We will build our discussion here upon three texts.
but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET.
Hebrews 10:12-13
But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
1 Corinthians 15:23-26
Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.
Revelation 20:14
From the first text, Hebrews 10, we see that Christ is now sitting at the right hand of God. v13 then indicates that He must remain there until His enemies are brought under His feet. Since this is a reference to Psalm 110:1, “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.'”, we can be certain of the scope. Jesus has sat down (v12), and will remain there “until”.
From there, we look into Paul’s explanation in 1 Corinthians 15. Obviously, Christ was the firstfruits, and when He comes those who believe in Him will come to life also. That is the point of the passage, as is clear. But, the question here becomes, when is His coming? That is, Christ’s Second Coming.
Now, many eschatologies will insert the Second Coming between vv23 & 24, and the Millennium with the Kingdom. They are “required” to do this because of Matthew 24:29 has traditionally been wrongly interpreted with the word “immediately” for “eutheos”, as we have discussed at length elsewhere (here for a full treatment of that). Matthew 24:29 was the only scripture that directly linked the Tribulation to the Second Coming, so, removing that obstacle, we can proceed.
As we look back at the text, v25 says that Christ must reign until all enemies are brought under His feet. Yet, Hebrews 10:12-13 says that Christ sat down at the Father, already completed, and must remain there until all enemies are subdued. The fact is, Christ cannot come back in His Second Coming until this is over, because He must remain there until it happens! Separating the Great Tribulation spoken of in Matthew 24 (see here) and Daniel 12 (and here) from these events, it becomes clearer that we are aiming a bit further beyond.
Now, let’s look at v26–the last enemy to be defeated is death itself. Yet we see evidence in Revelation 20:14 that this does not happen until then, after the Millennium and after the Gog Magog war.
This, then, is of course the second coming, Revelation 20:11-15, and not anything else, complete with Christ’s “throne of glory”, the great white throne. What else could it be?
So, to recap, 1 Corinthians 15:23-24 says that when Christ comes, His saints will come to life, even as He was. This “coming”, the Second Coming, cannot happen until the events of Revelation 20:14 occur, death and hades being defeated, because Hebrews 10:13 says he can’t leave the throne until this happens (as well as Psalm 110). 1 Corinthians 15:24-26 clearly outline the events, saying He must reign until that time, and that the last of these enemies to be put under His feet is death itself, clearly a reference to Revelation 20:14.
The end spoken of in v24 then is the end of the world when Christ returns, and the elements are burned up in fervent heat, as Peter wrote in His epistle. The Second Coming, yet to come, will happen exactly as it says, after all enemies are made subject, and then, Christ will leave His throne, the throne of the Father (which the Chronicles equates up to four times), and give the Kingdom back to the Father. Jesus doesn’t get onto His throne after His Second Coming, according to 1 Corinthians 15:24, He gives it back to the Father!
Now, some would say that this leads to a “post-millennial” or “amillennial” view. I would prefer to call it an “extra-millennial” one. That is, the second, or extra “millennium” in Revelation 20. Everyone knows there’s a thousand years represented in Revelation 20:1-6, but little is said about the space between Revelation 20:10 & 11.
This gap, according to Ezekiel 39:28-29, is where Israel is restored, and is saved as a nation (Romans 11, Acts 1:6). This is the place where many of the so called “Millennial” prophecies will come into place. While it is not technically a “millennium”, since no one knows the day or hour and this period could be any length of time at all, it fulfills the function of what many people are ascribing to the Millennium of vv1-6 and so I liken to call it one, regardless of how long it lasts (the afore mentioned millennium transpired during the Middle Ages, and is completely literal and historical, see here). As it turns out, the interpreters weren’t really that far off, after all, just only by about 4-5 verses, it seems (from Revelation 20:6 to Revelation 20:10-11).
Hence, All Israel will be saved, God does still have a plan for His people by blood, there really was a literal millennium fulfilled historically representing Revelation 20:1-6, and yet, the Second Coming, according to Hebrews 10:12-13 and 1 Corinthians 15:26 cannot come until Revelation 20:11-15, specifically v14, are fulfilled. Christ must remain on His throne, the throne of David, the throne of the LORD, until that time, according to Scripture.