Is the 1000 year kingdom literal?

"Armageddon" = destruction of "Babylon" and must occur prior to the "Millennium" because it involves the beast, which has been cast into the Lake of Fire, by the beginning of the Millennium.

Armageddon prefigures Gog & Magog, but chronologically precedes the same.

The Messianic Kingdom began with Christ, and endures forever...

Meanwhile, the very same Kingdom began small, as a fringe movement involving hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands and (by Revelation 7) hundreds of thousands..

Gradually Christianity rose to victoriously spiritually convert the Greco-Roman world and beyond

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_of_Christianity

The 1000-year long medieval heyday of Christianity of the medieval Church and 1000-year long Byzantine empire exemplifies the meaning of the Millennium, as the "Kingdom reigning"

not a new kingdom, but the same kingdom socially dominant

so, yes, the Millennium would be one age of the eternal Messianic Kingdom

after the Millennium, the Kingdom continues, but evidently diminishes to some degree under the onslaught of "Gog & Magog"

Revelation 20:6 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.



he that hath part in the first resurrection. Let's say the total number who have part in the first resurrection is 10 billion.


Of those 10 billion, how many of those does the following apply to?----on such the second death hath no power

Of those 10 billion, how many of those does the following apply to?----but they shall be priests of God and of Christ

Every single one of them, right?

Of those 10 billion, how many of those does the following apply to?----and shall reign with him a thousand years

It has to be the same answer, right? It has to mean all of them, all 10 billion. That has to mean all 10 billion each reign with Christ a thousand years. Per Amil this is impossible since no one even lives a thousand years in order to reign with Christ that length of time. Per Premil though, not a problem. I can't speak for other Premils, but why I tend to think they reign with Christ a thousand years, this has to do with ruling with a rod of iron during that period. Then satan is loosed for one final testing period of those who have been ruled over with a rod of iron during the thousand years.

DavidPT said:

If you want to know my thinking on this part in particular, see post #34.

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I am not interested in so-called cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers or number patterns theories. I go with biblical numbers based on what the Scriptures declares:

The Numbers in Scriptures!

Protestantismvsthebible said:

In light of
Luke 1:33
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
If its a 1000 years then it must end???

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The millenial kingdom is the reign of the Son on earth. It's followed by the post-millenial kingdom in which the Son turns over his reign to his Father. The post-millenial kingdom is eternal.

1 Corinthians 15:24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.

See my article in the Dispensations of the Kingdom of God.

There confusion is the Kingdom of Heaven, and the Kingdom of Jesus on Earth. During the thousand years, satan will be locked away so the world can be taught and given a chance to know Jesus and follow him. The Father will not be in this Kingdom, the Father God will not come down until after the thousand years to sit on the white throne of Judgement. Then there will be the third age, eternal life.

Revelation 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Revelation 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Revelation 20:3 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.
Revelation 20:4 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.
Revelation 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Revelation 20:6 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.
Revelation 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Revelation 20:8 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.
Revelation 20:9 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.
Revelation 20:10 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.
Revelation 20:11 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.
Revelation 20:12 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.
Revelation 20:13 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.
Revelation 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.


Then there will be the NEW Heaven and NEW Earth, where we will live forever with the Holy Father.


Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Revelation 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

TribulationSigns said:

I am not interested in so-called cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers or number patterns theories. I go with biblical numbers based on what the Scriptures declares:

The Numbers in Scriptures!

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I went to your link, so let's take the number 3, for instance.

Leviticus 19:23 And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of.

Deuteronomy 14:28 At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates:

Judges 9:22 When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel,

2 Samuel 13:38 So Absalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three years.

2 Samuel 21:1 Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.

Above are a few examples with the number 3 followed by years. So, none of these are meaning 3 literal years then?

I think you are not getting my point. My point is this. There is a pattern in the Bible where a cardinal number followed by years means the literal amount specified every single time. It doesn't matter what all the number 3 symbolizes, or any other number for that matter, but whenever a cardinal number is followed by years, those years are always taken as literal years. The same has to be true of a thousand when it too is followed by years.

Mal'ak said:

There confusion is the Kingdom of Heaven, and the Kingdom of Jesus on Earth. During the thousand years, satan will be locked away so the world can be taught and given a chance to know Jesus and follow him. The Father will not be in this Kingdom, the Father God will not come down until after the thousand years to sit on the white throne of Judgement. Then there will be the third age, eternal life.

Revelation 20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
Revelation 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Revelation 20:3 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.
Revelation 20:4 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.
Revelation 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Revelation 20:6 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.
Revelation 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Revelation 20:8 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.
Revelation 20:9 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.
Revelation 20:10 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.
Revelation 20:11 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.
Revelation 20:12 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.
Revelation 20:13 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.
Revelation 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.


Then there will be the NEW Heaven and NEW Earth, where we will live forever with the Holy Father.


Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
Revelation 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

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Revelation 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

Revelation 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.



