Immanuel.at Forum for Discussion Discourse 66: Amillennialism: is the Thousand Year Kingdom of Peace a fiction?

Dale Tooley, the New Zealand based provider of the website "Hasten The Light Ministries", paid a visit to Immanuel.at and subsequently sent me an article on Amillenialism by Charles D. Alexander, entitled "Moses or Christ?". He asked me if I would study the arguments and take issue with them. The present Discourse is my response to his invitation.
(Dale Tooley daletooley@paradise.net.nz / https://www.hastenthelight.org.nz)

(Texts in a black frame are quotations from visitors to this site or from other authors.)

(Has Israel been rejected, so that the Christian congregation is now the true Israel? / Article CDA, 2004-04-18)

He who would understand the prophets had better begin with Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians, where he will find that the Church is one in the Old Testament and New, and the New Testament Church is the fulfillment of all prophecy, the very last phase of God’s redemptive work on earth.

He will discover in Galatians who the true Israel is (sc. the congregation), to whom the promises are made and that there is no other Israel, and no further fulfillment of prophecy. (…)

Paul goes further and shows by the nature and history of the true church that no break has occurred between the Old Testament and New Testament Church. The Church of the New Testament is the legitimate successor of the church of the Old Testament. (…)

The conclusion of this chapter (sc. Gal 3) is the charter of the New Testament Church and the ground of her invincible claim to be the lawful successor of Abraham, the true Israel, the true circumcision (not in the flesh but in the spirit), the inheritor of the promises and privileges and hope of Old Testament Israel.

Hence- "If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise" This glorious sentence winds up the Old Covenant, abolishes the law, the temple, and circumcision, terminates the mission of the Jewish nation, ends their exclusive rights and privileges, and provides the key to the understanding of the Law, the Writings, and the Prophets of the Old Testament.

(This extract has been taken from the article "Moses or Christ?" by Charles D. Alexander on the website of "Hasten The Light Ministries" / https://www.eschatology.org.nz.)

The view advocated here by Mr Alexander is based on the standard argument of a Christian mode of belief which calls itself "Amillenialism" (from the Greek negative particle ‘a’ – thus meaning "no Millennium"). As the name indicates, this view professes to deny the biblically founded understanding of a Thousand Year Kingdom of peace under Our Lord Jesus Christ, as the last of all worldly kingdoms, at the end of time and before the end of the world.

As we will show in what follows, this denial is not based on the lack of scriptural proofs, but owes its existence purely and simply to the fact that such people, for whatever reason, are reluctant to concede to Israel its future status, promised by Scripture, as "chief of the nations" and thus a world power.

For thus says the LORD, "Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations.

Jer 31,6 "For there will be a day when watchmen On the hills of Ephraim call out, ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, To the LORD our God.’" 31,7 For thus says the LORD, "Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, And shout among the chief of the nations; Proclaim, give praise and say, ‘O LORD, save Your people, The remnant of Israel.’ 31,8 "Behold, I am bringing them from the north country, And I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth, Among them the blind and the lame, The woman with child and she who is in labor with child, together; A great company, they will return here. 31,9 "With weeping they will come, And by supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk by streams of waters, On a straight path in which they will not stumble; For I am a father to Israel, And Ephraim is My firstborn." Jer 31, 6- 9;

Now it will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills.

Isa 2,1 The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2,2 Now it will come about that In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. 2,3 And many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths." For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 2,4 And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war. 2,5 Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the LORD. Isa 2, 1- 5;

Now it is undoubtedly correct to say that by refusing to accept its Messiah, almost two thousand years ago, Israel at that time prevented this promised dominion of the Son of God from coming to pass. As a result Israel was plunged as a people into misery and ruin, as well as being dispersed throughout the world and persecuted for centuries. It is equally correct to say that since that time it has no longer been possible for Israel’s sins to be forgiven.

Through their rejection of their Messiah, when he came to them to establish his kingdom (Mt 11,13-14), all the promises of God which had been prophesied to them with reference to this situation – including the promise that all their sins would be forgiven in a single day - could not be fulfilled at that point in time.

Zech 3,9 ‘For behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave an inscription on it,’ declares the LORD of hosts, ‘and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. 3,10 ‘In that day,’ declares the LORD of hosts, ‘every one of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and under his fig tree.’" Zech 3, 9-10;

On the other hand the conventional form of forgiveness of sins prescribed by Mosaic belief, based on the sacrifice of an animal, can only come about in keeping with the ritual if there is a temple standing in Jerusalem with a sacrificial altar, on which this animal can be offered to God the Almighty in atonement.

Since both the Temple and the altar were destroyed by the soldiers of Titus in the year 70 AD, the Israelites have had no possibility, from that time on, of making atonement to their God – otherwise, of course, than by conversion to belief in Jesus Christ and acceptance of the forgiveness of sins by grace through the redeeming sacrifice of the Lord.

