Our Statement of Faith – Part thirty seven

That the Kingdom of God, thus constituted, will continue a thousand years, during which sin and death will continue among the earth’s subject inhabitants, though in a much milder degree than now.” Article XXVI

The Millennium

The phase of the Kingdom of God, dealt with in the last article will persist until all the enemies of Christ are destroyed The duration of this time is defined in the 20th chapter of Revelation as a period of one thousand years Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years ‘ (Rev 20 6) It might seem presumptuous to insist that the mention of one thousand years in a book such as the Apocalypse, in which so many symbols occur, is a literal period of time However, other considerations assure us that we are on firm ground in taking this period of time as factual

First, it will be noted that the one thousand years or millennium is men boned no less than six times in Rev 20, viz VV2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 Though the Apocalyptic vision revealed to John was to be signified , that is represented by signs, there are many areas in which words and their meanings are to be taken literally Were it not for this, along with explanations and clues scattered throughout the book, the whole would remain unintelligible to even the servants of God for whom the book was written In the scene depicted in Rev 20 6, the resurrection is quite literal, as is the reign of the saints with their Redeemer

Anti-typical Of Creation Rest

Next, the period of one thousand years fits in quite well with the general scheme of things as revealed in the creation period Six days were involved in the work of creation The seventh day was hallowed by God and established as a pattern for His people to follow in their daily existence Man s labor of six days, with a one day rest period following speaks of the work of flesh, succeeded by a day of spiritual rejuvenation Given as a law to Israel, its neglect was punishable by death Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore, for it is holy unto you every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among the people Six days may work be done, but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant It is a sign between me and children of Israel for ever for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed (Ex 31:14 17)

That the seventh day or sabbath was symbolic of the saints inheritance is obvious when we consider Paul s treatment of it in Hebrews, chapters 3 and 4 The writer is addressing brethren and sisters of Christ, and reminding them of the lessons of the past Israel, under Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land because of unbelief or lack of faith Paul quotes Psalm 95 to illustrate his point and to prove that the promised rest still remains as a matter of hope Wherefore (as the Holy Spirit saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart, and they have not known my ways So I sware in my wrath, They shall not elite, into my rest) (Heb 3 7-11)

Paul reasons that since God spoke through the Psalmist so many centuries after Israel occupied the land under Joshua of a future rest, then there must yet await the faithful a future, true rest The opening verse of Hebrews 4 indicate the writer s thoughts Let us therefore, fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it This is the anti-typical rest or inheritance into which the faithful will enter at the coming of Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God

There is an obvious parallel between this true rest and the creation rest of Genesis Paul shows this when he declares, For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works And in this place again, If they shall enter into my reset” (V4, 5) The Holy Spirit, thus indicating a close connection between the 7th or sabbath day of rest and the rest associated with redemption. It might be well to remember that the inheritance of the land of Canaan under Joshua fulfilled only one aspect of the Abrahamic covenant. Although mentioned in the promises made to Abraham, it was only a subsidiary part. The fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant involves the everlasting inheritance of the land, thus also involving immortality. Consequently, Israel’s occupancy of Canaan under Joshua fulfilled an aspect of God’s purpose with the nation, leaving untouched the higher phase of which Paul writes.

Paul’s words in verse 9 further shows the anti-typical character of the true rest. Here, the writer uses a different expression to designate the inheritance. Previously, he had spoken of a “rest”, but now he calls it “a sabbath rest” (R. V.) or a “keeping of a sabbath” (A. V. Margin). The following words written by John Carter in his book, “The Letter To The Hebrews” clearly shows the parallel existing between creational rest and the “rest” of redemption: “This sabbath rest is a millennium (Rev. 20:4); and it would seem to be reasonable to conclude from this that as six days’ work preceded the sabbath of God at creation, so six thousand years of human toil would precede the millennial rest. The sabbath system is in wrought in human life, and in the chronological arrangements of God, as Grattan Guinness has shown in ‘The Approaching End of the Age’. Under the law various sabbatic institutions obtained; the week of days, the week of years. These are all part of the shadow, of which the substance is Christ, as Paul says (Col. 2:17). The Jews themselves appear to have arrived at this view. Two oft quoted comments in this connection are: ‘The Israelites said, 0 Lord of the whole world, show us a type of the world to come. God answered them, That type is the Sabbath’: and concerning the title of Psa. 92, “A Psalm for the Sabbath day—because it refers to the world to come, which is all sabbath, and a rest to eternal life’ “.

The Suppression of Sin

The commencement of this one thousand year period is preceded by the subjugation of the nations and the suppression of sin’s activities. This work is figuratively set forth in Rev. 20:1-3; “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” The binding of the Devil and Satan is the work of Christ and the saints as outlined in Article XXIV. With the destruction of all implements of war, the abolition of all factories for the manufacture of munitions, and even the means by which military combat is taught, the nations’ ability to wage war will be eliminated. The houses of sin and the institutions which provide opportunities for the unrestricted revelings of human nature and the satisfying of the inordinate passions will be done away with.

An Abundance of Peace

During this phase of God’s purpose, human nature with its propensities to sin will remain untouched. That is, there will be no change in man’s physical nature, apart from a lengthening of his mortal life. Consequently, sin and death will be continued among the earth’s subject inhabitants, but in a more restricted degree than now. The immortalized saints, empowered by Christ as His co-rulers, will hold in check any attempt by the earth’s subjects to organize sin and merchandise the inherent lusts of human nature. The apostle, in writing of the conditions which are to prevail subsequent to the destruction of the present world systems, describes them as “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness (2 Pet 3 13) Peter s anticipation of this new constitution of things was according to his promise , which we find revealed in Isaiah 65 Here, the prophet speaks of conditions as they will exist among the mortal inhabitants of the earth during the millennium For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days for the child shall die an hundred years old, but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed And they shall build houses, and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards, and eat of the fruit of them They shall not build, and another inhabit, they shall not plant, and another eat for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands (VV 17-22)

This graphic description of the new heavens and new earth which Isaiah identifies as Jerusalem (the ruling powers) and her people (the Jews), leaves no room for doubt as to the nature of the Kingdom of God Under the guidance of Christ and His co-rulers, the mortal subjects will enjoy peace, happiness and an abundance of those things which are essential to a happy existence Though the scene depicted by the prophet has to do primarily with the state of Israel under the sovereignty of the Messiah, it illustrates the actual living conditions which are to prevail in all parts of the earth during the thousand years One who dies at a hundred will be considered a child because of the longevity of the mortal inhabitants The span of human life will then be compared to that of a tree, some species of which live in excess of a millennium On the other hand, the incorrigible sinner, who refuses to comply with the law of Christ will not be allowed to fill out his days, but will be accursed

Such is the bountiful blessings to be brought to mankind with the inauguration of the Kingdom of God With the lifting of the fear of war and oppression, and the assurance of an abundance of peace and of those essentials of life the peoples of the earth will gladly come before the King of kings to learn of His ways and to walk in His paths The details on how this will be brought about will be considered in the next article