Millennium
Bruce
R. McConkie
Just
as century means a period of 100 years so millennium means a period
of 1000 years. This earth, according to the divine plan, is passing
through a mortal or temporal existence of seven millenniums or 7000
years. (D. & C. 77:6-7.) During the first six of these (covering
a total period of 6000 years from the time of the fall of Adam)
conditions of carnality, corruption, evil, and wickedness of every
sort have prevailed upon the earth. Wars, death, destruction and
everything incident to the present telestial state of existence have
held sway over the earth and all life on its face.
When
the 7th thousand years commence, however, radical changes will take
place both in the earth itself and in the nature and type of
existence enjoyed by all forms of life on its face. This will be the
long hoped for age of peace when Christ will reign personally upon
the earth when the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal
glory; when corruption, death, and disease will cease; and when the
kingdom of God on earth will be fully established in all its glory,
beauty, and perfection. (Tenth Article Faith.) This is the period
known to the saints of all ages as the millennium. Important events
and conditions to precede, attend and follow the millennial era
include the following:
1.
COUNCIL AT ADAM-ONDI-AHMAN PRECEDES MILLENNIUM. — During the
first 6000 years of this earth's temporal continuance, the Lord is
administering the affairs of his earthly kingdom through agents,
stewards, prophets, and appointed servants to whom he gives the keys
and authority to direct such affairs. Adam is the Lord's chief agent
in governing the affairs of this earth. The heads of the gospel
dispensations and all of the prophets who have served in those
blessed eras have been and are subject to this first man of all men.
When
the time approaches for Christ to come and reign personally upon
earth for the millennial period, then Adam and all those subordinate
to him who have held keys and authority will meet in the Valley of
Adam-ondi-Ahman. There an accounting will be made of all
stewardships; Christ will come and receive back the keys; and there
will be "given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all
people, nations, and languages, should serve him." (Dan. 7:14.)
Following this all will be in readiness for our Lord to reign
personally upon the earth, and he will soon thereafter come to usher
in the great millennial era.
2.
SECOND COMING USHERS IN MILLENNIUM. — We are not living in the
millennium now; nor do millennial conditions now prevail upon the
earth; nor will they until Christ comes and the earth is renewed and
receives its paradisiacal glory. (Tenth Article of Faith.) Christ's
coming will mark the beginning of the millennium. The changes in men,
all forms of life, and the earth itself, which will be incident to
the new order of things, will take place in the day of that coming.
"In
mine own due time," saith the Lord, will I come upon the earth
in judgment, and my people shall be redeemed and shall reign with me
on earth. For the great Millennium, which I have spoken by the mouth
of my servants, shall come." (D. C. 43:29-30.) Again: "I
will reveal myself from heaven with power and great glory, with all
the hosts thereof, and dwell in righteousness with men on earth a
thousand years, and the wicked shall not stand." (D. & C.
29:11.)
3.
FIRST RESURRECTION USHERS IN MILLENNIUM. — Many persons have
already come forth from the grave in their resurrected and glorified
bodies. Righteous saints who lived from the day of Adam to the day of
Christ were with him in his resurrection. (Matt. 27:52-53; D. &
C. 133:54-55; Hela. 14:25.) To us, however, the first resurrection,
the resurrection of the just, will come with the return of our Lord
and the commencement of his millennial reign.
"Yea,
and blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, from henceforth, when
he Lord shall come, and old things shall pass away, and all things
become new, they shall rise from the dead and shall not die after and
shall receive an inheritance before the Lord, in the holy city."
(D. & C. 63:49.)
4.
RIGHTEOUSNESS WILL NOT HASTEN MILLENNIUM. — The time for the
beginning of the millennium is fixed. It has been definitely set and
is known to the Father. It cannot be advanced by the righteousness of
the saints nor the repentance of people in the world. Nor can it be
postponed either because of increasing wickedness or for any reason.
By definition the millennium is the 7th period of 1000 years duration
to which this earth is subject. It will commence when Christ comes,
and his coming is set by revelation to be in the beginning of the 7th
thousand years of this earth's temporal existence. (D. & C. 77:6,
12.)
