Reference: Millenarians
Watsons
MILLENARIANS are those who believe, according to an ancient tradition in the church, grounded on some doubtful texts in the book of Revelation and other scriptures, that our Saviour shall reign a thousand years with the faithful upon earth after the first resurrection, before the full completion of final happiness; and their name, taken from the Latin word mille, "a thousand," has a direct allusion to the duration of this spiritual empire, which is styled the millennium. A millennium, or a future paradisaical state of the earth, is viewed by some as a doctrine not of Christian, but of Jewish, origin. The tradition which fixes the duration of the world, in its present imperfect state, to six thousand years, and announces the approach of a Sabbath of one thousand years of universal peace and plenty, to be ushered in by the glorious advent of the Messiah, has been traced up to Elias, a rabbinical writer, who flourished about two centuries before the birth of Christ. It certainly obtained among the Chaldeans from the earliest times; and it is countenanced by Barnabas, Irenaeus, and other primitive writers, and also by the Jews at the present day. But though the theory may not be very improbable, yet, as it has not the sanction of Scripture to support it, we are not bound to respect it any farther than as a doubtful tradition. The Jews understood several passages of the prophets, as Zec 14:16, &c, of the millennium; in which, according to their carnal apprehensions, the Messiah is to reign on earth, and to bring all nations within the pale, and under subjection to the ordinances, of the Jewish church.
Justin Martyr, the most ancient of the fathers, was a great supporter of the doctrine of the millennium, or that our Saviour shall reign with the faithful upon earth, after the resurrection, for a thousand years; which he declares was the belief of all orthodox Christians. But this opinion is not generally followed; for, though there has been, perhaps, no age of the church in which this doctrine was not admitted by one or more divines of the first eminence, it yet appears, from the writings of Eusebius, Irenaeus, and others among the ancients, as well as from the histories of Dupin, Mosheim, and other moderns, that it was never adopted by the whole church, nor formed an article in the established creed in any nation. Origen, the most learned of the fathers, and Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, usually, for his immense erudition, surnamed the Great, both opposed the doctrine that prevailed on the subject in their day; and Dr. Whitby, in his learned treatise on the subject, proves, first, that the millennium was never generally received in the church of Christ; and, secondly, that there is no just ground to think it was derived from the Apostles.
On the other hand, Dr. T. Burner and others maintain that it was very generally admitted till the Nicene council, in 325, or till the fourth century. The doctor supposes Dionysius of Alexandria, who wrote against Nepos, an Egyptian bishop, before the middle of the third century, to have been the first that attacked this doctrine; but Origen had previously assailed it in many of his fictitious additions. The truth seems to be, as one well remarks, "that a spiritual reign of Christ was believed by all who carefully examined the Scriptures, though the popular notions of the millennium were often rejected; and ancient as well as modern writers assailed the extravagant superstructure, not the Scriptural foundation or the doctrine." During the interregnum in England, in the time of Cromwell, there arose a set of enthusiasts sometimes called Millenarians, but more frequently Fifth Monarchy Men, who expected the sudden appearance of Christ, to establish on earth a new monarchy or kingdom. In consequence of this, some of them aimed at the subversion of all human government. In ancient history we read of four great monarchies; the Assyrian, Persian, Grecian, and the Roman; and these men, believing that this new spiritual kingdom of Christ was to be the fifth, obtained the name by which they were called. They claimed to be the saints of God, and to have the dominion of saints, Da 7:27; expecting that, when Christ was come into this kingdom, to begin his reign on earth, they, as his deputies, were to govern all things under him. They went so far as to give up their own Christian names, and assume others from Scripture, like the Manicheans of old.
