The Millennium Part 1

This is a study (Part 1) I wanted to do for a long time. It's a subject that has been, talked about a lot lately being that many feel we are close to the second coming of Jehoshua. The second Advent of Jehoshua is supposed to usher in the start of His one thousand year reign with the Saints (The Church). There are a few different theories of the millennium teaching. Here there arenas follows:

1) Postmillennialism - This view states that the second coming of Jehoshua will not take place until after the Church helps establish a period of peace and prosperity for one thousand years. This will be done through social, educational and other cultural reforms. The Church will unite with State to bring about this age of aqaurius before Jehoshua comes back. This teaching contradicts clear scripture that describes the earth im immense peril before Messiah returns. Postmillennialism was popular during the 19th century among Protestants but essentially died out with World War 1. This view of the millennium is no longer widely held although there are some sects of Christendom that still teach this namely the National Apostolic Reformation movement.

2) Amillennialism - This is the view of the millennium that is has been the traditional teaching during much of the Church age since Augustine (354-430). Iy is the official view of the Roman Catholic Church,  the Eastern Orthodox Church and some reformed Protestant groups. Amillennialists believe that the one thousand year reign of Jehoshua with His saints is symbolic of the time period between His death at the stake and His second coming (The Church age). The binding of Satan is something that took place on the stake when Satan was defeated by Messiah. Amillennialists see the first resurrection as a symbol of those who accept new birth in Jehoshua.

3) Premillennialism - The premillennial view holds that the Second Coming occurs before the millennium. The Christians of the first three centuries were premillennialists; under the influence of Augustine,  premillennialism was gradually replaced by amillennialism. The three teachings of premillennialism that exist today are the dispensational, the historic,  and the Seventh-day Adventist understanding. The dispensational view holds that there will be a secret rapture of the Church prior to the great tribulation and revealing of the Antimessiah. The historic view holds that there is no secret rapture of the Church and that the Second coming of Jehoshua is when all believers will be resurrected to be with the Lord. Both of the aforementioned views teach that the millennium will be here on the earth. The Seventh-day Adventist view teaches that the Second coming of Jehoshua is when all believers will be resurrected to be with the Lord. Where the Seventh-day Adventist understanding is different from the previous two views is that they teach the millennium will take place in Heaven rather than earth.

Here is the main passage regarding the Millennium.  We will work from this passage of scripture to compare to other passages that are believed to describe the millennium. 

 Revelation 20 (KJV)

20 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.

6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

The events leading up to the millennium are the 2nd coming of Jehoshua,  the resurrection of the Saints,  the final outpouring of Jehovah's wrath (7 bowl judgments), the battle at Armageddon and all the wicked being slain by the Lamb (Revelation 20:11-21).

 1 Thessalonians 4:15-16 (KJV)

15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Here above we have the first event related to Jehoshua's Second Advent, the resurrection of the Saints, those in the grave and those alive here on earth. By the time the final wrath of Jehovah is poured out (7 bowl judgments and the the destruction of unbelievers who are living on earth) the Saints will have been resurrected to be with the Master forever.

Revelation 19:11-21 (KJV)

11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.

17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;

18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

The above passage describes the events that precede the millennium. One important thing to note here is that verse 21 states that the remnant were slain by the Lamb. Who are this remnant? It appears from verse 18 that it is all men, both, great and small. This remnant apears to be all unbelievers on earth at the time of Jehoshua's coming. The main principals are the Antimessiah and the False prophet (verse 21) so the remnant are all others (unbelievers) left on earth during the Second Advent. Right before this the dead and living Saints are resurrected to be with the Master forever (Revelation 20:6)
The birds of the air will eat the flesh of all men who are destroyed in this final outpouring of Jehovah's wrath executed by His Son Jehoshua. All unbelievers will be killed at the Second Advent of Jehoshua and their flesh will be devoured by the birds. Regular citizens and the beast armies will be utterly destroyed by Jehoshua's sword. The Antimessiah (sea beast) and false prophet (earth beast) will be captured and thrown into the Lake of Fire here on earth and will be destroyed once and for all. It says the rest of the men/women will be killed by the sword of Jehoshua which proceeds from His mouth. This sequence of events will lead into the millennium. 

 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9 (KJV)

6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;

7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

This passage correlates with Revelation 19:17-21. Note that in both passages it appears that all left on the earth after the resurrection of the Saints will be destroyed by the brightness of our Master's coming. This is important information as it may help us better understand where the Millennium will take place. The popular view is that the millennium will be here on earth where Jehoshua will reign with the Saints in physical Jerusalem In a physical temple. The question to be asked is "if all the wicked have been destroyed by Jehoshua at his coming, then who does he rule over here in the millennium on earth? The popular millennium teaching is that there will be survivors of the final wrath of Jehovah that will enter the thousand year reign with their mortal bodies. This teaching states that these unbelievers who survived the final outpouring of Jehovah's wrath, will have a chance to obtain salvation in the millennium. 

