The Christ in Prophecy Journal

Answering Questions About the Millennial Kingdom: Living and Eating

The Millennium

What will life be like during the Millennial Kingdom?

[Note: This series of questions about Jesus Christ’s coming Millennial Kingdom were sent in to Lamb & Lion Ministries and answered by Dr. David Reagan, Nathan Jones, and Tim Moore on our television program Christ in Prophecy.]

Tim Moore: There are a number of different characteristics that we have to consider when it comes to life during the Millennial Kingdom. Life will be full of spiritual bounty and blessings as the Lord reigns from Jerusalem. The world will be flooded with peace and righteousness and justice. Even the bells on the horse’s bridles and, the pots in the kitchens will be inscribed with, “Holy unto the Lord.” In other words, everything in Jerusalem will be set apart as holy to God. With that kind of righteousness, you can just imagine there will be little to no crime, there will be no injustice with Christ as Judge, and there will be a limited amount of sin found anywhere in the world.

Particularly for those people who had survived the Tribulation and so entered the Millennial Kingdom as believers, they will be looking forward to that kind of life, because they will have endured seven years of great terror during the Tribulation. Their children and grandchildren will grow up in a world never knowing about any of the darkness that we see today. But, some of these people born during the thousand years, sadly, will not be so eager to subject themselves to the Lord’s reign. They will be the ones who will eventually revolt against Jesus in the Second Wars of Gog and Magog at the very end of the Millennium, as Revelation 20:7-9 reveals.

“Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.”

Other than that tragic ending, the world will be flooded with peace and righteousness and justice for a thousand years. We today can only imagine living in such a utopia.

Nathan Jones: I love Jeremiah 31:13 which reads, “Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men, and the old together, for I will turn their mourning to joy, will comfort them, and make them rejoice rather than sorrow.” I love to preach about the Millennial Kingdom because it is the time and place Christians are promised. The Millennial Kingdom is our true home. We might consider where you live now to be your home, but it is only a temporary home. The saints’ future home is the Millennial Kingdom and then on into the Eternal State which follows.

Dr. Reagan: It wouldn’t be exactly correct to say there will be no crime during that time, because that era is going to have people still living in the flesh, and the flesh is going to want what the flesh wants. What I think is going to happen is that when people violate the law of God, there won’t be legislatures, there will only be the law of God. And, when they violate one of Christ’s laws, they will be arrested immediately. They will be tried immediately. There will be no appeal because the local judge is going to be a glorified Christian with the mind of Christ. Justice will be swift. Justice will be certain. Justice will be for sure. In fact, the book of Micah indicates that if a person is actually rebellious they won’t live past the age of 100.

Tim Moore: As I’m watching the raising of my new grandchildren now I realize that children have to be taught, and at times they have to be admonished. We all are born with a sinful nature within ourselves that wants to rebel against our parents. Even in a utopian world, the repopulated children will have to be taught right from wrong. So, you are exactly right, crime itself will not be eliminated, but certainly reduced. Sin will be tamped down and it will be corrected almost immediately.

Dr. Reagan: Some people ask how can there be any evil during the Millennium because Satan is going to be bound in the Bottomless Pit during that time. If Satan is going to be chained, how can there be any evil?

Tim Moore: Again, the presence of any sort of evil in the Millennial Kingdom just proves that evil is not just external to mankind, but that it’s in mankind’s very heart. Sin lives inside us, and even in a utopia, mankind will still wish to rebel.

Nathan Jones: That’s the true tragedy about living in the Millennial Kingdom though. When people read Revelation 20 they are often surprised to learn about the release of Satan. That’d be like letting loose a serpent into a daycare center, right? But, once Satan is released by God, then Revelation reveals that Satan will lead an army against Jerusalem one last time to try and overthrow Jesus. The numbers who will follow Satan will number “as the sand of the sea” How tragic! They grew up in almost a utopian society, and yet so many of these children who were born to the Tribulation Saints will follow Satan in an attempt to overthrow King Jesus.

Tim Moore: John Milton wrote the book Paradise Lost which was a phrase attributed to Satan. It reflects the notion that there will be many people who will share the philosophy: “Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven.” People will live in a heavenly kind of environment with perfect peace and righteousness and justice, but even then the will seethe at having to serve someone, even Jesus Christ, and not willingly. So, given the opportunity and half a chance, these rebellious Millennials will seek to rebel. Yes, it is a very tragic scenario.

Dr. Reagan: I suspect that during the Millennial reign when people see that justice is swift and certain and sure that what you’ll have is people saying, “We love you, Jesus” with their teeth clenched because they want everything that the evil nature wants. And so, at the end of that time after Satan is released, he’ll rally a whole bunch of people ready to engage in rebellion.

Nathan Jones: We even read in the Bible that when the nations are supposed to go up at least once a year to Jerusalem to see Jesus, for Jesus wants to connect with His people, we learn about how Egypt at some point is going to basically say, “Ah, no, we are not going up.” In response, the Lord shuts off the rain until Egypt finally repents and comes to see Him. So, we already read a little bit of rebellion during that time period both individually and nationally.

