What Does The Bible Say? FAQ | TheMillennium.org

The events to happen after the thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth are described in Revelation 20:5 through to the end of the book of Revelation.

Revelation 20:5 shows that the second resurrection will occur after the Millennium: “But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished…” These are not the dead in Christ but simply the dead – those who have not yet had their opportunity for salvation. This will be a resurrection to mortal life (Ezekiel 37:1-14). During the Millennium Satan will be restrained and prevented from deceiving the nations (Revelation 20:1-3). After the thousand years are over Satan will be loosed out of his prison (Revelation 20:7-9) and go out to deceive the humans who are not yet born into God’s Kingdom.

Satan and the demons will then be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10). In the lake of fire, they will be powerless to deceive their rest of the dead who will then be resurrected to physical life in the second resurrection (Ezekiel 37:1-14). We read about the second resurrection, also called the Great White Throne Judgment period, in Revelation 20:11-12. This will be a resurrection to mortal life and will include all those who died in ignorance in past ages.

After God’s plan of salvation is complete the earth will be cleansed with fire (II Peter 3:10-12). The lake of fire will destroy everything that is physical and will burn itself out after consuming everything combustible on the entire surface of the earth. Following this “Gehenna fire,” God will create a new heaven and a new earth: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also, there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God” (Revelation 21:1-3).

At that time the earth will become the central location of the universe for God’s Kingdom (Revelation 21, 22). Hebrews 2:6-8 states that God will ultimately put all things (the entire universe) under the control of Himself and those who will be born into His Family and given immortality (I Corinthians 15:50-54).

Whatever our glorious future will be it will be astonishing beyond imagination (Romans 8:18; II Corinthians 4:17). Those in God’s Kingdom will inhabit eternity: “Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:7).

As mortal human beings we are accustomed to living in a temporary physical world. We are limited by our physical senses to detecting only that which is physical. Everything physical has beginnings and endings. We understand what it means to be born and what it means to die. We observe the creation around us and see plants, insects, and animals come to life and we see them die. We even speak of the birth and death of civilizations, volcanoes, and planets and stars. We measure time with clocks and calendars. We measure the progression of time in seconds, hours, days, and years, decades, centuries, and millennia.

Humans are accustomed to seeing things get old. Our homes, automobiles, and our clothing, even our physical bodies wear out over time. As wise king Solomon once said: “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted…” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).

God is not limited by the things we are as humans. He is eternal. God has always been and always will be. He inhabits eternity (Isaiah 57:15). Our physical minds cannot truly comprehend what it means to be eternal, because we have nothing in the known physical universe in which to relate eternity to. In fact, we cannot even fully comprehend the physical universe God created.

That is precisely the problem we have as humans; we are trying to relate what cannot be related to in physical terms. We are trying to apply the limitations of the physical existence we know to the unlimited spiritual plane of existence on which God lives. It cannot be done.

One of God’s names in Hebrew is Yahweh which means the “Ever-living One.” He is the Creator of all that exists: “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (Colossians 1:16-17). The Creator is not bound by the laws of space and time as we are. To our Maker “one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (II Peter 3:8). He is the author of space and time. There is no beginning or end for God because has always existed (John 1:1-3; Hebrews 7:3). “In the beginning God…” (Genesis 1:1). Whatever point in the past we wish to consider as “the beginning” God already existed. Where did God come from? He didn’t come from anywhere. He was always there!

2 Peter 3:10 states, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”

This is said in the context of verse 7: “But the heavens and the earth which now exist are kept in store by the same word, reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition (destruction) of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:7). This is what the Bible refers to as “Gehenna fire” in which the unrepentant (Matthew 3:12) are cast, resulting in the second death (Revelation 20:14; Revelation 21:8).

The unquenchable fire to which this refers is one that cannot be extinguished. God will not allow this fire to be put out until it has consumed all combustible material. This fire will burn itself out when there is no longer anything else to consume. Only spirit beings will not be affected by this physical fire. The apostle Peter compared this fire with Noah’s flood and used it as an example of the future cleansing of the earth by fire: “For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and In the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water (2 Peter 3:5-6). Just as the earth continued to exist after the flood, so it will continue to exist after the coming global “lake of fire.”

When we compare 2 Peter 3:13 and the first few verses of Revelation 21 we gain additional valuable information. “Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13). In the twenty first chapter of Revelation, we see that immediately after the lake of fire the new heavens and new earth are mentioned. Revelation 21:1-3: V1 “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also, there was no more sea. V2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. V3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.”

Ecclesiastes 1:4 shows that the earth will never fail to exist: “One generation passes away and another generation comes; but the earth abides forever.”The simple truth is that the surface of the earth and everything physical on it, including all unrepentant humans (those who are not able to be corrected, improved, or reformed), will be purified by fire. Then God will then renew the face of the earth and make it a glorious residence for Himself and the rest of the God Family (Revelation 21 and 22).

The very earliest prehistoric record we have is found in John 1:1-3: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” The very first beings to exist were God, and the Word (Logos) who was also God.

This could have been millions, or billions of years ago. These two spirit beings constituted the God Family and were alone in empty space. There was no physical universe yet. They conceived, designed, and planned. Part of their creation involved the creation of angels. Angels are immortal spirit beings, composed of spirit. The Old Testament Scriptures show that God created angels before creating the earth (Job 38:4-7). Angels were created with the ability to think, reason, and make choices. They were created free moral agents.

After creating them God instructed them in His laws and way of life. However, their creation could not be a finished creation until character was developed in them. It appears that God placed a third of the angels on the earth and gave them the opportunity to share in God’s creative activities by finishing the earth. Instead of improving and beautifying the earth they rebelled against God resulting in the ruin and desolation of it (Genesis 1:2). This third of the angels (Revelation 12:4) sinned (II Peter 2:4). Their leader, the archangel Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12-14) was created perfect, till iniquity was found in him (Ezekiel 28:12-15).

Everything that God creates He creates perfectly. God did not create a devil, but an exceptionally beautiful and talented archangel. He became Satan the devil because he rebelled. “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor…” (Ezekiel 28:17). Lucifer became greedy, jealous, and envious of God. He wanted to rule more than just the earth. He rebelled and attempted to knock God off His throne. “How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How are you cut down to the ground you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart; ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High’” (Isaiah 14:12-14).

He led the angels that had been entrusted to his care to sin and make war against their Maker attempting to overthrow God on the heavenly throne of the universe. “And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own habitation (the earth), He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day” (Jude 6). Their minds have become permanently perverted. God did not create demons, but rather beautiful angels who became demons because of sin. Lucifer and his angels were unsuccessful in their coup and were cast back to the earth (Revelation 12:4).