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Question:
Please show me in the Bible where it says that after Jesus’ second coming, He will remain on the earth and reign for 1,000 years. How can it be on the earth? Where will the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, be during this 1,000 year reign? As far as I know, the New Jerusalem is to be in heaven. So how will the New Jerusalem be in heaven while at the same time Jesus Christ reigns on the earth?
From your question, I see that you accept the fact that the 1,000 year reign will take place upon the earth. This truth is confirmed for us in chapter 20 of the book of Revelation. This text explains that the the camp of the saints, those who will reign with Christ during the 1,000 year period, will be in the beloved city. The Gentiles (nations), who will be deceived by Satan at the time, will rise up against the camp of the saints and the beloved city.
7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war ; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. 9 And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. (Revelation 20)
I would like to point out once again that the saints who will reign during this period of time will do so on the earth. How do we know this? Because in chapter 20 of Revelation we see this idea repeated twice (which means that it is extremely important), that is, those who take part in the first resurrection will not reign alone, but they will reign together with Jesus Christ for a period of 1,000 years.
4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand ; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection ; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. (Revelation 20)
The ones who resurrected after Christ’s second coming but before the beginning of the 1,000 year reign (this has nothing to do with the church because those who were part of the church were resurrected during the Rapture), these are the ones who will reign with Him for 1,000 years. Revelation 19 explains this to us. Revelation 19 is about the second coming of Christ upon the earth in order to rule the nations.
15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron ; . . .
Jesus is coming to rule the nations with a rod of iron, but why? In order to accomplish what is written in the Word of God.
25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. (I Corinthians 15)
Let’s examine the Scriptures to see the type of government that will take place during the 1,000 year reign.
1. Jesus Christ will be king over all the earth
One well known text that describes the 1,000 year reign is found in Zechariah the14th chapter, which begins by describing the events that will take place before Christ’s second coming and then the text ends by describing the 1,000 year reign after His second coming.
9 And the LORD will be king over all the earth ; in that day the LORD will be the only one, and His name the only one. 10 All the land will be changed into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem ; but Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. 11 People will live in it, and there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security.
2. David will be king in Israel
According to the Abrahamic covenant, an unconditional covenant, God promises the land of Canaan as an eternal inheritance to Abraham and his descendants. Because of Israel’s unfaithfulness and breaking the Old Covenant (given some 430 years after the Abrahamic covenant, see Galatians 3:17), the inhabitants (Israelites, descendants of Abraham) were driven out of the promised land (just as was promised in the Law, see Deuteronomy 28-30). Still, through all of this, God was and is faithful to His promises, and He made it possible for the Israelites to be rescued from the curses of the Law (Galatians 3:13), through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. This enabled God to keep His promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Old Testament is full of promises. These promises reveal that at the end of the age, God will raise Israel to become a world power and the throne of David will be reestablished once again. Through the prophet Ezechiel, God reveals that when Israel will be restored to power, the Israelites will have David as their king once again.
21 “Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land ; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel ; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. 23 “They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions ; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God. 24 “My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd ; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. 25 “They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived ; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever ; and David My servant will be their prince forever. 26 “I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. 27 “My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 28 “And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.””‘ (Ezechiel 37)
Through the prophet Jeremiah, God reveals to us exactly when He will raise up David once again as king over Israel. This will happen after the great tribulation which will occur in the second half of Daniel’s 70th week.
7 ‘Alas ! for that day is great, There is none like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s distress, But he will be saved from it. 8 ‘It shall come about on that day, [when God will rescue Jacob from distress] ‘ declares the LORD of hosts, ‘that I will break his yoke from off their neck [Jacob’s people] and will tear off their bonds ; and strangers will no longer make them their slaves. 9 ‘But they shall serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. (Jeremiah 30)
3. The church will also reign upon the earth
In Revelation 5:9-10, the Bible specifies that those who have been redeemed for God through the blood of Christ (the Church), will reign on the earth.
9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals ; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 10 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God ; and they will reign upon the earth.”
We know that before the Rapture takes place, the church will suffer because of its faith instead of reigning upon the earth. Because of this, we know that this text in Revelation 5 cannot refer to the church “pre-Rapture” and must refer to a time after the Rapture has taken place. The verb tense in Revelation 5 declares that this is a future event, “they will reign”. According to I Thessalonians 4:17, after the Rapture takes place the church will continually be in the presence of the Lord. This text confirms that the church must be with Christ upon His second coming to this earth. In Revelation 19, it seems that the heavenly hosts which accompany Jesus upon His second coming is the Church.
7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean ; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
In verse 14 of Revelation 19, we see that the heavenly hosts who come with Jesus are clothed just as the Church:
14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.
4. Those who overcome the beast will reign with Christ
I have already written about this category of people earlier in the article, at the beginning. In Revelation chapter 20, we learn that after the beast and the false prophet are cast into lake of fire, after the kings gather together for the war of Armageddon and are defeated (Revelation 19:19-21), after Satan is bound for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3), judgment will take place.
4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand ; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection ; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. (Revelation 20)
Remember, at the Rapture, the dead in Christ will resurrect never to die nor resurrect again. The resurrection that takes place in Revelation 20 is a different one than the one the church experienced during the Rapture. These are people who came to the Lord after the Rapture had already taken place. They became martyrs because of their faith in Christ, because of their testimony of the Word of God. They were the ones who resisted the beast and the idol of the beast. They did not worship them. They did not receive the mark of the beast. During this judgment, they will be rewarded and will be placed together with the rest of the church and will reign with Christ as well.
So there arises a question: if the church will be on the earth during the 1,000 year reign of Christ, how will God cause the New Jerusalem (the Church) to come down from heaven upon the earth?
We will find out the answer by analyzing the events connected to the end of the 1,000 year reign. This we will accomplish in another article.
Translation by: Erik Brewer