02.14. Christ's Future Earthly Reign
XIV CHRIST’S FUTURE EARTHLY REIGN
I
AMONG the questions raised by the previous studies in their serial form was one as to whether there would be a second incarnation of Christ. On the supposition that He is to reign on the earth, it was supposed that He must be in the flesh as a man.
He is indeed to reign over the earth, but this does not make it necessary that He shall reign on the earth. The earlier chapter on the Millennium referred to this. That "His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives" (Zechariah 14:4), we accept literally; but it does not necessarily carry with it the thought that He shall remain there, or in any other earthly locality, throughout the millennial reign. Indeed, the touching of the mountain with His feet is the signal for its division into two halves and the formation of a great valley in between. As the prophet Nahum says, "The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt; and the earth is upheaved at his presence, yea, the world and all that dwell therein" (Nahum 1:5). But as to a second incarnation, this is unnecessary and of course impossible, except in the sense that all things with God are possible. In His resurrection body, Christ could be present or vanish in an instant. He could ascend up into heaven or remain upon the earth at His will. It is in this body that He now appears in the presence of God for us (Hebrews 9:24), and it is in this body that we may look for Him to come again, as He was seen to go (Acts 1:11).
Indeed, there is danger in pressing the thought of a reincarnation of Christ, for such is the teaching of many of the false religions now being imported from the east, like Buddhism and Theosophy and the Order of the Star of the East. They believe that a great teacher will soon appear in the world, and they would have Christians suppose that he is our Saviour. But such is not true, for the Christ they speak of is not the one revealed in the Bible. Their Christ is named in the same breath with Buddha and Confucius and Zoroaster and other leaders of Pagan cults. They make no mention of sin, of sacrificial atonement, of judgment, of the Holy Spirit. They are simply preparing the way for the Antichrist, and we need to be on our guard against them.
II An interesting letter was received from a correspondent who took the position that the Transfiguration of Christ (Matthew 17:1-27) was His coming in His kingdom in miniature, and we think the position was well taken. Quoting from the present writer’s "Prophecy and the Lord’s Return":
“When He comes the second time, He will appear on the earth and yet He will be apart from the earth in the air, and here (in the Transfiguration) we see Him in that relationship to both.
"When He comes the second time, it will be in glory, and here we see His face shining ’as the sun,’ His raiment ’white as the light.’
"When He comes the second time, the dead saints will be with Him, and here we see Moses, representing that resurrection, talking with Him.
"When He comes the second time, the saints who are alive and remain on the earth shall be caught up in the clouds to meet Him’ in the air, ’ and here we see Elijah, representing that translation, also talking with Him.
"When He comes the second time, Israel in the flesh will sustain a mediatorial relationship to Him, and the glorified Church on behalf of the Gentile nations; and here we see Peter, James and John, representing Israel in the flesh, occupying this place of wonderful privilege and fellowship.
"Thus appears the whole story of the second coming in a kind of picture, and yet it is all real. No wonder that it brought so much encouragement to the disappointed and wondering disciples." That the correspondent was not in error in thus conceiving of the Transfiguration is made sure by the words of one of the witnesses on that occasion. Read, for example, Peter’s testimony in his second epistle, where he says (2 Peter 1:16-18):
“We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty.
"For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory; This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
"And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount."
Here we have not only Peter’s testimony to the fact, but his inspired comment upon the testimony. The transfiguration, he says, was "the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Not that it was exhaustive of His power in that direction, nor that it meant His coming in its entirety; but as a fore-gleam of that momentous event in its various particulars, it established its certainty as something that is to be.
III And yet all this testimony is not satisfying to some. Another correspondent wrote, "We do not understand at all from Scripture that the people, whom God is now calling out from all the nations for His Name, are to reign with Him over the millennial earth." And then he states the grounds of his objection. It will be interesting and instructive to consider them:
(1) He says: "There is to be no millennial earth here. The only place in the Bible that speaks of a thousand year reign is Revelation 20:4, and it does not at all indicate that it is to take place here on this earth."
