Jack Hibbs: What the Bible Really Says About the Millennial Reign of Christ - By Abby Trivett

Found here. Our comments in bold.
-------------------

Charisma Magazine has some pretty good articles, but also some truly off the wall stuff. And there's some stuff that is plainly wrong. Though we usually examine the follies of cessationist Reformists/Calvinists, we are not reluctant to take charismatics to task when necessary.

Today it's the latter. We are not acquainted with Jack Hibbs and have never heard his teaching before. So we have no dog in the fight. In the video below, Mr. Hibbs intends to explain the millennial reign of Christ, and he will make up things out of thin air, turn Scriptures on their heads, and make a big to-do about a topic that frankly has little relevance to the Christian walk. That's right. Knowing about the millennium has little to no benefit.

The below article is a actually another writer's summary of this video. It's is only 400 words but it looks a lot longer. That's an irritating feature becoming more and more common on the internet: Web pages are inundated with ads, recommendations for other articles, and all sorts of other filler material, making the article appear longer and more substantial than it really is. This also makes it difficult to read, distracting to the point where we are simply tending to avoid these sorts of websites altogether. 

The writer of the article apparently intended only to regurgitate Mr. Hibbs' presentation without critical evaluation, which suggests that she agrees with it. In addition, there's a frustrating lack of Bible references, which is a shortcoming reflective of the video as well. 

So. What does the Bible say about the millennial reign? Well, 8 verses: 

Re. 20:2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations any more until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. 

4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.   

7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth — Gog and Magog — to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 

9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 

That's it. There are other verses thought to be about the millennium, for example, Isaiah 65:25, Zechariah 14:16, Zechariah 9:10, and Jeremiah 30:9, but this is speculative at best.

Lastly, we should note that though Mr. Hibbs employs the Bible, but he will rarely directly quote it. We must consider this Bad Bible Teaching.

--------------------------

Understanding the Bible requires more than casual reading—it demands context, discernment and careful study. In a recent video, Pastor Jack Hibbs reminds believers that “context is everything—historical, literary and prophetic” when exploring Scripture, especially prophetic passages that reveal God’s plan for the end times. (Context is, ironically, one of the errors Mr. Hibbs commits.)

One of the most exciting and often overlooked prophecies concerns the Millennium, the literal 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ on Earth. Hibbs explains that when Christ returns, He will rule from the throne of David in Jerusalem, fulfilling God’s covenant promise that a descendant of David would reign forever. During this period, nations and individuals will be judged according to their treatment of Israel, a theme Hibbs highlights in Matthew 25: “He will judge the nations… as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”

An astonishing detail Hibbs points out is the role of David during this future era. Though resurrected, David will not serve as king; instead, he will be known as Prince David, presiding under the authority of Christ: “David at the commencement of the millennium… is no longer the king… He presides over Jerusalem and Israel as the prince.” This unique hierarchy emphasizes Christ’s ultimate authority while honoring David’s historical significance. (Mr. Hibbs makes a long stretch. He derives this astonishing conclusion from Ezekiel 34, where in context we see God is condemning the leaders [shepherds] of Israel for their unrighteous and self serving leadership [vs 4]. God announces that He Himself will be their caretaker [vs 12 and 15]. 

Then God turns to address the flock, which is the people: 

Ez. 34:20 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

The sheep of God are themselves engaging in unrighteousness and will be judged for they way they treat their brothers. This is not the sheep/goats judgment at the end of the age, spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 25:32. No, it's the judging of the sheep of God.

The people of Israel knew well the idea of being God's sheep. It's a familiar metaphor to them:

Psalm 103:3 Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

So it's clear who is being addressed here. This is about the nation of Israel.

Then God makes a promise to them, one that He has made many times before: He would put a King on David's throne, His rule would be righteous and eternal, and this King would care for the flock [vs 23].

Mr. Hibbs thinks that Ezekiel is promising that David himself will be resurrected, likely based on this verse:

Ez. 34:24 I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken.

This of course is not what God is promising. David's throne is always presented as a picture of the King of kings. David is dead and gone, but the King is alive and will rule on David's throne forever.)

Hibbs also distinguishes between the different groups of believers throughout Scripture. Old Testament saints, ending with John the Baptist, wore white robes,  (It would be helpful to find some verse references. Where does the Bible say this?)

as did tribulation saints at the end of the world. (We will fill in the gap:

Re. 7:9, 13-14 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no-one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes — who are they, and where did they come from?” 14 I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

These saints indeed did come out of the Tribulation. But what about these, also dressed in white:

Re. 3:4-5 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.

Re. 3:18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so that you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see.

Re. 6:9. 11 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained... 11 Then each of them was given a white robe...

Mr. Hibbs wants to create arbitrary categories based on, what? An opinion? A theory?)

Church-age believers—the Bride of Christ—are unique. (Unique compared to what? The Tribulation saints? This would require a pret-trib rapture, where the "Bridge of Christ" secretly gets taken up before the Tribulation, and the "tribulation saints" become Christians during the Tribulation. 

Thus Mr. Hibbs is riffing off of a doctrinal theory and masquerades his speculation as a serious teaching. We ourselves do not adhere to the pre-trib rapture theory, and in fact find it unbiblical and untenable. In our opinion, the simple, plain truth is that the rapture is on the Last Day when everything is wrapped up, including

• The Lord returns with the shout of an archangel [1Th. 4:16]
• He comes on the clouds and all the nations will mourn [Re. 1:7]
• He meets the saints in the air [1Th. 4:17] 
• He proceeds on down to the earth [Zec. 14:4]
• He judges the nations [Joe. 3:2, Mt. 25:31]  

Then comes the millennial reign. There's no need for convoluted explanations of the 70 weeks, Gog and Magog, etc., with Bible hopping all over the place. Quite simply, all Christians alive at the end will go through the Tribulation, and the Lord will deliver them and keep them safe [1 Th. 1:10, Ga. 1:42, 2Pe. 2:9, Th. 3:3, 1Th. 5:23]. 

Thus, there are no categories of white clothing.)

Hibbs points out that Scripture describes their garments differently: “We are the bride of Christ… never does it say that the bride of Christ is given white robes to wear. She is given fine white linen,” symbolizing the righteous acts of the saints. (Lets' quote:

Re. 19:8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” [Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.]

So white linen is different from white robes? The Bride of Christ is different than the OT saints and those who came out of the Tribulation? How does Mr. Hibbs know this? Where do we find this information in the Bible?)

During the Millennium, the Bride of Christ will reign alongside Jesus, fulfilling their calling in a restored world under His governance.

Hibbs points to the choices of individuals during this time. “…if you read the book of Revelation, chapters 21 and 22, you will read there that Satan will be released at the end. (No, this is Revelation chapter 20.)

And he will go about the world deceiving people, trying to get them to overturn the government of Christ. And that’s not going to succeed. But he’s going to draw people after him. Which means what? People will choose. Always choice. God built us to always exercise choice until you and I are either dead, resurrected, raptured, until we’re in glory, we have the ability to choose.”