Yes, I believe He will rule over the nations (with a rod of iron;
Rev 2:26-28) from Jerusalem for just
1000 years to clean up the earth (i.e., "
remove sin from the land in one day";
Zechariah 3) before giving the authority back to The Almighty (
1 Cor 15:28) when Almighty finally comes (bringing heaven with Him;
Rev 21). I don't think there will be a built temple though. If anything it will be a grand city built but without walls/partitions (
Ezekiel 38:11).
Assuming of a moment that Israel hasn't returned to the land; that the people currently there are not the fulfillment of the promise, The Almighty promised to bring the faithful to the promised land.
In
Acts 1:6 before He ascended, the apostles asked Messiah if it was time to restore the kingdom of Israel, but He said it was not for them to know the times and seasons. Of course, we know it was the season of spreading the gospel to the Gentiles.
In
Zechariah 14:16-17 we read a prophecy of the aftermath of the nations attacking Jerusalem. We know this is some time
after the Messiah returns because it mentions "The King" in the chapter.
Zechariah 14:16-17 (NIV)
16 Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. 17 If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain.
So here we can glean a few points:
1) There's a distinction made between The Nations (or the people of Earth) and Jerusalem
2) The "King" is in Jerusalem, or at least on the side of Jerusalem, and the unrepentant nations will coexist with King-led Jerusalem
for a time.
[
This supports the passage in
Daniel 7:11-12, with "beasts" representing the empires/nations that were created before the "son of man" received authority, destroyed the
terrible "beast" kingdom, and ruled over those that remained:
“Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.
]
3) There will be a yearly requirement for people from the earth specifically to travel to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast and to worship the King, and if they don't comply they will be punished (i.e. rod of iron;
Rev 2:26-28). Why is Jerusalem specifically mentioned as a destination for worship if the king isn't there?
So I believe true Israel (believer Jews and believer Gentiles) will be gathered to Him and He will settle them in the land. The kingdom of heaven is like a fisherman who casts a wide net that gathers many different fish (
Matthew 13:47-48)...
- The "Net" is the dispersed of Israel. This is why their punishment (scattering) coincides with the "time of the Gentiles" (and the spreading of the gospel to them;
Romans 11).
- The Gentiles who believe and are grafted into the Root, are the "fishes".
- When the full number of Gentiles come in, The fisherman draws in the net (i.e. regathering of remnant natural branches who believe in Messiah with grafted in Gentiles) for the full harvest, bringing in all who are His.
- He returns all to the land by creating multiple partings (like what happened at the Reed Sea), He joins both houses again ending their past feud, He takes care of Edom who will be in the land when He comes.
Isaiah 11:11-16
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
15 And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.
16 And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.
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Historicism is a method of interpretation in Christian eschatology that links biblical prophecies to historical events. Historicist interpretations of the Book of Revelation, also known as the continuous historical view, view the book as a continuous fulfillment of prophecy that begins with Daniel's time, continues through John of Patmos' writing of the book, and ends with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Historicists believe that the book's purpose was to encourage and counsel early Christians, while also extending its prophetic images beyond their time to a final victory.
Historicism was the original ecological position of the reformers before the emergence of Preterism and Futurism.
Here is a graphic outline of my unique position as a Historicist (with passages). Best viewed on a computer.
