CHAPTER 24
The first nineteen chapters of the Revelation cover a three and half year span of time. The next 1,000 years take only three short verses. Why does John have so little to say about that coming period? The reason is that with the coming of the Millennial kingdom, the emphasis of Scripture changes. The Revelation was addressed to the churches, but when the Millennium begins, the church will have been "assimilated" back into Israel. From then on, God will deal with men exclusively through Israel. For, as we will shortly see, the time of Israel's "partial hardening" is about to end (see Romans 11:25).
From the beginning God has made no secret that He plans to bless mankind through Israel. Long ago He told His friend, Abraham,
And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice (Genesis 22:18).
1. Glorified Saints
At the time of Messiah's return, there are three distinctive groups of Hebrew descendants. The first is made up of the glorified saints. Although their ancestral roots go back to Abraham, they have just arrived in the land from every nation in the world. Numbering in the millions, these are the ones who accepted Jesus as Messiah by the time of the final harvest.
Because of their relationship with Messiah, they have experienced dramatic changes, not the least of which is that most of them have been raised from the dead! Physically, they all have received glorified, immortal bodies (see I Corinthians 15:51-57). According to John, the second death has no power over any of them. These saints have also undergone some spiritual changes. Their natures are transformed into the likeness of Messiah's, and they are free from the presence of sin.
Daniel and all the other Old Testament believers will be included in this body of glorified saints. Although they didn't have the gospel in its entirety, they believed what they had. As has always been His practice, God counted that as righteousness, and on that basis, He saved them.
But as for you [Daniel], go your way until the end; then you will enter into rest and rise again for your allotted portion at the end of the age (Daniel 12:13).
Here is a complete roster of the Glorified Saints:
1. From the Rapture:
2. From the Final Harvest:
3. From the First Resurrection:
Producing these glorified saints was an important part of Messiah's work. While on earth, He compared Himself to a grain of wheat. He explained that unless the grain falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone. It was the Father's plan that through Messiah's death (His being put in the ground), many would spring forth in His likeness. With the final glorification of the saints, that plan is completed.
Through the final harvest and the first resurrection, God has secured the means to fulfill another of His covenant promises—blessing the nations through Abraham's seed. For it is through these glorified descendants of Abraham that Messiah will administer His righteous reign on earth. In addition, these descendants will serve as priests of God and Messiah, faithfully imparting the true knowledge of God to the nations.
2. Rebels and Transgressors
Now we turn our attention to a second, and not so glorious, group of Hebrews. They are the rebels and transgressors. As you know, there are Jews in most every nation in the world. What's more, there are millions of people across the world who are unaware that they are also descendants of Jacob. In some way, God will make those descendants known. Then at His signal, all the nations will return those surviving descendants to the land of Israel. (see Isaiah 49:22).
"Then they shall bring all your brethren from all the nations as a grain offering to the Lord, on horses, in chariots, in litters, on mules, and on camels to My holy mountain Jerusalem," says the Lord (Isaiah 66:20).
Unfortunately for the rebels, admittance into the land is not automatic. All these descendants must pass one more examination before entering the land of Israel. Obviously, any who have taken the mark of the beast are eliminated. False prophets don't do well either.
And I shall make you pass under the rod, and I shall bring you into the bond of the covenant; and I shall PURGE from you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I shall bring them out of the land where they sojourn, but they will not enter the land of Israel (Ezekiel 20:37-38).
My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will have no place in the council of My people,... nor will they enter the land of Israel (Ezekiel 13:9).
3. Soon-to-be New Covenant Hebrews
The third and final group of Hebrews are the remaining survivors in the land of Israel. Two-thirds of their brethren will have perished, but these manage to live through trumpet judgments, bowl judgments, and murderous persecution by the false prophet. Are we to believe this was a matter of luck? According to the prophet Daniel, the survival of each and every remaining Hebrew was orchestrated by God. Notice in the following verse that their names were written in the book BEFORE they were rescued:
And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book WILL BE RESCUED (Daniel 12:1).
