Luke 19:15-27 “And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. (16) Then came the first, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned ten minas.' (17) And he said to him, 'Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.' (18) And the second came, saying, 'Master, your mina has earned five minas.' (19) Likewise, he said to him, 'You also be over five cities.' (20) "Then another came, saying, 'Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. (21) For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.’ (22) and he said to him, 'Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. (23) Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?' (24) "And he said to those who stood by, 'Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.' (25) (But they said to him, 'Master, he has ten minas.') (26) 'For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. (27) But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.' "
As we have already seen, when our Lord Jesus returns to the earth it will be to reign with His saints over the people of the earth. We have also seen that just over one third of the people of the earth will be destroyed during the three year outpouring of God’s wrath. That will result in approximately five billion unbelievers still being alive on the earth at our Lord’s second coming. And so it is these people over which the Lord Jesus and His saints will reign for one thousand years. Most Christians recognize the above passage of scripture, where our Lord taught the parable in which He describes rewarding His servants for their faithfulness in serving Him on the earth. In this parable we see our Lord rewarding some of His saints by giving them authority over ten cities and others authority over five cities, etc. In the earth today, there is a combination of approximately two and half million villages, towns and cities. We have already estimated that when the church returns to reign on the earth with the Lord Jesus, that there will be approximately three hundred million saints that will return with Him. That means that for every one village, town and city in the earth, there will be approximately one hundred and twenty saints. Clearly there are not enough villages, towns and cities, for each saint to govern even one, let alone ten or five. So how do we reconcile the numbers shown with the allocation of rewards taught to us by our Lord? We do so by understanding two concepts. The first concept is that not all saints will directly govern the unbelievers, for many saints will actually govern their fellow saints who in turn will directly govern the unbelievers. In other words, there will be a hierarchy of government in the kingdom of God. Our Lord Jesus taught us this concept when He declared to His twelve apostles that they would govern the twelve tribes of Israel, referring to His saints (Matthew 19:28). The second concept is understood when we look at the third servant in the above parable. That servant was given no cities to govern, and in fact had his mina taken from him and given to the one who had the most. Clearly in this parable the unprofitable servant remained in the kingdom of God but they had no inheritance. The apostle Paul spoke about these saints as well, when he spoke about the one who’s works were burned up on his day of judgement and thus received no inheritance although that saint was still saved, yet so as through fire (1 Corinthians 3:15). Many saints on their day of judgment will fall into the category of the third servant in the above parable and will thus forfeit their eternal inheritance. And as a result, they will still be saved but they will be placed under the authority of fellow believers whom our Lord has deemed worthy to rule over much in His kingdom.
Michael E.B. Maher
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