A Literal 1000-Year Kingdom

Part 1- Nathan Jones’ Epic Battle Presentation on the Millennial Kingdom

Nathan Jones: One of the aspects that that really touches me about the Kingdom of Christ is how it’s going to be a time of joy. Jeremiah, 31, says, “Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old, together; for I will turn their mourning to joy, I will comfort them, and make them rejoice rather than sorrow.” Well, the Kingdom of Christ is defined as a time of peace and righteousness and justice, but it’s also a time of great joy and happiness of childlike joy.

Zechariah 14 says “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain.”

The Feast of Tabernacles, folks will be reinstituted again across the world so that Jesus gets to have all his people come up at least once a year to visit Him. And if they neglect Him well, He shuts the rain off for a little while as a kind of reminder to return.

Not only is it a time of joy, but it’s also going to be a time of peace with no war. Isaiah 2 tells us, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.”

Hosea 2 adds, “Bow and sword of battle I will shatter from the earth, to make them lie down safely.” Now, folks, how long has mankind tried to end war? During the Kingdom of Christ, it will be a time of true peace with no war. I mean just think about it here: no soldiers, no weapons, no hatred towards our fellow man. And just think how much of our nation’s budget goes to war production and weaponry when it could be used for building and caring for its people. What a tremendous time will it be where you don’t have to fear for your life due to war.

Nor will we have to fear the animal kingdom for the animal kingdom, will be at peace as well. Isaiah 11 says, “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain.”

So even the animals will be at peace with each other and mankind. Although I have to say, I probably think the lions are going to be quite depressed at that time; they’re back to eating grass again. But it will be a very bountiful grass to find. Amos 9 tells us, “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.”

“For the seed shall be prosperous, the vine shall give its fruit, the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew—I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these.”

Isaiah 4, one more here, “In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious; and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing for those of Israel who have escaped.”

So, the Kingdom of Christ, folks is defined as a time of great bounty, great food. There is no hunger, there is no poverty. Zechariah, 14, says, “And in that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; in both summer and winter it shall occur.”

“This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live.” Folks, the Dead Sea is so salty that nothing can live in it. It’s the lowest elevation in the world. It’s also the deadest body. But during the Kingdom of Christ, the waters will flow into it again, life will flow into the Dead Sea. It’ll become alive again. Just imagine fishermen out there fishing on what was the Dead Sea.

Considering geography, there’s also an indication that the earth will be all plains. Let’s look at Isaiah 40, “Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth.” So, during the Day of the Lord, Revelation 6 and other chapters prophesy about four tremendous earthquakes that will level the ground and make the islands go and move. And the result will be then possibly it’s interpreted that the Kingdom of Christ will be a land of plains with Jerusalem as the only exalted mountain.

Well, let’s look at the aspect concerning long life. Long life. Isaiah 65 says, “No more shall an infant from there live but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days; for the child shall die one hundred years old, but the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed. For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people.” Remember that people before the Flood lived hundreds, and hundreds of years, well during the Kingdom of Christ, same thing, they will live hundreds of years again, except those who choose evil, they will die young.

Isaiah 33 says, “And the inhabitant will not say, ‘I am sick’; The people who dwell in it will be forgiven their iniquity.” And Isaiah 35 says, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing.” So, sickness and disability will not be a thing during the Kingdom of Christ. The curse that God had put on the planet at the Garden of Eden will be partially lifted. The fall of man will be partially lifted during that time. Oh, I look forward to that time. I have a child who is autistic, and I long to hear his voice one day during that time.

Now this is a wonderful time, too, because we find out that Satan will be bound. Revelation 20 tells us, “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.”

So, Satan is here bound for 1000 years, he cannot deceive anybody. Now, Revelation 20 reveals two things about the Kingdom of Christ one when Jesus returns of the Second Coming, He’s going to throw Satan in the pit. So, there is no temptation by demonic activity during the kingdom. And we also learn that he must be released for a little while at the end, and that is after the thousand years. So, we know that the Kingdom of Christ will last 1000 years, and that’s where we get the term millennium, milli- for 1000, -ennium years, a 1000 years.

But at the end of it is when Satan’s defeated, Revelation 20, “Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, and to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

So, for a 1000 years, Christ is reigning physically on this earth, Satan has remained in a prison, but he’ll be let go for a time, and those children who are born to the Millennial Saints will get to choose Jesus or not. Sadly, many will turn to Satan as a lightning rod and follow him. They will attempt to overthrow Jesus in Jerusalem. But Jesus just sends fire down and evaporates them. They’re dead. They’re gone. Satan is then cast into the Lake of Fire, which is Hell. Where he will finally receive justice for all of eternity. Satan is finally defeated, and he can’t hurt anybody anymore.

