During Christ’s Millennial Reign, will people live in peace and harmony?
Yes! There are many scriptures which teach us that the 1,000-year reign of Christ will be one of “peace and harmony,” not only between men, but also between animals in the animal kingdom. When Christ comes to establish His kingdom on earth He is coming as the “Prince of Peace.” We see this wonderful truth in Isaiah 9:6-7, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, PRINCE OF PEACE. Of the increase of His government and PEACE there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice for that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”
For the first time since sin entered the world, there will be PEACE ON EARTH. Our poor world has only seen perpetual WARS ON EARTH, but when Christ comes to set up His kingdom He will, as we read above, “establish it with judgment and justice.” In order to do this, He will first “judge His enemies” by destroying their kingdoms. We read of this in Daniel 2:44, “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall BREAK IN PIECES AND CONSUME ALL THESE KINGDOMS, and it shall stand forever.” You can read about Christ consuming His enemies in Psalm 2:1-9; Revelation 2:27; 12:5 and 19:11-16.
With His enemies removed from the earth (see Matthew 13:40-42, 49-50; 25:41; 2nd Thessalonians 1:7-10), believers will then “enter the Millennial Kingdom” (Matthew 25:31-34). They will then fulfill Isaiah 2:2-4, “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; THEY SHALL BEAT THEIR SWORDS INTO PLOWSHARES, AND THEIR SPEARS INTO PRUNING HOOKS; NATION SHALL NOT LIFT UP SWORD AGAINST NATION, NEITHER SHALL THEY LEARN WAR ANYMORE.” Here is the answer to your question in clear and simple words. War will be no more! All “weapons of war” shall be replaced by agricultural “tools of peace.” There will be no more West Point or other schools where men are trained for war. Men will indeed live in true “peace and harmony” for the Prince of Peace will sit on His “Throne of peace” and rule the nations in perfect righteousness. All who enter the kingdom will have been born again, including the House of Israel (see Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Ezekiel 36:22-27), and will gladly submit to Christ and desire to have Him “teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.”
As stated at the outset, there will even be peace and harmony in the animal kingdom and thus we read in Isaiah 11:6-9, “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”
Yet there will be children born in the Millennium and they will need to hear and believe the gospel in order to be born again. We read of this in Psalm 22:31, “They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, that He has done this.” If they do not believe the gospel, they will still have to submit to Christ and yet if they dare to rebel against Him, it will be met with swift judgment as we see in Isaiah 65:20, “the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed.” So, even with rebellious sinners living on the earth during the Millennium, “peace and harmony” will still prevail among men because the Prince of Peace is ruling in perfect righteousness. Let us close by reading Isaiah 32:16-18, “Then justice will dwell in the fruitful field. The work of righteousness will be PEACE, and the effect of righteousness, QUIETNESS, and assurance forever. My people will dwell in a PEACEFUL HABITATION, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.” (DO) (562.1)