Why I Think a Literal Millennium Needs To Take Place
It's a tricky subject to deal with the millennium not especially if you're someone who believes that futurism is a Jesuit invention. I always found it stupid that futurism tends to get associated with Francisco Ribera as a deliberate attempt to distract people from the Papal Antichrist. The idea that the millennium is now and that Satan is supposedly bound with a very long chain is hard to imagine. Some can say that Satan is on a leash and that God gives the latter a long one. I can't really buy that idea because remember it's stated that Satan will be locked up in a bottomless pit. Locked up meaning that he is in prison. He doesn't get in and get out anytime. Plus, how many years have passed since Jesus made His earthly ministry. It's 2020 A.D. and a millennium is a thousand years. If Iconbusters' historicist view is to be followed then we've barely covered a millennium - at least according to them!
So why is there the need for the millennium? It's a time of testing. Revelation 19 shows the end of the Battle of Armageddon. What amazes me is that the Antichrist and the False Prophet are the first to enter the Lake of Fire. Satan is given the distinction of being chained by an unnamed angel into the Abyss for a thousand years with all the evil spirits. The armies of the Antichrist are disposed of and they are still in Hell waiting for their final judgment. The physical survivors of the Great Tribulation (and the idea still baffles me) enter into the millennium kingdom. I remembered a comic strip I read from the Philippine Christian Book Store (PCBS) about Revelation. It was titled "A New World is Coming" by Hal Lindsey, also the author of "The Late Great Planet Earth". Children are born into the millennial kingdom? I find that hard to imagine but I think they're needed because Satan won't have anybody to deceive if the Earth didn't get a huge population boom after a thousand years. The real problem is the human heart since even in a perfect world - they will still rebel if ever given a chance!
This is not the eternal kingdom yet. J. Vernon McGee considers this the wedding feast. The marriage happens in Heaven. Now, the millennium will be that honeymoon period of 1,000 years - something that can't be imagined right now. This is the world with the ideal conditions that man wants. What the Tribulation saints sacrificed for seven years is given for a thousand years. This is where those who are physically still alive after the Tribulation enter into the Kingdom. I think the purpose of the Tribulation is also a time of cleansing. Satan must be allowed to do whatever he wants within that time so he can finally be judged. Satan goes to jail for 1,000 years since you can't have a paradise not as long as he's around. It will be an ideal world many people dream of. I think the Old Testament saints will be resurrected at this point to live in this near-perfect world. It's even said in Isaiah 55:3-4, Jeremiah 30:9, 33:15-21, Ezekiel 34:23-34, 37:25-25, Hosea 3:5, and Amos 9:11 is that David will be raised up. Will David be reigning in this time as Jesus' vice-regent? It seems to be it that David will be in his glorified body to rule as a vice-regent. The title "King of Kings and Lord of Lords" will suggest that there are lesser kings and lesser lords. Though, I can't be certain if David will be a regent at that time until the Millennium Kingdom takes place.
McGee also states in his commentary on Revelation 20 that the Millennium is the final testing of man under ideal conditions. How often do we have people trying to make the world a better place and try everything to do so, only to see the world eventually getting more morally bankrupt? How often do we hear of politicians promising to fix politics only to fail? McGee also states that the Millennium is the answer to those who still believe that man is basically good. Even in a perfect world - there are still people who will have their sinful nature because they descended from not yet glorified people who survived the Tribulation Period. Remember Adam and Eve lived in the garden of Eden under ideal conditions and they still failed to keep God's Word. Satan is bound for a thousand years and the temptation must come from within. Not every sin I commit is caused by Satan so I can't blame him for my shortcomings. I can only blame myself for my shortcomings. A thousand-year rule happens and the desecrated Earth is repopulated and refurnished.
McGee also states in his commentary on Revelation 20 that the Millennium is the final testing of man under ideal conditions. How often do we have people trying to make the world a better place and try everything to do so, only to see the world eventually getting more morally bankrupt? How often do we hear of politicians promising to fix politics only to fail? McGee also states that the Millennium is the answer to those who still believe that man is basically good. Even in a perfect world - there are still people who will have their sinful nature because they descended from not yet glorified people who survived the Tribulation Period. Remember Adam and Eve lived in the garden of Eden under ideal conditions and they still failed to keep God's Word. Satan is bound for a thousand years and the temptation must come from within. Not every sin I commit is caused by Satan so I can't blame him for my shortcomings. I can only blame myself for my shortcomings. A thousand-year rule happens and the desecrated Earth is repopulated and refurnished.
What's interesting is that believers who were still alive after the Tribulation now reproduce. I used to think all believers will be put to death or won't survive. However, there will be some who will survive the Tribulation by God's grace. Those who aren't saved will be incinerated into Hell at the end of the Tribulation. The Battle of Armageddon will end up with the Judgment of the Nations. I always had problems interpreting Matthew 25:31-46 back then because of the Judgment Seat and the Great White Throne Judgment. I thought of it as the Great White Throne judgment instead of the Judgment of the Nations. Matthew 25:31-46 says Jesus appears to judge the nations. The Great White Throne is when the Heaven and the Earth fled away. These are two different scenarios. Reading through commentaries by McGee and the KJV Study Bible reveals a totally different scenario. Instead, it's all about the unsaved people and the saved people during the Tribulation. Matthew 24:13 has been viewed in two ways - the mark of a true believer and enduring to the end during the Tribulation. Jesus arrives and divides the sheep from the goats. You can see Jesus welcoming the Tribulation saints who are alive into His Kingdom. This Kingdom is the Millenial Kingdom. That's why I kept reading from various sources in Christian bookstores that there will be children born during the Millennium. Many of these will eventually rebel which is a very sad thing!
