The Thousand-Year Kingdom of Peace

A Bible study on the thousand-year Kingdom of Peace of Christ

This page is about the thousand-year kingdom of Christ mentioned in Revelation 20.
I assume that most of us do not take this thousand-year kingdom literally.
Some also think that this kingdom is mainly a heavenly kingdom and not a physical kingdom here on earth.
Others also think that we are already living in the time of the heavenly kingdom.

So I assume that I am in the minority on this, and will probably remain so.
But still, in all vulnerability and openness, I would like to show you, on the basis of various Bible texts,
why I think that Revelation 20 speaks about a future, thousand-year, physical kingdom on earth.
Not on the basis of a few texts, but on the basis of a large number of texts.
This is not a matter of five or so texts strung together,
with a conclusion attached to them through a lot of creativity.

Some will say: “You take all kinds of texts out of their context; that is not what is meant.”
However, the subject of the kingdom runs so broadly through the whole Bible,
like a scarlet thread, that all the texts together form their own context.

Besides, in my opinion this is a subject of secondary importance,
so a subject on which you MAY differ in opinion.
There is no room for that on subjects of primary importance, such as the cross, the resurrection and the forgiveness of sins.

The Bible was written for ordinary people and addressed to ordinary people. Not only for graduated theologians.
And if the graduated theologians have to tell ordinary people what is actually in the Bible,
then we go back to the time of the heyday of the Roman Catholic Church.
If you routinely start to spiritualize and generalize the “difficult” parts of the prophecies,
then in my personal opinion you turn the biblical message into a smokescreen.
What do Revelation and the other prophecies then still have to say to ordinary people?
There are Bible texts where it is clear that figurative language is being used.
Those you should not take literally, of course.
But personally I am of the view that where you CAN take the Bible literally, you MUST also take it literally.
So: as much as possible, wherever it is possible, take the Bible literally.

1 Reading guide 2 Repetitions in the Bible 3 Promise of the kingdom and kingship 4 A thousand years or not? 5 Is Satan bound now or not? 6 Are we in the kingdom NOW or NOT? 7 Where is that kingdom? 8 The kingdom throughout the Bible 9 Characteristics of the kingdom

1 Reading guide

Various Bible texts appear on this page.

To help you take in these texts, different parts of the text are always highlighted in the same fixed way.

Emphasized text is highlighted in red.

Throne, Kingship, Kingdom, King: all royal texts are highlighted in yellow.

Eternal, eternity, ages: all eternal texts are highlighted in orange.

Earth, Zion, Jerusalem: all texts about “non-heavenly locations” are highlighted in green.

This makes the text come across more powerfully and makes it easier to take in the content.

On the pages below, the left column always shows a Bible text.

The right column then contains the accompanying commentary or view on that text.

2 Repetitions in the Bible

Mark 9:43-48 (where Jesus speaks about temptation to sin)
43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having your two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire,
44 [where their worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched.]
45 If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life lame, rather than having your two feet to be cast into Gehenna, into the fire that will never be quenched—
46 [where their worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched.]
47 If your eye causes you to stumble, cast it out. It is better for you to enter into the Kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna of fire,
48 [where their worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched.]

In the Bible, repetition is used in many places. An example follows next to this text, but it happens really very regularly; you could write a separate web page about it.

The purpose of the repetitions is the
EMPHASIZING
EMPHASIZING
EMPHASIZING
of the message!

Suppose I had repeated ‘EMPHASIZING’ here six times…

In Revelation 20, ‘thousand years’ is repeated six times!

3 Promise of the kingdom and kingship

Daniel 7:18
18 But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.

Daniel 7:22
22 until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

Daniel 7:27
27 The kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole sky, will be given to the people of the saints of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions will serve and obey him.

In the Bible, a promise/prophecy is made in several places that those who belong to Jesus Christ will reign as kings together with Him.

In Daniel 7 this message is also repeated three times.

Matthew 25:34
34 Then the King will tell those on his right hand, “Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

Revelation 3:21
21 He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father on his throne.

Revelation 20:4b
4 They lived, and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Revelation 22:3-5
3 There will be no curse any more. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will serve him.
4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
5 There will be no night, and they need no lamp light, for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever.

We encounter that promise in other places in the Bible too.

So, keeping in mind the intention of the repetitions in Scripture and the promise/prophecy of the kingdom and of reigning together with Christ in His kingdom, we now turn to Revelation 20.

