When will we "rule the nations" ?

[8thdaypriest]

Revelation 2:26-27  "And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations--'He shall rule them with a rod of iron;" --

WHEN will this take place? 

The message to the "angel of the church in Thyatira" is spoken by the Son of god.  (Rev. 2:18).  So the verse with the promise I sited, was spoken by Jesus Himself. 

"These things says the Son of God."  (Rev. 2:18). 

Even if you believe this promise is not for everyone who is saved - only for those who keep His works "until the end" - STILL - it promises that persons will "rule" the nations.  This certainly has NOT happened yet.  When will it happen?  It must be AFTER "the end" because the promise is for those who keep His works "until the end".  I don't know of a TIME, in current SDA descriptions of things when any persons - other than Christ Himself - will "rule" over  "the nations".  

  

[JoeMo]

For the past several years, I have believed that our reign as priests and kings with Jesus would begin at the second coming; because the millennium would be here on earth.  After considering some of the stuff I've read on www.prophecyviepoint.com, I'm not so sure.  I'm open to the possibility that we don't start reigning until the millennium is over, and the rest of the dead are resurrected.  I feel strongly about both theories, but convicted of neither yet.

[8thdaypriest]

Joe,  As you know, I believe that those chosen to be "priests of God and of Christ" must be consecrated to that office.  The consecration period was 7 days.  Aaron and his sons did not begin to minster as priests UNTIL "the 8th day".  I believe this was a prophecy.  7 days would be 7000 years.  The 8th day would be the 8th millennium, which is WHEN "the rest of the dead" are raised. 

So - tell me Joe, what makes you think that the redeemed will "rule the nations" during the 7th millennium.  What Scriptures lead to belief in that scenario? 

[JoeMo]

Hi Rachel,

Below are some of the scriptures that make me think our rule as priests and kings could begin in the 7th millenium.  After studying your 8th day, I agree that these same scriptures could pertain to the 8th millenium.  I don't at all disagree with your 8th day study; I just haven't embraced it to the exclusion of all other interpretations of Kingdom prophecy.

 

Rev. 2:26-27: " To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from my Father."

Rev. 12:5: "She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne."

Rev. 19:15: "Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty."

Rev. 20:4: "I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years."

 

Isaiah 2:2: "In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it."

Isaiah 56:6-8

Micah 4:2: "Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem".

Isaiah 65:17 through the end of 66.

[8thdaypriest]

SDA's are the only ones I know of - who teach that the redeemed will go with Christ to the "Father's House" (Heaven) for the 1000 years of the 7th millennium, during which the earth is uninhabited.  The rest (including the Messianics) teach that "the Father's House" just refers to His Kingdom, within which there are many "mansions" or "large houses" - which could be clans, tribes, or even nations.

Most Evangelicals and Catholics believe that Christ will reign ON THE PLANET during the 7th millennium.  They explain that there will be peace between the nations, because Christ is reigning.  They do NOT believe that the last plagues destroy "the earth" - just "the land" territory of Israel.  The Hebrew for "the earth" and "the land" is the same word. 

I've tried to analyze the effects of the last plagues.  It seems that everything necessary for human life is destroyed.  Poisoned water, "sea" lifeless, no vegetation (source of oxygen), EVERY island and mountain flattened.  Difficult to see how any life could survive.  There were any Islands within the territory granted to Abraham, so the "every island" prophecy, suggests to me that this the events at the second coming will affect the whole earth. 

Jeremiah "saw" the "earth" after the great day of the LORD, and described it as "without form and void" - which doesn't really tell you whether he was looking at "the land" given to Abraham, or the whole earth.  The "earth" without form and void, before creation began, suggests this may be the whole planet.

The descriptions of foreigners coming up to the Mountain of the LORD, where Messiah is reigning, to learn the ways of the LORD - those things COULD happen in either scenario - 7th millennium, or 8th millennium, EXCEPT for one thing.  These people are DEAD during the 7th millennium.  They don't "live again" until the 1000 years are finished.   

It DOES seem that the redeemed will "rule the nations" (under Christ) as "kings and priests" (Rev. 5:10, Rev. 20:6).  So either we will undergo a consecration ceremony lasting 7 days (as Christ did after His ascension), OR the instruction concerning the Levite priesthood was a prophecy pointing to "the 8th Day". 

"With the LORD a thousand years is as a day, and a day is as a thousand years." 

Some Hebrew Roots teachers say that Yeshua will reign only over the land given to Abraham, during the 7th millennium.  The "nations" have survived the last plagues, so during that millennium, people FROM the nations can come up to learn the ways of the Lord.  After that 7th millennium, the nations AGAIN come up to attack Israel. 

So - I'd say the best evidence is:

1.  The effects of the last plagues

2.  The scapegoat is banished to the uninhabited place

3.  The "rest of the dead" have to be resurrected before they can "learn the ways of the Lord" - and they are DEAD during the 7th millennium, NOT learning anything.

 

[8thdaypriest]

I'm STILL waiting for the Scripture proof that "the rest of the dead" are ALL condemned.