Vineyard Labourer Bible College

Study 16

1,000 YEARS OF PEACE

The earth looked like a desolate wilderness. Cities and villages, shaken down by the earthquake, lay in heaps. Mountains had been moved out of their places, leaving large caverns. Ragged rocks, thrown out by the sea, or torn out of the earth itself, were scattered all over its surface. Large trees had been uprooted and were strewn over the land. Here is to be the home of Satan with his evil angels for a thousand years. Here he will be confined, to wander up and down over the broken surface of the earth and see the effects of his rebellion against God's law. For a thousand years he can enjoy the fruit of the curse which he has caused. Limited alone to the earth, he will not have the privilege of ranging to other planets, to tempt and annoy those who have not fallen. During this time, Satan suffers extremely. Since his fall his evil traits have been in constant exercise. But he is then to be deprived of his power, and left to reflect upon the part which he has acted since his fall, and to look forward with trembling and terror to the dreadful future, when he must suffer for all the evil that he has done and be punished for all the sins that he has caused to be committed.

WHAT SAITH THE LORD

1. How long do the saints and Christ sit in judgement? Revelation 20:4.

"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." Revelation 20:4.

2. Whom does Paul say the saints are to judge? 1 Corinthians 6:1-3.

"Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?" 1 Corinthians 6:1-3.

Note: From these scriptures it is plain that the saints of all ages are to be engaged with Christ in a work of "judgement" during the millennium, or one thousand years.

3. What prophecy had Paul upon which to base this statement? Daniel 7:21, 22.

"I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." Daniel 7:21, 22.

4. How many resurrections are there to be? John 5:28, 29.

"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.

Note: There will be two resurrections.

5. What class only have part in the first resurrection? Revelation 20:6.

"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." Revelation 20:6.

6. What will Christ do with the saints when He comes? John 14:3.

"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 14:3.

Note: In other words, Christ will take them to heaven, there to live and reign with Him during the one thousand years.

7. What becomes of the living wicked when Christ comes? Luke 17:26-30, 1 Thessalonians 2:8.

"And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." Luke 17:26-30.

"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:" 2 Thessalonians 2:8

8. What does the Apostle Paul say concerning this? 1 Thessalonians 5:3.

"For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." 1 Thessalonians 5:3.

Note: When Christ comes, the righteous will be delivered and taken to heaven, and all the living wicked will be suddenly destroyed, as they were at the time of the flood. For further proof see 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Revelation 6:14-17; 19:11-21; Jeremiah 25:30-33.

9. What description does the prophet Jeremiah give of the earth during this time? Jeremiah 4:23-26. (Also see Isaiah 24:1-3; Revelation 6:14-17.)

"I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger." Jeremiah 4:23-26.

Also see:-

"Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word." Isaiah 24:1-3.

"And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Revelation 6:14-17.

10. How does Isaiah speak of the wicked at this time? Isaiah 24:21, 22.

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited." Isaiah 24:21, 22.

11. How long is Satan to be imprisoned on this earth? Revelation 20:1-3.

"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." Revelation 20:1-3.

Note: The word here translated "bottomless pit," is translated in Genesis 1:1 "deep" - "darkness was upon the face of the deep." A more literal translation would be "abyss." It is a term applied to the earth in its desolate, waste, chaotic, dark, uninhabited condition. In this condition it will be a prison without walls for Satan for 1,000 years.

12. The righteous dead are raised at Christ's second coming. When will the rest of the dead, the wicked, be raised? Revelation 20:5.

"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection." Revelation 20:5.

13. What change is made in Satan's condition at the close of the one thousand years? Revelation 20:3.

"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." Revelation 20:3.

14. As soon as the wicked are raised, what does Satan at once proceed to do? Revelation 20:7, 8.

"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea." Revelation 20:7, 8.

15. Against whom do the wicked go to make war, and what is the outcome? Revelation 20:9.

"And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." Revelation 20:9.

16. What is the last enemy that will be destroyed? 1 Corinthians 15:26.

"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Corinthians 15:26.

17. What else will be destroyed at the same time? Revelation 20:14.

"And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death."
Revelation 20:14.

Note: This is the last act in the great controversy between Christ and Satan. The whole human race meet here for the first and last time. The eternal separation of the righteous from the wicked here takes place. At this time the judgment of God is executed upon the wicked in the lake of fire. This is the second death. This ends the great rebellion against God and His government. Now is heard the voice of God as He sits upon His throne, speaking to the saints, and saying, "Behold, I make all things new;" and out of the burning ruins of the old earth there springs forth before the admiring gaze of the millions of the redeemed, "a new heaven and a new earth," in which they shall find an everlasting inheritance and dwelling place.

Commitment:- I believe that there is a 1,000 year gap between the resurrection of the righteous and the wicked, during which time Christ and the saints will judge the wicked. At it's conclusion Satan and all the wicked will be destroyed in a lake of fire.