What Will the Millennial Kingdom Be Like?
Selected Scriptures
© Mike Riccardi
Introduction
It is a joy to be with you this evening and open the Word of God to you. Many thanks to Pastor Nathan for asking me to be a part of this Sunday night series on How the Story Ends. It is important to know how the story ends—not merely to satisfy our curiosity, but because our knowledge of the future is to shape and direct us as we live in the present. My mind goes to 2 Peter chapter 3, where Peter says, verse 11: “Since all these things are to be…in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness.” And verse 14: “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things,” in the future, now, in the present, “be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless.” Since the future is what God’s Word says it is, conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness in the present. We are to derive motives for holy and godly living today, in the middle of the story, precisely because we know the end of the story. And so that’s what our study on Sunday evenings has been about.
And we come tonight, to my assignment: What will the Millennial Kingdom be like? That is the next event on the prophetic timetable that we’ve been progressing through. Two weeks ago, Abner Chou spoke of the rapture of the church, which occurs after Revelation chapter 3 and before Revelation chapter 4. Last week, Steve Crawford preached on the seven-year Tribulation, which occurs after the church has been taken to heaven, and in which all the judgments detailed in Revelation 6 to 18 come to pass on the earth. Steve also ended on the triumphant note of the Second Coming of Christ, which we find in Revelation 19, verses 11 to 21—as our Glorious Conqueror comes, with eyes a flame of fire and robe dipped in blood; with sword in His mouth and rod of iron in His hand; along with all the armies of heaven to destroy all the enemies of righteousness.
Well, after Christ’s Second Coming, and after His conquest of all His enemies, the next event that Revelation narrates for us is Christ’s thousand-year reign upon the earth—what we call the Millennial Kingdom. And, truly, we read of it in so many places of Scripture—something we’ll experience as we turn to God’s Word tonight. But I want to begin with Revelation chapter 20, not only because it is the next text in chronological sequence, but also because it’s the text that explicitly identifies the future earthly reign of Christ as lasting for one thousand years.
Revelation 20, verses 1 to 6: “Then”—that is, after the glorified Christ has returned to earth and destroyed His enemies—“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. 4Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”
Now, there is no shortage of debate among good and godly Christians over what the precise timing and nature of this kingdom is. And it’s unfortunate that that debate can often get quite strident. It’s why the millennial kingdom of Christ is sometimes referred to as “the thousand years of peace that everyone loves to fight about.” But it is not my assignment tonight to defend pre-millennialism against post-millennialism and a-millennialism. That is a worthy endeavor, and I believe it can and should be done. But my assignment is to present Scripture’s teaching on what the millennial kingdom will be like.
But I will state our position. We believe that the events described in Revelation 20 follow chronologically from the events described in Revelation 19, so that Jesus returns before He sets up His kingdom. And we believe that the five mentions of “a thousand years” refer to a period of one thousand literal years, in which Jesus reigns upon the earth, from Jerusalem, over a restored nation of Israel, as well as over all the nations, in literal fulfillment of the prophecies of both Old and New Testaments.
Well, as I studied the Scriptures seeking to answer the question, “What will the millennial kingdom be like?”, I found no fewer than eleven answers. And so tonight I’m going to attempt to survey eleven features of the Millennial Kingdom. They will, of necessity, be somewhat abbreviated. But there is just so much that the Scripture says about this unique time in redemptive history. And if my study has taught me anything, it’s that it’s such a blessing just to read these less familiar portions of Scripture, which detail the culmination of so many of God’s promises.
I. Jesus Will Reign
Well, in the first place, in the Millennial Kingdom, Jesus will reign. “Jesus shall reign wherever the sun / does his successive journeys run, / His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, / till moons shall wax and wane no more.”
