Beginning of the Millennial Reign

Dr. Couch, when does the millennial reign of the Lord begin? ANSWER: The kingdom begins at the end of the tribulation period. We read in Revelation 19:11-16 where John writes, "I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. This fits perfectly with Zechariah 14. The verses add that He is wearing "many diadems" (v. 12). Verse 16 adds, "On His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, 'KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.'" The Lord will gather the nations against Jerusalem (Zech. 14:2), "Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations …" (v. 3). "And on that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem …" (v. 4). "Then the Lord, my God (Christ, the Messiah), will come and all the holy ones with Him" (v. 5). "For it will be a unique day …" (v. 7). Then finally we read: "And the Lord will be KING over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the One, and His name One" (v. 9). The Hebrew means that "He will be the solitary One, one only of its kind, incomparable one." This means that in the kingdom age He will be known and worshipped as the one and only Lord, the absolutely unique and incomparable One, the Savior-Redeemer! (Unger) On Revelation 19 you have to read carefully to spot the allegorical and amillennial thinking of Ellicott in his commentary. He says of verses 11-16 that Christ "is King of life, King of human hearts …" By this Ellicott is allegorizing, making His reign some kind of syrupy non-literal rule! Boy, what awful interpretation. Ellicott gets worse on Zechariah 14: He says where it speaks of Jerusalem and of the Messiah's feet touching the Mt. of Olives: "Compelled by the lack of any historical fulfillment and guided by the highly figurative language of the whole chapter we decide to interpret it entirely by a figurative sense." On His feet touching the Mt. of Olives: "The language is, of course, figurative." Where Jerusalem is mentioned, Ellicott says "The language is, of course, figurative, and denotes the religious prominence of Jerusalem." Amil sickness, sickness, sickness! Thanks for asking. Dr. Mal Couch