After Armageddon there are still 1,000 years to be lived.  1,000 years back from where we are today would take us to the time of the Vikings and William the Conqueror.  A lot has happened since then and the population of the world has mushroomed.  A dictator will rule the world for 1,000 years and all kinds of changes will take place.  Even though the dictator is God people will still fiercely desire their own independence.  I use the millennium to question whether democracy is the best form of government.  We are used to, in the west, being able to have a say in policy making by voting in our parties and holding them accountable to our desires.  I doubt very much that Jesus will consult people on his policies – if he does it will not be for his wisdom and insight to increase but for the development of his subjects. 

I think it will be quite straightforward for Satan to reveal who Jesus’ faithful subjects are who submit to his absolute dictatorship and who still wills to have autonomy.  The deception will be a repeat of the independence promised in the Garden of Eden.  However, rather than Satan starting millennia of rebellion as he did in the Garden – this will be the absolute end.  The wheat and the chaff are separated.  It is over.

 Revelation 20

 ¹ And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. ² He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. ³He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

 ⁴ I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They^[a] had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. ⁵ (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. ⁶Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

The Judgment of Satan

 ⁷ When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison ⁸ and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. ⁹ They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. ¹⁰And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

The Judgment of the Dead

 ¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. ¹⁴ Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. ¹⁵ Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Questions

1. In your own words describe how you imagine Jesus’ reign on earth to be.
2. What do you imagine Satan’s propaganda campaign to consist of?
3. Who is cast into the lake of fire?
4. How can you live in today’s world as if Jesus was already the world’s dictator?
5. What opposition does the rule of Jesus come up against today?