Days of Noah

Q. Is the Great Tribulation prophesied to be the same as the time before Noah’s flood?

A. No, the great tribulation is unique and unlike anything before or after, including Noah’s flood:

• Mt 24:21 For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.

However, the days of Noah are like the coming of the Son of Man:

• Mt 24:37-39 For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. ³⁸ For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
• Lk 17:26-27 And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: ²⁷ they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

Like in what sense? In the sense that people are not aware of the coming disaster that will soon overtake them. Until the flood came, people were eating and drinking, and marrying. In other words, business as usual. The flood caught them off-guard. Similarly, the coming of the Son of Man will catch people by surprise.

How does the great tribulation fit into the coming of the Son of Man?

• The days of the Son of Man will start with the signs of His coming – the beginning of birth pangs – described in Mt 24:4-8.
• This will be followed by tribulation (v 9), which is not yet the great tribulation),
• Apostasy (v 10-12), and
• The preaching of the gospel of the kingdom to the whole world (v 13). All these will happen before the end comes (v 14).
• The abomination of desolation (v 15) marks the beginning of the great tribulation (v 21).
• Mt 24:29-30 “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.

So the great tribulation is immediately before the return of Christ. In other words, His Second Coming will be post-tribulation. The days of Noah before he entered the ark is like only the early days of the Son of Man, before tribulation arrives. So be on the alert, don’t be misled.

Loyal?

Q. Which character of the Bible displays extreme loyalty?

A. Loyal to who? God or a person? By what criteria? How do you measure loyalty?

The noun “loyalty” appears in the NASB 6 times (2 Sam 16:17; Prov 20:6, 20:28, 21:21; Hosea 6:4, 6), none of which is positively applied to a person. The adjective “loyal” appears only once to describe Nehemiah’s deeds:

• Neh 13:14 Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my loyal deeds which I have performed for the house of my God and its services.

Though this is Nehemiah’s own claim, you might say he is loyal to God without fear of contradiction as there is plenty of evidence to back him up.

However,

• Jn 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

If we use unswerving allegiance to the point of laying down one’s life as the measure, then quite a few people could be described as loyal, e.g.

To God:

• Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego – Dan 3:17-18 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
• Daniel – Dan 6:10 Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed (punishment was being cast into the lions’ den), he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously. 

To people:

• Ruth to Naomi – Ruth 1:16-17 But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. ¹⁷ Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me.” 
• Ittai to David – 2 Sam 15:21But Ittai answered the king and said, “As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely wherever my lord the king may be, whether for death or for life, there also your servant will be.”
• Josheb-basshebeth, Eleazar, and Shammah to David – 2 Sam 23:16-17 So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless, he would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord; ¹⁷ and he said, “Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

Many others are not named, e.g., those recorded in Heb 11:34-38. There are many unsung heroes of faith throughout history who were loyal unto death, we just don’t know who they are on this side of heaven.

Brontosaurus

Q. Would the Brontosaurus have lived mostly before Noah’s flood and even before Adam and Eve first sinned because it was a plant-eater?

A. Let me qualify myself before I answer. I have an honors engineering degree and was a professional engineer before I became a pastor, so I am not ignorant about science. I choose to believe the Bible, not evolution, because of all the available evidence.

The names Brontosaurus and dinosaur do not appear in the Bible. However, the creation account indicates:

• Gen 1:24-27 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so. ²⁵ God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. ²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 

Dinosaurs are under the “beasts of the earth” kind, a more general term than species. The word “Then” in v 26 indicates that man was created after earth creatures in v 24-25. So, the Brontosaurus would have lived before Adam and Eve and Noah’s flood. How long before? That depends on whether you believe in a “young earth” versus an “old earth”, but that’s another issue altogether.

Lot

Q. Was Lot the most misunderstood individual in the Bible?

A. I have not seen any surveys on Lot, but he does not enjoy a good reputation. The Old Testament record is not flattering:

• Gen 13:10-12 Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar. So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. According to Eastern tradition, Abraham as Lot’s uncle has the right to choose first, which he graciously offered to Lot. Lot did not honor his elders by refusing and chose what seemed best to him, settling in the cities of the valley.
• Gen 14:12 They also took Lot, Abram’s nephew, and his possessions and departed, for he was living in Sodom. Lot moved from the cities of the valley to Sodom and was captured.
• Gen 19:8 Now behold, I have two daughters who have not had relations with man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you like; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof.” To protect his guests is good, but what father would offer his daughters to the men of Sodom to be raped and abused?
• Gen 19:14Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city.” But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting. Lot’s sons-in-law are not righteous, otherwise, they would have been spared based on Abraham’s plea in Gen 18. But for him to appear jesting to them does not speak well of his usual behavior, had he been normally a man of his words.
• Gen 19:36 Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. Lot got drunk and impregnated both his daughters, giving rise to the Moabites and Ammonites, enemies of Israel.

