millennium

One of the end time prophecies that I have rarely ever heard about is Revelation 20 which talks about the Millennium. At the end of Revelation 19, it talks about the last event of the tribulation. This event is the Battle of Armageddon. The Battle of Armageddon begins when Jesus comes back with the armies of heaven and wages war against the armies of the antichrist and false prophet (Revelation 19:11-20). At the conclusion of the battle, Jesaus wins, and the antichrist and false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire as the first occupants (Revelation 19:20). The other unbelievers from all time are not in the lake of fire yet but in hades, or hell. Once this is all complete, the Millennium begins. The Millennium begins when Satan is bound and shut in the abyss for a thousand years so he could not deceive the nations of the earth (Revelation 20:1-3). Once Satan is locked up, Jesus reigns on earth during the thousand year period. The people who will be a part of Jesus' millennium reign are in Revelation 20:4, " Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgement was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Chrst for a thousand years." (New American Standard Bible, 1995 Update). The people who come back to life here are the ones who accept Christ and are saved after the rapture, or during the tribulation. These people are the martyrs of the tribulation period who never worshiped the antichrist or his image and never received the mark of the antichrist. These people will inhabit the earth and actually repopulate it during Jesus' millennium reign on earth. At the conclusion of the thousand years, Satan will be released from the abyss. Satan will come back to the earth and will gather who he can to fight the last war against Jesus (Revelation 20:7-8). Most of the people Satan will gather for this war will be people born during Jesus' millennium reign that will give Jesus outward obedience but never truly accept him. Jesus will win this war because fire will come down from heaven and destroy Satan and his army (Revelation 20:9). Satan then will be thrown in the lake of fire with the antichrist and false prophet to spend eternity there. Once Satan is in the lake of fire, the Great White Throne Judgement will happen. All unbelievers will be judged and be thrown in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15). After the Great White Throne Judgement, the old heaven and earth will pass away, and a new heaven and earth will form. A new Jerusalem will also form. God and all his believers will dwell in the new Jerusalem and spend eternity together. The new Jerusalem is thoroughly described in Revelation 21 and 22. Then this is the end of biblical prophecy.