Thousand Years of Peace on Earth

Throughout the Book of Revelation, the Lord reveals to us events in the spiritual realm and physical realm. He is revealing to us both that which can be and cannot be perceived with the human eye. Romans 15:4 says, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a 1,000 years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the 1,000 years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.” [1]

Earlier in Revelation, the Lord Jesus revealed a star falling from heaven. The Lord revealed to Isaiah that the fallen star is Lucifer or Satan. In Luke 10:18, Jesus said that He saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. In Revelation 12:9, Satan and his angels were cast down to earth. The one fallen from heaven (Satan) is given the key to the bottomless pit. He opened it, and out from it came darkness. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says that “the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the Gospel that displays the glory of Christ.” Romans 1:21 says when people know God but don’t glorify or give Him thanks that their hearts become darkened. Poor treatment of God yields less God and more darkness on earth. In Revelation 11:7, the Lord reveals that Destroyer (Satan) is the king of the Abyss. In Revelation 17:8 the beast (the antichrist) comes out from the abyss but is shortly destroyed thereafter. As he sows so he reaps. Later, Satan is bound with a great chain, cast into the bottomless pit and sealed so that he cannot deceive the nations for 1,000 years. Praise God! [2]

The abyss and the chains in Revelation 20 are referred to in other places in the Bible. For example, once, many demons begged Jesus not to command them into the abyss. Peter and Jude wrote of sinful angels being in chains of darkness. “God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.” “The angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He [God] has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” [3]

The demons fear this place. “They cried out, saying, ‘What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Are You come here to torment us before the time?’” [4]

Jesus made reference to Satan’s demise in the Gospels, saying, “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” The Holy Spirit convicts the world “of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” [5]

Jesus Christ plans to put the devil away for good. Isaiah prophesied long ago, saying, “He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.” [6]

Paul wrote, “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” And “through death He [Jesus] might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” [7]

1 John 3:8 says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”

While Satan is in the abyss, he is unable to deceive the nations. Deception is his tool of choice against people. 2 Corinthians 11:3 says, “I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted...”

“And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the Word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a 1,000 years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the 1,000 years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a 1,000 years.” [8]

Jesus said to His followers, “Verily I say to you, that you which have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, you also shall sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel.” Paul wrote, “Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? ...Know you not that we shall judge angels?” [9]

So, those who were beheaded for refusing to worship the beast and to take his mark live and reign with Christ. They are appointed as priests of God and of Christ. They reign with Christ 1,000 years.

Some Jewish Rabbis thought, as the world was created in six days and on the seventh day God rested, so there would be six 1,000-year periods, followed by a sabbatical 1,000 year period. As one year out of seven years is a Sabbath year, so 1,000 years out of 7,000 years is a Sabbath millennium. A tradition in the house of Elias, who lived in 200 AD, states that the world is to endure 6,000 years: 2,000 years before the Law, 2,000 years under the Law, and 2,000 years under Messiah. During the millennial Sabbath, Christ will reign on earth via His people and Satan will be bound. [10]

The millennium is mentioned six times in Revelation 20. One commentary I read said that there are more than 400 verses in the Old Testament about the rule of Christ on the earth.

During the first centuries after Christ, many Christians believed in the millennium. Imagine if we lived close to the time when Christ walked this earth! He opened blind eyes. He made the lame to walk again. He raised the dead back to life. He resurrected from the dead after being horribly executed. Early Church Christians believed that nothing was impossible with Jesus.

The Early Church historian, Bishop Eusebius wrote that millennialism was a majority view at that time. It was taught by well-known authors and speakers such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian. Papias and Cyprian, among the earliest Church Fathers, held to the doctrine of a millennial kingdom on earth.

Psalm 149:5-9 indicates that the saints will execute vengeance on the nations, punishments on people; bind kings and nobles with chains — “This honor have all His saints. Praise the Lord!” It will be like the day when the Lord gave Mordecai and Esther the victory over Haman. Like the day when the Lord delivered Daniel from the lion’s den!