The picture is not a pretty one, as the Bible is very candid in describing biblical characters, warts and all. However, the New Testament assessment is surprising:

• 2 Pet 2:7-8 and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men ⁸ (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds).

There were no hints in the OT, but three times Lot is described as righteous, tormented by the sensual conduct of unprincipled and lawless Sodomites. On that note, you might conclude that we had misunderstood Lot. I am not sure about “the most” misunderstood part, as there are other heroes of the faith of mixed, questionable character. That’s why we are admonished in:

• 1 Co 4:5 Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts, and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.

Solomon’s Stalls

Q. Did Solomon have 40,000 or 4,000 horses/stalls (contradiction, 1 Kings, KJV, 2 Chronicles, hermeneutics)?

A. Let’s look at the verses in the KJV:

• 1 Kings 4:26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots and twelve thousand horsemen.
• 2 Chron 9:25 And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; whom he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.

40,000 vs 4,000, so superficially there is a contradiction. Several solutions have been proposed to reconcile the difference.

First, some feel there has been a copyist error. If you look at some contemporary versions based on more recently discovered manuscripts e.g. the NIV, you have:

• 1 Kings 4:26 NIV Solomon had four thousand stalls for chariot horses and twelve thousand horses.
• 2 Chron 9:25 NIV Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.

1 Kings 4:26 has a footnote which reads, “Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Chron. 9:25); Hebrew forty”. Old Testament manuscripts were all copied by hand. Some scribes may have copied “forty” instead of “four” thousand by mistake, which manuscript was used in translating the KJV. Earlier manuscripts were discovered later, which were used in translating more contemporary versions, e.g., ERV, EHV, EXB, NCV, NET, NIRV, NIV, and NLT. While ancient scribes took great pains to ensure that they have copied correctly, we recognize that “to err is human”. So, this is a possible explanation for the discrepancy. There was no contradiction in the original manuscript, and inspiration is only claimed for the original, not copies.

A second proposal is that there is no contradiction due to timing. 1 Kings 4 describes Solomon when he first became king over all Israel (1 Kings 4:1). 2 Chron 9 describes Solomon towards the end of his reign (2 Chron 9:29, 31). Since Solomon reigned 40 years (1 Kings 11:42; 2 Chron 9:30), things changed over that period, hence there is no contradiction. This is possible but unlikely, as while his wealth and power increased during that time, the number of stalls decreased from 40,000 to 4,000, which is odd.

A third suggestion is based on the details. 1 Kings 4:26 said, “40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots”. The stalls are for horses and of a smaller size. 2 Chron 9:25 said, “4,000 stalls for horses and chariots”. The stalls are for both, not just horses, and much bigger. If 1 chariot stall = 10 horse stalls, then there is an exact match and no discrepancy. This is plausible. Personally, I believe both the first and the third explanations are valid arguments.

Reprobate Mind

Q. If God gave people over to a reprobate mind as it says in Romans 1:28, does that mean he hardens their heart against him and his word?

A. First, let’s look at Rom 1:28’s preceding context from Rom 1:18 onwards. I won’t repeat everything here due to space, but will quote enough so that you can see who we are dealing with and what was God’s reaction:

The People’s Action	God’s Reaction
V 18 Men suppress the truth in unrighteousness.
	V 19, 20 God made what is known about Him evident to them – His invisible attributes (eternal power and divine nature) have been clearly seen and understood through the creation of the world.
V 20, 21 They are without excuse; they knew God but did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
V 22, 23 They became fools and exchanged the glory of God for an image i.e., idolatry.
	V 24 God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity.
V 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature.
	V 26 God gave them over to degrading passions.
V 26, 27 Their women exchanged the natural function for the unnatural i.e., lesbianism; the men abandoned the natural function of the woman for homosexuality.
	V 28 God gave them over to a depraved mind.