And yet it must be said that we would have to be completely ignorant of the scriptural passages along these lines, of which there are a great many, to draw the conclusion that Israel has therefore been rejected by its God for all eternity, leaving the way open for the Christian congregation to be proclaimed as the "true", the one and only Israel – so that all the prophecies and promises of the Old and New Testaments are now to be applied to the congregation exclusively.

But as a consequence the advocates of Amillennialism also go on to claim that this has to mean that the prophecies of both the Old and New Testaments relating to the Millennium, the Thousand Year Kingdom of the Son of God on earth – in which Israel as "chief of the nations" will play an exceptionally important part - will not be realized either. And this patently for the reason that this would entail their losing the supposed justification for their existence as the "true Israel" – and as this cannot be allowed to happen, the possibility just has to be ruled out.

This exclusion of the Jews is in the last resort the main reason why this mode of belief denies the Millennium, is indeed compelled to deny it as of logical necessity. The term applied to this view, "Amillennialism", is therefore the consequence of a much more fundamental issue - namely, the divide between Judaism and Christianity.

The claim of the author quoted above that Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians holds the key to the understanding of the Old Testament prophets yet again shows with great clarity where these one-sided views and interpretations are coming from. If a person attempts to interpret the entire Old Testament on the basis of a single book of the Bible – and what is more, just one single chapter of this one book – the result is bound to be a highly limited, sectarian and partial view.

If we are to come anywhere near to objectivity in recognizing Paul’s real teaching, we would have to examine his further letters on this topic at the very least. This is what we will now do, by taking a quick look at some extracts from Paul’s Epistle to the Romans.

At that period as well, there were Christians in Rome who expressed the opinion that Israel after the flesh has fallen and been rejected, and that now the new Christian congregation was to take the place formerly occupied by Israel in God’s plan of salvation. Paul addresses this issue in his letter quite specifically:

Rom 11,11 I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. 11,12 Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be! Rom 11,11-12;

But if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.

Rom 11,15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?11,16 If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too. 11,17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, 11,18 do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. 11,19 You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in." 11,20 Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear; 11,21 for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either. 11,22 Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. Rom 11,15-22;

Here Paul puts the Romans to rights by reminding them that they are only "wild olive branches", which have been grafted onto the natural "olive tree" of Israel. He warns them, then, that they too may be broken off if they do not remain in God’s good graces, and prophesies that Israel too will again come to be accepted by God.

Now some commentators try to negate the explosive force of this very unambiguous passage, by claiming that Paul’s statements here refer to the scenario of the Jews’ converting to Christianity. But the following verses, where Paul again refers to his illustration of the olive tree and makes it plain to the Romans that God can also graft in the natural branches of the olive tree once more – the Mosaic Israel, that is to say – shows us that this cannot possibly be the case.

How much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?

Rom 11,23 And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 11,24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree? Rom 11,32-24;

And then Paul writes of a mystery, which he wants to reveal to the Romans, to prevent them from being wise in their own estimation:

I do not want you, brethren, to be wise in your own estimation: all Israel will be saved.

Rom 11,25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery-so that you will not be wise in your own estimation-that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; 11,26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "The deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob." 11,27 "this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins." 11,28 From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; 11,29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 11,30 For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, 11,31 so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. 11,32 For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all. Rom 11,25-32;

Here it is not a matter of those Jews who convert to Christianity, Paul is speaking of "all Israel" – that is, the entire believing house of Israel, as Ezekiel likewise prophesies in Eze 37,11-14:

I will cause the whole house of Israel to come up out of their graves, My people;

Ezk 37,11 Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’
37,12 "Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 37,13 "Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. 37,14 "I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it," declares the LORD.’" Eze 37,11-14;

As the basis for his argument Paul goes on in the above passage (Rom 11,26-27) to quote the Old Testament: first of all Psalm 53,7 and Amos 9,14-15:

Ps 53,6 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When God restores His captive people, Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad. Ps 53, 6;

The LORD will restore the captivity of Israel and will also plant them on their land.

Amos 9,14 "Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, And they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them; They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, And make gardens and eat their fruit. 9,15 "I will also plant them on their land, And they will not again be rooted out from their land Which I have given them," Says the LORD your God. Amos 9,14-15;

As is the case with many other similar scriptural passages, these texts refer to that new covenant which God will make with Israel:

Behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, When I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

Jer 31,31 "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 31,32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.
31,33 "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Jer 31,31-33;

‘Days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people.

Jer 30,3 ‘For behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ The LORD says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers and they shall possess it.’ Jer 30, 3;

Secondly, Paul refers to what is written in the Old Testament about the forgiveness of sins which Israel will obtain from its God at this time:

The dispersion of Israel was his punishment, now there will be the pardoning of his sin.

Isa 27,6 In the days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will blossom and sprout, And they will fill the whole world with fruit. 27,7 Like the striking of Him who has struck them, has He struck them? Or like the slaughter of His slain, have they been slain? 27,8 You contended with them by banishing them, by driving them away. With His fierce wind He has expelled them on the day of the east wind.

