What will life on earth be like in the Millennium?

Scripture teaches that the Millennium is not symbolic but a literal one thousand year reign of Christ on the earth, a point made six times over in Revelation 20:2-7. Before this reign begins, the armies destroyed at Armageddon must be cleared away. Ezekiel 39 describes Israel burning the weapons of war for seven years and spending seven months burying the dead in the valley of Hamongog so that the land can be cleansed. Isaiah 24 shows that only a few people are left alive on the earth at this point, since the earth has been emptied and scattered by God's judgments regardless of anyone's former station in life, whether priest or servant, buyer or seller.

Once the Millennium begins, two distinct groups of people will be on the earth together: the sons of God who have already received their glorified, eternal bodies, and the Gentile survivors along with the Jewish remnant who lived through the tribulation and the wrath of God. Zechariah 3 and Micah 7 speak of Israel's iniquity being removed in one day, so that the Jewish remnant is purged and able to serve as keepers of the Temple and offer sacrifices before the Lord.

Christ will reign over the house of Jacob forever, His kingdom having no end, and He will sit on the throne of His father David. The saints who did not take the mark of the beast are raised in the first resurrection to be priests of God and of Christ, reigning with Him for the thousand years, and Revelation 5 says they are made kings and priests who will reign on the earth, not merely in heaven. Their reign includes judging: Matthew 25 shows the sheep and goat nations being separated and judged according to how they treated the King's brethren, and this judging role extends to those born during the Millennium, those raised in the second resurrection, and even the fallen angels.

Life under this reign is described in Psalm 72 as a time when the king judges the people with righteousness, saves the children of the needy, breaks the oppressor in pieces, and brings peace like rain upon the earth, with all nations serving him and bringing gifts. Yet this is still earthly life and not eternity, for the sun and moon still endure, and there is still a sea, unlike the new heaven and new earth of Revelation 21 where there is no more sea and no need of sun or moon. Death still reigns during the Millennium since people continue to die, but Isaiah 65:20 promises that lifespans will be greatly extended, so that a person who dies at a hundred years old is considered to have died young, accursed as a sinner, while the righteous flourish throughout the king's days.