As you can see, there is a downward spiral starting with suppressing the truth. Despite God giving these people clear evidence, they ignored the evidence and darkened their own hearts. Three times they exchanged something good (the glory of God, the truth of God, their natural function) for something bad (idolatry, lie, perversion). In response, God gave them over to impurity, degrading passions, and a depraved mind. God did not make them into who they are; He gave them up to their own choice of depravity. God did not harden their hearts against His words. They freely chose to follow their own inclination and sank deeper and deeper.

Lake of Fire

Q. Was the Lake of Fire created initially after the fall of the Nephilim and their fathers?

A. No. The term “lake of fire” appears in four verses of the NASB, all in the book of Revelation:

• Rev 19:20 And the beast was seized, and with him, the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone.
• Rev 20:10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
• Rev 20:14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
• Rev 20:15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Notice that the beast (Antichrist), the false prophet, the devil, Death, Hades, and anyone whose name was not in the book of life, will all be thrown into the lake of fire. But nothing was said about the fall of the Nephilim and their fathers. There is no linkage.

When was it created? Again the Bible is silent on this, but commentators hypothesize based on the following:

• Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
• Gen 2:2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
• Ex 20:11a For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day.
• Ex 31:17 It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor and was refreshed.”
• Mt 25:41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.

Since God created everything in six days, and there is no mention of the lake of fire in Gen 1 and 2, some speculated that God might have created it before the creation of the heavens and the earth.

Others equate the lake of fire which burns forever and ever (Rev 20:10) with the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Mt 25:41), and suggested that it might be created after Lucifer fell to become Satan:

• Isa 14:12 How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! (NKJV)

The fact remains that these are arguments from silence. They might be correct, but there is no solid evidence.

Is Samson Nephilim?

Q. Is it true that Samson would not have been a Nephilim because it was God himself who gave him his great strength and power?

A. Samson is not a Nephilim. Period. The name Nephilim appears 3 times in 2 verses in the Bible:

• Gen 6:4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward when the sons of God came into the daughters of mankind, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
• Num 13:33 We also saw the Nephilim there (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim), and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

The Nephilim were the children of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of mankind”. They were “mighty men” or giants, which is confirmed in Num 13:33, as the Israelites felt like grasshoppers compared to them.

The term “sons of God” first appeared in:

• Gen 6:2 that the sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.

Some scholars identify the “sons of God” as the pious descendants of Seth, the son of Adam and Eve in place of Abel (Gen 4:25-26). However, the union of ordinary men and women do not produce giants. Other commentators believe they were angels (Job 1:6, 2:1), which may explain the gigantic offspring.

Samson’s parents were Manoah and his wife (unnamed):

• Jdg 13:2 And there was a man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was infertile and had not given birth to any children.
• Jdg 13:24 So the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson, and the child grew up and the Lord blessed him.

His strength came from the Spirit of God:

• Jdg 14:6 And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, so that he tore it apart as one tears apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. 

God gave Samson his strength to deliver the Israelites. He was from the tribe of Dan, not Canaanite Anak. He has nothing in common with the Nephilim.

Judgment Seat of Christ

Q. Will Christians be judged in the great white throne judgment for their deeds?

A. Christians will be judged for their deeds, but not before the great white throne. The Bible is clear about the judgment of Christians:

• Rom 14:10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
• 2 Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
• Rev 2:23 And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.

Paul was addressing the church in Rome and Corinth, and the Lord was talking to the church in Thyatira. In all these cases, they were speaking to Christians, not all people in general.

But notice Paul said we will all stand before the judgment seat of God/Christ, NOT the great white throne (Rev 20:11). Those who stand before the throne are the ones who will be raised in the second resurrection after the millennium and Satan’s revote (Rev 20:7-8). These do not have their names written in the book of life and shall be thrown into the lake of fire (Rev 20:15). They are non-Christians.

We have looked at “Who” will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Let’s examine the “What, How, When, Where, and Why”. First, what will be judged before Christ’s judgment seat, and how? Although the term “judgment seat of God/Christ” does not appear in 1 Co 3, many scholars believe it to be Paul’s description of this judgment:

• 1 Co 3:10-15 ¹⁰ According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. ¹¹ For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, ¹³ each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. ¹⁴ If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Note the following:

• What’s being judged is the quality, not quantity, of each man’s work, how he builds on the foundation of Jesus Christ, or how he has invested his life serving God and man.
• How? By fire, which could be literal or figurative of judgment (e.g., Heb 10:27; 2 Pet 3:7), or both.
• The work is divided into two categories based on the materials used: (1) that which will remain; and (2) that which will burn up. In other words, what’s important is whether it will endure under trial by fire.
• For the former, the worker will receive a reward. For the latter, the worker will suffer loss (of the reward), though he is still saved.