Although it is difficult to understand, they were rescued because God had (beforehand) chosen them to receive His Holy Spirit. They were predestined to become part of God's redemptive plan—that is, the New Covenant with the house of Judah and the house of Israel. But as students of that covenant will quickly recognize, one obstacle still remains: no one can become part of the New Covenant apart from belief in Messiah. Yet, these Hebrews still refuse to accept Jesus as Messiah.
At first that attitude may seem surprising. Obviously, the Jews will have seen what takes place at Armageddon. The glorified saints in their midst will certainly prove that God endorses Jesus as the Messiah. Yet, they still cannot (or will not) recognize Him as the one their ancestors rejected so long ago. Why? Because opposition to Jesus is deeply embedded in Jewish hearts. And who can blame them? For nearly two thousand years, Jews have been abused and brutalized in the name of this Jesus. For that reason, opposing Him practically defines what it means to be a Jew. Nowhere is this more evident than in the immigration laws of modern Israel. The official position is that anyone who accepts Jesus as Messiah cannot be a Jew. He is instead, Christian.
Missionaries who have worked among the Jews will testify that only one thing can penetrate their opposition to Messiah—the grace of God. According to Zechariah, in a single day God will supply that grace! At that time, the Holy Spirit will be poured out on the entire nation of Israel. Then the Hebrews will look upon Jesus and recognize His true identity, and they will deeply mourn.
And I will pour out on the house of David [the Jews] and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, The Spirit of grace and supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born (Zechariah 12:10).
But God is gracious, and He quickly moves the people from the state of mourning to one of comfort. On that day, He (figuratively) opens a cleansing fountain for them, and both the national and personal sin of rejecting their Messiah will be washed away. We see that Paul was speaking literally when he said all Israel would be saved. Imagine how heaven will rejoice as the whole nation of Israel is born again in a day.
The deliverer will come out of Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins (Romans 11:26-27).
After His work of grace with all the sons of Israel, God turns His attention to the rest of the world—at least what's left of it. Considering the devastating judgments, it is hard to imagine what the world looks like when the Lord returns. The oceans are without life; islands have disappeared and mountains have toppled. And don't forget the damage from those hundred pound hail storms. Moreover, whole territories (such as Babylon) are scorched and desolate.
Surveying the scene, we wonder, could it possibly be worse? Unfortunately for some, the answer is yes. For now the nations are brought before Messiah to be judged. From His throne, Messiah will judge them. The Bible says He will separate them into two groups. For those on His right, the ones He calls the sheep, he has spectacular news; they will be part of His kingdom. To them He says,
Come you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you invited Me in; naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me (Matthew 25:34-36).
No doubt surprised by His words, those from among the sheep won't understand. They will respectfully ask when it was that they performed these kindnesses for Him. This is quite natural, since none of them will have laid eyes on Him before that day. Messiah will then look upon them, the ones He calls righteous, and answer saying,
Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine [the glorified saints and the now born-again Hebrews], even the least of them, you did it to Me (Matthew 25:40).
Then Messiah will turn to the people on His left, the ones He calls the goats. To them He has a different message.
Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41).
Messiah will recite to them the same opportunities for ministry that He listed for the sheep. Unfortunately, this group did not respond with mercy. At every turn, they declined to assist Messiah's brethren. For that reason, no mercy is extended to them. Rather, they are immediately taken to the lake of fire—the place of torment where Antichrist and the false prophet are already confined.
You might at this point be curious about the status of these "sheep." Are they now born again? After all, Jesus said they were to enter His kingdom and that they had eternal life (Matthew 26:46). To answer, we are first going to have to learn what the Millennium is all about.
It is important to realize that bringing in the Millennial kingdom is not God's final objective. The best clue to the purpose of the Millennium comes from the Apostle Peter. Speaking under inspiration, Peter challenged the Jews to repent so that,
He [God] may send Jesus, the Messiah appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the PERIOD OF RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS... (Acts 3:21).
