This message was presented Sunday evening, 10/6/19, as part of a series
on the end of time. All sermon videos, including this one, may be found and
viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu4zUK_ahzdiU15PL6dcAXA/videos.
Previous lessons in this series were:
The End 01 – Unmistakable Facts 2018 12 16 PM
The End 02 – Inevitable Effects 2019 01 13 PM
The End 03 – Present Realities 2019 05 12 PM
The End 04 – Sooner or Later 2019 08 04 PM
And now …
PM - The End 05 – The Millennium 2019 10 06 PM
As We Begin
A tough subject, yet vital to this series, “The End.”
Not the first matter to discuss with outsiders.
Rather a topic to help Christians understand.
If we fail to explore a difficult subject because of our ignorance, we
guarantee continued ignorance!
Then, when asked, we are unprepared to respond.
We will approach this humbly and prayerfully.
Not everyone will agree with everything presented here, of course.
However, this approach to Revelation and to the millennium has much to commend
it.
Jesus Made it Simple.
Jn 14:2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling
places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place
for you. 3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and
receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”
He goes to His Father’s house, prepares for us, returns for us, and
takes us to His Father’s house.
Whatever the book of Revelation may have to teach us, it cannot and must
not be allowed to contradict Jesus’ clear teaching. And yet, as we will see
below, that is exactly what has happened in our own time.
What is the Millennium?
Literally this compound Latin word means “1,000 years.” Starting with the
mention of a thousand years in Rev 20, and then connecting other Scriptures in
varied and complicated ways, many teach that there will be an earthly reign of
Christ from Jerusalem that will last for exactly 1,000 calendar years.
According to this view there will be two returns of Christ.
First return – He sets up a physical, earthly kingdom, ruling from
David’s throne in Jerusalem.
It will last 1,000 actual years. And only then …
Second return – Final judgment and eternity.
They say that Revelation gives clues leading up to the 1,000-year period.
Already it seems that Jesus’ simple promise has been made more
complicated.
Popular Presentations
1967: Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth.
1995: Tim LaHaye’s and Jerry Jenkins’ Left Behind series. 16
volumes. Total sales: 80 million. Time cover story, “Apocalypse Now,”
July 1, 2002.
Not all who hold this view agree on all specifics.
Let’s be careful not to assume that they do.
This lesson will overview some of these beliefs.
The following is taken from The Faith Once for All, by Jack
Cottrell, pp. 526-527.
(We will discuss the “rapture” in a future presentation.)
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This Christian Israelicentric fervor began after Israel became a nation
in 1948 and regained control of the temple site in 1967. These events led Hal
Lindsey to write his influential book, The Late Great Planet Earth.
In it he says (32-34),
Some time in the future
there will be a seven-year period climaxed by the visible return of Jesus
Christ. . . . There is more prophecy concerning this period than any other era
the Bible describes. . . . This period will be marked by the greatest
devastation that man has ever brought upon himself. Mankind will be on the
brink of self-annihilation when Christ suddenly returns to put an end to the
war of wars called Armageddon.
During these past several decades Lindsey, LaHaye, and countless other
prophecy buffs have constructed detailed scenarios of the seven years between
the rapture and the return, based on their own assumptions of how to interpret
prophecy. The details are drawn piecemeal from all over the Bible, since “the
pieces are scattered in small bits throughout the Old and New Testaments,” says
Lindsey (33). Each interpreter has his own unique twists, and the details are
adjusted constantly to take account of the changing political fortunes of the
relevant nations; but the overall picture remains about the same. The following
scenario is typical, gleaned from various sources (especially Lindsey) and
probably already out of date:
The stage for Christ’s return will be set by Israel’s return to its
homeland, Palestine (Ezek 36:24,28; 37:21-22). The temple will be rebuilt upon
its original site (Zech 6:12ff.; Ezek 41–46). The ancient Roman Empire will be
revived, consisting of the European nations (Dan 7:23). This will be headed by
the antichrist (Rev 13:1ff.), who will make a pact with Israel (Dan 9:27). This
will be followed by three and one-half years of peace and prosperity for
Israel. Many conversions will take place through the ministry of the Jewish
remnant.
Suddenly the antichrist will break the covenant and set himself up as
God in the temple (Matt 24:15; 2 Thess 2:4). This begins the three and
one-half year period of tribulation and war, leading to the Battle of
Armageddon (Matt 24:15-21). The “king of the south” (Arab nations) invades and
attacks Israel (Dan 11:5-6,40). The “king of the north” (Russia, Gog leading
Magog) pushes in upon Israel from above (Ezek 38:14-16), then continues on and
overwhelms the Arab nations, too (Dan 11:42-43). At this point God intervenes
and destroys Gog (Ezek 38:18-22; 39:6), rescuing Israel, but only
temporarily.
What follows is the climactic “mother of all battles, WW III, “the last
great war of mankind” (Lindsey, 71). Two hundred million Chinese soldiers (the
“kings from the east”) march overland toward Israel (Rev 9:14-16;
16:12-16), while the antichrist marches toward Israel with a European
army. These two gigantic armies meet at a specific area of geography in Israel
known as Armageddon (Rev 16:16). Here, amid fierce fighting and great
destruction, many Jews are converted (Zech 13:8-9). Then just as Israel is
about to be completely overwhelmed, Christ returns, lands on Mt. Olivet,
rescues believing Jews and annihilates the enemy (Zech 14:1-4, 12). Now the
millennium can begin.
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Once again, it would be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to
reconcile this complex series of events with Jesus’ simple promise in John
14:1-4.
So how do people come to these remarkable predictions? We have to start
with the assumptions that underlie such claims.