The opinions of the moderns on this subject may be reduced to two: 1. Some believe that Christ will reign personally on the earth, and that the prophecies of the millennium point to a resurrection of martyrs and other just men, to reign with him a thousand years in a visible kingdom. 2. Others are inclined to believe that, by the reign of Christ and the saints for a thousand years on earth, "nothing more is meant than that, before the general judgment, the Jews shall be converted, genuine Christianity be diffused through all nations, and mankind enjoy that peace and happiness which the faith and precepts of the Gospel are calculated to confer on all by whom they are sincerely embraced." The state of the Christian church, say they, will be, for a thousand years before the general judgment, so pure and so widely extended, that, when compared with the state of the world in the ages preceding, it may, in the language of Scripture, be called a resurrection from the dead. In support of this interpretation, they quote two passages from St. Paul, in which a conversion from Paganism to Christianity, and a reformation of life is called a "resurrection from the dead," Ro 6:13; Eph 5:14. There is, indeed, an order in the resurrection, 1Co 15:24; but we no where observe mention made of a first and second resurrection at the distance of a thousand years from each other: yet, were the millenarian hypothesis well founded, the words should rather have run thus: "Christ, the first-fruits, then the martyrs at his coming, and a thousand years afterward the residue of mankind,
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And I will put my dwelling place in your midst, and my inner self shall not abhor you. And I will walk about in your midst, and I shall be your God, and you shall be my people.
All [the] ends of [the] earth will remember and turn to Yahweh. All [the] families of [the] nations will worship before you.
and let all kings bow down to him. Let all nations serve him.
He shall judge between the nations and he shall arbitrate for many peoples. They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. A nation shall not lift up a sword against a nation, and they shall not learn war again.
And a wolf shall {stay} with a lamb, and a leopard shall lie down with a kid, and a calf and a lion and a fatling together {as a small boy leads} them. And a cow and a bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together. And a lion shall eat straw like the cattle. read more. And {an infant} shall play over a serpent's hole, and {a toddler} shall put his hand on a viper's hole. They will not injure and they will not destroy on all of my {holy mountain}, for the earth will be full [of the] knowledge [of] Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea.
They will not injure and they will not destroy on all of my {holy mountain}, for the earth will be full [of the] knowledge [of] Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea. And this shall happen on that day: [the] nations shall inquire of the root of Jesse, which shall be standing as a signal to [the] peoples, and his resting place shall be glorious.
And this shall happen on that day: [the] nations shall inquire of the root of Jesse, which shall be standing as a signal to [the] peoples, and his resting place shall be glorious. And this shall happen on that day: The Lord will again [extend] his hand a second [time] to acquire the remnant of his people that is left, from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the coastlands of the sea, read more. and he will raise a signal for the nations. And he will gather the outcasts of Israel, and he will gather the scattered ones of Judah together from the four {corners} of the earth.
Therefore by this he will make atonement [for] the guilt of Jacob, and this [will be] all of [the] fruit [of] the removal of his sin: {when he makes} all [the] stones of [the] altar like crushed stones of chalk, no poles of Asherah worship or incense altars will stand.
Until a spirit is poured out on us from on high, and [the] wilderness becomes fruitful field, and [the] fruitful field is reckoned as the forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness will live in the fruitful field. read more. And the work of righteousness will be peace, and the work of righteousness, quietness and security forever. And my people will dwell in a settlement of peace and in a dwelling place of security and in undisturbed resting places. And it hails when {the forest comes down}, and the city will become low in humiliation.
Awake! Awake; put on your strength, Zion! Put on the garments of your beauty, Jerusalem, {holy city}! For [the] uncircumcised and [the] unclean shall not {continue to} enter you any longer.
In righteousness you shall be established. Be far from oppression, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near you.
"And a redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn away from transgression," {declares} Yahweh.
"And a redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn away from transgression," {declares} Yahweh. "And as for me, this [is] my covenant with them, says Yahweh: my spirit that [is] upon you, and my words that I have placed in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your {children}, or from the mouths of {your children's children}," says Yahweh, "from now on and forever."
"And as for me, this [is] my covenant with them, says Yahweh: my spirit that [is] upon you, and my words that I have placed in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your {children}, or from the mouths of {your children's children}," says Yahweh, "from now on and forever."
Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver, and instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. And I will {appoint} peace [as] your overseer, and righteousness [as] {your ruling body}. Violence shall no longer be heard in your land; devastation or destruction on your borders. And you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates, Praise.
