The beginning and ending of the thousand-year Kingdom Age
The judging and casting out of evil at the beginning of the thousand-year Kingdom Age will result in peace and prosperity for the meek. The nations of the earth will choose to come to the Church in order to learn how God wishes them to live.
God in Christ in the Church will settle all disputes and will sit in judgment, just as He did for Israel under the old covenant (Numbers 15:35; 27:6,7). God will rule through His Temple, which is Christ—Head and Body.
The nations of saved peoples of the earth will be able to pursue their vocations without the constant pressure from demons who are attempting to push them into rebellion against God. This is the Kingdom of God that Isaiah described and that John the Baptist and Jesus proclaimed.
The Kingdom of God is close to the earth now and we should be lifting up our heads in hope, in joy, in expectation, in faith, because our redemption is drawing near. The King is coming.
After Christ is revealed in and with His saints, "in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (II Thessalonians 1:8), there will be a thousand years of righteous government on the earth. This era of release, joy, and prosperity is the Jubilee, the Day of the Lord, the fulfilment of the Day of Atonement.
The coming of Christ into His Kingdom is portrayed in the Old Testament by the ascension of David to the throne of Israel. It may be recalled that David had been anointed king by the Prophet Samuel long before Saul was killed in battle (I Samuel 16:13). David, though anointed king, had to keep away from his kingdom while Saul, the "flesh," had his day.
During the past two thousand years Christ has been anointed as the lawful King over the whole earth but has had to keep away from His Kingdom until the "flesh" has been "killed" by the Lord God.
It is true even of the disciples of the Lord that Christ is not able to rule us as individuals until our "flesh" has been "killed" by the Spirit of God.
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. (Revelation 19:6)
During the Kingdom Age, Satan and all the power of sin will be imprisoned in the bottomless pit. The saints will take their places as the lawful rulers of the authority of the air (Ephesians 2:2; Daniel 7:27). The atmosphere throughout the earth will be the same as it is in Heaven now—joyous, peaceful behaviour in accordance with the Spirit of God.
The Kingdom of Heaven shall be ruling in the earth. God’s will shall be being done in earth as it is in Heaven.
The "beloved city," Jerusalem, the Body of Christ, will be on the earth at the site of the physical Jerusalem, giving forth the Word of the Lord and serving as the "light of the world" and the Throne of God. The Glory of God will be abiding on the Church. Every member of the Body of Christ will know the Lord, "from the least to the greatest."
And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles [nations], and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed. (Isaiah 61:9)
The Glory of God in the saints will be protected throughout the thousand-year Jubilee, as it is written:
And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. (Isaiah 4:5)
We are of the opinion that this protection already is being established for the warlike remnant that is being drawn from the churches, because of the rise of evil in the world.
As soon as the years of the Jubilee have been fulfilled, Satan will be released from the bottomless pit. He then will resume his work of seducing the nations and leading them astray.
Permitting Satan to go forth in this manner, after the peoples of the earth have enjoyed a thousand years of the rule of the Kingdom of God, is an example of the wisdom of God—a demonstration of the sovereignty of the manner in which God works according to His power and foreknowledge.
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. (Revelation 20:7,8)
Prior to the releasing of Satan from the pit, the nations of the earth had sought God’s will and delighted in it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:3)
Now, deliberately, at the end of the thousand years, the Lord God will allow to pass among all the nations in the "four quarters of the earth" the deceiver who will successfully seduce them to turn against the saints.
God never causes anyone to sin. People sin because they are led astray by their own lusts. God does allow circumstances to arise so the seeds buried in the human heart will germinate and spring into definition that they may be judged.
During the process of salvation certain types of pressure are required, designed specifically for each individual, to bring out the depths of deceit in the heart. First, God forgives and "covers" our sins. After that, He defines and removes them. The covering, and then the uncovering, defining, and removing must be accomplished in God’s time. If the processes are not performed in God’s wisdom and timing, disaster results concerning those whom God is saving. The history of Adam and Eve demonstrates the tragedy of sin uncovered before its time.
In the present hour the Holy Spirit is beginning to uncover the sins of Christians, in the spiritual fulfilment of the Old Testament Day of Atonement. It is time now to confess our sins so God may forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
After the thousand years of the Kingdom Age mankind still will be vulnerable to temptation. Can you imagine that! It is no surprise that Adam and Eve were led astray so quickly and easily. They did not have teachers or the history of the world to instruct them concerning the folly of breaking God’s laws.
It is God’s intention that there will be no person in the new earth who can be led away from Him that easily. There will be no more "sea" of people who are driven and tossed by the "wind" of spirits. Therefore, there will be one last earth-wide screening of the nations of saved peoples of the earth.
At the time of the fiery destruction of Gog and Magog (Revelation 20:9) there will be a multitude of people on the earth, "the number of whom is as the sand of the sea" (Revelation 20:8).
There also will be the "camp of the saints," and the "beloved city" (Revelation 20:9). The expression "camp [fortress] of the saints" signifies, as we understand it, that the Presence of the Lord of Armies, the God of battles, will be with the saints for the purpose of establishing and maintaining the rule of Christ on the earth.
The adversary, having brought up his ancient accusations against God and against the people of God, will deceive and seduce the nations into making war against the saints. The nations of the earth will have in their memory the knowledge of the destruction that Christ and His army brought on earth’s armies at Armageddon (Revelation 19:19-21). But these deceived people will suppose on this new occasion evil will triumph over God.
