THE 1000 YEAR MILLENNIUM - THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST - ON EARTH OR IN HEAVEN?

 There is great confusion among the churches of the world today concerning the 1000 year 

millennium - a time in which the saints of God reign with Christ. The main confusion is regarding the PLACE in which this 1000 years is going to occur. Many believe the 1000 years is going to take place on earth. One of the main popular mainstream teachings says that Christ and the church are going to bring in a 1000 years of peace and prosperity, with the church reigning over the world with Christ. And who do you think wants the world to believe that a time of 'peace and safety' is coming upon the earth, with the "CHURCH" REIGNING over the world? The Roman Catholic Church and her apostate daughter churches. But what does the Bible say?

"For when they shall say, peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." (1 Thessalonians 5:3)

Sudden destruction - yes, and make note of those words, sudden destruction is coming to all those who are deceived by the 'peace' plans of the Roman Catholic Church and her apostate daughter churches. But let us ask the question quickly - IF the thousand years reigning with Christ was on earth, then what kind of world would we be reigning over? And what people would we be reigning over? The Bible gives us a very clear picture of what is going to happen to this world and to the wicked when Jesus returns:

Luke 17:26-30 ...'And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all ... Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.'

Revelation 19:11-21 ...'And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war ... And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses ... And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God ... And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.'

Jeremiah 4:23-26 ...'I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.'

What does the 'presence of the LORD' bring to wicked unrepentant man and this sin laden earth? Destruction. Our God is an 'all consuming fire' (Hebrews 12:29). And when Jesus returns, as you can see above, all the wicked are going to be destroyed and this world is going to be 'laid waste.' So I ask you, what is there to 'reign over' if the 1000 years are spent on earth? Nothing!

The wheat and tares parable taught by Christ gives us a vital truth to understand regarding this. Not only does the wheat and tares parable PROVE the popular 'rapture' teaching to be false. It also shows this 1000 year millennium reign on earth teaching to be false. Jesus taught us through this parable in Matthew 13 that God's people (the wheat) and the wicked (the tares) grow together until the harvest. The harvest is the second coming of Christ for His church, according to Matthew 13 and is the 'end of the world.'

So if the harvest of the church is the 'end of the world', with the wicked destroyed and earth 'laid waste', then what is there to reign over? NOTHING! Do you see the problem with this teaching of a 1000 years on earth? It is NOT Biblical.

So let us take a look at what REALLY happens during the 1000 year millennium. Let us go through the verses in Revelation 20 and compare them with other scripture to gain a true Biblical understanding of what is going to take place.

Revelation 20:1-3 ...'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.'

So Satan is going to be bound for the 1000 years. But what is this 'binding' in the 'bottomless pit'? Satan isn't going to be literally bound in a pit, wrapped in chains where he can't move. There are many prophetic symbols in Revelation Bible prophecy, and the bottomless pit is one of those prophetic symbols. Let's take a look at the bottomless pit.

Revelation 11:7 ...'And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.'

Is this a literal beast that rises out of a pit to kill God's people? No! A beast in prophecy is a symbol of a nation/kingdom of this world, which we know from Daniel 7:23.

Daniel 7:23 ...'Thus he said, the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.'

Revelation 13 also talks of a beast that 'rises out of the sea.' This is a reference to a 'kingdom' rising up where? ON EARTH. So the bottomless pit is a prophetic symbol of the earth. So when it says that satan is 'cast into the bottomless pit' and 'bound in a pit', it basically means he is bound to the earth with no one to tempt or deceive. But why? Why has he got no one to tempt? Let us take a look further into Revelation 20.

Revelation 20:4-5 ...'And 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. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.'

We see TWO groups of people here. One group LIVE and reign with Christ for the 1000 years. The other group is DEAD for the 1000 years. And we are told that this is the 'first resurrection.' So let us take a look at some other Bible verses to find out what happens at the 'first resurrection.'

Revelation 20:6 ...'Blessed 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.'

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ...'For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.'

Matthew 24:30-31 ...'And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.'

Luke 17:26-30 ...'And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all ... Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.'

Do you see what happens at the first resurrection, which is the return of Christ? This STARTS the 1000 year millennium period, and those TWO groups of people are the lost who are KILLED when Jesus returns and the saints who 'meet the Lord in the air' to go to HEAVEN with Him.

