still searching and understanding the truth concerning this...please correct,comment and discuss.thank you
The concept of a millenium has caused a great deal of confusion. Most Christians believe that Christ is going to return and set up a throne in Jerusalem from which he rule for 1000 years. However, they generally do not realise that the concept is based on one fairly obscure verse in the book of Revelation.
They will be priests of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. Rev 20:6.
This reference to the "thousand years" during which the saints will reign has caused a great deal of confusion. It is generally assumed to refer to the future. However, if we realise that we have already participated in the first resurrection, then we will understand that we are reigning with him now.
This number 1000 should not be taken literally. Like all the numbers in the book of Revelation, it is symbolic. In the Bible the number ten signifies completeness. One thousand is the cube of ten, so one thousand years signifies the completion of an age. It also indicates vastness of time (Ps 50:10; Deut 1:10,11). The number, as used in Revelation 20, indicates that God’s people are to reign throughout the present age. Their reign will be complete.
The thousand years is the period between the ascension of Jesus and his second coming. The Bible is teaching that the saints are to rule throughout this time. The use of such a large number also indicates that this age will go on for a long time. This is confirmed by the fact that we have now gone nearly two thousand years beyond the ascension.
The expression, the "Millennium" comes from this passage (millenium means 1000). Many commentators use this title to describe a thousand year reign of Christ that they place after the second coming. They believe that Jesus will return to Jerusalem, and rule the world through the nation of Israel. The Old Testament prophecies of an age of blessing are seen as being fulfilled in this time. In this pre-millennial scenario the Jews are not converted until after Jesus returns.
There is also a problem in explaining how the saints would rule. Revelation 20 describes the saints ruling with Christ. If this is after the second coming, then the saints will have already experienced the resurrection of the body. They will have spiritual bodies (1 Cor 15:42-44). It is hard to understand how saints with spiritual bodies would rule in a physical world. (And those who were converted after the millennium began would still have physical bodies, so the church would be a strange mixture.)
those who then are born-again during the 1000 yrs,when do they get their glorified/resurrected body ? Their is only 1 resurrection to come...
There is also a problem of how Jesus would reign. He was glorified at the time of the ascension. At the second coming he will come with the "glory of the Father and of the angels" (Luke 9:26). If the millennium follows the second coming, there would still be men on earth in their present physical form. Those who understand the fullness of Jesus’ glory will realise that communication with these men would be impossible. They would be destroyed by his glory. Any humans who tried to have contact with him would be totally overcome. When John saw Jesus just in vision form, he fell at his feet as though dead (Rev 1:17). It would be impossible for normal human life to go on in the presence of such glory. Likewise, his glory would be so great that no temple built by human hands would be able to contain him.
The pre-millennial interpretation of Revelation 20 postulates two days of judgment. One for the church before the millennium, and one for the rest of mankind after the millennium. This is contrary to the teaching of the Bible, which always declares that the saints and the righteous will face judgment together.
A time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out – those who have done good will rise to life, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. John 5:28,29.
It is quite clear from these verses that there will be just one judgment, for the righteous and the wicked. Matthew 16:27 warns that at his coming Jesus will reward "every person" according to what he has done. The righteous and the wicked will be judged together. This teaching is so clear, that any theory that requires two judgments must be contrary to the Word of God.