4 A thousand years or not?

Revelation 20:1-3
1 I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
2 He seized the dragon, the old serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
3 and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, so that he would deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were finished. After this, he must be freed for a short time.

Revelation 20:4-6
4 I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and such as didn’t worship the beast nor his image, and didn’t receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand. They lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5 The rest of the dead didn’t live until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with him one thousand years.

Revelation 20:7-10
7 And when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be released from his prison,
8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war, whose number is as the sand of the sea.
9 They went up over the width of the earth, and surrounded the camp of the saints, and the beloved city. Fire came down out of heaven from God and devoured them.
10 The devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet also are. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

In the passage of Revelation 20, verses 1 through 10, we encounter the term ‘thousand years’ six times.
Six times a thousand, that means something.
Repetitions in the Bible mean emphasis on the message.

In this one passage we see three different indications of time: ‘thousand years’, ‘a short time’ and ‘forever and ever’.

A question: if thousand is symbolic, is a short time then symbolic too? And is forever and ever then symbolic too?

In my opinion these three indications of time are not three undefined times; in any case they stand in relation to each other.

I think that forever and ever also means forever and ever.
That a short time also means a short time.
And that thousand years also means thousand years.

It is said that ‘thousand’ was the largest number in those days; 10 × 10 × 10.
I doubt that. For example, there were censuses long before the book of Revelation; how did they do that?
And Revelation 5 and 9 also speak of ‘ten thousands of ten thousands’, that is hundreds of millions!

Something to think about:
Might the Author of this passage have had a reason to repeat those thousand years six times here?
You might think: the more often the repetition, the more emphatic the message.

Further on we will also see more examples of other literal fulfillments of prophecy.

In the previous texts, and further on as well, we will see that, besides the thousand years of Revelation 20, an indication of time of ‘forever and ever’ is also often mentioned in connection with the kingdom.

An explanation that is given for this – and this is meant with respect and reverence – is that the thousand years are a kind of ‘kindergarten period’, a foretaste, followed by the eternal state of Revelation 21 and 22.
In between (between Revelation 20 and 21) comes the short rebellion of the devil, the proof that the devil and people, even after a thousand-year reign under Christ, are still inclined to evil, followed by the judgment of ‘the Great White Throne’, followed by the eternal state.

See also verses 8 and 9: the nations of the earth are deceived and come up over the width of the earth.
How can Revelation 20 be about a heavenly kingdom?
The nations that are in heaven cannot be deceived, can they?
This seems to me to be very much an earthly matter and not a heavenly matter.

5 Is Satan bound now or not?

There are those who say that the binding of Satan happened at the cross.
And that the thousand years mentioned are a period between the ascension and the second coming.

It is also said that ‘the nations can no longer be deceived’ has mostly to do with the fact that Satan could no longer stop the proclamation and the spread of the gospel.
But that is not what this passage says.
The word ‘gospel’ does not occur in this text, not even in Greek.
Here, in Greek, is the same word as, for example, in Matthew 24:4: “Watch out that no one leads you astray.” So this word really does mean ‘to deceive’ or ‘to mislead’.

It is also said that the binding of Satan can never be taken literally; after all, how could you bind Satan, a spiritual being, with a physical chain?
But that ‘chain’ was in the hand of an angel, also a spiritual being. And could the great Creator of all things not make a spiritual chain with which He could bind His own spiritual creature?!
The message is: Satan is bound.

We are now going to look at various Bible texts to see whether Satan was bound at the cross, and whether from the cross onward he has no longer been able to deceive the nations.

As we go through the texts below, we may ask ourselves whether Satan has been bound since the cross or not…

Acts 5:3
3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?”

2 Corinthians 4:3-4
3 Even if our Good News is veiled, it is veiled in those who perish;
4 in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them.

1 Thessalonians 2:18
18 Because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, once and again—and Satan hindered us.

2 Corinthians 11:13-14
13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as Christ’s apostles.
14 And no wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an angel of light.

1 John 4:3-4
3 and every spirit who doesn’t confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is already in the world.
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.

1 John 5:19
19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

James 4:7
7 Be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

1 Peter 5:8
8 Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Revelation 12:12
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has gone down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has a short time.

Ephesians 2:2
2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience;

Look at our own hearts too! At all the misery around us!
How can Satan be bound? How can we already be in the kingdom?

6 Are we in the kingdom NOW or NOT?

Satan bound at the cross? He has been condemned and defeated, but certainly (not yet) bound.