Dr. Reagan: There’s the fact that human history goes in a circle. It begins with two people in a perfect environment, and they rebel. It ends with all of humanity in a perfect environment and humanity rebels. I think God is trying to prove that Humanism is absolutely wrong because Humanism is basically the religion of the world. Humanism goes under many different names, but it is the belief that mankind can be perfected. It’s a belief that all of the sin in the world is due to society, not man. And, if we could just perfect society, man will also be perfected. But, no, the Bible says that the problem lies with the evil nature of man and that the only thing that can change that is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Will the lion lay down with the lamb?

Tim Moore: Some people mistake our ministry’s namesake — Lamb & Lion Ministries — as a reference to the Millennial Kingdom. They turn to Isaiah 65:25 which reads, “The wolf and the lamb will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, the dust will be the serpent’s food, and there will be no evil or harm in all My holy mountain.” The animal kingdom will experience a recreation, having been restored from the devastations of the Tribulation, for the Lord promises that all of creation will return to Garden of Eden-like conditions. But, notice Isaiah prophesies that it will be the wolf and the lamb, and not the lamb and the lion, that lie down in peace with each other.

Dr. Reagan: People actually argue with us about that reference! They’ll write in or they’ll say, “Now I know it says somewhere the lion will lie down with the lamb and that is the name of your ministry, so where is it?” And, I’ll reply, “The reference is not there.” And, they’ll reply with, “No, it’s got to be there, for I get a Christmas card every year with a picture on it of a lamb lying down with a lion.”

Nathan Jones: Lions are going to be so depressed during the Millennial Kingdom. After all, can you imagine a lion sitting there chewing straw and looking at the sheep going by and no longer being able to take a bite? I’m kidding, of course, but one of the characteristics of the Millennial Kingdom will be that mankind and animals will once again be at peace with each other.

Tim Moore: Animal interactions are restored to their properly peaceful condition.

Dr. Reagan: One of my all-time favorite religious cartoons depicts the Millennium with a lion sitting under a tree and he is reading a book. A little lamb is sitting next to the lion, leaning against the lion and sleeping. The title of the book is, Veggie Recipes!

Nathan Jones: That brings up the question as to whether we are going to be eating meat during the Millennial Kingdom. Or, are we going to all become vegetarians during that time?

I love the verses that talk about how the person who is reaping will actually surpass the person who is planting. In other words, the crops will be growing so abundantly that the farmers can barely keep up with them.

Tim Moore: It’s been noted that anybody who makes a vegetable burger always claims it tastes like meat. Well, they don’t taste like meat, rather they taste like broccoli. I cannot imagine that humans will cease eating meat, but the Bible really doesn’t specify.

Why are there animal sacrifices during the Millennial Kingdom?

Dr. Reagan: That’s a very complicated question with many different opinions about it. One approach that many people take is the position that these sacrifices that will be offered at the Millennial Temple will be sacrifices likely reminding people of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. They could be part of a remembrance process, very similar to what Communion is today in order to remind us of the cross. And so, that is one of the major positions that is taken.

Another position is that these Millennial sacrifices relate to the fact that there will be Gentiles and Jews born during that time who remain unsaved. They will have to go through certain cleansing processes in order to enter the Millennial Temple. I don’t know about that position.

What I do know is that the Bible says in quite a number of verses, such as Isaiah 2:2-3; 60:7,13; 66:19-21; and 56:6-7, that indicate there will indeed be animal sacrifices held in the Millennial Temple. They’re certainly not sacrifices to save people’s souls. They are either enacted as part of ritual cleansing or else they relate to a remembrance of the cross.

Nathan Jones: So, the whole world population will not be holding sacrifices, just at the Millennial Temple. I think sacrifices for the ritual purification for the priests makes the most sense. There wouldn’t be any animals left on the earth if all 20+ billion people had to have sacrifices made for them.

Tim Moore: Sacrifice relates to a first fruits giving over to the Lord, whether it is a bounty of crops or we offer up our unblemished animals to Jesus as first fruits. I could be these sacrifices are made just out of recognition and honoring of Jesus.

To become a participant in the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ, what you need to do is you need to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Not just Savior, but let Him reign now as Lord over your life. We know that He’s going to reign as Lord in Jerusalem during the Millennial Kingdom, but He can do so right now in your life when you surrender your life to Jesus today. And, when you do, you are guaranteed to enter that Millennial Kingdom in a glorified body and reign with Jesus Christ.

Resource

This Q&A series is also available in a video album which contains two DVD discs that feature seven television programs in which David Reagan, Tim Moore, and Nathan Jones respond to questions about the Bible and Bible prophecy. These programs are great for both individual and group study and provide an excellent starting point for discussion.

Questions and Answers About Bible Prophecy

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Dr. Nathan E. Jones

As the Internet Evangelist at Lamb & Lion Ministries, Nathan reaches out to the over 4.5 billion people accessible over the Internet with the Good News of Jesus Christ. He also co-hosts the ministry's television program Christ in Prophecy and podcast The Truth Will Set You Free.

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