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Ezekiel 39, 1000 years, chart

Spiritual Jew

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The issue regarding Micah 4:3 is not about what is the last days, but whether Micah 4:3 been fulfilled or not.
That Micah 4:3 occurs within the last days has to be taken into account. The issue is that you try to apply Micah 4:3 to a time period that doesn't fall within the last days. The last days refer to the time period between the first and second coming of Christ (Acts 2:16-21, 2 Peter 3:3-4), but you have Micah 4:3 occurring after the second coming of Christ.

Micah 4:3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Have nations stopped lifting up swords against other nations ? No, there have been wars and rumors of wars, still going on, as said by Jesus in... Matthew 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
So, you obviously interpret that to be talking about literally all nations on earth being at peace and there being no wars on earth anymore. Is that really what it's saying? Do you interpret the following to be saying that the Spirit of God would be poured out on literally all people?

Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

We know, despite what it seems to say on the surface, that this is not saying that God would pour out His Spirit on literally all flesh (all people), right? It's talking about all believers in particular. Do you understand that just reading scripture in a wooden literal fashion the way you do is a bad approach to interpreting scripture? Similar to how Joel 2:28 is not saying that God would pour out His Spirit on literally all people, but rather all believers, Micah 4:3 is not talking about literally all people beating "their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks" with literally no war going on in the world. It's figuratively talking about how believers will be taught to love God and to love others as they love themselves and to be peaceful, just as Jesus taught His followers. Again, Micah 4:3 relates to the last days time period, which refers to the time between the first and second coming of Christ. So, trying to place its fulfillment after the time period that scripture itself describes as the last days is a case of making scripture say what you want it to say.

So, according to Micah 4:3, there has to be a period when the nations stop making war against each other.
Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

Do you also believe that there has to be a period when God pours out His Spirit on literally all people since that's what the text says? Or do you understand that, despite what one might conclude with a wooden literal interpretation of that text, what it's really talking about is God pouring out His Spirit on all believers and not all people? Should you think about the context of Micah 4:3 in order to determine what it's really saying or should you just interpret it in a wood literal fashion without taking other scripture into account and without considering the time period that scripture itself teaches regarding when the last days occur?

Micah 4:3 has not yet been fulfilled, and it cannot be fulfilled until the 1000 years of Jesus ruling the nations with a rod of iron, so that dictators and such cannot rise up and bring about wars during that 1000 years.
Micah 4:3 has nothing to do with Jesus ruling with a rod of iron. Jesus ruling with a rod of iron has nothing to do with Him ruling during a supposed future 1000 years. To rule over the nations (it should say heathen instead of nations - see Psalm 2:7-9) with a rod of iron is associated with destruction and not the kind of rule you're thinking about.

Revelation 19: 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.

Psalm 2:7 I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

For Jesus to rule with a rod of iron is directly associated with Him smiting/destroying the heathen (Greek: ethnos) and treading them in "the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.". It is associated with Him breaking/destroying them with a rod of iron, not ruling over them for a thousand years in the way you imagine. Do you not take verses like the above into account when you think about what it means to rule iwth a rod of iron? Does context mean nothing to you? Ruling with a rod of iron clearly is associated with complete destruction, so why do you ignore that?
 
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Douggg

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You're basically asking for my understanding of the binding and loosing of Satan, which I have given many times before. So, I'll just copy and paste what I've said before.

The binding of Satan has nothing to do with completely incapacitating Satan, as premils like you believe. It instead has to do with Jesus destroying Satan's works (1 John 3:8) and taking the power of death away from him (Hebrews 2:14-15) in order to make the way for the gospel of Christ to shine light to the world that was formerly almost completely in spiritual darkness because, as Paul said, the Gentiles had "no hope, and were without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:11-13).

I believe all of the following passages relate to Satan's binding and all of them talk about the impact that Jesus and the preaching of His gospel has had on the world for the past almost 2,000 years.

Matthew 12:28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. 29 Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.

1 John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. 33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.

Luke 10:17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. 18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

Acts 26:14 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. 15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. 16 But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; 17 Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, 18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

All of the above passages relate to the binding of Satan which has to do with Jesus coming to "destroy the works of the devil" by way of taking "the power of death" away from him which he formerly used to keep the world (especially the Gentiles) in spiritual darkness and in slavery to the fear of death (due to previously having no hope of eternal life). Before Jesus came very few Gentiles in the world had been saved, but after that a multitude has been saved (Rev 7). That was made possible by way of Jesus binding Satan and restraining the power he once held over the world to make it possible for people to be delivered "from the power of Satan unto God".

The binding of Satan has nothing to do with making Satan completely powerless as premils imagine. It has to do with spoiling his house, destroying his works, taking the power of death away from him and keeping him from deceiving almost the entire world awhile keeping them in spiritual darkness as slaves to the fear of death as he was able to do in OT times.

I believe the loosing of Satan will result in what Jesus described here:

Matthew 24:10 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

And what Paul described here:

2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

With Satan no longer being restrained (symbolically portrayed by a dragon being chained up in a pit/prison in Revelation 20), mass apostasy (falling away from the faith) occurs with a significant increase in deception, wickedness and hatred for "a little season" before Jesus returns at the end of the age and puts an end to it all "with the brightness of his coming".
You did not address where Satan will be in Revelation 20:3 for 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.


Currently, Satan, not in the bottomless pit, is compared to a roaring lion seeking who he can destroy.

2Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
 
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Douggg

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Micah 4:3 is not talking about literally all people beating "their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks" with literally no war going on in the world. It's figuratively talking about how believers will be taught to love God and to love others as they love themselves and to be peaceful, just as Jesus taught His followers.
No, Micah 4:3 says the nations will learn war no more some day. Something that clearly has not yet happened. And will not happen until Jesus returns in the last days, and begins His millennial reign.

It is not talking about the attitude of believers.
 
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Spiritual Jew

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You did not address where Satan will be in Revelation 20:3 for 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.


Currently, Satan, not in the bottomless pit, is compared to a roaring lion seeking who he can destroy.

2Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
I don't take the bottomless pit literally. It talks about a dragon being chained up in the bottomless pit. That is all symbolic for Satan's spiritual binding. So, can you take a bit of time and address at least some of what I said instead of not addressing anything I said at all?
 
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Spiritual Jew

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No, Micah 4:3 says the nations will learn war no more some day. Something that clearly has not yet happened. And will not happen until Jesus returns in the last days, and begins His millennial reign.

It is not talking about the attitude of believers.
You're ignoring the timing of the last days according to scripture itself. The last days started around the first coming of Christ (Acts 2:16-21) and last until His second coming (2 Peter 3:3-4). It's not surprising that you would not allow scripture to interpret scripture for you and that you would not be careful about interpreting one scripture in a way that contradicts other scriptures. You do that all the time. You are reckless with scripture.
 
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Douggg

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I don't take the bottomless pit literally. It talks about a dragon being chained up in the bottomless pit. That is all symbolic for Satan's spiritual binding. So, can you take a bit of time and address at least some of what I said instead of not addressing anything I said at all?
Where will Satan physically be during the thousand years of Revelation 20:3?
 
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Douggg

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That Micah 4:3 occurs within the last days has to be taken into account.
Michah 4, the last days includes when Jesus has returned and ruling from Jerusalem during the thousand years. Read verse 2. Verse 3 takes place at that time as well.

1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.

2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
 
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