There are a literal host of explicitly stated scriptures that explicitly promised the ancient nation of Israel that it would be re-established in its ancient homeland.
The only place in the Bible where that idea could be taken is from the passage concerning the thousand years in the Apocalypse.
There is no "Millennium" anywhere else in Scripture. There is no "physical kingdom on this earth, before the time of the new heavens and the new earth" mentioned in Scripture unless one takes this one very particular passage in the Revelation literally.
What we do see elsewhere in Scripture is that Christ has ascended and seated at the right hand of the Father until His return, when He returns there is not temporal kingdom to be established, there is only the everlasting reign of God when God renews and restores all things--new heavens and new earth. In the Acts of the Apostles St. Peter said,
"Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send the Messiah appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time of the restoration of all things, about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago." - Acts of the Apostles 3:19-21
When the Lord returns, it is for the restoration of all things, even as the ancient prophets have spoken, such as Isaiah who speaks of the time of new heavens and new earth, when wolf and lamb lay down together, eat grass together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, etc. (Isaiah 65:25, Isaiah 11:5-9), when the knowledge of the glory of God shall cover the earth as waters cover the seas (Habakkuk 2:9).
Likewise, the Apostle has written concerning the resurrection of the dead at the coming of the Lord in glory that He must reign--at the right hand of the Father--until the end, until every enemy is defeated. The last enemy to be defeated is death, at which point He shall hand the kingdom to the Father and God shall be all-in-all (1 Corinthians 15:20-28), the total annhilation of death is at the resurrection, where it is said, "Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?" (ibid, verses 54-55).
Christ has ascended, the Son of Man taken up in the clouds before the Ancient of Days (Acts of the Apostles 1:9) receiving kingdom, glory, and everlasting dominion (Daniel 7:13-14), as Christ Himself has said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matthew 28:18).
Time and again the Scriptures tell us that Christ, having ascended, reigns and has authority as the King Messiah, exalted to the right hand of the Father (Philippians 2:9). Christ is exalted, not because He was deficient in glory as God (He is, of course, the eternal Son of the Father, God of God, True God); but the exaltation of the Messiah is about the Enthronement of the Messiah. Jesus has taken His throne as King Messiah. He sits on the throne of His father David forever (Luke 1:32-33), not an earthly throne in Jerusalem, but that He as Messiah ben David reigns with everlasting dominion and kingdom.
The Messiah is enthroned, reigning at the right hand of the Father until the time of the end, Christ returns as judge of the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1), this we long and await for, our blessed hope of the Parousia of our "Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13), when the dead are raised (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, 1 Corinthians 15:20-24) and God makes all things new--new heavens and new earth.
An earthly, literal, thousand year kingdom is not based upon a thorough and proper reading of the entire counsel of Scripture; but a very particular interpretation of a passage from the Apocalypse of St. John--a book that constantly uses symbols and metaphors.
-CryptoLutheran
There are a literal host of explicitly stated scriptures that promised the ancient
nation of Israel that it would be re-established in its ancient homeland. Jeremiah 31 literally uses that very word,
"nation" in a promise that Israel would never cease to exist.
But God did not
just make these promises to the ancient
nation of
"Israel." He also made them to
both of the ancient sub-nations of
“Ephraim” and
“Judah” in Isaiah 11:11-15, Ezekiel 37:15-28 and Zechariah 9:12-17, and to each of
“the twelve tribes of Israel” by name in Ezekiel 48:1-8 and 23-19. He further made explicitly stated promises to the descendants of
“Phinehas” in Numbers 25:10-13, to the descendants of
“Zadok” in Ezekiel 44:15-16, to the descendants of
“Nathan,” “Levi,” and
“Shimei,” in Zechariah 12:12-13, to the descendants of the ancient
“Levites” in Jeremiah 33:18 and Ezekiel 44:10-16, and to the descendants of
“Jonadab” in Jeremiah 35:18-19. He also made explicitly stated promises to the
“mountains of Israel,” along with “the hills, the rivers, the valleys, the desolate wastes, and the cities that have been forsaken, which became plunder and mockery to the rest of the nations all around” in Ezekiel 36:1-10, to the
plot of real estate defined by specifying its borders in Ezekiel 47:13-20, to
“Zion” in Zechariah 9:13, Joel 3:16-17 and Micah 4:2-13, and to the city of
“Jerusalem” in Jeremiah 32:32-44 and 33:16, Joel 3:1-21, Micah 4:2-8, and Zechariah 14:2-21 and 12:1-9.
All these promises were made to the ancient
“nation” of
“Israel,” using terms that no scripture even implies could even possibly mean “the church.” But the promises did not stop there. Our God also made explicitly stated promises to the ancient nations of
“Assyria” and
“Egypt” in Isaiah 19:22-24, to the ancient nations of
“Moab,” “Ammon,” and
“Elam” in Jeremiah 48:47, Jeremiah 49:6, and Jeremiah 49:39, to
“Sodom” and
“Samaria” in Ezekiel 16:53-55, and finally, to
the world generally in Isaiah 2:4, Micah 4:3, and Romans 11:15.
So, even if you were correct in claiming that the “thousand years” of Revelation 20:1-8 is only a metaphor, simply meaning “a very long time,” this period is explicitly promised in
many other scriptures. So whether this promised period of bliss will actually last “a thousand years,” or will only last “a very long time,” is only a minor detail. For it will most certainly take place, regardless of how long it will last. And
anyone who denies this is making God out to be a liar.
