What is the dispensation of the Millennial Kingdom?

But it is not merely in the vast number of persons truly converted that the distinctive blessedness of the Millennium consists. The conversion of souls has taken place under every dispensation which God has established since the fall, and will, no doubt, more abundantly than ever take place in that bright and coming dispensation. But the characteristics of the dispensation are to be found in that which relates to the divine government of the earth. As to the salvation of souls, it has always been by grace, through faith, and on the ground of Christ's redeeming work — His atoning sacrifice; and it has always been by the quickening power of God's Spirit that men have been regenerated, and thus turned in heart to God. These things will be as true in the Millennium as they have always been. But in the Millennium, the earth will be under the government — the open, manifested government — of Christ and His glorified saints. Satan, moreover, will be bound. These are the two features of that blessed period, which are prominently presented in Rev. 20; and they form, in fact, the great characteristics by which it is distinguished from every former period or dispensation.

There are three ways in which Christ will fully reveal and glorify God — grace, government, and glory. The first He did in His humiliation; the second He will do in the millennium; and the third throughout eternity. Thus the millennium will be the revelation of God in government for a thousand years. All language fails to speak of what its blessedness must be. Satan no longer free to tempt men, and the goodness of God displayed in blessing men; the heavens above, Israel and the Gentiles below, the earth, the sea, the lower creation — all brought under the government of Christ — all embraced in His wide dominions; and all to the glory and praise of God by Him.

The time of God's long-suffering with evil, which still goes on, will end in the appearing of Christ; and so will the time of Israel's judicial blindness — the time of Gentile dominion — the time of universal misrule — the time of the enemy's power to deceive — the time of the church's weakness and suffering — the time of Christ's sitting at the right hand of God. These times, and more that might be named are limited in their duration — limited to the time of the Lord's coming — "The times of restitution [or restoring] of all things." The times of evil, of distress, of sorrow, and of open wickedness, will end, run out — cease to be, in "the dispensation of the fulness of times." Christ will then take up that which has failed in the hands of men from Adam downwards, and reign as the Lord's anointed for a thousand years. All things will be put under Him as head. The church, His bride, will then be with Him, as the joint-heir of the inheritance of glory. Then God will be perfectly glorified in the world's government — His will done on earth as it is in heaven, and all His ways completely vindicated.

But the government of the world will not be then by secret providence as it has been ever since the fall. It will not be a theocracy, administered as in Israel heretofore, by mere fallible human agents; much less will it be the imperial Gentile rule which began with the permitted overthrow of the Lord's throne at Jerusalem. It will be the reign of Christ and His heavenly saints, to whom (Satan being bound and all obstinate rebels having been destroyed) will be committed the administration of the world's government for a thousand years. Happy period! Happier still the portion of those, who, having been partakers of Christ's sufferings, shall then be the sharers of His throne, and companions of His joy.

From verses 4-10 we have the whole of the thousand years. It is the reign of Christ with His saints, who govern, and Satan is bound. The whole state of the world depends on these two things, the reign of Christ, and the prison of Satan.

Ah! but there is a "day of judgment" coming. Not a period of twelve, or four-and-twenty hours, but of a thousand years, throughout which the world's government, administered by the Son of Man himself, shall be of such a character as to clear up all that is now obscure, and fully vindicate and manifest the glory of God. God having got for himself a name by all the grace manifested throughout the present period, and by the results flowing from it to all eternity, he will in the next dispensation — in the millennial age, manifest his character as the righteous Lord who loveth righteousness." Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment." (Isaiah 32:1)

The title "millennium" means simply the thousand years, and is quite correct, so far as it goes; because, as we learn from Revelation 20 Christ's reign over the earth will last for that space of time. It will be a reign of righteousness and peace; "A king shall reign in righteousness," "and the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places" (Isa. 32). Being a reign of righteousness, wherever evil shows itself during the millennium, it will be dealt with in righteous judgment at once. The glorified saints will be associated with Christ in His reign. The seat and centre of government will be Jerusalem, which "shall be safely inhabited." To it those who are left of the nations shall go up year by year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. The temple will be built on mount Zion, not on mount Moriah as of old.