I say it's like allowing people to experience a world on what if Adam didn't sin. The bad news is that the Tribulation saints will soon have descendants who remained unsaved and degenerate even during Christ's one-man rule. Just remember that David himself had a couple of wicked descendants like Abijah, Jehoram, Ahaziah, Ahaz, Ammon, and Zedekiah. Just remember that Noah a righteous man became the great-grandfather of the rebel Nimrod and those who eventually founded Babylon. Just remember that we're all Noah's children today but not all of us follow his footsteps and chose to follow Nimrod's wayward path. We're all descendants of Seth but not most of his descendants follow the way of his brother Cain. This is amazing, isn't it? It's the perfect world and yet many reject the perfect King. I'm amazed at how many people want a perfect leader but reject Jesus who is the perfect King. It's no wonder why the Antichrist will have an easy time rising into power after the Rapture. It's because he will seem to be the perfect leader then he will betray Israel. Now, the Antichrist and the False Prophet are entered first into the Lake of Fire. Why that happens is not clearly stated.
Descendants of the Tribulation saints will be able to sin because they carry the fallen nature of Adam and Eve. Some of them will continue in the state of unbelief. I was thinking is there death during the millennium kingdom? As much as I dismiss the "Left Behind" series - I still think that the book "Kingdom Come" may provide a glimpse as inaccurate as it may get. The glorified saints and the natural saints will mingle at that time. The glorified saints no longer reproduce or give in to marriage. I can't imagine what it would be for a believing person who's glorified to meet two former glorified spouses who are now in Heaven. I can't imagine how relationships will be since death severs marriage ties on Earth. A person whose spouse dies is free to remarry under God's Law. The marriage covenant is no longer applicable for the glorified. It's almost like saying, "Back on Earth, you were my first wife before God called you Home." The naturals, on the other hand, will eventually give in to marriage during the thousand-year reign. Having a world freed from the curse of sin (but not men free from it) will eventually cause a huge population boom. The problem is now from within. I'm not saying circumstances don't affect behavior. However, even the best system will still have rebels. Think that even the most disciplined countries still have jails. They have a low crime rate but never a zero crime rate.
How will the rebels eventually be established during the Millennium if Satan is absent? People who commit sins worthy of death will be swiftly punished but it doesn't mean that they didn't have time to reproduce. I think people who are still in unbelief will just reach a maximum of a hundred-year lifespan if they ever make it that long in a world of perfect justice. I think rebels will slowly organize since they too will reproduce. I think the preaching of the Gospel during the Millennium will include Satan's punishment. The book "Kingdom Come" of the "Left Behind" series does provide a good illustration even when I don't endorse the books for Bible study. It was later revealed that later descendants of the Tribulation saints started to form secret societies such as The Only Light and The Other Light. The Only Light was a society of Satan worshipers. The Other Light believed that God is unjust in binding Satan for a thousand years. Both groups sought to overthrow Jesus from the Holy City when Satan was released. Will there be descendants of the Tribulation saints who will eventually learn of Satan's captivity? If Gospel preaching happens for a thousand years then Satan's temporal prison time will most likely be included in that message. Probably, these rebels over time will pass their agenda down to their descendants who will be like the sand of the sea. These rebels will slowly deviate from their forefathers, the surviving Tribulation saints like Noah's descendants eventually broke God's covenant.
Satan is set loose after a thousand years. The Kingdom is now a planet full of rebels. The time is ripe for Satan's final rebellion. Isn't it amazing that Satan will still be in utter rebellion against God even after a thousand years of being locked up? Satan is still full of hatred for God and humanity even after his time-out. Satan doesn't pop out and tell the rebels that they should make peace with God. Far from it, Satan knows he will lose yet he still wants to make war with God. Arrogant people will rather rush into a fight they know they will lose than humble themselves. Satan's unchanged condition shows that it's only fair that people in Hell get no second chance. It's because people in Hell, just like Satan, won't take it even if it were given to them. If Satan won't repent during his millennial captivity then what makes you think people in Hell ever will? I believe people in Hell are still stuck in their unbelief which will be evidenced on judgment day. Matthew 7:21-23 shows that even after some time in Hell - many will still try to justify themselves before Jesus. Many of these millennial children will eventually join him in the last rebellion in Gog and Magog. I'm amazed at how they will eventually join the rebellion even after given the best conditions ever. However, this rebellion lasts for only one verse and they're all sent to the Lake of Fire. The great response is that God destroys them by fire and the rebels are sent to the Lake of Fire with Satan. I think this is Satan wanting payback on the Tribulation saints who survived by misleading their descendants astray that they may join him into the Lake of Fire. I also think Jesus allows Satan to be loosed one more time in order to get rid of the rebels for good. The New Heaven and the New Earth can't allow anything impure so the rebels must be purged out with fire first, literally!
God has His reasons. I can't fully state it. Eternity will tell everything in due time!