The Millennium, or One Thousand Years, a Period of This World's Desolation, with Only Satan and His Fallen Angels as Inhabitants
By RUFUS A. UNDERWOOD
An unscriptural conception of the conditions of this world, and of those who will be active inhabitants of this earth, during the one thousand years, is the mother of many errors taught concerning the millennium. The only description of the beginning and the end of the thousand years, or millennial age, is found in the twentieth chapter of Revelation, as follows:
"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 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. 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 worshiped 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. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years." Rev. 20: 1-6.
Resurrection Before and After
To understand the millennium, or what will take place on this earth during the one thousand years, we must understand who occupies the earth during this time, and where the saints as well as sinners are then, and also what their occupation is. Notice a few things this scripture in Revelation clearly shows.
First, the millennium, which means one thousand years, is bounded at its beginning and its ending by a general resurrection of the dead. The Bible very clearly teaches that there are two general resurrections,—one of the just, and one of the unjust. "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." John 5: 28, 29.
"And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." Acts 24: 15.
Rev. 20: 1-6 places these resurrections one thousand years apart. The first resurrection is of the blessed and holy, or the justified souls of men. We have seen, in previous articles, that Christ raises the righteous dead at His second coming; also that the righteous living are "changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump" of God. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at His coming." 1 Cor. 15: 51, 52, 22, 23. "Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:
for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." Verses 51, 52.
These — both the living who are changed, and the righteous who are raised — are caught up together "to meet the Lord in the air." 1 Thess. 4: 16, 17. See also the promise of Christ: "In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14: 2, 3.
Here the saints reign with Christ during this one thousand years; and at the same time, Satan is bound in the bottomless pit for a like period. The reader will bear in mind that in our article last week, we found that the earth was desolated, with no living man left upon it, after the coming of Christ, or at the opening of the millennium.
The Bottomless Pit
Let us study for a few moments this place called the bottomless pit, where Satan is bound. The word rendered "bottomless pit" is the same that is used in the Septuagint in Gen. 1: 2, and is there translated "deep." It describes the earth when the Lord first spoke the world into existence, and while it was still in chaos. "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep [or bottomless pit]." Gen. 1: 2.
The record of the condition of the earth before it was inhabited by man or beast, or brought forth vegetation, shows that it was in a state of abyss, or chaos, enshrouded with darkness — literally, "the deep," or "the bottomless pit." How aptly this condition in Gen. 1: 2 represents the earth when made desolate and utterly emptied at the second coming of Christ! The righteous are then all taken to heaven, and the wicked are all held in death upon the earth.
This earth reduced to such a condition will be a fitting place to bind Satan for a thousand years with his fallen angels. Here they will be left to reflect upon the desolation that rebellion and sin have brought upon this world.
An Object Lesson to Other Worlds
Enshrouded in total darkness, all who have fallen and followed Satan are then either scattered upon the face of the earth without burial or are still locked in the tomb. One thousand years of this desolate picture gives Satan time to sense the ruin he has caused to come into the life and home of man during six thousand years of the reign of sin on the earth under his leadership.
While Satan and his angels spend the millennium on this old earth in this manner, viewing the fruits of rebellion, those whom the Master has taken to heaven at His second coming reign with Christ a thousand years. In Revelation 20; 1 Cor. 6: 2, 3; and Ps. 149: 9, we have the suggestion that during the thousand years of reign in heaven with Christ, the righteous will take some part in the final judgment of the wicked. At least, it suggests that God will give the righteous the privilege of looking over the records which He has kept of the secret sins that never came to light in this life, and thus His people will know that God has dealt justly in depriving the condemned of future life.
Visiting Other Worlds
Again, while Satan and his angels, in "the bottomless pit," where the silence of death reigns, spend the thousand years brooding over the ruin they have wrought, Christ and those who have accepted His salvation are occupied in visiting other worlds, whose inhabitants have never experienced the curse of sin, or the marring of the works of God. The ancient prophet says that the great "host," or army, of God's intelligences in the heavens, worship God. Neh. 9: 6. This wandering planet is the only world that has gone astray from the fold.
Christ says of the redeemed men of earth: "These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. These were redeemed from among men [the earth], being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb." Rev. 14: 4.
Great glory and honor is given to Christ as He goes from one untarnished world to another, presenting the redeemed — those from Adam down to the end of time who once staggered under the curse of sin, but are now all bearing the image of God, and saved from the curse. The unfallen worlds recognize the sacrifice made by Christ; and the whole universe will give supreme glory, honor, and adoration to the Man of Calvary for His matchless love and sacrifice in the redemption of man.
In our next article, we will study what is to take place at the end of the millennium.