Next follows a brief but vivid sketch of the reign for a thousand years. We need not discuss whether it be a thousand years symbolically or literally. Not that I doubt it is to be taken literally. The important point to see and maintain is that it is a long, though limited, time; distinguished in character from what went before, as well as from what follows itself. It is Christ's reign with the glorified saints for a certain defined period (not through eternity). There are striking changes as to conditions and circumstances, but still substantially the heavens and earth that now are; creation delivered from the curse; Satan bound; man blest; the glorified saints in their proper heavenly place; Israel in the inner earthly circle, and the Gentiles in the outer circle; all this combined and going on through the millennium. How it all differs from the old Chiliastic scheme is manifest. Indeed, I am not surprised that grave men rose up against the notion that the Lord Jesus should again live as a man on the earth during the thousand years. Such a view is both unscriptural and repulsive; though it was sorrowful that, in discarding the chaff, Origen and others lost so much of the wheat. But the thoughts of good men like Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, and others, were clogged with elements which ruined their testimony to a great extent, and gave occasion to the philosophising reaction which allegorised almost all. Scripture does not such violence to the spiritual instincts of the children of God, and enables us to hold fast what is good, while we refuse the evil.

(Chap. xx. 1 - 3.) The judgment upon living men is followed by that upon Satan their prince, though not yet is it final judgment. This partial dealing with the great deceiver means that the end of man's trial is not even yet reached. He is shut up in the abyss, or bottomless pit, of which we have read before, but not in hell (the lake of fire). As restraint, it is complete; and with the devil, the host of fallen angels following him share his sentence. This is not merely an inference, however legitimate. Isaiah has long before anticipated what is here (chap. xxiv. 21 - 23): "And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days they shall be visited. Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed; for the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem., aud before His ancients gloriously." Here the contemporaneous judgment of men and angels at the beginning of the millennium is clearly revealed, and just as clearly, that it is not yet final. The vision in Revelation is also clear. The descent of the angel with the key and chain certainly need not obscure the meaning. Nor could the shutting up of Satan mean any thing less than the stoppage of all temptation for the time indicated. The "dragon," too, is the symbol for the explanation of which we are (as in the twelfth chapter,) referred to Eden., "the ancient serpent," and then are told plainly, "who is the devil and Satan." It is simply inexcusable to make the interpretation of the symbol still symbolic, and to make the greater stand for the less - Satan the symbol of an earthly empire or any thing of the sort. What plainer words could be used which Isaiah's witness also abundantly confirms. God has been pleased to remove all vail from His words here, and it does look as if only willful perversity could misunderstand His speech. That after all this he is to be let out to deceive the nations is no doubt at first sight hard to understand. It is all right to inquire reverently why it should be; and Scripture, if we have learnt Peter's way of putting it together, - no prophecy to be interpreted as apart from the general body of prophecy, - will give us satisfactory, if sotemn, answer. The fact is revealed, if we could give no reason for it. Who are we to judge God's ways? and and with which of us must He take counsel? It should be plain that for a thousand years Satan's temptations cease upon the earth; and then they are renewed and successful, the nations are once more deceived. What makes it so difficult to understand is that many have a false idea of the millennial age, as if it were "righteousness dwelling" on the earth instead of "righteousness reigning" over it. It is said indeed of Israel., after they are brought to God nationally, "My people shall be all righteous" (Is. lx. 21); but that is not the general condition. The eighteenth psalm, speaking prophetically of that time, declares, "The strangers shall submit themselves unto Me," which in the margin is given as "lie," or "yield feigned obedience." They submit to superior power, not in heart; and so it is added, "The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places." (Comp. lxvi. lxxxi. 15.) And Isaiah, speaking of the long length of years, says, "The child shall die a hundred years old," but adds, "and the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed." (lxv. 20.) So Zechariah pronounces the punishment of those who do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the glorious King (xiv. 17). The millennium is not eternal blessedness; it is not the Sabbath, to which so many would compare it. It answers rather to the sixth day than the seventh, - to the day when the man and woman (types of Christ and the Church) are set over the other creatures. The seventh is the type of the rest of God, which is the only true rest of the people of God (Heb. iv. 9). The millennium is the last period of man's trial, and that is not rest: trial in circumstances the best that could be imagined, righteousness reigning, the course of the world changed, heaven open overhead, the earth filled with the knowledge of the glory of God, the history of past judgment to admonish for the future; the question will then be fully answered, whether sin is the mere fruit of ignorance, bad government, or any of the accidents of life to which it is so constantly imputed. Alas ! the issue, after a thousand years of blessing, when Satan is loosed out of his prison, will make all plain; the last lesson as to man will only then be fully learned. THE RESURRECTION AND REIGN OF THE SAINTS (Chap. xx. 4-6.)

