Is it Just Me? The Messianic Millennial Kingdom :: By Mark A. Becker

Next week, we will begin a five-part series that examines God’s Kingdoms as revealed to us in the Brit Chadashah (New Testament) of every passage that uses the Greek word for kingdom that is applicable to a Kingdom of God. Each part will be published in two-week intervals and spread out around two months or so.

The three kingdoms that are mentioned in the Bible and that we will be examining in the series are:

Salvation Kingdom – From personal salvation to being in heaven with Christ, through the Second Coming, the gathering of Israel, and preparation for the Millennial Kingdom.

Millennial Kingdom – The 1,000-year reign of Christ on earth.

Eternal Kingdom – The Everlasting Kingdom – that follows the Millennial Kingdom of Christ and the Great White Throne Judgment – with a New Heaven and a New Earth.

And, in a few cases of Scripture, we do seem to see a fourth category:

The All-Encompassing Kingdom – Inclusive of the three Kingdoms above, from personal salvation through to the Eternal Kingdom.

The five-part series will include:

God’s Kingdoms – Part 1 – Mark and John

God’s Kingdoms – Part 2 – Matthew

God’s Kingdoms – Part 3 – Luke

God’s Kingdoms – Part 4 – Acts through Revelation

God’s Kingdoms – Part 5 – Summary and Conclusion

In doing this study, I found that when it comes to the Messianic Millennial Kingdom, this kingdom, intriguingly, was rarely taught on by Jesus and His Apostles. There are many very good reasons for why this is, as we will note in the series.

The Messianic Millennial Kingdom will be both glorious and tragic. The dreadful aspect that follows the Messianic Millennial Kingdom is generally something the body of Christ can tend to overlook. It is because of the heartbreaking nature at the conclusion of the Messianic Millennial Kingdom that I find myself asking, Is it Just Me?

Israel’s Promised Prominence in the Messianic Millennial Kingdom

Passages abound in the Tanakh (Old Testament) on God fulfilling His precious promises to Israel in a future Messianic Kingdom. The Messiah and Israel’s preeminence on the world’s stage is one of the main themes found throughout the entirety of the Jewish Scriptures.

God intended that Israel was to be a light unto the nations. Coming as no surprise to the omniscient God of creation, she failed in this task in the past, but throughout the rule of Messiah in His Millennial Kingdom, Israel will finally fulfill her righteous mandate!

Many people of the kingdoms of the earth will, according to the Scriptures, find Israel to be a worthy and divinely blessed nation and will seek the God of Israel with the reigning Messiah on His throne in Jerusalem.

“Thus saith the Lord of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts: I will go also.

“Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.

“Thus saith the Lord of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.” – Zechariah 8:20-23

This will be glorious, indeed. But will this be universally heartfelt for all the people of the world, or is there an underlying condition that lurks beneath the veneer?

The Animal Kingdom in the Messianic Millennial Kingdom

One of every believer’s favorite portion of Scripture concerning the Messianic Millennial Kingdom states…

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

“And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.

“They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” – Isaiah 11:6-9

Have you ever wondered about the phrase, “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,” before? I have. What about the rest of the earth?

Is it possible that what we read in Isaiah 11:6-8 of the Edenic-like animal kingdom and its peace with humanity is limited only to the city of Jerusalem? And, if so, what exactly will the rest of the earth look like regarding the animal kingdom?

I really do not know. Do you? Does anybody know for sure?

Then we note that “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14), but this also leads to a question.

Because the entire earth has “knowledge of the Lord” – as He is ruling and reigning from Jerusalem – does this mean each person will earnestly follow the Lord with their whole heart and entire being?

Humanity is Still Fallen in the Messianic Millennial Kingdom

“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.” – Isaiah 65:20

Although many people will evidently live throughout the entire 1,000-year kingdom due to Christ’s regeneration of the earth, heavens, and the human bodies of those who enter the kingdom and those that are born there – similar to, yet succeeding, the pre-flood world – death, according to this verse, will still be present, though seemingly rare.

Death, of course, is the wages of sin; therefore, sin will still be alive and well, despite Satan being in prison for the duration of the kingdom (Revelation 20:1-3).

Ruling With a Rod of Iron in the Messianic Millennial Kingdom

Our Messianic Millennial Kingdom responsibilities will be many and varied within this kingdom. Primarily, we will be ruling and reigning with Christ and all that this will entail.