27,9 Therefore through this Jacob’s iniquity will be forgiven; And this will be the full price of the pardoning of his sin: When he makes all the altar stones like pulverized chalk stones; When Asherim and incense altars will not stand. Isa 27, 6- 9;

Ezekiel also prophesies this day, on which the sin of Israel will be done away with by God, and mentions an interesting detail in this connection:

On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, the nations will know that I am the LORD.

Ezk 36,33 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, "On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt. 36.34 "The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by. 36,35 "They will say, ‘This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’ 36,36 "Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the LORD, have spoken and will do it." Eze 36,33-36;

As we can see, then, Paul by no means takes the view that the congregation is "the inheritor of the promises and privileges and hope of the Israel of the Old Testament" and so is now the "true" Israel. By taking just a quick glance at the Epistle to the Romans, our author would have been able to learn that the "task of the Jewish nation" is not only not over – quite on the contrary, it will only truly begin at that point, once the fullness of the nations has come in. Then all Israel will be saved and will find a new role in the Messiah’s Kingdom of Peace on the basis of a new covenant with its God (Rom 11,25-27). All the promises made to Israel in the Old Testament will then meet with their final fulfillment. For Israel, that is, and no one else, if we consider what Paul says in the above passage (Rom 11,29):

What has been prophesied to Israel will be fulfilled in Israel; what has been prophesied to the congregation will find its fulfillment in the congregation.

Together with the relevant Old Testament passages we have quoted above, this proves that the claims of Amillennialism are untenable, and constitutes an irrefutable scriptural proof that the people of Israel will be gathered to its own land for the Millennium. At the end of time, that is, and by its God – not in the year 1948 by Theodor Herzl’s Zionists! And as Ezekiel says in the above passage (Eze 36,36), then the nations will realize that God is the Lord. If the founding of the state of Israel in the year 1948 would have been this promised gathering of Israel by God, the whole world would already have come to the recognition of God, and would acknowledge the fact of his existence. But as we all know, we are very far from that. Billions of people continue to deny the God of the Bible, or worship idols, and even in the people of Israel a great part of the population, perhaps even the majority, is in effect without any religious belief at all.

(Texts in a black frame are quotations from visitors to this site or from other authors.)

(Is the Messianic Kingdom on earth a Jewish heresy? / Article CDA 01, 2004-04-18)

Great men were temporarily swept away by the Jewish pretensions to perpetual privilege and priority. – "Even Barnabas was carried away with their dissimulation" (Gal. 2:13). (...)

In our day the same Jewish heresies have well-nigh crushed the theology of the evangelical churches and destroyed effective preaching of the Word. The error has taken different forms in our time, but springs from the same Judaistic root whose fundamental ground is that Jewish privilege and priority are perpetual and that the New Testament Church at best is only a makeshift arrangement of providence to tide over the time until the resources of a baffled and well-nigh impotent Godhead are assembled in sufficient force to compel at last a Jewish solution of the problem of redemption.

A glance at any average missionary magazine dedicated to Jewish evangelization will clearly show this. Sayings of present Jewish leaders are eagerly quoted in justification of 2,000 years of Jewish unbelief, as showing that the Jewish expectation of a Messianic kingdom on earth, with restoration of temple, sacrifices, and priesthood, is a true interpretation of prophecy, whereas it was because John the Baptist and Christ did not proclaim such a kingdom of earthly and visible Jewish glory and privilege that the one was betrayed to Herod and the other was crucified by Pilate.

(This extract has been taken from the article "Moses or Christ?" by Charles D. Alexander on the website of "Hasten The Light Ministries" / https://www.eschatology.org.nz.)

In this second extract from Mr Alexander’s article, quoted above, God’s plan of salvation for Jews and Christians is supposedly derived from a single book of the Bible – the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians. The Messianic Kingdom on earth, the Millennium, is described as a "Jewish heresy", and God the Almighty as a "baffled and well-nigh impotent Godhead". No attempt is made here to analyze in the light of Scripture the very important term "the kingdom of God", mentioned by Paul in Gal 5,21, or to examine statements relating to this theme from the Old and New Testaments. So with a view to complying with this fundamental principle of biblical commentary, we would like to continue here with a somewhat more detailed analysis, adducing scriptural passages from several books of the Bible.

The expression "the kingdom of God" appears in the New Testament in all four Gospels, in Acts and in some letters of Paul, and also in Revelation. The literal meaning of it is "the royal rule (Greek basileia) of God, and it points to the governing authority of God in this kingdom of his. Only in the Gospel of Matthew do we also find, in association with this term, the parallel expression "the kingdom of heaven". In the original text, however, this also reads "the kingly dominion of heaven", and has the same semantic content as "the kingdom of God".

It is a sad fact that many Christian churches up to the present day have commandeered this term for themselves without analyzing it in any depth, and among many believers we find not so much uncertainty, but just pure and simple ignorance about the meaning and content of this term.

A further aspect is that even in theological circles some areas of uncertainty are undoubtedly to be found. These for the most part are to be attributed to the somewhat misleading translation that gives us the "kingdom" of God. This directs people’s thoughts – not so much consciously as unconsciously – to the idea of an "area", a "region", which then at once limits their further imaginings to a certain preconception.

