27 Apr The Age of the Messiah
This article is for those who consider we are/might be in the millennium now.
Considering the millennium is really only mentioned once in the Bible, in Revelation 20, it takes up an inordinate amount of the thoughts and time of believers today. So, here is to add even more to those thoughts.
There are three basic views about the millennium.
Premillennial. The millennium happens after Jesus comes back. He sets up a physical throne in Jerusalem and rules on Earth for a thousand years.
Postmillennial. The millennium happens before Jesus comes back, but Jesus rules from heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father. The kingdom of God is on the Earth, but ruled from Heaven, and the Earth becomes more and more glorious as the gospel advances. The millennium begins at a certain point and continues as a golden age for a ‘thousand years’ which may be either exactly 1000 years or just a long amount of time.
Amillennial. The millennium is not a literal one thousand years, but figuratively speaks of the time between Christ’s resurrection and when he returns. We are in the millennium now. Some ammillennialists, such as myself believe the world will get better as time advances, but many believe that the world will get neither better nor worse, but both good and bad will occur as time proceeds until Jesus returns.
While this article is overly generalised, there are three basic ideas about when the millennium is, and what type of world it will be during the millennium.
Premillennialists believe it is after Jesus return, so for them, we cannot be in the millennium now. Postmillennialists believe it is before Jesus returns, but the world must get more glorious before it begins, so it cannot be now. Amillennialists believe we are in the millennium now, and it is for this third group that it seems odd to note the evil in the world around us, but likewise consider this is the Messianic age. How exactly does that make sense?
Here are a few thoughts to help it make sense.
Jewish people in biblical times believed there were two ages. The age before the Messiah, and the age of the Messiah. Along with that line of thinking we are now in the second of the two ages, and in the age of the Messiah. Jesus himself spoke of the end of the age, being the ending of the Old Testament, or the ending of the age before the Messiah. With the coming of Jesus began the start of the new age, but the old was still finishing. There was a period when the two ages overlapped, and this was called by New Testament writers, the ‘ends of the ages.’ We see an example of this language in 1 Corinthians 10:11.
The pre-messianic age with temple and priests did not wind up until AD70 with the destruction of Jerusalem. Much language in the NT speaks of the end of the age and refers to this age. But Jesus commenced the New messianic age with his death, so there was a forty year period of overlap when the Church (comprised mostly of Jews) commenced.
And our modern calendar is based on these two epochs. It used to be named Before Christ, and Anno Domini (in the year of the Lord) precisely after the idea of these two ages. Academia has kept the two ages, but now renamed them as BCE and CE being Before the Common Era and the Common Era.
Amillennialists believe that the Messianic age IS the same as the Millennium, but how can the age of the Messiah have sin, problems and pain in it? It is because the language of new heavens and new Earth describes a new Earth now, because of Jesus Christ, and not a new Earth after the second coming. Simply that the Lord is Messiah in Heaven, right now. It is through the Church that he is subduing the Earth, and it is a process.
Revelation 22 describes what some consider to be Heaven, but a closer look shows it to be a period of time on Earth, that coincides with sin, pain and problems. In other words, it is the millennium age, which also occurs alongside sin. The other millennium passages are similar. Here are a few examples.
‘Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.’ Rev 22:1-5
You’ll note in this passage that there are nations, which describes the Earth, and these nations need healing. This is the task of the Church in the world.
‘Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.’ Rev 22:14-15
The city that is being described has a gate, and outside are those who are immoral, idolatrous and violent. This shows us it is God’s kingdom, but on the Earth. God is the ruler, but in the midst of a world that is not yet fully redeemed.
Or consider Isaiah 65 where it says similar things…
‘See, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.’ Isaiah 65:17
And
‘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.’ Isaiah 65:20
It cannot be talking about a new Earth in heaven because this ‘new earth’ has death in it. If someone dies before 100 they are cursed. In other words, the millennium has improved life conditions on Earth before the ultimate fulfilment of all things.
It is these type of observations that show how we can be in the Messianic age, and in the millennium now, because they demonstrate the world still has death and sin alongside what God is doing.
What we notice is this: From the time of Jesus resurrection, there has been a work of God in the nations that has slowly but surely changed the world. Even the unbelieving nations are more and more adjusted to Christ’s way of thinking. There is a process of changing this world.
As Jesus said, ‘Behold I am making all things new.’ It’s a process. It takes time, but we are in it. It is the age of the Messiah.
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