Satan on Death Row

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.

­Revelation 20:1-3 KJV

Flanked by Battles

The millennium, that 1000 year period of peace on earth, is flanked by two battles.

· The Battle of Armageddon, which is the tail-end of the 7 year Tribulation period. It will immediately precede the millennium.

· The Battle of Gog and Magog, which is Satan’s and evil mankind’s final attempt at overthrowing God. It will immediately follow the millennium.

Note: These are battles of short duration, not a war of many battles of long duration.

Millennium=1000 Years

The word millennium does not appear in the Bible. The Bible does, how-ever, speak of a thousand years.

v2 angel binds Satan for a thousand years

v3 ¼ until the thousand years were ended

v4 ¼ martyrs¼ they reigned with Christ a thousand years

v5 ¼ until the thousand years were ended

v6 first resurrection saints¼ will reign with Christ a thousand years

v7 When the thousand years are over¼

Symbolic or Literal?

Then the wolf will lodge with the lamb,

And the leopard will lie down with the kid;

The calf and the young lion

will graze together,

And a little child will lead them.

The cow and the bear will be friends,

Their young ones will lie down together;

And the lion will eat straw like the ox.

The suckling child will play

on the hole of the asp,

And the weaned child will

put his hand on the viper’s den.

–Isaiah 11:6-8 American Translation

The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall re-joice, and blossom as the rose.

–Isaiah 35:1 KJV

Why do we need

The Millennium?

• In answer to the Lord’s prayer

Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven¼

­Matthew 6:9-10 KJV

• To redeem creation

• As a 1000 year demo?

We have no idea how long Adam and Eve enjoyed the perfect world of the Garden of Eden before sin entered their heart. It may have been a long, long time. Nonetheless, they were the only humans who tasted of that perfect world. Could it be that the millennium is God’s way of demonstrating to mankind for 1000 years what things should have been like from the beginning?

• Further, is not the millennium needed to lay to rest the idea that a perfect environ-ment will make a perfect heart?

Christ Ruling the Earth

God’s promise to David

I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithful-ness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithful-ness in heaven itself.

You said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations." ¼ My hand will sustain him; surely my arm will strengthen him ¼

I will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth. I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail. I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure¼

I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness. I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered.

Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness­ and I will not lie to David­ that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun; and will be established forever like the moon, the faith-ful witness in the sky.

­Psalm 89:1-37 NIV Excerpts

Fulfilled in Jesus Christ

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.