Chapter 27

“Time”of The Millennium Kingdom

“And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.”

Revelation 20:1-4

The concept of the Millennial Kingdom is not taken literally by many scholars today. In fact, my present church denomination doesn’t support this popular idea put forth in best selling Christian books of today and theologians who teach the literal fulfillment of prophecy. This idea comes from the book of Revelation, but it is supported throughout scripture. After Christ’s second coming, he will rule the nations for 1,000 G-years or 1,014 years and seven months on earth. At which time the devil will be let loose one last time before the final end will come and God will destroy the present heaven and earth and create a new one.

The real facts of this belief are not only God’s word, but that this concept fits perfectly within God’s plan, as we know it. Secondly, if Christ doesn’t come back and rule on earth, then many of the biblical scriptures would be lies and this is not possible since God’s word is always true. Isaiah speaks a lot about an earthly kingdom ruled directly by Jesus. Clearly this has not happened. If the purpose of Jesus’ second coming is to judge the living and the dead, then what would have been the purpose of these prophecies? Those who don’t hold to the Millennial Kingdom idea either do not know scripture as well as they ought to, or are just as the Pharisees, Sadducees and teachers of the law were at the time of Jesus’ first coming; ignorant of the facts right in front of their faces because they did not meet their own personal agendas.

Let’s review just a few of the scriptural verses that lead us to this truth.

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD— and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra; and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.”

Isaiah 11:1-10

This prophecy clearly outlines a time when the “Root of Jesse” (Jesus) will rule the nations from Jerusalem and even the wild animals will live side by side with humans. Things will be much as they are now with people marrying and having children. But many things will be different. You won’t have to lock your doors any longer or worry about the intentions of strangers. Movies and TV programs won’t promote sex, homosexuality, murder, violence, cheating, lying, and any other sinful practices. Sports like boxing, wrestling, and fighting will be abolished. Pornography, books, and music that tempt the sinful nature will be removed from the world. The rich will not take advantage of the poor. Wealth will be more evenly distributed… rewarded by good work. These are just some of the changes that will take place when the angels “weed out” all unbelievers (un-repenting sinners) and all things that cause sin at the Lord’s return. There will still be other nations, not just one, that will “report to” Christ. This clearly has to be a time after his second coming because it has not happened yet.

The description of the new heaven and earth in Revelation, after the judgment, is clearly different from the prophecy from Isaiah and cannot possibly be reconciled with it. That vision has everyone under one “nation”, no sun or moon, and even Jesus says there will be no marrying, and therefore no children, in this recreated heaven on earth. Everyone who has believed the Messiah was their personal savior throughout history will be resurrected with new bodies, if they hadn’t been already at His return, and they will be “like” the angels in heaven.

Isaiah again writes,

“In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. 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. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD.

Isaiah 2:2-5

Again we see that there will be multiple nations and Christ will be the leader. There will be no wars, but still minor disagreements. Clearly there has been no time in history where there weren’t wars or planning for war. So this passage can only be true if there is a period of “Time” on Earth under Jesus’ reign. Let’s look at one last scriptural writing from Zechariah to drive home the truth of this concept.

“Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain. If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The LORD will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.

On that day “HOLY TO THE LORD” will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the LORD’s house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar. Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the LORD Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day [the seventh H-day in God’s plan; a Sabbath day for Him] there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD Almighty.

Zechariah 14:16-21

These verses follow the first fifteen in Zechariah 14 that describe Jesus’ second coming and the wrath that will be unleashed on the unbelievers and unrepentant sinners. It is worth studying further on your own. We see from the prophet Zechariah clearly a time period with Christ ruling the nations. There really is no rationalization of these scriptural passages without a literal fulfillment of Jesus returning to rule on earth… the Millennial Kingdom of Revelation. There are many other passages that support the truth of this coming reality along with the Lord’s plan laid out earlier.

Zechariah specifically mentions the world celebrating the Festival of Tabernacles every year during Christ’s earthly reign. This is intriguing since no others are mentioned (which doesn’t mean they won’t be celebrated during this time) and this festival is around the time of Christ’s birth and projected time of his return. If you recall, I mentioned that there are strong indications Christ would return on the Day of Atonement: September 30, 2028 A.D. The Festival of Tabernacles (Sukkot) is a seven-day festival that begins on the fifteenth of Tishrei (five days after the Day of Atonement), which will begin October 5th in the year 2028 A.D. Doesn’t it strike you funny that Zechariah would mention this sacred holiday as the one that all the nations need to observe? When Christ returns, no matter the day, you can surely believe that day will become an important holiday… a day of remembrance… a day to sit back, reflect and rejoice for all generations to come. Much like the fourth of July is in the United States, but a multi-national holiday for all to observe instead of just a national holiday if one reads scripture closely.

It seems this is just more evidence from the prophets that Christ will return around this period of the year. We last calculated Christ’s most probable date of birth as October 13, 2 B.C. which also corresponded to one interpretation of Daniel’s complete prophecy of the Seventy ‘Sevens’ and God’s timing of the end of the third trimester when you eliminate the 51 day error that was originally calculated so that both would coincide. October 13th is 14 days later than September 30th if you actually include all of September 30th in the calculation. If you include just some portion of that day, say eight hours, then you get 13.333 (6.666 x 2). I remind you God seems to give advance warning like when he told Noah seven days earlier before the flood came. Maybe Christ won’t come on the Day of Atonement, but just give advanced warning, a sign, on that day. I really don’t know for sure, but this is also a possibility.

The Feast of Tabernacles ends on October 11, 2028 A.D. in the year of His coming, but the Jews celebrate other holidays immediately afterwards: Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. In Israel, Simchat Torah falls on the same day as Shemini Atzeret. Outside Israel, Simchat Torah will occur on the following day, which would be October 13th. We see that if we have calculated Christ’s birth date accurately, then not only will the start of the Millennium Kingdom coincide with the Feast of Tabernacles, but also with Christ’s birthday which may be even more evidence that this timing is right.

Lastly, the Millennial Kingdom starts a “New Season”, cycle, on God’s calendar... equivalent to the seventh day of rest for God during creation. The last ½ period of “Time” in God’s overall plan of “Time (2,029.1666 yrs.), Times (4,058.3333 yrs.) and ½ a Time (1,014.58333 yrs.)” The beginning of a “New Age” as Christ says and the final chapter of mankind before the last judgment and the remaking of heaven and earth. A long period of time without war, fear, and temptation. What a wonderful time it will be.