As
a matter of fact, the Second Coming of Christ (and thus the ushering
in of the millennial era) will occur in a day of war and wickedness,
of carnality, corruption, and abomination such as the world has never
before seen. The cup of man's iniquity will be full, and the fury and
scourge of the Lord will then be poured out without measure upon all
nations. (Ezek. 38; 39; Joel 2; 3; Zech. 12; 13; 14; Mal. 3; 4; D. &
C. 29; 45; 64:23-25; 133.)
5.
DESTRUCTION OF WICKED AS MILLENNIUM COMMENCES. — Incident to
the commencement of the millennial era, the earth (the Lord's
vineyard) will be burned. Every corruptible thing will be consumed.
(D. & C. 101:24); all the proud and they that do wickedly shall
be burned as stubble (Mal. 4:1; D. & C. 29:9; 64:23-25;
133:63-64): the sinners will be destroyed (Isa. 13:9-14); and there
will be an entire separation of the righteous and the wicked. (D. &
C. 63:54.) Those only shall be able to abide that day who are worthy
to live on a paradisiacal or terrestrial sphere.
6.
DAY OF JUDGMENT COMMENCES MILLENNIAL ERA. — With the return of
our Lord in the clouds of heaven in all the glory of his Father's
kingdom, to usher in the millennial era of peace, will come the first
great formal day of judgment. At that day shall be gathered before
him all the nations of the living, and he shall separate the sheep
from the goats, rewarding the righteous with an inheritance in his
Father's kingdom and cursing the wicked with everlasting punishment.
(Matt. 25:31-46.) At that day the Twelve who were with the Lord in
Jerusalem shall be in glory, even as he, and shall judge the
righteous hosts of "the whole house of Israel." (D. &
C. 29:9-13.) And beginning at that day, the worthy saints, having
been resurrected with celestial bodies, shall live and reign on earth
a thousand years. (Rev. 20:4.)
7.
RENEWAL OF EARTH TO PARADISIACAL STATE. — With the ushering in
of the millennium, "the earth will be renewed and receive its
paradisiacal glory" (Tenth Article of Faith); that is, it will
return to the edenic, terrestrial state which existed when the Lord
God finished the creative enterprise and pronounced everything that
he had made, "very good." (Gen. 1:31.) In that primeval
day, thorns, thistles, briars, and noxious weeds had not yet made
their appearance (Gen. 3:18); there were no deserts and unfruitful
places, no barren and unproductive mountains, but the whole earth was
a delightful garden; all the earth's land surface was in one place,
the seas in another; and death had not entered the scene, but
immortality reigned in every department of creation. (2 Ne. 2:22.)
Then came the fall of Adam and with it the beginning of the present
telestial order of things. (Man: His Origin and Destiny, pp.
380-397.)
The
millennium is the age of renewal and regeneration when the Lord will
"create new heavens and a new earth." So sweeping will be
the changes, so radical the differences in the order of things, that
the former heavens and earth "shall not be remembered, nor come
into mind." (Isa. 65:17.) It will be a "day of
transfiguration," a day "when the earth shall be
transfigured" (D. & C. 63:20-21), a day when the continents
and islands shall again "become one land," when the
mountains and valleys will no longer be found (D. & C.
133:22-24), when all things will return to their state of
paradisiacal glory.
Our
revelations tell us that when the Lord comes, the "element shall
melt with fervent heat; and all things shall become new." (D. &
C. 101:25.) And Peter used this gospel truth as a basis for this
powerful exhortation:
"But the day of the Lord will come as a
thief in the night; in the which the 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. Seeing then
that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons
ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for
and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens
being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to the promise, look for new
heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore,
beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may
be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless." (2 Pet.
3:10-14.)
8.
MILLENNIAL BINDING OF SATAN. — When we speak of the binding of
Satan in connection with the millennium, we mean that he will be
bound during that era, that his powers will be limited after that day
commences, and not that men will turn to righteousness so as to tie
the hands of Satan, thereby bringing millennial conditions to pass.
