XV. Will Christians (the Elect) Return to Earth As Part of Christ’s Army And Rule with Him Another 1000 Years, the Millennium?

It is my position that most teachers of the Pre-tribulation persuasion erroneously teach that we the Church, the elect, after having been in Heaven several years, are going to leave our home there, to which we were Pre-tribulationally raptured, and where we were promised we would forever be with the Lord (God) in Heaven, (I Thessalonians 4:17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. NIV) will then become a part of the army of Christ. They say we will be clothed in fine linen and follow Christ on white horses when He fights the battle of Armageddon. (Revelation 19:14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.)  This will be Jesus’ conclusive second half of the seventieth week of Daniel victory over Satan, plus Satan’s followers, and the nations of the earth.  Then we are told we will stay and rule and judge with Jesus on earth for 1000 years, commonly described as the Kingdom of God, the millennium.  The Church has blindly accepted this as the truth without a challenge.  We will look at considerable Scripture, which shows this teaching to be wrong, and give you many reasons why it is wrong.  And we will detail several wars, most of them end time wars, where no mention is even hinted that God will need or use the elect to be part of the army of God.  Reasons will be given for you to rethink this teaching concept and let you come to your own conclusion as to what God would have you believe.

In the Old Testament and in the New, the armies of God the Father are almost always referred to as being made up of angels.  Perhaps the earliest mention of troops (armies) of God are mentioned in Job 19:12. (Job 19:12 His troops come together and build up their road against me; they encamp all around my tent.)  In Job 25:3, Bildad asks Job,  Is there any number to His armies? Upon whom does His light not rise?  And in Job 38:7, the Lord reveals His Omnipotence to Job in that, when He laid the foundations of the earth, His mornings stars (angels) sang together and shouted for joy. (Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?)  After Daniel interpreted the second dream of Nebuchadnezzar, it is recorded in Daniel 4:35 that Nebuchadnezzar, in a moment of humiliation, praises the Most High that all the inhabitants of earth are as nothing, and that God does according to His will in the army of Heaven among all the inhabitants of the earth. (Daniel 4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, “What have you done?”)  The church, the elect, was not even a known concept in those early days, and certainly not participants in God’s army.

Perhaps the greatest war ever fought or to be fought since before the time of creation is described in Revelation 12:7-9. (Revelation 12:7-9, 7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.)  It takes place at the exact midpoint of Daniel’s seventieth week, which is the very beginning of the last three and one-half years. (Revelation 13:5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority (from God the Father) to continue for forty-two months.)  In Revelation 12, Jesus, in less than 72 words, dictates through an angel to the Apostle John His version of what happens in this war.  He tells us this war will break out in heaven.  Participants in war are armies.  The armies that will fight this war are made up of Michael and his angels (God’s) against the dragon (Satan, the Devil) and his angels.  There could be millions, yes perhaps even hundreds of millions, participating in this very important and decisive encounter.  The dragon and his angels will not prevail, or in other words will be defeated, and they will forever be prevented from entering Heaven again.  Until this moment in time, Satan and his following of fallen angels continually accuse the brethren, the elect, us, before God.  But Satan and his angels will be decisively defeated and cast down to earth.  This takes place without the help of the saints, the elect.  According to Pre-tribulation teachers, the elect, the church, the bride of Christ, has been in Heaven for three and one-half years when this war breaks out, but nowhere in scripture is it hinted God needed the help of the Church.

The elect are not taken to Heaven to become warriors.  We are taken to Heaven because God promised us a Heavenly home to be with the Lord forever. (I Thessalonians 4:17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. NIV)  Throughout the New Testament we are taught that the elect are going to receive glorified bodies, (Romans 8:29-30, 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.) going to be exactly like Jesus, (I John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.) and be joint heirs with Christ to all that God has. (Romans 8:16-17, 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with out spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heir of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.)  We are going to be the bride of Jesus. (Revelation 21:2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.)  In the preceding verse two, this describes the moment at the end of the thousand years when the New Jerusalem, Heaven, comes down to earth for all eternity and it tells us His bride, the elect, are still in Heaven at this moment in time.  Our bodies were born in corruption, and we will be resurrected to incorruption; we were born in dishonor, and we will be raised in glory; we were born in weakness and will be raised in power; we were born a natural body and will be raised a spiritual body; we were born mortals and at our resurrection will put on immortality. (I Corinthians 15:42-44,53, 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead, The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.)

We will be perfectly glorified just like Jesus, and be His bride, equal to the bridegroom.  What a marvelous plan God the Father has devised for those He loved, His elect, His church.  In this plan He predestined, before He laid the foundation of the earth, for the elected to spend eternity with the Lord God. (Ephesians 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,)  But nowhere do I find He planned on making us warriors in His army.  If that were His plan for us, of course, we would gladly follow our Master wherever He leads.  It does seem disingenuous, however, to convince the church, with no scriptural proof, that we will be in God’s army.

