Category Archives: Covenant, new, old

What is the Millennium Reign of Christ?

Posted on 04/04/2025 | Leave a comment

The phrase ‘the millennium reign of Christ on earth, is a form of eschatological speculation that contradicts the Church’s historical teachings on the nature of Christ’s reign. The apocalyptic passage of Revelation 20:4-6 is usually quoted by many teachers in support of this idea These writers include the popular online series ‘Got Questions?’.

These people claim that Jesus Christ will return and will establish Himself as king in Jerusalem, literally sitting on the throne of David.  They quote Luke 1:32–33 as one of their proof texts:

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 Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

No mention of Jerusalem here! He will reign not just on earth but in heaven for ever and ever. And we Christians today are enjoying His reign! For we are the true ‘Israel of God’ as Paul declared (Galatians 6:16).

Sending His disciples He said “all power is given unto me in heaven and earth.” (Mat 28:18)

Rev 1:5. John wrote: he is the ruler of all the kings of the world.

Rev 11:15 . . . . the seventh angel sounded  . . . . saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever'”.

Daniel 7:27: And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

Revelation 20 just does not connect with the idea ‘while Christ reigns over the earth.’ It says ‘They reigned with Christ for a thousand years.’ Yes, but on earth? No. They have died and they have received their resurrection and will reign with him where He is, in heaven. (Revelation 20:4-6)

See John 14:3: And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

Let’s interpret the obscure, apocalyptic passages of scripture by text that is perspicuous—a sound hermeneutic. Jesus has ascended and is reigning now and is seated at the right hand of God. To say He will take up residence in earthly Jerusalem is junk theology—believed by millions in a cult.

These teachers claim that unconditional covenants demand a literal, physical return of Christ to establish the kingdom.

These covenants don’t ‘demand’ a physical return. A physical return cannot be proved. Why do people think He would be optically ‘seen’ at His coming in judgment hidden in clouds of glory? He whom no one can see and live? Christian, we walk by faith, not by sight!

He told Pilate ‘My kingdom is not of this world.’

They claim that the Abrahamic covenant promises Israel a land, a posterity and ruler, and a spiritual blessing quoting Genesis 12:1–3. But what does it say:

“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

God covenanted with Abraham (you/thee, sing.) not Israel. All people will be blessed because of Abraham’s seed, which is Christ! See Galatians 3:7-9:  Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

They claim that the Palestinian covenant promised Israel a restoration to the land and occupation of the land (Deuteronomy 30:1–10).  

True. But then the passage goes on, see verse 18: But if to other gods and [you] worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

They made the wrong choice, again and again and again. Consequently, they were certainly destroyed when Judea, Jerusalem and people were ravaged by the Roman armies in 66-70 AD after the real Jewish followers of Christ had escaped just as He instructed them. “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near.  Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfilment of all that has been written. (Luke 21:20-22).

They also claim that the Davidic covenant promised Israel a king from David’s line who would rule forever—giving the nation rest from all their enemies (2 Samuel 7:10–13).

When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 

That was fulfilled at the birth of Jesus as we saw above in Luke 1:32–33.

See also Daniel 7:13-14: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.  He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom will never be destroyed.

In conclusion, let me say that this whole idea we have looked at here, rather briefly, is not reflected at all in the pages of the New Testament. Their proof texts are mostly from the Old Testament and the Book of Revelation.

All of this goes along with the obsession millions have about the nation-state of Israel founded not by God Almighty but by politicians and global elites like the wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish banking family Rothschilds.

We are the people of God as Peter wrote to congregations of Jews and Gentiles (1 Peter 2:9).

Repeating, God covenanted with Abraham (Gen 12:1-3):

“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Today, we believers in Jesus are that ‘great nation’, not the Israeli state. We are blessed and will be a blessing, and all peoples on earth are being blessed by us!

Let’s do it!

