Millenium

Millennium Heresy

These heresies have slipped into present-day Christianity and keep believers in fear of the Great Tribulation in the future.

This fear hinders people from moving in signs, wonders and miracles that believers can see happen through the power of God.

Until after the First World War horrors, the predominant view was not a future millennial reign. Neither the early church fathers, nor Augustine, Luther, or Spurgeon, to name a few, believed in a coming millennium as described in the Dispensational View of theologians.

On the contrary, these generals of faith thought that the kingdom’s reign started when Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father.

The Kingdom is here now.

Christianity’s eschatology (end times) is victorious, we are a glorious warrior bride, not a remnant that will face the Antichrist and great tribulation in the future.

The kingdom reign started when Jesus ascended, therefore the kingdom is here now. Because of this truth, we are able to move more effectively in the power of God to see miracles and healings happen on a regular basis.

The Millennium is not a literal one thousand years, but the term is used here to provide a label for the current reigning of God’s kingdom.

The Millennium started after the Great Tribulation of 66-70AD.

The last days began on the day of Pentecost and finished in one Hebrew generation.

Those that believe in the Futurist view think that Jesus will return and set up a dominion from Jerusalem. They will reign with Him for one thousand years. Such a future Millennium does not hold up to scriptural challenger’s.

Post-Tribulation

Millennialism Like the early church fathers, I am a post-tribulation millennialist.

The majority of New Testament books were completed before the destruction of Jerusalem, so they were looking ahead to the Millennium starting after the coming destruction of Jerusalem.

Therefore, I believe we are already in the Millennium, in agreement with the church fathers.

Firstly, we need to determine the Millennium does not mean a literal one thousand years.

Book of Revelations:

Millennium is Not a Literally One Thousand Years.

The word Millennium is not in the original Hebrew or Greek translations.

However, Judaism and Christianity both refer to one thousand years.

Not a Literal Thousand years.

Firstly, we need to realize that the Book of Revelations does not support one thousand years being literal.

REVELATION 20:7 NOW WHEN THE THOUSAND YEARS HAVE EXPIRED, SATAN WILL BE RELEASED FROM HIS PRISON

In the Book of Revelation, the Greek word for a thousand has uncertainty to it:

χίλιοι chilioi; plural of uncertain affinity; a thousand.

Affinity means understanding, so we cannot be definitive about it being the number one thousand.

Whenever the Thousand Years are Finished.

We have found that the word for thousand is indefinite. Another term in this verse also lets us know the thousand years is not literal. It is the word when:

REVELATION 20:7 NOW WHEN THE THOUSAND YEARS HAVE EXPIRED, SATAN WILL BE RELEASED FROM HIS PRISON.

The Greek word for when is: ὅταν Hotan; whenever (implying hypothesis or more or less uncertainty) as long (soon) as, that, + till, when(-soever), while.

As you can see, one thousand years is only an estimated time.

Firstly, the word for one thousand is of uncertain affinity. Secondly, “whenever” is not a definite article.

A Literal Thousand is a Different Greek Word.

When one thousand is a literal number, it is a different Greek word.

For example: 1 CORINTHIANS 10:8 NOR LET US COMMIT SEXUAL IMMORALITY, AS SOME OF THEM DID, AND IN ONE DAY TWENTY-THREE THOUSAND FELL.

A literal one thousand is a different word in this and other scriptures:

ιλιάς chilias; one thousand (“chiliad”): — thousand

Looking at the verse, which has a specific number, the Greek word is different.

Unlike the word used for the Millennium, which is of uncertain affinity, this word is specific and not an estimate.

If the Millennium were exactly one thousand years, the Bible would have used the chilias word rather than chillioi.

Old Testament Millennium

We have seen that the one thousand years in the Book of Revelations is not necessarily literal; we need to look into the Old Testament to see if there are other examples of one thousand not being literal.

The Non-Literal One Thousand Hills

PSALMS 50:10 FOR EVERY BEAST OF THE FOREST IS MINE AND THE CATTLE ON A THOUSAND HILLS.

One thousand hills are not literal because the earth has many more than one thousand hills,

Fundamental to the Futurists and Dispensational View is that Jesus will reign from Israel for a literal one thousand years.

