THE ETERNAL STATE:
The Millennium is the First Thousand Years of
The Eternal Kingdom
(compiled by rob madden)
The Millennium is not to be a separate kingdom from the eternal kingdom. I understand Daniel to be saying, for example, that the fifth and final world kingdom, the kingdom of Messiah, will be one kingdom, not two (cf. Dan 2:44; 7:27; 9:24; 12:12-13). The Millennium is the first thousand years of the eternal kingdom. Peter says as much in 2 Pet 1:11: “For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” Peter calls the Millennium “the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” - PHILIPPE R. STERLING
The Millennial Kingdom will have believers from previous dispensations in resurrected/glorified bodies who no longer sin. These people will not marry and will not have children. (Matthew 22:30)
The Millennium will also include people who survived the Tribulation and so entered into the Millennium in their natural bodies.
The question is, while this may be true of the Millennial period, is it possible the two modes of existence will continue into the Eternal Kingdom?
Lewis Sperry Chafer appeared to raise the possibility that it may. In a statement in his Systematic Theology, he said this about the Gentiles of the Kingdom in the eternal state, A peculiar and distinguished group of Gentiles are those of the last generation which appear before the throne of Christ’s glory at the end of the tribulation, and on the basis of their ministry to Israel are received into the earthly kingdom. This kingdom, it is said by the King, is one prepared for these Gentiles from the foundation of the world. (Matthew 25:34) A purpose which thus originates in eternity past may well be expected to continue into eternity to come.
In sum, there are certain common elements to the “two modes of humanity in the eternal state”, view...
These include…
🔷Belief that both glorified saints and natural survivors of the Tribulation will be in the Millennial Kingdom;
🔷Belief that the survivors who enter the Millennium will continue to marry and have children;
🔷Belief that marrying and childbirth may continue into the Eternal State; and
🔷Belief that this state of affairs reaffirms God’s original plan for Adam and Eve in the Garden.
BIBLICAL TEXTS
A survey of the literature shows that many Biblical texts support the idea of two modes of humanity in eternity.
Here is a selection of ten such texts with brief explanations for each.
First, the creation account of Genesis 1-2 presents God’s original plan for sinless humanity to procreate, fill the earth, and rule over all creation.
Second, God promised Abraham, “And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;” (Gen 26:4; see also 15:5; 22:17). The fulfillment of the promise suggests an ever-expanding population of Abraham’s descendants through time and perhaps into the eternal state. In Gen 17:7 God specifically stated, “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.”
Third, the language of Psalm 102:25-28 refers to a new heavens and new earth where, “The children of Your servants will continue, and their descendants will be established before You.” The implication is that these servants of God would continue to have children in the new heavens and new earth.
Fourth, in the prophecy of Isaiah 9:7, we read, “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” The ongoing increase of this government suggests an ever-expanding population. This would begin on the new earth and then continue on into the heavens. Because there is no end to this increase, this government will continually grow in territory and population.
Fifth, Isaiah 65:17-25 and 66:22 describe the creation of “the new heavens and the new earth,” its people, their children, and their descendants. From his vantage point, Isaiah appears to see both the Millennial Kingdom and the Eternal Kingdom. It could be inferred that aspects of the natural state may carry from one to the other. There may be a continuation of the Gentile nations and Israel in a perfected natural state capable of procreation of godly offspring in the new heavens and the new earth.
Sixth, Ezekiel 37:24-28 uses “forever” language concerning the land and the prince,
24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
The literal fulfillment of this promise seems to require the multiplication of the people “forever” in the land, with sons begetting their own sons, and so on.
Seventh, Jesus said in Mark 10:14, “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.” It can be argued that at least part of what the Lord is saying is that God wants to see children forever in His kingdom.
Jesus said that the kingdom is for children…
Eighth, Matthew 22:30 has led many to conclude that the Lord Jesus definitely stated that childbearing will end after the Millennium. There the Lord was responding to a test from some Sadducees about Levirate marriage. He said that they did not understand the Scriptures or the power of God,
“For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.”
It is often assumed that the only possible interpretation of those words is that in eternity future on the new earth there will be no marrying and hence no childbirth. Yet that interpretation is far from obvious. The words “in the resurrection” are key. The Sadducees, who did not believe in bodily resurrection, were asking about whose husband a woman would have in eternity since she had had seven. The Lord’s point is that resurrected people won’t be married (and hence won’t have children either). To conclude from that verse that there will be no marriage or children at all begs the question. Will there also be non-resurrected people on the new earth? Matthew 22:30 certainly does not exclude that possibility. And there are many texts in Scripture, as we have seen, which imply that there will indeed be childbearing forever in Christ’s kingdom. Simply put, the teaching of Christ in Matt 22:30 that “in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” applies to glorified humanity, not to natural sanctified humanity.
