“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you, For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ: and shall deceive many.”
Matthew 24:4-5
When Jesus responded to questions His disciples asked Him about the coming signs of the Last Days, His very first response to them, and by definition to all of us, was for them to watch out for men claiming to be Christian who actually will attempt to deceive us, specifically about ALL things included in the Bible. If these men, who are NOT teaching us the Truth of the Bible, but instead are “deceiving” us are successful, it is Satan’s plan being implemented!
“For the word (Bible) of the Lord is right; and ALL HIS WORKS ARE DONE IN TRUTH (capitals mine).”
Psalm 33:4
Since beginning this blog just over two and one half years ago, I have been absolutely amazed at how many people, in their sometime vitriolic responses to some of my articles, will cite references from outside the Bible to prove why they feel the Bible is totally wrong with what it clearly says will happen in the Last Days! These “beliefs” may be from the founders of various religions with their own “bibles” or they may be from the leaders of Christian denominations who are simply stating their Biblically unfounded opinions, NOT what the Bible actually says!
Think about this for a moment. The Word of God, the Holy Bible, is the ONLY book we have ever had that proclaims itself in many places to be the TRUTHFUL Word of God. He has never given us any other Book to base our faith in. Can anyone who actually acknowledges the omniscient, omnipotent stature of God believe God made mistakes in His Word? Yes, man wrote what they were led to write by the Holy Spirit BUT God is the editor-in-chief! God does not error and He did not allow His writers to err! Without a 100% belief in the accuracy, and truthfulness of the Bible, we have nothing else to believe in and we will then be susceptible to the lies and deceptions of Satan.
There are many things we have not yet or cannot yet fully understand BUT that doesn’t mean the Bible is wrong or inaccurate. An example? For almost 2,000 years man believed there was no way the Jews could ever reclaim their God given land of Israel. After all, they had been dispersed throughout the world for many centuries and had changed their language and culture. This apparent fact led many Christian churches to adopt and teach what is known as Replacement Theology, the belief God gave up on the Jews at their rejection of Jesus and replaced His Promise to Abraham and the Israelis with one instead now intended for Christians. Yet, the Bible tells us in the Last Days not only would God bring the Jews back to the land He Promised them, but in ONE DAY their nation would be reborn. That happened exactly as HE TOLD US IN THE BIBLE on May 14, 1948! So, who was right and who was wrong? Even today, there are a number of mainline Christian churches who still teach Replacement Theology instead of the Word of God! As a Christian, I will always believe the Word of God, regardless of my ability to 100% understand all of it, as being THE truthful, without error Word of God as He gave to us.
Based on that, whether we can fully understand or comprehend all which God has said, when the Bible says there is a coming future time when Jesus will Return to THIS earth, we MUST take Him at His Word!
“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years (millennium), And cast him 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 YEARS SHOULD BE FULFILLED (capitals mine): and after that he must be loosed a little season.”
Revelation 20:1-3
What is one thousand years mean in the Bible? Have you ever heard of Premillennialism, Postmillennialism or more importantly, Amillennialism? These are the three most dominant Christian taught views on Christ’s Second Coming and when He will finally reign in Peace and Righteousness ON EARTH. Postmillennialism and Amillennialism both depart dramatically from Scripture to say there will be NO earthly 1,000 year reign of Jesus Christ on this earth, a direct contradiction to what the Bible, the Holy Word of God, tells us. Premillennialism (Christ’s Return before His 1,000 year Reign) tells us Jesus Christ will Return at Armageddon, throw the anti-christ and the false prophet into hell forever, and then He will bind up Satan and throw him into the bottomless pit for ONE THOUSAND YEARS while He Reigns on a peaceful world with righteousness and justice. I will discuss later why Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit for a thousand years, only to be “loosed” for a short time and why Jesus doesn’t just finally put an end to Satan’s eternal lies and deceit. Postmillennialism (after one thousand years) teaches Jesus WILL eventually Return, but not until AFTER the one thousand years which begins AFTER Armageddon and after the “church” has finally fixed all the sinful issues of this world! I believe we have all seen how well religious and political control has worked in fixing this world for us historically!
