Jesus’ imminent return to earth to set up His literal, and eternal kingdom:
In Our Lord’s Prayer, the line “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven…”(Matt 6:10) is a direct reference from Jesus Christ of the time yet future when a descendant of David (Himself) will sit on David’s throne and rule Israel and the world from Jerusalem. This did not happen during Christ’s first incarnation – in fact the opposite. Jesus was rejected and despised by Israel.
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.
Note: the spiritual kingdom was already there when Jesus spoke of the future kingdom to come.
There are two comings of Jesus, with two different kingdoms: the first kingdom was spiritual - at the second coming Jesus sets up His literal physical, and never ending kingdom, per the many Old Testament and New Testament prophecies.
Christ’s future literal 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.
Isaiah and Luke prophesied the same thing:
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 again 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 be no 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.
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.
In Acts 1 as Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, the apostles, who knew Messiah would set up an earthly kingdom in Jerusalem, (per the prophecies already given) asked Jesus if He was going to set up His kingdom right then:
Act 1:6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him,
saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
Act 1:7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
His reply was it’s not for them to know the exact time He will set up that future kingdom.
Jesus then ascended bodily and visibly on a cloud, into heaven, from mount Olive.
An angel said this same Jesus will return in like manner as you have seen Him leave:
Act 1:9And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
Act 1:10And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes,
Act 1:11and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?
This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Act 1:12Then
they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away.
That means literally and visibly returning on a cloud, in the air, back to Mount Olive - which occurs in
Zechariah 14:5.
And occurs in
Revelation 1:7
Rev 1:7Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
And occurs in
1 Thessalonians 4:
1Th 4:17Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
And
Matthew 24:30:
Mat 24:30Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
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 Literal fact 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:
Psalm
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.
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, which is established forever:
1Ki 2:45 And king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD for ever.
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 for a thousand years - then Satan is loosed for short time, and thrown into the lake of fire.
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.
Zephaniah also describes Jesus ruling on the earth in Jerusalem:
Zep 3:14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Zep 3:15 The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.
Zep 3:16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak.
Zep 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
There is no reason whatsoever to deny that the thousand year reign of Jesus on the earth in Revelation 20 is literal - from the OT to the NT, it is literal fact that He will return physically to earth and rule from the throne of David.