And you say, “But isn’t Jesus reigning now?” And the answer to that is: emphatically yes! Jesus is Yahweh, and Psalm 103:19 says “Yahweh has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all.” Colossians 1:13 tells us that the Father has “rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.” And of course, Ephesians 1 verses 20 to 23 says that God “raised [Christ] from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and [above] every name that is named, … And He put all things in subjection under His feet.” Jesus is reigning as King, now, from heaven, as the supreme and sovereign Lord of all the earth.
But Jesus is presently reigning from His Father’s throne. In Revelation 3:21, Jesus says, “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” The throne upon which Jesus sat down as a consequence of His exaltation to heaven was His Father’s throne, which He explicitly distinguishes from His throne. You say, “When will Jesus sit on His throne?” He answers that question in Matthew 25:31: “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.” Jesus presently reigns over all things from His Father’s throne in heaven. But after His Second Coming, when He comes with the angels, then He will sit on His throne—or, as Luke 1:32 says, on “the throne of His father David.”
Isaiah 9:6–7 not only speaks of that child who will be born to us, who will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace. It also says that “the government will rest on His shoulders,” that He will reign “on the throne of David and over his kingdom.” Isaiah chapter 2 verse 2 says, “Now it will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of Yahweh will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it.” Isaiah 24:23 says, “Yahweh of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and His glory will be before His elders.” When you cull all the data together, the Scriptures teach that after His Second Coming, Jesus will reign. Christ will personally rule the nations for a thousand years from Jerusalem as the promised Davidic King.
And saints, isn’t that reason for rejoicing? This will mean that man will finally rule over the earth as a visible representation of God’s universal reign over the cosmos. What God commanded the first man to do in Genesis 1:28—to subdue the earth and rule over every living thing that moves on the earth—will finally be brought to fulfillment in the Second Man, the Last Adam.
It will mean that Israel will finally have that righteous King she has waited for. Saul “did evil in the sight of Yahweh,” 1 Samuel 15:19. Solomon “did evil in the sight of Yahweh,” 1 Kings 11:6. Rehoboam “did evil in the sight of Yahweh,” 1 Kings 14:22. Twenty-seven times in 1 and 2 Kings, we read that a King of Israel or Judah “did evil in the sight of Yahweh.” Oh, how God’s people languished under wicked rulers! But “Behold,” Jeremiah 23:5–6, “days are coming, declares Yahweh, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called: Yahweh our righteousness.”
This present world is absolutely permeated with injustice. How all creation groans under the curse of sin, as wicked rulers pervert justice even in the name of justice! And how the whole world chases its tail trying to pursue justice, and establish righteousness! from communist utopias to sacralist states! But the millennial kingdom will be a time—the only time—when injustice is eradicated and righteousness is vindicated throughout the whole earth. Psalm 72:12: “He will deliver the needy when he cries for help, the afflicted also, and him who has no helper.” Isaiah 11:4: “With righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; … With the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, and faithfulness the belt about His waist.”
And not only will Jesus’ reign mean the fulfillment of God’s purpose for man upon the earth; not only will it mean Israel gets her righteous ruler; not only will it mean a government of true righteousness and justice upon the earth. Most significantly, it will mean that our precious Lord will have the Kingdom He is worthy of. Oh, for you who love Him—and I mean really love Him, in your bones—the ache of your soul is that He might have what He is worthy of! He came the first time, and He was “despised and forsaken of men,” spit upon and beaten, crucified as a criminal, condemned as if a sinner. What an infinite gulf between what He deserved and what He received!
But on that day, Zechariah 14:9, He “will be king over all the earth. In that day, Yahweh will be the only one, and His name the only one.” “At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:10–11). This will be the pinnacle and apex of our joy: to see our Savior honored, and worshiped, and glorified, and treasured like He deserves.
II. Satan Will Be Bound
Well, I’m going to have to pick up the pace significantly if we’re going to get through all eleven. But I couldn’t help celebrate a bit extra long that Jesus will reign. In the second place, Satan will be bound.
