Today astute people are looking beyond the headlines. We read and hear reports like:

• The world is on fire!
• Global floods in dozens of countries, causing hundreds of thousands to flee.
• The human depopulation, using the medical system.
• Russia planning to nuke Europe.

As this world continues to tear itself apart, when nations seem to be shifting, when governments make purposeful and evil decisions that affect millions, and when uncertainty seems to be everywhere, people naturally are asking a timeless question:

Where is all of this going?

For the believer, that question has an answer.

We don’t have to guess.

We don’t have to live by headlines.

And we don’t have to build our understanding of the future on speculation.

We have the rock-solid Word of God.

My friend, I am very pleased to bring you this Bible study concerning one of the most fascinating subjects in all of Scripture: the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ, commonly called the Millennial Reign.

The Bible has quite a bit to say about it.

And if you are one of those who follow my newsletters, books, or podcast, I am especially grateful that you have stayed with me. Because that tells me something great about you.

You want to go deeper.

To me it means you are not satisfied with a quick answer, a popular opinion, or a headline. You want to open the Bible, examine the Scriptures, and discover what God has actually said.

That is exactly what we are going to do.

Let’s Begin With Scripture

For this study, I am going to use only the King James Version.

I also want to establish our approach from the beginning.

There are more than seventy passages throughout Scripture that appear to contribute to our understanding of Christ’s future kingdom, the lost sheep of the House of Israel, Jerusalem, the Day of the Lord, the resurrection, and related prophetic events.

But I don’t want to overwhelm you by simply throwing dozens of Scriptures onto the page.

Instead, we’re going to start with the clearest New Testament passage concerning the thousand years.

Then we will build out from there, okay?

I think this is important because Bible prophecy is interconnected. One passage may give us the framework, while another supplies the details.

So first, let’s establish a proper scriptural foundation.

Why Are People Asking About the Future?

Two dear friends and partners of our ministry have asked essentially the same question within the last couple of weeks.

And I think it’s obvious why.

With additional headlines saying things like:

• The US ushers in 300,000 tons of foreign mystery meat which sends American farmers into shock.
• Harvard professor warns that the war with Iran is untenable.
• The biggest betrayal in American history is happening this week.
• The Noahide Law World Conference article number 1 makes following Jesus illegal, with lethal punishment.
• The latest and greatest diabolic tricks that banks use to scam its citizens.
• Technology or future prisons? Data centers increase by thousands.

We are truly living in extraordinary times.

This is NOT like WWII. Not like anything EVER in modern history.

Whether you are watching events in the UK, Washington, D.C., Jerusalem, the Middle East, Canada, Europe, or somewhere else in the world, every few days another event causes responsible people to pause and ask:

What is happening to our world?

But whatever your particular opinion about current events may be, there is something we should all be able to agree upon:

The world, suddenly, is utterly uncertain.

And God will use uncertain circumstances to turn our attention toward something that is certain. And something eternal.

His Word.

Jesus said:

“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

—Matthew 24:35, KJV

Let’s think hard about that.

Governments change.

Presidents come and go.

Nations rise and fall.

Buildings are constructed and eventually disappear.

Headlines dominate the news for twenty-four hours and are forgotten a week later.

But the Word of God remains.

Let me be clear. What we are seeing today, is NOT like anything ever before. Never.

But, listen dear friends. The answer is not to become more obsessed with the headlines.

The answer is to become more anchored in the Word.

And part of that Word is to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Inside the book The Most Important Words Jesus Ever Spoke is the meaning of the words of Jesus when He told His disciples to tarry in Jerusalem, until God’s plan was fulfilled. They would be endued with POWER (Luke 25:29).

Jesus is coming again soon, friends.

Back to the subject of the future reign of Jesus Christ—a period Scripture identifies repeatedly as one thousand years.

There are many questions surrounding this subject.

When does it happen?

Who will be there?

What happens to Satan?

What happens to the saints?

What happens to the twelve tribes of Jacob (Israel)?

What happens to Jerusalem?

What happens to world nations?

And perhaps the greatest question:

What happens when the thousand years are finished?

Christians have debated many of these questions for centuries.

But let’s begin where the Bible begins.

And that takes us to Revelation chapter 20. This is the keynote scripture.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ

There is something important I want us to notice before we read the passage.

We often call the final book of the Bible simply Revelation, or sometimes John’s Revelation.

John certainly was the human servant who received the vision and faithfully recorded what he saw.

But notice the opening words of the book:

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass…”

—Revelation 1:1, KJV

John was the witness.

John was the recorder.

But the revelation is of Jesus Christ.

That distinction is super important, my friend.

These are not merely John’s ideas about the future. John is recording what he was shown.

And that is especially important when we come to the subject of Christ’s kingdom.

We are not merely studying another prophet’s prediction.

We are studying the promised reign of the King of kings.

Jesus is Emmanuel. Remember what that means?

Matthew tells us:

“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

—Matthew 1:23, KJV

The One who came as the suffering Savior will also come as the reigning King.

The manger was not the end of the story.

The cross was not the end of the story.

The empty tomb was not the end of the story.