We shall be kings and priests…

“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” – Revelation 1:5-6

Everyone, from Adam to those who were beheaded by the Antichrist and have been resurrected in their proper order, will be “priests of God and of Christ” in the Messianic Millennial Kingdom:

“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.” – Revelation 20:6

The idea behind being kings and priests in the Messianic Millennial Kingdom, I believe, is better understood as rulers (kings) and spiritual intercessors (priests). That is, we will have rule as “kings” over certain portions of anything from families to cities, to counties, to states, to regions, etc.

Our roles as “kings” appear to be, in part, similar to that of a judge, where people under our oversight will come to us for advice and mediation with disputes, among other sociological, ethical, relational, and judicial situations.

“His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” – Matthew 25:21

As far as the office of “priest,” as noted above, every believer will be a priest representing our Lord and King, as we are essentially priests even today in theological and spiritual situations and applications.

In this age, we share the gospel, preach the Word of God, make disciples, and declare truth. We pray for others and intercede on their behalf, etc. These, among other duties, will be the same types of priestly responsibilities we will all be responsible for in our ministry during the Messianic Millennial Kingdom as representatives of Christ.

Both roles – kings and priests (judges and ruling spiritual ambassadors for Christ) – will be our service to those who are born in natural human bodies in the Millennial Kingdom. So “kings and priests,” as I understand it, are more of a role for us rather than a title.

To the church at Thyatira, Jesus said…

“And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.” – Revelation 2:26-27

Why should Messiah and His church “rule [the nations] with a rod of iron” when the Messianic Millennial Kingdom should be found in peace and righteousness?

While the Tanakh (Old Testament) speaks of the Messianic Millennial Kingdom being a kingdom of peace and righteousness, this is evidently, for all intents and purposes, an enforced peace and righteousness.

Why must this Kingdom be an enforced peace and righteousness in need of being ruled with a rod of iron? Because we will be dealing with a population who will be struggling mightily with their sin-natures. Have you thought about the ramifications of this?

For me, this thought seems rather daunting. Dealing with and caring for people who are struggling with their sin-natures for 1,000 years seems almost overwhelming to me when I consider this in my fleshly tent.

Granted, we will be in our glorified, everlasting bodies and will have shed our own sin-natures by the grace of God, but observing the struggles of those in their flesh and blood bodies is an intense and sorrowful consideration for me, to say the least. The idea of seeing men and women striving against their sin-natures for 1,000 years seems quite a formidable task — but this will be our mission.

Not to mention the horrific atrocity and abomination that will come upon most of the population of the world after the Messianic Millennial Kingdom is completed.

Conclusion

These are the thoughts that I wanted to leave with the reader as we prepare to embark on our study of God’s Kingdoms.

I am really looking forward to our time together in the next couple of months as we survey God’s Kingdoms, and I pray that the experience for the reader will be just as edifying and thought-provoking as it was for me when I put the study together.

Even though the Messianic Millennial Kingdom will be glorious in many unique respects, I have recently been finding myself not desiring this Kingdom as I had before. My heart – as a member of the Salvation Kingdom – is truly yearning for the consummating Eternal Kingdom, which is the kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world. [The Mystery of the Last Sheep]

Priming myself to witness many people born into the Messianic Millennial Kingdom who I know will not have a heart that is right with our loving Lord and Savior – and knowing that they may very well be a part of the last massive rebellion against their Creator – gives me great sorrow. I find myself not looking forward to this kingdom as much as I once did, knowing what the Scriptures reveal about this distinguished time in human history and its fatal conclusion.

While we should look so forward to our sweet fellowship together – and especially our collective communion with our Lord and Savior, Messiah Jesus – and to our witnessing the promises of God being fulfilled to His chosen people, Israel, we should also admit that the Messianic Millennial Kingdom will have more than its share of problems to contend with.

This aspect of our Lord’s Kingdom, I am not looking so forward to. And because we know the Scriptures, we recognize the catastrophe and calamity that awaits most of the people born into that Kingdom, and it is just heartbreaking.

I find myself wondering, in light of all of this, when it comes to The Messianic Millennial Kingdom, if anyone else feels the way that I do. Or Is It Just Me?

May we all keep Answering the Call of The Great Commission, and giving an answer to every man and woman who so desperately needs Jesus and asks us, “Why Am I Here and What Is It All About?”

Love, grace, mercy, and shalom in Messiah Yeshua, and Maranatha!

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