In this present age, Satan is “the prince of the power of the air,” Ephesians 2:2, “the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.” He is our adversary, 1 Peter 5:8, who “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” First John 5:19 says, “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one,” and Revelation 12:9 says that Satan “deceives the whole world.”
Why is the world the way it is? If Christianity is the one, true religion, why are there so few true believers in Jesus? Why do people worship the trees, or themselves, or the little dolls that they themselves make with their own hands and call their gods? Why does everyone have their own bizarre take on spiritual things, with their personalized philosophies that make no sense? Why is society overrun by sexual immorality, homosexuality, and transgenderism? Because Satan, who is called “the god of this world” in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
But at the start of the Millennial Kingdom—we read it before in the opening verses of Revelation 20—the angel laid “hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed.” Here, the great enemy of our souls—the accuser of the brethren and the one who does everything he can to aggravate the sin which remains in our flesh, and make us displeasing to the Lord we long to serve, by stirring up what is earthly that remains in us—here, our great adversary enters into the penultimate stage of his own inevitable destruction.
First there was the plundering of the strong man’s house, when, during His earthly ministry, our Lord cast demons out of those under Satan’s sway (Matt 12:29). Then there was the decisive victory of the cross, Colossians 2:15, when He “disarmed the rulers and authorities,” and “made a public display of them, having triumphed over them,” when through death, Hebrews 2:14, He rendered “powerless him who had the power of death,” and freed the captives enslaved to the fear of death. Here is the third great step in Christ’s conquest of Satan: he is bound for a thousand years. And after a brief time of release at the end, Revelation 20, verses 7 to 10 document when he will finally be thrown into the lake of fire to be tormented for all eternity.
But just imagine this world when all that deception that we spoke about a moment ago is curtailed, when Satan is not permitted, as he is presently, to deceive the nations concerning the truth of the Gospel. Imagine the Gospel dominating Los Angeles, dominating Sacramento, dominating Washington DC; dominating North Korea, and Iran, and Saudi Arabia, and China, and Russia. Imagine the Gospel dominating the earth! Isaiah 11:9 says, “The earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh as the waters cover the sea”! Now, every day, we pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The saints and angels in heaven delight for the will of God to be done, with no backwardness, with not a hint of hesitation! They are eager for His will to be done! In that day, when His kingdom has come, the will of all the nations of the earth will be conformed to God’s will. Men, women, and children will want—from the depths of their souls—what God Himself wants. O, what it will be when Satan will be bound!
III. Israel Will Be Restored
Third, Israel will be restored. Yes, Romans 11, Israel has stumbled (v. 11; cf. 9:32). Because of their unbelief, the natural branches have been broken off from the olive tree of covenant blessing (11:20). But “they did not stumble so as to fall, did they?” Romans 11:11: “May it never be!” “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew” (11:2). Yes, Romans 11:28: presently, “from the standpoint of the gospel, they are enemies for your sake; but, from the standpoint of God’s choice”—according to their election—“they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.” For rejecting their Messiah, the Jews are enemies of the Gospel. But that is not the end of the story! The hardening that Israel is experiencing, verse 25, is both partial and temporary—only “until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”
But the time is coming, Romans 11:26, when “all Israel will be saved.” “The Deliverer will come from Zion,” Paul quotes from Isaiah 59:20, and “He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.” “They will look on [the Messiah] whom they have pierced,” Zechariah 12:10, “and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son.” Ezekiel 36: God will remove their heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 37: The valley full of dry bones will have the Spirit of life breathed into them. Israel will receive the new birth! God will save them by granting them faith in the Messiah-King, the Lord Jesus Christ!
And alongside this national salvation will be a national restoration. In Ezekiel 37:14, where regeneration and Holy-Spirit-indwelling is prophesied, God also says, “and I will place you on your own land.” Israel will not only be saved; she’ll be restored as a nation that is holy to Yahweh. In Ezekiel 37:21, the Lord says, “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them.” Verse 24: “My servant David will be king over them,”—that is, the Son of David who would be given David’s throne—“and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever.” Do you think Ezekiel wants us to understand that Israel will live on the land God promised to Abraham? He only mentions it five times!
