sinners.
The tribulation-period survivors will enter the kingdom age with sin still coursing through their bodies. Unfortunately, a sin-tainted father and a sin-tainted mother can only produce a sin-tainted child. Jesus will fix most things about life on earth for His millennial reign, but He won’t fix that basic genetic problem.
14. Jerusalem will be the spiritual capital of the earth.
The fact is that kingdom-age citizens will populate the globe. There will be nations.
No matter where they live, though, they will think of Jerusalem as the spiritual capital of the earth.
Considering that Jesus will be reigning from His throne there, it only makes sense that the city will hold a unique place of prominence.
What the earth’s inhabitants will do is make periodic trips to Jerusalem.
Isaiah 2:2-3 says of Jerusalem: “…And all nations shall flow to it.
15.The Educational System….
Isaiah 2:3….Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
- Habakkuk 2:14: "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea".
- Isaiah 11:9: "...for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea".
16.The World’s Economy
Isaiah 60:1-18 goes into great detail about the wealth the Gentiles will bring into Jerusalem during the kingdom age. The passage describes multitudes of camels bringing gold and incense and covering the land (v.6). It also says of the city: “the sons of foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you” (v.10).
The city’s gates will be “open continually” that people may bring “the wealth of the Gentiles” to the city (v.11). Jesus spoke of all this when He said, “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11).
In particular, the kingdom-age Gentiles from around the world will make trips to Jerusalem to observe certain ceremonies and feasts.
The Feast of Tabernacles in the millennial reign, Zechariah 14:16-17 says: “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no more rain.”
This passage might prompt us to ask, “But how will there even be a possibility of some Gentiles refusing to make the trip to Jerusalem for the required observance of the Feast of Tabernacles?”
The answer involves the offspring of those tribulation-period believers. As the centuries of Christ’s thousand-year reign roll on, more and more of those offspring and their offspring will refuse to accept Earth’s King, Jesus, as their Savior and Lord.
This rebellion will systematically grow like a cancer until it reaches full bloom at the close of the 1,000 years. That is when it will climax in a full-fledged coup attempt aimed at dethroning Jesus.
15. There will be a millennial temple in Jerusalem where Jewish priests will offer up sacrifices from Jews and Gentiles.
The ceremonies and feasts that will be held annually in the kingdom age. Just as in the days of the Mosaic Law, these ceremonies and feasts will involve priests offering up prescribed sacrifices.
This temple will NOT be the rebuilt temple of the tribulation period. Evidently that temple will be destroyed by either the great earthquake of the seventh bowl judgment (Revelation 16:17-21) or the warfare that is raging in Jerusalem at the time of Christ’s Second Coming (Zechariah 14:1-15).
Whereas that tribulation-period temple will be built to suit the will of humans, the millennial temple will be built to suit the will of God.
Relevant passages on the subject of the millennial temple and the worship services that will take place there are: Isaiah 60:7, Isaiah 66:18-24, Jeremiah 33:14-18, Haggai 2:6-9, and Zechariah 1:16-17.
The temple to be built in the Millennium will be much larger than any historic temple of Israel, being a square 875 feet (500 cubits) in width and length. It will face east and will have an outer wall on the other three sides. The temple will have thirty rooms built on three levels.
Except for the western wall, the other three sides will have a large outer court that will surround the temple itself with gates in each of the three walls….In connection with the temple, Ezekiel predicted that there will be a great river flowing from the temple to the south, having sufficient volume so that one will not be able to wade across (47:3-6).
The river banks will be covered with trees (verses 7-9), and the river will have fish and other living creatures in it.
Fresh water will apparently replace the salty Dead Sea, and the river will continue to flow to the south of Israel until it reaches the Gulf of Arabah.
16.Restoration of Eden
Transformation: It signifies a transformed world where people deeply know and experience God, leading to harmony (like animals not harming each other, as in Isaiah 11) and the end of suffering.
Fulfillment of Creation: It fulfills God's original intent for humanity, made in His image, to fill the earth with His glory.
Experiential Knowledge: It's a profound, relational knowledge of God's power, majesty, and presence, rather than mere facts.
- Rule with a rod of iron
Psalm 2:9-12
“You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ” Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.”
Revelation 19:15
“Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”
“Even so come Lord Jesus come!”
