Sunday 1 November 2015

How About This For an Idea About the 'Millennium'

My understanding of the Gospel, based on the Gospels and Epistles, and based on their interpretation of Old Testament prophecy, is:

that Christ inaugurated the Kingdom spiritually on the cross;

that the Temple and city of Jerusalem were destroyed around AD70;

that the Gospel of the Kingdom continues to be preached among all nations, amid persecution and distress of nations;

and then comes the end - the second coming; general resurrection; final judgment; and new heavens and a new earth:

I don't see the concept of a future, Jewish, Old Covenant-style 'Millennium' there.

So if I am to understand Revelation using the rest of the New Testament - in fact, using the rest of the Bible - as my interpretive framework, then I can't help wondering whether John's vision of the thousand year reign was simply to encourage believers:

that despite their present persecutions, and despite the fact Christians were dying, some through martyrdom, and some dying natural deaths, it was still a spiritual fact that the devil had been bound, as far as his ability to hurt them spiritually goes; 

that both the dead in Christ and those who are alive and remain have already been raised with Christ and ’live’ and reign with Christ spiritually already, whether here or in heaven; 

that the dead in Christ will not miss out on the Kingdom of God, because they will be raised to life bodily when He comes;

and that will be at the same time when the wicked also shall be raised bodily, only to face eternal judgment;

and all of that encouragement is given notwithstanding that there might come an increase of persecution at the very end of time.

Just a thought. It's based on the premise that the only authoritative framework we have by which to interpret the Book of Revelation, is the already-established doctrine of the Apostles. 

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