However, the literal interpretation has a problem when we look at this scripture in First Chronicles:

1 CHRONICLES 16:15-18 REMEMBER HIS COVENANT FOREVER, THE WORD WHICH HE COMMANDED, FOR A THOUSAND GENERATIONS, THE COVENANT WHICH HE MADE WITH ABRAHAM, AND HIS OATH TO ISAAC, AND CONFIRMED IT TO JACOB FOR A STATUTE, TO ISRAEL FOR AN EVERLASTING COVENANT, SAYING, “TO YOU I WILL GIVE THE LAND OF CANAAN AS THE ALLOTMENT OF YOUR INHERITANCE,”

If we were to take the Millennium as a literal one thousand years as the Dispensationalists and Futurists do, we also need to take this scripture literally.

There are two Hebrew biblical definitions of a generation, either 40 years or 100 years.

For a Dispensationalist, the natural reign of Israel during the millennium is essential to their theology.

If that were true, then Chronicles teaches Jesus must come back 40,000 or 100,000 years after His death and resurrection, not 2000 years as they suggest.

One thousand years is not necessarily literal in the Old Testament or the New Testament, and the Millennium is not a literal one thousand years.

Prelude to the Millennium

Most theologians agree that the Millennium will start after the return of Jesus Christ to destroy the AntiChrist. It will end with the day of judgment.

Futurists only recognize two comings of Christ, whereas there are six comings referred to in the Greek and Hebrew translations.

• His Birth

• Commencement of His Ministry

• Jesus’ transfiguration

• His Ascension and Coronation • Judgment of Israel

• His future return (incorrectly called the Second Coming) I believe that the Millennium started after His fifth coming on the clouds of glory with His armies in 66AD.

Three historians attest to this sign three and a half years before the final destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD.

Now we have seen that one thousand years is figurative, not literal, let us look at what happened before the Millennium.

The book of Revelation refers to the Millennium in Revelation 20, so we will start in Revelation 12

Jesus’ Ministry on Earth For three and a half years,

Jesus had his ministry on earth as the Son of Man and the Son of God. Jesus reveals His view on His ministry to the apostle John in the Book of Revelation:

REVELATION 12:7-8 NOW WHEN THE DRAGON SAW THAT HE HAD BEEN CAST TO THE EARTH, HE PERSECUTED THE WOMAN WHO GAVE BIRTH TO THE MALE CHILD. BUT THE WOMAN WAS GIVEN TWO WINGS OF A GREAT EAGLE, THAT SHE MIGHT FLY INTO THE WILDERNESS TO HER PLACE, WHERE SHE IS NOURISHED FOR A TIME AND TIMES AND HALF A TIME, FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE SERPENT.

The dragon is the devil, the woman is Israel, and the male Child is Jesus Christ, or possibly those who are first caught up to be with the Lord in the atmosphere attaining resurrection bodies.

How was the woman, Israel, nourished?

Through Jesus, the Bread of Life, who nurtured the Jews of Israel with the word of God.

JOHN 6:35 AND JESUS SAID TO THEM, “I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE. HE WHO COMES TO ME SHALL NEVER HUNGER, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN ME SHALL NEVER THIRST.

Jesus’ Victory Means War in Heaven.

Following on from His ministry, after His death and resurrection, next in Revelation is Jesus’ ascension. When Jesus ascended, and God coronated Him, war broke out in heaven, resulting in the angels casting Satan out of heaven to earth.

REVELATION 12:7-9 AND WAR BROKE OUT IN HEAVEN: MICHAEL AND HIS ANGELS FOUGHT WITH THE DRAGON, AND THE DRAGON AND HIS ANGELS FOUGHT, BUT THEY DID NOT PREVAIL, NOR WAS A PLACE FOUND FOR THEM IN HEAVEN ANY LONGER. SO THE GREAT DRAGON WAS CAST OUT, THAT SERPENT OF OLD, CALLED THE DEVIL AND SATAN, WHO DECEIVES THE WHOLE WORLD; HE WAS CAST TO THE EARTH, AND HIS ANGELS WERE CAST OUT WITH HIM.

Now Satan has been kicked out of the heavenly places, more than once. At the time of his fall when the earth froze over and God had to create it. When the 70 were sent out and displaces his rule over the cities they visited. When Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, so that he can no longer come before the throne in the third heaven and accuse us.

If he still accuses us, it in another courtroom, but I have a limited understanding of the courts of heaven.

Because Michael and his angels cast Satan out of heaven, he now attacks the woman.

Satan being thrown to the earth resulted in the Roman-Jewish wars of the next forty years.

