Zao is life
Well-Known Member
Read your Bible as the New Jerusalem comes down after the 1000 Years...
The millennium is a 1,000-year period when the righteous will reign with Christ in heaven. Revelation 20:4
Judging the wicked dead will be part of the work of reigning with Christ. Revelation 20:6;
The millennial period is between the two resurrections. Revelation 20:4-6
Satan will be confined to earth during it. Revelation 20:1-3, 7
The earth will be desolate during this 1000 year period. Revelation 20:1
After the 1000 year millennium, Christ and the righteous will return to earth in the Holy City the New Jerusalem. The wicked will be resurrected at this time and Satan will lead them in an attack on the City. Finally all sin and sinners will be destroyed.
When Jesus comes at the end of the world to collect His Saints at the Second Coming, He gathers them together from all the parts of the earth. We see what Jesus told His disciples about His Second Coming:
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matthew 24:29-31.
24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. Mark 13:24-27.
When Jesus comes with power and glory at His second coming, the wicked will be anxious, perplexed, and they will be fearful of what is going to happen to them. The righteous, on the other hand, will look up to see Christ with great joy and happiness, as their redemption is near. The righteous will come from everywhere, as they are scattered over all the face of the earth, so His angels will gather His elect and bring them together when Christ comes and the trumpet sounds.
So, the living righteous will be brought together, what about those who are dead? Paul comforts the Christians in Thessalonica who were concerned that people were starting to die who had expected to see Jesus come in their life-time.
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14
So, Paul tells the Thessalonians that God will not forget those who have died. If we believe that Jesus has risen from the dead, we can believe that God will bring them with Him.It is clear from the next few verses that Jesus will not only take all the living elect, but He will also raise from the dead all of His saints who died, when He comes again, at His second coming, at the trump of God.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17
Looking at verses 16 and 17, we see that Jesus Himself comes down from heaven at His second coming. This is the big event at the end of the world when Jesus comes to get His people and take them back with Him. With a shout of the archangel's voice and the trumpet of God, the dead in Christ rise up first. Then, all who are still alive in Christ, are brought up together with those who had died in the clouds and they meet the Lord in the air to be always with Him.
It is at the second coming of Jesus, the time of the end, when both those saints who died and those who are alive, will be taken up into heaven. So, it is clear that when Paul says in verse 14 that when Jesus comes again, even those who sleep in Jesus will God take back to heaven with Him and so will we ever be with the Lord!
Looking at 1 Corinthians, we find that Paul is consistent. Jesus is the first fruit of those who have fallen asleep in Jesus and here again Paul says that the dead in Christ will be raised at the time of His coming:
20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. 1 Corinthians 15:20-23
Thank you Hobie.
I agree with you that New Jerusalem descending from God out of heaven can only mean that they were taken to heaven, those who were resurrected at the time of His coming down and sending out His angels to gather His elect (as you have also mentioned).
I agree with you that New Jerusalem descending from God out of heaven can only mean that they were taken to heaven, those who were resurrected at the time of His coming down and sending out His angels to gather His elect (as you have also mentioned).
All who have died in Christ, shall be made alive at Christ's second coming. It doesn't happen before His coming at all.
Yes, not sure if you misunderstood me as implying it did, but I agree with what you say above.
What you are saying in the first part above would be plausible if Revelation 5:10 did not say they will reign on the earth:
βασιλεύσει (He will reign) forever and ever: Revelation 11:15 (Christ).
βασιλεύσουσιν (they will reign) on the earth: Revelation 5:10 (those who overcome).
βασιλεύσουσιν (they will reign) with Christ a thousand years: Revelation 20:6 (those who overcame).
βασιλεύσουσιν (they will reign) forever and ever: Revelation 22:5:
One translation Revelation 5:10 that I read says "they will reign over the earth. It depends on whether or not it's legitimate to translate the Greek word epí that way:
The word epí is used in Acts 6:3 in reference to seven men being appointed "in charge of" or "appointed over" the business of seeing to it that the widows of the Greek disciples were not neglected.
So how we should interpret Revelation 5:10 - as reigning on the earth for a thousand years, or as reigning from heaven with Christ over the earth - will decide whether or not I might (or might not) agree with the rest of what you say below (because I would still have to give it a lot more thought and think about (if there may be) any other New Testament scriptures that possibly negate the idea you express below).
So I'd like to hear what you have to say about the word epí in Revelation 5:10 and whether or not you believe it should be read as the same word in Acts 6:3.
What you are saying in the first part above would be plausible if Revelation 5:10 did not say they will reign on the earth:
βασιλεύσει (He will reign) forever and ever: Revelation 11:15 (Christ).
βασιλεύσουσιν (they will reign) on the earth: Revelation 5:10 (those who overcome).
βασιλεύσουσιν (they will reign) with Christ a thousand years: Revelation 20:6 (those who overcame).
βασιλεύσουσιν (they will reign) forever and ever: Revelation 22:5:
One translation Revelation 5:10 that I read says "they will reign over the earth. It depends on whether or not it's legitimate to translate the Greek word epí that way:
The word epí is used in Acts 6:3 in reference to seven men being appointed "in charge of" or "appointed over" the business of seeing to it that the widows of the Greek disciples were not neglected.
So how we should interpret Revelation 5:10 - as reigning on the earth for a thousand years, or as reigning from heaven with Christ over the earth - will decide whether or not I might (or might not) agree with the rest of what you say below (because I would still have to give it a lot more thought and think about (if there may be) any other New Testament scriptures that possibly negate the idea you express below).
So I'd like to hear what you have to say about the word epí in Revelation 5:10 and whether or not you believe it should be read as the same word in Acts 6:3.
Interesting. I've never thought of it like this before now.So, scripture shows Jesus is taking all His people back to heaven. This marks the start of the 1000 years of the millennium which is the thousand-year reign of Christ with His saints in heaven between the first and second resurrections. During this time the wicked dead will be judged; the earth will be utterly desolate, without living human inhabitants, but occupied by Satan and his angels. At its close Christ with His saints and the Holy City will descend from heaven to earth.
Christ and the righteous will descend with the Holy City, the New Jerusalem. Revelation 21:1-5
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