Jesus will share His rule and reign with overcomers. In Revelation 2:26-27, Jesus promised overcomers authority over the nations, to rule them with an iron rod which shatters earthen pots, even as He received authority from His Father to do. When Jesus rules, righteousness is enforced. As an iron rod easily breaks clay pots, so the Name of Jesus easily breaks evildoers.

The Lord told His people in Isaiah 2:2-4: that in the latter days all nations shall flow to the Lord’s house. “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. 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 vision here is of Jerusalem being a place where people of the world travel to learn God’s Word.

When Jesus destroys antichrist and sets up His throne in Jerusalem, people from the nations will come to learn from Him. Weapons of war will be converted into agricultural tools. Nations won’t learn war anymore. Goodwill will prevail.

During the Millennium, Israel will be the lead nation in the earth; the center of Israel will be the Lord’s house. Revelation 20:9 speaks of “the camp of God’s people” and “the city He loves.” Jerusalem will be the “capital” of Messiah’s government.

In Zechariah 8:3 the Lord says, “I have returned to Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain.” What a difference the Lord’s reign on earth makes! From darkness to light. From persecution to promotion for His people.

In Zechariah 14:4 the Lord says, “On that day His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east...” The Messiah is back in town. This time to rule with His saints. Zechariah 14:8 says, “On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem.” Zechariah 14:16-17 says, “Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths. 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 rain.” Did you catch that? The tables are turned. Now, the rewards are to those who worship Jesus. The blessing of rain will be withheld from non-worshippers.

During the Millennium, animal life will be transformed. No current politician can do that. Isaiah 11:6-9 says that the wolf will dwell with the lamb. The leopard shall lie down with the young goat. The calf and the young lion together. A little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze and their young ones shall lie down together. The lion will eat straw like an ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole. The weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in God’s holy mountain. The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

Isaiah 65:25 says that the wolf and the lamb shall graze together. Again, they shall not hurt or destroy in God’s holy mountain. It sounds incredible doesn’t it?

Nations that previously behaved as wild beasts towards another will be in harmony with another. For example, Isaiah 19:23-25, speaks of there being “a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing in the midst of the land, whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, ‘Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.’”

During the Messiah’s reign many of sin’s curses will be reversed. Isaiah 35:1 says, “Desert places will blossom like a rose.” Jesus will reveal His glory to the nations.


When Christ sets up His millennial kingdom on earth, it will be the nearest earth has been to paradise since the time of our first parents, Adam and Eve.

During the millennium, the devil won’t deceive nations, but that does not instantly make everyone a saint. Remember the passage from Zechariah 14:16-17, where the Lord withholds rain from those who refuse to worship Him? People will still have free will.

“The rest of the dead did not live again until the 1,000 years were finished.” Those who died prior to the millennium’s beginning will likely not know that 1,000 years that have passed between their death and resurrection. The 1,000 years will be as though a brief sleep. [11]

Revelation 20:6 says, “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a 1,000 years.” The first resurrection is to eternal life. The second resurrection is to eternal condemned.

Jesus described two resurrections in John 5:28-29, saying, “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth – those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”

John 11:25 says that Jesus is the resurrection. He resurrects people at will. Some people resurrected on the day Jesus resurrected. Matthew 27:52-53 says, “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.”

Each resurrection is compared to a harvest.

“Now when the 1,000 years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” [12]

Magog is a general name for northern nations of Japheth’s posterity whose head is Gog. Both Gog and Magog signify high or lifted up. Pride precedes a fall. The Lord revealed to His prophet Ezekiel long ago about the attacks of Gog and Magog on Israel. The Lord promised Ezekiel, “ I will send a fire on Magog... and they shall know that I am the Lord.” [13]

This last battle ends as quickly as when Pharoah marched out against the Israelites at the Red Sea. This time by fire instead of by water. When Satan’s armies surround the city God loves, fire comes down from heaven and devours them in a moment. Then, Satan is cast into the lake of fire where the beast and false prophet are. He is tormented there forever.

