Ellen White describes the millennium as the period during which the wicked will be judged. During this time, Satan and his angels are bound here on earth, and the earth is devastated and in ruins. At the end of this period, the wicked are resurrected and Satan leads them in a final attempt to overthrow the rule of God in the Holy City, but he and his followers are destroyed by fire from heaven. These events are followed by the re-creation of the earth as the home of the redeemed.GP 93.6

1. Judgment of the wicked . During the millennium, between the first and the second resurrections, the judgment of the wicked takes place. It is at this time that “the saints shall judge the world” (1 Corinthians 6:2, 3, KJV). “In union with Christ they judge the wicked, comparing their acts with the statute book, the Bible, and deciding every case according to the deeds done in the body” (FLB 216).GP 94.1

2. The earth in ruins and Satan is bound . During the millennium, the earth is devastated and desolate. John calls it “the bottomless pit” (Revelation 20:3). Ellen White identifies this description with “the earth in a state of confusion and darkness” during the millennium (GC 658). This desolate planet is to be the home of Satan with his evil angels for a thousand years. Limited to the earth, he won’t have access to other worlds to tempt their inhabitants. “It is in this sense that he is bound: there are none remaining, upon whom he can exercise his power. He is wholly cut off from the work of deception and ruin which for so many centuries has been his sole delight” (GC 659).GP 94.2

3. Resurrection of the wicked . At the end of the millennium, Jesus returns again to this earth. Ellen White describes His descent upon the Mount of Olives. “As his feet touch the mountain,” she says, “it parts asunder, and becomes a very great plain, and is prepared for the reception of the holy city in which is the paradise of God, the garden of Eden, which was taken up after man’s transgression” (3SG 84, 85). The City of God comes down and settles upon the plain prepared for it. Then Jesus leaves the city and calls forth the wicked dead. “All come up as they went down into their graves” (ibid.).GP 94.3

4. Satan’s final battle against God . As the wicked come forth from their graves, Ellen White says, “they resume the current of their thoughts where it ceased in death. They possess the same desire to conquer which ruled when they fell” (EW 293). They “bear the traces of disease and death” (GC 662). Satan deceives them into attacking the Holy City, but fire rains upon them, and they are all consumed together.GP 94.4

5. The new earth . The fire that consumes the wicked will purify the earth. God will sweep away every trace of the curse and make the earth new (see GC 674). The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. Then all things animate and inanimate will forever declare that God is love (see GC 678).GP 94.5

Ellen White’s inspired teaching about end-time events must be seen from the perspective of the great controversy, in which salvation by faith in Christ is the central focus. The issue in the final confrontation between good and evil is not simply that of keeping God’s law. The law reveals the justification of the saints; their obedience is the outward sign that Christ’s righteousness has been imputed and imparted to them.GP 95.1

Events during the great time of trouble

Chapter 11—Interpreting the Prophetic Writings