1. Over whom will God's saints sit in judgment during the millennium?
"Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know you not that we shall judge angels?" (1 Corinthians 6:2-3) "For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the meek with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand; To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written; this honor have all His saints." (Psalm 149:4-9)
To the Son, God says: "Ask of me, and I shall give you the heathen for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." (Psalm 2:8-9)
And Christ in turn says to His people: "He that overcomes and keeps my words unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations; And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers; even as I received of my Father." (Revelation 2:26-27)
The earth was given to man in the beginning, as his dominion; and "whatsoever God does, it shall be for ever;" (Ecclesiastes 3:14) He never takes back a gift. But the earth was given to man in his perfect state, and when Adam sinned, he lost his crown of glory, and his dominion. Only righteousness can really rule. So Christ, the Just One, has won the kingdom back, and the earth is now the rightful inheritance of the saints: "Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5)
When Christ comes in His kingdom, sitting on the throne of His glory, He will say to the righteous: "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." (Matthew 25:34)
The kingdom prepared for God's people from the foundation of the earth, was the perfect, new earth; but now it is marred by the curse, and overrun with weeds and thorns; and the chief of these cumberers of the ground are the rebellious ones who will not have Christ to reign over them.
Therefore when the earth is given over to the saints, they have, with Christ, the work of clearing it from its defilement and fitting it for habitation by a perfect people. This is properly the work of man; for since the earth was given to man as his kingdom, it is but proper that he should pass judgment upon offenders. So Christ says: "As the Father has life in himself, so has He given to the Son to have life in himself; And has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of man." (John 5:26-27)
As for the righteous themselves, they do not come into Judgment at all, since Christ has appeared in the presence of God for them. He says: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on Him that sent me, has eternal life, and comes not into Judgment, but has passed out of death into life." (John 5:24)
The mere fact that they are counted worthy of the first resurrection, or of being changed to immortality if alive, at the coming of Christ, shows that Judgment is passed for them. So the coming of Christ to Judgment concerns only the wicked, and it is upon them that the saints will sit in Judgment during the thousand years.
2. Will the persons reigned over and judged during the millennium be dead or alive?
Let the Scriptures answer this also. "Then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth, and destroy with the brightness of His coming." (2 Thessalonians 2:8) "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before Him." (Psalm 50:4) "A fire goes before Him, and burns up His enemies round about." (Psalm 97:2) "Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled; ... For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form, and void (Compare Genesis 1:2); and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains; and lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld and in, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down in the presence of the Lord, and by His fierce anger. For thus has the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it." (Jeremiah 4:20,22-28)
This presents the earth as it was in the beginning, before any living thing was created-"the deep," an abyss, the bottomless pit, into which Satan is to be cast and shut up for a thousand years; for the Greek word rendered "bottomless pit" in Revelation 20:1, 3, is the same that appears in Genesis 1:2, in the Greek Version, the Septuagint. The wicked will be all dead during that thousand years; for: "Thus says the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground." (Jeremiah 25:32-33) "Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, that he that flees from the noise of the fear, shall fall into the pit; and he that comes up out of the midst of the pit, shall be taken in the snare; for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall real to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall and not rise again. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high (compare Ephesians 6:12), and the kings of the earth that are upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit; and after many days shall they be visited." (Isaiah 24:17-22)
"They shall be visited" at the close of the one thousand years; for then the second resurrection will take place,--the resurrection to the announcement and execution of Judgment. This resurrection will be necessary, in order that all who have ever lived upon the earth may be together at one time, when all the thoughts and actions of men, and all of God's dealings with them, will be set forth, so that everyone may confess that God is just, and on bended knees swear that all His ways have been right.
3. Where will these judges be enthroned, and where willthe judged persons exist during the millennium?
The texts already cited show that the judged persons--the wicked--will have no existence during the millennium. Only Satan and his angels will inhabit the desolate earth during that time. Satan can then see to what he would have brought heaven itself, if he had been allowed to stay there. Then he will realize that his kingdom is a prison-house of death, and that his freedom is bondage. The picture of that time is presented to us in advance, in order that we may see the inevitable result of Satan's rule, and throw off his yoke in time.
As to the judges, who live and reign with Christ a thousand years, they will be in heaven. There is where the New Jerusalem, the capital of the new earth is, so that they will actually have taken possession of their inheritance. The thousand years of Judgment will be the preliminary work of clearing their land of its encumbrances, and fitting it for habitation.
4. What will become of the earth on which we live, during the millennium?
This has already been answered. It will be desolate, "without form, and void." (Jeremiah 4:23) It will be the bottomless pit, or the abyss, "the deep," (Genesis 1:2) as in the beginning. It will be awaiting the final act in the new creation.
5. Will the new earth (Revelation 21:1) be the present earth simply purified by the fires of judgment, as it was by the water at the deluge, or will the new heaven and the new earth be as new a creation as recorded in Genesis 1:1? "He that sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all things new." (Revelation 21:5) "And there shall be no more curse." (Revelation 22:3)
It was not so at the deluge. There was no purification of the earth--only the destruction of the wicked; the curse was more marked after the flood than it was before. But the fires of the last Judgment will make the earth absolutely pure, so that it will be a new creation, just as in the beginning. It will be "the first dominion" (Micah 4:8) restored. "We, according to His promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness." (2 Peter 3:13)
6. "We shall reign on the earth." Revelation 5:10. How long? and when will that reign begin?"
"And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people." (Daniel 2:44) "The saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. ... The kingdom, and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him." (Daniel 7:18,27)
Christ makes His people kings and priests. All who are loosed from their sins in His blood are that now, the extent of their empire being their own bodies. God will not have in His universe, when restored to His sway, any lower rank than kings. All will be kings, and all will reign for ever and ever. The reign with Christ over the earth will begin at His coming; the first thousand years will be passed in heaven, in the New Jerusalem, and then the city will come down on the earth, where they will continue their reign to all eternity.
This is as far as we can carry this conversation this week. Next week, God willing, we will resume it, and answer the remaining questions before us on this subject. But we must not dismiss the subject, even for a week, without seeing the practical lesson for us in all this. It is suggested in these words: "He shall not fail, nor be discouraged until He have set judgment in the earth." (Isaiah 13:4)
Also see 1 Corinthians 6:2-3, already quoted. Sin is blindness and ignorance; it deceives the mind, and perverts and destroys the judgment. Christ's work is to restore that which was lost, and to establish judgment in the earth.
The only change that will take place in God's people at the coming of Christ, will be the changing of their bodies from mortal to immortal; their minds and characters will undergo no sudden change, but will go on developing and expanding day by day throughout eternity. Therefore we see that even in this life, and in these mortal bodies of ours, Christ will by His gracious Spirit develop such judgment as will be sufficient to decide upon everything that has occurred since the foundation of the world. God says, "My servant shall deal prudently," (Prudently: in a wise, judicious, discreet, or careful manner) (Isaiah 52:13) and now is the time. What a glorious prospect! It is necessary for us to know what God designs for us, in order that we may plan for it, and yield ourselves to His working. But if such marvelous attainments in judgment are to be ours in only a little while, is it not time for us to cease all petty debate and strife, and the contemplation of everything that tends to degrade the mind?--Present Truth, October 10, 1901.