5 . THE KINGDOM COMES TO EARTH
A. The day of the Lord!
No less than fifteen Bible characters speak of a unique day that is to come at the end of this present age. All of their descriptions point to a time that has not begun as yet! They speak of an unrepeatable time, as exceptionally glorious later as it is exceptionally awful at its inception.
1. Isaiah (2:12, 13:6)
"The day of the Lord of Hosts shall come…Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand!"
2. Jeremiah (30:7)
"Alas! For that day is great, so that none is like it. It is the time of Jacob’s trouble…"
3. Ezekiel ( 39:18)
"It is coming and it shall be done…This is the day of which I have spoken…"
4. Joel (1:15, 2:31)
"Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as destruction…the great and terrible day of the Lord."
5. Amos (5:18)
"Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!"
6. Obadiah (v. 15)
"The day of the Lord upon all the nations is near."
7. Micah (4:6)
"In that day I will assemble the lame…"
8. Zephaniah (1:7)
"The day of the Lord is at hand, the Lord has prepared a sacrifice."
9. Zechariah (14:1)
"Behold the day of the Lord is coming…"
10. Malachi (3:2, 4:1)
"But who can endure the day of His coming? The day is coming, burning like an oven…"
11. Jesus (Matthew 10:15, Luke 21:34)
"…day of judgment, take heed, lest that Day come on you unexpectedly…"
12. Paul (Romans 2:5, I Corinthians 1:8, II Corinthians 1:14, Philippians 1:6, 10 ; I Thessalonians 5:2, II Thessalonians 2:2, II Timothy 1:18, Hebrews 10:25)
"…day of wrath and revelation," "the day of our Lord Jesus Christ," "the day of the Lord," "that Day," "the Day."
13. Peter (II Peter 2:9, 3:7-12)
"the day of judgment," "the day of the Lord."
14. John (I John 4:17, Revelation 6:17, 16:14)
"the day of judgment," "the great day of His wrath," "great day of God Almighty."
15. Jude (v. 6)
"the judgment of the great Day."
This day, perhaps as we have always known it, a 24-hour period, is a specific time that God’s spirit has indicated to cleanse the earth of its evil, and get it ready for the reign of Jesus Christ. If He can create the world in such a short time...
B. And how does that dreadful day begin?
Once more the voices raised are unanimous. According to Daniel (9:24-27) a treaty signed by a certain “prince” in the last days signals a period of seven years, three and one half of which will be the looked-for tribulation. A time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, Daniel 12;12. Jesus is talking about the same time period in Matthew 24:21. The broken treaty seems to lead to world war. Psalm 2 describes the raging of the nations, and Revelation 19:19 their gathering together to make war against the returning Christ. An invitation is made by God Himself to a great feast of flesh for the birds of Heaven: Ezekiel 39:17 and Revelation 19:17, 18. Then Jesus touches down, Zechariah 14: 3ff. Here we see His response to the challenging nations who are headed by Satan’s Christ. Jesus returns in glory to the Mt. of Olives. He fights. While Jews run, the enemies are stricken with a force that dissolves their body parts immediately. This latter part of the judgment seems to be over in one literal day.
Mix together Armageddon, the Gog-Magog war (perhaps a part of Armageddon), the vial judgments of Revelation, and this final touchdown, the wrath of God on the Jew first, then all the Gentiles who have come against the Jew, and you have the makings of near-total destruction, said by Jesus to be so close to annihilation as to trigger His return to spare earthlings their final gasps. The combination of horrors is outlined by another strong group of witnesses:
1. Fire.
Psalm 97:3, 5 "A fire goes before Him…" "The mountains melt like wax…" Isaiah 24:6, "the inhabitants of the earth are burned…" 34:9, "Its streams shall be turned into pitch, and its dust into brimstone. Its land shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night or day. Its smoke shall ascend forever…" 66:15, "The Lord will come with fire…to render…his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by His sword the Lord will judge all flesh…" Ezekiel 20:47, "I will kindle a fire…and it shall devour every dry tree in you; the blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be scorched by it. All flesh shall see that I the Lord, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched…" Joel 2:3, "a fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns…" 2:30, "I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke…" Malachi 4:1, "The day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud…will be stubble. The day which is coming shall burn them up… " II Thessalonians 1:8, "The Lord Jesus [will be] revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God…" Revelation 9:17, "Out of [the horses’] mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. By these three a third of mankind was killed…" 18:8, "[Babylon] shall be utterly burned with fire."
2. Shaking.
Isaiah 2:19, "He arises to shake the earth mightily…" 24:13, "It shall be like the shaking of an olive tree… "24:19, "The earth is shaken exceedingly…shall reel to and fro like a drunkard…" Joel 3:16 "The heavens and earth will shake… " Haggai 2:6,7, (and explained more fully in Hebrews 12:26) "Once more, I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations…" The greatest earthquake in all history occurs in Revelation 16:18.
3. Darkness.
Isaiah 24:23, Joel 2:31, 3:15, and Jesus in Matthew 24:29 all mention a darkening of the sun and a subsequent color-change in the moon. What they predict, John actually sees in Revelation 8:12, where one-third of the sun’s and moon’s output is cut off. Isaiah 60:2, "The darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people…" Jeremiah 4:23, "I beheld the… heavens, they had no light…" 4:28, "the heavens above [will be] black…" Joel 2:2, "A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, like the morning clouds spread over the mountains…" Amos 5:20, "Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?…" Zephaniah 1:15, "That day is a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness…" Zechariah 14:6, "In that day there will be no light; the lights will diminish… "Revelation 16:10, "[the beast’s kingdom] became full of darkness."
