Millennial Reign of Christ and Eschatology
Explore the concept of the Millennial Reign of Christ as described in Revelation, along with the theological perspective of Eschatology touching on themes of death, judgment, and the final destiny of humankind and creation.
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THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST EQUIP WORLDVIEW SEMINAR 02.19.2021
May we daily solicit thee in our prayers, and never doubt, but that under the government of thy Christ, thou canst again gather together the whole world, though it be miserably dispersed, so that we may persevere in this warfare to the end, until we shall at length know that we have not in vain hoped in thee, and that our prayers have not been in vain, when Christ shall exercise the power given to him for our salvation and for that of the whole world. John Calvin Prayer at end of 97th lecture on the Minor Prophets
WHAT IS ESCHATOLOGY? A belief held sacredly or assumed casually regarding death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul, of humankind, and of all creation. Of Death. Of the Soul. Of Judgment. A Day. Coming. Of Humankind. The kingdom of Christ. Or. Eternal torment. Of All Creation. SIGNIFICANT present Implications.
WHAT IS THE MILLENNIUM? Revelation 20.1 Revelation 20.1- -10 10 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pitand a great chain.2 2And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and BOUND BOUND him FOR into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be RELEASED RELEASED FOR FOR A A LITTLE LITTLE WHILE WHILE. 4 4Then I saw thrones and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and REIGNED REIGNED WITH WITH CHRIST rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the FIRST FIRST RESURRECTION RESURRECTION. YEARS,3 3and threw him FOR A A THOUSAND THOUSAND YEARS YEARS.5 5The CHRIST FOR FOR A A THOUSAND THOUSAND YEARS
Revelation 20.1 Revelation 20.1- -10 10 6 6Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.7 7And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison8 8and will come out to DECEIVE NATIONS NATIONS that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.9 9And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them,10 deceived them was thrown into the LAKE LAKE OF OF FIRE false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night FOREVER DECEIVE THE THE 10and the devil who had FIRE and sulfur where the beast and the FOREVER AND AND EVER EVER.
Temporally. 2 views. PREMIL AND POSTMIL VIEWS. Hermeneutically. 3 (ish) views. PREMILLENIALISM. AMILLENNIALISM. POSTMILLENLLIALISM.
1. Christ will return physically prior to the millennium. 2. The millennium is a period of righteousness/peace/prosperity for Christ s kingdom on earth. 3. There will be a significant gap between the return of Christ at the 1st resurrection and the judgment of the wicked at the 2nd resurrection. (This gap is the millennial kingdom.) 4. The millennium is distinct from the church age. PREMILLENNIALISM. TENETS.
5. OT Prophecies of prosperity are to be taken literal - the millennial kingdom will be experienced as a restored Jewish state with Christ ruling bodily from Jerusalem. 1. SOME: Christ will rule militarily and subdue the world with the sword. 2. SOME: de-emphasize the Jewish element and stress the millennium as the preparatory stage for the church. 6. Discontinuity between Israel and the church. 7. The preaching of the gospel through the whole earth prior to Christ s return will not yield full cultural transformation, as the world will grow worse and worse, climaxing in the tribulation at the end of the church age. PREMILLENNIALISM. TENETS.
1. Christ will return after the millennium. 2. The millennium is this present reality, spanning the inter-adventual church age. 3. The millennium will not be a semi-golden era of earthly prosperity for the kingdom, but rather is restricted to the blessing of the intermediate heavenly state (martyrs, those who have died in Christ) and/or the blessing of Christ ruling in the heart of believers. 4. The church is the visible form of Christ s kingdom in the world. AMILLENNIALISM. TENETS.
5. The single return of Christ at the end of the age will synchronize with a general resurrection and judgment for believer and unbeliever, respectively. There is continuity between Israel/church. OT Prophecies of prosperity are to be taken figuratively as pointing ahead to the eternal state or the spiritual condition of the church. The preaching of the gospel through the earth will not yield full cultural transformation, or pervasive success in converting sinners. There will be more or less a parallel development of good and evil during the millennium, with evil intensifying toward the end of the church age. 6. 7. AMILLENNIALISM. TENETS. 8. 9.
1. Christ will return after the millennium. 2. The millennium is this present reality, spanning the inter-adventual church age. 3. The millennium is evidenced by the growth and maturation of righteousness/peace/prosperity for Christ s kingdom on earth, visibly represented by the church, through the gradual conversion of the world to the gospel unto a semi-golden era for the kingdom on earth, prior to Christ s return. 4. The single return of Christ at the end of the age will synchronize with a general resurrection and judgment for believer and unbeliever, respectively. POSTMILLENNIALISM. TENETS.
5. 6. There is continuity between Israel/church. OT Prophecies of prosperity are to be taken both literally and figuratively as pointing ahead to the visible prosperity of Christ s kingdom on earth, climaxing in the consummated glory of the eternal state, as well as the fullness of converted physical Israel grafted back into the people of God. The preaching of the gospel will, over the long range, produce a period of peace and extraordinary righteousness as the church triumphs, discipling the nations through the Holy Spirit. The release of Satan at the end of the age will bring apostasy from these blessed conditions prior to the physical return of Christ to reign. POSTMILLENNIALISM. 7. TENETS. 8.