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How Jesus’ first disciples learned about ‘the End’

Posted on 27/02/2025 | Leave a comment

Jesus took the disciples up on Jerusalem’s Mt Olivet (Matthew 24) go discuss the destruction of the Jerusalem temple. What eschatological understanding would the disciples already have understood?

Jesus would have expounded many OT scriptures that pointed to end times. Also He would have given them His own direct teachings. Matthew recorded many of these He gave them before the Olivet discourse. I was surprised how many there were. This article shows what I discovered.

The disciples would know about John the baptiser warning the Jewish leaders of the wrath to come.  Mat 3:1-2, 7-10: . . .  John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” . . . . . But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? . . . .   And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit is being cut down and thrown into the fire.

The disciples would also have heard Jesus announcing the nearness of the kingdom–Mat 4:17. From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

They heard Him declare “Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfil. Mat 5:17. 

They heard this:  I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Mat 8:10-12. 

They witnessed Isaiah 53:5 fulfilled: He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. This happened so that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled: “He Himself took our illnesses and carried away our diseases.”  Mat 8:16.

He warned them what to expect as he sent them out on their mission to the Jews.

“When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. I tell you the truth, the Son of Man will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel”. Mat 10:23.

Clearly, here He gave them then a time frame when He would return. This would hasten them to finish the preaching of the coming Kingdom of God to the Jews while there was still time for them to repent. This was a very urgent mission—a race against time. There was no time to waste in towns especially where they would be persecuted. We can read in the Acts account and in the letters of Paul how they quickly went from town to town and brought results e.g., Rom 1:8, Col 1:6.

Jesus told them His coming would be “soon”, in their generation. “For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds. And I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”  Mat 16:27-28.

The disciples asked Him to explain the parable of the weeds. He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Mat 9:36-43.

And to explain the Parable of the Net: . . .   the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Mat 13:47-50. 

He promised them: Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. He referred to the future time when God will restore creation to its original perfection. His “glorious throne” symbolizes His authority and rule over the restored creation. Mat 19:28. 

They will have positions of authority and leadership in Jesus’ kingdom. This is not a literal judgement, but rather a way of expressing their role in governing and guiding God’s people.

They heard Him declare to Jewish leaders:  . .  Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.  . . . . .   When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. Mat 21:33-45.

In the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, Jesus gave more information to the disciples :

 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.  “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Mat 22:2-14.

Here they learnt about Jesus’ eschatological marriage to His assembly (Greek ekklesia – church) of believers who follow Him. The guests at the feast that are clothed in the proper wedding garments are clothed in Christ’s righteousness provided by God through faith in Jesus. The man without the proper wedding garments is about the unbelieving Jews. It symbolizes a lack of proper preparation or acceptance of the invitation on God’s terms—that is, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Finally in the week of Jesus’ passion, they heard Jesus’ final words of declaration of judgment on the whole house of Judaism: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . . .   Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”  Mat 23:37-39.

Their house is left to them ‘desolate’—solitary, lonely, uninhabited unfit for anyone especially by the Lord; replaced by the Household of faith in the Blessed One who comes in the name of the Lord.  

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Posted in Assembling, church, Bible Study, Covenant, new, old, Eschatology, Israel

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Peter’s Jerusalem Temple Speeches

Posted on 23/02/2025 | Leave a comment

In this article we look at part of Peter’s great speech recorded by Luke in Acts 2:14-21. This event was the inauguration of the New Covenant which took place in Jerusalem during the Jewish feast of Pentecost when thousands of Jews from many countries joined the locals. The New Covenant means the END of the Old Covenant! Forget Israel. Forget Jerusalem!  Luke 2:14-21:

Then Peter stepped forward with the eleven other apostles and shouted to the crowd, “Listen carefully, all of you, fellow Jews and residents of Jerusalem! Make no mistake about this.  These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. No, what you see was predicted long ago by the prophet Joel: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, said God, I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved”.

V 16. Joel’s prediction

Peter was referring to the phenomena of supposedly drunken people which was the evidence of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the 120 disciples gathered in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. He affirmed that “this” supernatural phenomena was the fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy (Joel 2:28) in the Old Testament. Fulfilment means fulfilment. Done.

