The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
-Psalm 110:2
Premillennialism teaches that there are Old Testament passages describing the Millennium, that it is not confined to the Book of Revelation. A holistic overview of both Old and New Testament passages about the Millennium shows that there will be those who resist the Messiah’s rule. Consider the following passages.
And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
-Zechariah 14:18
And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
-Revelation 20:7-9
The Zechariah passage presupposes that the nations will be free to refuse the Lord’s commands from Jerusalem. There will be consequences for disobedience, but disobedience is not removed or rendered impossible. Even in the Millennial Reign, the Lord affords mankind the gift of free will. Indeed, as many Bible teachers (such as David Pawson) have said before, one of the purposes of the Millennium is to show how incurably wicked the natural heart of man is. Even with Satan (and his minions?) bound in the Abyss, mankind still is not fully converted to Christ. The ability of mankind to be seduced by Satan on his release from prison, even following a Golden Age of Christian rule, shows what we truly are. The final war at the end of the Millennium is a recapitulation of the Garden of Eden story: even living in Paradise with God, Adam and Eve were seduced into sin by Satan’s deceit and our own hearts.
This lesson about free will in the Millennium should affect how we pray about matters in this age and the age to come. In seeking, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done,” we must realise that our co-operation is required. No doubt Christ’s law will be enforced strictly in the Millennium, but His true Kingdom is seen in those who willingly and unreservedly submit to Him, not in a subservience that comes from fear of consequences or as a means of fleshly advancement.
Government is needed to protect the rights that God has afforded us. For example, we ought to have laws forbidding abortion, in order to protect the rights of the unborn. A Christian government in the Millennium will be a marked improvement on our current governments when we consider the protection of rights, the punishment of injustice and iniquity, and the public acknowledgement of truth. However, the inward laws of our hearts, and our willing submission to those laws, come from the Spirit of God, from being “born again”, from being given “hearts of flesh” to replace “hearts of stone”. For this reason, I submit that as we pray for revival, for the conversion of souls, as well as for government to be transferred to God’s true people, we should, from time to time, acknowledge again that the ultimate work of conversion is God’s. It is a miracle that anyone comes to know, honour, worship, obey, and love Christ.
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 2:27
The tension between curbing a nation’s excesses and respecting its citizens’ free will is an important aspect of Kingdom theology. A law that forbids abortion is not excessive, because it protects the rights of an unborn child that already exists. On the other hand, a law compelling two persons to marry is arguably an interference in the private conduct of free individuals, and so cannot be justified on the same basis as a law prohibiting abortion.
If we accept the underlying premises in this political philosophy as derived from Christian respect for free will and for God-given rights, then we might conclude that Kingdom rule is more like 19th century government in the United Kingdom and the United States than it is like the hyper-statism seen in tyrannical governments such as the USSR or Nazi Germany. Even the so-called “moderates” and “centrists” of Western “democracies” reveal in their speech presuppositions about the “right” of the state to interfere in every aspect of a citizen’s life.
We are not called to that kind of government. God’s good purposes cannot be defined by our political philosophies and there is much that He still has to reveal to us. However, the Bible provides us with a firm foundation in “Kingdom theory”, and it shows us how different the principles of the Kingdom are from what we see today.
All Along the Watchtower 
Excellently said, Nicholas.
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Well, as I’m sure we both feel, much of the trouble we are experiencing now is caused by statism, and various evils cannot be fixed by the state – they require personal conversion.
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Even just not depending on the state for bloody near everything would be an improvement. But yes, I do agree.
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Indeed – I would like to see a return to co-operatives and church initiatives for things like insurance, utilities, healthcare, etc.
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It worked better than what either of us has now.
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It seems to me that the Kingdom of God already came to us with the appearance of the Christ (though His Kingdom is not of this world). But if His temple and the Spirit of God dwell in a man’s heart the Kingdom of God is manifest; though perhaps not recognized as it was not recognized by most people during His incarnation.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
16 Know you not, that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17 But if any man violate the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which you are.
