Zechariah 14:9 says, “Jehovah will be King over all the earth.” This verse, along with Matthew 25:31-34 and 1 Corinthians 15:25, prophesies that at His coming back Christ will establish His kingdom on the earth. When the Lord comes back, He will save Israel, crush the Gentile nations, and judge the peoples on earth. Afterward, He will establish His kingdom on the earth for a thousand years; this is the millennial kingdom. In the millennium there will be three realms: the first will be the realm of the earth, where God’s creation will be blessed (Gen. 1:28-30); the second, the realm of the nation of Israel in Canaan, from the Nile to the Euphrates, where the saved Jews will rule over the earth (Isa. 60:10-12; Zech. 14:16-18); and the third, the heavenly and spiritual realm where the overcoming believers will enjoy the kingdom reward (1 Cor. 15:50-52; Matt. 5:20; 7:21).
In the millennium Christ with His overcomers as co-kings will reign over the nations (Rev. 20:4, 6; 2:26-27; 19:15b). These nations will be the last stage of human nations on the old earth, and they all will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (11:15), being ruled by Christ and His overcomers. Such a reigning will be the unique work of Christ in the millennium to show to the entire universe His kingship with His divine and heavenly authority for the shame of Satan, the defeated enemy of God. This is the final fulfillment of Isaiah 32:1, Jeremiah 23:5, and Zechariah 14:9, 16, and 17. After Christ has redeemed the created and lost earth and all people into the realm of His kingdom so that they become constituents of His kingdom (Col. 1:20), after He has sold all that He has and bought the kingdom (Matt. 13:44), and after He has saved the earth and all people from Satan’s usurpation (Rev. 20:2-3), He will have the full right to be the King of the restored earth and the restored nations. In His coming reign, God’s authority and glory will be fully manifested, and the entire earth, together with mankind, will also be ushered into the righteousness, peace, joy and full blessings created by God (Matt. 6:13; Isa. 32:1, 16-18; 35:1-2, 5-7).
In the millennium Christ as the Bridegroom will enjoy the marriage dinner with the overcoming believers as the bride. Revelation 19:7 says, “Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” The marriage of Christ is the issue of the completion of God’s New Testament economy. Verse 9 says, “Blessed are they who are called to the marriage dinner of the Lamb.” Those who will be called to the marriage dinner of the Lamb are the overcoming believers; they will also be the bride of the Lamb. The marriage dinner of the Lamb is the wedding feast in Matthew 22:2. It will be a reward to the overcoming believers; only the overcomers will be called to it. The five foolish virgins in Matthew 25:8-13 will miss it. Hence, to be called to the marriage dinner of Christ is to be blessed. Christ, the Bridegroom, will usher the bride, the overcoming believers, into the enjoyment of the marriage dinner with Him in the millennium.
At the end of the millennium Satan will be released from the abyss to deceive the nations that are in the four corners of the earth, that is, to deceive Gog and Magog that they may lead the nations to follow Satan and rebel against God. They will go up to surround the camp, the lodging place of the overcoming saints on earth, and the beloved city of Jerusalem, the dwelling place of the remnant of Israel. At that time fire will come down out of heaven from God and devour the rebellious ones. Then the devil, who deceives the nations, will be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet will also be (Rev. 20:8-10). This will be mankind’s last rebellion against God. After this final purification, the peoples remaining after the millennium will be transferred to the new earth to be the nations for eternity (21:3, 24).