Ninth, Ephesians 2:7 and 3:21 refer to Christ showing the exceeding riches of His grace toward those who believed in this age to all generations in the ages to come, forever and ever. This implies continuing generations of humankind in the ages to come alongside the glorified/resurrected humanity of this age.
Tenth, some might say that there is no direct statement in Revelation 21-22 (the material dealing with the new earth), that indicate there will be children and childbearing in the eternal state. Of course, it doesn’t say that there won’t be, either. The people of Revelation 21:3-4 could be a natural sanctified humanity on the new earth. They would consist of believers brought over into the eternal state from the millennial period in now sinless natural bodies. There is no reference in Revelation 20-22 to the resurrection of millennial believers. The first resurrection of Revelation 20:4-6 is completed prior to the Millennium. The second resurrection of Revelation 20:11-15 is for non-believers.
Special Note -
THE TWO MODES OF HUMANITY IN ETERNITY
(Men of God who Taught This Biblical Truth:)
Lewis Sperry Chafer
PHILIPPE R. STERLING Pastor -
The words “in the resurrection” refer to people in glorified bodies. We know that there will be people in natural bodies during the Millennium (and possibly forever on the new earth, but see here [pp. 49-62], here [pp. 33-56], and here [pp. 33-44] for a three-part article by Pastor Philippe Sterling on “The Two Modes of Humanity” for that discussion). But all OT believers and all church age believers will be raised and glorified before the Millennium starts (e.g., 1 Thess 4:13-18).
Robert Vacendak
E. R. Craven
Bob Bryant, pastor
Clarence Larkin
Herman Hoyt
J. A. Seiss
George N. H. Peters
Alexander Patterson
Bob Wilkin
Paul Fedena, Pastor and writer
William R Newell
Charles L Feinberg
Dr. W. A. Criswell - Sermon on Revelation 22:1-7
Robert Thomas’
Alva McClain
Alford's Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary
CONCLUSION
From earliest times mankind has sought for immortality in a natural state. Perhaps this goes back to God’s original intention at the creation of man. The Fall brought death. Will God’s restoration of creation involve an eternal future for a natural, perfected humanity?
Many dispensational premillennialists from the 19th Century to the present have taught from Scriptural texts and theological inference that there is an eternal future in the New Jerusalem and the new earth for both a glorified humanity and a natural perfected humanity.
💥There are those who object to this view. Could the objections be more rooted in lingering Platonic and Neo-Platonic influences than upon the clear teaching of Scripture and theological inference? No matter what an interpreter’s personal conclusion is after considering the Biblical and theological arguments, the view of two modes of humanity in the eternal state is one that should be accurately represented, respectfully engaged, and humbly acknowledged as a possibility.
In discussing the matter, George N. H. Peters probably expressed the attitude we should possess when he said, “So far as the ordering of God in the matter is concerned, we are willing cordially to accept of the same, whatever it may be.”
The Millennial Kingdom will have believers from previous dispensations in resurrected/glorified bodies who no longer sin. These people will not marry and will not have children. (Matthew 22:30)
The Millennium will also include people who survived the Tribulation and so entered into the Millennium in their natural bodies.
The question is, while this may be true of the Millennial period, is it possible the two modes of existence will continue into the Eternal Kingdom?
Lewis Sperry Chafer appeared to raise the possibility that it may. In a statement in his Systematic Theology, he said this about the Gentiles of the Kingdom in the eternal state, A peculiar and distinguished group of Gentiles are those of the last generation which appear before the throne of Christ’s glory at the end of the tribulation, and on the basis of their ministry to Israel are received into the earthly kingdom. This kingdom, it is said by the King, is one prepared for these Gentiles from the foundation of the world. (Matthew 25:34) A purpose which thus originates in eternity past may well be expected to continue into eternity to come.
In sum, there are certain common elements to the “two modes of humanity in the eternal state”, view...
These include…
🔷Belief that both glorified saints and natural survivors of the Tribulation will be in the Millennial Kingdom;
🔷Belief that the survivors who enter the Millennium will continue to marry and have children;
🔷Belief that marrying and childbirth may continue into the Eternal State; and
🔷Belief that this state of affairs reaffirms God’s original plan for Adam and Eve in the Garden.
