The Millenium reign of the Lord Jesus Christ according to the word of God

 The Millenium reign of the Lord Jesus Christ according to the word of God

Dave Hunt

While the millennium is commonly referred to as the Kingdom of God for which Jesus taught His disciples to pray (“Thy kingdom come…”), that cannot be true for several obvious reasons. Foremost of all, the millennium ends after 1000 years. But the Word of God distinctly tells us that God’s kingdom “is an everlasting kingdom” (Psalm 145:13). Even Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar knew that “his [God’s] kingdom is an everlasting kingdom…” (Daniel:4:3).

 

Daniel reiterates that fact (Daniel 7:14), as does Isaiah in his prophecy of the Messiah who will rule restored Israel: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulders. And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father…” (Isaiah 9:6). The next verse, often overlooked, is conclusive, “and in the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.” No end!

 

Yet the millennium ends, and with earth’s final war. At that time Jesus himself has been reigning on David’s throne for 1000 years during which Satan has been confined to “the bottomless pit” so that he could “deceive the nations no more” (Revelation 20:1-3). Christ has established peace on earth and has enforced it with a rod of iron (Psalm 2). The lion lies down with the lamb and eats straw like an ox (Isaiah 65:25). Yet as soon as Satan is released, mankind “the number of whom is as the sand of the sea” follow him in battle against Christ in Jerusalem (Revelation 20:7-9). That war alone disqualifies the millennium from being God’s kingdom of endless peace.

 

There are other disqualifications. Jesus told Nicodemus that no one can even see, much less enter into, the Kingdom of God without being born again of the Holy Spirit (John 3:1-16). Yet multitudes living in the millennial kingdom will not have been born again, providing another reason why it is not the Kingdom of God. Paul declared, “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 15:50). But there will be millions of “flesh-and-blood” people living in the millennium—a further reason why it is not the Kingdom of God.

 

Then what is the millennium? Quite clearly, it is God’s final proof of the incorrigible evil of the human heart. Even Christ, having turned into a paradise rivaling the Garden of Eden, ruling with a rod of iron and the redeemed in glorified bodies reigning with Him cannot change the human heart or make men willingly obey Him. There is no way to reform the present human race. It must be put to death in Christ and created anew through faith in Him. The kingdom begins in individual hearts when Christ the King is received to reign within.