Who Will Occupy the Millennial Kingdom?

The Millennial Kingdom is the future kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ when he returns to earth. Jesus will sit on David’s throne in Jerusalem. Everyone who enters this kingdom will be redeemed by God and righteous according to the Word of God. In a recent post we covered the topic of “Who will be judged at his second coming”? We know there are four groups of people: the Old Testament saints, the tribulations saints, the people living from the nation of Israel and the people living from gentile nations.  

The people who will occupy the Millennial Kingdom will have glorified bodies. The first group of people are the people who will have died in Christ and are risen when the last trumpet sounds. So anyone who died believing in Christ will be in this group. This will include the people who died during the great tribulation, as well, as the Old Testament saints. Since they died, they will resurrect first. 

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 Thessalonians 4:16 KJV

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. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 KJV 

According to the scriptures the last trumpet sounds before the third woe in Revelation 11:15. The third woe is the earthquake and great hail that falls on the city. All of Israel will believe so they will also be raptured to meet the Lord in the air when the last trumpet blows.

When the Lord returns he will set up his kingdom along with it’s leaders through the rewards and judgments that are given. He will separate the “sheep” who are the righteous, from the “goats” who are the unrighteous. Jesus will cast the unrighteous in to outer darkness to await the final judgment from the Father at His White Throne.

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. Matthew 25:32-33 KJV

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: Matthew 25:34 KJV

Since the Lord has judged the sheep and the goats there remains one question. Are there any other people who will be in the kingdom? People have said there are people who will have natural bodies. If the Lord separated the sheep from the goats, the righteous and the unrighteous, I do not believe there will be any people without glorified bodies. 

There will, however, be all the children who were killed, aborted or miscarried  throughout  the centuries that will resurrect. This also includes the people with deficiencies (mental or physical) in their bodies. If we are created as eternal beings this would include babies that were never born or died at birth. They do not simply disappear or cease to exist. They still have a soul that needs to be saved. They would be part of the people who resurrect upon the Lord’s return. 

I am sure many people have not thought of these poor little souls that died. Now will be their chance to live their life and exercise their faith. They will be the ones who are taught to plant, to build, to enjoy the life on earth. Even though people have glorified bodies this does not mean they do not have free will. Adam and Eve lived for many centuries. Their bodies were incorruptible until they disobeyed. At that point there was a separation between themselves and their life source. If you recall they were placed out of the Garden of Eden so they would not eat the fruit from the tree of life that would keep them in a fallen, corruptible state for eternity. 

And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, 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 shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Isaiah 2:3 KJV

These children of various ages will grow up and live under the reign of Jesus and his faithful leaders. Since there still is free will there will be some who do not obey going to Israel to worship the Lord in Jerusalem. This is why there are consequences to this disobedience listed in Zechariah.

And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. Zechariah 14:17 KJV

These millennial heathen, the ones who do not honor and worship the Lord, will experience no rain and the plague. 

At the end of the Millennial Reign, this is why we see Satan has been able to influence a large number of people to side with him and go against the Lord. Satan had to be loosed so he could expose those people who would rebel against Jesus. If you recall Jesus must rid the earth of his enemies for the Father to also live with us here on earth. Just as Adam and Eve were tempted, these innocent and naïve people in the millennial Kingdom will also be tempted.

Then cometh the end, when he [Jesus] shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. (25) For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. (26) The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 1 Corinthians 15:24-26 KJV

Satan will be loosed exactly to reveal God’s final enemies and eliminate them once and for all. Once these enemies are annihilated they will be resurrected to face judgment at the Father’s White Throne. Those are also known as “the dead”. From there, we know final judgment will be for them to be sent to the lake of fire. 

There are no scriptures that specifically state there will be people with a sin nature but we do see Jesus separated the unrighteous at the initial part of His Millennial Reign. What is coming into play is the innocence of the people who never experienced Satan’s schemes and devices. This is why we would see someone choose to betray the Lord after living under his blessings and goodness. This is “free will”. The Lord still wants you to choose to be with him for eternity. 

There will be a variety of people in the Kingdom. The resurrected saints from Old Testament and New, the descendants of Israel, the believers in Christ, the millions of babies who will be growing up in the Kingdom under the rule of King Jesus and His faithful followers, leading His government. Praise God!