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Scripture Reading: Rev. 20:4-6; Matt. 24:46-47; 25:19-23; Luke 19:15-19; Rev. 2:26-27; 3:21; 2 Tim. 2:12a; Matt. 13:43; Acts 15:16; 1:6; Matt. 13:41; Rev. 11:15; 2 Sam. 7:13; Rom. 11:26-27; Zech. 12:10; Ezek. 36:25-28; Zech. 8:20-23; Isa. 2:2-3; Acts 3:21; Matt. 25:32-34; 2 Tim. 4:1, 18b; Matt. 24:48-51; 25:26-30
In the previous chapters we saw the truth concerning the second coming of Christ. In this chapter we want to see the truth concerning the kingdom of a thousand years revealed in Revelation 20:4-6. It is generally called the millennium.
The kingdom of a thousand years is different from the New Testament church. There are no Old Testament saints in the church age, but in the kingdom of a thousand years, the overcoming Old Testament saints are present with the overcoming New Testament saints. The kingdom of a thousand years includes Old Testament saints such as Abraham, Noah, Moses, David, and Elijah. These were some of the ones who were overcoming in the Old Testament times.
Just before the Lord was transfigured on the mount, He told His disciples, “There are some of those standing here who shall by no means taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom” (Matt. 16:28). This was fulfilled by the Lord’s transfiguration on the mountain (17:1-3), which was His “coming in His kingdom.” It was seen by three of His disciples — Peter, James, and John. Furthermore, Moses and Elijah were there conversing with the Lord. His transfiguration there prefigured the coming kingdom. Moses and Elijah represent the Old Testament overcomers who will be in the manifestation of the kingdom, whereas Peter, James, and John represent the New Testament overcomers. The ones selected to reign as kings in the kingdom of a thousand years will be the overcomers, the perfected ones.
The history of man from the creation of Adam can be divided into four ages. The first age is the age of the patriarchs from Adam to Moses. The time of the patriarchs was before the law was given, so we can term it the age before the law. It began from the creation of Adam and concluded at the time that Moses received the law and passed the law on to the children of Israel. The second age is the age of the law. This age comprises the period of time from Moses to Christ’s first coming. The church age follows the age of the law. The church age began at the day of Pentecost with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit for the baptizing of all the believers into one Body and continues to the beginning of the thousand-year kingdom. In the church age God works Himself into man. God is presently working Himself into us every day. The coming kingdom age will be the result of God’s work in the church age.
The kingdom of a thousand years has two sections: the heavenly section and the earthly section. The heavenly section of the kingdom of a thousand years is the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 24:46-47; 25:19-23; Luke 19:15-19; Rev. 2:26-27; 3:21; 2 Tim. 2:12a). The kingdom of the heavens has three aspects: the reality, the appearance, and the manifestation. The reality of the kingdom of the heavens, depicted in Matthew 5—7, is within us. The appearance of the kingdom of the heavens, depicted in Matthew 13, is with today’s Christianity. The manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens, depicted in Matthew 24 and 25, will be the thousand-year kingdom. The manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens is the heavenly part of the thousand-year kingdom.
The heavenly section of the kingdom of a thousand years is the kingdom of the Father (13:43). The Father has a royal family. All His children who have been faithful will be kings in His kingdom. That kingdom will be a dear family to the Father. The firstborn Son of the Father, Jesus, is the first king. He is the firstborn Son, and we are the many sons, His brothers. All the brothers will be kings in the Father’s kingdom as the Father’s home. Matthew 13:43 says, “Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” Christ and the overcoming saints will be the kings in the heavenly section of the kingdom of a thousand years.
The earthly section of the thousand-year kingdom will be the tabernacle of David. Acts 15:16 says, “After these things I will return, and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen; and I will rebuild its ruins and erect it again.” The term that is used to denote the kingdom of Israel is the tabernacle of David. God considers the kingdom of Israel in the millennium as a tabernacle, which is something temporary rather than permanent.
The earthly section of the kingdom of a thousand years is also the restored kingdom of Israel (1:6) and the kingdom of the Son of Man (Matt. 13:41; Rev. 11:15). The heavenly part of the kingdom of a thousand years is the Father’s kingdom. The earthly part is the Son’s kingdom. Matthew 13:41 says, “The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will collect out of His kingdom all the stumbling blocks and those who practice lawlessness.” Revelation 11:15 says, “The seventh angel trumpeted; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.” This word reveals that when the thousand-year kingdom comes, the entire earth will be the kingdom of Christ.
The heavenly section of the thousand-year kingdom will be the Father’s kingdom, and the earthly section will be the Son’s so that He might rule over the earth. The earthly section of the kingdom of a thousand years is also the kingdom of Messiah (cf. 2 Sam. 7:13). A king is the ruler of the people in a kingdom. In the kingdom of a thousand years, the dwelling place of the King is in the heavens, and the dwelling place of the people is on the earth.
