The Thousand Years

Revelation 20

Story to read: The Millennium
Bible: Revelation 20

1. Grown-ups disagreeing

Tell the group honestly: this is the chapter Christians argue about most. Sensible, godly people read it differently, and have for centuries.

That is worth modelling. You are allowed to say “people disagree, and here is what we think, and here is why.”

2. The story so far, in one go

• Satan lost when Jesus came the first time — properly lost.
• Here he is not just thrown out of heaven but chained in the abyss, so that he cannot do what he most wants to do: deceive the nations.
• That is why the church can get on with its work. That is why the gospel goes everywhere.

3. Ruling, but not the way you think

Then we are told the church reigns with Christ.

And our kind of ruling looks strange from outside. It sometimes looks exactly like losing. The text mentions those who were beheaded for their testimony — and says they are the ones reigning.

That is the picture, and it is the same one from chapter 11: even at our weakest, even in death, we are treated as royalty. Not despite the weakness. In it.

4. The last gasp

At the end Satan is released, gathers everything he has left, and attacks.

And it fizzles out. Fire comes down and it is finished — quicker than any battle in the book. Like a firework that goes up impressively and then simply stops.

He has been building to this for twenty chapters, and it takes one verse.

5. The books

Then the great white throne, and books are opened, and everyone stands there — everyone, with no exceptions and nowhere to be important.

And what matters is one thing: whether a person let Jesus in, and let that change how they lived.

6. Saying this gently

Children of this age will ask about people they love. Be honest and be kind: we are told that the Judge is the same Jesus who wept, who healed people nobody else would touch, and who died for the very people who killed him.

We do not know everything about who is written in that book. We know exactly what the one holding it is like.

Memory verse: “Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection.” (Revelation 20:6)

Look for yourself

Two quiet minutes. Nobody has to say anything out loud.

The books are opened, and beside them is another book with names in it.

Picture somebody looking for your name.

Who is doing the looking? What are his hands like? And what does his face do when he finds it?

If that picture frightens you, look at his hands again. They still have the holes in them.

7. Prayer

Jesus, thank you that Satan is chained and that his ending is already written. Thank you that even when we are weak we are treated like kings. And thank you that the one who judges is the one who loves us most. Amen.

Appendix: Ideas for leaders

Opening activity: A firework picture, or a party popper if you can. Big noise, over instantly. That is chapter 20’s ending for Satan.

Craft idea: A chain of paper links the children write victories on — small ones from their own week. Chain it around the room.

Questions:

1. Why do you think the people who were killed are described as reigning?
2. What does it tell us that Satan’s last attack takes one verse?
3. What is the Judge like?

Song suggestions: A song about Jesus reigning; something reassuring to close.

Prep note: Say plainly at the start that Christians disagree here. Children who later meet a different view will trust you more for having told them, and it teaches them that disagreement among believers is normal rather than alarming.