The three dimensions of the royal rule of God.

If we now adopt the original designation, the "royal rule" of God, we are much better able to recognize the wholly different dimension in which this statement moves. As a result we are also better in a position to explain the three "states" of the kingdom of God. The kingdom – that is to say, the royal rule - of God is to be found wherever God rules.

- In its first, spiritual phase, in the spirit of human beings, "in your midst" as the Lord also puts it.

- In its second, material and earthly phase, in the Millennium, the Thousand Year Kingdom of peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ on earth. As Christ has received his power and glory from the Father, this too will amount to the royal rule of God.

- In its third and final phase, in the New Creation of eternity, when the Son hands over the kingdom to the Father, and God is all in all.

In his first Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul sketches these three phases with some precision:

1Cor 15,22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. 15,23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, 15,24 then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. 15,25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. 15,26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.

15,27 For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, "All things are put in subjection," it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. 15,28 When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all. 1Cor 15,22-28;

Paul is speaking here of the fact that in Christ all will be made alive – will rise, that is to say. As first fruits, Christ himself rose from the dead after having been crucified, and ascended to his Father in heaven. The next development is that when he comes again – on the Second Coming of the Lord – all those will rise who belong to Christ. This refers to the raising of the dead in Christ, who are then caught up in the Rapture (1Cor 15,50-53; Mt 24,29-31) together with the faithful who are alive at this time, after the first phase of the Great Tribulation. Up to this point in time, God has been ruling only in the spirit of Christian believers. This is the first, the spiritual phase of the royal rule of God.

"Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power." The "end", of course, refers to the end of the world. But before the end, this "kingdom" – which at the end will be handed over – will first be established as the Thousand Year Kingdom of peace of the Son of God on earth (Rev 20,4-5). In Jesus Christ God rules over the whole world. There will be no wars any more, and all human dominion and power will be abolished. This is the second, the earthly phase of the royal rule of God.

At the end of these thousand years, and so at the end of the world, after the General Resurrection and Last Judgment (Rev 20,11-15), the first heaven and the first earth will pass away and God will create a new earth and a new heaven – the New Creation (Rev 21,1). And now the Son hands over the former earthly kingdom, in which he has abolished all human dominion and power, to the God and Father, as Paul states in the above passage (1Cor 15,28): "Then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all." This is then the third, heavenly and eternal state of the royal rule of God.

God’s plan of salvation and its effects on Creation. (LANDSCAPE)

But this shows that the two contrasting points of view with reference to the kingdom of God -

- on the one hand that of the Amillennialists, who think that the kingdom of God is solely and exclusively to be understood as a spiritual dimension, and not in any sense as an earthly kingdom, and

- on the other hand the idea that many churches and congregations have of their own role, when they take "the kingdom of God" as applying to themselves and so give it a wrong and, moreover exclusively earthly reference

both represent extreme points of view, and can neither of them stand up to a closer scrutiny in the light of Scripture. As has been shown above, the kingdom of God has three dimensions – spiritual, earthly/material and heavenly. But while the churches, in contradiction of everything that is stated in the Bible on this topic, are plainly trying to uphold their own significance and sphere of influence, at least the Amillennialist point of view does justice to the spiritual and the heavenly dimensions. That they are unable to accept the royal rule of God in the Millennium on earth is understandable, inasmuch as they refuse to recognize the Jews as the people of God, and so of course have no use for the many promises in Scripture which prophesy the future role of this very people of Israel in the Millennium.

After this analysis of the term "the kingdom of God", let us go into the individual phases of the royal rule of God in a little more detail.

The spiritual, invisible royal rule of God

Let us first of all consider how Our Lord Jesus Christ described this kingdom of God or kingdom of heaven:

The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field.

Mt 13,31 He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; 13,32 and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches." Mt 13,31-32;

The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour.

Mt 13,33 He spoke another parable to them, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened."

13,34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable. 13,35 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world. Mt 13,33-35;

In both these parables we can recognize the same principle: the kingdom of God is not something that breaks upon a person, or humanity as a whole, with immediate transforming effect. It is clearly characterized by the way in which it spreads out slowly but surely in the world, among those people who come to believe. This is confirmed by the following parable, where for the first time we find it stated that there is evidently a "disturbance factor" at work here:

The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

Mt Mt 13,24 Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. 13,25 "But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. 13,26 "But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. 13,27 "The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’

13,28 "And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ 13,29 "But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. 13,30 ‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn."‘" Mt 13,24-30;

For us today it seems astonishing that even the disciples did not fully understand the meaning of this parable. We have to take into account, though, that we can look back on almost two thousand years of biblical interpretations, and so many metaphors have come to be common currency to us which for the disciples at the time were completely new and unfamiliar.

His disciples came to Him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."

Mt 13,36 Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field."

13,37 And He said, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 13,38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; 13,39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are angels.