In other words, when Messiah returns from heaven, it will mark the beginning of a time of restoration. During the next 1,000 years, God will begin restoring the world to what He first created—the kind of paradise that existed in the Garden! However, the Millennium is still a transition period. No doubt, the quality of life will be greatly improved over this present age, but effects of the Fall will still remain. The final paradise comes after the thousand years of restoration. Only then will we be able to say there is no longer any curse (see Revelation 22:3).
And He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away (Revelation 21:4).
At that time, a magnificient city known as the New Jerusalem will descend from heaven. Words fail when trying to describe this city where God will dwell among His people. Abraham must have gotten a vision of it, for the Book of Hebrews says "he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder was God" (Hebrews 11:10).
This new "holy city" is a cubic structure measuring 1,500 miles on each side and 1,500 miles high. It has twelve gates—each one with the name of a tribe of Israel, and the walls of the city have twelve foundation stones—each with the name of an apostle of Messiah. John said the walls were 72 yards thick, and they were made of jasper. The city itself was "pure gold, like clear glass." Obviously, Messiah was not exaggerating when He said, "In My Father's house are many mansions."
But before the coming of the new Jerusalem, there is much that God has planned for the earth. That is the reason for the 1,000 year transition period known as the Millennial Kingdom. By examining some of the changes which are prophesied, we get a preview of what life will be like in that period.
1. Restoration of the physical environment
Many beneficial changes will be seen in the physical environment, and no where are they more evident than in the land of Israel. Apparently, it is the only place where no lingering effects of the curse are found. (See Zechariah 14:11).
As part of the judgments, several plagues were directed at the water supplies of the earth. Now, the steams and oceans are "healed." Zechariah declares that living waters will flow out of Jerusalem—half toward the east and half toward the west. The Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea will be transformed into bodies of fresh (not salt) water, teeming with every kind of fish (Ezekiel 47:8). Presumably, the rest of the earth's waters are also "repaired" at that time.
The mountainous regions of Israel will be changed to a fertile plain (Zechariah 14:10) and Lebanon into a fertile field (Isaiah 29:17). It will become the most productive spot on earth. Agricultural production will be such that every family will be self-sufficient. In fact, foreigners will be recruited to help in the cultivation of the land, allowing the Hebrews more time for the Lord's business.
And strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, and foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers. But you will be called the priests of the Lord; you will be spoken of as ministers of our God (Isaiah 61:5-6).
2. Restoration of long life
The 1,000 year period begins with a population considerably under today's, but that quickly changes. That is because everyone will live well in excess of a hundred years—perhaps several hundred!
No longer will there be an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days; for the youth will die at the age of one hundred, and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred shall be thought accursed (Isaiah 65:20).
How can this be? The biggest reason has to do with a change in the lighting arrangements. Nowadays, everyone is concerned about exposure to harmful rays of the sun. That won't be a concern in the Millennium. According to both Zechariah and Isaiah, in that day the sun will no longer shine upon the earth!
No longer will you have the sun for light by day, nor for brightness will the moon give you light; but you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, and your God for your glory. Your sun will set no more, neither will your moon wane; for you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be finished (Isaiah 60:19-20. Also see Zechariah 14:6-7).
Admittedly, this is the biggest physical mystery since Creation. The idea that earth's intricate relationship with the sun will be severed is hard to imagine—and impossible to explain. Yet, if God was big enough to create the sun, He can doubtless remove it.
The effect this will have on man's longevity is remarkable. Without the sun's harmful rays, the earth will revert to the conditions which existed before the Flood. According to Genesis, men then routinely lived several hundred years, but after the Flood, life expectancies quickly declined to the present 70 to 80 years. Let's see why. According to Genesis, when the earth was created, an enormous canopy of water resided above the earth's atmosphere (see Genesis 1:7-8). Those waters effectively shielded man from the harmful rays of the sun. (That's why Adam and Eve didn't sunburn when they wore nothing but a smile!) Once that tremendous canopy of water was poured out, man's protection was eliminated, and his life span shortened. By the way, the Bible says there were no rainbows before the Flood. That's because the sun's rays were filtered by the pre-Flood watery canopy (see Genesis 9:11-17).