Jesus is coming again soon and we (those who are born again) will rule and reign with Him during those thousand years.

Revelation 20: Our Key Passage

The expression “a thousand years” appears repeatedly in Revelation 20.

That makes this chapter the central New Testament passage for establishing the duration and sequence of the events associated with the Millennial Reign.

So before we interpret anything, let’s simply read what the Bible says.

May I make some suggestions first?

Don’t begin by asking what your favorite Bible teacher believes.

Don’t begin by asking what the latest headline means.

Don’t begin with somebody else’s chart.

Begin with the text.

What does the Bible actually say?

Revelation 20:1–10 King James Version

1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. (I’m the one who underlined deceived…for emphasis).

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Now let me suggest that we slow down.

Before we start connecting this passage to the other prophetic Scriptures, especially of the Old Testament, let’s simply observe the sequence.

There are eleven Things We See Immediately

First, an angel comes down from heaven.

Second, Satan is seized.

Third, Satan is bound.

Fourth, he is cast into the bottomless pit.

Fifth, he is shut up for a thousand years.

Sixth, the saints reign with Christ for a thousand years.

Seventh, the rest of the dead do not live again until the thousand years are finished.

Eighth, Satan is released for “a little season.”

Ninth, Satan deceives the nations once again.

Tenth, fire comes down from God and destroys the rebellion.

Eleventh, the devil is cast into the lake of fire.

To me, this is a mindboggling sequence. Do you agree?

And notice something else.

The Bible does not give us the impression that these events are happening randomly.

There is order.

There is sequence.

There is divine authority.

There is a beginning.

There is a thousand-year period.

There is an appointed release of Satan.

There is a final rebellion.

And there is a final judgment.

God Has Not Lost Control. (God never loses control. Ever).

My friend, sometimes we look at our world and it appears ONLY ON THE SURFACE that evil is winning.

Sometimes righteousness seems weak.

Sometimes wickedness appears to prosper.

Sometimes we look at international events and wonder how any of these could possibly end well.

But Revelation 20 reminds us of something we must never forget:

God will not lose control of the story.

There is a King. His name is Jesus.

There is a kingdom.

There is a judgment.

There is a reign.

And there is an appointed end to Satan’s deception.

The world may look chaotic to us.

It is not chaotic to God.

The prophetic clock has not stopped.

The promises of God have not expired.

And God is following a divine plan. And Jesus is not late.

Peter reminds us:

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness…”

—2 Peter 3:9, KJV

That should settle something in our hearts.

We do not have to understand everything God is doing in order to trust that He knows exactly what He is doing.

But What Does It All Mean?

Now we come to a most fascinating part.

What does it mean that Satan is bound?

Why is the bottomless pit mentioned?

Who are those sitting upon the thrones?

Who participates in the first resurrection?

Who are “the rest of the dead”?

Why does God allow Satan to be released after one thousand years?

What exactly is the “little season”?

And what does all of this tell us about the kingdom age?

Those are not small questions.

And they deserve more than quick answers.

So in the next teaching, we’re going to slow down just a bit. I have a blog being polished now which together allows us to examine Revelation 20, verse by verse.

We’re going to take a closer look at the angel, the bottomless pit, the identity of Satan (which is telling to say the least), the meaning of the great chain, the first resurrection, the saints who reign with Jesus, and the difference between the first resurrection and “the rest of the dead.” And probably even more.

We’re going to need to connect these verses to the hypothetical 30,000 foot biblical view of God’s kingdom.

If you’re like me, once you see the pieces of this Scriptural puzzle fit together, something wonderful happens.

The Bible’s prophetic picture becomes clearer.

And at the center of it all stands one person:

Jesus Christ—the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Friends, the world is waiting for the wrong things.

Believers are being distracted in mass, to major in the minors.

The believer should be watching for what God has said in His word (using an accurate as possible translation, because the enemy if changing translations at alarming rates, even faster via online sources).

Things in the world are happening fast now. In prophecy, faster than ever in my lifetime, for sure.

And many pieces are fitting together which point to how close we are to the final seven years.

Jesus is coming again. And, oh my word, He’s coming again soon!

“DECLASSIFIED – preparing believer’s for what’s coming next.” A free exclusive underground newsletter by Dale Black for spiritually critical thinkers. NOT for the faint hearted Christian. If you would like to receive the Declassified newsletter, please let us know. Send us a quick message through CONTACT US.

THANK YOU, friends… and Praise the Good Lord! God is so faithful! Because of your generous response, we have been able to purchase the Starlink system—and it’s installed on the RV and working! I’m sending this blog via that satellite network now. 

   

I can’t adequately express how grateful Paula and I are to those of you who stepped forward to help. You didn’t simply give toward equipment—you helped make it possible for us to continue the work God has called us to do from off grid. We are still trusting the Lord for the laptop that is badly needed for the work ahead. If He stirs your heart to help us complete that final piece, we would be deeply grateful. To every one of you who has prayed, given, and stood with us—thank you. We don’t take your partnership for granted.

Included is a photo Paula took of Lou and Dale installing the Starlink on the RV. Lou and Amy came all the way from Washington to help us install this technical system. Thank you Lou and Amy!

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