Expert: Bob Hill - 12/17/2003

Question
During the 1000 year reign when Christ returns, will the people that survive the tribulation (not the saints because we will all become like Christ)
I mean the ones who survive, will they die still, or will they live the whole thousand years too.
I am researching this, so I may need to ask other questions later.  Thank you so much,  Sharman C.

Answer
Dear Sharman,

I need to start by evaluating, first, what happens to those of us who have trusted Christ as our savior in this present dispensation, the dispensation of grace.
Eph 3:1-9 (My translation.) For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles -- 2 if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, 3 how that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), 5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets: 6 that the Gentiles would be joint-heirs, and a joint-body, and joint-partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, 7 of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power. 8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the dispensation of the mystery, which has been hidden from the ages in God who created all things through Jesus Christ.

We find in 2 Th 2:1-4, that the body of Christ are gathered before the tribulation or the millennium begin: (My translation.) “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, (This would be called the rapture of the body of Christ church.) 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ is now present. (The day of Christ or day of the Lord would happen after the rapture of the first verse.) 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the departure (This is also referring to the rapture of the body of Christ church.) comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, (At the beginning of the tribulation.) 4 who (The anti god.) opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”

We see here that God promised the Thessalonians and us relaxation. 2 Th 1:7-10 “7 (and to give you who are troubled relaxation with us)”. This is a parenthesis. God will give relief, from the afflictions, to those being persecuted, when the rapture takes place.

But He will give tribulation for 7 years on this earth to Israel and the world as He promised in the Old Testament. At His 2nd coming 7 yrs later, at the end of the tribulation, Christ will return. It is described in “2 Thess 1:7-9 when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power (in that day).”

We find from 1 Th 4:15-18 that we will not be in the 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth. We will be with Him in heaven. We are never in a situation of where there is a dispensation of circumcision for us, it is always for Israel. 1 Th 4:15-18 “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.” We can speculate, but I don't know of any other Scripture that tells what we will be doing for eternity or that we will be anywhere else.

At the end of the 7 year tribulation an angel of God came and according to Rev 20:2-7: He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. 4 (The circumcision saints [Those Jews in the thousand years who believe in Messiah] will reign with Christ one thousand years.) And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. (Those may be the 12 Apostles.) Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection (This is not the rapture of 2 Thess, but the first resurrection promised in the Bible before the dispensation of the Mystery was revealed. It takes place after the tribulation.). 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. (There will be pro-creation during the millennium since it says in Isa 65:19-21 “I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. 20 No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; For the child shall die one hundred years old, but the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed. 21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. (NKJV)
7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison.

But he will be cast into the lake of fire and Gog and Magog will be destroyed.

Rev 20:2-7 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. 4 (The Saints of the tribulation reigned with Christ one thousand years.) And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God (during the tribulation), who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for the thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead (who were not in the body of Christ church which was already raptured) did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. (It was a reward to those who were martyred during the tribulation. This did not count the rapture, which was part of the dispensation of the mystery/secret.) 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. 7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison.

Let me recapitulate. The next event that has been prophesied in Paul's epistles is the rapture. 1 Th 4:13-18 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

The rapture is before the man of sin is revealed at the beginning of the tribulation according to 2 Th 2:1-3 “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ is now present. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the departure (The rapture) comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition.” That will start a sequence of many prophetic events which I list here: First, the rapture. Then, the great tribulation. Then, after the tribulation, the great and awesome day of the Lord is next. This “great and awesome day” is what is normally called the second coming. Mat 24:29,30 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

Then, the judgment of the nations of Matthew 25 takes place. Then, the millennial reign of Christ begins. Then, Satan is loosed from the pit and the battle of Gog & Magog takes place. Then, the great white throne judgment takes place. Then, the new heavens and earth are established. And His servants will reign forever.

The rapture is before the tribulation because nothing in this dispensation is prophesied. Col 1:24-26 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, 26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.

Always keep one thing in mind about the tribulation. Israel was identified as the people of the tribulation by Daniel in Dan 9:24; 10:14; & 12:1; and our Lord Jesus Christ mentioned Daniel's abomination of desolation in Dan 9:27 & 11:31 in the tribulation's setting (Mat 24:15-21). Again, the purpose of the tribulation is to purify Israel for her kingdom reign (Dan 9:24; Zec 13:9).

I must reiterate! The nature of the mystery shows us that the body of Christ is never referred to in prophecy prior to Paul's conversion. Therefore, the rapture, since it only applies to the body of Christ, must take place prior to the prophetic program which follows it for the next seven years.

Then, after the second coming, the judgment of the nations takes place. Mat 25:31,32 When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.

Then the millennial reign of Christ begins. Rev 20:4 “And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” Here, we see that those in the millennium are resurrected as well as those who lived thrugh the tribulation and were not-resurrected who will procreate during the 1,000 year reign. The un-resurrected are those who were judged at the judgment recorded in Mat 25. Therefore, I believe there will be resurrected beings and those who haven't died, in the millennium.

During the millennium, Christ will rule with a rod of iron: Rev 19:11-16, Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Then Satan is loosed after the millennium. Rev 20:7-9 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 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. 9 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.

Then the great white throne judgment takes place. Rev 20:11-12a “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God”.

Our dispensation of grace believers have already been resurrected at the rapture. Then all those from every dispensation except ours will be resurrected and be judged. Only those found in the book of life will go into the eternal kingdom. That will be after the heavens and earth are cleansed by fire: 2 Pe 3:10-13 “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

This judgment will take place at the end of the millennium. Rev 20: 12b-15 “and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Then the new heavens and earth will be established, and they reign forever. Rev 21:1,3,27; 22:5 “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. . . . 3 Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. . . . 27 only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. 22:5 And they shall reign forever and ever.”

The members of the body of Christ do not have their names written in the book of life. When we believe, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit. We will be raised or raptured and have spiritual bodies. 1 Co 15: 42-52 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. 45 And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. 49 And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man. 50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

I'm sure you will have more questions. Just write another question or visit my web-site, biblicalanswers.com.

Sincerely,
Bob Hill