The Book of Acts goes on to this describe how was fulfilled: God certainly poured out his Spirit on all sorts of people–sons and daughters prophesied, young men saw visions and old men had dreams: Even on servants and handmaidens, God poured out His Spirit in those days. Luke describes many stories of miraculous healings and many other astounding gifts of the Holy Spirit.

This was the inauguration of the New Covenant which we enjoy to this day with the continued pouring out of the Holy Spirit. It was the birth of the movement we call Christianity. It marks the change from the Old Testament to the New Testament. And from a focus on the Jews and Israel as a piece of land to the true focus of the Israel of God—the ekklesia, spiritual Israel. This is exactly what Jesus spoke about to the Samaritan woman in John 4:

“. . .  it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem.  . . . .   But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.

V 17. the last days. The biblical writers used these expressions “the last days” or “the end” to mean the last days of the Jewish economy and the end of the Mosaic religious era and the time of the second coming of the Son of Man and the day of God’s wrath.  They did not mean the end of the world. Not the end of history.

Vs 19-20. Some think that verses 19 and 20 are describing the results of global nuclear war as they believe they are living in the last days. They are sorely mistaken because the New Testament records that Jesus promised his disciples that he would come again before his generation has passed away as recorded in Matthew 16:27-28 and 24:34).

These verses 19-20 describe the signs of the coming of the Son of Man in the familiar terms of judgment using non-literal expressions.  This was a common motif we find in the Old Testament prophets —the collapsing of cosmic entities in their judgment prophecies, e.g. Isa 13:10, 19:1,24:18-20, 34;8-15, Ezek 32:7–8; Joel 2:28).

These cosmic signs are not descriptions of the results of global nuclear war or the end of the world. These would take place ‘before the great and notable day of the Lord comes.’ So what great and notable day is this? The answer is found in the next chapter of Acts (3:18-21).

We find Peter addressing another crowd curiously attentive after the healing of the crippled man and the ensuing sensation:

But God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah—that he must suffer these things. Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.  Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah. For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets.

Fulfilling the prophecies. Because God now at last was fulfilling the prophecies told about Jesus, this was the most significant time in Jewish history and for the whole world as well. All was fulfilled! (also see Luke 21:20-22).

Repent. Their repentance would guarantee the presence of the Lord in their lives. No more squeezing stale refreshment from the Law or the sacrificial system. Now they would experience wonderful refreshment from the presence of the Lord in their lives. Relationship not religion.

God will again send you Jesus. God will again send Jesus to redeem them. Peter addresses them, ‘you’ (not us today). He wil gather his people back to himself and that will be the completion of His atoning sacrifice. See Hebrews 9:11-15 and 27-28: He will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him. His re-appearance means completed salvation—just as the appearance of the Jewish high priest on the Day of Atonement meant the sacrifice was successful.

He must remain in heaven until. So there was still more to come for those believers—God will again send them Jesus for the final restoration (Greek apokatastasis), completion, or filling up of all things, as God promised long ago through his prophets (Deut 18:19).

For us today as we read Luke’s account this apokatastasis is long past. For He did return as He promised His disciples (Mat 10:23, 16:27-28, 24:30-34. This assured His people of a completed atonement.

If you doubt His second coming then you should be pleased that He came 2000 years ago to complete your salvation. Good news!

But if Jesus did not come in the generation of Peter and his listeners, then that’s bad news—you still await the consummation, your completed salvation.

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A New Covenant—Neglected

Posted on 26/04/2016 | 3 comments

Appallingly, today, we see a denial of much of the glorious features of the New Covenant—New Testament life. Instead of God’s laws poured by the Holy Spirit into their minds and written on their hearts, many are content to get their spiritual input not from the Lord Himself, but from middlemen with agendas—spiritual directors, priests, pastors. Instead of being the people of God, many see their identity as Baptist or Catholic or Evangelical and so on. The two-tier (clergy-laity) mentality persists.

