People are wondering what the future of our planet will be. There is a great deal of fear mixed with confusion in the world regarding the financial situation, environmental problems, social unrest, violence, and wars. The current global situation harbors the potential for a new crisis that could generate chaos and anarchy, ultimately leading to the establishment of a global dictatorial government.

We are witnessing with our own eyes how events are unfolding toward the time of great tribulation prophesied in the Bible: “For then there will be such great tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the world until now—nor ever will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no one would survive; but for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.” (Matthew 24:21–22)

This crisis will end with the return of Jesus the Messiah. This event will not mark the end of the world, but the end of the kingdom of men and the beginning of a new era in which God will reign.

When the Lord Jesus returns, He will take control of the world and rule directly from the restored temple in Jerusalem (Revelation 20, Isaiah 2:1–4, Ezekiel 40–48). The devil, who is responsible for all the sin and misery of this age, will be cast into the abyss, from where he will no longer be able to deceive the nations (Revelation 20:1–3).

According to Revelation, this reign of the Messiah on earth will last 1,000 years, and the saints will be resurrected and reign with Christ for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4–6).

The prophet Isaiah speaks of a time of peace and righteousness on earth, when the Messiah will have absolute control: “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest mountain; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. The nations will flock to it and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.’ For the law will go out from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will be the Judge of the nations; He will settle disputes for many peoples; so that they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:1–4).

According to the Book of Revelation and the Jewish prophets, the present age will end with a time of great tribulation on earth and the final battle in Israel (Armageddon). Then Jesus will return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, with all the power of God at His disposal. He will save Israel and the world from destruction and establish His messianic kingdom on earth.

He promised that He would come a second time in an event that will demonstrate God’s supernatural power and bring about a complete transformation on earth. In the Book of Acts, the angel tells the disciples: “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Jesus ascended on the “clouds of heaven,” so He will return on the clouds of heaven (Daniel 7:13).

He ascended from the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, so He will return to the Mount of Olives as well (Zechariah 14:3–4). He will come as King; the government will rest upon His shoulder, and He will reign as the mighty God on the throne of David (Isaiah 9:6–7).

At His first coming, Jesus willingly submitted to the unjust judgment of wicked men who condemned Him to death by crucifixion, so that He might take upon Himself the sin of the world. Through His death and resurrection, the Messiah made it possible for sinners to be saved and redeemed for God. But at His second coming, the wicked will have to face His judgment:The kings of the earth, the rulers, the commanders of the armies, the rich and the powerful—all slaves and all free people—hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of His wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:15–16).

In the final battle, he will fight against the armies gathered by the beast (the Antichrist) and the false prophet and will defeat them, casting the beast and the false prophet directly into hell (Revelation 19:19–21). The survivors of the Tribulation will be gathered before Him for judgment. The wicked will be cast out of the earth into the place of punishment, and the righteous will enter the Kingdom (Matthew 25:31–46). The devil will be bound “for a thousand years, cast into the Abyss, imprisoned there, and the entrance above him sealed, so that he may no longer deceive the nations until the thousand years are fulfilled.”(Revelation 20:3–4)

When Jesus returns, the saints will be with Him: “Then the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with Him!” (Zechariah 14:5), And in the Epistle of Jude we read: “Behold, the Lord has come with tens of thousands of His saints, to execute judgment against all” (Jude 14).

In Revelation, the Lord Jesus is presented as Lord of Lords and King of Kings: The armies of heaven followed Him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure (Revelation 19:14)

Therefore, those who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus in the present age will return with the Lord in glorified bodies and will reign with Him on the renewed earth during the thousand-year period. The people who will take part in this glorious event are those who were previously taken to be with the Lord at the rapture of the Church:

For the Lord Himself, with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17). They will have new and eternal bodies (1 Corinthians 15:53–54), impervious to death or decay.

Jesus will also raise those who were martyred for their faith during the Great Tribulation: “And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God, and of those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or on their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years…. They will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with Him for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:4–6).

This means that those who came to believe in Jesus during the tribulation, after the rapture of the Church, will also be raised to life and will reign with Jesus in the Messianic kingdom.

After the Messiah’s return and the judgment of the wicked, the Lord will reign over the earth, bringing a time of universal peace and prosperity. The Bible tells us that the nations will come up to hear the word of the Lord in Zion at the Lord’s temple, rebuilt on Mount Zion, which will rise above the other hills surrounding Jerusalem. This will be the place from which the Messiah will rule the world.

Israel and the other nations will seek the Lord and walk in His ways. This represents a complete reversal of the world’s current state, in which the overwhelming majority of people mock and reject God’s word and walk in their own ways that lead to destruction. There will also be a complete change in the way people relate to one another. Instead of war and hostility, there will be a peaceful understanding among all nations.

The prophet Isaiah tells us that one day the production of all military weapons will come to an end. All of this will happen because the word of the Lord will be spoken from Zion (Isaiah 2:4).

The Lord Himself will be there to judge among the nations and settle their disputes. He will rule the peoples with a “rod of iron,” and people will no longer be able to manufacture weapons of war, use drugs, indulge in pornography, or engage in anything else that is evil in the Lord’s eyes. (Psalm 2:9, Isaiah 11:4, and Revelation 19:15). It will be a benevolent rule, dedicated to the well-being and provision of all the peoples of the earth.

The redeemed of Israel will be gathered once more to the land of Israel, where they will dwell in safety.

He will raise a banner for the nations, gather the exiles of Israel, and assemble the scattered ones of Judah from the four corners of the earth (Isaiah 11:12).

The Lord will bring changes to the natural world, so that even the desert will bloom (Isaiah 35) and the waters of the Dead Sea will be healed and become fresh, teeming with fish (Ezekiel 47). Even the animal kingdom will change, for the wolf will lie down with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid; the calf, the lion cub, and the fattened cattle will be together, and a little child will lead them;" (Isaiah 11:6). There will be food in abundance for all: everyone will dwell under his own vine and fig tree, and no one will disturb him. For the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken. (Micah 4:4) He will bring justice to the oppressed of the people, rescue the children of the poor, and crush the oppressor… It will be like rain falling on mown ground, like a sudden shower that waters the plain… It will be like rain falling on mown ground, like a sudden shower that waters the plain. (Psalm 72).

All these miraculous changes can take place only through the power of God. We long for this kingdom of God and pray for it. May God bring His kingdom to earth more quickly, and may we also be accepted into it. Amen!