The Millennial Reign Of Christ-Introduction (Doctrinal Bible Church in Huntsville, Alabama)

Doctrinal Bible Church

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Wednesday January 8, 2025

The Day of the Lord Series: The Millennial Reign Of Jesus Christ-Introduction

Lesson # 53

As we noted in our introduction to the doctrine of the day of the Lord, there are “day of the Lord” prophecies which will be fulfilled through the millennial reign of Jesus Christ (Zech. 14:9-21; Joel 3:17-21).

The Scriptures teach that Jesus Christ Himself will reign bodily in Jerusalem for a thousand years as the King of the earth and Israel will be head of the nations and He will establish His millennial reign at His Second Advent.

He will come from heaven with the elect angels and the church to deliver Israel from Satan and the non-elect angels and Antichrist, the false prophet and the Tribulational armies.

During the millennial reign of Christ, Satan will be incarcerated for a thousand years and Israel will be regathered and the four unconditional covenants that the Lord established with the nation will be literally fulfilled.

There will be perfect social, economic, environmental and political conditions during the millennial reign of Christ.

During this time, God will make a display of the absolute authority of divine government through the rule of the Messiah and human beings will be subjected to and tested by the authority of the King.

The Messianic reign is the final divine trial of sinful man on this earth before the Great White Throne Judgment and destruction of the earth.

Revelation 19:1 I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords. 17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great.” 19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. 21 The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. 20:1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 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. 4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. (NIV84)

The millennial age is designed by God to be the final test of fallen humanity under the most ideal circumstances, surrounded by every enablement to obey the rule of the King, from whom the outward sources of temptation such as Satan have been removed, so that man may be found and demonstrated to be a sinner by nature.

The word “millennium” is derived from the Latin words mille, “thousand” plus annus, “year.”

The corresponding Greek expression in Revelation 20:4-7, chilia ete, gives rise to the term “chiliasm,” properly a synonym for “millennialism.”

The term “chiliasm” has been superseded by the designation “premillennialism.”

The word “millennium” denotes a biblical doctrine taught in Revelation 20:1-6 and throughout the Old Testament.

It describes the penultimate triumph by the Lord Jesus Christ over Satan and the kingdom of darkness and the establishment of the kingdom of God on planet earth.

The distinctive feature of this doctrine is that Christ will return “before” the thousand years and therefore will characterize those years by His personal presence and exercise of His rightful authority, securing and sustaining all the blessings on the earth which are ascribed to that period.

This thousand-year period takes place between the resurrection of the church, Israel, born-again Gentiles and the resurrection of unsaved at the end of history.

At His Second Advent, the Lord Jesus Christ will come from heaven with the elect angels and the church to deliver Israel from Satan and the non-elect angels and Antichrist, the false prophet and the Tribulational armies.

At that time, our Lord will destroy the Eastern and Western Confederacies and will have Antichrist and the False Prophet thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 19:11-19), He will imprison Satan for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-3) and will establish His millennial reign on planet earth (Rev. 20:4-6).

The Scriptures teach that Jesus Christ Himself will reign bodily in Jerusalem for a thousand years as the King of the earth and Israel will be head of the nations.

During this time, God will make a display of the absolute authority of divine government through the rule of the Messiah.

As we will note in our study of the millennium, the Lord Jesus Christ will literally fulfill the four unconditional covenants that God established with the nation of Israel: (1) Abrahamic (Gen. 12:1-3; 13:16; 22:15-18; 26:4; 28:14; 35:11; Ex. 6:2-8). (2) Palestinian (Gen. 13:15; Ex. 6:4, 8; Num. 34:1-12; Deut. 30:1-9; Jer. 32:36-44; Ezek. 36:21-38). (3) Davidic (2 Sam. 7:8-17; Ps. 89:20-37) (4) New (Jer. 31:31-34; cf. Heb. 8:8-12; 10:15-17).

There will be perfect social (Is. 12:1-2; 29:22-23; Jer. 31:23-25; Zeph. 3:18-20; Zech. 3:9; 9:11-12; Rev. 21:4), economic (Is. 4:1; 35:1-2; 30:23-25; Jer. 31:5; Ezek. 34:26; Mic. 4:1; Zech. 8:11-12; Ezek. 36:29-30; Joel 2:21-27; Amos 9:13-14), environmental (Is. 4:5; 30:26; 35:1-3; 60:19-20; Rom. 8:19-20) and political conditions (Is. 9:7; 11:5; 12:1-2; 29:22-23; Jer. 23:5; 31:29-30, 23-25; Zeph. 3:18-20; Zech. 9:11-12; Rev. 21:4).