Therein lies a problem that perhaps in eschatology becomes a visual and recognizable Kingdom that nobody can deny unless they are willfully of the mindset of non serviam, due to a discordant use of freewill. So it seems to me that our first step is in establishing a Kingdom within before we attempt to remove a beam from the eyes of a non-believer. I guess the question is, how many people does it take to effect such a massive change that resonates throughout the world . . . and how many are there who are sufficiently bound to christ (mind, heart, soul, understanding and will) to carry out this work? Probably not enough and perhaps it will be this way, sadly until such time that Christ returns. As to what this will look like, whether it is manifested in a physical or supernatural way is perhaps an unsolvable, and/or unsettled point of interpretation. I have no answer other than to continue bearing witness (if I indeed have a useful witness) because we all are deficient in so many ways though perhaps some saints with the fulness of this Temple of God with the indwelling Spirit of God reside in a way more perfect than we might be able to fathom. And that, in itself, might inch us closer to a blossoming of a dominant and visible Kingdom that draws others to attempt to bring His Kingdom into the world more perfectly as time proceeds.
But getting the States to submit to a higher authority than themselves seems to be diminishing hope in this world. We simply might find ourselves in that unenviable situation that when Christ returns he will scarcely find any faith.
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I personally am inclined towards a more pessimistic view: I believe the Kingdom will have to be established forcefully in some respects and maintained forcefully at times (e.g. the denial of rain/sending of plague in Zechariah). There are too few Christians now and too much resistance, even with the Revival, for the earth as a whole to go willingly into the Kingdom. Yes, we must all work to be obedient to the Kingdom that began with Christ’s first Advent, but we would be naïve if we thought we could reach the next world without going through Armageddon. The fact is: even if you established really good rule and culture in Europe, Islam is such a force in the ME that we would constantly be in a self-defence mode to preserve what we had. No, the armies of Satan must be destroyed.
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Alas, the last bit is absolutely true. They are mortal enemies to anything remotely connected with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Afraid the only connection that has helped some convert from Islam is Mary. Funny that Our Lady would pick Fatima for Her last great message to mankind.
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Yes, I have often thought the choice of Fatima a curious one. Islam seems to me the best candidate for Satan’s last vehicle of resistance before the return of Christ and his imprisonment in the Abyss. I expect the Antichrist to come from Islam and if the False Prophet is a separate figure from the Antichrist (which some Christians debate) I would expect him to either come from Islam or from an apostate version of Christianity. I know some Protestants who think the False Prophet could be a Pope/Anti-pope. Given the trends regarding the hierarchies in mainstream Christian denominations, this possibility does not seem crazy to me.
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I disagree with the last: an antipope will be simply that and we had them before. But it will be a real coup to find the Church that Christ established for the salvation of souls, so soiled, corrupted and maligned by the world that it is seen to ineffective for the final battle. But She will prevail and the Gates of Hell will not prevail. We have Christ’s promise for this. Now will the Church need to be led by an extraordinarily holy man who has vision and clear guidance? I think that this probably more what Christ might manifest: a rising of the phoenix from the ashes as He Himself, made to be sin, rose from the dead.
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At any rate, I think it very likely that there will be an argument should BXVI die. One group may propose the election of his successor, even while Francis is alive, and, to the outside world, this will look like a schism.
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Indeed and even a schism may even ensue. But we know that as St. Athanasius said during the Arian heresy, words to the effect that they can control the parishes and all the high places but if we hold the faith then who is the eventual winner? Who is really in control? The bricks and mortar count for nothing; the faith is all that must be held and defended even at the price of death.
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Indeed: Satan cannot destroy the Church, even if a lot of the formal leaders are in a bad state. Architecturally a number of modern church buildings are no loss from a traditionalist perspective. They feel more like Marxist art galleries and abattoirs than churches.
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Maybe for those of the caste of kings, queens and lords. But when they were active and filled with the common men, it was like stepping into heaven after a day of hard work where earthly concerns were foremost on their minds. We needed and still need that transcendent quality to our worship of God. Nothing is too much to give Him praise, glory and worship and to express His Eternal Kingship. And now they are replaced with auditoriums with felt banners and modernist art(?), music(?), politics and social work . . . and little if any transcendent movement of the soul to that Kingdom not of this World. Many souls were drawn to holiness through these magnificent structures and art. For it is closest thing we have which is tangible which can draw us out of our work a day world and have our souls soar to the heights of Heaven. Now we want to drag God down to our level rather than lift Him High and adore Him where He is.