In Amos 9:14–15 God says, “I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, and they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them…. I will also plant them on their land, and they will not again be rooted out from their land which I have given them, says Yahweh your God.” And one more. Jeremiah 32, starting in verse 37: “Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands”—that is, not just Babylon, where they were exiled at that time, but—“all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety.” And then the great covenant promise throughout all the Scriptures: “They shall be My people, and I will be their God.” Skip down to verse 42: “Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them. Fields will be bought in this land of which you say, ‘It is a desolation…’” Verse 44: “Men will buy fields for money, sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland and in the cities of the Negev; for I will restore their fortunes, declares Yahweh.”
IV. The Curse Will Be Mitigated
What will the millennial kingdom be like? Jesus will reign, Satan will be bound, Israel will be restored. Number four: the curse will be mitigated. In Isaiah chapter 32, the prophet laments the then-current desolation of the land of Israel. But in verse 15 he says that desolation will last “until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field is considered as a forest.” A few chapters later in Isaiah 35, he says, “The wilderness and the desert will be glad, and the Arabah”—which is the desert valley—“will rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it will blossom profusely.” Verse 6: “For waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the Arabah. The scorched land will become a pool and the thirsty ground springs of water.” Especially in the land of Israel, it seems, the effects of the curse of the ground—so that the earth yields thorns and thistles and becomes an encumbrance to man’s prosperity—that curse will be significantly mitigated.
And in Isaiah 65:20, we read that “the youth will die at the age of one hundred, and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought accursed.” Human lifespans will return to the length of days similar to the days before the flood, and that as a symbol of the time of blessing, as well as the soon coming of the total eradication of sin and death in the eternal state. It’s for this reason that Jesus in Matthew 19:28 calls the millennial kingdom “the regeneration.” It’s why the Apostle Peter in Acts 3:21 called it “the period of restoration of all things.” It is the renovation of the present creation en route to perfect paradise.
V. Peace Will Dominate
And then, very related to that, number five: peace will dominate. Back in Isaiah 11, a key chapter for the details concerning the Messianic Kingdom, we read, starting in verse 6: “And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them. 7Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. 9They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh as the waters cover the sea.” What a glorious thought! The effects of the curse of sin will be so mitigated that peace will dominate, even in the animal kingdom! Predators and prey will graze together! Little children will play with what had been poisonous serpents! What a time this will be!
And then back in Isaiah chapter 2, another key chapter for details of the Messianic Kingdom. Isaiah chapter 2 and verse 4 says the King of this kingdom “will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples.” And listen to this: “And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” Peace will so dominate this kingdom that entire nations will have no use for weapons. They’re going to turn their weapons of warfare into gardening tools! End of verse 4: “Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war.”!
Could it be, on this present creation, before the new heavens and the new earth, that there will actually be world peace? The brightest minds in all the world haven’t been able to achieve that for six thousand years. The United Nations has been around for the last eighty years—the most enlightened and technologically advanced nations in the history of the world. Can’t do it! But King Jesus will make it happen! You say, “Why can’t we make it happen before then?” Because the nations of this world have not yet bowed the knee to Jesus Christ. But they will.
And when they do, peace will dominate the entire earth, because we will have a King who is perfectly righteous, and so who will desire just and righteous ends. We will have a King who is perfectly wise, and so who will possess the wisdom to achieve those just and righteous ends. And we will have a King who is sovereign, who will possess the power to carry out those wise and righteous ends throughout all the earth. Imagine what the news outlets will be like in the Millennial Kingdom. Iran and Saudi Arabia bring tribute to King Jesus in Jerusalem. Russia and Ukraine keep trying to give Crimea to one another! “We really shouldn’t have taken this from you.” “No, please. That’s ok. You keep it.”
VI. The Nations Will Worship
And that brings us to our sixth answer to what the Millennium will be like, namely, the nations will worship. Peace will dominate because all the nations will bow in worshipful subjection to King Jesus. Isaiah chapter 2 verse 3 says, “And many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us concerning His ways and that we may walk in His paths.’ For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.” The nations—all the nations of the world—are going to come to Jerusalem to be instructed in the law of Yahweh.
Zechariah 8:23 says, “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’” Isn’t that beautiful? Ten unbelieving Gentiles for every Jewish person there is. “Take us to see King Jesus!” And then, Zechariah 14 verse 16: “Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, Yahweh of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.” There will be nothing of tribal religion, of cultural religion, nothing of Hinduism, Buddhism, or Islam. The nations of the earth are going to renounce their pagan religions and their blasphemous and idolatrous worship practices. And they are going to go to Jerusalem year by year to worship Jesus of Nazareth as the One True God of all creation.
VII. The Saints Will Rule
Number seven: The saints will rule. Now, Revelation 19:16 tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ is the King of kings, and the Lord of lords. But in His grace and kindness to us His people, He has granted that His saints will reign with Him.
Daniel 7:27 says the Old Testament saints will reign with Him. In Matthew 19:28, Jesus says the Apostles will reign with Him. He says they will “sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Throughout the New Testament, we’re told that New Covenant believers will reign with Christ. Second Timothy 2:12 says, “If we endure, we will also reign with Him.” First Corinthians 6:2 says the saints will judge the world, and the next verse says we will judge angels. And Revelation 20, verse 4, says that those saints martyred during the tribulation—the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony to Jesus were sat on thrones, and judgment was given to them, and they rose from the dead and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
I can barely grasp what that will be like! Reigning alongside Christ Himself over all the nations! Perfectly carrying out the will of our God and King! Conforming every society to the culture of perfect righteousness that He will enact! He delegates to us—creatures of the dust, sinners who have been forgiven by His grace—He delegates to us the righteous mediation of His glorious rule over the world! Adjudicating disputes, enforcing righteousness, speaking the Gospel to the lost—bringing the whole creation into subjection to the rule of God, the way the first Adam was commanded and failed. We who have never sat on a city council; who have never been a mayor, or a governor, or a senator; you who perhaps have never had charge over anything significant in this life; you who perhaps have been despised by the movers and the shakers and the power brokers of this world: will rule alongside Jesus over all the nations.
VIII. Mortality Will Remain
And then, in the eighth place, we need to recognize something quite counterintuitive. Number eight: mortality will remain. We read of how the curse will be mitigated, how peace will dominate, how the nations will worship, and how the saints will rule, and especially that Jesus will be present, and we think, “Well, this is heaven!” But that’s not so. Remember Isaiah 65:20: “The youth will die at the age of one hundred.” Though the effects of the curse are significantly curtailed, such that lifespans will be so increased that a dying 100-year-old will be thought young, nevertheless, death remains a reality in the millennial kingdom.
Now, how can that be? First Corinthians 15 says that the believers who were raptured are changed in the twinkling of an eye (vv. 51–52). They are glorified and receive their resurrection bodies at that time. First Thessalonians 4:16 says those who had already died as believers in Christ will rise even before “those who are alive” at the rapture. And that means, not only will they not die in the kingdom; they won’t reproduce; they won’t make any others who die. Matthew 22:30 says, “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” So where do these people who will die come from?
You say, “The unbelievers that enter the millennium.” But no, Revelation 19 verses 19 to 21 says that the Beast and his armies and the false prophet were thrown into the lake of fire, and “the rest were killed with the sword” that came from Christ’s mouth. Unbelievers do not enter the kingdom of God. Matthew 25: Jesus comes and judges the sheep and the goats. The sheep inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world, but the goats depart into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.
The only people who are left, who are believers but who are not yet glorified, are the tribulation saints. Those believers who survive the tribulation are the sheep spoken about in Matthew 25. And they enter the kingdom, they marry and are given in marriage, they have children, and their children have children, and so on for 1,000 years. And those children are born—just like we all are—dead in their trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1–3), imputed with Adam’s guilt and inheriting Adam’s corruption (Rom 5:12). And so they will die at some point throughout those 1,000 years—many of them, it sounds like, well after the age of one hundred.
And so mortality will remain. Some people are surprised that there will be glorified and non-glorified believers on the earth at the same time. But that shouldn’t be too difficult to believe. Jesus was in His glorified body after His resurrection, and He has breakfast with the unglorified disciples in Luke 24.
IX. Sacrifices Will Be Offered
Well, either way, that’s actually not even the strangest part. Not only will mortality remain, but, number nine, sacrifices will be offered. And it’s almost criminal of me to mention this point—which is the subject of articles and books and dissertations—with so little time to treat it. But the final nine chapters of the book of Ezekiel describe in meticulous detail the instructions for the construction and operation of a temple in the Kingdom of Messiah, wherein Yahweh will be worshiped, in part, by animal sacrifices. That temple is also mentioned in Isaiah chapter 2, Joel chapter 3, Micah chapter 4, Haggai chapter 2, Zechariah chapter 6, and Malachi chapter 3. Notably, Revelation 21:22 says there will be no temple in the eternal state. So the only place to locate this promised temple that has never-to-this-day existed is in the millennial kingdom.
Now, these sacrifices will not be a regression to the Mosaic Covenant. The Mosaic Covenant has been made obsolete, says Hebrews 8:13, by the coming of the New Covenant. And even though there are features of this temple worship that seem to overlap with the Mosaic ceremonies—there is mention of “the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering” (e.g., Ezek 45:17)—nevertheless there are significant differences between the millennial temple and the sacrificial system under the Mosaic Covenant. Notably absent from the detailed description of Ezekiel 40–48 is the Ark of the Covenant, the mercy seat, the veil of the temple, the high priest of Israel, and the Day of Atonement. You can’t have the Mosaic Covenant without those, and they are nowhere to be found. In fact, Jeremiah 33—which details the fulfillment of the New Covenant, not the Mosaic Covenant—says in Jeremiah 33:17–18 “David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel”—that’s the Kingdom—“and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to prepare sacrifices continually.” So this is not a retrogression to the Mosaic Covenant. This is New Covenant worship, in a form that makes sense during the worldwide reign of Israel’s Messiah.
Neither is it a detraction from the absolute and perfect sufficiency of Christ’s atoning work on the cross. The word for “atonement” does speak of the redemptive accomplishment of the forgiveness of sins. That is accomplished by Christ’s cross alone. He offered “one sacrifice for sins for all time,” Hebrews 10:12. And “where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin,” Hebrews 10:18. But sacrifices were offered and atonement was made not only for the forgiveness of sins, but also for the purification of the unclean to be clean, and for the consecration of the common to be holy. Ezekiel speaks of atonement being made for the altar (vv. 20, 26), and for the temple itself (v. 20)—which of course does not speak of forgiving sins, since altars and temples don’t sin. This is speaking of cleansing places and consecrating servants, not forgiving sins.
There will be saved-yet-non-glorified people, in the presence of God Himself as uniquely manifest in the glorified Christ in the fulfillment of His reign. And that will evidently require—not the forgiveness of sins—but ceremonial cleansing and consecration, since they are “capable of incurring ritual defilement and polluting the earthly sanctuary” (Waymeyer, 117). This takes nothing away from the sufficiency and finality of Christ’s sacrifice for sin, because Christ’s sacrifice was about accomplishing redemption and achieving salvation from sin, whereas these sacrifices are about providing external cleansing and consecration for non-glorified, New Covenant saints who will worship in the very presence of God.
