4 Rs Of The Millennium

4 Rs of the Millennial Reign of Jesus

Rev. 20:1-12

INTRO: There’s lots of material available discussing the signs preceding Christ’s return but what exactly will happen when He does return? Not only did Jesus personally promise that He would return (Jn. 14:1-4, Acts 1:11) but that upon doing so, He would rule and reign.

In the visions of the future given to John, we see that the Great Tribulation period concludes with Jesus returning to rule and reign, i.e., the Second Coming.

For starters, Jesus Christ will come back, specifically to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, rescue His people, defeat the antichrist and his armies attacking Jerusalem, cast him and the FP into the lake of fire, incarcerate the devil into the abyss, separate the sheep from the goats, and set up his earthly kingdom of peace for 1000 years. Jesus will rule as the true and rightful king of the earth out of Jerusalem with David as Jerusalem’s mayor.

-Palestinian issue will be resolved and the land promises to Israel will be fulfilled.

-As far as nations go, as prophesied and promised, Israel will be the leader and not the tail, i.e., a superpower and not a backwater third world country.

-Ezekiel’s Temple (40). There will be two more temples. Not to be confused with the 3rd temple of the Tribulation period, there will be a temple in Jerusalem during the Millennial reign of Christ. Ezekiel is instructed to pay careful attention to everything he sees and records the measurements of what he sees. The measuring of the layout of the temple complex fills the next seven chapters of Ezekiel (40-47). It will be much bigger than the current site can contain. However, we’re also told that upon His return the topography of Jerusalem will change.

Although Jesus may repurpose and/or revise them, most of the Jewish festivals will be celebrated.

We call this time the Millennium, from the Latin term for 1000 years.

Overview

It is during this time that that:

-There will be no more war. "They’ll beat their swords into plowshares."

-The curse upon the earth’s environment will be lifted and we’re told in Amos (9:13) that fields will be so productive that the plowman will overtake the reaper meaning, “hurry up and harvest your crops so that we can plant more.”

-Amos 9:13: The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the reaper will be over-taken by the plowmanand the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills.

-There will be peace within the animal kingdom. The lion will lay down with the lamb.

-The sun and moon will give light again (Isa. 30:26)

-Long life spans. A return to ante-diluvian lifespans: Never again will there be an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. (Isaiah 65:20 NIV).

4 Rs of the Millennium.

1- RESTORATION

Upon His arrival, the earth will be scarred from the wars, earthquakes the scars of the tribulation upon the earth: wars, earthquakes, asteroid hits, etc. He will return to a mess.

A part of our role will be to restore it and there will be a lot of work to do.

Much of what you’re doing now is to prep you for this role in the Millennium.

ILLUS: Monticello was the home of Thomas Jefferson. In addition to being the author of the Declaration of Independence and the 3rd president of the US, he was also a self taught architect and engineer. As a result, unlike any other presidential home, his personality is seen throughout its’ design.

Forty years after his death, July 4, 1826, Monticello, the custom-built home by and for Thomas Jefferson, had begun to look like a haunted house. His eldest daughter, who inherited the home, simply didn’t have the resources to maintain the property in a recession nor overcome the debts needed for the restoration.

(Due to a combination of debt and over-expansion the US entered into a recession in the early 1800s.) Monticello was 5000 acres divided into 4 farms.

Eventually she and the family had to abandon the home for a smaller residence.

Jefferson’s granddaughter said, “It will grieve you both very much to hear of the depredations that have been made at Monticello.” Another visitor said, “The house is much dilapidated with age and neglect”. However, just in time, Uriah Levy purchased the third president’s home and began to restore it to its former glory. He saw the value in preserving the home for historical reasons, but more so because he was a fan of Thomas Jefferson.