In the earthly section of the kingdom of a thousand years, the saved Israelites will be the priests, and the restored nations will be the people. When the Lord returns openly to the earth, the Spirit will be poured out as the latter rain upon the house of Israel, and they will repent and be saved (Zech. 12:10; Rom. 11:26-27; Ezek. 36:25-28). Following this, the Lord will judge the remaining nations, the Gentiles, and restore the good ones, the “sheep” (Matt. 25:31-32), to be the people in the thousand-year kingdom. As the priests, the Israelites will teach the nations as the people to know God, to serve God, and to worship God (Zech. 8:20-23; Isa. 2:2-3). This is according to the Old Testament type. The Gentile nations will come up to Jerusalem to the Jews, seeking after the Lord and asking to be taught.
The kingdom of a thousand years will be the age of restoration (Acts 3:21). Before the Lord’s return, there will be the great tribulation of three and a half years. At that time the earth will become an unpleasant place in which to dwell. Many people will follow the Antichrist. At the end of the great tribulation, Christ will come to defeat Antichrist and destroy all his followers at Armageddon. After this battle there will still be a large number of people left among the nations. Then the Lord Jesus will set up His throne in Jerusalem (Matt. 19:28; Jer. 3:17) to judge all the nations who are left. Matthew 25:31-46 tells us that at that time the nations will be gathered before the Lord, and He will separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. The goats are the evil ones who will be sent to the lake of fire (vv. 41-46a). The good ones are the sheep. These will enter into eternal life in the thousand-year kingdom (vv. 34-40, 46b). They will be on the earth as the people.
In the kingdom of a thousand years there will be a heavenly section with the overcomers of the Old Testament and of the New Testament. There will be an earthly section that will be the tabernacle of David, the kingdom of Christ as the Son of Man, and the kingdom of Messiah. In the earthly section all the Jews will have been saved and regenerated, but they will have missed the age of the church. God will keep them in the earthly section to be His priests teaching all the restored nations. The nations who are the people in the earthly section of the thousand-year kingdom will not have been saved but only restored back to their created situation. They will be the people in the earthly section of the kingdom of a thousand years. Thus, the kingdom of a thousand years will be a kingdom with kings, with priests, and with people. If we are the overcomers, we will be in the heavenly section of the kingdom of a thousand years as kings; the saved, regenerated Jews will be the priests; and the restored nations will be the people.
The heavenly section of the kingdom of a thousand years should be an exercise and encouragement to the New Testament believers in the present age (2 Tim. 4:1, 18b; 2:12a). The manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens, which will be the heavenly section of the thousand-year kingdom, is the reward, the prize, to the overcomers. It is also an exercise. Today many Christians are saved and love the Lord to some extent. They believe this to be sufficient. They are grateful for the Lord’s mercy and grace but lack a strong exercise to pursue the Lord.
If we know the truth, we will not be so complacent, because we realize that there is a reward set before us. Olympic athletes go through rigorous training and exercise in order to win the prize. If they do not exercise, they will miss the prize for which they are striving. Many Christians will miss the Lord’s reward because of their complacency.
Second Timothy was Paul’s last letter. In the first chapter he says that all the believers who were in Asia had forsaken him (v. 15). They had forsaken his ministry. Some, such as Hymenaeus and Philetus, had spoken words that were like gangrene to damage and infect the saints (2:17). Alexander the coppersmith did many evil things to Paul (4:14) to damage his ministry. Even Demas, who had been Paul’s co-worker, abandoned him (v. 10). These situations were very disappointing, but despite these sufferings Paul had the Lord’s appearing and His kingdom in view. In 2 Timothy 4:1 Paul told Timothy, “I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom.” The coming kingdom will either be a reward to us, or we will miss it. In 2 Timothy 4:18 Paul declares, “The Lord will deliver me from every evil work and will save me into His heavenly kingdom, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” This is a triumphant declaration by Paul, yet in the same chapter he tells us that he was going to be martyred: “I am already being poured out, and the time of my departure is at hand” (v. 6). Paul realized that Caesar Nero might kill him, but that meant nothing to him because the Lord would save him into His kingdom. This is both the exercise and the encouragement related to the kingdom.
On the one hand, the thousand-year kingdom should be an exercise to us, and on the other hand, it should be an encouragement to us. Someday we will be examined and measured concerning whether we will get the reward of the kingdom or miss it and receive some punishment. This is a very serious matter. The heavenly section of the kingdom of a thousand years will be a reward to the overcoming believers and a loss as a punishment to the defeated believers. Matthew 24:46-47 and 25:19-23 show the Lord’s reward to His faithful servants. Matthew 24:48-51 and 25:26-30 show how the unfaithful ones, the defeated slaves of Christ, will be punished. When Christ comes back, the defeated ones will be cast out into the outer darkness, where there is the weeping and the gnashing of teeth (v. 30).
If we are not the overcoming ones in this age, we will be the defeated ones who will be punished. The punishment to the unbelievers is one of condemnation and perdition. However, to the defeated believers, the punishment is a discipline. The Lord will discipline the defeated ones to perfect them. We may have been Christians for years without being perfected. If we have not been perfected in the present age, we will miss the reward and receive a punishment as a discipline to perfect us in the coming age.