Another reason for an increase in man's longevity is that there will be no sickness. Isaiah tells us that as we enter the Millennium, the deaf will be made to hear and the blind to see. The lame will suddenly "leap like a deer" and "the dumb will shout for joy" (Isaiah 35:5-6). It doesn't sound like doctors will be very busy.
In addition, wild animals will no longer harm men or each other. The entire animal kingdom will revert to its former peaceful, and noncarnivorous ways:
The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them (Isaiah 11:6).
3. Restoration of moral order
Another reason for rapid population growth is that there will be no more war. That is, not until the end of the 1,000 years. Isaiah tells us that historical enemies will not only live together in peace, they will even worship the Lord together. If there are any disputes between the nations, Messiah will settle them with perfect wisdom and fairness. That is why,
They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; and never again will they train for war (Micah 4:3).
In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth (Isaiah 19:23-24).
Another welcome improvement over the present age is that crime will disappear. No one will dare commit murder, rape or theft because they would be instantly caught and punished. Zechariah had a vision which symbolized how justice will be administered in those days. He saw a long, flying scroll which passed through the land. Parts of the law were written on each side. As it flew into the house of a thief, or one who bore a false witness, it consumed the house completely (Zechariah 5:1-4). So if there is a crime, firemen will be called instead of police.
4. Restoration of religious life
Finally, we are ready to address the question of those Gentile "sheep." Because Messiah said they had eternal life, it is evident that they are born again.
And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life (I John 5:11-12).
God's judging the world at the end of the age produces a setting similar to that after the Flood. He does away with all the ungodly people and starts over with a righteous remnant. Everyone left in the world will have been reconciled to God. That means they also have eternal life.
Are we saying that no one will die during the Millennium? On the contrary. Of those on the earth, only glorified saints will have immortality. All the others, Hebrews and Gentiles alike, will live a long life, but they will eventually die. What then does it mean to have eternal life? In many respects the Millennial citizens are like New Covenant believers today. Their ultimate destinies are assured, but they still have some living and dying ahead of them. However, when they stand before the throne of judgment at the end of the Millennium, they will be ushered into the New Jerusalem, experiencing the eternal life Messiah promised them.
Now to religious life in the Millennium. This may come as a surprise to Christians, but much of the Old Testament system of worship will be restored. Zechariah tells us that every family on earth will go the Jerusalem annually to worship Messiah. That will be for the Feast of Tabernacles. We know from Ezekiel that Passover will also be celebrated. What's more, a massive new Temple will be built on the northern edge of Jerusalem, and nearly all of the Old Testament sacrifices will be practiced there. Burnt offerings, sin offerings, and peace offerings will all be made at that Temple.
If everyone is destined for paradise, why is there still a need for sin and peace offerings? Perhaps you thought with Satan and his demons out of the way, mankind would be different. The fact is that people will continue to have fallen natures (all except the glorified saints). In other words, there will still be a sin problem during the Millennium. Furthermore, as those kingdom citizens have children, and their children have children, the sin problem will compound. Even with the benefits of the Millennial kingdom, a great number of those descendants will grow farther and farther from the Lord. Finally, when Satan is released from his prison at the end of the thousand years, he will lead those fallen descendants in a final rebellion against God.
And when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and he will deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war [against God]; The number of them [the rebels] is like the sand of the seashore (Revelation 20:7-8).
All we know of the rebellion is that it is over quickly. Fire comes down from heaven and devours them all. Then Satan is cast into the lake of fire where he will be tormented forever.
Shortly thereafter, all the dead will stand before the great white throne, where they will be judged. Included will be (1) all the unrighteous who have died both before and during the Millennium, and (2) the righteous who died since the Millennium began. At that time the books will be opened. Those found written in the book of life will go straight to the New Jerusalem. On the other hand, all those whose names are not written in the Book will experience the second death; they will join Satan in the lake of fire.
The contrast between the New Jerusalem and the lake of fire could not be more stark. As Messiah summed up His Revelation to John, He presented those two destinies and said, "It is done." That means nothing can change the prophesied outcome. So, do yourself a favor and heed His words:
He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death (Revelation 21:7-8).
He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly."