So when the times of the Gentiles are done then Christ shall return and begin His reign on earth for 1000 years. I agree with both of your statements with one exception. This exception is that the disciples specifically asked Jesus when the end of the world would be and the sign of His second coming at the beginning of Matthew 24.
well if you check Mark and Luke those statements are missing from both. Mark - 'tell us when will these things be (the destruction of the temple) and what will be the sign when all these things (the throwing down of the stones of the Temple) are to be accomplished.
Luke - 'Teacher when will this be, and what will be the sign when this (the throwing down of the stones of the Temple) is to take place.?'
This makes clear that the main emphasis on what follows is to be on when the destruction of the Temple they were looking at was to take place.
Jesus reply was initially to emphasise the troubles that were coming, false Messiahs, wars, famine, pestilence, earthquakes. These were the beginning of labour pains. The 1st century AD was especially noted for such devastations. Along with this was to be the persecution of Christ's followers.
What then of the destruction of the Temple? Mark tells us (in language similar to Matthew) 'when you see the abomination of desolation set up were it ought not to be (Luke applies this to armies surrounding Jerusalem) --- in those days there will be tribulation such as has not been from the beginning of creation which God created until now, and never shall be'.
So Mark unquestionably links the abomination of desolation and the coming tribulation with the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. Luke expands on this and reveals that the tribulation will continue through the centuries, as the Jews are scattered among the nations. It includes the progroms, the Holocaust and so on. Noting like it has been or will be seen again. It is all in accord with Deut 28.
Thus Jesus answer to the question about the signs of the end of the age must be seen as applying to what follows the tribulation.
Many say that the great tribulation is 3 1/2 to 7 years.
But they have no real grounds for it. It results from a false interpretation of Daniel 9 combined with a distorting of the incidents when 1260 days/42 months are mentioned in Revelation (but never in Daniel) so as to try to make them parallel, which they are not.
I think we are in a tribulation period now, but I don't think the signs are quite complete yet and it isn't really a great tribulation yet such as the world has never seen.
Both Jesus and Paul from the beginning said that the church would face tribulation. and it has gone on though the centuries. But the great tribulation of Matt 24 is the tribulation of the Jews from 70 AD to the present day. Nothing has ever been seen like it both for length and, at times, intensity. The great tribulation of Rev 7 refers to the tribulation through the ages which at times has been very intense.
Obviously the 1000 year reign of Christ didn't start at His death or resurrection for that was 2000 years ago. I'm just wondering how you are putting this all together according to Scripture.
what did 'a thousand years' mean to people in New Testament times? Most were not mathematical. they never used large numbers. They did not need to. To most it simply meant a huge amount of time. This is confirmed by the OT use of 1000. the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50.10 - a huge number of hills). a thousand generations (Deut 7.9; 1 Chron 16.15; - a huge number of generations). Thus to the ordinary reader 'a thousand years' simply meant a huge number of years beyond counting.
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison," Revelation 20:4-7
So what this is saying is that the SOULS of the saints in mind will live and reign with Christ a huge number of years, just as the saints on earth will be living and reigning with Christ (Eph 2.5-6). They have had their part in HIS resurrection, the first resurrection. Note that there is not even a hint that His reign is on earth.
But then Satan will be let loose (from the Abyss). In Rev 9.11 the king of the angels is let loose from the Abyss whose name is Destruction, along with large numbers of evil spirits. In 17.8 the Beast from the Abyss is let loose. Do you really think that God will keep loosing evil powers from the Abyss to try to make matters worse? These three incidents are surely one and the same. And in two cases they definitely occur before the second coming.
