How does one find verses on the millennium?
By looking at the earthly Kingdom of heaven. The major prophets talk a lot about the earthly kingdom, the kingdom of heaven. They talk a lot about the Messiah and the Kingdom He is coming to set up. Jesus also preaches a lot about the gospel of the Kingdom through the gospels.
Let’s look back at the beatitudes for a moment. Wouldn’t they make so much more sense for the people in the millennium?
“Blessed are the poor in spirit”: They lived through poverty in the tribulation, but now they can enter the Kingdom. They no longer have to buy or sell with the mark of the beast.
“Blessed are they who mourn”: Those who lived through the tribulation are mourning.
“Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth”: This speaks to the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth at the time of the millennium.
Rightly dividing Scripture in this way helps it all to come together. The context behind the verses we are studying helps us to uncover the true meaning behind them and the right application for our lives!
Examples of Jesus speaking about the time of the millennium
Let’s look at another verse that makes it obvious Jesus is speaking about the time of the millennium. In Matthew 5:48, Jesus says, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Now, this is a troubling verse for us church-age Christians! We know that no one is perfect except for Jesus. There is no way we can be perfect, and there are multiple places in Scripture that tell us so. So is this statement from Jesus a contradiction?
Absolutely not! The context here is the millennium, and the millennium is all about works. There God will expect things to be perfect. The world will be fundamentally different than it is now, and all these things will be possible.
The church age is very different than the millennium. Right now, we are living in a world where salvation comes not by works but in faith in Christ alone. In the millennium, as citizens of God’s earthly kingdom, it will be a works-only society. We see this evidenced throughout Scripture. The “contradictions” that speak to works vs. grace are not contradictions at all. They are merely relating to their context: either the church age or the millennium.
Let’s look at some more Scriptural evidence for these truths.
Isaiah 33:14-15: “The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil.”
This passage is all about works! The sinners in Zion are afraid of burning fire because the Lord rules, and there are expectations for their behavior.
Verse 5 says, “The Lord is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.” Here we see clearly that God rules in this Kingdom in a profound way.
Verse 17 says, “Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.” In this Kingdom, don’t need faith! You can see the King in His beauty. Faith is believing without seeing.
Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
When we can see God and experience life under His rule, faith is no longer relevant in the same way it is now. All that matters there is how we live as citizens of the Kingdom of heaven.
Let’s look at the clearest example of God’s rule in the Kingdom of heaven. Verse 22 says, “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us.” This one explains itself.
In the millennium, salvation is by works only: faith is not necessary.
Hebrews 8:8-11: “For finding fault with them, he saith, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”
The above cannot apply to the church age: this passage is looking to the future towards the millennium!