Understanding The Millennium (1000 Years Reign) - Part 2
By: William Bell, Jr.
The real problem that many face with the millennium is how to reconcile it with the facts of the text. They are not difficult to understand once we really think about it what the text says.
It is admitted that the millennium occurs before the second coming of Christ. It is admitted that the great white throne judgment occurs at the coming of Christ at which time Satan is cast into the lake of fire. Thus, this event must follow the millennium, i.e., the 1,000 years reign.
Prophecies of the Old Testament
Satan’s demise is one of the first prophecies in the Old Testament. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your see and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15).
Jesus prophesied that the end of the Old Covenant would come with Jerusalem’s destruction in A.D. 70. “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the day of vengeance that all things which are written may be fulfilled. (Luke 21:20-22)
Thus, Jesus knowing the prophecy of the Old Covenant (Genesis 3:15) and knowing the time of its fulfillment (Luke 21:20-22) in his own generation, Luke 21:32, earlier stated that he saw Satan as lightening fall from heaven, (Luke 10:18). Paul likewise quotes from Genesis 3:15 saying that the God of peace would crush Satan under their feet shortly, (Romans 16:20).
Thus, if Satan’s demise was in the near future according to Christ and Paul, and in fulfillment of the Old Covenant which also was obsolete and imminently vanishing, (Hebrews 8:13), then the millennium or 1,000 years reign was likewise about to end. I am well aware that most modern day prophets believe that the millennium has not yet begun. They will have difficulty reconciling that idea with the words of Christ, Paul and John.
Copyright (c) 2006 by William Bell, Jr. All rights reserved.
William Bell, Jr. is the author of the Re-Examination, a study of Christ’s return.
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