I've heard a lot of pastors say that we will rule planets in the Eternal Kingdom, after we die?
We regret to inform you that the teaching you have heard or experienced is false. At the Rapture or resurrection the Church (believers) will collect their inheritance based on the eternal rewards given. A portion of this inheritance will be land but nothing in scripture mentions ruling planets. In fact, the Bible is very clear that this world will burn up:
2PET. 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.
2PET. 3:11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
2PET. 3:12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
2PET. 3:13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
After that, believers will be in eternity on a completely different creation (New Jerusalem) which is described in the Bible exhaustively:
REV. 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.
REV. 21:2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
REV. 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,
REV. 21:4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”
REV. 21:5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”
REV. 21:6 Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
REV. 21:7 He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.
We will in fact be with the Triune God on a new heaven and new earth for eternity.
During the Millennial Kingdom (1,000 year reign) all believers will receive eternal rewards at the judgment seat of Christ, which occurs in conjunction with the resurrection of the church, sometimes called the Rapture. Paul describes this moment in 1 Thessalonians:
1 THESS. 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.
1 THESS. 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
1 THESS. 4:15 For this we say 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.
1 THESS. 4:16 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.
1 THESS. 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
1 THESS. 4:18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Moreover, a faithful servant's reward is a share of Christ's inheritance in the Kingdom. The Bible teaches explicitly that believers will receive a portion of Christ's inheritance on the Earth to enjoy during the 1,000-year Kingdom and then eternally into the New Heaven and Earth:
COL. 3:23 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,
COL. 3:24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.
COL. 1:12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.
EPH. 1:11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,
EPH. 1:14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Furthermore, part of the inheritance for a believer is a role in the government that rules with Jesus under His authority. The government carries out His orders perfectly to ensure sin is ruled perfectly.
IS. 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
IS. 9:7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.
The government sits on His shoulders, meaning Jesus presides over a bureaucracy. The world is a big place and there will be many to rule over, so Christ enlists others in His government including us. This government is divided into a Jewish government and a Gentile government (which is every believer who is not of Jewish decent). Israel, the nation that has seen so many rule over it in the past, will now rule over the world and their most famous king will return to rule over them them as their prince serving under the authority of the King, Jesus.
JER. 30:8 ‘It shall come about on that day,’ declares the LORD of hosts, ‘that I will break his yoke from off their neck and will tear off their bonds; and strangers will no longer make them their slaves.
JER. 30:9 ‘But they shall serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
EZEK. 34:23 “Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd.
EZEK. 34:24 “And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I the LORD have spoken.
David is resurrected and returns to rule over the land of Israel in Christ’s government. He is called prince because Jesus is King. Under David we find the twelve tribes of Israel ruled by the apostles as Jesus promised:
MATT. 19:28 And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
The twelve apostles will rule over the tribes of Israel as Jesus promised.
Moving to the Gentiles, we find a little less detail, though we can learn a few things. First, the Gentile nations are spread around the world and will have need of government representation too. You and I will fill that need: the church saints will rule them. We see this in Revelation 20, when we read that the church saints will rule with Christ:
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 forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Jesus also taught parables emphasizing He will reward those who are faithful here and now with the opportunity to be faithful with more. For example, in the parable of the minas in Luke 19:
Luke 19:11 While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.
Luke 19:12 So He said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return.
Luke 19:13 And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas and said to them, ‘Do business with this until I come back.’
Luke 19:14 But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’
Luke 19:15 When he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be called to him so that he might know what business they had done.
Luke 19:16 The first appeared, saying, ‘Master, your mina has made ten minas more.’
Luke 19:17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.’
Luke 19:18 The second came, saying, ‘Your mina, master, has made five minas.’
Luke 19:19 And he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’
Luke 19:20 Another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief;
Luke 19:21 for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.’
Luke 19:22 He *said to him, ‘By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow?
Luke 19:23 Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?’
Luke 19:24 Then he said to the bystanders, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’
Luke 19:25 And they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas already.’
Luke 19:26 I tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Luke 19:27 But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.
This parable pictures the way Christ will assign us roles in the Kingdom government. Jesus rewards the spiritually mature with opportunity to rule over cities. One might rationalize that we wouldn't care whether we have a high position in the Kingdom government but Jesus holds it out as a desirable reward, therefore, we should aspire to please Him now and in the Kingdom as well, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:
6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—
7 for we walk by faith, not by sight—
8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.
9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.
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.
Finally, we need to understand that all nations are not created equal in this age, for Israel will be the highest nation on the earth and all other nations will serve her.
- Israel was created as a nation by God through Abraham, and received promises.
- Israel entered into a national covenant to obtain God’s blessings.
- Israel violated the Old Covenant and so they spent many long years as a people under God’s judgment.
- Israel was dispersed and then suffered great losses.
- Ultimately, Israel endured the Tribulation where God brought them to their end (7 years of tribulation).
- In the end, Israel (as a whole) comes to faith and receives their Messiah.
- Messiah will bring Israel the promised blessings of the covenant and make them to obey God’s law perfectly.
- And Messiah will make them the chief nation on the Earth.
Our gracious Father even goes further and reveals the precise measurements of the coming New World, therefore we can assure you we will not be ruling other planets:
REV. 21:15 The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall.
REV. 21:16 The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal.
REV. 21:17 And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements.
For a better grasp on what the coming Kingdom will consist of, we suggest doing the entire Revelation teaching on our website. For more information on the Eternal Rewards we suggest the following articles: https://versebyverseministry.org/bible-answers/what-does-god-base-our-eternal-rewards-on