Amillennialism is based on the false teaching, that even though the Bible tells us Christ will reign for ONE THOUSAND years from Jerusalem, they teach the time period is actually only symbolic and not a literal time period of one thousand years. They actually teach, and you won’t believe this, that at His Ascension in approximately 30 AD, he went to Heaven and is CURRENTLY reigning the earth FROM Heaven and He has had Satan under control. Satan is under Jesus’s control today and the earth is full of peace and righteousness? World War I, World War II, Communism, pornography, etc., etc., etc. A lie!!! They actually teach this! Remember, the Bible is specific about this! Christ and His followers will live and reign with Him on earth for ONE THOUSAND YEARS!
“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgement 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 (the Mark of the Beast) upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ A THOUSAND YEARS (capitals mine).”
Revelation 20:4
It is interesting to note that some of the souls reigning with Jesus “…had not worshipped the beast (anti-christ)“. Others were “…beheaded for the witness of Jesus and the word of God.” Still others had not “…received his mark (the anti-christ’s Mark of the Beast) upon their foreheads, or in their hands;” BUT “…they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years” ! We are told in the Book of Revelation ALL these things will happen (except living and reigning with Christ) to Believers during the seven year Great Tribulation time period which precedes the ONE THOUSAND year reign of Jesus from Jerusalem. When does His Reign begin on earth? At His Second Coming at Armageddon!
“And out of his (Jesus) mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite (destroy) the nations: and HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON (capitals mine): and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”
Revelation 19:15
When Jesus Returns at Armageddon the Bible tells us specifically, He will destroy the nations that had aligned themselves with the anti-christ against Israel and His Believers and he will THEN “…rule them with a rod of iron.” It does not say he will Return 1,000, 2,000 or 3,000 years later!
“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 (capitals mine).”
Revelation 20:6
As Believers we are Promised a role in Christ’s Reign on earth, not for eternity in Heaven but for one thousand years on earth. This means Jesus will be here on earth and we will be His priests. Who will we be priests to?
“And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.”
Revelation 20:7
When Jesus Returns at Armageddon, He will destroy all of the nations (people) that aligned themselves with the anti-christ (Satan). (For more on this read my previous post What happens AFTER Armageddon?). But there will still be a sizeable group of people who WERE NOT Raptured before the Tribulation and who later came to know and believe in Jesus and accept His Gift of Salvation. While many will be beheaded for their beliefs, many others will make it through the Tribulation and will be alive when Jesus Returns. Basically, these men and women will still be humans as we know them and they will be ruled by Jesus with the help of His followers (us!) They will live in peace and righteousness unseen on this earth since before the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. They will be charged with repopulating world as God initially intended. But, remember this. They are still human with a potential sinful nature! When Satan is “loosed” at the end of the 1,000 year reign of Christ, as difficult as it may seem, there will be some number of people (perhaps offspring born during the 1,000 years who never themselves went through the Tribulation) who will rebel against Jesus and His Reign “…with a rod of iron”. This “rebellion” will be short lived as “…fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” (Revelation 20:9). After this the Great White Throne Judgement of God occurs and eternity in either Heaven of hell begins.
Now, there are many, many people today who go to the churches that teach these false doctrines and they may very well be very strong Christians. But, Jesus warned His disciples to take heed so they would not be deceived by other “Christians”. The fact remains, and you do not have to believe me BUT you do need to believe what the Holy Bible says, the only Word of God given to us. Churches who teach we are currently in the promised millennial reign of Jesus, even though He Ascended to Heaven almost 2,000 years ago ALSO teach there will be NO RAPTURE. The Bible says there will be! So, if you go to a church that teaches the lies of Satan regarding amillennialism, no Rapture AND Replacement Theology, you need to question where they got their beliefs from. The Bible will tell you. From Satan!
In God’s infinite Mercy and Knowledge, He gave us His Holy Word so we don’t have to believe what men are telling us, especially men led by Satan. Everything we believe in must be verifiable ONLY by the Bible. To me it is so comforting knowing I have the answers to my questions directly from God Himself! Yes, it can be difficult, but know this that if God told us, you can take it to the bank over anything man has told you. If this is comforting to you also, all I ask is you to encourage others and do as we are all told to do, yes BY THE BIBLE, and that is to “…therefore comfort one another with these words.” Not my words but HIS WORD!
May God continue to Bless you and to bring His truth to you!
This is so well written and explains the TRUTH of God’s Word with such clarity!!
Thank you Kathryn! It all comes from God as I feel I am led.