Does not the Living God find fault with us in our unbiblical practices of assembly and hierarchy which we continue to hang onto?

Instead of all God’s people being in unbroken fellowship with the living God—knowing Him in their personal experience—they are dependent on professional Christians as mediators. The whole concept given to us by S. Paul—that of the one body with many active functioning members, each with gifts of the Holy Spirit—is ignored, seen as irrelevant or even mysteriously withdrawn. Millions even attend rituals in which it is believed Jesus is re-sacrificed again and again by a priest, clearly at great odds with the message of the New Testament—this sacrifice was made once for all and all time and is unrepeatable.

The key to much understanding of the New Covenant is that we are each born into a Body—the Body of Christ. Individualism is contrary to the New Covenant and to our organic, community life in the Body of Christ. We are many members and one body. God makes covenant with a people, not with individuals, but with the body of Christ, in Jesus.

When the Lord talks about a new agreement (covenant), he means that the first one is out of date. And anything that is old and useless will soon disappear. (Hebrews 8:13)

All kinds of spirituality that are inadequate or out of date have now been made obsolete by God’s flawless design; and what is obsolete and outdated soon disappears. And now what is not planted by the Father will be rooted up (Matthew 15:13). What is built, even if on a good foundation, if not with God’s specified materials, will be destroyed (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).

This New Covenant is made with Christ and we get under the New Covenant by being hid in Christ together. So it can never be broken! You cannot break it—it was not made with you!

So what are you going to do about this?

You have the wonderful power of choice. To change your mind and heart and actions.

Must we keep disobeying the Lord who gave Himself for us?

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A New Covenant—Ignored?

Posted on 22/04/2016 | Leave a comment

God’s first agreement (covenant) with His people, Israel, was defective, wrote the author of the New Testament book The Letter to the Hebrews (8:7-8) so a better was needed. This author shows how much more serious is our attitude and response to the New Covenant (how shall we escape if we ignore its implications, Hebrews 2:1-4).

The new must not be ignored. God’s design practices for corporate worship revealed in the New Covenant/New Testament must be followed. We must not lose His words or replace them by worldly or pagan ideas and practices like clergy—laity, pastor—people.

In this better covenant Jesus is not prevented by death and we are ALL called into the experience of the Lord Jesus in the power of his endless, indestructible life in which he works in us who draw near. He promises to energise within us, in our own life, breathing his life in us, so that it becomes our new nature to love him, delight to do his will—his own life in us.

Have believers gone backwards since Judaism with corporate matters?  In many ways our practices in churches as Christ’s people today are often more bound and institutional and domineering to that of many devout Jews in Jesus’ own day. Jews did not have a pastor or priest ruling over them. Nor did they meet in ‘house-of-the-Lord’ type buildings. Nor was the sharing of the word of God jealously guarded by one (or two) leaders.  The synagogue was a place of discussion and sharing of scriptures by the several.  Common meals were frequently shared together. Plus each synagogue was independently managed. They did not have to toe the line of any outside superintendent, C.E.O., denomination, statement of faith, or any head office!

These churchy practices plainly ignore the New Covenant.

How far we have drifted from the apostles’ teaching and practice! They were liberated from the practices of Judaism, yes, of religion and the Holy Spirit was living in each one! Yet today Christendom is weak, divided up into competing denominations, living “in the flesh” and generally not experiencing the New Covenant. It seems we have a similar situation today to that which our Hebrews author was addressing  (Heb 8:7-8) . . . .

 If the first covenant with God had been all right, there would not have been any need for another one. But the Lord found fault with them and said . . . . . .  (quoting Jer 31:31-34)

I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be my people.
No longer will they teach or say to one another, “Know the Lord,”
because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.’

Can we just go on and on ignoring the New Covenant made at the most tremendous cost to the Father by Jesus?

“If you love me you will keep my commands”  John 14:15

To be continued

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