The Millennium is a Future Event (From the Present Perspective) -Sam A. Smith

The Millennium is a Future Event
(From the Present Perspective)

When we compare what we know about the millennium to the present age in which we live, there is simply no evidence to support the idea that we could be in the millennium now; you would think that would be fairly obvious, and it is—even to amillennialists! That’s why they must engage in allegorization of the millennial prophecies (such as suggesting that Christ is presently ruling over His kingdom from Heaven, instead of on earth as pictured in every millennial passage in which locational references are made). Every prophecy of the second coming in which a chronological relationship with either the tribulation or the millennium is given places the second coming of Christ either immediately at the end of the tribulation, or immediately prior to the inception of the millennial kingdom (note especially Zech. 14:1‑11, Matt. 24:29-31 and Rev. 19:11-20:6). If we really want to know when the millennium is going to take place, we should listen to the words of Christ in Matthew 25:31-34 where He says,

But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as he shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, “Come, you who are blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” [NASB, underlines added]

Jesus tells us very plainly that He will sit on the throne of His kingdom—“when [He] the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him.” Note the clear time reference; He will sit on the throne of His kingdom “when” He comes (Gr. hotan, indicating a specific point in the future, which is further specified as, “then” [Gr. tote, adverb of time, meaning “at that time”]). This is not a reference to some “mystical,” or “spiritual” coming; Jesus had just described His second coming with His angels in great detail within the context of this discourse (Matt 24: 3-31). He now associates the inauguration of His kingdom with that coming. The temporal structure of this passage (“when/then”) is very precise. Christ is clearly indicating that it will be at His second coming that He will His take His seat on the throne of His kingdom. (Although He is presently seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven, that seat is not the throne of His visible, earthly kingdom.) Concerning the second coming of Christ, Zechariah says,

[14:4-9] On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime-a day known to the LORD. When evening comes, there will be light. On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter. The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.

Notice the precise correspondence of this statement to the Lord’s statement in Matthew 25:31-34. Messiah will come and His feet will rest upon the Mount of Olives (note the physical details—the mount will “split”), He will return with His “holy ones” (the angels) and the Lord, physically present, will be King over the whole earth. Note also John’s description in Revelation 19:11-20:4.

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great.” Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

There is no question that this is a description of Christ’s second coming. We see in this description, as in the rest, that Christ does not return alone, He returns with what are here described as “the armies of Heaven,” undoubtedly a reference to the angels (cf. 19:17-18; 20:1-3; Matt. 24:29-31). He will strike down His enemies and rule the earth “with an iron rod.” Satan will be bound and sealed in the Abyss, and the saints will be resurrected from their graves to rule with Christ during the millennium. One only has to read this passage once to understand why the Book of Revelation was temporarily excluded from the New Testament Canon when the eastern branch of the church adopted amillennialism in the second century. Nothing in this description fits with amillennialism. To underscore how poor the amillennial view of the visible kingdom is, we need only ask a few simple questions like these: “If we are now living in the kingdom described in these passages, in what sense is Satan both ‘bound’ and ‘sealed,’ and unable to ‘deceive the nations?’” “In what sense are the saints now ruling?” “When did the resurrection described in Revelation 20:3 occur?” The amillennial answers to these questions will inevitably involve either a diminution of the prophetic source material itself, or our ability to interpret it; or more likely, a wholesale allegorization of the passages. If Scripture is taken at face value, there can be no question that the millennium is yet in the future. Since we can be certain that the second coming has not occurred, we can be sure that amillennialism is incorrect, and equally certain that the tribulation did not occur in the first century, or at any period in the past.

Published at: http://prophecy.biblicalreader.com

Adapted from What the Bible Says About the Future

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