Lizbeth
Well-Known Member
A thousand years is as a day..........and a day is as a thousand years. So it's not a literal number. I believe it signifies an age, the completion of an age.Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years." Revelation 20:4-6A "thousand years." It has been 2000 years since he was crucified and resurrected.
You have a serious problem with denial, sir.
We're told in scripture to compare spiritual with spiritual. The Word made flesh - Jesus - speaks to us in parables. Allegories/types/shadows. The bible is a spiritual book of spiritual truths and lessons, and we need the Holy Spirit's illumination of what the Word made flesh (Jesus) is speaking to us through it. (The bible says to lean not to our own understanding and that the things of God are spiritually discerned....so we need to rely on the Lord, His Spirit, for understanding.)
Paul wrote concerning "Israel after the flesh", that "these things happened unto them and were written as ensamples for our admonition". (the church's ensample.....made up of both Jew and Gentile believers, one new man.) In other words, Israel after the flesh in scripture was a kind of living allegory/parable for "the Israel of God".
For example, in place of the Old Testament there are prophecies concerning Israel being "gathered" and returning to the land, and references also to Gentiles joining with them.........this gathering and returning to the land is alluding to and foretelling of the "Israel of God" being gathered to the Messiah and His gospel. Jesus is the Shepherd gathering His sheep and the promised land is an allegory or type for the kingdom of God. Similarly, references to Jerusalem and Zion are often speaking of the Jerusalem that is above who is our mother, and heavenly Zion. Try and "see" these scriptures allegorically:
Isa 40:11
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
Isa 43:5
Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;
Isa 49:18
Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.
Isa 54:7
For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
Isa 54:15
Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
Isa 56:8
The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.
Isa 60:4
Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.
Jhn 11:52
And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.
Jhn 10:16
And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
The religious Jewish leaders of His day were expecting a flesh and blood military/political conquering king to rescue Israel from the clutches of Rome and set up His own earthly kingdom. Jesus was correcting this erroneous mindset when He said "My kingdom cometh not with observation that you may say lo here it is, or there...my kingdom is not of this world but is within you." His kingdom is heavenly/spiritual, not earthly. Believing in and looking for an earthly kingdom caused most of the Jews to reject Jesus as Messiah. I fear that believing in and looking for an earthly kingdom at the end of this age is going to trip many up again, both Jews and Christians, and cause them to receive someone coming in his own name who will appear to be able to deliver on that earthly utopian kingdom.
2Peter 3 says that this world and everything in it will burn up at the return of Christ/Messiah and that we are to look for a "new" heavens and "new" earth. New and renew in scripture refers to something spiritual/heavenly, made new and no longer earthly. It also says that the thousands years is the time of longsuffering which we are to account as salvation....the time/age in which souls may be saved.
Consider also that 1 Cor. 15 says Jesus will hand the kingdom back over to the Father at His return, that God may be all in all.........so after His return and the events surrounding that, wrath poured out, Jesus will not be reigning Himself any longer, per se (except insofar as He is God).
Revelation is chock full of allegory, much of it from the OT, especially Daniel, and not easy to parse.....but one thing I know for sure, a correct understanding will not contradict the scriptures that were written before Rev was....especially to my knowledge, those 2 Peter 3 and 1 Cor. 15 passages.
I pray and hope you will find this helpful and that the Lord will give you His illumination, as He was gracious to open my eyes to these things.