Jesus Prophecy Means War Against Israel

In Matthew 24, Jesus predicted in His prophecy that there would be the Great Tribulation that occurs to the Jews within one generation. He then went on to say another Great Tribulation would never happen again like that one that wiped out Jerusalem as a city on the earth:

MATTHEW 24:21 FOR THEN THERE WILL BE GREAT TRIBULATION, SUCH AS HAS NOT BEEN SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD UNTIL THIS TIME, NO, NOR EVER SHALL BE.

We see this figuratively portrayed in Revelation:

REVELATION 12:12-15 WHEN THE DRAGON SAW THAT HE HAD BEEN CAST TO THE EARTH, HE PERSECUTED THE WOMAN WHO GAVE BIRTH TO THE MALE CHILD. … SO THE SERPENT SPEWED WATER OUT OF HIS MOUTH LIKE A FLOOD AFTER THE WOMAN, THAT HE MIGHT CAUSE HER TO BE CARRIED AWAY BY THE FLOOD.

Start of Persecution

That which John saw in his Revelation is precisely what happened; the Jewish believers knew relative peace until the stoning of Stephen in 33AD, the same year Paul had his conversion.

ACTS 8:1 NOW SAUL WAS CONSENTING TO HIS DEATH. AT THAT TIME A GREAT PERSECUTION AROSE AGAINST THE CHURCH WHICH WAS AT JERUSALEM; AND THEY WERE ALL SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE REGIONS OF JUDEA AND SAMARIA, EXCEPT THE APOSTLES.

Three and a half years of Jesus’ ministry, plus three and a half years of peace after His death, equals seven years of peace.

Seven Years of Peace Under the Messiah

Daniel refers to confirming a covenant with many for one week, where one week equals seven years. It talks about the prince confirming the covenant. We see Jesus did exactly this, confirming His covenant with preaching the gospel, healing the sick, being raised from the dead and birthing the church.

DANIEL 9:27 THEN HE SHALL CONFIRM A COVENANT WITH MANY FOR ONE WEEK; BUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK HE SHALL BRING AN END TO SACRIFICE AND OFFERING

In the minds of Futurists, “He” in the passage above, is the future Antichrist who will make a covenant of peace with Israel.

However, Daniel never mentioned Antichrist in his book, and the context in Daniel is clear. “He” is referring to the Messiah, the Prince of Peace, in the previous two verses:

DANIEL 9:25 “KNOW THEREFORE AND UNDERSTAND, THAT FROM THE GOING FORTH OF THE COMMAND TO RESTORE AND BUILD JERUSALEM UNTIL MESSIAH THE PRINCE, THERE SHALL BE SEVEN WEEKS AND SIXTY-TWO WEEKS; THE STREET SHALL BE BUILT AGAIN, AND THE WALL, EVEN IN TROUBLESOME TIMES. DANIEL 9:26 “AND AFTER THE SIXTY-TWO WEEKS MESSIAH SHALL BE CUT OFF, BUT NOT FOR HIMSELF; AND THE PEOPLE OF THE PRINCE WHO IS TO COME SHALL DESTROY THE CITY AND THE SANCTUARY. THE END OF IT SHALL BE WITH A FLOOD, AND TILL THE END OF THE WAR DESOLATIONS ARE DETERMINED.

People of the Prince

This verse clarifies who the “people of the prince” are:- the Jews.

Reading the history of the Roman-Jewish wars, it is clear that it was the Jews who destroyed Jerusalem, not the Romans, who carried it out.

If the Jews had not stirred and attacked the Romans, Jerusalem would have remained to stand.

It is Jesus, not a future anti-Christ who made a covenant of peace, and put an end to sacrifice and offerings (the law), after three and a half years of ministry.

Jesus the Messiah made the New Covenant through His death.

Halfway through the seven years of peace, He put an end to all sacrifice and offerings by nailing the law to the cross. There were a further three and a half years of peace before the persecution of the Jews started in 33AD.

War Will then Break Out Against Gentile Believers

Returning to the Revelation seen by John, the next stage is that war will break out against the followers of Jesus.

REVELATION 12:17 AND THE DRAGON WAS ENRAGED WITH THE WOMAN, AND HE WENT TO MAKE WAR WITH THE REST OF HER OFFSPRING, WHO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND HAVE THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST.

Believers in Jesus began being called Christians in Acts 11. They were, of course, persecuted by the Jews, who would not allow them to come into the synagogue.

Nero persecuted the Christians in the Great Tribulation for approximately three to three and a half years.

From then on, the influence of the Roman Empire became weaker and weaker as the Millennial age began.

Christianity eventually became the predominant religion, as it still is two thousand years later.

Post-Tribulation Millennium

Most theologians agree the Millennium starts after the Great Tribulation and the destruction of the Antichrist.