Think of all the misery that is still present in the world to this day;
- famines (Africa)
- pestilences: the Black Death in the Middle Ages, corona, and so on
- tsunamis and earthquakes, ever more of them
- wars:
   - the Eighty Years’ War
   - the First World War
   - the Second World War (note: including the persecution of the Jews)
   - the Vietnam War
   - wars around the establishment of the state of Israel
   - even now war between Israel, Gaza and Lebanon
   - war in Ukraine

Satan bound? Already in the kingdom? If this is the Kingdom of Peace of Christ…

We will now see Bible texts that show that this can NOT be the kingdom!

If we were already living in the Kingdom of Peace of Christ, as some claim, look around us and recognize what Galatians 5 writes about all the things that happen around us.

Galatians 5:19-21
19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies,
21 envyings, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will NOT inherit the Kingdom of God.

That is a perfect description of the world around us!
The description of the Kingdom of Peace should rather resemble what we read in the following verses:

Galatians 5:22-24
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,
23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.

Around us we are confronted with the reality of the fruits of the flesh. That we would already be living in the Kingdom of Peace of Christ therefore seems unlikely to me, because in Galatians 5:17 too we read the following:

Galatians 5:17
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are opposed to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire.

So it is one of the two: either we live in the reality of the Kingdom of Peace of Christ, or we live in the reality of the fruits of the flesh, of which verse 21 clearly says:
“that those who practice such things will NOT inherit the Kingdom of God.”

Around us we see the fruits of the flesh, which will NOT inherit the Kingdom of God.
The world around us shows the fruits of the flesh, and they confirm that we cannot (yet) be in the kingdom of Christ!

7 Where is that kingdom?

John 18:36
36 Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not of this world.
If my Kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight,
that I wouldn’t be delivered to the Jews.
But NOW my Kingdom is not from here.”

2 Timothy 4:18
18 The Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me for his heavenly Kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Matthew 6:33
33 But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.

The kingdom exists in two ways: heavenly and spiritual. That is the status up to now.
But in the future there will also be a physical kingdom of Christ!

Before we look at which texts in the Bible speak about the physical kingdom,
we will first quote a number of texts showing that the spiritual kingdom already exists now.

Note: ‘seek’ is in the present tense, so then, at that moment,
so also now, at this moment. And in this text it is also about worries for the day of tomorrow.
So seek the kingdom first, and then your heavenly Father will give you everything you need NOW/today and tomorrow.
So very topical, and not something for some time later.

The ‘Our Father’

Matthew 6:9-13
9 Pray like this:
“Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
10 Let your Kingdom come.
Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.
13 Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
[For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.”]

The ‘Our Father’

At the end of the prayer we are taught to say ‘for yours is the kingdom’.
In the Our Father there is mention of both a kingdom that is,
and a kingdom that is still to come. We are told to pray ‘Let your kingdom come’.

8 The kingdom throughout the Bible

If we search the Bible (in the Dutch translation used for this study) for the word ‘king’ (‘koning’),
we find it in 1744 verses.

If we search the Bible (in the Dutch translation used for this study) for the word ‘kingdom’ (‘koninkrijk’),
we find it in 286 verses.
Revelation 20 is the only place in the Bible that speaks about a thousand-year kingdom.
But in many other places the kingdom is spoken of.
It is also said that the kingdom is something that will come later, in the future.
Then it says something like ‘in those days’ or ‘at that time’ or ‘in the latter days’.
We know of not several, but only one future Kingdom of Peace. So when the prophecies speak about the future kingdom,
we can assume that this means the same kingdom as the one mentioned in Revelation 20.

No wonder the words king and kingdom are found so often in the Bible,
after all, the Bible is often about the struggle between kings and kingdoms.
But not only in Revelation 20 is the kingdom of Christ spoken of,
but also in many other places in the Bible.
In both the Old and the New Testament.
We will now go through various texts in which the kingdom is spoken of.

Isaiah 9:6-7
6 For to us a child is born. To us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulder. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on David’s throne, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from that time on, even forever. The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will perform this.

It seems to me that what is described here lies in the future and not in the present…
Also in view of the texts we have already seen so far.
But there is more:

Micah 4:7
7 I will make that which was lame a remnant, and that which was cast far off a strong nation: and Yahweh will reign over them on Mount Zion from that time on, even forever.

On Mount Zion, that is in Jerusalem! Not in heaven.
At this moment Jesus is NOT YET King in Jerusalem.
He is King over the world, from heaven, on the throne of His Father.
But NOT YET on the throne of David, from Jerusalem.