PREMILLENNIAL TEXTS. 1 CORINTHIANS 15:51 1 CORINTHIANS 15:51- -52; 1 THESSALONIANS 4:15 52; 1 THESSALONIANS 4:15- -17 their graves and all the living members of the church shall be raptured up to meet Christ in the clouds. [Dispensational prior to the seven-year tribulation, the 70th week of DANIEL 9.24 17 - The RAPTURE. Dead saints will rise from DANIEL 9.24- -27. 27.] During this time of tribulation, there will be three-and-a-half years of world peace under an AntiChrist figure (DANIEL 7:8; REVELATION 13:1 DANIEL 7:8; REVELATION 13:1- -8 8) who will establish a world-church (REVELATION 17:1 17:1- -15 15), followed by three-and-a-half years of greater suffering. At the end of this period, Christ will return (MATTHEW 24:27 MATTHEW 24:27- -31; REVELATION 19:11 31; REVELATION 19:11- -21 bind Satan for one thousand years (REVELATION 20:1 REVELATION 20:1- -3 3), and raise the Old Testament and tribulation saints from the dead (REVELATION 20:4 REVELATION 20:4). REVELATION 21), judge the world (MATTHEW 25:31 MATTHEW 25:31 ), The millennial reign will begin and Christ will reign politically over the earth at this time from His capital in Jerusalem (ISAIAH 2:3 ISAIAH 2:3). There will be no war, even animals will dwell in harmony (ISAIAH 2:3; 11:6 2:3; 11:6- -9 9). Those who come to believe in Christ during the seventieth week of Daniel (including the 144,000 Jews) and survive will go on to populate the earth during this time. At the end of this era of peace, Satan will be released and instigate a colossal (but futile) rebellion against God (REVELATION 20:7 REVELATION 20:7- -9 9). ISAIAH
AMILLENNIAL TEXTS. ACTS 2:16 ACTS 2:16- -21; 1 CORINTHIANS 10:11 21; 1 CORINTHIANS 10:11 - - The last things" have been initiated at the first coming of Christ and his death/resurrection. The church age and the age of the kingdom are aligned. MATTHEW 3.2 MATTHEW 3.2 - "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." At the cross, Christ won final victory over death and Satan. And then He ascended to reign upon the throne of David forever (LUKE 1:32 ACTS 2:30 ACTS 2:30- -31 31). LUKE 1:32- -33; 33; In the present age of the kingdom of Christ, we "look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 CORINTHIANS 4:18 2 CORINTHIANS 4:18). Thus, the final things are already accomplished, though not yet seen by sight, but by faith (2 CORINTHIANS 5:7 2 CORINTHIANS 5:7). NT Parable Guidance MATTHEW 13.24 good/evil during the kingdom age. Thus suffering/persecution remain as an important part of the church s role in the kingdom of God. The Christian will be hated by all, as was Christ (MT 10:22 Thus, there is no present hope of earthly exaltation, rather longing for the fulfillment of the second stage of the coming of the Kingdom. MATTHEW 13.24- -30; 36 30; 36- -43 43. Parable of weeds, a parallel development of MT 10:22). NT Promise/Authority. MATTHEW 28.19 MATTHEW 28.19- -20 20 The Great Commission.
POSTMILLENNIAL TEXTS. The millennial kingdom is the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham that "all peoples on earth would be blessed" through him (GENESIS GENESIS 12 12: :2 2- -3 3) with his descendants as the stars or sand on the shore (Gen Gen 15 15. .5 5- -6 6). This reign will come about via gradual conversion (rather than premillennialism's cataclysmic Christological advent) through the spread of the Gospel this incremental progress is presented throughout Scripture (DEUTERONOMY DEUTERONOMY 7 7: :22 22, , EZEKIEL EZEKIEL 47 47: :1 1- -12 12). Prophetic Psalmody. The Psalms often speak of all nations fearing Him, salvation being known among all nations, the ends of the earth fearing Him (PSALM 67 67: :2 2, ,7 7; ; PSALM PSALM 102 102: :15 15; ; PSALM PSALM 110 110: :1 1). Earthly optimism also visible in ISAIAH nations will stream to the righteousness of God. PSALM 2 2: :1 1- -12 12; ; PSALM PSALM 22 ISAIAH 2 2: :2 2- -3 3 in which the 22: :27 27; ; PSALM PSALM OT Prophetic Vision. ISAIAH ISAIAH 11 11. .6 6- -10 10; ; 65 65. .17 17- -25 25; ; DANIEL DANIEL 2 2. .31 31- -35 35; ;44 44- -45 45 NT Parallel Vision. MATTHEW not prevail against the church.) HEBREWS MATTHEW 13 13. .32 HEBREWS 1 1. .13 32- -32 32 ( (Mustard Seed); MATTHEW 13 (Enemies under his feet.) MATTHEW 16 16. .18 18 ( (the gates of hell will NT Promise/Authority. MATTHEW MATTHEW 28 28. .19 19- -20 20 The Great Commission.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. ISAIAH 9.7 DIALOGUE. IMPLICATIONS. PANEL DISCUSSION AND Q/A WITH MARK HECHT.