13,40 "So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the world. 13,41 "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 13,42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

13,43 "Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. Mt 13,36-43;

We have here the same principle as we saw earlier: the "seed" is sown, and left to its own devices – allowed to grow undisturbed. And what is more, not even the tares that have likewise taken root in the midst of the good seed will be uprooted prematurely. Everything will be left to grow in perfect freedom until the time of the harvest, the end of the world. Then, and only then, will the time come when the entire field will be "reaped", or harvested, and the wheat will be separated from the tares.

We have a similar situation in the parable of the catch of fishes:

Mt 13,47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea, and gathering fish of every kind; 13,48 and when it was filled, they drew it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away.

13,49 "So it will be at the end of the world; the angels will come forth and take out the wicked from among the righteous, 13,50 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 13,51 "Have you understood all these things?" They said to Him, "Yes."

13,52 And Jesus said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old." Mt 13,47-52;

Here too we find a "harvest" taking place, after the net has been hauled in. And here too the separation of the good and bad fish is described. An additional aspect, which seems to be a very important point for the theme we are considering here, is the mention of the time when this "harvest" takes place. Both in the parable of the tares, and here in the parable of the catch of fish, there is an explicit indication that this will be "at the end of the world" (as stated both in Luther’s bible and in the King James version). And furthermore the Lord here explains in quite specific terms that the angels will go forth at that time and will separate out the wicked – that is, the tares and the bad fish – from the midst of the righteous.

By contrast with this, on the Second Coming of the Lord for the Rapture, at the sixth seal, before the day of the wrath of God and before the Millennium, the angels will not take out the wicked from the midst of the righteous – on the contrary, it will be the other way around: the elect will be gathered from out of the mass of unbelievers and will be taken up to meet the Lord in the sky, as the Lord promises in Mt 24,30-31:

And He will send forth His angels and they will gather together His elect from the four winds.

Mt 24,30 "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.

24,31 "And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. Mt 24,30-31;

We of today, who are living in the time of grace – from the time of his Resurrection, that is to say, until his Second Coming – can be saved through faith in Jesus Christ. When the Lord then comes "on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory" and everyone has seen him, the time of grace, of salvation through faith, will be over. Then there will be faith no longer, but only the vision of the Son of God. And the only alternatives remaining will be either to give the glory to this God or to perish.

The royal rule of God in heaven.

Mt 25,31 "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 25,32 "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;

25,33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 25,34 "Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Mt 25,31-34;

In terms of time, in this passage too we find that the General Resurrection has just occurred. We are at the end of the world, at the Last Judgment. The "nations" of whom the Lord speaks here are human beings who have died and have risen – both righteous and unrighteous – who come from all the nations of the world. This, then, is the event that was earlier referred to in the parables as the "harvest".

In the continuation of this eschatological discourse of the Lord’s, we then have a quite specific reference to the righteous who shall inherit eternal life, and the accursed who will depart into eternal fire.

Mt 25,41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; Mt 25,41;

These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

Mt 25,46 "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Mt 25,46;br>

The scriptural passages we have examined hitherto permit us to draw the following conclusions:

- Jesus Christ has sown the good seed of the kingdom of God amongst humanity in the field of the world.

- The devil has scattered his seed of unbelief and wickedness amongst the good seed.

- God will let both grow amongst humanity, without intervening, until the harvest - that is, until the end of the world.

- Whereas on the Second Coming of the Lord those who sleep in Christ and the living Christians will be taken up into the Rapture, before the Millennium, all the other dead, both righteous and unrighteous, will remain until the end of this world in the realm of the dead.

- Then the Son of God will come with his angels and separate the righteous from the wicked.

- The one group will inherit eternal life in the heavenly kingdom of God, while the others will be cast into eternal fire.

From this sequence it may be seen that although from the "seed" to the "harvest" everything may be designated "the kingdom of God", all the same the actual and veritable kingdom of God, the "barn" as it is termed, is not of material nature. For us human beings it is first of all a mental category, comparable perhaps to the decision of a young person to engage in competitive sport. For this he (or she) will of course need to be physically fit. And yet to attain to physical abilities on the competitive heights through tough and consistent training, what is required first of all is a mental decision. Our athlete must change his attitudes, and commit himself wholly and completely to the goal he has chosen. He will have to put most of his other needs in second place, in order finally to attain to peak performance on the basis of discipline and hard work.

We can see that here too visible success has been preceded by a phase of mental decision – mental fight, we might even say. And just as in sport there are often people, unfortunately, who in the end cannot adhere to discipline and are no longer willing to make the sacrifices that are called of them, so also in the life of faith there are people who have started out on this path but have then rather half-heartedly fallen back. The Lord warns us of this as well, in Lk 14,28-30:

Lk 14,28 "For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 14,29 "Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 14,30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Lk 14,28-30;

In the parable of the harvest, quoted earlier, the tares were burned and were not taken into the barn – and this seems plausible enough. Less obvious, on the other hand, is the fact that naturally even of the good seed not every grain will succeed in bearing fruit, as the next parable shows:

And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.