This is similar to a student who desires to graduate but is not qualified to graduate at the time of graduation. The school may require him to remain for another term in order to graduate. The extra term is a punishment or discipline to him. The discipline helps to perfect him so that he can become a graduate. If we do not graduate in the Christian life in this age, the Lord will require us to learn some hard lessons in the next age. Eventually, we have to graduate. If we graduate earlier, that is, in this age, we will get the reward in the next age. If we graduate later, there will be some suffering, but we will still graduate. All Christians will graduate sooner or later. After the thousand-year kingdom age, all the chosen people of God, both those of the Old Testament and those of the New Testament, will have been perfected by being disciplined and will be qualified to enter the New Jerusalem.
Actually, the heavenly section of the thousand-year kingdom is also the New Jerusalem in the thousand-year kingdom. This is according to the Lord’s promise in Revelation 3:12: “He who overcomes, him I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall by no means go out anymore, and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which descends out of heaven from My God, and My new name.” The mentioning of the New Jerusalem as a prize to the overcomer indicates that this promise will be fulfilled in the millennial kingdom. The New Jerusalem in the millennial kingdom will be a prize only to the overcoming saints, whereas the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth will be the common portion of all the redeemed for eternity. Thus, the overcomers will enter into the New Jerusalem a thousand years earlier than the defeated believers. Those who are defeated in this age will delay their entry into the New Jerusalem by a thousand years.
The Bible tells us that God has two creations — the old creation and the new creation. God uses the old creation as the material to produce the new creation. Before being saved, we were all a part of the old creation. When we repented and believed in the Lord Jesus, we were regenerated. This caused us to become a part of the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), but with us there are still many things related to the old creation. This is why we need to be perfected. To be perfected means to get rid of the old creation and to grow up in the new creation every day.
The church age is wonderful because God is working Himself into us. As God works Himself into us for His new creation, His new creation is increasing. The increasing of the new creation is discharging the part in us that is of the old creation. In our physical life, as we eat and drink, we are continually being supplied with new elements. As these new elements are added into us, the old elements are discharged. In our spiritual life the new creation increases so that the old creation can be discharged. Sometimes we are not that submissive or obedient, so we need some discipline from the Lord. This is to help us be renewed to be more of the new creation and have the old creation reduced. If during this age we are still not that submissive, the Lord will deal with us in the next age. He will tolerate us until the next age, the thousand-year kingdom, so that He can resume His discipline on us. During that time He will put the unfaithful, defeated believers into a “dark room” to suffer punishment. But the overcoming believers will be in glory to reign as kings.
The coming age, the age of the thousand-year kingdom, will still be an age that is in the old creation. The first age in the old creation was the age of the patriarchs. This age was used by God to select some patriarchs for His kingdom. Following the age of the patriarchs was the age of the law, in which God perfected many faithful overcomers from among the children of Israel, His redeemed people. If we read the Old Testament carefully, we will realize that some Old Testament saints such as Jacob and David were disciplined by the Lord. Although Jacob was a supplanter, he was transformed into Israel (Gen. 32:28). Israel means “prince of God.”
The age of the church, the age of grace, follows the age of the patriarchs and the age of the law. Today in the church we enjoy grace, but we are also under training. If we are not obedient to God, He will have some discipline prepared for us in the next age. Even the apostle Paul had some suffering that was a discipline to him. His thorn in the flesh was such a suffering to him that he entreated the Lord for it to depart from him (2 Cor. 12:7-8). If we are not submissive in cooperating with God’s grace and discipline in this age, God will discipline us in the next age. God uses four ages in the old creation to perfect His chosen people to get them saved, regenerated, transformed, and eventually transfigured to be the overcomers. God has assigned four ages to gain His new creation out from the old creation.
We should not think that the thousand-year kingdom age will be altogether glorious. It will be glorious for the overcomers but not for the defeated believers. We must consider our situation. Even the apostle Paul felt that he was not wrong in anything, yet he would not dare to judge himself. He said that the One who judges is the Lord (1 Cor. 4:3-5). He will judge us at His judgment seat (2 Cor. 5:10). The decision will be made there concerning whether we will enter into glory or suffer loss in the thousand years (1 Cor. 3:14-15). The decision will be made concerning whether we will reign with Him or whether we will suffer without Him. What that decision will be depends upon how we have behaved ourselves in the Lord in this age. This is a very sober warning to us, and it is quite unveiling. Everyone who believes in Him has been regenerated. Still, we must run the race to win the prize.
In 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 Paul says, “Do you not know that those who run on a racecourse all run, but one receives the prize? Run in this way, that you may lay hold. And everyone who contends exercises self-control in all things; they then, that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we, an incorruptible.” As we run the race, we must run with the prize in view so that we may lay hold of it. It was not until the last moment of the apostle Paul’s running, in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, that he had the assurance that he would be rewarded by the Lord at His appearing. In the light of this prize, Paul charged the Corinthian believers to run the race that they may obtain the reward. This is the apostles’ teaching.
