Five Events that Begin the Thousand Years.
#1 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” – 1 Thessalonians 4:16 (NASB)
In order for the dead in Christ to be resurrected, Christ must return. Isaiah had declared that the dead shall live again. (Isaiah 26:19) see also John 14:3 – the promise of Jesus regarding His return.
#2 “Behold, I am telling you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.” – 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. (NASB)
At the call of the life giver, all who have died in the hope of the resurrection will come forth from their graves, never to die again, for he who has the Son has everlasting life. Without sickness, sorrow, or pain, but with eternal youth, they rise from their dreamless sleep by the millions with immortality. From the time of Adam and Eve until the present, the dead in Christ will receive the gift of eternal life.
#3 “Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” – 1 Thessalonians 4:17 (NASB)
By faith in Christ God’s people who are alive at the time of His second coming have passed through the seven last plagues and the time of great tribulation. They will be changed in the blink of an eye.
#4 “and to give relief to you who are afflicted, along with us, when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God, and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These people will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,” – 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 (NASB)
The living unsaved are destroyed. Revelation 6:14-17 describes what the ‘wicked’ do as Christ approaches in the clouds. Revelation 20:5 explains that those who are not resurrected at the second coming, because they did not follow God’s way of salvation, remain dead for the duration of the thousand years.
#5 “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he took hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;” – Revelation 20:1-2 (NASB)
Both Isaiah and Jeremiah had pictured the desolation of the earth during this time. (Isaiah 24:1 and Jeremiah 25:33). All of God’s people (the righteous) are in heaven with Christ and all the unsaved (the wicked) are dead. There is no one on earth at this time but the devil and his mates – for a thousand years. They are ‘bound’ by their circumstances.