We continue with,

The Millennium and the End of Sin

We continue with our examination of Revelation 20:1-6. We were examining Verses 4-6 first and planned to return to Verses 1-3 after.

“And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them, even the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they came to life and reigned with Christ for the thousand years. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for *the thousand years.” (Rev 20:4-6)

“The term “*the thousand years,” although literal, would in this context be considered a title, meaning “The Millennium”, rather than a detail.”

“In brief, we know the Greek allows for this period of Christ’s reign to be described by the title, “The” thousand years, instead of by duration as “a” thousand years. Written Greek does not have vowels. So much is determined by context. If this period of reigning is correctly referred to by what we believe to be a general title, “The” thousand years, then it (the reign) would not have to be a full one thousand years in duration.”

Returning to Verse 4:

“Thrones are assigned to the faithful dead. They come alive to inhabit them and reign with Christ. THIS (coming alive and reigning with Him) IS the first resurrection.

There is a SPECIAL blessing for those in the first resurrection: They are immortal; death can never again be a threat to them. On top of this PERSONAL blessing, there is the COLLECTIVE blessing of being priests (mediators between fallen man and perfect God) and of reigning for the entire judgment period.

Note carefully the switch from “he” to “they” (KJV) or “one” to “they” (NAS). The PERSONAL blessing of immortality is to “the ONE” or to “HE” who has part in the first resurrection.

The COLLECTIVE blessing is that THEY reign with him.

THIS IS A VITAL PART OF UNDERSTANDING THE REIGN FOR A THOUSAND YEARS.

A personal thousand years IS NOT GUARANTEED to any individual. CHRIST is guaranteed the thousand-year reign. Those who arrive beyond the veil after the thousand years have begun reign WITH HIM for whatever years are left.

The BODY reigns the whole period; an individual (with the exception of its head) does not.

Once again back to Verse 4:

The description of those to whom judgment is given is in TWO PARTS.

First, we have what they DID do. They were beheaded — they gave up their own wills to accept the total headship of their master (Compare Col. 2:19). They did this BECAUSE OF the testimony of Jesus and BECAUSE OF the Word of God. Their faith in Scripture and in the life and work of Messiah was adequate to make them deny their own wills.

Secondly, we have what these DID NOT do. In their foreheads (their crystallized characters) and their hands (their deeds) they did not reflect the character (mark), nor did they serve the plans of (worship) the beast or his image (apostate Christianity*).

Thus, in Verses 4-6 we have the description of the new rulership, their character, their authority, their jobs, and their personal glory.”

*This verse also seems to show that the entire Church (the 144,000) is considered to have the victory over the beast and image. Since many of the 144,000 lived before there even was a beast or image, the reference is clearly not to a literal victory over these, but a victory over what they have stood for.

Excerpts here were taken from the “New Albany Notes on Revelation”.

In support of this conclusion, specifically that our Lord begins his reign prior to that of the rest of the saints we note the following:

Christ Ruling in the Midst of His Enemies

“Seeing the prophetic fulfillment in the process of the restoration of Israel, and observing the painful throes of the disintegration of the nations, we recognize that Christ is taking control. Christ has always reigned in the hearts of his people—that is where his kingdom started, but now he is beginning to rule over his enemies.

“The LORD [Jehovah] says to my Lord [Jesus]: Sit at My right hand, until I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet. The LORD [Jehovah] will stretch forth Thy strong scepter [Jesus] from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of thine enemies’ … The Lord [Jesus Christ] is at Thy right hand; He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. He will judge among the nations…”  (Psa 110:1, 2, 5, 6 NAS)

An illustration from the reign of King David demonstrates two phases of Christ’s reign. The total length of David’s reign was forty years, yet he only reigned in Jerusalem, over all of Israel, thirty-three years. (2 Sam 5:4, 5) During the first seven years, David reigned from Hebron, where only his brethren acknowledged and served him as their king. Christ’s brethren, too, will first comprehend that he is reigning even though the rest of the world still honors their earthly rulers.

Those who recognize Christ as the rightful king are encouraged and energized to tell others. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that publishes peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publishes salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigns.” (Isa 52:7)

The last feet members of Christ’s anointed body announce this coming peace (the Lord’s kingdom, “times of refreshing”, “the restoration of all things,” Acts 3:19-21) during a tumultuous time of transition (the present time, during the great time of trouble, which began in 1914 A.D. and will soon reach its climax in Armageddon). They see his reigning work through the eyes of faith—based upon the Scriptures. 1 Cor 12:12 (Excerpts taken from, End Times, “The War of Two Worlds”)

We will take a look at an alternative view in our next post.