Our present state, in God’s creative plan, is described in Psalm 8:5-8 where David writes that God, at the time of creation, made man a little lower than the angels. (Psalm 8:5-8, 5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands, You have put all things under his feet, 7 all sheep and oxen—even the beast of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas.)  He crowned man with honor and glory, and gave him dominion over the works of His hands, and put all things under the feet of man, including the sheep and the oxen, the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea.  The Apostle Paul quotes the above verses from the Psalms and then writes in Hebrews 2:9 that even Jesus, while He was on earth as God-man, was also made a little lower than the angels. (Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.)

If we can believe all of the above and the accompanying scriptures, we must believe that at our resurrection we will be exactly like Jesus, so much better than the angels. (Hebrews 1:4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.)  In verse 6, it tells us that God the Father said to let all the angels worship God’s Son Jesus. (Hebrews 1:6 But when He again brings the first-born into the world, He says: “Let all the angels of God worship Him.”)  If we are the glorified elect and bride of Christ and the same as Jesus, perhaps the same will apply to us.  In Matthew 22:30 it is recorded that we will be like the angels, but the reference in these verses is that our likeness to the angels will be that we, as the elect and the bride of Christ, will neither marry or be given in marriage in Heaven. (Matthew 22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.)  Now contrast the above to all those references where God is going to breathe life into the dead and give them new life just prior to the beginning of the millennium period, as in Revelation 20:4, basically His chosen people the Jewish nation plus other God fearers whose names were ‘written in His book.’ (Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived [God breathed life into them] and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.)  To them He will be their God and they will be His people, Ezekiel 36:28, throughout the millennium. (Ezekiel 36:28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.)  They will again be humans, have children, live lives that will last much longer than we do now in an environment somewhat similar to the time of creation, but evidently subject to sin since they will still be able to make choices.

Angels (1), the Jews (2), which Scripture refers to as God’s chosen people, and the Church (3), or Christians, which Scripture refers to as the New Testament elect, are each referred to at various places in Scripture as the elect and as saints.  As proof, angels (1) are described as elect in First Timothy 5:21 (I Timothy 5:21 I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.) and as saints in Deuteronomy 33:2. (Deuteronomy 33:2 And he said; “The Lord came from Sinai, and dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, and He came with ten thousand of saints; [this is a reference to angels when God met with the Israelites at Mt. Sinai] from His right hand came a fiery law for them.)  Israel, or the Jews (2), are referred to as elect in Isaiah 45:4 (Isaiah 45:4 For Jacob My servant’s sake, and Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me.) and as saints in Matthew 27:52. (Matthew 27:52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;)  The Church (3), or Christians, are referred to as elect in Matthew 24:31 (Matthew 24:31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.) and as saints in Acts 9:32. (Acts 9:32 Now it came to pass, as Peter went through all parts of the country, that he also came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda.)  This is brought to your attention to remind you that in your reading of Scripture you should endeavor to be sure that your understanding of that scripture coincides with the context of what it is that is being written about; i.e., be careful in each situation to clarify the current meaning of the words elect and saints based on the content and who is being referred to. 

There are two places in scripture where confusion arises as to whether or not Christ returns to earth with His church or with angels.  The first is I Thessalonians 3:12-13 where Paul fervently prays to the Lord that He will make the Thessalonian Christians increase and abound in love for each other, and that He will establish (make firm and unmoved) their hearts to be unblameable in holiness before God our Father when our Lord Jesus Christ comes with all His saints, to take us home to Heaven. (I Thessalonians 3:12-13, 12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, 13 so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.)  The term saints here refers to “holy ones”, or angels (see NIV, MSG, NLT translations), not raptured saints.  Paul pours out his heart in the two letters to the Thessalonians, to make sure those who became born again under his teaching still clearly believed and understood what he taught them regarding the coming of Christ; that the dead in Christ will rise from their graves first, and then, together with the living Christians, will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.  These two verses, without  question, refer to the rapture of the elect.  Those who claim these two verses refer to Christ’s coming to earth at the battle of Armageddon with the “saints” are simply incorrect in their interpretation.  Verses that confirm Jesus is coming with “angels” when He gathers His Elect, and which refer to the same moment in history as I Thessalonians 3:13 (above), and which you can study, are Matthew 24:31, (Matthew 24:31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.) Mark 13:27, (Mark 13:27 And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.) and Revelation 3:5. (Revelation 3:5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.) 

The other area of confusion is in Revelation 19:8 where we, the bride of Christ, will be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, and this fine linen is the righteous acts of the “saints”. (Revelation 19:8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.)  Just six verses later Jesus goes to do battle against all the nations of earth at the battle of Armageddon, and leaves Heaven on His white horse together with his army on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.  So when you combine verse 8 and 14, (14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.) it is easy to jump to the conclusion that this army and the bride of Christ are one and the same.  However, angels throughout scripture are also described as wearing white, bright linen, as in Revelation 15:6, where the seven angels that are going to pour out the bowl judgments are also described as being clothed in pure, bright linen. (Revelation 15:6 And out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in pure bright linen, and having their chests girded with gold bands.)  Verses that identify Christ as coming to earth accompanied by angels to do battle and remain on earth with Christ are Matthew 13:39, (Matthew 13:39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.) 16:27, (16:27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.) 25:31, (25:31 When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.) Mark 8:38, (Mark 8:38 “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”) Luke 9:26, (Luke 9:26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.) and 2 Thessalonians 1:7. (II Thessalonians 1:7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,)

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