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Indeed. Even the old, relatively bare Catholic churches of country parishes feel more transcendent than the concrete buildings of today. In the case of a parish with sufficient funding, it isn’t even an either/or choice: you can still have an attached auditorium for non-liturgical meetings (e.g. guest-speakers, bible studies, community projects, etc).
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True. The liturgical space needs to have some degree of transcendence but a meeting space for other things is wholly different matter.
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RE your remark about church architecture. We’ve been horrified to see cathedrals displaying banners relating to social, worldly matters (ie apart from honouring those who’ve served the nation militarily).
But far, far worse is where some clerics deliberately surrendered to satan by flying its flag: the one that usurps the sign of God’s first covenant with humanity, animals and the land – the rainbow!
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Indeed, that really is unacceptable, as has been the recitation of Islamic phrases in some Cathedrals. That, to me, amounts to apostasy/syncretism. As far as I am concerned, the God of the Qur’an is not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – therefore anything that honours the former should not be permitted in the sacred space of the latter – idolatry! Reminds me of the Abomination of Desolation in Daniel and Maccabees.
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Exactly, definitely sacrilegious apostasy. When Caliph Omar invaded Jerusalem, it’s reputed the orthodox (?) abbot saw him as The Abomination!
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The Dome of the Rock is definitely a kind of desolating sacrilege: it has anti-Christ phrases written on it, denying that God has a Son, and the rule of the Waqf has made the site desolate as far as the prayers of Jews and Christians are concerned. Not to mention video footage of people playing football up there. Of course, there is a minority view that the Temple Mount is actually the site of the Antonia fortress, holding that the Temple was in what is called the City of David today.
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Yes Scoop, Jesus did ask aloud if He’d really find any faith on earth upon His return (Luke 18:8).
Yet it’s in peculiar contrast to His parable of the wheat and tares, in which He tells of sowing seeds across the earth (presumably beginning with His Advent) and when the harvest is ready there’s an intermingled almost identical crop but which is poisonous (ie darnel > https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/wheats-evil-twin-has-been-intoxicating-humans-for-centuries) – so it’s an accurate parable upon society.
Yet Jesus says, that poisonous material will be weeded out first so that the real wheat will then be seen and harvested into His storehouse. I guess that’s when the Kingdom will have fully come upon earth and we’ll be well and truly contained in it.
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I see it more like the separation of the sheep and the goats when we find ourselves at the last judgement.
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Isn’t that about nations rather than individuals? That judgement comes well after the ‘Rapture’, and Jesus alludes to the tares being taken away first. So there’s some ‘mystery’ to seek the Lord’s instruction on
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Personally, I do get a bit confused about the separation part following the rapture and the Day of the LORD (I’m pre-wrath in my understanding of the sequence). I view Armageddon as the destruction of armies that gather to fight against Christ after He has returned and poured out the judgments. The destruction of Babylon also seems to involve the death of some people.
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Interesting to chat with you and Scoop, but am signing off as now’s evening dinner. (Btw, had good contributions on Herod re Parliament)
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Yes, I had a look at that – assume as before that the Fox = Dominic Grieve.
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Prophecies are a bit of a mystery as we don’t fully understand them until they have happened and they don’t always figure out the same way people thought they might have meant. Take for instance the apostles themselves who though that the second coming was going to happen in their lifetimes. So sorry, but they soon figured out that they had that one wrong.
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Indeed: prophecies are synthetic propositions (though internal parts may be subject to a priori analysis), so the precise fulfilment can only be known a posteriori. But we have outlines and general ideas based on contextual analysis – e.g. 2 Thess 2 ought to be read in its particular context.
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I have no problem with that analysis Nicolas. I suppose I am just more concerned that individual souls, my own included, is ready for their personal judgement at all moments of their life. It seems to me to bigger responsibility that needs to be taken care of before we start trying to save the people of history rather far into the future or only a few years from now. We can’t help them unless we ourselves are ready to meet our Lord when our eternal souls will held in the balance.
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I suppose my angle is more connected with corporate prayer and the needs of our two nations, though related and similar, are not identical. We need to be praying for revival and godly government to prepare us for the rise of the Antichrist, which will affect the world, and which will be in our lifetime. How we pray for that is a further issue, requiring discussion because our prayers need to go beyond vague words and platitudes. Spurgeon’s sermon on prayer is really worth reading on that point.
