The doctrine of the Millennium and the concomitant events and conditions, which it embraces, is the pole star of the human race. It materializes the hope, which is embodied, not only in Christian teaching, but in all the great religions of the world. The Chinese look for the return of Confucius; the Hindoos for the tenth reincarnation of Vishnu; the Mohammedans for the coming of the Mahdi, and Christians expectantly wait for the second coming of our Lord Jesus, according to His promise and the numerous prophetic utterances of Scripture.
The expectation of a golden age of just and righteous government is not only wide-spread, but it is also hoary with age. Its deepest root is securely fastened in the Edenic promise, that the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head.
It is interwoven with all the precious promises and prophetic descriptions of the overthrow of Satan and his followers, and culminates in the definite statement of Revelation that Satan shall be chained for a thousand years. Not one thing is more plainly stated in Scripture than this thousand years of the righteous reign of Jesus and His saints.
Opponents of this doctrine usually begin their arguments by the assertion that the doctrine of a Millennium is nowhere taught in Scripture except in the twentieth chapter of Revelation. The foolishness of such a statement is glaringly apparent, from the fact that the Jews had fully developed the doctrine, as the teaching of Old Testament Scripture, long before the book of Revelation or any portion of the New Testament was written.
The foregleams of the Millennium are in the book of Genesis and we shall see how their shining increases, in the pre-exile, .exilic and post-exilic prophets of Israel.
It was the view most frequently expressed in the Talmud, “that the Messianic Kingdom would last for one thousand years.” and this was commonly believed among the Jews. Jesus and the Apostles have given great prominence, in the Scriptures, to this inspiring theme, and it is admitted on all sides that the pre-millennial coming of Christ and His reign with His saints upon the earth a thousand years, was the faith of the early church.
The expectation of a golden age of just and righteous government is not only wide-spread, but it is also hoary with age. Its deepest root is securely fastened in the Edenic promise, that the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head.
It is interwoven with all the precious promises and prophetic descriptions of the overthrow of Satan and his followers, and culminates in the definite statement of Revelation that Satan shall be chained for a thousand years. Not one thing is more plainly stated in Scripture than this thousand years of the righteous reign of Jesus and His saints.
Opponents of this doctrine usually begin their arguments by the assertion that the doctrine of a Millennium is nowhere taught in Scripture except in the twentieth chapter of Revelation. The foolishness of such a statement is glaringly apparent, from the fact that the Jews had fully developed the doctrine, as the teaching of Old Testament Scripture, long before the book of Revelation or any portion of the New Testament was written.
The foregleams of the Millennium are in the book of Genesis and we shall see how their shining increases, in the pre-exile, .exilic and post-exilic prophets of Israel.
It was the view most frequently expressed in the Talmud, “that the Messianic Kingdom would last for one thousand years.” and this was commonly believed among the Jews. Jesus and the Apostles have given great prominence, in the Scriptures, to this inspiring theme, and it is admitted on all sides that the pre-millennial coming of Christ and His reign with His saints upon the earth a thousand years, was the faith of the early church.