Are there two different brides here? Revelation 19 indicates the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. Revelation 21 indicates----prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

We then basically have this---the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

So when is a bride usually adorned for a husband? Would it be during the marriage ceremony, or would it be after it, in this case, a thousand years after the marriage ceremony?

Protestantismvsthebible said:

In light of
Luke 1:33
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
If its a 1000 years then it must end???

Click to expand...

Given that only the Apocalypse of St. John mentions the thousand year reign, and seeing as how the contents of the book are, by definition, of an apocalyptic nature; treating the thousand years as literal does not seem to be the best interpretation of the text. If we go with the consensus teaching of Scripture, we have Christ returning not to establish a temporal, earthly kingdom, but rather Christ coming in glory as judge of the living and the dead, with everlasting kingdom. St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 says that Christ will reign until all things are subject to Him, and at last death is defeated, and He delivers all things to the Father and God will be all in all; we know when the last enemy (death) is conquered, it is at the resurrection of the dead at His coming. Christ does not come to establish a temporal kingdom, He comes to deliver the everlasting kingdom to the Father and God will be all in all. It is an everlasting kingdom, where there is neither death nor suffering, for God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, for He has made all things new.

In spite of having support from several important early fathers, Millennialism/Chilisasm is a highly problematic doctrine.

-CryptoLutheran

ViaCrucis said:

Given that only the Apocalypse of St. John mentions the thousand year reign, and seeing as how the contents of the book are, by definition, of an apocalyptic nature; treating the thousand years as literal does not seem to be the best interpretation of the text.

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This is a fair point, I will give you that.

HTacianas said:

The idea of a 1000 year kingdom, or a millennium, or by whatever name it goes by, was abrogated by Christianity. See "chiliasm".

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Thus making some doctors of the church heretics.

Protestantismvsthebible said:

In light of
Luke 1:33
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
If its a 1000 years then it must end???

Click to expand...

Who says the Kingdom ends. Jesus sits at the Right Hand of the Father now.

Ephesians 1: NASB
9He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.

It's all about fulfillment.

Dave L said:

The 1000 years are not the kingdom They are the binding of Satan. When they end Satan is loosed.

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The binding and loosing of Satan is literal yet this is not?

Revelation 20: NASB
4Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.6Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

As I mentioned in the other thread on this exact topic, we can't pick and choose what we want to be literal in Revelation 20 and ditch the rest.

The book of Revelation does contain apocalyptic language, yet that does not mean all of it is to be taken symbolically. Even symbols as in the Dragon mean something literal as we find out.

yeshuaslavejeff said:

Not true at all.
It is not what Yahweh says in Scripture, no.
Notice the saints have NOT bound hasatan in the pit in chains,
and the saints do not bind hasatan in the future 1000 years written in Scripture either.

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Some think Satan is bound right now. Figure that one out.

redleghunter said:

Some think Satan is bound right now. Figure that one out.

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hmmm..... this is a hard one ..... (NOT!) ......
who has blinded the world, even religious folk in many nations ?

Dave L said:

The kingdom is spiritual, not of this world, it is within you, it comes without observation, and one must be born again to see it. All according to Jesus. It will never be a physical earthly kingdom many expect to see. They want a kingdom of sight. But the kingdom is of faith.

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The apostles after spending 40 days with the Risen Christ seemed to think the Kingdom would also manifest physically in the future:

Acts 1: NASB
1The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. 3To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. 4Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me;5for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

6So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 7He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Davy said:

That's because it's an angel... that will bind Satan into his pit prison during the future 1,000 years of Revelation 20...

Rev 20:1-3
20:1 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.
KJV

Most likely, that will be the Archangel Michael that will do that binding of Satan into chains.

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Which happens after the second coming of Christ depicted in Revelation 19.

Dave L said:

The thousand years is a symbol for Satan's binding by the saints. It began, not as literal time, but as a symbol for Satan's binding in John the Baptists day, throughout Jesus' ministry and exorcisms. And continues where ever we preach the gospel.

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Is this a guess or supported by Scriptures?

Dave L said:

Do you expect to see red dragons and green horses floating around in outer space too? Why not look instead at what the symbols represent and view history, the present and the future as John intended?

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I agree symbols do represent a literal truth. Yet not all of Revelation is symbols and all the symbols are explained.

For example the Dragon is Satan and he gives his power to the beast. Revelation 13 explains this.

LittleLambofJesus said:

So is he bound now?

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You have a future as a prosecutor

LittleLambofJesus said:

I asked you about Armageddon...is that still future?
If so, how can the 1000yr period be here now?

2 Peter 3:12
Toward seeming/expecting and hastening the Parousia of the Day of God,
thru which heavens being fired shall be being dissolved and elements burning being melted..

Reve 16:
14 For they are spirits of demons doing signs which is going out upon the kings of whole the homed-one, to be together-assembling them into the Battle of the great Day of the God the Almighty.
16 And he together-assembled/leads/sun-agagein <4863> (5629) them into the Place, the being called to Hebrew Armageddwn

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He does not believe there are literal truths in Revelation.