And all your people [shall be] righteous; they shall take possession of [the] land forever, the shoot of his planting, the work of my hands, to show my glory.
And I will give my spirit into your inner parts, and I will make [it] [so] that you will go in my rules, and my regulations you will remember, and you will do [them].
And he said to me, "Son of man, these bones [are] all of the house of Israel; look! [they are] saying, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is destroyed; {we are cut off as far as we are concerned}.' Therefore prophesy, and you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I [am] opening your graves, and I will bring you up from your graves, my people, and I will bring you to the land of Israel! read more. And you will know that I [am] Yahweh when I open your graves when I bring you up from your graves, my people! And I will put my breath into you so that you may live, and I will cause you to rest on your soil, and you will know that I, Yahweh, I have spoken, and I will act!" ' {declares} Yahweh." And the word of Yahweh {came} to me, {saying}, "And you, son of man, take for yourself {a piece of wood}, and write on it, 'For Judah and for the {Israelites} his associates,' and take another [piece of] wood, and write on it, 'For Joseph, [the piece of] wood of Ephraim and all of the house of Israel his associates.' And join them one to [the] other with respect to you [as] one [piece of] wood, so that they may become one in your hand. {When} {your people} say to you, {saying}, 'Will you not inform us [as to] what these [actions] mean for you?' [Then] speak to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I [am] taking [the piece of] wood for Joseph that [is] in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel its associates, and I will put them on it, [the piece of] wood of Judah, and I will make them into one [piece of] wood, so that they be one in my hand.'" And the [pieces of] wood [on] which you wrote will be in your hand before their eyes. And speak to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I [am] taking the {Israelites} from among {the nations to which they went}, and I will gather them from {everywhere}, and I will bring them to their [own] soil. And I will make them into one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel, and {they will all have one king as their king}, and they will not again be two nations and will not again divide into two kingdoms again. And they will not defile themselves again with their idols and with vile idols and with all of their transgressions, and I will save them from all of their apostasy {by which they sinned}, and I will cleanse them and they will be for me as a people and I, I will be for them as God. " '"And my servant David [will be] king over them, and one shepherd will be for all of them, and in my regulations they will go, and my statutes they will observe, and they will do them. And they will dwell on the land that I gave to my servant, to Jacob, {in which your ancestors dwelled}, and they will dwell on it, they and their children and the children of their children {forever}, and my servant David [will be] a leader for them {forever}. And I will make with them a covenant of peace; {an everlasting covenant} it will be with them. And I will establish them, and I will cause them to increase, and I will put my sanctuary in the midst of them {forever}. And my tabernacle will be with them, and I will be for them as God, and they will be to me as a nation. And the nations will know that I, Yahweh, [am] consecrating Israel when my sanctuary [is] in the midst of them {forever}." '"
And they will know that I [am] Yahweh their God, [because of] when I deported them into the nations, and I reassembled them to their soil, and {I will not let any of them remain there any longer}. And I will not hide my face again from them when I pour out my Spirit over the house of Israel," {declares} the Lord Yahweh.
But the holy ones of the Most High will receive the kingdom, and they will take possession of the kingdom forever, {forever and ever}.'
Then the court will sit, and his dominion will be removed, to be eradicated and to be destroyed {totally}. And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to [the] nation of [the] holy ones of the Most High; his kingdom {is an everlasting kingdom}, and all the dominions will serve and obey him.'
And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to [the] nation of [the] holy ones of the Most High; his kingdom {is an everlasting kingdom}, and all the dominions will serve and obey him.'
And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to [the] nation of [the] holy ones of the Most High; his kingdom {is an everlasting kingdom}, and all the dominions will serve and obey him.'
And he said to me, "For two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings, then [the] sanctuary will be restored."
Happy [is] the [one who is] persevering, and attains [to] [the] one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.
I will make a covenant for them on that day, with the animals of the field, with the birds of the heaven, and [with] the creeping things of the ground; [the] bow, [the] sword, and [the] war I will abolish from the land, and I will let them lie down in safety.
And he will judge between many peoples and will arbitrate for strong nations far away; and they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift up a sword against a nation, and they will no longer learn war.
