Sunday
August 22
1. THE FIRST RESURRECTION
a. What event takes place to open the millennium at the second coming of Christ? Luke 14:14.
b. Who are those that lie in the graves and that, hearing the voice of the Son of man, shall take part in the first resurrection (the resurrection of life)? 1 Thessalonians 4:14, 16; Revelation 20:6. What misleading doctrine on this topic is taught by the popular churches?
“[2 Peter 3:3, 4 quoted.] Do we not hear these very words repeated, not merely by the openly ungodly, but by many who occupy the pulpits of our land? ‘There is no cause for alarm,’ they cry. ‘Before Christ shall come, all the world is to be converted, and righteousness is to reign for a thousand years. Peace, peace! all things continue as they were from the beginning. Let none be disturbed by the exciting message of these alarmists.’ But this doctrine of the millennium does not harmonize with the teachings of Christ and His apostles.”—Patriarch and Prophets, p. 103.
Monday
August 23
2. DESTRUCTION
a. At the coming of Christ, what will happen to the finally impenitent? Isaiah 66:15–17; 2 Thessalonians 1:7–9.
“At the coming of Christ the wicked are blotted from the face of the whole earth—consumed with the spirit of His mouth and destroyed by the brightness of His glory. Christ takes His people to the City of God, and the earth is emptied of its inhabitants.”—The Great Controversy, p. 657.
b. What is the condition of the earth after the saints have departed? Isaiah 24:1, 3 (first part).
“The whole earth appears like a desolate wilderness. The ruins of cities and villages destroyed by the earthquake, uprooted trees, ragged rocks thrown out by the sea or torn out of the earth itself, are scattered over its surface, while vast caverns mark the spot where the mountains have been rent from their foundations. . . .
“The revelator foretells the banishment of Satan and the condition of chaos and desolation to which the earth is to be reduced, and he declares that this condition will exist for a thousand years. After presenting the scenes of the Lord’s second coming and the destruction of the wicked, the prophecy continues: ‘I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season’ (Revelation 20:1–3).
“That the expression ‘bottomless pit’ represents the earth in a state of confusion and darkness is evident from other scriptures. Concerning the condition of the earth ‘in the beginning,’ the Bible record says that it ‘was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep’ (Genesis 1:2) [The Hebrew word here translated ‘deep’ is rendered in the Septuagint (Greek) translation of the Hebrew Old Testament by the same word rendered ‘bottomless pit’ in Revelation 20:1–3.] Prophecy teaches that it will be brought back, partially at least, to this condition.”—Ibid., pp. 657–659.
Tuesday
August 24
3. THE BOTTOMLESS PIT
a. How does the prophet Jeremiah describe the condition of the earth (the “bottomless pit” of Revelation 20:3) during the millennium? Jeremiah 4:23–27.
“Here is to be the home of Satan with his evil angels for a thousand years. Limited to the earth, he will not have access to other worlds to tempt and annoy those who have never fallen. It is in this sense that he is bound: there are none remaining, upon whom he can exercise his power. He is wholly cut off from the work of deception and ruin which for so many centuries has been his sole delight.”—The Great Controversy, p. 659.
“Even the wicked are now placed beyond the power of Satan, and alone with his evil angels he remains to realize the effect of the curse which sin has brought.”—Ibid., p. 660.
b. What is the cause for such utter destruction that is coming upon the face of the entire earth? Isaiah 13:9, 11, 13; 24:5, 6.
“For six thousand years, Satan’s work of rebellion has ‘made the earth to tremble.’ He had ‘made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof.’ And he ‘opened not the house of his prisoners’ (Isaiah 14:16, 17). For six thousand years his prison house has received God’s people, and he would have held them captive forever; but Christ had broken his bonds and set the prisoners free.”—Ibid., p. 659.
c. Who are the “few men” that will escape the coming destruction? Matthew 25:34–40; Philippians 3:20, 21.
“What rejoicing there will be as these redeemed ones meet and greet those who have had a burden in their behalf! And those who have lived, not to please themselves, but to be a blessing to the unfortunate who have so few blessings—how their hearts will thrill with satisfaction!”—My Life Today, p. 353.
Wednesday
August 25
4. SATAN BOUND
a. How does the Bible state, in symbolic terms, the restriction to be put on Satan at the beginning of the millennium? Revelation 20:1, 2.
“When the work of atonement in the heavenly sanctuary has been completed, then in the presence of God and heavenly angels and the hosts of the redeemed the sins of God’s people will be placed upon Satan; he will be declared guilty of all the evil which he has caused them to commit. And as the scapegoat was sent away into a land not inhabited, so Satan will be banished to the desolate earth, an uninhabited and dreary wilderness.
“The revelator foretells the banishment of Satan and the condition of chaos and desolation to which the earth is to be reduced, and he declares that this condition will exist for a thousand years.”—The Great Controversy, p. 658.
“Limited alone to the earth, [Satan] will not have the privilege of ranging to other planets, to tempt and annoy those who have not fallen.”—Early Writings, p. 290.
b. What will Satan be prevented from doing while confined by a chain of circumstances in his prison house, this earth? Revelation 20:3.
“For a thousand years, Satan will wander to and fro in the desolate earth to behold the results of his rebellion against the law of God. During this time his sufferings are intense. Since his fall his life of unceasing activity has banished reflection; but he is now deprived of his power and left to contemplate the part which he has acted since first he rebelled against the government of heaven, and to look forward with trembling and terror to the dreadful future when he must suffer for all the evil that he has done and be punished for the sins that he has caused to be committed.”—The Great Controversy, p. 660.
c. At the end of the millennium, what will Satan do when loosed immediately after the wicked are resurrected? Revelation 20:7, 8.
Thursday
August 26
5. THE JUDGMENT OF THE WICKED
a. What will be the main occupation of the saints during the thousand years in heaven? Revelation 20:4 (first part); Matthew 19:28; 1 Corinthians 6:2, 3.
“During the thousand years between the first and the second resurrection the judgment of the wicked takes place. . . . It is at this time that, as foretold by Paul, ‘the saints shall judge the world’ (1 Corinthians 6:2). In union with Christ they judge the wicked, comparing their acts with the statute book, the Bible, and deciding every case according to the deeds done in the body.”—The Great Controversy, pp. 660, 661.
b. Why do the wicked have to be judged? Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14; Romans 2:5, 6.
“The saints, in unison with Jesus, pass their judgment upon the wicked dead. ‘Behold ye,’ said the angel, ‘the saints, in unison with Jesus, sit in judgment, and mete out to the wicked according to the deeds done in the body, and that which they must receive at the execution of the judgment is set off against their names.’”—Early Writings, pp. 52, 53.
c. Would extra time granted to the ungodly nations eventually lead them to repentence? Isaiah 26:10.
“[The self-righteous] have not served God here [on earth], therefore, they would not serve Him hereafter [in heaven].”—Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 271.
Friday
August 27
PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS
a. What event marks the beginning of the thousand years?
b. What happens to this earth right after Christ’s second coming?
c. Who will be the only ones to inhabit the earth during the millennium?
d. What is the chain that will bind Satan to the desolated planet?
e. What will be the duty of the saints for 1,000 years?