Revelation 20:4 “And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”
In this section we want to discuss the various inhabitants that will be on the earth during our Lord’s millennial reign. Clearly the primary inhabitant on the earth during that time will be the Lord Jesus Christ. In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit mentions the thrones and the judgement committed to the saints, as they reign together with the Lord Jesus Christ for one thousand years. Very clearly this passage teaches us that the Lord Jesus Christ will be based on the earth during His millennial reign. As we will see later in this series, the Lord Jesus will reign over the earth from His throne in the city of Jerusalem. At the same time however, God the Father will continue to reign over the whole of creation from His throne in heaven.
1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 “And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, (13) so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.”
The second category of inhabitants that will be on the earth during our Lord’s millennial reign will be the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. The above quoted passage of scripture confirms to us that all the Lord’s saints will return with Him. The reason for that is clear; the church is the bride of Christ and we have already stated that the Lord Jesus will return with His bride to reign over the earth for one thousand years. In a previous section we estimated that the size of the church will be 250 million believers, and this passage declares that all of them will return with the Lord Jesus. It is important to note that once the fullness of the saints has come into the church, that number will remain the same for all eternity. There are a number of reasons for this; Firstly, the Lord will only marry His bride when she is in a perfected state, and the bride of Christ will only be in a perfected state once the full number of the saints has come into the church. In other words there is only one marriage of the Lamb to His bride and there is only one marriage supper of the Lamb. Secondly, the saints will not increase their number through procreation either, because the Lord has taught us that in the resurrection the saints neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels of God in heaven (Matthew 22:30).
Zechariah 8:1-8 “Again the word of the Lord of hosts came, saying, (2) "Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'I am zealous for Zion with great zeal; with great fervour I am zealous for her.' (3) "Thus says the Lord: 'I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, the Mountain of the Lord of hosts, The Holy Mountain.' (4) "Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, Each one with his staff in his hand Because of great age. (5) The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.' (6) "Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'If it is marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, Will it also be marvellous in My eyes?' Says the Lord hosts. (7) "Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Behold, I will save My people from the land of the east And from the land of the west; (8) I will bring them back, And they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. They shall be My people And I will be their God, In truth and righteousness.' "
In a previous section we mentioned the fact that when the rapture of the church takes place, that the Lord will remove all children from the earth at the same time, and we discussed some of the reasons why God will do that. In this section we want to expand on that discussion, mainly because this particular truth is not really understood in the church. And so in light of that we will first examine what scripture has to say on the subject. To that end, there are four main passages of scripture where God speaks about children in the future. The first passage which we have already discussed, deals with the death of children at the end of this current age (Jeremiah 31:7-17). The second passage of scripture, which we will discuss now, is the one quoted above. In this passage the Lord speaks about old men and women with staffs in their hands because of great age, sitting in the streets of Jerusalem, while boys and girls are playing in its streets. And so the question is asked, which era is Zechariah prophesying about? At the time of Zechariah’s prophecy there were four future eras for the city of Jerusalem. The first era was Jerusalem during the Lord’s time on earth, the second era is Jerusalem at the end of this current age, the third era is Jerusalem during the Lord’s millennial reign and the final era is the heavenly Jerusalem in the new age to come. We know that Zechariah’s prophecy cannot be referring to Jerusalem in either the millennium or in the new age to come, because the church will be residing in the city of Jerusalem during those eras, and the saints having resurrected bodies, will not have children and neither will they need staffs to assist them to walk because of great age. And so we see that Zechariah was prophesying about Jerusalem during our Lord’s time on the earth, for at that time old men and women did sit in its streets with staffs in their hands because of great age (Luke 2:36), and boys and girls did play in its streets (Luke 2:42). Nevertheless Zechariah’s prophecy also refers to the era of Jerusalem at the end of this current age, because once again old men and women of great age will be walking in its streets with staffs, while boys and girls will be playing in its streets. Clearly however, the children mentioned in this passage will not be present in our Lord’s millennial kingdom.
Isaiah 65:17-25 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. (18) But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people a joy. (19) I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, Nor the voice of crying. (20) "No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; For the child shall die one hundred years old, But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed. (21) They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. (22) They shall not build, and another inhabit; They shall not plant, and another eat; For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, And My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. (23) They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth children for trouble; for they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. (24) "It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. (25) The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain," Says the Lord.”
The third passage of scripture which we will discuss is the one quoted above. In this passage God speaks about His elect not bringing forth children for trouble; for they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. Clearly in this passage God is speaking about children in the new earth that He will create, for He says, “behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind”. God goes on in this passage to say that in the new earth which He will create, “the wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food.” We have already seen that during our Lord’s millennial reign however, that the birds of the air and wild beasts will gorge themselves on flesh at the battle of Armageddon, and later in this series we will see the birds of the air and the wild beasts gorging themselves again on flesh at the battle of Gog. We will also see later in this series that during our Lord’s millennial reign, the wolf and the lamb will certainly not feed together, the lion will not eat straw like the ox, and dust will not be the serpent's food. God goes on in this passage to say that in the new earth which He will create, “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain.” We have already seen that during our Lord’s millennial reign however, that immense hurt and destruction will take place at the battle of Armageddon, and later in this series we will see even greater hurt and destruction taking place during the battle of Gog. And so we can clearly see that the children mentioned in this passage will not be present in our Lord’s millennial kingdom.
Michael E.B. Maher
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