It is, however, important to remember that, as to the earthly department of this glorious kingdom, it bears the character of a dispensation in which man is put to the test. Man has been already tried in various and wondrous ways. He was tried in innocence in the garden. From Adam to Noah he was tried without the restraints either of a divine law or of human government. From Noah to Moses he was tested by the latter, but without the former. In Israel, full trial of man was made, as under law. When the law was broken, the Levitical sacrifices and priesthood were introduced. With these shadows of grace super-added to the law, Israel was introduced to the land. Failing there, judges were raised up. When priesthood itself had failed, the kingdom was established. When the house of David began to depart from the Lord, prophecy, in its full character and bearing, commenced. When for a long time no prophet's voice had been heard in Israel, the silence was broken by the Baptist's cry, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Christ Himself, the Heir, the King, the Prince of life, the Lord of glory, appeared among men. Him they crucified. The Jews, God's only earthly people, and the Gentiles, to whom the sword of government had been entrusted, united in this awful deed. Then came the Church. Man's sin and incurableness being demonstrated beyond question, sovereign grace began to gather the Church for heavenly association with Christ. But while grace secures everlastingly those who are its true subjects, the present results of that grace are again confided to human responsibility. The result is well known. The Church itself proves unfaithful to Christ. The mystery of iniquity begins to work. The world becomes christian in name, only to betray the Church into still deeper unfaithfulness, and connect the name of Christ with all the unchanged evil of that world which once crucified and still despises the Son of God. The present dispensation, one of perfect, unmingled grace, ends in complete apostacy. The true Church being translated to heaven, this apostacy is manifested in every sphere of God's previous actings among men. Christendom, the Holy Land, and the revived Roman empire — the fourth great Gentile monarchy — all become the theatre of Satan's operations; and human wickedness, unchecked by the solemn judgments which will even then be falling on the earth, will come to its full head. Christ and His saints appear. Judgment clears the scene, and Satan himself is bound. Then follows the last dispensation under which man will ever be placed. Christ and the saints manifested in heavenly glory — Israel redeemed, and happy, and pre-eminent on the earth — the nations reposing under the peaceful sceptre of Jesus — for a thousand years shall His righteous rule maintain the blessedness of this coming kingdom. But we must carefully distinguish the earthly scene of Christ's varied glories, with the earthly occupants of that earthly scene, from Christ Himself, and the heavenly saints, who are the sharers of His glory. Men on earth during the Millennium will need to be born again, as surely as men in all ages need this. They who are really regenerate during that period will be as infallibly preserved for everlasting blessedness as are all true believers now. But that is very different from being actually in heavenly glory; while, as to any of the earth's millennial inhabitants, who may not have been really "born again," they will be liable, as soon as Satan is loosed, to be drawn away by his delusions. Such a defection will actually take place. As long as Satan is bound, the righteous rule of Christ will restrain even those whose souls have not been quickened and renewed. but as soon as Satan is again at large, man will give the last, solemn, awful proof that where God has not in His grace imparted a new and divine life, all the glory and happiness of the manifested reign of Christ and His heavenly, glorified people is not, when the tempter is again at liberty, sufficient to restrain men from falling into his snares, and following him to his and their own everlasting overthrow! May the serious lesson have its due weight on our souls! May we learn utterly to distrust ourselves, and confide altogether in the strength of that grace which alone keeps us from evil, and which has already triumphed in our deliverance from the power of darkness, and translation into the kingdom of God's dear Son!