When does the bible say the millennium begins? Are we in the millennium?
Greetings RevelationMan,
One good way to answer that question, is by looking at some of the characteristics of that age.
Jesus will rule from the throne of king David:
* He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!”
* He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. (Isaiah 9:7)
* As you watched, a stone (Jesus) was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them. Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were shattered and became like chaff on the threshing floor in summer. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that had struck the statue became a great mountain
and filled the whole earth. (Millennial kingdom)
And just as you saw a stone being cut out of the mountain without human hands, and it shattered the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold, so the great God has told the king what will happen in the future.
Longevity of life as it was pre-flood:
* Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; the one who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere child; the one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.
The ferocity between prey and predatory animals will no longer exist:
* The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat; the calf and young lion and fatling will be together, and a little child will lead them. The cow will graze with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
* The infant will play by the cobra’s den, and the toddler will reach into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the sea is full of water.
Nations will no longer wage war against each other:
* He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
One thing that all of the above have in common is that, none of them have yet taken place.
In the scripture above it states that the man who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. Today, if a man lives to be a hundred, he's in an elite group, because most people do not live to be a hundred. However, those who enter the millennial kingdom in their mortal bodies, the longevity of life will be as it was prior to the flood when people lived to be 800 and 900 years old.
Also, when have we ever seen prey and predator animals and their young lying down together? Or when have we seen the lion eat straw like the Ox? The answer is never. And since this is the word of God, then it must be fulfilled. And the only time that these can be fulfilled is in the coming age which begins after the tribulation period.
Likewise, when has the earth never experienced war? The answer is never! But for the remnant of Israel and the great tribulation saints who make it alive through the entire tribulation period, they will enter into the millennial kingdom in their mortal bodies and repopulate the earth. There will be no wars, the characteristics of animals will be changed, people will live to be hundreds of years old and Jesus will rule from Jerusalem and church with Him.
Revelation 19:11-21 is a detailed account of Jesus' return to the earth at Armageddon to end the age. At that same time both the beast and the false prophet will be captured and thrown alive into the lake of fire (Rev.19:20). Following that and during that same time, a mighty angel will seize Satan and will throw him into the Abyss, sealing and locking it over him so that he will not be able to deceive the inhabitants of the earth for a thousand years, which ushers in the millennial kingdom.