BIBLICAL TEXTS
A survey of the literature shows that many Biblical texts support the idea of two modes of humanity in eternity.
Here is a selection of ten such texts with brief explanations for each.
First, the creation account of Genesis 1-2 presents God’s original plan for sinless humanity to procreate, fill the earth, and rule over all creation.
Second, God promised Abraham, “And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;” (Gen 26:4; see also 15:5; 22:17). The fulfillment of the promise suggests an ever-expanding population of Abraham’s descendants through time and perhaps into the eternal state. In Gen 17:7 God specifically stated, “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.”
Third, the language of Psalm 102:25-28 refers to a new heavens and new earth where, “The children of Your servants will continue, and their descendants will be established before You.” The implication is that these servants of God would continue to have children in the new heavens and new earth.
Fourth, in the prophecy of Isaiah 9:7, we read, “Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” The ongoing increase of this government suggests an ever-expanding population. This would begin on the new earth and then continue on into the heavens. Because there is no end to this increase, this government will continually grow in territory and population.
Fifth, Isaiah 65:17-25 and 66:22 describe the creation of “the new heavens and the new earth,” its people, their children, and their descendants. From his vantage point, Isaiah appears to see both the Millennial Kingdom and the Eternal Kingdom. It could be inferred that aspects of the natural state may carry from one to the other. There may be a continuation of the Gentile nations and Israel in a perfected natural state capable of procreation of godly offspring in the new heavens and the new earth.
Sixth, Ezekiel 37:24-28 uses “forever” language concerning the land and the prince,
24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
The literal fulfillment of this promise seems to require the multiplication of the people “forever” in the land, with sons begetting their own sons, and so on.
Seventh, Jesus said in Mark 10:14, “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.” It can be argued that at least part of what the Lord is saying is that God wants to see children forever in His kingdom.
Jesus said that the kingdom is for children…
Eighth, Matthew 22:30 has led many to conclude that the Lord Jesus definitely stated that childbearing will end after the Millennium. There the Lord was responding to a test from some Sadducees about Levirate marriage. He said that they did not understand the Scriptures or the power of God,
“For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.”
It is often assumed that the only possible interpretation of those words is that in eternity future on the new earth there will be no marrying and hence no childbirth. Yet that interpretation is far from obvious. The words “in the resurrection” are key. The Sadducees, who did not believe in bodily resurrection, were asking about whose husband a woman would have in eternity since she had had seven. The Lord’s point is that resurrected people won’t be married (and hence won’t have children either). To conclude from that verse that there will be no marriage or children at all begs the question. Will there also be non-resurrected people on the new earth? Matthew 22:30 certainly does not exclude that possibility. And there are many texts in Scripture, as we have seen, which imply that there will indeed be childbearing forever in Christ’s kingdom. Simply put, the teaching of Christ in Matt 22:30 that “in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” applies to glorified humanity, not to natural sanctified humanity.
Ninth, Ephesians 2:7 and 3:21 refer to Christ showing the exceeding riches of His grace toward those who believed in this age to all generations in the ages to come, forever and ever. This implies continuing generations of humankind in the ages to come alongside the glorified/resurrected humanity of this age.
Tenth, some might say that there is no direct statement in Revelation 21-22 (the material dealing with the new earth), that indicate there will be children and childbearing in the eternal state. Of course, it doesn’t say that there won’t be, either. The people of Revelation 21:3-4 could be a natural sanctified humanity on the new earth. They would consist of believers brought over into the eternal state from the millennial period in now sinless natural bodies. There is no reference in Revelation 20-22 to the resurrection of millennial believers. The first resurrection of Revelation 20:4-6 is completed prior to the Millennium. The second resurrection of Revelation 20:11-15 is for non-believers.
Special Note -
THE TWO MODES OF HUMANITY IN ETERNITY
(Men of God who Taught This Biblical Truth:)
Lewis Sperry Chafer
PHILIPPE R. STERLING Pastor -
The words “in the resurrection” refer to people in glorified bodies. We know that there will be people in natural bodies during the Millennium (and possibly forever on the new earth, but see here [pp. 49-62], here [pp. 33-56], and here [pp. 33-44] for a three-part article by Pastor Philippe Sterling on “The Two Modes of Humanity” for that discussion). But all OT believers and all church age believers will be raised and glorified before the Millennium starts (e.g., 1 Thess 4:13-18).