God chooses fire to judge evil. In Revelation 8:1-5, the prayers of God’s people became fire as they were cast down to earth. God’s two witnesses destroyed enemies with fire in Revelation 11:7. The Lord judged Sodom and Gomorrah with fire. Moses called down fire mixed with hail on Egypt. Fire consumed Nadab and Abihu when they offered unauthorized offerings to the Lord. Fire consumed those who complained against the Lord in the wilderness. Fire consumed 250 men who took part in a rebellion against Moses and Aaron. Fire consumed two groups of 50 soldiers who approached Elijah to arrest him. Paul told the Thessalonian Christians that Jesus would trouble those that troubled them “when He returns from heaven in blazing fire with His powerful angels.” [14]

Jesus spoke of those who are rejected on the last day as being “cast into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Those who trashed Him are trashed. [15]

It is after this event that Revelation 21:1 says, “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.” Paradise is restored.

The devil has an expiration date! When his time is up, he is cast into a pool of putrid smelling brimstone.

“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” [16]

There are numerous passages of Scripture that speak of God having a judgment throne.

“The Lord shall endure forever: He has prepared His throne for judgment. He shall judge the world in righteousness, He shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.” [17]

“God commands all men everywhere to repent because He has appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He has ordained; whereof He has given assurance unto all men, in that He has raised Him from the dead.” [18]

Faith in the Resurrected One is vital to our resurrection.

The best work we can do is to believe in Him whom God sent to save us. When people asked Jesus, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.” Believe in Jesus God’s Son! [19]

“He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned.” [20]

“Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the Name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict.” [21]

“And this is the record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has not life.” [22]

The Lord rewards those who serve Him with treasures in heaven. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 speaks of our works being tested by fire. Hebrews 4:13 says that all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. We will be rewarded according to what remains after the fire.

Think of the parable of the talents. The Lord looked at what each one did with what He gave them. What has the Lord entrusted to you? What have you done with it?

What about motives? Have lived to glorify God? To share with others about the love of Jesus?

Our Heavenly Father wants us to enjoy rewards. Jesus said, “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” The Lord gave us the Revelation because He wants us to overcome and be rewarded. “To Him who overcomes, “I will give.” [23]

Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He resurrected for our resurrection. He gives us His Holy Spirit. He gave us the Bible, His Church and His angels. He saves us by His grace. His part is to win battles. His part is to restore paradise. Our part is trust and obey Him. Nothing is impossible with God.

Where are you at in your relationship with Jesus? Are you trusting in Christ alone to save you? If so, you can rest assured that He will bring to pass all the blessings that He has promised to you in the Bible.

[1] Revelation 20:1-3
[2] Revelation 9:1-2, 11; 11:7; Isaiah 14:12-15; 2 Chronicles 12:5-8
[3] 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6
[4] Matthew 8:29
[5] John 12:31; 16:11
[6] Isaiah 27:1
[7] Romans 16:20; Hebrews 2:14
[8] Revelation 20:4-6
[9] Matthew 19:28; 1 Corinthians 6:2-3
[10] Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary; Hebrews 4:9; Revelation 14:13
[11] Revelation 20:5
[12] Revelation 20:7-10
[13] Genesis 10:2; Ezekiel 38:1-22; 39:6
[14] Genesis 19:24; Exodus 9:23-24; Leviticus 10:1-3; Numbers 11:1; 16:35; 2 Kings 1:10-15; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-7
[15] Matthew 25:41
[16] Revelation 20:11-15
[17] Psalms 9:7-8
[18] Acts 17:30-31
[19] John 6:28-29
[20] Mark 16:16
[21] John 3:18
[22] 1 John 5:11-12
[23] Luke 12:32; Revelation 2:7, 17, 26; 3:21; 21:7