So Satan is 'bound' ON EARTH and has no one to tempt, because there is NO MAN on earth during the 1000 years. The lost are dead and the saints are taken to heaven with Jesus. Satan is the one on earth during this time, NOT the saints or Christ. We do not come back to earth until AFTER the 1000 years when the lost are resurrected to receive their final judgment in the lake of fire and the earth is renewed by that fire.

Now did you notice in Revelation 20:4 that judgment is given to the saints and they sit on thrones during the 1000 years? Please mark this point well. Where are these thrones that the saints sit on to judge? In Daniel 7:9 we are told that 'thrones are set up and the Ancient of Days did sit.' Who is the Ancient of Days? It is God the Father. And where does He preside on His throne? IN HEAVEN (Psalm 11:4). This is a judgment scene IN HEAVEN. So where are the saints going to go to after they 'meet the Lord in the air' to judge? TO HEAVEN. This is where the judgment of the lost will take place and as the apostle Paul said ... "Know ye not that we shall judge angels?" (1 Corinthians 6:3). So we will take part in the judgment of the lost and wicked angels, with God the Father presiding over the judgment. And this clearly takes place in heaven, NOT on earth.

Please understand that point. The apostle Paul said that when Christ returns, we 'meet Him in the air.' This is because Christ does NOT set foot on earth when He returns. Instead, we meet Him in the air and go to HEAVEN with Him for the 1000 years.

Revelation 20:7-8 ...'And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and 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.'

What did Revelation 20:5 say about the lost? That they did not live again UNTIL the 1000 years had expired. And what does verse 7 above say? That when the 1000 years are expired, Satan is loosed out of his prison. So basic logic tells us that Satan being loosed out of his prison coincides with the lost being resurrected. This is how Satan is loosed from his prison when the 1000 years are ended. The wicked are resurrected and Satan can now gather them under his leadership again.

Revelation 20:9,14 ...'And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them ... This is the second death.'

After the 1000 years, we return with Christ and the holy city - new Jerusalem - descends to earth (Revelation 21:2). Satan deceives the resurrected wicked to attack and take the city. They surround the new Jerusalem to capture it, but then God intervenes and fire comes down from God, which devours the lost. Earth is renewed by those fires and the saints inhabit the new earth forever in peace, joy and righteousness.

WHAT WILL THE EARTH BE LIKE DURING THE 1000 YEARS?

As we have said, one of the mainstream teachings concerning the millennium contends that during the 1000 years, Jesus will rule the earth - ON EARTH - with the saints, and there will be peace amongst the nations as Jesus rules from Jerusalem. But there is a BIG problem with this teaching. Take a look at the following verses describing what the earth will be like after the second coming of Christ:

Does the following sound like the earth will continue as it is for another 1000 years after Jesus returns?

Isaiah 24:1 ...'Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.'

Jeremiah 4:23-26 ...'I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.'

Jeremiah 25:33 ...'And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.'

2 Thessalonians 2:8 ...'And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.'

2 Peter 3:10 ...'But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.'

Does it sound like this world as we know it will continue on for another 1000 years with the saints reigning with Christ from Israel? No! The wicked are destroyed at Jesus' second coming and the earth is laid waste. The saints go to heaven with Jesus 'meeting Him in the air', and as we can clearly see above, the earth will lay desolate for the 1000 years. This is what the earth will be like during the thousand year millennium. It won't be a happy, peaceful place where Jesus reigns the nations, it will be desolate, laid waste and empty! And to Satan it will be a "bottomless pit" to which he is bound to for the thousand years.

Then the earth will get its 1000 year 'Sabbath rest.' Just as God gave us 1 day a week for a Sabbath rest, and as the Bible says, 'a day is as a thousand years' to God (2 Peter 3:8), so will the earth get its Sabbath rest during the 1000 years millennium.

Let's face it, why would we reign over a desolate earth? We will be reigning with Christ IN HEAVEN, in glory! Praise God! Do not be deceived by this movement of the fallen churches to bring about a reign of peace on earth, and accept Satan as Christ. The churches are allowing themselves to be ruled by antichrist, rather than the REAL Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. Please do not be deceived. Please seek the truth!

The churches are so focused on literal Jerusalem on earth, when it is new Jerusalem IN HEAVEN we should be focused on ... "But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." (Galatians 4:26)

John 14:1-3 ...'Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.'