The Millennial Day of Peace and Rest

My daughter recently has been focusing on catastrophic end of times type events that she’s heard or thinks might be coming in our future.  She somehow got it in her head that there is prophesied to have one thousand years of destruction, something I think that got confused with the thousand years of peace we are promised in the Millennium.  So today I thought I would highlight the kind of life we can look forward to in the Millennium as the scriptures teach us.  Though there will certainly be great difficulties coming as the events of the last days play out, we can look forward to the “Beautiful day of peace and rest,” that “Beautiful, bright, millennial day” promised by the Savior (Hymn 52). 

               The scriptures prophesy of a time of rest and peace in the Millennium for the righteous on the earth.  Isaiah described the Millennium in this symbolic language: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ 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” (Isaiah 11:6-9).  The wolf won’t eat the lamb, the lion won’t attack the calf, the snake won’t bite the child, and in short, none shall hurt or destroy another.  Violence among beasts and especially among men will be done away with and there will be peace among those on the earth.  Isaiah put it this way in another chapter: “Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise” (Isaiah 60:18).  Enoch longed for this day as he pled with the Lord amidst the violence he saw, “When shall the earth rest?”  The Lord promised, “The day shall come that the earth shall rest…. for the space of a thousand years the earth shall rest” (Moses 7:58,61,64).        

               One of the main reasons for this rest and peace will be that during the Millennium there will be no adversary to tempt and torment man.  Nephi declared, “And 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 Nephi 22:26).  Satan will have no power and the people will all be righteous.  He described again in another passage simply: “Satan shall have power over the hearts of the children of men no more, for a long time” (2 Nephi 30:18).  The Lord confirmed this fact about the Millennium several times in the Doctrine and Covenants.  We read, “For Satan shall be bound” and “the Lord hath redeemed his people; And Satan is bound and time is no longer” (43:31, 84:100).  He also declared, “Satan shall be bound, that old serpent, who is called the devil, and shall not be loosed for the space of a thousand years” (88:110).  Those remaining on the earth in the Millennium will be righteous and will not be tempted by the devil to contend with one another—what a glorious day that will be! 

               Not only will the devil not be on the earth during the Millennium, but more importantly the Savior will be.  Joseph Smith declared, “Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory” (Article of Faith 1:10).  The Doctrine and Covenants describes: “And the Lord, even the Savior, shall stand in the midst of his people, and shall reign over all flesh” (133:25).  The Savior said again in another passage: “For 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” (29:11).  In another section we read, “For the Lord shall be in their midst, and his glory shall be upon them, and he will be their king and their lawgiver” (45:59).  The Savior declared elsewhere: “For I, the Lord, have put forth my hand to exert the powers of heaven; ye cannot see it now, yet a little while and ye shall see it, and know that I am, and that I will come and reign with my people” (84:119).  He promised that the time is “nigh at hand” when He shall “dwell with [His people]” on the earth (104:59).  There will be no governments of men, and we have this promise of the Savior: “I, the Lord, the king of heaven, will be their king, and I will be a light unto them forever” (2 Nephi 10:14).  Though there are indeed trials to pass through before this time comes, we have the Lord’s promise that this glorious day of peace and rest is indeed in our future for the righteous: “For the great Millennium, of which I have spoken by the mouth of my servants, shall come” (Doctrine and Covenants 43:30).