Besides being a time of peace, plenty, and joy for those who survive the Battle of Armageddon, it appears that the Millennium could be an additional period of grace for those who didn’t have a chance to hear the Gospel or know the Lord during this life. They may have never heard the Gospel; they may have never felt the love of Jesus, or known God’s will or His ways before. Saint Paul said Jesus “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”(1Timothy 2:4). That was the whole point of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, and that will probably remain His prime focus even in the Millennium.

During the Millennium everyone will be reached with the Gospel. “For the Earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14). As anyone knows, the waters completely cover the sea, and likewise the world will be completely covered with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord and the righteous Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

The Bible says that during the Millennium the Lord “will destroy on this mountain [His Millennial Kingdom] the surface of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations” (Isaiah 25:7). The veil is the veil of misunderstanding, the veil of unbelief, the veil of incomprehension of spiritual things.

In the face of the visible rule and reign of Christ on Earth, His second coming in mighty power and glory, His wiping out of the Antichrist and his Kingdom and the imprisonment of Satan, it would stand to reason that most who had never heard of Jesus before are going to believe and receive Him. And most likely there will be many who might have heard something about Jesus, but didn’t fully understand. To see the coming of the Lord and His taking over the Earth will be pretty strong persuasion, and probably enough to convince almost anybody to believe and receive.

There are some who say that people only get one chance to receive the Lord, and that’s it. Therefore they argue that the Millennium cannot be a second chance for those who had not received Him previously. But if the Lord wants all men to come to know Him, then for many He is going to have to come knocking at the door of their hearts multiple times. Although we only really deserve one chance at salvation, experience will bear out that most of us are given multiple chances throughout our lives to receive Him. We don’t deserve all those chances, just as many of these survivors may not deserve them, but thankfully we have a God who is “full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth” (Psalm 86:15).

In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. The humble also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

Isaiah 29:18–19; 32:1; 40:5

Everyone on Earth will see His glorious power and Kingdom, and everybody will at least believe in the existence and supremacy of Jesus. His Word says, “No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord” (Jeremiah 31:34).

However, as we’ll see in the next chapter, there will be some during the Millennium who refuse to receive Jesus as their Savior and who still won’t yield and will remain rebellious and defiant. It can be understood from the Scriptures that there will be many who will receive Jesus as their King and Savior and will be blessed of the Lord. But sadly and incredibly, others will still rebel.

So the Millennium is going to be another proving ground for humanity, another chance for humanity to receive and accept God’s love through Jesus, or to choose not to. It’ll also be an opportunity, for those who are willing and receptive, to learn about the ways of God and how to live His laws of love by living for Him and one another.

The saved, those who heard the Gospel and voluntarily received the Lord by faith prior to His return, will be running things under the direct supervision of the Lord and with the help of His good angels. And their main job then will probably be, as Jesus put it, to “feed His sheep” (John 21:15–17). The survivors will all “know the Lord” and will actually see that He and His Kingdom are real, but they may not know Him well or personally.