Millennial Rule
A long-recited prayer will be fulfilled, as this day comes after the Second Advent of Jesus Christ—His thousand-year rule. As believers, we all have been praying this for some time, haven’t we?
Jesus himself taught His followers this prayer as recorded in the gospels. It is so sweet and simple, yet divinely powerful. We know it as “The Lord’s Prayer.”
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:9-13).
The answer to our long-awaited prayers will be completely fulfilled, as Jesus will return to judge and set up His kingdom for a thousand years on the earth. He will rule and reign with a rod of iron and with great authority and power, in a kingdom that will spill over from earth into heaven and never end.
The book of Revelation gives us a glimpse of this future time and is the most descriptive in defining and ordering the events of this future one-thousand-year kingdom rule.
You would think this would be any easy topic of discussion in this article, as well as in the church among the believers of Christ. I am sorry to say, it is not.
But, being who I am in Christ and what the Lord has called for me to do as a writer and a Christian, I cannot stop short of sharing what I really think. I must press on through it, hopefully, with my dear readers onboard. I just want you all to know up front that I love all Christians, as Christ is our bond of fellowship. We are not always going to agree on everything. There are many views and opinions on today’s subject, and I am sharing what I see evident to me in the scriptures.
My view is this: Yes, it is coming—The Millennial Rule of Christ begins after the Rapture, seven-year Tribulation, Armageddon, and the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, last in the order. It is an actual reign of Jesus Christ as King – His glorious presence manifested here on earth. It is future to us, commencing after the battle of Armageddon at the Second Coming. There is a big, fancy name for this, but I am not fancy about Bible prophecy. All of this is future to us right now in my estimation as prophesied in the scriptures.
I have many in my life and church that have a different view of this time called; It’s called Amillennialism. Greek: “A” meaning “no” + millennialism, a thousand years. “Millennium now” is also a good description of their belief, basically seeing the church age and the Millennial Rule of Christ as one and the same.
In essence, it means that we are under the rule and reign of Christ now, as He rules from heaven; and the thousand-year earthly rule by Him described in scripture is symbolic, not literal or defined as a thousand years in time as depicted in the book of Revelation.
They do not believe it to be a bona fide time of a thousand years, or that Jesus will rule here on earth in glorious majesty and reign upon the earth during that prescribed time. He will always rule strictly from heaven.
They believe the Devil, or Satan was bound at Christ’s ascension as well, and is no longer able to affect us in any way.
Some amillennialists go even further in this belief, embracing a “Kingdom Now” philosophy which believes we have everything heavenly here on earth, and nothing bad or fallen should ever touch us: sickness, disease, brokenness, divorce, personal or financial failure of any kind. The “Prosperity Gospel” is birthed from this, claiming that we have it all here and now—and that heaven is not essentially necessary because we obtain most of it in this lifetime.
Here’s the ouch: If you don’t have it all victoriously, it’s because you forgot to claim it! Wow, sounds like a lot of self-effort to me. I do not agree with this view—and I see heaven as very necessary and a prize that awaits all of us in Christ. This earth is not our eternal home, and I do not think the scripture hints that it ever should be.
However, I do see some areas of Amillennialism that are correct, and I will address those. But this doctrinal belief is mixed with parts that are not true at all—and I will attempt to address some of those areas here today as well.
The true parts of Amillennialism are: Yes, as Christians we are seated with Christ in the heavenly realm. We are cleansed of sin with His redemptive blood, filled with the Holy Spirit, justified and sanctified by grace imparted to us at salvation. We are under the rule and reign of Christ as we are spiritually seated in the heavenly realm in Christ.
Are we in the Millennial Reign right now?
No, and here is why I believe that. The spiritual and manifested presence of Jesus will be fully present during this future time. He is going to judge and rule the earth, and Satan will be completely bound and restrained during that time. This is not a metaphor – He really will be reigning King of the earth for a thousand years, and Satan really will be bound for the same duration of time.
Does that look like the earth to you at present? It does not to me. It is also ordered in the scriptures as occurring after Armageddon and the Second Advent of Christ. These events have not taken place yet. A lot of prophetic scripture has to be ignored or misinterpreted to believe the church is currently living in the Millennial Rule of Jesus Christ.
So where are we on the timeline of events right now?
I believe we are pre-Rapture, and we have not entered into the timeframe for the Millennial Rule of King Jesus, just yet.
The oxymoron of this world, the physical and spiritual—
The spiritual and physical are still divided for us at this time prior to the Rapture, or when we physically die, whichever comes first. We have new life in the spirit—but physically, we are mortal flesh and earthbound.
Look here: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16). The outward man is perishing because it is mortal flesh or able-to-be-corrupted flesh.
We live physically in a fallen world corrupted by sin under the influence of Satan. This is his domain—his world—as he has been dark lord over the earth since the fall of mankind. Our physical bodies are corrupted as well, as everything that is corrupted will die, eventually. The end result of corruption is—death.
Our spirits as Christians have escaped corruption as we are forgiven and cleansed of sin, filled with the Holy Spirit and have eternal life in Christ. This is the life we have, and we live by faith as we walk this fallen earth. Jesus gives us hope—hope for his coming and our future with Him.
In the Bible, it clearly states: “For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?” (Romans 8:24).
The Rapture, the Second Advent of Jesus, the Millennial Rule of Christ and a new heaven and a new earth—we hope for these things—they are unseen to us, fulfilled completely in the future.