Robert Vacendak
E. R. Craven
Bob Bryant, pastor
Clarence Larkin
Herman Hoyt
J. A. Seiss
George N. H. Peters
Alexander Patterson
Bob Wilkin
Paul Fedena, Pastor and writer
William R Newell
Charles L Feinberg
Dr. W. A. Criswell - Sermon on Revelation 22:1-7
Robert Thomas’
Alva McClain
Alford's Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary
CONCLUSION
From earliest times mankind has sought for immortality in a natural state. Perhaps this goes back to God’s original intention at the creation of man. The Fall brought death. Will God’s restoration of creation involve an eternal future for a natural, perfected humanity?
Many dispensational premillennialists from the 19th Century to the present have taught from Scriptural texts and theological inference that there is an eternal future in the New Jerusalem and the new earth for both a glorified humanity and a natural perfected humanity.
💥There are those who object to this view. Could the objections be more rooted in lingering Platonic and Neo-Platonic influences than upon the clear teaching of Scripture and theological inference? No matter what an interpreter’s personal conclusion is after considering the Biblical and theological arguments, the view of two modes of humanity in the eternal state is one that should be accurately represented, respectfully engaged, and humbly acknowledged as a possibility.
In discussing the matter, George N. H. Peters probably expressed the attitude we should possess when he said, “So far as the ordering of God in the matter is concerned, we are willing cordially to accept of the same, whatever it may be.”
SIDENOTES:
There are two classes of people who will live eternally upon the earth:
(1) the saints, who as co-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17) are given glorified bodies (1 Cor. 15:52), who possess the kingdom (Dan. 7:18) and rule over the kingdom (Rev. 20:4, 6) as its inheritors (Matt. 25:34);
(2) natural people, described here [1 Cor 15:52] as “flesh and blood” who are the eternal subjects of the kingdom, who eternally perpetuate the natural race of earthly men in the flesh Psa. 72:5; Isa. 59:21; Ezek. 37:25; Luke 1:32-33. 2 Pet 3:13, (19)
Two classes of people are thus distinctly recognized in the new heaven and earth;—a class in glory who get the fruits of the Tree of Life, and a class in the estate of “nations” who get the leaves; but, whether fruits or leaves, a great and glorious blessing. . . . The meaning is not that the nations are full of sicknesses and ailments; for these remains of the curse are gone then, though it may be from the virtue of these leaves. The meaning rather is the preservation of health and comfort, and not that maladies then exist to be removed. The Life-leaves are for the conservation and augmentation of the Life-blessedness of men on earth, as the Life-fruits are for the joy of the saints in heaven. (20)
There are two classes of people who will live eternally upon the earth:
(1) the saints, who as co-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17) are given glorified bodies (1 Cor. 15:52), who possess the kingdom (Dan. 7:18) and rule over the kingdom (Rev. 20:4, 6) as its inheritors (Matt. 25:34);
(2) natural people, described here [1 Cor 15:52] as “flesh and blood” who are the eternal subjects of the kingdom, who eternally perpetuate the natural race of earthly men in the flesh Psa. 72:5; Isa. 59:21; Ezek. 37:25; Luke 1:32-33. 2 Pet 3:13, (19)
Two classes of people are thus distinctly recognized in the new heaven and earth;—a class in glory who get the fruits of the Tree of Life, and a class in the estate of “nations” who get the leaves; but, whether fruits or leaves, a great and glorious blessing. . . . The meaning is not that the nations are full of sicknesses and ailments; for these remains of the curse are gone then, though it may be from the virtue of these leaves. The meaning rather is the preservation of health and comfort, and not that maladies then exist to be removed. The Life-leaves are for the conservation and augmentation of the Life-blessedness of men on earth, as the Life-fruits are for the joy of the saints in heaven. (20)
the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it
This had already been the experience of the earthly Jerusalem during the Millennial Kingdom (Isa. 60:3-12; 66:12). Here is evidence that “heaven” will be much different than is commonly conceived. These kings are of the earth: having their primary place of activity upon the earth rather than within the city. They bring their glory from outside the city into (εἰς [eis]) it. The glory and honor of the kings probably describes gifts of value and beauty which are brought as presents of worship to God and the Lamb in the midst of the city. Some have seen this as evidence of two categories of the faithful: those who reside within the city (glorified saints) and those who reside outside the city on the earth (those left living at the end of the Millennial Kingdom).