Where, then, is it to take place, may we ask? The preceding chapter, to which this one bears the closest relationship, is speaking of the earth. There are the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against our Lord Jesus Christ, and there is He seen smiting the nations and ruling them with a rod of iron. Immediately following the account of the thousand years’ reign, we are told that Satan, loosed from his prison-house, goes out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth. "And they went up on the breadth of the earth and compassed the camp of the saints about the beloved city." It is not until after this that the earth and the heaven flee away. In the chapter on “The Millennium: When, What and Where?" it was stated that, while the thousand years specifically is named but once in the Bible, yet the period to which that phrase refers is named again and again. We quoted Moses, David, Isaiah, Amos, Peter, Paul, John and Jesus Christ. Indeed, as Nathaniel West says: "There is a text in what is known among scholars as the ’little apocalypse of Isaiah’ (Isaiah 24:21-23) which so closely resembles Revelation 20:1-4 as to be called its companion piece."
(2) The correspondent quotes: "And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus . . . which had not worshipped the beast, . . . and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years," and adds, "This certainly does not include us of the present time. We have not been beheaded, and are not likely to be. In other words, we are not martyrs for Christ, and it seems presumptuous to put ourselves in the company of these martyrs for this special reign. We who are caught up at the coming of the Lord will be in the general reign with Christ, but not in this special reign. " That he is not very clear as to this "special reign" is evident from a later statement in which he says that it is a reign "with his martyrs somewhere else than on this earth, and that it is now taking place."
There are two errors here. In the first place, Christ, considered as to His human nature, Christ the God-man, is not now reigning anywhere. As God, He is reigning over the universe, of course, just as He has done ever since He created it; but as the risen and glorified man He is "sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool" (Hebrews 10:12-13). In that day, however,i.e., when His enemies are made His footstool, He will come again, "and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever" (Luke 1:32-33). In the second place, the reign of the martyrs cannot now be taking place, because the martyrs themselves have not yet been martyred. They are the martyrs of the tribulation period which is yet to come, and in which they will su1fer at the hands of the Antichrist ’(see Revelation 13:15-18). And finally, it is no presumption for us "to put ourselves in the company of these martyrs," because the context itself does that for us. For example, it says that "This is the first resurrection," and good exegesis makes this harmonize with "the resurrection of the just" (Luke 14:14), and "the resurrection of life" (John 5:29). All believers are counted in these resurrections, and necessarily in that. But why are the martyrs singled out Y For a very good reason indeed. Up until this time, the Church had been in the air with Christ, and was now about to enter with Him upon His earthly reign. Meanwhile Antichrist had been reigning on the earth, and these martyrs had refused to acknowledge him and had paid for their loyalty with their life. But now he is tormented and they are comforted. He is bound and cast into the bottomless pit for a thousand years, and they are raised from the dead and exalted to a place with the Church, which is Christ’s body, and they reign with Christ a thousand years.
IV In the foregoing it has been assumed that, when Christ comes in the air and the Church is caught up to meet Him there, it is from that location that He and His Bride shall reign over the earth.
Such is a common understanding among premillennialists, but it is not by any means the only one. For example, Luthardt, a distinguished German commentator, says unhesitatingly; "The Church does not remain in the air, nor is she retired into heaven, but, after her translation, accompanies the Bridegroom hitherward to the Holy Place," by which he means some glorified place on the earth in which she shall be separated from the as yet unglorified part of humanity.
Dr. Nathaniel West agrees with this, and warns us not to "rob corporeity of its rights in the resurrection, or dissolve under the idea of ’glory’ the resurrection body into a gauzy texture ballooning in the sky."
QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON 1.Is it necessary that in the Millennium Christ shall reign on the earth?
2. If the above is answered negatively how can it be harmonized with Zechariah 14:4?
3. Is a second incarnation of Christ necessary, and if not, why not?
4. What spiritual danger follows in the wake of such a thought?
5. How may the transfiguration of Christ be regarded?
6. Show the correspondences between that event and His Second Coming.
7. Quote 2 Peter 1:16-18.
8. How would you prove the earthly character of the millennial reign?
9. Have you looked up "the little apocalypse of Isaiah"?
10. Is Christ considered from the human side now reigning anywhere?
11. When will He begin to reign over the house of Jacob?
12. How would you answer the objection that the reign of the martyrs is now taking place?
13. Why is it not presumptuous for Christian believers to put themselves in the company of the martyrs?
14. Why, then, are the martyrs singled out in Revelation 20:1-15?
15. What contrary opinion about Christ’s reigning on the earth is held by some?
16. What possible confusion of thought on their part is suggested?