The Unbelieving World

On earth, those people remaining (none of whom had been raptured or had their bodies changed) would be those left behind. They also were not in the antichrist’s (beast’s) army that already died and were food for the birds, but were others, maybe fence-sitters or absent from the scene in the rest of the unbelieving world (Gog and Magog’s aligned peoples).

The unbelieving world can still technically reproduce because they are flesh and blood, and with a thousand years to live in peace, one would imagine they will choose to do so. The fact there are still people at the end of a thousand years speaks to that.

The assembled army in Revelation 19:11-21 never actually fought a battle against God.  Heaven stood open, and in the vision, John sees Jesus as the political leader on a horse with the armies of heaven (angels), ruling with a scepter of iron and the sword of the Spirit, Word of God coming out of His mouth. From Heaven, at His Word, the beast and false prophet are captured, and their armies of men die on earth.  Bird food.

If God could create the world with His Word,
and still the churning seas with His Word,
He can certainly destroy the earth’s inhabitants in the same way, by His Word.

While that was a decisive battle in the earthly war (one that surely all unbelieving earth-dwelling peoples would learn about in a technological age), there will be a second, final battle that will not happen until after the Millennium.  The beast who falsely promised peace and the false prophet are now publicly out of the way (having been captured alive and thrown into the fiery lake of sulfur). That’s earth.

Then, in the spiritual realm, an angel comes down out of heaven to bind Satan for a thousand years, and there will be a peaceful Millennium credited to Christ.  On earth as it is in heaven.  The beast who falsely promised peace is gone so not to confuse anyone with whose peace it is. It’s clearly and unmistakably the peace of Christ. With no more excuse of “the devil made me do it,” and no more of activity of deception in the spiritual realm as Satan currently works today, there will be a period of Christ’s rule on the earth.

The unbelieving world will be ruled in a Kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven.” 
The spiritual realm is at lull of war, a thousand-year standstill of peace. 
A calm before the storm.

The result will be pure testimony to earth-dwellers of the peace Jesus brings…peace with God (it testifies because the saints are gone! They were raptured to Heaven where they rule) and peace of God earth-dwellers now experience on earth for a thousand years.

It is this final testimony that man’s good works alone can’t save
(and moreover, rejection of Jesus and His true peace)
that prepare the unbelieving world
for the righteous justice of God in the final battle and final judgment. 

Shockingly, they’ll rush to side with the devil even after all that peace! There will be no remaining doubt that when the righteous judgment of God arrives with His wrath, they deserved it, welcomed it, and wanted it rather than worship a God they truly hate. Their sin nature and love of sin will prove an enduring obstacle too great for human nature alone to solve.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith– and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

It’s why Jesus came as Savior before He comes as Judge.