And that, folks, is when we get into final judgment. Revelation 20, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the book. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the Lake of Fire.” This, folks, is the second death, and anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire.

So, what we got here was Satan’s defeat and sentence in Hell. It’s now time that God will judge those who died in rebellion against them. They’ve been in Hades awaiting judgment. They’ll be resurrected. They’ll stand before God’s Great White Throne. But they will be judged on their works and they’ll be missing the one work that matters, the work of accepting Jesus Christ as Savior, the work He did on the cross, that He alone did. And their names were not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and they too will be sentenced to Hell.

And that’s when we get to, 1 Corinthians 15, “Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He (Jesus) must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death… Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.”

So, the Kingdom of Christ has lasted for a 1000 years. Finally, all of Christ’s enemies have been defeated, including death. Then Jesus hands over the kingdom to the Father. And that, folks, is when we enter the Eternal State. But that’s a story for another time.

Let’s look then, when I read the Bible for its plain sense meaning it tells me these things concerning the Kingdom of Christ. One: That the Jews have to be regathered back to the land of Israel.

Two: That the world must endure the horrors of the Day of the Lord.

Three: That Jesus has to return physically to conquer.

Four: That the Gentile world order has to be destroyed.

Five: That the world is judged so only the faithful will enter the Kingdom of Christ.

Six: That Jesus rules and reigns as king and priest from his temple in Jerusalem.

Seven: That King David and the resurrected Saints fill the roles as governors and mayors.

Eight: That the Jews serve as an exalted priestly people.

Nine: That all the world’s inhabitants know Jesus and worship Him.

Ten: No war between man or beast, but only peace and bounty.

Eleven: Life spans are counted by the hundreds of years.

Twelve: And Satan is bound in a pit for a 1000 years and does not tempt people until the very end when he is released and permanently defeated.

Now I ask you: Has any of that happened or is happening now?

Oh, no, of course not. But there would be some who would answer, yes, this all has to happen, but it’s happening spiritually. Well, so no matter if you take a literal interpretation of the Bible or a spiritualized interpretation, we agree on two things: one that Jesus Christ is coming back for His Saints, and two that the redeemed will spend eternity with God.

Let’s quickly look at four different viewpoints of how they interpret the Bible. The first one being Amillennialism, “a” meaning no, no millennium. It’s a spiritualized interpretation of the Bible formulated by Augustine in about 400 A.D. it interprets the scriptures are spiritualized. Prophecy is symbolic. There’s no Millennial Kingdom, and we’re in the Kingdom right now.

Then there’s the Post-Millennial view. This idea that the church will eventually evangelize the entire world, and then all the world will become saved, and then we will hand the keys of the kingdom over to Jesus when He returns. That was a popular idea until people realized how bad the world is getting.

Historic Premillennialism, it’s the view that the early church fathers held, and it’s a view that takes a literal interpretation of the Bible. But they were unsure about the Rapture and the Second Coming being separate events.

We get to the fourth view, which is called Dispensational Premillennialism. It has a Church Age, a seven year Tribulation, with the Rapture happening sometime before there.

I take the Pretribulation Rapture view; I believe the Bible holds the most support for that view. Jesus Christ comes at the Second Coming, then there’s a literal 1000 year reign of Christ, and then we enter into the Eternal State.

So, when you look at those four views, what view best fits a literal interpretation of the Bible? Is the Bible to be interpreted literally or symbolically? Is there a literal seed? Yes, Jesus Christ. Is there a literal throne? Yes, it’ll be in Jerusalem. Is there a literal kingdom? Yes. It’ll be for that thousand years and then on into Eternity. And will it last forever? Amen. The Bible says yes, it was.

So, when we go back to the golden rule of interpretation, when the plain sense makes sense, look for no other sense lest you end up with nonsense. We can go back to my theme from the very beginning, a literal interpretation of the Bible reveals that Jesus Christ will in the future physically rule over this Earth for a 1000 years.

And folks, here’s the takeaway I want you to go with: That knowing that Christ victory is coming, that should bring you great joy and happiness today. It should lead you to a life excited about the Kingdom to come, that you’re a resident of a Kingdom that’s still to come, but it’s coming soon.

Now you have to ask yourself: How can I be a citizen of the Kingdom of Christ? Well, it requires that you have accepted Jesus Christ as the Savior of your life. You can’t be in that kingdom unless you follow the King.

Now, for those who are Christians, we can find that great joy and hope. But for those who have rejected Jesus Christ, they don’t have that hope. They have the Lake of Fire waiting till the end. They’re the citizens of death.