Assumptions
There are several basic, mistaken (I believe) assumptions underlying the
preceding interpretation of the millennium.
1.
Revelation is like most other
Bible books – literal.
In fact, Revelation is an “apocalypse,” a special genre (literary style)
using vivid images, symbolic numbers, odd creatures, dragons, battles, cosmic
upheaval, rising evil, a final showdown, and ultimate victory.
It is not of the same type of writing as a gospel, a book of history, or
even most books of prophecy. Therefore, it cannot be approached in the same way
as other types of biblical literature.
Revelation is the only inspired apocalypse, but there are
non-inspired examples of this genre. Example: the 2nd-cent. Apocalypse of
Peter.
Ironically, even the movie industry recognizes this “apocalyptic” genre!
You may search online and be surprised to see how many such films are being
produced.
But those who see Revelation as more of a “prewritten history” than a
spectacular apocalypse may believe the following. Everything that can be
interpreted literally and physically is and must be interpreted
that way.
They may even insist that, unless you agree with that approach, you are
denying and rejecting the very Word of God! You are “taking away” from its
message (Rev 22:18-19)!
And yet we immediately see the difficulties that result from this
approach.
Rev 20: Angel – key – abyss (bottomless pit) – great chain – dragon
(serpent, or both?) – Satan (a spirit) thrown into (literal?) abyss – 1,000
years – “they” (who?) on thrones (physical?) – beast – image – mark – reign
(how? where?) 1,000 years.
In this view, anything noted in Revelation,
if it refers to an earthly
event in the OT,
must be predicting another
earthly event.
Examples: Locusts. Euphrates River. Water to blood. Temple and altar in
Jerusalem. Earthquake. Hailstorm. Mount Zion. Fall of Babylon.
2.
Revelation is written in
chronological order.
Many think that this literal 1000-year period can begin only after the
book’s other sequential literal events.
Seven seals, seven trumpets, seven bowls, etc.
So, they say, by connecting items in the book with Russia, Europe,
China, the Middle East, etc., they can claim today’s news as fulfilled
prophecy.
Then they can claim to s“prove” the Bible prophecies true.
More Assumptions
3.
Satan was not bound by
the first coming of Christ.
Satan’s continued ability to deceive proves this.
Read Heb 2:14-15.
4.
There will be two “Second
Comings.”
Reread John 14:1-6.
5.
The second “Second
Coming” cannot occur now.
The Jewish Temple has to be rebuilt first.
Babylon, which does not now exist, must be restored and again destroyed.
All the other events leading up to Rev 20 must occur prior to the end.
6.
The 1,000-year reign will
take place on earth.
The earth is not mentioned in this passage.
1 Thess 4:13-18 states that we will be caught up to meet the Lord in the
air.
Once again, reread John 14:1-6.
7.
Jesus will rule the earth
from Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is not mentioned in this passage.
8.
There will be two
separate physical resurrections.
Read John 5:28-29, where Jesus speaks of all the dead, both good and
evil, being resurrected in the same hour.
Difficulties
If this popular teaching is correct, more problems arise.
We must conclude that the primary victory of Christ over Satan did not
take place via His death and resurrection. It must still be future.
Christ, in His glorified state, will rule from a physical throne.
There will be a hybrid population on earth during the millennium. The redeemed,
in their glorified, immortal bodies, will coexist with the unredeemed, in their
natural, mortal bodies.
If this takes place on this old, broken earth, is that habitat fit for
glorified saints?
If this takes place on some new, glorified earth, is that habitat fit
for mortal, corruptible bodies and for wicked, sinful men?
The saints’ spirits would leave heavenly presence to return to earth.
That’s the reverse of Jesus’ promise on John 14:1-6.
What would be the effect of loosing Satan against secure, glorified
saints?
Resolution
Let’s go back to where we started!
Jesus’ simple promise in John 14:1-6 is correct.
Nothing in Revelation contradicts Jesus’ word.
An apocalypse is to be read as an apocalypse.
Revelation is not chronological, but cyclical.
Cycles, describing the era between the first and second coming of Christ
in five parallel sections.
The “millennium” in Rev 20 begins the last cycle.
Five Parallel, Repeated Cycles
Beginning: first coming. Ending: second coming.
As evidence of this, read the final judgment as described in Rev
6:12-17, way before Rev 20-22. And read of the saints in heaven, described in
Rev 7:9-17, using some of the exact terminology found at the end of the book.
You may also note that the Lord’s victory over Satan is connected with
Jesus’ first coming in Rev 12. That would fit with this cyclical
approach. It would also support the parallel description of the victory over
Satan in Rev 20.
Here are the five cycles.
4-7 The Opening of the Seals
6:12-17 Judgment;
7:9-17 Heaven
8-11 The Blowing of the Trumpets
12-14 The Dragon and the Beast
15-19 The Bowls and Babylon
20-22 The Heavenly Kingdom
Note again, based on this cyclical understanding of the book …
The “millennium” in Rev 20 begins the last cycle.
It does not chronologically follow the “preceding” events, as if the
entire book is some kind of prewritten history.
Resolution
The millennium represents the Christian age.
Jesus overcame the devil at His first coming.
Jesus, now exalted, rules on the throne of heaven.
We are in the kingdom now, sharing His victory.
Satan cannot stop the spread of the gospel.
Toward the end he will make one final effort.
Jesus will return and banish him forever.
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Certainly questions remain and call for further study. However, that is
quite likely part of the wonder of the Apocalypse. It keeps us thinking,
imagining, studying, and worshiping, as we wait in faith for the Lord’s return.
Come, Lord Jesus!
