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With the rapture of the church and the second coming of Jesus confirmed as happening at the same time in our last study, we can move forward. The Scriptures tell us that Jesus will not only return to earth, but that He will rule on earth for a period of 1,000 years.
Revelation 20:2-4
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
This takes place after the tribulation period and as soon as Jesus returns to earth, raising the dead and gathering the saints with Him. That’s what the rapture is. It is a gathering of the saints in the air to return with Jesus to a central location on earth. If that is still in question, please read the previous two studies beginning with When Is the Rapture.
Matthew 24:31
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Many people question why the saints would be caught up just to return to earth immediately after. Obviously, there are believers worldwide. If we are to return with Jesus to one location, we will have to be gathered together. Once we are gathered, we can return with Him. That’s the reason for the gathering of the saints in the air.
It is at this point that we begin the millennial reign of Jesus, with all the saints gathered with Him.
Who Occupies the Millennium
Satan will be bound for a thousand years, and Jesus will rule on earth as its literal King during that time.
Zechariah 8:3-5
3 Thus saith the Lord; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain. 4 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. 5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.
When Jesus returns to earth, He will dwell in Jerusalem. That will be the capital city of His government. But notice something else here. There will not only be old people—there will be children there as well.
If the saints have been raised from the dead and have already had their living bodies changed to eternal ones, then who are these people that are young and old?
There is a well-known doctrine that when the Lord returns, He will destroy all of the unbelievers. That would leave only the saints to enter the new millennium. But since it is believed they are all in new bodies, these old and young people couldn’t possibly be them.
That’s one of the reasons people believe there must be a pre-tribulation rapture. They believe it is required for there to be new believers coming out of the tribulation who missed the rapture, so they don’t have their glorified bodies. They are still in the ones we have now.
But if you are like me, then you have heard and believed a few things that aren’t quite true. Thank God we can unlearn things! Because the reality is that the Bible never actually tells us Jesus destroys all unbelievers when He returns.
Let’s look at what Zechariah tells us:
Zechariah 14:1-5
1 Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. 2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
Zechariah 14:16-18
16 And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. 18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
Daniel 7:12
12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.
Ezekiel 36:24
24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
Zephaniah 3:8, 15-17, and 19-20
8 Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
15 The Lord hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more. 16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. 17 The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy, he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
19 Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. 20 At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the Lord.
The regathering of the Jews out of the remaining nations will finalize in the new millennium. They will be gathered out of the still-existing heathens. I’ll cover that in more detail another time. But the point is that even after all of the trumpet and bowl judgments, God leaves some unbelievers alive.
These people will enter the new millennium and have normal lives. They will have children, they will die of old age, and they will even sin, as Isaiah 65:20–23 tells us.
This removes the question of who will occupy the millennial kingdom if there is no pre-tribulation rapture.
We will talk more about the millennium in the next study to discover what it will be like and what happens when it is finished.
Continue To Unit 6:9 – The Millennial Reign of Christ OR
Return To Christianity 101 Unit 6 – The Resurrection & the Big Picture