Those nations, during the Millennium, that walk in the Divine light of the earthly Jerusalem, are transferred to the new earth, to walk in the Heavenly light of the New Jerusalem.77
Is there any way, however, that these could be nations of people still in a natural state (say, like Adam and Eve before the fall) continuing over from the millennium? . . . Admittedly, however, the Scriptures do not deal with this particular subject directly . . . one must certainly be tentative on this point, that this particular group of saints, some from each millennial nation, may have been (like Enoch and Elijah long before) translated to the heavenly Jerusalem still in the flesh. In such a hypothetical situation, they would then be in that state in the city when it descended to the earth. . . . This interpretation of this text, doubtful and fraught with difficulties though it may be, would help in answering certain other questions.78
I . . . hold it to be a necessary and integral part of the Scriptural doctrine of human redemption, that our race, as a self-multiplying order of beings, will never cease either to exist or to possess the earth. . . . Ransomed nations in the flesh are therefore among the occupants of the new earth, and the blessed and happy dwellers in it, as Adam and Eve dwelt in Paradise.79
This is an issue on which the text of Revelation is silent, but there is one . . . theory which seems to satisfy the available criteria best. . . . This opinion holds that “the nations” are composed of saved people who survive the millennial kingdom without dying and without joining Satan’s rebellion and who undergo some sort of transformation that suits them for life in the eternal state. They will be like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden prior to the Fall (cf. Govett, Seiss). They will be unresurrected human beings who will inhabit the new earth, Paradise restored (Rev. 22:1-5+), throughout eternity.80
Shall not God then during the “Renovation of the Earth by Fire,” in some manner, not as yet revealed, take off righteous representatives of the Millennial nations that he purposes to save, and when the earth is again fit to be the abode of men, place them back on the New Earth, that they may increase and multiply and replenish it, as Adam (Gen. 1:27-28), and Noah (Gen. 9:1), were told to multiply and replenish the present earth.81
This had already been the experience of the earthly Jerusalem during the Millennial Kingdom (Isa. 60:3-12; 66:12). Here is evidence that “heaven” will be much different than is commonly conceived. These kings are of the earth: having their primary place of activity upon the earth rather than within the city. They bring their glory from outside the city into (εἰς [eis]) it. The glory and honor of the kings probably describes gifts of value and beauty which are brought as presents of worship to God and the Lamb in the midst of the city. Some have seen this as evidence of two categories of the faithful: those who reside within the city (glorified saints) and those who reside outside the city on the earth (those left living at the end of the Millennial Kingdom).
Those nations, during the Millennium, that walk in the Divine light of the earthly Jerusalem, are transferred to the new earth, to walk in the Heavenly light of the New Jerusalem.77
Is there any way, however, that these could be nations of people still in a natural state (say, like Adam and Eve before the fall) continuing over from the millennium? . . . Admittedly, however, the Scriptures do not deal with this particular subject directly . . . one must certainly be tentative on this point, that this particular group of saints, some from each millennial nation, may have been (like Enoch and Elijah long before) translated to the heavenly Jerusalem still in the flesh. In such a hypothetical situation, they would then be in that state in the city when it descended to the earth. . . . This interpretation of this text, doubtful and fraught with difficulties though it may be, would help in answering certain other questions.78
I . . . hold it to be a necessary and integral part of the Scriptural doctrine of human redemption, that our race, as a self-multiplying order of beings, will never cease either to exist or to possess the earth. . . . Ransomed nations in the flesh are therefore among the occupants of the new earth, and the blessed and happy dwellers in it, as Adam and Eve dwelt in Paradise.79
This is an issue on which the text of Revelation is silent, but there is one . . . theory which seems to satisfy the available criteria best. . . . This opinion holds that “the nations” are composed of saved people who survive the millennial kingdom without dying and without joining Satan’s rebellion and who undergo some sort of transformation that suits them for life in the eternal state. They will be like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden prior to the Fall (cf. Govett, Seiss). They will be unresurrected human beings who will inhabit the new earth, Paradise restored (Rev. 22:1-5+), throughout eternity.80
Shall not God then during the “Renovation of the Earth by Fire,” in some manner, not as yet revealed, take off righteous representatives of the Millennial nations that he purposes to save, and when the earth is again fit to be the abode of men, place them back on the New Earth, that they may increase and multiply and replenish it, as Adam (Gen. 1:27-28), and Noah (Gen. 9:1), were told to multiply and replenish the present earth.81