In Revelation 20:1-4 we see that Christ is the Establisher of the kingdom. After fighting all His enemies, Christ will establish the kingdom of God on the earth, the millennial kingdom, and reign with His overcoming believers for a thousand years. Between the rapture of the overcomers and the beginning of the millennial kingdom, many things will take place. Immediately after the rapture of the man-child, a loud voice in heaven says, “Now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ” (12:10). Actually, the kingdom will not come at that time, for the three and a half years of the great tribulation are yet to come. Nevertheless, in the eyes of those who have been raptured to the heavens, the kingdom has already come. During the last three and a half years of this age, the following things will take place: the rapture of the majority of the saints; the destruction of religious Babylon, that is, the annihilation of Catholicism; the destruction of Judaism; and the fall of material Babylon. Following all this, there will be the war at Armageddon. The whole earth must be cleared up as a preparation for God’s kingdom to come. At the time of Revelation 20, nearly everything has been cleared up. Only one thing remains, and that is Satan, the source of all the problems. Therefore, the first item mentioned in Revelation 20, a chapter concerning the millennium, is the binding of Satan.
Revelation 20:1-3 says, “I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years and cast him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, that he might not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be loosed for a little while.” Although the Lord judged Satan on the cross, that judgment has not yet been fully executed. Satan is still rampaging on the earth, tormenting God’s children especially. When the Lord returns, He will fully execute the judgment that He accomplished on the cross upon Satan. Satan will be bound and cast into the abyss. He will be powerless to act or damage anyone. At that time on this earth there will be no Satan. Then the earth will become Christ’s kingdom.
Following the defeat of Antichrist is the binding and imprisonment of Satan to clear up the rebellious earth so that the kingdom of Christ may come (vv. 4-6). Satan will be bound and cast into the abyss, which is in the heart of the earth, and he will be imprisoned there for a thousand years. After that, “he must be loosed for a little while” (v. 3). Before casting him into the lake of fire, where he will be tormented forever and ever (v. 10), Christ will bind the devil and cast him into the abyss for one thousand years. This is because the devil will still be somewhat useful in fulfilling God’s purpose at the end of the coming millennium. The abyss may be likened to a temporary jail, and the lake of fire to an eternal prison.
After the war at Armageddon, the Lord will establish His throne of glory in Jerusalem and gather before Him all the nations still on earth. He will then execute His judgment upon them. This will be Christ’s judgment of the living carried out according to the eternal gospel preached by an angel in mid-heaven (14:6). The “goats” will go to the fire prepared for the devil and his angels, and the “sheep” will enter into the millennial kingdom as citizens (Matt. 25:32-34). Although these “sheep” will be restored, they will not be regenerated. They will still have a rebellious nature within them; thus, they will need a further test a thousand years later. Because the Lord will use Satan to test them, He will not cast Satan into the lake of fire at the beginning of the millennium. When the thousand years are over, the Lord will release Satan from the abyss and use him to test the citizens who have been on earth during the millennium. Gog and Magog will not pass the test. Under Satan’s instigation, they will once more rebel against God. In this we can see that Satan will still be useful in God’s hands to purge mankind.
Acts 3:21 refers to “the times of the restoration of all things, of which God spoke through the mouth of His holy prophets from of old.” This restoration will affect not only man but also the whole creation—the heavens, the earth, the animals, and even the trees. Everything that was cursed through the fall of man will be restored. Isaiah 30:26 says, “The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, / And the light of the sun will be sevenfold, like the light of seven days.” Today the sun and the moon are not normal, because they have been cursed through the rebellion of Satan and the fall of man. As Genesis 3:17 and 18 further indicate, the whole earth has been cursed because of man’s fall and is also not in a normal state.