Folks, if you haven’t accepted Jesus Christ as your savior, now’s the time to do so. Listen to the Holy Spirit inside you, pulling you to accept Him as Savior. And then pray from your heart something like, “Dear Jesus, please forgive me of my sins. I know I’m a sinner. Please forgive me and be my Savior and the Lord of my life.” And Jesus will do just that. Your sins will be forgiven. The guilt will be washed away. The Holy Spirit will reside in you. And you will become a citizen of the Kingdom of Christ.

God bless you.

Part 2- Epic Battles Q&A

Jobe Martin: You know people say those days in Genesis they could be any amount of time. Well, then people say those years in the book of Revelation chapter 20 could be indefinite long periods of time. So, how do we know whether it means an indefinite long period of time, or it means a literal 1,000 years? The Millennial Kingdom will be a 1,000 years?

Tim Moore: Well obviously the Lord repeats six different times, this is going to be a 1,000 years, a 1,000 years, I mean how many times does He have to say it? I used to ask that question of my children. I know my parents asked me that question. How many times do I have to tell you? But it is the same idea. How many times does the Lord have to tell us?

So, Jobe I think that for anyone who questions the clear text that is revealed there in Revelation 20 you have to ask, “Well, do you believe the One who is telling in this case, and is testifying?” If I believe Him, then it is pretty plain. And I have looked for the plain sense and not other sense, lest I end up with nonsense.

So, you cited in your presentation about how a day is like a 1,000 years, that was a reference to God’s timelessness. But when we get to other passages that doesn’t mean that we take that one just understanding of God’s timelessness and now get to just create webs of fancy with what is clear and unequitable. Six different times He says it will be a 1,000 year reign, a 1,000 year reign. And the purpose of that is to demonstrate that even when, as Nathan discussed earlier, peace, righteousness, holiness, and the Edenic state is returned to the world, when given the opportunity at the end of that 1,000 year reign people will still choose, as they said in the movie, poorly. What will happen then, Nathan?

Nathan Jones: What happens that it ends poorly?

Tim Moore: Yeah, the end of the 1,000 year reign?

Nathan Jones: Well, what happens, well the people, interesting enough, the children who were born during the Millennial Kingdom they get a choice to choose Jesus or not. They have no influence by any satanic influence because Satan is put into a pit.

Tim Moore: Yeah, they’ve lived in a perfect world.

Nathan Jones: But Satan is released, and he becomes again, yet again, a lightening rod for those who wise to rebel against God. They join with Him in massive amounts of numbers. They go up to Jerusalem to try to overthrow Jesus. He doesn’t give them a Flood or a seven year Tribulation, fire comes down and that’s it. That’s truly sad.

Tim Moore: It is proving that really its not nature versus nurture, the world will be a perfect environment and yet, still the seed of sin within the human heart that deceives all of us will deceive those people and they will rebel against even a perfect benevolent King.

Nathan Jones: So, they can’t blame it on anybody but themselves.

Tim Moore: Right.

Nathan Jones: It’s all up to us. And I would tack on to what you said there is the idea of a sabbatical day. You look at the Creation account, the Creation account is a wonderful templet, six days of creation, a seventh day rest. What do we have? 6,000 years of human history, and a kingdom that lasts, according to the Bible, Revelation 20 a thousand years, a rest time where the prosperity as I said in my presentation is incredible. Nobody is hungry, no one is starving, it is almost a utopian type system, a sabbath rest. And so, God follows patterns, and I believe He follows that pattern. And that pattern shows then that you can take those 1,000 years to be a literal 1,000 years and not days, or ages.

Tim Moore: Alright.

Eric Hovind: Can I bring it?

Tim Moore: Bring it on.

Eric Hovind: You guys have talked about a literal Millennium Kingdom, a literal interpretation of Revelation. What about people that say we are taking it literally, and the Temple fell, in Revelation it was written before the Temple fell, and so its prophecies of this time that all of these things are going to happen, these bad things are going to happen have already happened. I believe it is called Preterism. Come on what do you got on Preterism?

Nathan Jones: You want it?

Tim Moore: Go ahead. We’ll, tag team. We’ll tag in on this.

Nathan Jones: So, the idea is that all of the prophecies that you read about in the Bible were fulfilled when the Temple fell in 70 AD. And all of that is tied to what an early church father, his name was Papias or Papias said that the Apostle John was martyred in 70 AD. Now, the book of Revelation, and I wrote a whole book of Revelation called, “The Mighty Angels of Revelation,” and I show you where we get the information that the book of Revelation was actually written in 96 after the Temple fell. Well, so, ever since Papias said that they are like, “Oh, well, therefore all these prophecies must have happened before the Temple fell because we read about the Temple in the book of Revelation.” But there are other church fathers who said, “No, no, no, he just got that wrong.” Like Clement of Alexandria and Eusebius and others affirm that John was on the Island of Patmos in 95-96 AD, and that is when he wrote the book.

