In the future, Jesus Christ will return the world where he was crucified and reign as King for a thousand years. The Apostle John, in his heavenly vision as recorded in the Book of Revelation, describes the Second Coming of Christ.
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter.’ He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Revelation 19:11-16
Prior to Christ’s second coming, Satan had been reigning on earth basically from the beginning of time. Technically, Adam had been given dominion and authority of the world, but Satan enticed Adam to sin and Adam lost his place of authority. At that time, the created world and our race suffered a fall from grace and came under a curse from God. Subsequently, Satan became ruler of this fallen world. His reign extends from that day in the Garden of Eden up until the Second Coming of Christ as prophesied by the Apostle John. When Christ returns, he will establish himself on David’s Throne in Jerusalem, and will “strike down the nations”. A necessary step in striking down the nations and establishing his reign will be to capture and dethrone Satan. Christ will reign on earth for one thousand years and during that time he will contain Satan in the Abyss (Revelation 20:1-3). Therefore, Satan will not be able to deceive the nations nor otherwise hinder Christ’s reign in the world.
God’s purpose of establishing a millennial reign of Christ on earth without the influence of Satan is to finish a demonstration that God has been working on since the beginning of time. It will also fulfill the prophecies regarding Israel. The larger point and purpose of God’s demonstration is to show that man is sinful under any and every circumstance. Sinful mankind requires a Savior, Jesus Christ, to die in our place. Jesus Christ had to become man, live a sinless life and become a substitutionary sacrifice for the race of mankind. For God, the death of Christ was necessary to fulfill His Holy Sacrificial requirement (Hebrews 2:14-17).
Remember that the Millennial Kingdom is a future event and things will be much different in that age than they are now. Only believers of the Gospel and of Christ will be permitted to remain alive as the kingdom is established (Matthew 25:31-33). Satan and his demons will be locked away in the Abyss. Christ will be physically and personally reigning on our earth. All people will know, believe and outwardly submit to Christ. The believers who survived the Tribulation period will be the charter members of the Millennial Kingdom and they will procreate to repopulate the earth over the thousand-year period. Their children will be born with sinful natures and have to choose believe in God’s plan and provision in Christ. This is the same requirement of all people in the six prior dispensations.
In the Millennial Kingdom, the world will operate under very different economic systems than what we have become accustomed to under Satan’s reign. In Satan’s domain, we trade goods and services based on a law of (limited) supply and demand. This system has lead to many sinful practices including greed, cheating, and lust for power and possessions. Ultimately, Satan’s system combined with man’s sinful nature will culminate in great destruction to our world as described in the Seals, Trumpets and Bowls detailed in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 6:1-16:21). However, under Christ’s reign over the thousand years, Christ will manage the affairs of man based on a divine law of righteousness, justice and love. This divine reign will be in conjunction with an abundant supply of goods and services. It will be an unimaginable economy. The world will be bountiful and God will provide more than what is necessary for all. Just as when God provided manna in the desert and those who could gather more than they needed shared with those who couldn’t gather enough (Exodus 16:14-17; see also 2 Corinthians 8:13-15); so also this principle will apply under the Reign of Jesus Christ. The prophets described this peace and prosperity eloquently stating “they will beat their swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks (Isaiah 2:4).” See also Isaiah 11; Psalm 72; Amos 9:13-15.
The believers who survive the tribulation and enter the Kingdom of God on earth will continue to procreate. The repopulation of the earth will be miraculous as the curse of sin and death upon the earth will be partially lifted (Isaiah 30:23-26) and long life will be common (Isaiah 65:20). The nations will travel to Jerusalem to worship Christ the King at the Temple established there. Christ will reign as King and provide spiritual, political and economic management. Abundant crops will provide ample food supplies. Overt sin will be punished by death. Wild animals will not attack. All the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. It will be much different than the world we know.
At the end of the thousand years, Satan will be released from the Abyss and will rally a rebellion against Christ (Revelation 20:7-10). For this prophecy to make sense, we must assume that many of the people born during the Millennial reign of Christ outwardly professed allegiance to Christ yet inwardly they had been in rebellion to Christ. Satan will expose the hidden rebellion and will muster a great army to fight against Christ. The rebellion will be ended immediately and Satan will be sent to the Lake of Fire for eternity. Subsequently, all the people born in the Millennial Kingdom age who joined the rebellion with Satan will be summoned to the Great White Throne along with all unbelievers of all time. These members of our race at the Great White Throne will be confined to the Lake of Fire for eternity along with Satan (Revelation 20). We must recognize that even with Satan bound and God’s divine presence in the person of Jesus Christ reigning on the earth, people will still choose to reject Christ and God.The best explanation, and the point God must be intending to make clear to mankind is as follows. Our sinful nature is enough to lead us to condemnation, apart from the power and presence of Satan. Satan merely exposes what is already present in us. So Satan serves an important role in God’s plan during the Millennial Kingdom even though he is confined for the entire age, save the last rebellion. Once that concept is established, it becomes easier to understand why God allows Satan to operate as he does in other ages.
Next Section: Satan in the Tribulation Period
Table of Contents: The Fate of Satan
Text for this post has been borrowed from my Kindle eBook The Fate of Satan (Book 3 of the Grace and Knowledge Series) by Brother Woody Brohm. Copyright 2016.
All Scripture quoted from:
New International Version (NIV)
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