The Millennium - Answers to Difficult Questions

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10. THE MILLENNIUM – ANSWERS TO DIFFICULT QUESTIONS WON ’ TJ ESUS COME TO ESTABLISH HIS KINGDOM OF PEACE ON EARTH DURING THE MILLENNIUM?

 John 14:1-3 Jesus promised that the place where the saints will forever be with Him is a place that He prepared in His Father’s house, in heaven.

He said He will go to His Father’s house to prepare the place. After His death and resurrection we read that Jesus is taken in heaven (see Acts 1:11) and that is the place where the Father dwells (see

Psalm 33:13-14).

 2 Corinthians 5:1 The house that God built for us is not on this earth, but in heaven.

 Revelation 19:11-16, 21 At Jesus’ second coming He will not come to bring peace on earth, but to bring destruction and strike the nations who refused Him as king (see also Luke 19:14,15,27).

 Jeremiah 25:33 After Jesus’ second coming there will be slain on all the face of the earth and none will bury them.

This text is in the context of Jesus’ second coming, as can be read from the three verses preceding this one, Jeremiah 25:30-32 (the expression used here is similar to the one we found in Revelation 19:15, talking about the sword of His mouth).

 Jeremiah 4:23-26 There will be no living man on earth after the destruction brought on it at Jesus’ second coming.

The earth will be taken back to the situation preceding creation, as it will be without form and void.

From verse 26 it is clear that this situation is the consequence of the fierce anger of God, manifested at Jesus’ second coming.

 Revelation 20:1-3 6 10. The Millennium – Menorah Mission School – 2018/2019 Satan is said to be imprisoned into the bottomless pit during the whole millennium, giving us the time context for this text.

The Greek word for “bottomless pit” is the word abussos, which is the same word that we find in the Greek translation of the Old Testament for the deep/abyss described in Genesis 1:2. This confirms the situation of the earth during the millennium, as found in Old Testament texts.

 Revelation 21:5-6 At the end of the millennium God will make all things new and the saints, the overcomers, will inherit all things (see also Matthew 5:5), but sinners will receive a different kind of inheritance.

 Revelation 21:1-4 At the end of the millennium God will also grant that there will be no more suffering for the saved, for death, sorrow, crying and pain will no longer be.

Only at this point in history there will be peace on earth established by God.

 Jeremiah 14:13-14; Ezekiel 13:15-16; Micah 3:5 The preaching of immediate peace when there is a condemnation from God is the most common form of deceit that Satan used to deceive in the past and he will use it in the future as well.

DID THE MILLENNIUM BEGIN WHEN JESUS ASCENDED AND (SUPPOSEDLY) RECEIVED THE KINGDOM?

 Revelation 20:4 The mark of the beast will be something that will happen before the millennium will begin. There is no evidence though that the mark of the beast has been received yet (it implies open deceiving miracles happening, a worldwide persecution and death decree, see Revelation 13:11-17).

 Daniel 2:42-44 When the kingdom of God is established, it destroys all earthly kingdoms. This did not happen so far, since this world’s kingdoms are still reigning.

This destruction connected to Jesus receiving the kingdom must happen after the fall of the Roman Empire, so there is a chronological discrepancy here.

 Daniel 7:11-14 When Jesus receives the kingdom, He receives also dominion together with it. For Him to receive dominion, someone else must loose dominion. These are the kingdoms of this world.

Since now the kingdoms of the world have still dominion, the scene of Jesus receiving the kingdom is a future one, as well as the beginning of the millennium.