It is quite simple to understand, but believing it is the real problem. Belief has always been and will alway be the problem.
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD." Isaiah 2:2-5 (KJV)
All through the Old Testament, the prophets speak of the Day when Jesus Christ will sit on the throne of David, and rule the world in righteousness. It is called the Day of the Lord, a time period which starts with the Rapture of the Church, then into the time of Jacob's trouble, Jesus returns at the Battle of Armageddon, and a one thousand year reign of Jesus Christ will commence on this Earth. For all you
Jehovah's Witnesses,
Mormons,
Preterists, and every other sect that spiritualizes actual, literal and physical events in Bible prophecy, this will be quite an eye-opener for you.
At the start of the Church Age, in the end of Acts 7, because the Jews refused to follow the Holy Spirit at the preaching of Stephen, God put the entire nation of Israel on hold and "went to the Gentiles" in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. The Kingdom Age that Peter was the apostle of in Acts 2 has been paused for almost 2,000 years now. But when the current Church is
raptured up and out of here, it will usher in the a period known as the
time of Jacob's trouble. The man the Bible calls Antichrist will rise up to power bringing in first peace and prosperity, and then unimaginable war and judgments from God. The
reign of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany is a near perfect type of what the actual Antichrist will do.
The time of Jacob's trouble ends with the Battle of Armageddon when Jesus returns at the Second Coming. The followers of Antichrist are slaughtered, the Devil and his unholy trinity are bound in chains in the bottomless pit, and Jesus is crowned King of Kings and rules this world from Jerusalem for one thousand years. This one thousand year period is mentioned 6 times in Revelation 20, as we see here:
"And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand yearsshould be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 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." Revelation 20:2-8 (KJV)
I want you to read and then re-read those verses very carefully a few times. Not one thing mentioned there, no one, is a metaphor for anything. Everything mentioned here is literal and will be fulfilled literally, actually and physically. The Devil, who is a created spiritual being, will physically be bound in actual chains for one thousand years. Will they be chains that a human would make from metal? No, probably not. But they will be the kind of chains that God can make, and they will bind the Devil in place. The Battle of Gog and Magog, like the Battle of Armageddon, is an earthly battle that will be waged on Earth, specifically from Jerusalem. The mark of the beast, the sin that God will not forgive, is a literal mark that is implanted in the human body, it is not a metaphor for anything.
"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." Revelation 13:16,17 (KJV)
Likewise, when the prophets foretold of the reign of Messiah on the Earth, they prophesied a literal, physical reign from Jerusalem.
"And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD'S house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts." Zechariah 14:16-21 (KJV)
Read that and tell me if that sounds like literary allusion or metaphor to you. I read that and see Jerusalem, an actual place on Earth. I see real people coming to worship the King, Jesus in Jerusalem. I see horses with bells that have writing on them. I see the reign of Jesus Christ. I see Jesus withholding rain on any nation that will not come up and worship. It is quite simple to understand, but believing it is the real problem. Belief has always been and will alway be the problem.
THE HERESY OF PRETERISM COMPARED AND CONTRASTED TO BIBLE PROPHECY AND DOCTRINE RIGHTLY DIVIDED
Once the Thousand Year Reign of King Jesus starts, the rule of Jesus will never, ever come to an end as the Bible testifies to. At the end of the Thousand Years, John says that God will let Satan out of his chains, and allow him to deceive the world one last time. This end with the Battle of Gog and Magog, which is over almost before it starts. After this comes the Great White Throne Judgment, the casting of the Devil and all his followers from Hell into the Lake of Fire, and then the entire Earth will be burned up and remade in complete, Godly perfection.
"But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up...Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 2 Peter 3:8-10,13 (KJV)
The apostle Peter shows us in those verses the Second Coming, the one thousand years, and the new heavens and the new earth. The "new earth" that Peter mentions is shown to us in greater detail in Revelation 21. Peter prophesied in large chunks, only hitting the highlights, whereas John fills in more of the particulars.
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." Revelation 21:1-3 (KJV)
When Jesus lived on this earth, He functioned as a prophet sent by God. Matthew 24 is a great example of Jesus prophesying the future of the Jews in the time of Jacob's trouble. When He ascended back into Heaven, Jesus took on the role of Priest, interceding day and night to the Father for all those who believe on Him, as we see in Hebrews 7:25. When He returns, He will be crowned King, and not before. For those of you who insist on making Jesus a king now, you do the same thing the Devil did when he tempted Jesus. The Devil wanted Jesus to become a king at the wrong time, in order to break the prophetic chain of God. Jesus rightly refused to become king at the wrong time. Cross first, crown later.
"And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Luke 4:5-8 (KJV)
THE REAL MEANING OF THE WORD SELAH AS FOUND IN THE KING JAMES BIBLE
If you make Jesus a king now when He is a priest, then you have no one to intercede for you to the Father when you sin. Kings don't intercede for people, kings pass judgment. The first time we see Jesus in Revelation as the King of Kings, He is going to war to kill His enemies.
"These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful."Revelation 17:14 (KJV)
The second time we see Jesus mentioned as the King of Kings is when He is going to war, to shed the blood of His enemies. (both these verses speak of the same one event, the Battle of Armageddon).
"And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." Revelation 19:15,16 (KJV)
If Jesus is, as the cults say, now "
ruling invisibly" from Heaven, you'd be forced to admit He isn't doing a very good job. Sin and darkness increase on the Earth on an hourly basis, wrongs are not righted most of the time, and the wicked oppress the innocent day and night. False teachers and preachers
make millions teaching lies, and the word of God is blasphemed every day of the week. That is the current state of the "kingdom", over which the Devil is currently ruling.
No, when the King of Kings arrives, none of those things will happen for even a single second. And the Kingdom will not be the imaginary invisible one so loved by the Preterists, Amillennialists and Jehovah's Witnesses. The kingdom of King Jesus will be right where the Bible says it will be, in Jerusalem, on the Earth.
"And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD." Isaiah 66: 20 (KJV)
Real nations on actual horses, coming to the earthly Jerusalem, and the physical children of Israel making actual offerings in the physical house of the LORD. That's what I see when I read that.
How about you?
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