The Kingdom of God.  Is it now, or is it yet to come?  Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force.  This wasn’t a future statement, but rather it was fulfilled then.  Compare this to a popular scripture from the book of Daniel.

 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.

Daniel 7:18, emphasis added

Clearly, the Law and the Prophets were until John (the baptist), and since that time the Kingdom of God is being preached (Luke 16:16).

The church age is not some limbo-period between the Law and the Prophets and the “coming Kingdom”.  Rather, the church, the true Ekklessia, is the representation of the church in the Earth.  Even as there are tares in among the wheat, not every operation of the church in history is truly the Kingdom, but it is through the body of the church that Christ has all of His dealings.

So, what then, of the Millennium?  In my book, “Revelation:  The Kingdom is Here” (also available for preview on Google Books, a case is laid out for a literal fulfilment of Revelation, specifically Revelation 12-20, through the couple of centuries following the destruction of the Jerusalem and the temple in 70AD.  Where that leads us is to the quite literal Millennium, referred to by secular historians as the “Dark Ages” (dark as compared to the “light of Rome”), which is the first time in nearly a thousand years that there was no “great beast” (Daniel 7) ruling over the men of the Earth.

Quite literally, what we see, is a dynamic parallel.  The enemy and his forces had a kingdom over the entire Earth, in four separate forms, Babylong, Media/Persia, Greece, and Rome.  And, when the Kingdom of God broke that statue (as it is no longer in the Earth today), the only “ruling force” on the planet was the church.  Quite literally, it grew into a great mountain and filled the whole Earth.

So we see where the enemy ruled for a thousand years, so now did the Church.  And, while it was certainly not perfect, it was the time when, according to the Word, that satan (the prince of this world, not all demons), was chained and bound.  This lasted up until the time of the reformation, when, due to the corruption in its leaders, the church became divided, and satan had to be let out again to deceive the world.