Isaiah 24:23b
Then the moon will be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for Yahweh of Armies will reign on Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem; and before his elders will be glory.

Here it is stated even more clearly: on Mount Zion, IN Jerusalem!
Note also the “repetition/emphasis” ‘Zion’ and ‘Jerusalem’.
This emphasizes that it is really about the earthly Jerusalem, on Mount Zion.

Isaiah 32:1-4
1 Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice.
2 A man will be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a large rock in a weary land.
3 The eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen.
4 The mind of the hasty will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly.

It seems to me that what is described here lies in the future and not in the present…

Isaiah 52:7-10
7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
8 Your watchmen lift up their voice. Together they sing; for they will see eye to eye when Yahweh returns to Zion.
9 Break out into joy! Sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem; for Yahweh has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 Yahweh has made his holy arm bare in the eyes of all the nations. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Here it says ‘returns to Zion’.
For if a heavenly Zion were meant,
where Jesus is now, how can Jesus return to it?
And further, ‘waste places’ of Jerusalem. That can never be the ‘heavenly Jerusalem’,
that will never be a heap of ruins!
And also all the ends OF THE EARTH will see it…

Jeremiah 30:9
9 But they will serve Yahweh their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up to them.

Psalm 2:6-9
6 “Yet I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion.”
7 I will tell of the decree. Yahweh said to me, “You are my son. Today I have become your father.
8 Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

Once again the reference to Mount Zion.
If the kingdom were only heavenly,
why is there then talk of a ‘possession’ of the ends of the earth?

Psalm 47:2, 6-8
2 For Yahweh Most High is awesome. He is a great King over all the earth.
6 Sing praises to God! Sing praises! Sing praises to our King! Sing praises!
7 For God is the King of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding.
8 God reigns over the nations. God sits on his holy throne.

(Perhaps this psalm has a multi-layered prophecy, present and future).

Psalm 132:13-14, 17-18
13 For Yahweh has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his habitation.
14 “This is my resting place forever. Here I will live, for I have desired it.
17 There I will make the horn of David to bud. I have ordained a lamp for my anointed.
18 I will clothe his enemies with shame, but on himself his crown will shine.”

Daniel 2:34-35, 44
34 You watched until a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
35 Then the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, were broken in pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away, so that no place was found for them. The stone that struck the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
44 In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, nor will its sovereignty be left to another people. It will break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it will stand forever.

Zechariah 14:9-10
9 Yahweh will be King over all the earth. In that day Yahweh will be one, and his name one.
10 All the land will be made like the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she will be lifted up, and will dwell in her place, from Benjamin’s gate to the place of the first gate, to the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses.

Here too it is stated plainly:
Yahweh will be King over all the earth.
Note: ‘will be’ is in the future tense here too.
It does not get any clearer than this.

Note how specifically earthly locations are spoken of here, not heavenly locations.

Zechariah 9:9-10
9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem. The battle bow will be cut off; and he will speak peace to the nations. His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

Your king comes to you! (Zion and Jerusalem), so not at or shortly after the ascension, to heaven, but at His return! To the earth!

From sea to sea, that sounds more like an earthly kingdom than a heavenly kingdom.
And ‘the River’ is spoken of; in the Bible this means the Euphrates. That is a river on earth and not in heaven.
See also Genesis 15:18.

Look also at the LITERAL prophecy of ‘riding on a donkey’.
Just as Bethlehem Ephrathah was LITERALLY foretold and fulfilled.
Just as the three days in the grave were LITERALLY fulfilled (the sign of Jonah).
Just as the cross / the cursed tree was LITERALLY fulfilled.
Just as the resurrection was LITERALLY fulfilled, not figuratively (as some say).
Why then should we suddenly take the six-times-emphasized thousand years ‘spiritually’?
And the hailstones of Revelation 16, a talent in weight, we do take literally again, or is that talent’s weight then also spiritual?

Jeremiah 33:14-17
14 “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah.
15 In those days, and at that time, I will cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up to David. He will execute justice and righteousness in the land. (Some translations, such as the NKJV: ‘in the earth’)
16 In those days, Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell safely. This is the name by which she will be called: Yahweh our righteousness.’
17 For Yahweh says: ‘David will never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel,”

Luke 1:32-33
32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.

Revelation 3:21
21 He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father on his throne.

Revelation 5:10
10 and made us kings and priests to our God; and we will reign on the earth.

Reigning on the earth (so not in heaven).

Revelation 11:15
15 The seventh angel sounded, and great voices followed in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ. He will reign forever and ever!”

