Revelation speaks of a thousand years because it is there that Scripture reveals the God-given time frame for the opening stage of the eternal kingdom.
Daniel 2:44 and Revelation 11:15 describe the kingdom as everlasting, yet Revelation 20 is where a specific number appears — a thousand years. Les Feldick teaches that this is not a contradiction but rather the beginning of the eternal kingdom. He calls the millennium "just an introduction into the Eternal."
Revelation 20:2-7 — This passage is where the Bible explicitly gives the thousand-year period, showing Satan bound and believers reigning with Christ for a thousand years.
Scripture describes the promised kingdom of the Messiah as an everlasting kingdom. Daniel 2:44 says the God of heaven will set up a kingdom "which shall never be destroyed... and it shall stand for ever." Revelation 11:15 likewise declares that the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, "and he shall reign for ever and ever." Revelation 20, however, is where God reveals a specific time element. Verse 2 says Satan is bound "a thousand years," verse 4 says the saints "lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years," and verse 6 repeats that they "shall reign with him a thousand years." Thus the thousand years is the revealed beginning of the kingdom, not a contradiction of its eternal character.
Les points out that while the Old Testament spoke of the kingdom being "forever and ever" and "without end," no timeframe was ever attached. Even when Christ offered Himself as King, and even when Paul wrote about end-time events, nobody put a time frame on the kingdom until Revelation. That is why we get the term millennium — the thousand-year rule and reign of Christ (Clips 1, 3, 4, 5). To reconcile a thousand years with eternal rule, Les teaches that the thousand-year reign is "just an introduction into the Eternal." The kingdom will remain forever; the thousand-year reign is the opening stage. It will end with turmoil and be followed by a new heaven and a new earth, but eternity will continue on much the same basis — with Christ ruling and reigning, likely from the New Jerusalem (Clips 1, 5, 6, 7). Les also explains that the millennial reign is "another time of testing" because only believers enter it: the Gentiles who believed during the Tribulation under the preaching of the 144,000, and the saved remnant of Israel. During that thousand years there will still be flesh-and-blood people having children, which he does not believe will carry on into the eternal state (Clips 2, 7).
Daniel 2:44 describes the kingdom as one that shall never be destroyed and shall stand forever, and Revelation 11:15 says Christ "shall reign for ever and ever." It is only in Revelation 20 that a specific number appears: Satan is bound for a thousand years (Revelation 20:2), the martyrs live and reign with Christ a thousand years (Revelation 20:4), and those in the first resurrection "shall reign with him a thousand years" (Revelation 20:6).
Les Feldick points out that all the Old Testament references to the kingdom use terms like "forever" and "without end," while Revelation alone adds the one-thousand-year time frame. He explains this is not a contradiction: the thousand-year reign of Christ is "just an introduction into the Eternal." The eternal state will continue on much the same basis, with Christ ruling and reigning, after the new heaven and new earth appear.
Les says that because only believers enter the Kingdom — the Gentiles who believed during the Tribulation under the 144,000's preaching, and the saved remnant of Israel — the thousand-year reign will be "another time of testing." It will also have physical features that eternity will not, including flesh-and-blood people having children. When the thousand years are finished, the kingdom continues into the eternal state.
Les teaches that the thousand-year kingdom will end through the providential acts of a sovereign God, and everything will go through great turmoil before the new heaven and new earth come on the scene. The new earth and new heaven will be the same set of circumstances seen in the thousand years, and eternity will continue with Christ ruling and reigning.
Revelation's Timeline: Tribulation to Eternity Explained
and on the other hand from a righteous God. And you and I as human beings cannot comprehend what that last three and a half years is going to be like. I mean you can look at the horrible pictures on the news from Yugoslavia and other areas of the world.
Revelation's Time Element
Les explains that Revelation is where God puts the thousand-year time element on the kingdom, which is why we call it the millennium.
A Time of Testing
Les says the thousand-year reign will be another time of testing because only believers enter — the Gentile believers from the Tribulation and the saved remnant of Israel.
Same Teaching on the Millennium
This clip repeats that Revelation gives a thousand years to the kingdom and that the new heaven and earth will reflect the same circumstances.
The Time Frame Revealed Only in Revelation
Les notes that nothing in Scripture indicates the thousand-year time frame until Revelation, while connecting the kingdom promise to Daniel's seven-year tribulation.
The Thousand Years as Introduction to Eternity
Les says the Old Testament speaks of the kingdom as forever, and the thousand-year reign in Revelation is just an introduction to the eternal state.
The Kingdom's Introduction
Les calls the thousand-year reign the introduction to the eternal, running its course on a planet restored to a Garden-of-Eden situation before the new heaven and earth.
The Millennium vs. Eternity
Les contrasts the millennium with eternity: flesh-and-blood people have children in the thousand years, but the eternal state will not carry that on.
Daniel 2:44: And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
This verse shows the Old Testament promise that the kingdom will stand forever.
Revelation 11:15: And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
This verse confirms the eternal reign of Christ, even though Revelation 20 gives the kingdom a thousand-year beginning.
Revelation 20:2: And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
This verse is where the time period of a thousand years first appears in Revelation.
Revelation 20:4: 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.
This verse states that the faithful saints reign with Christ for a thousand years.
Revelation 20:6: 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.
This verse repeats the thousand-year reign and links it to the first resurrection.
Acts 3:21: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
Les connects this passage to the kingdom promised to Israel and to Daniel's seven-year tribulation interlude.
No. Les Feldick teaches that the thousand-year reign of Christ is just an introduction into the Eternal. Revelation reveals the time element that had never before been stated, but the kingdom itself is still forever; the millennium is its opening stage.
Les connects the visible kingdom to the return of Christ. In Acts 3, Peter spoke of the kingdom promised to Abraham, with Daniel's seven-year tribulation as an interlude before its establishment. Revelation reveals that once Christ sets up the kingdom, that earthly rule is for a thousand years.
Yes. Les Feldick says that during the thousand-year kingdom there will still be flesh-and-blood people having children, whereas he does not believe that will carry on into the eternal state.
According to Les, only believers enter — the Gentiles who believed during the Tribulation under the 144,000's preaching, and the saved remnant of Israel. That is why he calls the thousand-year reign another time of testing.
Watch the Teaching: Revelation's Timeline: Tribulation to Eternity Explained