X. The Rebels Will Be Conquered
And while there is so much more that must be said about that, we have no choice but to move on to number ten: the rebels will be conquered. Where do rebels come from? Well, like we said, the children of the non-glorified tribulation saints will be born dead in their trespasses and sins, just like we all are. And many of them will be saved through the unprecedented worldwide proclamation of the Gospel. But not all of them will be saved. Zechariah 14:17–19 says the Lord will smite with a plague any of the nations who do not go to worship in Jerusalem. And in fact, so many of them will not be saved that Satan will assemble them into an army for one last battle. Revelation 20 verse 7: “When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.”
Now, can you imagine standing in the fulfillment of all the prophecies of Scripture, being able to witness King Jesus in all His glory as He reigns over the earth, and still not believing in Him? In fact, hating Him so intensely that you will assemble yourselves in an army against Him, while in His kingdom? That, friends, is the greatest testimony to the depths of humanity’s depravity. Human beings are so sinful, so blind, so corrupt and perverted, that unless God Himself gives you eyes to see, you won’t see. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Not even when you are standing in it!
But how will these rebels fare? Revelation 20 verse 9: “And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.” No chance. One great last hurrah against the King of Righteousness, and evil has no chance! And, verses 10 to 15, the devil is thrown into the lake of fire to be tormented day and night forever and ever. And the King takes His seat on the Great White Throne, and all the unbelievers are resurrected unto judgment, and they are thrown into the lake of fire. All the rebels will be conquered.
XI. God Will Be with Us
And then there comes a new heaven and a new earth, a new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. And we hear, Revelation 21:3, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.” And though that’s a reference to the eternal state, that brings me to our final answer to “What will the millennial kingdom be like?” Jesus will reign, Satan will be bound, Israel will be restored, the curse will be mitigated, peace will dominate, the nations will worship, the saints will rule, mortality will remain, sacrifices will be offered, the rebels will be conquered, and, number eleven: God will be with us.
This is the goal of all of history. It’s the great and ultimate good of the saints. God will be with us. We deserve to be thrown into that very lake of fire, with the unbelievers who were no more sinful than we are. And yet our future is to dwell with the holy and beautiful God of heaven and earth in the glory of His kingdom on the earth, because the King Himself has died for us, has borne our sins in His own body, has paid the penalty that would have kept us from being banished from the presence of God forever, and has conquered to bring us to His kingdom with Him.
Isaiah 12:1 says, “Then you will say on that day, ‘I will give thanks to You, O Yahweh; for although You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me,” because the fire of that divine anger against our sin was extinguished by the blood of our King! And Isaiah 12:6 says, “Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” God will be with us! The last verse of Ezekiel, chapter 48:35, says, “and the name of the city”—the capital city of the kingdom—“from that day shall be, ‘Yahweh is there.’” O, brothers and sisters: can you think of a better place to call home? “Yahweh is there.”
And if you would, please turn to Isaiah 33, and verse 17. Isaiah 33 is describing the Messianic Kingdom. And verse 17 says, “Your eyes will see the King in His beauty.” Oh, “You have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you” (John 16:22). You will see your King in His beauty! Skip down to verse 20: “Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an undisturbed habitation, a tent which will not be folded; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its cords be torn apart. But there the majestic One, Yahweh, will be for us.” He will be there for us! “Yahweh is our judge, Yahweh is our lawgiver, Yahweh is our king; He will save us.” Verse 24: “And no resident will say, ‘I am sick’; the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.”
And go to chapter 35, verse 2: “They will see the glory of Yahweh, the majesty of our God. Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, ‘Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; the recompense of God will come, But He will save you.’” And then verse 10: “And the ransomed of Yahweh will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”
Dear people, does that sound like a place you want to be? That is the future of every believer in Jesus. Trust in Him with your whole heart for everything that would qualify you for citizenship in that kingdom. Renounce all confidence in and reliance upon yourself. Trust in His doing, in His dying, and you will rise with Him, and be with Him forever. And if this is your future, dear Christian, “what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness.” “Since you look for these things, beloved, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless.”