Note: ‘kingdom of the world’

Revelation 11:16-17
16 The twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God’s throne, fell on their faces and worshiped God,
17 saying, “We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who was, because you have taken your great power, and reigned.”

Revelation 12:5
5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. Her child was caught up to God, and to his throne.

‘Rule’ (literally: ‘shepherd’) the nations, or, as already said before: all peoples, all the nations.
‘All’ means believers and unbelievers alike.
(He also shepherds them, not for nothing, with a rod of iron, but more about that later.)

Revelation 19:15-16
15 Out of his mouth proceeds a sharp, double-edged sword, that with it he should strike the nations. He will rule them with a rod of iron. He treads the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty.
16 He has on his garment and on his thigh a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Revelation 22:5
5 There will be no night, and they need no lamp light, for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever.

Daniel 7:13-14
13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him.
14 There was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his kingdom that which will not be destroyed.”

Daniel 7:18
18 But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.

Daniel 7:22
22 until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

Daniel 7:27
27 The kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole sky, will be given to the people of the saints of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions will serve and obey him.

9 Characteristics of the kingdom

Isaiah 32:1
1 Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice.

Psalm 2:8-9
8 Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

Revelation 2:26-28
26 He who overcomes, and he who keeps my works to the end, to him I will give authority over the nations.
27 He will rule them with a rod of iron, as clay pots are broken to pieces, as I also have received of my Father.
28 I will give him the morning star.

Revelation 12:5
5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. Her child was caught up to God, and to his throne.

During the thousand-year Kingdom of Peace, Christ rules with a firm hand.

There will therefore be righteousness on the earth!
Righteousness will be enforced.

Zechariah 14:16-18
16 It shall happen that everyone who is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, Yahweh of Armies, and to keep the feast of booths.
17 It shall be that whoever of all the families of the earth don’t go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Yahweh of Armies, on them there will be no rain.
18 If the family of Egypt doesn’t go up, and doesn’t come, neither will it rain on them. This will be the plague with which Yahweh will strike the nations who don’t go up to keep the feast of booths.

Isaiah 2:2-4
2 It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of Yahweh’s house will be established on the top of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all nations will flow to it.
3 Many peoples will go and say, “Come, let’s go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For out of Zion will go forth the law, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.
4 He will judge between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples.

All the nations will also be obliged to visit Christ in Jerusalem and to honor Him.
‘Every knee will bow’.

And when was it that all the nations went up to Jerusalem? That still has to happen, in my opinion.

Zechariah 8:20-22
20 “Yahweh of Armies says: ‘It will yet come to pass that peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities will come.
21 The inhabitants of one will go to another, saying, “Let us go speedily to entreat the favor of Yahweh, and to seek Yahweh of Armies. I will go also.”
22 Yes, many peoples and strong nations will come to seek Yahweh of Armies in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of Yahweh.’”

Isaiah 60:12
12 For that nation and kingdom that will not serve you will perish. Yes, those nations shall be utterly wasted.

Isaiah 9:7
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on David’s throne, and on his kingdom…

Christ will rule with a rod of iron,
but because Christ rules, there will also be peace on the earth!

In Isaiah 9 verse 6 Christ is called ‘Prince of Peace’. In verse 7 we read:

The beating of swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks: when was that? In my opinion that is also future!
That is not NOW between the ascension and the second coming. That is future.

Micah 4:1-3
1 But in the latter days, it shall happen that the mountain of Yahweh’s temple will be established on the top of the mountains, and it will be raised up above the hills; and peoples will stream to it.
2 Many nations will go and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” For out of Zion will go forth the law, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.
3 He will judge between many peoples, and will decide concerning strong nations afar off.
They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war any more.

In Micah 4, verses 1 to 3, we read almost exactly the same as in Isaiah 2
(a repetition/emphasis).

Psalm 46:8-9
8 Come, see Yahweh’s works, what desolations he has made in the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots in the fire.

Zechariah 9:10
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem. The battle bow will be cut off; and he will speak peace to the nations.

Hosea 2:18
18 In that day I will make a covenant for them with the animals of the field, and with the birds of the sky, and with the creeping things of the ground. I will break the bow, the sword, and the battle out of the land, and will make them lie down safely.

He makes wars cease… Look around us!

Also note the beginning of this verse: Christ will also make peace in the animal kingdom. He will restore His creation, as it was in paradise.

Isaiah 11:6-9
6 The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat; the calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together; and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow and the bear will graze. Their young ones will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child will play near a cobra’s hole, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.
9 They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea.

