Christ’s literal earthly kingdom was prophesied in Jeremiah 23: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (vv. 5, 6). This is a promise, and it has yet to come to pass. If prophetic passages like these do not mean Christ’s millennial (1,000-year) reign, they are meaningless.
The New Testament and Old Testament unequivocally teach an unending kingdom on the earth, with Jesus sitting and reigning on and from the throne of David in Jerusalem.
Luk 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall beno end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Jesus said at the last supper:
Luk 22:18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
And in Acts 2 Jesus literally ascends bodily and visibly from Mount Olive, and the angel said this same Jesus will return in like manner as you have seen Him leave - meaning His literal return bodily and visibly back to Mount Olive.
In Zechariah 14:5 Jesus returns to Mount Olive with all the saints with Him - where He remains and the nations such as Egypt come into the gates of Jerusalem to worship Jesus - who will be literally and bodily sitting on the throne of David, per all the prophecy about that.
In Revelation 21 The New Jerusalem which is above, descends to earth to old Jerusalem, and God and the lamb dwell in it with men forever, and Jesus says this about that city in Revelation 3:12
Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
It’s Irrefutable in scripture that there will be a unending literal and physical reign of Christ on the earth, and not just for a thousand years.
Jesus is currently sitting in heaven at the father’s right hand UNTIL the time is right to return to earth:
Psa 110:1 A Psalm of David.The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
Psa 110:2 The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule IN THE MIDST of your enemies!
Note that Jesus will not rule His kingdom from heaven, but on the earth, in the midst of His enemies.
He will return and land on mount Olive with all His saints per Zechariah 14:5, given earlier, where He will rule and reign from Jerusalem on the throne of David.
And we shall reign and rule with Jesus in His kingdom, on the earth:
Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
The millennium period isn’t a temporary reign of Jesus - it’s the period where Satan is bound for a thousand years, so all of creation, including the angels, gets to see the contrast between the world being ran by Satan as it’s god and ruler for 4,000 years, compared with Jesus ruling the nations with a rod of Iron - then Satan is loosed for short time, then thrown into the lake of fire.
Isaiah 65:17-25 describes the millennial reign of Jesus on the earth and in Jerusalem and how radically different it will be, with peace on earth, long life, no weeping or crying, and with no death - even carnivores become herbivores and don’t eat other animals.
Therefore there is no reason whatsoever to deny that the thousand year reign of Jesus on the earth in Revelation is literal - from the OT to the NT, the literal and physical return of Jesus to earth and establishing His unending kingdom is a literal fact, not an allegory.
And it’s also a fact that the early church was solidly premil.
Maranatha
The New Testament and Old Testament unequivocally teach an unending kingdom on the earth, with Jesus sitting and reigning on and from the throne of David in Jerusalem.
Luk 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall beno end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Jesus said at the last supper:
Luk 22:18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
And in Acts 2 Jesus literally ascends bodily and visibly from Mount Olive, and the angel said this same Jesus will return in like manner as you have seen Him leave - meaning His literal return bodily and visibly back to Mount Olive.
In Zechariah 14:5 Jesus returns to Mount Olive with all the saints with Him - where He remains and the nations such as Egypt come into the gates of Jerusalem to worship Jesus - who will be literally and bodily sitting on the throne of David, per all the prophecy about that.
In Revelation 21 The New Jerusalem which is above, descends to earth to old Jerusalem, and God and the lamb dwell in it with men forever, and Jesus says this about that city in Revelation 3:12
Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
It’s Irrefutable in scripture that there will be a unending literal and physical reign of Christ on the earth, and not just for a thousand years.
Jesus is currently sitting in heaven at the father’s right hand UNTIL the time is right to return to earth:
Psa 110:1 A Psalm of David.The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
Psa 110:2 The LORD sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule IN THE MIDST of your enemies!
Note that Jesus will not rule His kingdom from heaven, but on the earth, in the midst of His enemies.
He will return and land on mount Olive with all His saints per Zechariah 14:5, given earlier, where He will rule and reign from Jerusalem on the throne of David.
And we shall reign and rule with Jesus in His kingdom, on the earth:
Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
The millennium period isn’t a temporary reign of Jesus - it’s the period where Satan is bound for a thousand years, so all of creation, including the angels, gets to see the contrast between the world being ran by Satan as it’s god and ruler for 4,000 years, compared with Jesus ruling the nations with a rod of Iron - then Satan is loosed for short time, then thrown into the lake of fire.
Isaiah 65:17-25 describes the millennial reign of Jesus on the earth and in Jerusalem and how radically different it will be, with peace on earth, long life, no weeping or crying, and with no death - even carnivores become herbivores and don’t eat other animals.
Therefore there is no reason whatsoever to deny that the thousand year reign of Jesus on the earth in Revelation is literal - from the OT to the NT, the literal and physical return of Jesus to earth and establishing His unending kingdom is a literal fact, not an allegory.
And it’s also a fact that the early church was solidly premil.
Maranatha