Second, when and where will this happen? There is no direct statement in either of the two direct passages. Some people believe it to be immediately after a person’s death:

• Heb 9:27 And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment.

Others deduce that it must be after the rapture because the dead in Christ won’t be raised until then. It must also be before the Millennium, as the martyrs will reign with Christ during that period.

• 1 Thes 4:15-17 For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 
• Rev 20:4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their foreheads and on their hands; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Third, why? Didn’t Christ pay the penalty for our sins already? He most certainly did:

• 1 Pet 3:18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all time, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.

However, the purpose of the judgment seat is not punishment for sins, but recompense for deeds in the body (2 Co 5:10). The question of whether a believer is saved is settled already:

• Rom 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus.

But Jesus Himself promised in:

• Mt 16:27For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every person according to his deeds.

This issue will be settled during the judgment seat of Christ. The fearful part is not a loss of salvation, but seeing one’s life work burn up because it is worthless and losing his/her reward:

• Rev 3:11 I am coming quickly; hold firmly to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.

Make sure that does not happen to you:

• 1 Co 9:27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Final Judgment

Q. A TV preacher claimed that those in paradise in Hades (Rev 19) do not get to attend the marriage supper of the Lamb but have to wait 1,000 years before they can enter heaven. Is that true? Are those people Christians?

A. You gave me a hodgepodge of clues, but I need chapter and verse to make sure I have not misquoted you or misunderstood what you watched.  Assuming I heard you correctly, here is my answer.

Let’s look at each clue in turn. The word “paradise” appears only 3 times in the NASB (Lk 23:43; 2 Co 12:4; Rev 2:7). The verse in Revelation has nothing to do with Hades:

• Rev 2:7 The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant to eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.’

The word “Hades” appears 10 times in the NASB (Mt 11:23, 16:18; Lk 10:15, 16:23; Acts 2:27, 31) including 4 times in Revelation:

• Rev 1:8 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
• Rev 6:8 I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and the one who sat on it had the name Death, and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, and famine, and plague, and by the wild animals of the earth.
• Rev 20:13-14 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them; and they were judged, each one of them according to their deeds. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

As you can see, “paradise” and “Hades” never occur together in Revelation. The closest you find them together is in Luke 16’s “The Rich Man and Lazarus”:

• Lk 16:22-23 Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man also died and was buried. ²³ In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.

Commentators equate “Abraham’s bosom” to be “at the banquet in Paradise”, but it is far away from Hades:

• Lk 16:26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’

There is no paradise in Hades. In fact, they are mutually exclusive. So, I suspect either you heard wrong, or the preacher misinterpreted the Bible.

Next, the marriage supper of the Lamb. The phrase “marriage of the Lamb” occurs twice in the Bible, in:

• Rev 19:7 Let’s rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has prepared herself.”
• Rev 19:9 Then he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”

There are other allusions e.g. the parable of the ten virgins in Mt 25:1-13, but the explicit reference is only here in Rev 19.

The Lamb is the Lord Jesus Christ:

• Jn 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
• Jn 1:36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

His bride is the Church as a whole:

• 2 Co 11:2 For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.
• Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.

Those invited to the marriage supper i.e. the wedding guests are members of the Church individually:

• 1 Co 12:27 Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.
• Eph 5:30 because we are members of His body.

Therefore, only true believers throughout the ages will be participants – collectively as the Church who is the bride, and individually as members who are guests. Unbelievers have no part in the marriage supper.

Lastly, what does Revelation say about waiting 1,000 years? The relevant passages are:

• Rev 20:4-6 ⁴ Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and 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 completed. This is the first resurrection. ⁶ Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
• Rev 20:11-15 ¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. ¹³ And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. ¹⁴ Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. ¹⁵ And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Note the following:

• There are two resurrections – the first before the Millennium, the second after.
• Those in the first resurrection came to life and reigned with Christ for 1,000 years. They are blessed and holy. The second death, the lake of fire, has no power over them. In other words, they are true Christians.
• Those in the second resurrection were judged according to their deeds. According to Rom 3:10-12, “There is none righteous, not even one; ¹¹ there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; ¹² all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.” Their names will not be found in the book of life, and they will be thrown into the lake of fire i.e. they are unbelievers.

In short, there is no such thing as waiting 1,000 years before entering heaven. The outcome of those not raised in the first resurrection is the second death i.e. eternal punishment. I believe your TV preacher is sadly mistaken and leading many astray.