5. The Millennium in relation to the World.

The Millennium will be the time, when, instead of Satan being the world’s “Prince,” the Christ of God shall be its King. The form of His government will be theocratic not democratic—“And the Lord shall be King over all the earth” (Zech. 14:9). The scope or range of His government will be world-wide. All nations will be subject to His rule, and the uttermost parts of the earth shall be possessed by Him. “He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall be before Him; and His enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Sheba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him: all nations shall serve Him” (Psalms 72:8–11). This is what is in view in Rev. 11:15—“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.”

Perhaps at this point it would be well if we endeavored to meet a difficulty which many inquirers experience in connection with the Millennium. It may be stated thus. If the saints are all caught up to meet the Lord at His descent into the air, and the wicked are all destroyed during the Tribulation period, who will be left to inhabit the earth during the Kingdom age? The answer is simple. It is a mistake to suppose that all who are left behind at the Rapture will be subsequently destroyed by God’s judgments. It is true that “the slain of the Lord will be many,” yet the earth will not be entirely depopulated. This is evident from Matt. 25:31. It is also true that “all” who now believe not the truth will “perish” during the Day of God’s vengeance—2 Thess. 2, yet many of the children of these unbelievers will be spared. Not all of those who will be gathered together for the battle of that great day of God Almighty will be slain, as is clear from Is. 66:19, where we read of “those that escape.” The slaughter at Armageddon will be inconceivably dreadful, for from that battlefield will flow a river of blood two hundred miles in length and several feet in depth, yet we know from Zech. 14:16 that a “remnant” will be spared—“And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts.” Finally; there will be a Jewish remnant miraculously preserved by God (Rev. 12) and these together with their resurrected brethren who were slain by the Anti-christ (Rev. 20:4) will form the nucleus from which will spring the Millennial Israel.

The seat of Christ’s government will be Jerusalem, the royal city, “And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the House of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths, for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Is. 2:3).

The character of Messiah’s government is brought before us in Is. 11:3–5, “And He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins.” During the Kingdom age—in contradistinction to the present dispensation of Grace wherein God endures with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction—wickedness shall be promptly dealt with and evil doers will meet with swift judgment: “Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath a high look and a proud heart will not I suffer. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with Me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve Me. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within My house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in My sight. I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked-doers from the city of the Lord” (Ps. 101:5–8).

We turn now to some of the results of Christ’s government. During the Millennium our Lord will rule as “The Prince of Peace.” For the first time since the flood, the earth will be completely delivered from the horrors of war. Then it will be seen that “He maketh wars to cease unto the ends of the earth” (Ps. 46:9). The Kingdom age will be a time of universal peace—“And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Is. 2:4).

During the Millennium there shall also be universal blessing. An exceedingly sublime picture of the conditions that will then obtain is to be found in Is. 35:5–10, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land “springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness: the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

At the beginning of the Millennium there shall be a universal worship of Christ—“And it shall come to pass that everyone that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 14:16).

What a glorious time the Millennium will be for our poor sin-cursed earth! Universal righteousness, universal peace, universal blessing, and universal worship! Surely we have reason to pray “Thy kingdom come.” And now,