Isn’t their blindness and hardness of heart amazing? Isn’t it true also we obtain a victory from the Lord and then wring our hands in despair and unbelief at the next battle, supposing this time Christ will be overcome or will forsake us?
And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp [fortress] of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. (Revelation 20:9)
God doesn’t even bother to have a battle at this point. His tests have now been concluded. All His creatures have been assigned to their appointed places. The Book of Life is finished.
God’s judgment, covering the period from the occasion of the first sign of rebellion in Heaven to the moment when the last person chooses to march against the saints in the armies of Gog and Magog, has been concluded. Now God Almighty receives back into Himself the energy and mass that brought into being His physical universe.
Fire comes down from God out of Heaven and devours Gog and Magog. The universe passes away with the cataclysmic roar of galaxies disintegrating.
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. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation [conduct] and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto [hastening] the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. (II Peter 3:10-13)
God takes His eraser and wipes the slate clean. God wants all remembrance of former things to pass from the minds of His people; for now He will begin again with the new creation that He has envisioned and constructed in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The process of forgetting the past and bringing forth the new creation in Christ begins in us today, if we allow the Spirit of God to press us into Christ.
The devil is cast into the Lake of Fire, which already contains the Beast and the False Prophet, and will be tormented day and night forever. The great white Throne of God Almighty is revealed for all to behold. At the appearing of the Face of Him who sits there on the earth and the heavens will vanish into nothingness. No place will be found for them.
Every support on which God’s creatures have depended (except His Word) has disappeared. God alone is exalted for all to behold.
Before Him will stand all the dead of the earth, from the days of Adam and Eve to the last soldier of God and Magog consumed by Divine fire.
The dead will come forth from the sea, from death, and from Hell.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. (Revelation 20:13)
There is a deeper meaning to the above verse than what appears at first glance. How could the sea give up its dead when the earth and the heaven already have fled (Revelation 20:11)?
How can it be that some of the dead are in the sea, some are in death, and some are in Hell? Are the bodies of some in the sea, others in death, and yet others in Hell? Or are the spirits and souls of some in the sea, some in death, and others in Hell?
Do the dead stand before the throne in their bodies? If so, why is it that their bodies were not destroyed along with the earth and the heaven?
This particular passage of the Scriptures has been oversimplified and its meaning distorted. The emphasis of verse fifteen has been changed to fit Christian theology.
The writer’s understanding is that only Christ’s victorious saints are raised physically prior to the thousand-year Kingdom Age. Their judgment is accomplished before they die and pass into the spirit realm. Their sentence in the Day of the Lord is to be with Christ and to reign with Him over the nations of the earth.
The remaining dead are raised at the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age. We believe Revelation 20:13 is referring in symbolic terms to the various conditions of people.
Each individual is judged carefully and precisely. Each of his or her deeds is weighed justly and compassionately.
If the person has heard the Gospel of Christ, then that is taken into account. No individual can refuse the salvation of God and still be saved.
If the person has never heard the Gospel, he or she will not be judged by the Gospel. "Ignorance of the law is no excuse" is a human maxim. In the Kingdom, people are judged according to the light given to them.
Notice in the following passages how people are judged according to their knowledge of God’s will.
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:18,19)
When the light came into the world some people rejected the light and chose the darkness. Before an individual can choose darkness he must be presented with the light.
If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. (John 15:22-24)
And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. (Luke 12:47-48)
For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. (Romans 2:12-16)
(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed (ascribed) when there is no law. (Romans 5:13)
For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. (Romans 7:9)
The Judge of the bench of Heaven considers the individual case. Each person is judged according to the light and the talents that were issued to him. Much is required of those to whom much has been given. Little is required of those to whom little has been entrusted.
Each soul will be judged fairly and mercifully. The Book of Life will be consulted. The dead will be judged according to what is written. Every deed, word, and thought of the lifetime of every human being has been written in a ledger, apparently.
Death and Hell will be cast into the Lake of Fire. If any person’s name is not found written in the Book of Life, that individual shall be thrown into the Lake of Fire. He or she has not been found worthy to continue in the ranks of mankind. He or she shall not be brought into the new heaven and earth reign of the Lord Jesus. God has driven that individual from His Presence forever.
The Lake of Fire is a fate so frightful that the human mind cannot grasp it. It is reserved for the servants of Satan.
The rest of the dead now are ready to take their place as members of the nations of saved peoples of the earth—those who walk in the light of the new Jerusalem, which is the Lamb’s Wife, the Body of Christ, the eternal Temple of God (Revelation 21:24).
The judgment of the white Throne of God does not include those who have part in the first resurrection because the second death, which is the Lake of Fire, no longer has any authority over them. The Lake of Fire has authority over us until every aspect of our personality has been made new in Christ (Revelation 20:6).
The decision of the white throne, based on "the things that were written in the books, according to their works," is whether a creature is thrown into the Lake of Fire (which is the second death) or whether he or she is saved from eternal torment.
This is the climax and conclusion of the Day of Judgment, the period which began with the appearing of Christ on the earth at His first coming. It is at this point that a person either is saved for eternity or lost for eternity.
Let us repeat the concept that any individual who spurns the offer of God’s salvation in Christ is condemned already. The wrath of God abides on Him from that moment forward. He has turned aside from God’s love and salvation.