Mt 13,1 That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. 13,2 And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

13,3 And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, the sower went out to sow; 13,4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.

13,5 "Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. 13,6 "But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

13,7 "Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.

13,8 "And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.

13,9 "He who has ears, let him hear." Mt 13, 1- 9;

The ten virgins.

The next parable too, that of the ten virgins, which is pretty well known to all, no longer refers to the godless and unbelievers. All ten are invited to the wedding, so all ten of them have to be counted among the faithful.

Mt 25,1 "Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 25,2 "Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. 25,3 "For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 25,4 but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. 25,5 "Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep.

25,6 "But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 25,7 "Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. 25,8 "The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 25,9 "But the prudent answered, ‘No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ 25,10 "And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.

25,11 "Later the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’ 25,12 "But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’

25,13 "Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour, Mt 25, 1-13;

This text expresses quite clearly that the "kingdom of God" here is not intended as a spatial domain, nor yet as a final state, but rather as the development of a certain attitude of mind for humanity. These five foolish virgins did not either consider that they might possibly have to wait for a long time, and so needed to have their lamps full to the brim, nor had they brought a reserve can of oil with them so as to be prepared for such a case.

Of course these are all metaphors. But what this parable is actually trying to express is that these five virgins did not have any real interest, on a deep level, in being involved with the marriage of the bridegroom. This is what their fault comes down to. They had not made adequate preparation. They had just taken the lamps as they were – without even checking to see how much oil they contained, let alone getting an additional supply. We are familiar with such situations from daily life: if someone does things or is obliged to do things that he doesn’t actually like doing, then things are going to go wrong time after time.

We meet with the same situation in the life of faith. Just as one can recognize the foolish virgins because of their inadequate preparations, as a result of which they have too little oil in their lamps, showing their lack of qualification for the task in hand, lukewarm Christians are liable, because of their superficiality, to form a completely inaccurate judgment of their spiritual state. An assessment of their state by third parties is hardly possible. All the same, when the Lord comes the truth of the matter will finally come to light, and that beyond the shadow of all doubt.

But there is another possibility, for just such brothers and sisters, implied in the parable quoted above, even if it is not explicitly stated. If we imagine that right at the start, when the virgins arrived, someone had gone to these foolish virgins and said to them that they should reflect that they have too little oil in their lamps, then it is not out of the question that one or another of them might still have hurried to the nearest store and purchased enough oil for her lamp. And with that she would have saved her life – at a late stage, but just in time – and would have been able to enter the kingdom of God.

To avoid any possibility of misunderstanding – the oil in this parable is not a symbol for the successful performance of good works, nor is it evidence of particular capabilities or talents. This oil is not to be found, either, at any kind of Christian events, either in churches or congregations, nor by resorting to particular preachers or evangelizers. We will not find it in the outside world. It is within us, as the Lord tells us in Lk 17,21, quoted below. If we want to check our "oil level", the best thing we can do is to go into our private room, lock the door behind us and speak in spirit to our God. Let us lay before him our thoughts, worries and needs, and ask him for his help, ask him to enlighten us on the true state of our faith. And the Lord will then, in the time following, give us an answer, and enable us to recognize whether we are on the right path or whether we need to make some changes in our life.

In the sphere of human life, then, the kingdom of God is comparable with a mental attitude. And as we have seen in the above example of the ten virgins, it is not easy to distinguish whether a person has the one attitude or another. When the virgins arrived, no one would have been in a position to say which of them had answered the invitation out of conviction and which had not.

And this, too, is exactly what the Lord said to the Pharisees when they asked him when the kingdom of God was coming.

Lk 17,20 Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; 20,21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst." Lk 17,20-21;

The kingdom – the royal rule – of God is in our midst, then. Some translations of the Bible (e.g. King James and the Jubiläumsbibel [Jubilee Bible]) translate this phrase as "within you", which underlines the spiritual dimension of the royal rule of God. But even if we refer this indication directly to the person of Jesus, who at the time was indeed "in the midst" of his interlocutors, the spiritual aspect of the saying will still be fully retained, seeing that the Lord at that time had not yet established his kingdom – it was only as a result of his death on the cross that the era of grace and salvation through faith dawned.

And it is this faith, now which is "within us". But it is also this faith through which Jesus Christ can indeed be present "in our midst", as the Lord tells us in Mt 18,19-20:

Where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.

Mt 18,19 "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. 18,20 "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." Mt 18,19-20;

(Texts in a black frame are quotations from visitors to this site or from other authors.)

(Will the kingdom of God on earth not be realized in visible form? / Article CDA, 2004-04-18)

Let the martyrdom of John and the crucifixion of the Savior stand for ever as the final answer to that interpretation of prophecy which displaces the church, relegates the gospel, and establishes for "Israel after the flesh" an earthly empire and a national economy falsely regarded as "the kingdom of Heaven."

The fact that some (but by no means all) earlier Reformed theologians and expositors have given some countenance to the error is neither here nor there; for to a man, they all lived before that final dispensational arrangement of prophecy which has turned error into a heresy.

