Obvious Biblical Absurdity of “Kingdom Now” Theology
Theopedia.com. gives this definition of “amillennialism”:
Amillennialism (Greek: a- "no" + millennialism) is the view in Christian eschatology which states that Christ is presently reigning through the Church, and that the "1000 years" of Revelation 20:1-6 is a metaphorical reference to the present church age which will culminate in Christ's return.
The idea that the millennium is now is part and parcel with the notion that the Kingdom of God is now. Debunking the idea that the Kingdom of God is now (as well as “not now” they say) should and does debunk the corollary idea that the millennium is therefore also now. The two ideas rise and/or fall together as a single unit.
Now, thinking that the Kingdom of God is present now in the devoted life of a Christian may sound warm and fuzzy and innocent on the surface. After all, what could go wrong with a nice idea like that, right?! And certainly, we should live life as if we are living in that Biblically-described Kingdom of the future. But the operative words are, “as if”. We should live according to Kingdom principles and ideals, we should be ambassadors of a coming Kingdom, but that does not mean that we should say we are actually ruling and reigning in the Kingdom of God in any sense right now.
The reality is that we are not living in that Kingdom as it is described in the Bible by the prophets, the apostles, and Jesus himself, because it has not arrived yet. It can be easily shown that neither Christ nor his followers are reigning in that Kingdom.
Buckle up as we review a treasure trove of scriptures describing the arrival of, and conditions in, the Kingdom of God. I’m hoping you will come to the same conclusion as I do…that the Kingdom of God is a literal future reality only, making a 1,000 year reign of Christ and the saints the first phase of that same future Kingdom.
Daniel 7:27
Then the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.’
Daniel 2:35
Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed [a]all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Daniel 2:44
And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.
Revelation 2:25-27
Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come. 26 He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; 27 and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father;
Psalm 2:1-9
Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them.// 5 Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury, saying, 6 “But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.” 7 “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten you. 8 ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as your possession. 9 ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, you shall shatter them like earthenware.’”
Revelation 19:11-16
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.// 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
Revelation 20:1-6
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.// 4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.// 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.
Revelation 5:9-10
And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the book and to break its seals; for you were slain, and purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. 10 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”
Revelation 11:15
Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices 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.”
1 Corinthians 15:50-53
Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
I hope these scriptures have convinced you that the Kingdom of God is NOT now in this current age. Its arrival will be accompanied by obvious signs and wonders and a literal return of Jesus Christ to this earth from outside the earth, for all eyes to see, and there will be a resurrection of great numbers of previously dead people at the same time. The Kingdom of God is never described as something here and reigning invisibly in the hearts of men. Further, a “Kingdom now” theology dangerously sets the stage for a major deception when some human tyrant will claim to be presiding over the Kingdom of God on earth. Watch out, don’t fall into this trap! The time is a hand.
Here’s another important point. The Kingdom Already/Not Yet view, along with its downstream partner, Amillennialism, ends up positing just one, single resurrection at Christ’s return, where the righteous are raised to eternal life and the wicked and the unbelievers are condemned to destruction. This not only cuts the end time unbelieving nations out of the salvation picture, but also any possibility of salvation for the long-dead unbelievers who never even heard the name of Christ or the Gospel. The current age we are living in has not produced any significant salvation for humanity at large to date, and will not do so in whatever is left of this current evil age. Amillennialism does not express God’s overwhelmingly huge heart to forgive and save. Just look at a few of the scriptures that show us what God yet intends to do with the unbelieving nations in the future. These are amazing conditions that will be prevalent in the age to come
Zechariah 14:16-18
Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17 And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. 18 If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the Lord smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
Isaiah 49:6-7
He says, “It is too small a thing that you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make you a light of the nations, so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” 7 Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One, to the despised one, to the one abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers, “Kings will see and arise, princes will also bow down, because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”
Isaiah 19:21-25
Thus the Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the Lord and perform it. 22 The Lord will strike Egypt, striking but healing; so they will return to the Lord, and He will respond to them and will heal them.// 23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. 24 In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”
Isaiah 25:6-8
The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain; a banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow, and refined, aged wine. 7 And on this mountain He will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples, even the veil which is stretched over all nations. 8 He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken.
Isaiah 2:2-4
Now it will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it. 3 And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us concerning His ways and that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 And He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples; and they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war.
The nations of the earth have not been blessed in this way yet. Conditions for humanity have remained the same for thousands upon thousands of years. But those conditions will change with the arrival and rulership of Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of God right here on earth! THAT is our hope!