In the Old Testament there are many verses concerning the millennial kingdom (Psa. 2:6, 8-9; Isa. 2:2-5; 11:1-10; 65:20-25; 30:26; Zech. 8:20-23; Psa. 72:1-17; Isa. 4:2-6; 9:7; 12:1-5; 16:5; 32:1-2; 40:9-11; 61:4-9; Zech. 14:16-21). The kingdom was the good news proclaimed to mankind through the prophets in the Old Testament. In particular, there are many prophecies in Isaiah, Zechariah, and the Psalms regarding the millennium. At the time of the restoration, not only mankind but also all of creation will be restored to its original condition. The beasts and the cattle will be restored to such an extent that “the wolf will dwell with the lamb; / And the leopard will lie down with the kid” (Isa. 11:6). This will not be miraculous; rather, it will be normal and common. Isaiah 11:8 says, “The nursing child will play by the cobra’s hole, / And upon the viper’s den / The weaned child will stretch his hand.” When Christ comes again, everything will be restored. The trees will flourish, and the flowers will blossom abundantly. Isaiah 35:1 and 2 say, “The wilderness and the desert will be glad; / And the desert will exult and blossom / Like the rose. / It will blossom and blossom, / And even exult with exultation and a ringing shout.” Furthermore, “water will break forth in the wilderness, / And streams in the desert. / And the desert mirage will become a pool, / And the thirsty ground, springs of water” (vv. 6-7). Also, “a highway will be there, and a way, / And it will be called, The Way of Holiness” (v. 8). The book of Isaiah contains a full description of the millennium.
According to the prophecies of the Bible, the millennial kingdom is in two sections: the upper, heavenly, section and the lower, earthly, section. The upper section of the millennium is called the kingdom of the Father (Matt. 13:43), and the lower section is called the kingdom of the Son of Man (v. 41). The kingdom of the Messiah, or the Messianic kingdom, is another name for the lower section of the millennium.
In the millennial kingdom there will be three peoples. The first are the overcoming saints, including those of both the Old Testament and the New Testament. These overcoming saints will be co-kings of Christ. Christ is the highest King, and we will be His sub-kings. Therefore, the upper section is the royal portion of the millennium.
The second group, found in the lower section, is the preserved and proper Jews, who will be saved at the time of the Lord’s coming back. According to Zechariah 12:10-14, these Jews will look on Him whom they have pierced, and then they will repent. These are the Jews who will be the third part who will pass through fire and be refined (13:9). These saved Jews will enter into the millennium as priests and will teach the nations to seek God and to know Him. Isaiah 2:2-3 will be fulfilled at that time. Verse 3 says, “Many peoples will come and say, / Come and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, / To the house of the God of Jacob, / That He may instruct us in His ways, / And that we may walk in His paths. / For from Zion will go forth instruction, / And the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.” The nations will learn of God through the instruction of the Jews, who will be priests. Isaiah 61:6 says, “You will be called the priests of Jehovah; / People will speak of you as the ministers of our God.” This word will also be fulfilled during the millennium, when the nations will recognize the Jews as God’s priests.
Zechariah 8:23 says, “Thus says Jehovah of hosts, In those days, from all the languages of the nations, ten men will take hold, indeed, they will take hold of the skirt of a Jewish man, saying, Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.” This verse indicates that every Jew will be precious. In those days the Jews will be warmly welcomed.
The third group of people in the millennial kingdom will be the “sheep” spoken of in Matthew 25. We have seen that these “sheep” will be transferred into the millennial kingdom to become the citizens there.
In the lower section of the millennium, called the kingdom of the Son of Man, Jesus as the seed of David will be King over the Jews and, through the Jews, over all the nations. He will be on the throne of David to be the King over all the nations through the Jews. This is the kingdom of the Son of Man and the kingdom of the Messiah; it is also the tabernacle of David spoken of in Acts 15:16. The tabernacle of David, which is the kingdom of David, has fallen. But when the millennium comes, Christ will re-erect the tabernacle of David. In 2 Samuel 7 God promised to establish David’s kingdom forever (v. 16). This eternal kingdom will be the lower part of the millennium, the kingdom of the Son of Man and of the Messiah. The kingly overcomers will be in the upper part of the millennium, and the priestly Jews and the citizens will be in the lower part.