Christ takes all the saints to heaven for 1000 years at the 2nd coming. -- "I will come again" John 14.
the 1000 years are literal -
But it is not where Christ reigns on Earth because Revelation 19 says all the wicked are killed when Christ comes again (second coming) - and John 14 says that when He comes again he takes the saints with Him - back to heaven.
Nothing left here but a desolate Earth - as the OT prophets predicted.
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DESOLATE Earth
Rev 20:4-5 shows the ”First Resurrection” Which is the resurrection of the saints the “dead in Christ” as Paul says in 1Thess 4 at our “Gathering together to Him” 2Thess 2:1-4 a the “Coming of the Lord” (Both 2Thess 2 and 1Thess 4 point that out).
Rev 19 says that the living wicked are destroyed by fire and by the sword that comes from Christ “at the coming of the Lord” – it says “The rest were killed by the sword” that comes from Christ. Vs 21
At that time Christ raptures the church (in the singular event He promised in John 14) and we are taken to heaven both the living AND the dead (raised at the First Resurrection).
So what about the earth? That leaves “no one” here – so does the Bible describe earth as left without humans, dead corpses from one end of earth to another?
No one left to bury the dead? Cities all destroyed? Really?
Millennium – a time without a single human remaining alive. Not a glorious place to live - but a place where birds feeding on rotting corpses of mankind. And yet it is temporary – only lasting for 1000 years.
This feast of the birds we see described again in Rev 19 where the lamb destroys certain of mankind
Ez 32:4-8
4 ""I will leave you on the land; I will cast you on the open field. And I will cause all the birds of the heavens to dwell on you, And I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth with you.
5 ""I will lay your flesh on the mountains And fill the valleys with your refuse.
6 ""I will also make the land drink the discharge of your blood As far as the mountains, And the ravines will be full of you.
7 ""And when I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud And the moon will not give its light.
8 ""All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you And will set darkness on your land,'' Declares the Lord GOD.
Jer 4:23
I looked on the earth, and behold, it was formless and void; And to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, And all the hills moved to and fro.
25 I looked, and behold, there was no man, And all the birds of the heavens had fled.
26 I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a wilderness, And all its cities were pulled down Before the LORD, before His fierce anger.
Jer 25:33
""Those slain by the LORD on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be lamented, gathered or buried; they will be like dung on the face of the ground.
Zeph 1:18
Neither their silver nor their gold Will be able to deliver them On the day of the LORD'S wrath; And all the earth will be devoured In the fire of His jealousy, For He will make a complete end, Indeed a terrifying one, Of all the inhabitants of the earth.
Isaiah 24
1 Behold, the LORD lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface and scatters its inhabitants.
2 And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor.
3 The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled,
It is obviously a World Wide Calamity – World Wide catastrophe
Isaiah 24
17 Terror and pit and snare Confront you, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 Then it will be that he who flees the report of disaster will fall into the pit, And he who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the snare; For the windows above are opened, and the foundations of the earth shake.
19 The earth is broken asunder, The earth is split through, The earth is shaken violently.
20 The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard And it totters like a shack, For its transgression is heavy upon it, And it will fall, never to rise again.
1. Here are a few verses that disagree with your position.
"Rev 20:4
4
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands;
and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
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And pair it with these verses.
Why does it say only those
who are dead in Christ shall rise first?
1 Thess 4:16
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:
and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1 Cor 15:23
20 But now is Christ risen from the dead,
and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
23
But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
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Why does it say those who dead will rise first and those who are alive and remain in Christ at his second coming?
Luke 21
26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:
for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
27 And
then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,
then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
1 Cor 15:
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed.
1 Thess 4:15,17
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord,
that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
17
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
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Why does it say we who are alive and remain will not prevent those who are dead from rising?
1 Thess 4:15
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord,
that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
Why Does it say that Christ's second coming is only when he comes down with fire at the Last trump?
Revelation 20:
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city:
and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
2 Peter 3:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now,
by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which t
he heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
1 Cor 15:52
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,
at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed.
Matt 24:
29 I
mmediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 A
nd then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn,
and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31
And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and
they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
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And finally why is the dividing of the righteous and wicked happening only after his second coming when he has Sat upon the throne of His Glory?
Matt 25:31-46
31
When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations:
and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33
And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Revelation 20:
11
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God;
and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them:
and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Daniel 12:1-2
12 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time:
and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."
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2. The Lord's coming is after the 1000 years and the heavens and the earth are destroyed by fire.
Yahshua comes/destroys the Heavens, earth, and wicked with fire(
Matthew 24:29-31;
Micah 1:3-4;
Isaiah 66:15-17; 26:2; 2:19;
Zephaniah 1:2-3,18; 2:2; 3:8;
Haggai 2:6-7;
Malachi 4:1;
Joel 2:10-11,31;
Hosea 10:8; 2 Thess 1:7-9; 1 Thess 4:16;
2 Peter 3:10;
Revelation 6:12-17;
Revelation 20:9).
This is the time of the second resurrection. Both the righteous(that were not part of the first resurrection) and the wicked will be raised to be judged at this time.
Revelation 20:
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city:
and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life:
and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them:
and they were judged every man according to their works.
Daniel 12:
1And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation
even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered,
every one that shall be found written in the book.
2And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shameand everlasting contempt.
John 5:28-29
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming,
in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth;
they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
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3. The first resurrection is only for the righteous dead up until that point(Revelation 20:4-6).
The second resurrection is for everyone else at the Lord's coming.(Revelation 20:5,9-15)