Today, we are not permitted that luxury. The theory has become sinister and subversive through its elaboration into a succession of "ages" (dispensations) to which belong certain well-defined segments of Holy Scripture, all combining to exclude "the church" from all but a fragment of the Divine Word. The Jewish theory predominates. A variety of second comings and last judgments has been invented. The abolition of the gospel has been proclaimed with great enthusiasm for it is fundamental to pre-millennialism (doctrine of the millennial kingdom) that another gospel known as "the gospel of the kingdom" will take the place of the gospel of grace when "the church" is safely removed out of the way.

This perversion of Holy Scripture, now so destructively rife, is significantly at the root of all the modem "cults" which have sprung out of evangelicalism in the last 15O years, all proclaiming "another gospel" which is invariably a thinly concealed doctrine of "works" presented in more orthodox circles under the well-sounding title "Gospel of the Kingdom."

This title occurs very blessedly in the New Testament, of course, but nowhere is it separable from the gospel "kingdom" which is neither here nor there, neither in Jerusalem, nor Samaria, nor Rome, but is "within you" (Luke 17:20-21). The "Gospel of the Kingdom" as described by our pre-millennialist is suspiciously like that which the sect known as "Jehovah’s Witnesses" proclaims.

The inconsistency of former (but otherwise sound) theologians who pursued the millennialist fantasy is testified by our dispensationalists today who indignantly strike from the chapter headings of the Authorized Version of the Bible any reference to "the church" found in those headings throughout the Old Testament prophets.

(This extract has been taken from the article "Moses or Christ?" by Charles D. Alexander on the website of "Hasten The Light Ministries" / https://www.eschatology.org.nz.)

"... it is fundamental to pre-millennialism that another gospel known as ’the gospel of the kingdom’ will take the place of the gospel of grace."

And he plainly takes the view that this "gospel of the kingdom" is a false gospel and not grounded in Scripture, and reproaches all those who proclaim this gospel with the "perversion of Holy Scripture". So let us just take a look at what the Bible actually says about the gospel of the kingdom:

Jesus was teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom.

Mt 4,23 Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people. Mt 4,23;

Jesus was going through all the cities, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom.

Mt 9,35 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Mt 9,35;

Mt 24,14 "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. Mt 24,14;

Acts 8,12 But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike. Acts 8,12;

These scriptural proofs surely need no further commentary. But we are inclined to ask how it is that just those interpreters of Scripture who adhere fully to the Bible to the extent that they – just like Our Lord Jesus Christ – proclaim the kingdom of the gospel, can be reproached by the Amillennialists for "perversion of Holy Scripture".

The references in the Old Testament to the royal rule of God on earth, the Thousand Year Kingdom of peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, are so numerous, and the prophecy so well attested, that there is probably no other promise in the Bible that comes anywhere near it. (A more detailed analysis may be found in Chapter 10: The Millennium). This seems, incidentally, to be yet another reason why our author here avoids the Old Testament, and refers himself exclusively to the New Testament. But the New Testament too offers us incontrovertible proofs of the reality of this Thousand Year Kingdom of peace on earth.

The royal rule of God on earth in the Millennium

"did not proclaim such a kingdom of earthly and visible Jewish glory and privilege"

"the New Testament Church is the fulfillment of all prophecy, the very last phase of God’s redemptive work on earth"

are not just refuted by what is stated of the Lord in Mt 4,23 and 9,35 and confirmed by his own statement in 24,14, they are also in blatant contradiction of the Lord’s saying in Mt 5,17-18:

I did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.

Mt 5,17 "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 5,18 "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Mt 5,17-18;

All the promises of the Old Testament, without exception, that were made to the Jewish people by their and our God will be fulfilled. Anyone who is unwilling to accept this has completely failed to grasp God’s plan of salvation – both for the congregation and for Israel. The New Testament church – the congregation – will find fulfillment and salvation in the raising of the dead and the Rapture, on the Second Coming of the Lord. The people of God from Israel, however, will get back on track in terms of their path of salvation in the Thousand Year Kingdom of the Son of God here on earth, and will then, under the headship of their Messiah, become the chief nation on earth. The evident fear of the Amillennialists that in the Millennium the congregation might be delivered over to Israel’s hunger for power is completely irrelevant, for the simple reason that at this point in time the congregation – as many scriptural passages testify – will no longer be on earth, but will have been translated and caught up into heaven.

And now to supply proof that we have quite unmistakable indications in the New Testament as well of the Thousand Year Kingdom of the Lord Jesus, let us quote Rev 20,1-7:

And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

Rev 20,1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 20,2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 20,3 and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. Rev 20,1-3;

They will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

Rev 20,4 Then 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.

20,5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.20,6 Blessed 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. Rev 20,4- 6;

Satan will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth.

Rev 20,7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, 20,8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore. 20,9 And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. Rev 20,7-9;

So how can we interpret these thousand years in keeping with the views of the Amillennialists? When we find the following stated:

- " ... so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed ...

- " ... they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years ... "

- " ... they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years."

