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"In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard and the goat will be at peace. Calves and yearlings will be safe among lions, and a little child will lead them all." - Isaiah 11:6, the closing epigram of Triumphant Return and the dramatic audio presentation of Left Behind: The Kids.

The Millennial Kingdom is the prophesied 1,000 years mentioned in Revelation chapter 20, often called the Millennium, when Jesus Christ will rule on earth. In the book Kingdom Come: The Final Victory, this time period began with the completion of the new Temple that Jesus Christ had built in place of the desecrated Temple, and would end with the destruction of Satan's armies in Jerusalem, followed by the Great White Throne judgment and the arrival of the "new heavens and new earth".

The Millennial Kingdom is primarily ruled by Christ Himself, with King David as His prince as ruler of Israel, and His twelve apostles as the judges ruling over the twelve tribes of Israel. Those who survived the Tribulation or were born during this time period that were or became believers in Christ would be allowed to live to the end of the Millennium; those that don't become believers by their 100th birthday would die. Those who committed evil acts worthy of death would be killed instantly even if they haven't reached their 100th birthday.

It is during this period that a group of nonbelievers called The Other Light appeared on the scene to sway people that haven't accepted Christ prior to their 100th birthday to join their cause in their hope to overthrow God with the help of Lucifer, who would be released at the end of this period. It is also when four believers who worked at the Children Of The Tribulation school formed their own group to counter the activities of The Other Light, called the Millennium Force.

Other features of this time period include:

  • Slowed aging for all "naturals" (Isaiah 65:20).
  • Constant daytime, with the evening sun being less bright than the morning sun.
  • Peaceful coexistence among the nations (Isaiah 2:1-4), at least until the Last Battle.
  • Peaceful coexistence among animals in nature (Isaiah 11:6-9).
  • Enforced vegetarianism, with a few exceptions such as the Feast of the Bridegroom; people are described as "not having a taste for meat". Other animal products such as milk and butter are consumed as normal.
  • The supernatural creation of a "sky canopy" of ice and water above the sky, to shield the Earth from the stronger sun's harmful UV rays.
  • Representatives from all the nations will be required to gather in Jerusalem for the Feast Of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16-19). Nations who do not send representatives will be subject to supernatural sanctions.

Views of the Millennium

There are three major views of how the Millennium occurs in Scripture: Premillennialism, Postmillennialism, and Amillennialism.

  • Premillennialism believes that Christ's return will precede the Millennium in which he will literally reign upon the earth. This is broken down into both Dispensational Premillennialism in which Christ's return will occur in two stages, the Rapture and the Second Coming, and that all Old Testament prophecies concerning Israel will be fulfilled; and Historical Premillennialism in which the church inherits all the promises made to Israel due to the view of the church being the fulfillment of Israel.
  • Postmillennialism believes that the Millennium will be a "golden age" ushered in by the triumph of the gospel, not only in bringing individuals to salvation, but also in dominating culture, and that Christ's return will be the culmination of that age.
  • Amillennialism believes that the Millennium is simply a figurative age indicating the whole period between His ascension into heaven and His return. In this view Christ now reigns and rules from heaven in and through the church bringing people into the kingdom of God through the preaching of the gospel.

The authors of the Left Behind books support the Dispensational Premillennialism view, and so the story series follows accordingly to that view.

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