The plan does not call for men to turn voluntarily to righteousness
thereby causing the thousand year era of peace to commence. Rather,
the millennium will be brought about by power; the wicked will be
destroyed; and those only will remain on earth who are sufficiently
righteous to abide the day of the Lord's coming (Mal. 3; 4), a day
when the elements shall melt with fervent heat and all things become
new.
However,
Satan shall be bound (D. & C. 43:31; 45:55; 84:100; 88:110-111;
Rev. 20:1-3, 7), and for a thousand years he "shall not have
power to tempt any man." (D. & C. 101:28.) Accordingly,
"children shall grow up without sin unto salvation" (D. &
C. 45:58), and righteousness and peace be everywhere present. It was
this concept that caused Nephi to write, speaking of the period after
the commencement of the millennium, that: "Because of the
righteousness of his people, Satan has no power; wherefore, he cannot
be loosed for the space of many years; for he hath no power over the
hearts of the people, for they dwell in righteousness, and the Holy
One of Israel reigneth." (1 Ne. 22:26.)
"And
when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his
prison" (Rev. 20:7), "that he may gather together his
armies. . . . And then cometh the battle of the great God; and the
devil and his armies shall be cast away into their own place, that
they shall not have power over the saints any more at all." (D.
& C. 88:110-114.)
9.
MILLENNIAL ATTAINMENT OF PEACE ON EARTH. — Not until the Prince
of Peace comes to reign personally on earth will there be peace, and
it will only come then because carnal, wicked, and lustful people
have been burned as stubble by the brightness of his coming. (Mal. 3;
4; D. & C. 29:9; 64:23-25; 133:63-64; Jos. Smith 2:37.) It will
only come because on the new earth the "enmity of man"
shall cease from before the Lord's face. (D. & C. 101:26.) Wars
come because of lust (Jas. 4:1-2), and will continue until lustful
men are swept from the earth.
When
Christ comes "he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke
many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and
their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." (Isa.
2:4; Micah 4:3; 2 Ne. 12:4.)
10.
MILLENNIAL CHANGES IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. — On the paradisiacal
earth "the enmity of beasts, yea, the enmity of all flesh, shall
cease." (D. & C. 101:26.) All animals shall mingle together
in peace, and the appetites of the carnivorous beast shall be changed
so that the grass of the field becomes the common diet of the animal
world. (Isa. 11:6-9; 65:25.)
11.
MORTALITY CONTINUES DURING MILLENNIUM. — Great and marvelous
though the changes will be incident to life during the millennial
era, yet mortality as such will continue. Children will be born, grow
up, marry, advance to old age, and pass through the equivalent of
death. Crops will be planted, harvested, and eaten; industries will
be expanded, cities built, and education fostered; men will continue
to care for their own needs, handle their own affairs, and enjoy the
full endowment of free agency. Speaking a pure language (Zeph. 3:9),
dwelling in peace, living without disease, and progressing as the
Holy Spirit will guide, the advancement and perfection of society
during the millennium will exceed anything men have supposed or
expected.
"And
he that liveth when the Lord shall come, and hath kept the faith,
blessed is he; nevertheless, it is appointed to him to die at the age
of man. Wherefore, children shall grow up until they become old; old
men shall die; but they shall not sleep in the dust, but they shall
be changed in the twinkling of an eye." (D. & C. 63:50-51.)
"For
they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the
Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived —
verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the
fire, but shall abide the day. And the earth shall be given unto them
for an inheritance; and they shall multiply and wax strong, and their
children shall grow up without sin unto salvation." (D. & C.
45:57-58.)
"Be
ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I
create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will
rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping
shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. . . .
"And
they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant
vineyards and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and
another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the
days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long
enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor
bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the
Lord, and their offspring with them." (Isa. 65:18-23.)
"But
they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and
none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath
spoken it." (Micah 4:4.)
12.