My brothers and sisters—this earth as it is right now is not the fulfillment center. It is impossible to have a perfect life and health and children and job and bank account and …… the list goes on. If you have lined up for all of this—even in God’s wonderful name, it’s still a lost world under the domain of Satan at this point in time. I have been blessed; however, my life is not perfect. I will know what perfection is hopefully very soon, and my hope is telling me —I can count on it! My fulfillment is coming, and with Him a great reward for all eternity!
Utopia now?
Not now…but coming soon. Most amillennialists believe the earth is just going to keep getting better and better until the gospel overtakes it. The scriptures do not teach this—and specifically warn of the decaying world accelerating with breakneck speed right before the Rapture occurs. The only thing that can renew or get better is the inward spiritual life we have in Christ.
Does God really mean a thousand years?
The answer is yes! This is not a metaphor; please take God literally when it comes to time. God Time. He is the essence of all time. As we look into the scriptures in a moment, it is very obvious to me that Jesus will be here on earth, manifested among us as well, ruling and reigning for exactly a thousand years. God does not appear in His nature and character to give us descriptions of time and place just to have us say He didn’t mean it literally. If God didn’t mean it literally, why did He go to all the trouble to make sure it was recorded as such?
There are so many places in scripture where time is counted out and measured for a reason. Maybe I am being too simplistic here—but I really don’t think I am. God is thorough in His descriptions of both time and place from Genesis through Revelation.
If the Bible said Christ will return to earth and reign among the people as King for a thousand years, then that’s what we should understand will happen—period.
Here on earth or somewhere else?
Here on earth is the winner. God said Jesus will rule and reign in that specific timeframe and that it will be here, on Earth, and nowhere else. We are not going to “Planet X” on holiday.
Alright, time now for some scripture of this glorious time and a good baptism of end-times truth.
Satan will be in lockdown—
“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while” (Revelation 20:1-3).
I really love this part, as Satan will be on lockdown in his abode of deep-down darkness. What a relief! This is another great thing about this time described in the scriptures—no Satan! Jesus alone rules during this thousand-year reign.
After the thousand years, Satan is released for a short time and assembles the armies of *Gog and Magog who have until this point been under Jesus and His rod of iron rule. They surround Jerusalem for the last time, but they are all consumed by fire falling from heaven. Satan is finally thrown into the Lake of Fire! Gone forever!
*(This is different from the Gog and Magog battle in Ezekiel 38-39 which occurs before the Millennial reign of Christ and mentions specific nations. The final Gog Magog battle includes people from the four corners of the earth).
“When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Revelation 20:7-10).
Amillennialism believes that Satan has already been bound on this earth because we are currently in the Millennial Rule of Christ and have been so since the ascension of Christ to heaven. It is very clear to me, crystal clear, that we are not currently under the Millennial Rule of Christ described in the Bible. Satan is still running amok throughout the earth, continuing in deceiving, killing, stealing, destroying and lying at an even greater pace than ever.
If he was locked up—he somehow escaped, because he is livin’ large, brothers and sisters! He sure as heck looks mobile to me. He is in the bullpen warming up for his seven-year takeover through the Antichrist and False Prophet.
Jesus spoke of the end-times, and warned us while He was here on earth about the spiritual condition of the inhabitants of this world prior to His coming. The Bible is full of admonitions and descriptions of this time before the Rapture, and it is forecasted to be like that of Sodom and Gomorrah and also of the days of Noah and the Ark.
The New Testament warns it’s going to be so very bad before Jesus comes—and it is! Can you not see it? We have not yet come to the Millennial Rule in the end-times order of things, but we will.
A new order will come to the earth, and the scumbag who has been dark lord of it all will be put in a sealed locker with a thousand-year expiration date attached—and from there to the lake of fire.
A few more tidbits of truth about this special thousand-year time:
A time of judgment and the first resurrection—
“And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
“But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4-6).
I truly believe the righteous of God, the blood-washed Saints, are the judges here in this scene receiving authority and attending to the judgments on Christ’s behalf. Also here, we see the resurrection of those martyred during the tribulation, to live again and reign with Christ for the prescribed Millennia.
“And Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel’” (Matthew 19:28).
A direct promise to the twelve apostles of their future roles in the judgment of the twelve tribes of Israel in this thousand-year scene.
Judgment of the Nations—
From the Old Testament:
“And He will judge between many peoples and render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they train for war” (Micah 4:3).
This judgment prophesied long ago in the book of Micah is in the Millennial setting, as it will be a time of judgment mingled with the laying down of the weapons of violence and bloodshed. Jesus truly is the Prince of Peace, and the earth will know peace during this time.
Separating the righteous from the unrighteous—
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
“And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:31-46).
Jesus will remove wickedness from the earth. This group of folks came through the tribulation where it was necessary to be reflecting righteousness in the most simplistic ways to others in need.
Peace on Earth—
The peace we will enjoy and have during the Millennial time will be a far cry from what we are experiencing on the earth right now. The Millennial Rule of Christ will extend from the north, south, east and west into every corner of this earth. War will be no more. Peace will be here because Jesus will be here, present, manifested, walking among us, sitting, laughing and talking—like He never went away—for a thousand years, here on earth.
What a glorious time it will be! His bride—the true Church, with Him, rejoicing at His side. The martyrs brought back to life and ruling and reigning with Him as well—what a wonderful, glorious thousand years!
A foretaste of heaven on earth during the thousand-year rule of Jesus Christ. It is not just a state of mind; it is a state of being. Being with Jesus!
I am filled with hope as I await this time, and I hope you are, too!
Sally Law