When Jesus has conquered the entire world on His return to earth, He will set up His kingdom on earth as He has prophesied in many Scriptures. Much of Zechariah chapters 8-14 are about either the Tribulation or about the Millennial Kingdom. There are many other prophesies about this time as well.
In this lesson we will review only a few of the basic prophesies. First, the time frame for this kingdom is stated as being a thousand years. Revelation 20:1-6 tells us about the beginning of this period. It begins with Satan being caught and imprisoned in a bottomless pit for a thousand years. Then there is a promise that those who reign with Jesus will do so for a thousand years.
Revelation 20:7-10 describes the end of the thousand years when Satan is released and war again comes to the earth. But Satan is again caught and this time his judgment is eternal – he is thrown into the lake of fire forever.
What will this kingdom be like? We see many promises:
Isaiah 11:6-9 “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”
See also Isaiah 2:2-4 and Micah 4:2-5.
This kingdom will be one of enforced peace – see Revelation 12:5 and 19:15.
Throughout history mankind has given many excuses for why we cannot be perfect. Rather than believing we are born with sin in our hearts, we have always argued that forces of evil have influenced us or that circumstances have caused us to sin. One after another our arguments have been shown to be wrong, and this Millennial Kingdom will be the last of our arguments to be thrown out. We believe that if we lived in a perfect world where Satan did not tempt us, we could be perfect – and in this thousand years people will truly live in a perfect world…except they cannot be perfect because they still have the root of sin in their hearts. At the end of this kingdom, people will rise up against Jesus, the perfect King, with hatred and anger and try to destroy Him. Jesus’ answer will be to destroy the earth and the universe He created.
We continue with what comes next in the next lesson.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, help us to see that sin is in our hearts and not only in our actions. Help us to understand only You can remove this sinful nature as You create a new heart in us. Thank you for dying and conquering death to remove our sinful nature. We love you Jesus! In Your name we pray, Amen.
From Global Media Outreach
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