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh, like the waters covering the sea.
" 'I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication, and they will look to me whom they pierced, and they shall mourn over him, as one wails over an only child, and they will grieve bitterly over him as [one] grieves bitterly over a firstborn.
{And then} every survivor from all those nations coming against Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship [the] king, Yahweh of hosts, and celebrate the Feast of Booths.
On that day there will be [inscribed] on the bells of the horses, "Holy to Yahweh." And the cooking pots in the house of Yahweh will be [holy] like the sacrificial basins before the altar. And every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Yahweh of hosts, and all those who sacrifice will come and will take from them, and will cook in them, and there will be no longer a {trader} in the house of Yahweh of hosts on that day.
And every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Yahweh of hosts, and all those who sacrifice will come and will take from them, and will cook in them, and there will be no longer a {trader} in the house of Yahweh of hosts on that day.
Blessed [are] the meek, because they will inherit the earth.
and if you are willing to accept [it], he is Elijah, the one who is going to come.
For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in the midst of them."
teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the age."
And he will go on before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to prepare for the Lord a people made ready."
praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding every day to the total [of] those who were being saved.
And great fear came on the whole church and on all who heard about these [things].
and do not present your members to sin [as] instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and your members to God [as] instruments of righteousness.
What then? What Israel was searching for, this it did not obtain. But the elect obtained [it], and the rest were hardened,
I say then, they did not stumble so that they fell, [did they]? May it never be! But by their trespass, salvation [has come] to the Gentiles, in order to provoke them [to jealousy]. And if their trespass [means] riches for the world and their loss [means] riches for the Gentiles, how much more [will] their fullness [mean]?
For if their rejection [means] the reconciliation of the world, what [will] their acceptance [mean] except life from the dead?
Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, [although you] were a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them and became a sharer of the root of the olive tree's richness,
and so all Israel will be saved, just as it is written, "The deliverer will come out of Zion; he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And this [is] the covenant from me with them when I take away their sins."
then the end, when he hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when he has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
And what agreement [does the] temple of God [have] with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said, "I will live in them and will walk about [among them], and I will be their God and they will be my people." Therefore "come out from their midst and be separate," says the Lord, "and do not touch what is unclean, and I will welcome you,
for everything made visible is light. Therefore it says, Wake up, sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
And {just as} it is destined for people to die once, and after this, judgment, thus also Christ, having been offered once in order to bear the sins of many, will appear for the second time without reference to sin to those who eagerly await him for salvation.
But you [are] a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for [God's] possession, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light,
Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your [notice], that one day with the Lord [is] like a thousand years, and a thousand years [is] like one day.
and made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign on the earth."
And leave out the courtyard outside of the temple, and do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles, and they will trample the holy city [for] forty two months.
And the seventh angel blew the trumpet, and there was a loud voice in heaven saying, "The kingdom of the world has become [the kingdom] of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign {forever and ever}."
And he seized the dragon--the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan--and bound him [for] a thousand years, and threw him into the abyss, and shut [it] and sealed [it] above him, in order that he could not deceive the nations again until the thousand years are completed. After these [things] it is necessary [for] him to be released [for] a short time. read more. And I saw thrones, and they sat down on them, and authority to judge was granted to them. And [I saw] the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and did not receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand, and they came to life and reigned with Christ [for] a thousand years.
And I saw thrones, and they sat down on them, and authority to judge was granted to them. And [I saw] the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and did not receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand, and they came to life and reigned with Christ [for] a thousand years.
And I saw thrones, and they sat down on them, and authority to judge was granted to them. And [I saw] the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and did not receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand, and they came to life and reigned with Christ [for] a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.) This [is] the first resurrection. read more. Blessed and holy [is] the one who has a part in the first resurrection. Over this person the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him a thousand years.
Blessed and holy [is] the one who has a part in the first resurrection. Over this person the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him a thousand years.
Blessed and holy [is] the one who has a part in the first resurrection. Over this person the second death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him a thousand years.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling of God [is] with humanity, and he will take up residence with them, and they will be his people and God himself will be with them.