After Jesus’ Second Coming tremendous events take place. Before the complete restoration of this sinful planet is accomplished, a period of 1,000 years must pass. What happens on the earth during this time? Where are God’s people? What about the devil? The Bible provides very clear answers to these questions. The period of 1,000 years is commonly known as the ‘millennium’.

01. What major event did Jesus say would occur in association with His second coming?
John 5:28-29
28 Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son,
29 and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgement.
Note
The Bible tells us clearly there will be two resurrections - one for the righteous and a separate one for the wicked.

02. When does the resurrection of the righteous take place?
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
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.
Note
The Bible tells us that the resurrection for those who will experience eternal life takes place at the second coming of Jesus.

03. What happens to those who are reunited with Jesus at His second coming?
Revelation 20:4
Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their forehead or their hands. They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Note
It is clear from the Bible that this 1,000 year period spoken of in revelation commences at the second coming of Jesus, when the righteous (both living and dead) are all reunited with Jesus to live and reign with Him for 1,000 years.

04. When does the resurrection of the wicked take place?
Revelation 20:5
This is the first resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.)
Note
The Bible tells us that the millennium is 'book-ended' by two resurrections. The resurrection of the righteous at the beginning, and the resurrection of the wicked at the end.

05. (Part 1) What state will the earth be in during the millennium?
Jeremiah 25:33
In that day those the LORD has slaughtered will fill the earth from one end to the other. No one will mourn for them or gather up their bodies to bury them. They will be scattered on the ground like manure.

06. (Part 2) What state will the earth be in during the millennium?
Isaiah 24:1-3
1 Look! The LORD is about to destroy the earth and make it a vast wasteland. He devastates the surface of the earth and scatters the people.
2 Priests and laypeople, servants and masters, maids and mistresses, buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, bankers and debtors—none will be spared.
3 The earth will be completely emptied and looted. The LORD has spoken!

07. (Part 3) What state will the earth be in during the millennium?
Jeremiah 4:23-27
23 I looked at the earth, and it was empty and formless. I looked at the heavens, and there was no light.
24 I looked at the mountains and hills, and they trembled and shook.
25 I looked, and all the people were gone. All the birds of the sky had flown away.
26 I looked, and the fertile fields had become a wilderness. The towns lay in ruins, crushed by the LORD’s fierce anger.
27 This is what the LORD says: “The whole land will be ruined, but I will not destroy it completely.
Note
This prophecy for the state of the Earth after the second coming of Jesus is a similar description found in Genesis of the state of the Earth after God's first creative act. It was 'formless' and 'void' (using the same Hebrew words as in Genesis). God has bought sin to a complete halt, and has 'unrolled' His creation that was marred by the wickedness of Satan. Notice however, God has not yet 'destroyed it completely' (v27).

08. Does the Bible suggest any possibility that life on Earth may continue with any semblance of normality after the second coming? What did Jesus say?
Luke 17:28-30
28 “And the world will be as it was in the days of Lot. People went about their daily business—eating and drinking, buying and selling, farming and building-
29 until the morning Lot left Sodom. Then fire and burning sulphur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
30 Yes, it will be ‘business as usual’ right up to the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

09. What happens to Satan during the 1,000 years?
Revelation 20:1-3
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand.
2 He seized the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years.
3 The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterward he must be released for a little while.
Note
The term “bottomless pit” comes from the Greek word ‘Abussos’, which means a dark, waste, desolate region, a state of chaos. The same word from the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament described the earth before God created life – “without form and void”. Most modern translators use the word ‘abyss’. This place of emptiness is Satan’s prison house during the thousand years.
Literal chains cannot bind a spirit being such as Satan; Satan is bound by a chain of circumstances. The saints are in heaven, the wicked are dead, and therefore the devil has no person to tempt. He is bound to this earth with nothing to do but reflect upon the results of his corrupt work. Notice, however, that his deception is not yet over, for when the thousand years are expired, he is set free for a short time. This indicates the loosing of his chains by having people to tempt once again. He cannot deceive during the millennium because there is no person to tempt, but now, at the end of the thousand years, the “second resurrection” of the wicked takes place, and he carries on his work.

10. What will the righteous be doing in heaven during the millennium?
1 Corinthians 6:2, 3, Revelation 20:4
6:2-3 Don’t you realise that someday we believers will judge the world? And since you are going to judge the world, can’t you decide even these little things among yourselves?
20:4 Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their forehead or their hands. They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

11. What did John see in vision at the end of the millennium?
Revelation 21:2
And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

12. What happens next in John's vision of the new Jerusalem?
Revelation 20:7-9
7 When the thousand years come to an end, Satan will be let out of his prison.
8 He will go out to deceive the nations—called Gog and Magog—in every corner of the earth. He will gather them together for battle—a mighty army, as numberless as sand along the seashore.
9 And I saw them as they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded God’s people and the beloved city. But fire from heaven came down on the attacking armies and consumed them.

13. What is the result of Satan's final attempt to rebel against God?
Revelation 20:9
And I saw them as they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded God’s people and the beloved city. But fire from heaven came down on the attacking armies and consumed them.

14. Will this be the final destruction of sin?
Revelation 20:14-15
14 Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death.
15 And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

15. Is the fate of those who rebelled against God final?
Revelation 21:27
Nothing evil will be allowed to enter [the new earth], nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

16. What will be Gods first action after the final destruction of sin and Satan?
Revelation 21:1, 4
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone.
4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

Concluding Question:
When the holy city descends from heaven, we will either be on the inside looking out, or on the outside looking in through those transparent walls of jasper. It will be too late to decide then. If Jesus is first in our lives today, He will guide us to victory. Wouldn't you like to respond to His gracious invitation while there is still time?