DEATH, SORROW, DISEASE CEASE DURING MILLENNIUM. — Physical
bodies of those living on earth during the millennium will not be
subject to the same ills that attend us in our present sphere of
existence. Men in that day will still be mortal; children will be
born to them; spirits coming into the physical or natural bodies born
in that day will then go through their mortal probation as we are now
going through ours. Those born during the millennium will not be
immortal, that is, their bodies and spirits will not be inseparably
connected as is the case with resurrected beings. But their bodies
will be changed from conditions as they now exist so that disease
cannot attack them, and death as we know it cannot intervene to cause
a separation of body and spirit.
"There
shall be no more thence," the Lord said to Isaiah, "an
infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the
child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred
years old shall be accursed." (Isa. 65:20.)
In
our day the Lord has revealed: "And there shall be no sorrow
because there is no death. In that day an infant shall not die until
he is old; and his life shall be as the age of a tree; And when he
dies he shall not sleep, that is to say in the earth, but shall be
changed in the twinkling of an eye, and shall be caught up, and his
rest shall be glorious." (D. & C. 101:29-31.)
13.
ALL THINGS REVEALED DURING MILLENNIUM — In this pre-millennial
age we have the fulness of the gospel, meaning that we have the
fulness of the authority and sealing power whereby man can be sealed
up unto eternal life and become an inheritor of the fulness of
eternal reward in our Father's kingdom. But we do not have the
fulness of truth; many glorious gospel doctrines have been known and
taught in previous dispensations which have not as yet been restored
to us. Such was the case, for instance, with Enoch and his people,
with certain of the Jaredites, and with the Nephite people following
the ministry of Christ among them.
But
with the dawning of the millennium, the restoration of all things,
which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the
world began," shall be completed (Acts 3:21.) As Nephi expressed
it, "All things which have been revealed unto the children of
men shall at that day be revealed." (2 Ne. 30:15-18; D. & C.
121:26-32.) If the sealed part of the Book of Mormon has not already
been revealed, it will come forth in that day.
In
addition, millennial revelations will bring to light truths never
before manifest to any mortal. "When the Lord shall come, he
shall reveal all things — Things which have passed, and hidden
things which no man knew, things of the earth, by which it was made,
and the purpose and the end thereof — Things most precious,
things that are above, and things that are beneath, things that are
in the earth, and upon the earth, and in heaven." (D. & C.
101:32-34.)
14.
NONMEMBERS OF CHURCH DURING MILLENNIUM. — Since all who are
living at least a terrestrial law — the law of honesty,
uprightness, and integrity — will be able to abide the day of
our Lord's coming, there will be nonmembers of the Church on earth
during the millennium. (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, pp. 86-87;
vol 3, pp. 63-64.) Honest and upright people who have been deceived
by the false religions and false philosophies of the world will not
have their free agency abridged. They will continue to believe their
false doctrines until they voluntarily elect to receive gospel light.
Speaking of the millennial period, Micah said, "All people will
walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name
of the Lord our God for ever and ever." (Micah 4:5.)
During
the millennium, however, the Lord will use the forces of nature to
turn people's attention to the truth. "Whoso will not come up,"
said Zechariah, "of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem
to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no
rain." (Zech. 14:16-19.) Joseph Smith said, "The heathen
nations who will not come up to worship will be visited with the
judgments of God, and must eventually be destroyed from the earth."
(Teachings, p. 269.)
15.
MILLENNIAL CONVERSION OF ALL TO TRUTH. — With the destruction
of the wicked and the fall of the great and abominable church (D. &
C. 29:21; 88:94) — events destined to accompany the ushering in
of the millennium — the conversion of men to the truths of the
gospel will become easy. In due course every living soul on earth
will come to the knowledge of the truth, "for the earth shall be
full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."
(Isa. 11:9; Hab. 2:14.) This means that when "all things shall
be made known unto the children of men" (2 Ne. 30:15-18), they
all shall accept the gospel, for the knowledge of God is found only
by revelation through the power of the priesthood. (D. & C.
84:19-22.)
This
will be the day when the great promise to Israel is fulfilled: "And
they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his
brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the
least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will
forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jer.
31:34.)