- " ... the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed ... "

- " ... when the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison ... "

and when, too, there is an express indication in Rev 20,8 that all this will happen on earth - how is it possible for the Amillennialists just to ignore this whole body of evidence?

Also in Acts, Peter in his second sermon explicitly points out, that God will send us Jesus, the Christ appointed for us, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things.

Acts 3,19 "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 3,20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, 3,21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. Acts 3,19-21;

But it can also be proved from the gospels that the kingdom of God on earth is a fact. In Matthew’s Gospel the Lord Jesus commands us – in the most important prayer that he left us, the Lord’s Prayer – to pray in the following words:

Mt 6,9 "Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 6,10 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Mt 6, 9-10;

For Christians who believe in the Bible, these words are first of all a proof of the fact that God is in heaven. Now heaven is an altogether different dimension – it is not the earth. Then comes the commandment that the name of God should not be abused, and following on this the request

The Lord Jesus tells us then to pray to the Father that his kingdom may come. Where is it to come? In heaven? But that is impossible, for God rules in heaven already, as is stated in the previous verse. So what we have here is the request that the kingdom of God may also find a foothold on earth. And just that is confirmed by the following request, which goes:

This confirms once more that the Father rules in heaven, seeing that in heaven his will is done. But then with the words "on earth as it is in heaven" we have the renewed request that the kingdom of God may come on earth, and so that the will of God may be done not just in heaven, but on earth as well.

Now if there is anyone who would like to insinuate that the kingdom of God on earth has been initiated already, and that God the Almighty has already assumed the rulership of this world, either he is suffering from a totally deficient sense of reality or he is praying to a different God. Even if he has already been judged and banned from heaven, it is still the devil who is ruling this world. He has been "the ruler of this world" since the death of the Lord, and will remain so into the Last Days, as the Lord confirms in Jn 14,30:

Jn 14,30 "I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; Jn 14,30;

And so we can conclude from the New Testament, without any doubt at all, that the kingdom of God, the Thousand Year Kingdom of peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ with the people of God from Israel on earth, is confirmed by Scripture, is a reality and is plainly a prophecy to be fulfilled in the future.

The fights	The fight in heaven Rev 12:7	The Battle of Armageddon Rev 19:11-19	The Last Fight Rev 20:7-10
The conqueror	Michael and his angels conquer Satan and his angels Rev 12:8	Jesus Christ and his army in heaven defeat Satan and Antichrist Rev 19:20-21	The LORD and the host of heaven conquer Satan and his hosts Rev 20:9
The loser	Satan is thrown from heaven to earth Rev 12:9 Lk 10:18	Satan is thrown into the bottomless pit Rev 20:1-3	Satan is thrown into the lake of fire Rev 20:10
The resurrections	The resurrection of saints after the death of the Lord Mt 27:52-53	The First Resurrection of the martyrs Rev 20:4-6	The Universal Resurrection Rev 20:11-15
The judgments	The judgment: The prince of this world has been expelled Jn 12:31	The judgment at the First Resurrection Rev 20:4	The Last Judgment - the harvest is ripe Rev 20:12-13
The Day of the LORD	The day of God’s mercy. God becomes man in His son Lk 2:11	The day of God’s wrath with plagues, earthquake and fire Rev 8:1-13 Rev 9:1-21	The day of the Last Judgment will be revealed with fire 2Pet 3:7
God creates all new	The sin has been defeated: It is accomplished Jn 19:30	The regeneration of heaven and earth Rev 16:17-20	The passing away of heaven and earth Rev 20:11
The new life	The gospel: The truth brings salvation for the world 2Thes 2:10	The renewed heaven and the renewed earth Heb 12:26-27	The new created heaven and the new created earth Rev 21:1
God is with them	The kingdom of the Holy Spirit: The time of grace – God dwells in the spirit of the believers 1Cor 3:16	The kingdom of the Son: The time of peace – God dwells with men in His temple Rev 20:6	The kingdom of the Father: The Eternity – men dwell with God. No temple any more Rev 21:22
The spirit of God	God will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him Lk 11:13	God pours out His Spirit on his male and female servants Acts 2:17-18	God’s Spirit dwells in all of them Rev 21:3

Discourse 66 – Amillennialism: is the Thousand Year Kingdom of Peace a fiction?

(Texts in a black frame are quotations from visitors to this site or from other authors.)

(Has Israel been rejected, so that the Christian congregation is now the true Israel? / Article CDA, 2004-04-18)

(Texts in a black frame are quotations from visitors to this site or from other authors.)

(Is the Messianic Kingdom on earth a Jewish heresy? / Article CDA 01, 2004-04-18)

The three dimensions of the royal rule of God.

God’s plan of salvation and its effects on Creation. (LANDSCAPE)

The spiritual, invisible royal rule of God

The royal rule of God in heaven.

The ten virgins.

(Texts in a black frame are quotations from visitors to this site or from other authors.)

(Will the kingdom of God on earth not be realized in visible form? / Article CDA, 2004-04-18)

The royal rule of God on earth in the Millennium

Summary