The earthly section of the millennial kingdom will be the restored kingdom of Israel—the kingdom of David (Acts 1:6; Mark 11:10). In the Old Testament the Lord promised the Jewish people that the Messiah, the anointed One, would come to inherit the throne of David and restore the Jewish nation, that is, the nation of Israel (Gen. 49:10; 2 Sam. 7:13, 16; Psa. 2:8-9; 72:1-20; 89:4; 110:2-3; Isa. 9:6-7; 11:1-5, 10; Jer. 23:5-6; 30:9; 33:14-17; Ezek. 21:27; 34:23-24; 37:24-25; Dan. 2:35; 7:14; Hosea 3:5; Amos 9:11-12; Zech. 3:8; 6:12-13; 9:9-10). When the Lord Jesus came the first time, the Jews were expecting the Messiah to restore His kingdom (Luke 2:25; 3:15; 7:19; John 1:41; 7:27, 41). However, it will not be until the Lord’s second coming that He will restore the Messianic kingdom (Matt. 23:39). The kingdom that the Messiah will restore—the kingdom of Messiah or the kingdom of Israel to be restored in the future—will be the earthly part of the millennium, the tabernacle of David which the Lord will rebuild (Acts 15:16). The Lord will sit on the throne of David and reign over the house of Jacob, that is, the Jewish people (Luke 1:32-33), and He will rule over the nations of the earth during the millennium (Psa. 2:8; 72:8; Dan. 7:14; 2:35).
The earthly section of the millennial kingdom will be the realm in which the saved Jews are God’s priests to teach the nations (Zech. 8:20-23). Verse 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 during the millennium, every Jew will be a priest. Among the ancient Jews, the priests were the minority among the people of God. The people received teaching and instruction concerning God from the priests. The priests taught the people how to worship and serve God. That was a picture of the future situation in the earthly section of the coming millennial kingdom. During the millennium the converted Jews will be priests to the Gentiles. Ten Gentiles will come to one Jew, asking him to teach them how to serve the Lord. The Gentiles will hear that the Lord is with the Jews; hence, they will come to learn how to serve the Lord. This means that during the millennium the Gentiles will be the nations, and the converted Jews will be the priests, teaching the Gentiles to worship God (cf. lsns. 32—34).
In Matthew 25:34 the Lord revealed that the restored nations will inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. This kingdom will be the earthly section of the millennium.
The earthly section of the millennial kingdom will be the realm for the restored nations to be God’s people. The converted Israelites will be the priests, leading the people to worship God. Around the Jews there will be the preserved, restored, and restituted nations in the earthly section of the millennium. Therefore, in the earthly section of the millennial kingdom the converted Jews will be the priests, and the nations, who will be restituted, restored, and preserved, will be the people. Creation will be restored, there will be no more war, and the earth will be full of peace. What a marvelous and glorious kingdom that will be!
At the end of the old creation, the kingdom will be delivered back to God the Father (1 Cor. 15:24-26). After the Lord has finished the work of purifying the restored nations and perfecting all the believers during the dispensation of the millennium, He will return the kingdom, which He received from the Father, to the Father. This will be the close of the old creation. Then the new heaven and the new earth with the New Jerusalem will come in. The restored and purified nations will be around the New Jerusalem as the people, and the New Jerusalem will be the eternal kingdom of God for God’s manifestation and for the eternal enjoyment and experience of God’s people.
First Corinthians 15:24 says, “Then the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to His God and Father, once He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.” When Christ annuls Satan’s authority, subdues all His enemies, abolishes death (vv. 25-26), and delivers up the kingdom to God the Father, that is, when all the negative things are done away with and the entire purpose of God is fulfilled, the old creation will come to its end. At the end of the millennium, the Lord will deliver up the kingdom to God.
After accomplishing redemption, Christ went to receive the kingdom from the Father (Luke 19:12, 15). Before the millennium Christ as the Son of Man will have received the kingdom from God, the Ancient of Days, for Him to rule all the nations for one thousand years (Dan. 7:13-14; Rev. 20:4, 6). At the end of the millennium, after the Lord has defeated Satan, the devil, and his evil angels, that is, all rule, authority, and power, and even death and Hades, putting all His enemies under His feet and casting all of them, including death and Hades, into the lake of fire (vv. 7-10, 14), He will deliver the kingdom back to God the Father.
After the Lord deals with the believers, the Jews, the nations, and Antichrist with his followers, He will bring in the millennial kingdom. The millennial kingdom will be the kingdom received by Christ from God the Father. It comprises the kingdom of Messiah, which is the expectation of many devoted Israelites from the time of the Old Testament to the time when Christ will come back to restore the nation of Israel, and the kingdom of Christ, which is the expectation of the seeking believers in the New Testament age. The millennial kingdom will have two sections—the heavenly section and the earthly section. The heavenly section of the millennial kingdom will be the kingdom of the Father. It will be the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens as a reward to the overcomers. Hence, the heavenly section of the millennial kingdom will be composed of all the Old Testament and New Testament overcomers, as the New Jerusalem in the millennial age, which is also a reward to all the Old Testament and New Testament overcomers. The overcomers will reign over the nations with Christ and will be priests of God and of Christ for one thousand years. The earthly section of the millennial kingdom will be the restored kingdom of Israel—the kingdom of David. It is the tabernacle of David which the Lord will rebuild. The saved Jews will be God’s priests in the millennial kingdom to teach the nations how to worship and serve God. The earthly section of the millennial kingdom will also be the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world for the restored nations; they will be God’s people in the millennial kingdom. In the millennium creation will be restored, there will be no more war, and the earth will be full of peace. After the Lord has finished the work of purifying the restored nations and perfecting all the believers during the dispensation of the millennium, He will return the kingdom, which He received from the Father, to the Father. This will be the close of the old creation. Then the new heaven and the new earth with the New Jerusalem will come in. The restored and purified nations will be the people around the New Jerusalem, and the New Jerusalem will be the eternal kingdom of God for God’s manifestation and for the eternal enjoyment and experience of God’s people.