THE BODY OF CHRIST
ADDITIONAL DESIGNATIONS FOR THE BODY OF CHRIST – ESTABLISHED KINGDOM vs.
PREMILLENNIALISM – LESSON SIX.
Revelation and the 1,000 Year Reign!
The
difficulty of this lesson is in the idea that we can give a crash course in
the book of Revelation in a single lesson. This of course cannot be done!
The greatest reason is that the book was written to Christians that had
been, prior to obedience to the Gospel, reading the Old Testament prophets
in the synagogues of the Jews every Sabbath and had a working knowledge of
the prophets of God and their language of repentance and judgment (very
illustrative).
The
majority of these, who are reading this revelation, are Christians of Jewish
ancestry dispersed into Asia Minor at the warnings of the Apostles of Jesus
Christ (1
Peter 1:1-2;
2 Peter 3:1-2). Being familiar with
the language of the prophets, and also having a firsthand knowledge of the
events that must shortly transpire this was a book of comfort for these
Christians, knowing they had found the blessings of God through Christ
instead of His harsh judgment promised to those who rejected Jesus, note:
Acts 3:22-26
“For Moses truly said to the fathers,
‘The Lord
your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you
shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.
23
And it shall be
that
every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from
among the people.’
24
Yes, and
all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken,
have also foretold these days.
25
You are
sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers,
saying to Abraham,
‘And in
your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’
26
To you
first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in
turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”
There was
no doubt in John’s revelation that the things he would record were not
future advents for thousands of years down the road (with the exception of
the final advent, final judgment, the end which is something that is
recorded at the end of the chapter we will look at in this lesson); it was
for the seven churches of Asia and would have no value in comfort,
admonishment, or dedication if it was for a different generation (it is with
the universal understanding of seeking God’s righteous blessings and heeding
His warnings, that we are likewise blessed by these words today).
In
addition, John was not writing about a future kingdom, since he plainly
acknowledges that he is working “in
the kingdom” –
Revelation 1:9. John will also
reveal to the seven churches of Asia that they each were to
“hear what the Spirit says to the
churches” –
Revelation 2:7,
11,
17,
29;
3:6,
13,
22.
This instruction speaks to the fact that there was nothing in this letter of
revelation that is contradictory or which has not already been spoken of
within the body of work which the Spirit of God has already made manifest
within the inspired writings to the churches.
Chapter
20 of Revelation –
This
chapter is the conclusion of the earthly view of the Apocalypse, which began
in
chapter twelve. This goes beyond the limits of the heavenly view
given in
chapters 4-11 (more detail). This
apocalypse is best described as the end of physical Israel, or the avenging
of the Apostles, prophets, and saints on Jerusalem (universal symbol of
Israel), note:
Heavenly
view:
Revelation 6:10
“And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O
Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell
on the earth?””
Earthly
view:
Revelation 18:20
““Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy
apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!””
Once the
great harlot is punished (Jerusalem), because of her role in persecuting the
saints of the Lord (18:5-6),
the Lord is shown as victorious over all (Chapter
19), and finally in
Chapter 20, the process of this
victory is revealed.
The
Binding of Satan – 20:1-3:
This
preliminary binding of Satan is the demonstration of Christ’s redemptive
work over sin (Chapter
12:10-11, shown at the beginning of the earthly view, which also
would include the persecution of those who had been victorious over sin,
immediately following –
12:17).
This is
also something that the Spirit of God has revealed to the churches, note:
Paul stated
this as his commission from the Lord -
Acts 26:18
“to open their eyes, in order to turn them
from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they
may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are
sanctified by faith in Me.’”
The Hebrew
writer described this as the victory of our Lord in bringing many sons to
glory -
Hebrews 2:14-15
“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and
blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might
destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
15
and release
those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
Verses 1-3,
deal with the power of the Gospel of Jesus as the Christ to all who obey it!
The
Reign of the Saints – 20:4-6:
John is now
privileged to see martyred Christians reigning with the King. The 1,000
years is an object of time and even the novice Bible student has to
recognize that it was present tense when John was privileged to see it!
Just as
Paul spoke to Timothy that Christ is now reigning as the only Potentate
(present tense –
1 Timothy 6:15), John shows the same
and that saints were alive with Him (hope in the face of
persecution).
It is also
very important to notice that they are reigning the same amount of time that
Satan has been bound – this has been spoken of by the Spirit to the churches
as the time of Apostolic oversight and the protection against apostasy among
saints on earth:
2 Thessalonians 2:3-12 (what is
restraining –
Vs. 6);
2
Timothy 3:1-9.
These
victorious saints are shown as comfort to those who would have the complete
word at the conclusion of the Apostolic work (John
16:13), and develop a love for it (2
Peter 1:12-21). Those who would live (Vs.5
-
“live again”) at the conclusion
of the 1,000 year reign (Apostolic oversight), would live in victory in
trust of the written word of God, regardless of the Apostasy of others, or
persecutions to come, in the same manner as these who now become an example.
Verses 4-6,
deal with comfort in the face of coming apostasy and persecutions!
The
Loosing of Satan – 20:7-10:
In these
verses the Apostolic oversight is done and apostasy as it has been foretold
now comes alive within the body of Christ. This was something that was
trying to come alive even during the Apostolic rule (take the Corinthians
for example; as Paul would write the first letter to them, consider the
amount of division and heresy that had crept in among them in such a short
time, and how sternly Paul wrote to them in order to set them back on the
single path of righteousness). Now, with only the word and those who would
love it (opposite of
2 Thessalonians 2:10 – I have always
said that sound teaching is only as effective as those who will only
tolerate sound doctrine; i.e. love for the truth), false teachers will
rise unencumbered among those who are weak and did not develop a love for
the truth.
It is a
battle of armies gathered with evil intent towards God’s word and against
his people who will not withdraw from the truth (Gog and Magog –
Ezekiel
38:2-17). This was something spoken of in detail by the Apostles
and prophets of the Lord to the churches –
2
Thessalonians 2:3-12;
1 Timothy 4:1-5;
2
Timothy 3:1-9;
2 Peter 2;
Jude).
This
present release of Satan is ongoing even to this day,
and until the final advent. Only those saints who demonstrate the same
nature of obedience and trust as those who were reigning with Christ during
the Apostolic oversight will live with the Lord (Vs.
5)!
Vs. 7-10,
deal with the coming of apostasy!
The
Final Judgment Scene – 20:11-15:
In this
summary
chapter to the earthly apocalypse, we have followed the
development of the scheme of redemption through the Apostolic reign, the
apostasy, and now to the end at the final judgment scene.
The end has
come (un-announced), sentence is passed, and eternal punishment and life are
met out.
This is
also something that has been revealed in exacting detail by the Spirit of
God to the churches – see:
1 Corinthians 15:24-28,
50-58;
1
Thessalonians 4:13-18;
5:1-11.
Summary
–
This is
about as short as we can make this and still honor the importance of the
details within; however, even the novice can see within the confines of
this, some extremely important conflicts with premillennialism.
-
This
1,000 year reign is definitely not a future advent (they were reigning
with Christ – present tense over two thousand years ago).
-
-
It
speaks towards hope for saints of God in Christ, when it was written and
now!
-
- It does not require a special class of saint to define its meaning (nor does the rest of God’s word). It is something all of us who spend time with God’s word can know and comprehend.
-
-
These
understandings, as this lesson reveals, coordinates with what the Spirit
of God has already spoken to the churches, instead of some random or
independent instruction; as premillennialists would have you believe.
Next: “Premillennialism Diminishes Christ and His
Body – the Church”