Isaiah 65:25
25 “The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,” says Yahweh.

Of this we also read in Isaiah 11 and Isaiah 65:
I read this text literally.
Just as literally as
the LITERAL prophecy of ‘riding on a donkey’.
Just as literally as the prophecy about Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Just as literally as the three days in the grave (the sign of Jonah)
Just as literally as the cross / the cursed tree.
Just as literally as the resurrection was foretold and fulfilled!

Isaiah 35:1-10
1 The wilderness and the dry land will be glad. The desert will rejoice, and blossom like the rose.
2 It will blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They will see Yahweh’s glory, the excellence of our God.
3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make the feeble knees firm.
4 Tell those who have a fearful heart, “Be strong! Don’t be afraid! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, God’s retribution. He will come and save you.”
5 Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.
6 Then the lame man will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing; for waters will break out in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water. In the habitation of jackals, where they lay, will be grass with reeds and rushes.
8 A highway will be there, and a way, and it will be called The Holy Way. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it will be for those who walk in the Way. Wicked fools will not go there.
9 No lion will be there, nor will any ravenous animal go up on it. They will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there.
10 The ransomed of Yahweh will return, and come with singing to Zion; and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Of the restoration of creation we also read in Isaiah 35.

Isaiah 41:18-20
18 I will open rivers on the bare heights, and springs in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia tree, and the myrtle, and the olive tree. I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane tree, and the box tree together;
20 that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of Yahweh has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it.

Jeremiah 33:9-11
9 This city will be to me for a name of joy, for praise, and for honor, before all the nations of the earth, which will hear all the good that I do to them, and will fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I provide for it.”
10 “Yahweh says: ‘Yet again there shall be heard in this place, of which you say, “It is a waste, without man and without animal,” even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without animal,
11 the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, “Give thanks to Yahweh of Armies, for Yahweh is good, for his loving kindness endures forever;” and of those who bring sacrifices of thanksgiving into Yahweh’s house. For I will cause the captivity of the land to return as at the first,’ says Yahweh.”

Isaiah 65:17-24
17 “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18 But be you glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem to be a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and the voice of weeping and the voice of crying will be heard in her no more.
20 “There will be no more an infant who lives only a few days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child will die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old will be accursed.
21 They will build houses, and inhabit them. They will plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
22 They will not build, and another inhabit. They will not plant, and another eat; for as the days of a tree will be the days of my people, and my chosen will long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain, nor bring forth for calamity; for they are the offspring of those blessed by Yahweh, and their descendants with them.
24 It will happen that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”

Note:
in this kingdom of Christ it is not yet the eternal state.
After all, the child will die one hundred years old.
So people still die, if they are struck by ‘the curse’ because of their disobedience.
Children are also still born, and there is talk of descendants.
So that is not in the heavenly/eternal state.
But that is therefore before the second resurrection (see verses 6 and 12) in the kingdom of Christ.

Hosea 1:10-11
10 “Yet the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea, which can’t be measured or numbered; and it will come to pass that, in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said to them, ‘You are the children of the living God.’
11 The children of Judah and the children of Israel will be gathered together, and they will appoint themselves one head, and will go up from the land; for great will be the day of Jezreel.

Hosea 3:4-5
4 For the children of Israel will live many days without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without sacred stone, and without ephod or idols.
5 Afterward the children of Israel will return, and seek Yahweh their God, and David their king; and will come in fear to Yahweh and to his goodness in the latter days.

In addition to all the texts mentioned, there are many more texts that refer to the coming Kingdom of Peace of Christ.
I would like to close with the following two texts:

Note: here it says ‘many days’. Why would the author of the Bible – of whom we believe that this is the Holy Spirit – mention many days here and in Revelation 20 a thousand years, while according to some, those thousand years too should be seen as ‘many days’? If the Holy Spirit means the same thing, why would He not write down the same thing as here? Personally I think that He has a purpose in this.

Another point of attention: to this very day the Israelites live without king, without prince and without sacrifice. And how many Israelites have already been converted? So that is not already NOW. But in the latter days.

Matthew 25:34
34 Then the King will tell those on his right hand, “Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

I hope that with this I have shown why I think that Revelation 20 speaks about a future, thousand-year, physical kingdom on earth.

A wonderful, beautiful promise that has been given to us, which we may look forward to with great longing. Are you in? Will you be there?

The Thousand-Year Kingdom of Peace

Contact: info@thepeacekingdom.com