The early church fathers believed in a post-tribulation millennium.

I believe that the Great Tribulation, apostasy and destruction of the Antichrist have already been fulfilled within one generation of Jesus’ prediction of these events.

Futurists are still looking for a future tribulation. To repeat, Jesus prophesied the Great Tribulation would happen within one generation of 30ad.

After the Great Tribulation of 66-70AD There is no doubt that the Jews went through their worst time in history between 40 and 70AD.

A higher percentage of Jews died in that generation than at any other time, including the Holocaust of World War Two.

Declaring a future Great Tribulation is making Jesus a false prophet because He declared there will only be one Great Tribulation before 70AD, and there shall never be another like it wiping out the city of Jerusalem, God’ chosen people.

The Great Tribulation probably started at the coming of Jesus at Passover in 66AD at the time of the vision of Jesus and His armies over Jerusalem, and ended three and a half years later with the destruction of Jerusalem in September 70AD.

REVELATION 20:4 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 …

 MATTHEW 24:21 FOR THEN THERE WILL BE GREAT TRIBULATION, SUCH AS HAS NOT BEEN SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD UNTIL THIS TIME, NO, NOR EVER SHALL BE.

After the Anti-Christ

We have seen that Nero was indeed the Antichrist, personified.

After the Mark of the Beast

REVELATION 20:4 … AND HAD NOT RECEIVED HIS MARK ON THEIR FOREHEADS OR ON THEIR HANDS. AND THEY LIVED AND REIGNED WITH CHRIST FOR A THOUSAND YEARS.

Briefly, the beast’s mark is the opposite of God’s mark referred to in Deuteronomy.

DEUTERONOMY 6:4-8 “HEAR, O ISRAEL: THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE! YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH. … YOU SHALL BIND THEM AS A SIGN ON YOUR HAND, AND THEY SHALL BE AS FRONTLETS BETWEEN YOUR EYES.

Jesus says that if you do not become part of the New Covenant, you are not His son or daughter. You either have God’s law in your heart and mind (part of the New Covenant), or you belong to the devil.

REVELATION 13:17 AND THAT NO ONE MAY BUY OR SELL EXCEPT ONE WHO HAS THE MARK OR THE NAME OF THE BEAST, OR THE NUMBER OF HIS NAME.

In the time of Nero, you could not buy or sell without the Roman money you needed to trade, carrying Nero’s head.

Concerning the mark or the name of the beast that may come, I will address at a future time, right now I have no revelation on it, because the Lord only reveals to me what is happening now, and what has happened in the Past.

Ruling and Reigning

During the current Millennium, we are ruling and reigning with Jesus.

REVELATION 20:6 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.

Believing that ruling and reigning is in a future Millennium will limit your faith today.

“I do realize the powers of the age to come, and that we will start experiencing them now, but that is not the focus of this message.

A future age to come may cause you to think that failure to get a breakthrough in healing is because it is not time for that level of miracle to occur yet.

The Devil is Bound

The Millennium is when the devil is bound:

REVELATION 20:1-3 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.

During the Great Tribulation, the devil had authority first over the Jews, then the Gentile believers. However, the church started to rule and reign once the Great Tribulation finished and the Millennium began.

Church Arising over the Devil

There are two progressions here for the devil. First, there is a casting down to earth. The war in heaven started on the day of Jesus’ enthronement.

There is a further binding that occurs due to being in the Millennium. Here Satan is cast down into a pit.

The church arising in their kingdom authority and anointing will further bind the works of Satan on earth.

Our purpose as sons and daughters is to displace the principalities and powers. The binding of Satan is figuratively seen as going into the pit, awaiting judgment day.

MATTHEW 16:18-20 AND I ALSO SAY TO YOU THAT YOU ARE PETER, AND ON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH, AND THE GATES OF HADES SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT. AND I WILL GIVE YOU THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, AND WHATEVER YOU BIND ON EARTH WILL BE BOUND IN HEAVEN, AND WHATEVER YOU LOOSE ON EARTH WILL BE LOOSED IN HEAVEN.”

Ruling and reigning is an important truth to understand. The devil is bound when we take our authority seriously. The devil is under our feet

Notice the similarity of Revelation 20 to Matthew 16. The devil is only bound as much as the church binds it! The devil is bound, and the church needs to enforce that

Is the Millennium the Seventh Day of Rest? We have learned that neither the book of Revelation nor the Old Testament support that the Millennium is a literal one thousand years.