Tim Moore: During the reign of Domitian, which we know his reign period.

Nathan Jones: Yeah, Domitian is the one who sent him to the Isle of Patmos. And when he died the next Caesar let John off, and John returned to Ephesus and spent two years, and died at a ripe old age of I think it was 98 or 99 years old. So, the prophecies that John gave are after the Temple fell. So, what he was prophesying is not the fall of the Second Temple, he is prophesying a rebuilding of the Third Temple which the Antichrist will desecrate, its destruction. And there will even be another Temple during the Millennial Kingdom, the Millennial Temple which will be almost about the size of Jerusalem it is so big. So, there were different temples.

So, the early church fathers confirmed, one of them got it wrong, maybe it was a slip up? Maybe it was his pen. I don’t know but all the other church fathers agreed John was 96 AD, and so therefore all those prophecies happened after. Now, I think from a perspective, okay just look at Luke 21 where Jesus gave us ten signs that point to the end times: wars, and famines, plagues, fearful events, Jerusalem under attack, all these different signs. Are they not happening in our day and age? How can we say that all ended in 70 AD. How can, Israel is back in the land again? What country comes back after 1,900 years? Only the country from the Bible, the nation from the Bible. God is still working prophecy today. So, Preterism, is I think kind of similar to what you are talking about the people that believe that Archaeopteryx is a transitional animal. It is an old model. It doesn’t work. There is very little evidence that supports it, and it denies the reality of existence today.

Tim Moore: Exactly so. And I would say this, Israel is a great clue because there are references to Israel coming back from exile from Babylon that is to the east, but there are many references that point to Israel being regathered from the four corners of the earth, from the east and the west, the north and the south. Indeed, the Lord will have to say to the north, give them up, and to the south do not hold them back, and we know that Russia and Ethiopia wouldn’t release their Jews for a season. So, the regathering of Israel just in these last, well couple of generations of people on this earth right now, has manifest the fulfilled prophecies that point to the end times. And that had not happened in AD 70, that was the dispersion, the Diaspora that we still talk about today.

I would also point out, I recently had a friend who had engaged in a dialogue with an abject Preterist who said, “No all these things were fulfilled.” And he said, “Well, but you are a Christian right?” He said, “Yes.” “Do you take the Lord’s Supper?” “Well, yes, communion, of course.” And yet, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 11:23-26 he is outlining the communion that we still share as believers in Christ, and Paul writes, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” Well, we are still doing that to proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. So, we are awaiting the Lord’s coming, we are awaiting the fulfillment of all those signs that have been given to us that soon and very soon will indeed come to pass.

Jobe Martin: So, you are saying that He did not come in 70 AD.

Tim Moore: No, He did not. And there were some signs fulfilled, obviously when people were dispersed but the great multitude of signs pointing to the end times, the Day of the Lord, we are looking forward to and they are beginning to be manifest. Nathan and I talk all the time about the multiplication of signs they are increasing in intensity, and frequency, and the fact that they are culminating, they are converging if you will right before our eyes. And anyone with eyes to see, and ears to hear or that simply turns on the News recognizes that there is something afoot as never before, and so all these signs are happening before our very eyes.

Jobe Martin: I think the Lord is wanting to get the attention of mankind, and He is doing things that is hey, I’m here, come on. And then men still, they are just turning their backs on the Lord, it’s too bad.

Nathan Jones: It is tragic.

Tim Moore: Yes.

Closing

Nathan Jones: Well, Tim, I sure wish I had the extra time to share more about how incredible life is going to be like for God’s faithful during the Millennial Kingdom. No wonder Paul exclaimed in 1 Corinthians 2:9 that, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

That’s why, folks, we are offering the entire Epic Battles Conference on a 3-DVD album for gift of $25 or more, and that includes shipping. Just contact us at the number you see on the screen or order online at lamblion.com.

Tim Moore: And, while you’re on our website, check out our annual conference titled “Storm Warning: The Urgency of the Rapture.” The Prophecy Pros Jeff Kinley and Todd Hampson will be joining us here in the Dallas area on July 22nd and 23rd. We’d love for you to join us as well!

In our third episode of this Epic Battle series, Dr. Jobe Martin will address another controversial debate from the book of Genesis, “A Literal 6-Day Creation.” We’ll see you back here next week, Lord willing. Godspeed!

End of Program