This,
also shall be the day wherein men shall be so close to the Lord that,
"Whatsoever any man shall ask, it shall be given unto him"
(D. & C. 101:27), the day in which before men call, the Lord will
answer, and while they are yet speaking, he will hear. (Isa. 65:24.)
16.
THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH. — The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints is the kingdom of God on earth; it is the
kingdom which shall never be destroyed or left to other people; it is
the kingdom which shall break in pieces and consume all other
kingdoms; and it shall stand forever. (Dan. 2:44.) But for the
present it functions as an ecclesiastical kingdom only.
With
the millennial advent, the kingdom of God on earth will step forth
and exercise political jurisdiction over all the earth as well as
ecclesiastical jurisdiction over its own citizens. When the saints
pray, according to the Lord's pattern, "Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10), they
are petitioning the Father to send the political or millennial
kingdom so that complete righteousness, both civically and
religiously, will prevail on earth. That will be the day when, "The
kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the
whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most
High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions
shall serve and obey him." (Dan. 7:27; D. & C. 65; Doctrines
of Salvation, vol. 1, pp. 229-230.)
Until
that glorious day when the Lord shall make "a full end of all
nations" (D. & C. 87:6), when he shall reign "whose
right it is to reign," the saints are commanded to "be
subject to the powers that be." (D. & C. 58:22.) But in that
day the whole system of government will be changed. Christ having
previously come in the clouds of heaven to Adam-ondi-Ahman where
"there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that
all people, nations, and languages, should serve him" (Dan.
7:13-14) — shall then take over the reigns of government
personally. "Ye shall have no laws but my laws when I come, for
I am your lawgiver," he has said. (D. & C. 38:22.) To the
Prophet he said of those who would inhabit the millennial earth: "For
the Lord shall be in their midst, and his glory shall be upon them,
and he will be their king and their lawgiver." (D. & C.
45:59.)
At
the time there will be two world capitals, "for out of Zion
shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."
(Isa. 2:3; Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 3, pp. 66-72.) That
resurrected personages will have positions of power and
responsibility in the kingdom is evident from John's millennial
statement: "And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and
we shall reign on the earth." (Rev. 5:10; 20:4.) Of this the
Prophet Joseph Smith said: "Christ and the resurrected saints
will reign over the earth during the thousand years. They will not
probably dwell upon the earth, but will visit it when they please, or
when it is necessary to govern it." (Teachings, p. 68.)
Obviously many governmental offices will be filled by mortal persons
living on the earth.
17.
TEMPLE WORK DURING MILLENNIUM — Salvation cannot be gained
except through baptism of water and of the Spirit, nor can exaltation
be achieved except through temple endowments and the sealing of
families together for eternity. These saving and exalting ordinances
are performed vicariously in the temples for the worthy dead who did
not have opportunity to receive them in this life.
We
are commanded to go to with our might, collect all the accurate
genealogical data we can, and perform these saving and exalting
ordinances for our worthy ancestors. Obviously, due to the frailties,
incapacities, and errors of mortal men, and because the records of
past ages are often scanty and inaccurate, this great work cannot be
completed for every worthy soul without assistance from on high. The
millennial era is the time, primarily, when this assistance will be
given by resurrected beings. Genealogical records unknown to us will
then become available. Errors committed by us in sealings or other
ordinances will be rectified, and all things will be arranged in
proper order. Temple work will be the great work of the millennium.
(Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 2, pp. 251-25.)
18.
END OF MILLENNIUM AND OF THE EARTH. — When the thousand years
are ended Satan shall be loosed, men again shall begin to deny their
God, and rebellion shall well up in the hearts of many. For a little
season the devil will be free to gather together his armies, even the
hosts of hell; and then the final battle will be fought in which
Satan (who is Perdition) together with all his sons shall be cast out
forever. (D. & C. 29:22-29; 43:31; 88:110-115; Rev. 20:7-10; 2
Ne. 9:16.) Then will come the end of the earth as it is now
constituted, for it will attain its final destiny as a celestial
sphere, and the meek shall inherit it forever. (D. & C.
88:16-20.)
Bruce
R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 1958, 1966