The Thousand-year Reign of the Saved

Introduction: This lesson is about a prophecy that describes a time when the saved will reign with Christ. Here we will learn the answers to such questions as, "Where will the redeemed live, in heaven or on earth?" and, "Where will hell be located?"

1. How long will the saved reign with Christ? Rev. 20:4 [The Further-study verses are 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 3:21; 1 Cor. 6:2, 3]

2. When does the thousand years begin? Rev. 20:6 [Ans: At the first resurrection. Dan. 7:26, 27 (In this verse the reign of the redeemed begins when the "little-horn" Beast power is destroyed, for that coincides with the resurrection); Matt. 19:28]

3. Thus the resurrection marks the beginning of the thousand years. When does this resurrection take place? 1 Thess. 4:15-17 [Ans: At Jesus' second coming. 1 Cor. 15:51, 52; John 6:54; 11:24; Matt. 24:30, 31]

4. Where will the righteous be taken at Jesus' second coming in order to reign with Him for a thousand years? John 14:2, 3 [Ans: They will be taken to heaven, where Jesus is. Acts 1:11; Eph. 6:9; Heb. 9:24; Col. 1:5]

5. What will happen to the wicked when Christ returns? 2 Thess. 1:6-10; 2:8 [Rev. 14:14-20]

6. If the righteous are taken to heaven at Jesus' second coming, and all the wicked are destroyed, who will be left to bury them? Jer. 25:33 [Rev. 19:21]

7. Revelation pictures a dreadful earthquake mingled with fire at Jesus' second coming. What will the earth be like during the thousand years while the righteous are reigning with Jesus in heaven? Jer. 4:23-26 [Rev. 16:18-21; Gen. 1:1, 2]

8. Where will the Devil be during the thousand years? Rev. 20:1-3 [Note: The expression "bottomless pit" comes from "abussos," the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word "tehom" ("deep" or "abyss") in Genesis 1:2, which describes this earth in a condition of chaos. Jeremiah 4:23 says that this earth will again be "without form, and void," as in Genesis 1:2. Thus Satan will be chained to this desolate and empty earth. Job 1:6, 7 (This verse tells of the time Satan could still go back to heaven, along with the sons of God [from other planets], to represent earth. But during the thousand years he will be isolated upon dark, cold, sunless, uninhabited earth. It will indeed be like a bottomless pit!)]

9. What will come down from heaven to earth at the close of the thousand years? Rev. 21:2, 10 [Rev. 3:12; Ps. 37:9-11; Matt. 5:5; Zech. 14:4, 9]

10. Will the "rest of the dead" (the wicked who were not resurrected, along with those who were slain at Jesus' second coming) ever live again? Rev. 20:5 [John 5:28, 29]

11. Satan is bound to this planet during the thousand years with no one to tempt, for the righteous are in heaven and the wicked are dead. But after the thousand years, when the wicked are raised, what will Satan do? Rev. 20:7, 8 [Eze. 38:18-23]

12. What will happen to the wicked at this time? Rev. 20:9a, 11-13 [Note: The judgment of the righteous takes place before the second coming, but the records of the wicked are reviewed by the saved during the thousand years--Jesus allows them to reign with Him on His judgment seat. After the thousand years, the wicked receive their final sentence, as written in the books. 1 Cor. 6:2, 3; 1 Peter 4:17; Joel 3:12-17]

13. The sentence is death. What is this death called? Rev. 20:9b, 10, 14, 15 [Ans: The "second death." The "first death" is an unconscious sleep prior to the resurrection, but the second death is annihilation in the lake of fire. Rev. 20:6; Eze. 28:9; 39:6; Ps. 37:10; Obadiah 16]

14. This earth, after the thousand years, will become the eternal home of the saved (Matt. 5:5; Ps. 37:9). What will it be like? Isa. 65:17, 21-25 [Rev. 21:1-4]

Commitment: Where will you spend the thousand years? If we will take up our cross and follow Jesus today (Matt. 16:24), we will reign with Him then (Rev. 3:21), as He has promised. Will you choose to follow Jesus all the way, whatever the cost?

STEP 2 (Lessons 11-20): Accepting Christ's Final Message