Will We Reign On Earth Or In Heaven?
A mistranslation to say “on the earth?”
The popular modern theology known as Dispensationalism or Futurism claims that in the coming Millennial Age the Jews will reign on earth, while Christians are raptured away to either “planet heaven” (as Evangelist Jimmy Swaggert claimed), or to a “celestial Jerusalem” hovering between heaven and earth. An example of this is seen in an article published back in 1917 by the Rev. J. Anderson Watt, M.A., FRGS, Minister of London Road United Free Church, Glasgow. This beautiful large church, built in 1845, was closed and demolished in the 1930’s. He wrote, “The abode of Christ, therefore, and his Church is not located on the earth but in the heavens. And it is often said, that this lower world will become the future home and heaven of Christ’s Bride. One single verse of the New Testament is fatal to that view. Probably a wrongly translated word in Revelation has given rise to the error: “And we shall reign on the earth” (Rev. 5:10). The correct translation, as all scholars avow, is, ‘And we shall reign over the earth.’…Yes, the Church’s home is eternal in the heavens…descending at the end of the thousand years into our atmosphere, and poised in the air, probably above the earthly Jerusalem—a grand, luminous city in the light of which the nations of them that are saved shall walk. There, throughout the Millennial Age, the Glorified Christ and His Glorified Church or Bride …visiting the earth either constantly or as occasion requires…and if we are found faithful we shall participate in the blessedness of Celestial Israel.” (Northern B.I. Review, vii-3: 203-204)
It is certainly not correct to say that “all scholars avow” that Rev. 5:10 in our bibles is a mistranslation. A relatively few bible versions translate this verse to say, “we shall reign over the earth.” Most literal translations and early English Bibles say “on” or “upon” the earth. The same meaning is given in French, Spanish, German, Greek LXX, Lamsa Aramaic, and Orthodox Jewish translations. When the Amplified Bible uses the word “over,” the intent of the translators was that Christians will be well grounded and reign over the physical earth, not to promote the idea that we will reign somewhere else off of planet earth. The Greek word in question is “epi,” and an examination of its usage in the New Testament will show the impossibility of its limitation to the word “over.”
Many examples may be given. In Matthew 16:19 we read, “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in [epi] heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” It should be obvious that what we “bind on earth” is juxtaposed with what is “bound in heaven.” There is a stark comparison being made. It would be pointless to say that what is bound in heaven is bound in heaven. This verse is repeated in Matthew 18:18.
In Matthew 17:6, we read, “And when the disciples heard it, they fell on (epi) their face, and were sore afraid.” Should this be translated, “they fell over (epi) their face?” Similarly, we read in Matthew 26:39, “And he went a little further, and fell on (epi) his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” Translating “epi” as “over” would make nonsense of these passages. Matthew 26:29; Luke 5:12, 17:16, and 1 Corinthians 14:25 are yet other similar examples of this.
Matthew 18:19 promises, “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on (epi) earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.” To imply that this should be translated “over earth” would mean that we would need to somehow rise to the “celestial region” of the Dispensationalists in order to receive this promise!
Matthew 23:9 warns us of priests who subvert the place of God: “And call no man your father upon (epi) the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” The meaning is clear, and the Divine counsel is well-grounded in church worship here upon this earth.
Mark 4:31 describes the initial phase of the Kingdom of God: “It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in (epi) the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth.” Seeds are not sown “over the earth” in the theologically invented “celestial sphere,” but are sown firmly in the ground on planet earth. Notice the twice-emphasized phrase “in the earth.”
Matthew 27:43 reports that the Chief Priests mocked Jesus saying, “He trusted in (epi) God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.” To translate this, “He trusted over God” makes no grammatical sense. Similarly, Mark 2:26 relates an event in the life of David: “How he went into the house of God in (epi) the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?” The meaning is clearly “in” not “over.”
Also, Mark 12:26 tells of the theophany on Mount Sinai. “And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in (epi) the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?” This relates to the passage in Exodus 3:2, “And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him (Moses) in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.” It would be a definite misrepresentation to claim that God merely appeared “over” the bush when the text clearly states that He appeared in “the midst of” the bush.
Several New Testament passages include the phrase, “upon the earth,” such as Romans 9:27-28: “Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, ‘Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon (epi) the earth.’” Could this in any way be construed to refer to a so-called “celestial heaven” over the earth?
Colossians 3:2 would involve a definite contradiction were our Dispensationalist friends correct: “Set your affection on things above, not on things on (epi) the earth.” It would be nonsense to render this, “Set your affection on things above, but not on things above the earth.” Similarly, Colossians 3:5 tells us, “Mortify therefore your members which are upon (epi) the earth…”
Revelation 15:2 is an interesting passage: “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on (epi) the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” (KJV) The New International Version faultily renders this, “standing beside the sea.” In worldly church theology, fire is to be feared and is associated with the devil, causing the NIV translators to endeavor to keep the saints safely “beside” the Crystal Sea and out of the Divine fire! In contrast, “our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). Believers should not fear the Holy Ghost fire!
Finally, here is a place where the Greek epi is rendered “under,” the opposite of “over.” Hebrews 9:15 says, “And for this cause he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under (epi) the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” The word “in” would fit the meaning here, but not “over.”
While there are places in the New Testament where either “on” or “over” would equally make sense in a firmly earthly-grounded description, it would certainly be incorrect for Dispensationalists to infer that “epi” means “over the earth in outer space.”
Several years ago, while perusing at a used book shop with a small collection under my arm, a Dispensationalist fellow came up to me and said, “What are you going to do with all those books?” We got into a discussion over one of my selections, and I quoted Revelation 5:10: “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on (epi) the earth.” He got quite angry and before storming off accused me of “quoting from the Jehovah’s Witness Bible.” I was quoting this verse word for word from the King James Bible he treasures but apparently, does not believe!