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I like the idea and I have no idea if the antichrist is coming in my lifetime or not. I just think that the world, and the corruption of the world by Satan, is in an ascendency. It probably will not be stopped or even held at bay for long. Demographics favor such a scenario: the rise of globalism and perhaps the first world order actually being formed. However, the time it takes for that to happen would seem to be tied to those obstacles that stand in its way: the Communist bloc and such. I would more hypothesize that we will see an uptick in civil disobedience and even civil wars in various places break out into open warfare. So before a charismatic antichrist makes his move to unite the world under one banner some of these issues will have to be eliminated or nullified to some extent. So placing times on such a sequence of events seems fruitless to me.
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Things are definitely heading in a civil war direction unless something can be done to stop it. The fact is, even though we are not extremists, extremists will trigger something in which we will eventually have to pick a side.
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In fact if we have not picked sides during this last decade I think we are either stupid or have our collective heads in the sand.
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Hi Scoop – you may like to know what happened next after having replied to you y’day, as told in my intro to a reblog I did today > https://richards-watch.org/2019/01/23/love-not-the-world/
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Reblogged this on Richard's Watch and commented:
Another valuable contribution, with discussion, to our joint-consideration of training for the Millennium. Nicholas, your timing with this must be ‘God-incidental’ because someone took issue via Cranmer with my remarks about prophecies on God desiring Brexit, thereby ‘hijacking god for my purposes’! (Eg. “..The very concept that God intervenes on the micro-scale in politics is contrary to the New Testament doctrine of a church separate from the world and a people whose citizenship is in heaven…”)
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Nicholas/Scoop – any thoughts on the opinion quoted at close of my re-blog intro?
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Not really. God gave us free will to use or abuse as we ‘will’. We make our own beds and have to sleep in them. We live and make choices in life, politics, morals etc. and therefore we have to live with the consequences of those choices. We make mistakes and poor choices generally by not living according to abiding principles given to us by the Creator.
Might God intervene in particular circumstances concerning individuals or those who cry out to Him for help? Certainly. But historically he leaves to the ravages of our wars, the out comes of following failed ideologies (communism, fascism, socialism) and we reap the whirlwinds. If we did not, then why would we ever think that God’s teachings and principles are even correct; for decision we make, good or bad would have a good outcome. If we are to learn from our mistakes and feel sorrow for our sins then we usually find that out by examining the results of our choices or examining the emptiness of our lives. God will intervene only when we ask Him to fill our emptiness with nothing less than Himself. Other than that ‘micro-scale’ political prayer is senseless. If people wake up to the principles of Christianity they will do the right things and vote the right ways and even fight the good fight when it is necessary.
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Thank you for your thoughts and time Scoop (Btw, am noting interesting issues on your site that remind me of when I read in the late Malachi Martin’s claims in The Decline & Fall of the Roman Church many years ago.)
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Malachi Martin had much inside info as to the workings of the modernist invasion of the Church.
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In view of my understanding of modern Israel I was particularly interested in his account of the church under Constantine stopping donations to the desposyni, those churches in the Holy Land run by Jesus’ kith and kin.
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That is one of Malachi’s books I didn’t read so I don’t know what he was referring to.
However, there was no word for cousin in the language of the day. Brothers and sisters are both incorrect in today’s language of referring to them as such.
So it seems right that such a practice (though I am not aware of that being the case) would stop at some point.
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I would say in response to the person who took issue with you at Cranmer’s blog a few things:
A) Is Brexit “micro”? If Brexit is part of preparing the UK for the last days (with the UK being a sheep nation that resists Antichrist), then prima facie it is not a micro-issue.
B) God responds to the prayers of His people – nothing is too small for God. If His people, drawing on sound reasoning and revelation requested God to release the UK from the EU, surely God would at least listen to those prayers? And if He listens, might He not grant the petition?
C) God is concerned with justice, and justice affects all parts of life: economic, legal, political, religious, etc. God is concerned with the micro things, because He is concerned with justice at all levels. While He leaves us with free will, He does, from time to time, intervene for particular reasons. One example is the Cuban Missile Crisis: God would not permit mankind to destroy the earth.
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Thank you as I’ve been mulling it over but not replied as it’s v low priority. But it makes for an, informative discussion in our looking at making ourselves ready for the Lord’s return. As this is in the public domain may I include your above ideas, likewise Scoop’s?
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You may certainly include mine: I cannot speak for Scoop.
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