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1000 Years

After the Wrath period is ended and Satan is bound, Jesus sets up His Kingdom on Earth for what's typically referred to as the 1000-year reign of Christ on Earth (also known as the Millennium) where He will "rule with a rod of iron." There will be no more war and the whole world will be at peace and His resurrected saints will rule and reign with Him over the remaining nations of unbelievers who survived through the Great Tribulation and the Wrath. At the end of the 1000 years Satan is loosed to deceive the nations one last time and gathers together a huge army to fight against the Saints in what's sometimes referred to as the "Battle of Gog and Magog."

At this point God sends down fire from Heaven to devour the armies of Satan, at which time scripture suggests that the surface of the Earth and the surrounding atmosphere get burned up as well. Then there is the "great white throne judgment" where God judges the "dead" (those who never received Christ as their Savior), and those not found written in the "book of life" are cast into the "Lake of Fire." During this point in time God recreates the surface of the Earth and the surrounding atmosphere anew and the Heavenly City comes down to dwell on the Earth.

Note on the Millennium: Revelation 20 clearly describes a literal 1,000-year reign with Satan bound and the resurrected saints reigning with Christ. The text implies that mortal people from the nations are present on the earth (otherwise there would be no one for Satan to deceive at the end). Many details of daily life, repopulation, or governance during this period are not fully spelled out in Scripture. These remain areas for thoughtful consideration and should be held humbly.

The Heavenly City, scripture seems to suggest, will be a pyramid (See Psalms 24:3-5 Isaiah 2:2; Daniel 2:35; Michah 4:1). It will be 1500 miles high, wide and long made of crystal gold material. The streets will also be of this same crystal gold material. A wall around 216 feet high surrounds the City having 12 layers with material composed of different types of jewels each about 18 ft thick. The wall has 12 gates, 3 on each side, each gate being a large single pearl.

In the middle of the city is a "pure river of water of life" flowing from the "throne of God and the Lamb." In the middle and on both sides of the river is the "Tree of Life" that produces twelve kinds of fruit, yielding a new crop each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations (Rev. 22:2) suggesting those who live outside of the city (Rev. 22:14-15) may eventually receive some form of redemption. This brings up an interesting subject regarding the fate of those who never received Christ in the first life.

Typically, it's taught that they all end up in hell. But it may be more nuanced than that. First, you've got those who live into the 1000 Years (Rev. 20:4-6, Zech. 14:16). If they live to the end of that period without having received Christ they are brought before God, along with all others that died in the past without Christ, and are judged by God according to their works at the "Great White Throne Judgement." Those not found written in the "book of life" are cast into hell. But what happens to those who are found written in the "book of life?" The assumption would be that they are the people of the nations found living outside the Heavenly City (Rev. 22:2,15), subjects of the kings of the earth (Rev. 21:24).

Note on the Book of Life: Revelation 21:27 mentions only those written in the "Lamb’s book of life" may enter the Heavenly City. This has led to discussion about a possible distinction between the general "book of life" and the "Lamb’s book of life." Those in the Lamb’s book are reconciled to God through Christ’s salvation and cleansed by His blood. Those found in the book of life (but not necessarily the Lamb’s) may be deemed worthy to live on the New Earth outside the city. These are interesting possibilities based on the text, but we should hold them humbly as the exact relationship is not exhaustively detailed.

Final note: The exact mechanics of life on the new earth and the full implications for those outside the Heavenly City are not exhaustively revealed. We should be careful not to go beyond what Scripture clearly teaches while still pondering the wonderful hope of renewal and healing for the nations.


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