If we take the above passages in 2nd Thessalonians and Revelation 19 into account, there are no survivors of Jehovah's final wrath. This would beg the question: "What then is the point of the Millennium?"

If there are no unbelievers that transfer from this system of things to the millennium then that would defeat the whole purpose of it. If believers are the only ones to enter the millennium, why even bother with the thousand year reign and just go straight to the New Heaven and New Earth? The whole concept of the millennium would seem to indicate that there is a specific purpose to it.

Here are some more scriptures that describe the destruction of unbelievers at the Second Advent of Jehoshua. 

 Isaiah 11:4 (KJV)

4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

 Jeremiah 25:31-33 (KJV)

31 A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord.

32 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.

33 And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.

The above passages describe the destruction of the wicked at the last day is vast and complete and leaves no room for survivors. This scenario portrayed in scripture then creates a problem for the millennium on earth teaching. What would be the point of the Saints reigning with Jehoshua here on earth if there is no one to rule?  Why not go straight to the New Heaven and New restored Earth? There are scriptures to indicate that the earth will be desolate after the second coming of Jehoshua and during the millennium.  Let's look at them:

 Jeremiah 4:23-27 (KJV)

23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.

25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.

26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger.

27 For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.

 Jeremiah 25:31-33 (KJV)

31 A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord.

32 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.

33 And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.

The Jeremiah prophecies have a primary application with regards to Judah. But all such day of judgment prophecies are types of the trial and ultimate day of the Lord (His Second Advent).

The above two passages clearly detail the state of the earth after the Second coming of Jehoshua. The earth is desolate and no flesh survives Jehovah's final wrath. Dead bodies of the wicked are strewn about the earth from one end to the other. Do you think Jehoshua and the Saints are going to come down and set up camp on this corrupted earth especially being that there will need to be a massive cleanup job? Remember Jehoshua said nothing that offends will enter his Kingdom so the teaching that unbelievers will transfer over to the millennium is false. Also, the teaching that tribulation Saints who weren't part of a secret rapture (which is false) will be the ones to transfer over to the earthly millennium is false as they will still have their corrupted bodies which sin.

The below passage in Isaiah is often used by the "pre trib-pre mill-dispensational" camp to support their teaching of an earthly millennium. I am pre mill but not pre trib or dispensational. I believe in a millennium but not an earthly one. The first two verses of the below passage in Isaiah destroy the earthly millennium theory in one fell swoop. This passage is talking about the New Heavens and New Earth. The New Earth is this current earth restored to it's edenic beauty. No sinners will be allowed as it will be for Jehovah's people only. Verse 18 talks about rejoicing for ever in the creation of the New Heavens and New Earth so this can't be possibly talking about a thousand year reign on this corrupted earth. Verse 20, where it states "But the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed" Is symbolic of there being no sinners allowed in this new system. Verse 17, clearly defines this time of renewal as taking place in the New Earth not this earth, which confirms the symbolism of the statement made in verse 20 regarding the sinner. We all know that by the time the New Heavens and New Earth are remade by Jehovah, that all sinners will have been completely destroyed in the Lake of Fire which was on this current corrupted earth. After the annihilation of sinners in the Lake of Fire, which takes place on this earth not a spooky spiritual underworld, the earth will be restored by Jehovah to the paradise it was originally meant to be. With that understanding and the confirmation in verse 17 and 18 that this entire passage in Isaiah is talking about how things will be in the New Heavens and New Earth, it leaves earthly millennialist with no supporting scriptures for their theory.

Verse 23 even indicates that once we are in the New Earth after the millennium, we will have family life. It says we will have offspring.  Remember, that Jehovah before the fall created male and female to be one flesh. I truly believe now that marriage in the New Heaven and New Earth is a real possibility. I know that Jehoshua said that there will be no marriage in the resurrection but maybe that is just when we are in the millennium in Heaven. Remember Jehovah's intent for this earth originally was for it to be eternal and for male and female to ne joined as one. This was before the fall. Once the earth is restored why wouldn't there be family life now that sin is no longer here and the ideal family life will, finally be a reality. Obviously we will work in the New Earth, verse 23 also, indicates that. If we are going to have offspring in the New Earth then obviously there will be marriage. 

 Matthew 5:5 (RSB)

"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth."

 Psalm 37:11 (KJV)

11 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

The above scriptures confirm that Christians will inherit this very earth once Jehovah restores it to paradise, after the destruction of the wicked in the Lake of Fire which concludes the millennium.