4. Desolation.
Isaiah 24:1-7, "Behold the Lord makes the earth empty and makes it waste, distorts its surface and scatters abroad its inhabitants… The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered… those who dwell on the earth are desolate… few men are left…" Jeremiah 4:23-27, "The earth was…void, there was no man…the fruitful land was a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down…the whole land shall be desolate, yet I will not make a full end…" Joel 2:3, "The land is like the Garden of Eden before them and behind them a desolate wilderness…" Daniel and Jesus both speak of an abomination that makes desolate(Daniel 11:31, Matthew 24:15). The signal of the beginning of all these desolations is something sitting in the Temple that ought not to be there. Babylon’s desolation is graphically portrayed in Jeremiah 50:3 ff and in Revelation 18:19.
5. Universal Slaughter.
Isaiah 34:1, "The indignation of the Lord is against all nations…He has given them over to the slaughter…" Isaiah 66:16, "The Lord will judge all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many…" Jeremiah 25:30, "The Lord will roar from on high, He will roar mightily against His Fold, He will give a shout against all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise will come to the ends of the earth. For the Lord has a controversy with the nations. He will plead His cause with all flesh. He will give those who are wicked to the sword…The slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth…they shall become refuse on the ground…" Joel 3:2, 11-12 "I will gather all nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of my people, My heritage Israel…Assemble and come, all you nations, and gather together all around…There I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations…" Zechariah 12:2-3, 9, "I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples…I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem… " Revelation 19: 15, 20-21, "Out of His mouth goes a sharp sword that with it He should strike the nations…He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God…The rest [kings and their armies] were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him Who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh."
6. The days of vengeance.
Isaiah 34:8, "For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion…" Isaiah 61: 1-2, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me…to proclaim the day of vengeance of our God…" Isaiah 63: 3-4, "I have trodden the winepress alone…for the day of vengeance is in My heart…" Luke 21:22, "For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled."
But the horrid day ends, the new day dawns, the Lord of hosts begins His glorious reign, the desert rejoices, the Lord arises, restoration is the work of the coming centuries, there is great deliverance, the past is forgotten. We shall now discuss the elements of this new day.
C. The 1000 Years.
With everyone talking about a Millennium, you would think that the word is sprinkled all over Holy Writ. In fact you will never find it. The prophets describe the age which we later identify as the 1000 years. Jesus ignores such a time frame altogether. Not until Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is there a hint in the New Testament that something comes between our day and the eternal one. In 15:20-28 is his classic delineation of the resurrections. Christ is resurrected first. Then come Christ’s people. Then , the end, when Jesus delivers the kingdom (what kingdom?) to the Father. The explanation of the kingdom is that time when Jesus shall reign, destroying one enemy after the other, much like David did in His day. David is even associated with this Millennial reign by prophetic greats Jeremiah (30:9) and Ezekiel (34:23-24, 37:24-25). The last enemy to be destroyed is death, and yes, death and dying are part of this final reign(Isaiah 65:20).
But it is not until John, the last Bible writer, in one of his last chapters (Revelation 20:1-7), that the number 1000 is attached to the kingdom as a time limit. Putting it all together, we have to go back into the text and realize that there is a special time on earth for the reign of Jesus, and an ensuing time for the reign of the Father, on a new earth! This can get so tricky at times that some researchers have preferred to write off a literal millennium altogether. I feel this is dangerous, and sets a man up to be rebuked by the Lord, for even the smallest aberration from the revealed truth will earn such rebukes.
Knowledge of the 1000 years causes us to go back and insert it into passages we had before considered simple, and which were taught in simplicity to give an overall picture of the truth being communicated. Jesus’ talk of the resurrection of life and the resurrection of damnation in John 5, must be understood as separated. This style is in keeping with the Old Testament prophets who saw the first and second coming of Christ as nearly one event, hardly mentioning the long grace/church age between. II Peter 3 says that it is in the day of the Lord that the heavens pass away, everything is burned up, and we look for a new heavens and earth. There’s 1000 years in that statement. Peter sums it up very neatly. Even Daniel saw that many who sleep (bodily) in the dust (souls-spirits are not in the dust!) will awake in that day, some to everlasting life, some to everlasting contempt (12:2). But John puts those resurrections 1000 years apart!
All the kingdom parables of Jesus, perhaps including the Gentile gathering of Matthew 25:31-46, with their simple endings of good going one direction, and bad another, must be taken in the light of a 1000 year reign in between. If the lake of fire is not to be consuming the enemies of Christ until the second resurrection, we must see these parables as summaries of the fate of the lost, not a road map. Evil shall be punished. Good shall be rewarded. Later. That’s what the parables taught. There is even a difference of order in some parables. Matthew 13’s tares are burned up (gathered by angels and cast into a furnace of fire) and the righteous then shine. But the good fish of that same chapter are put into vessels first, then the bad are thrown away. The rich man seems to be suffering in the flames as soon as he dies, but John would tell us he does not even have a body to do that until the resurrection. Suffering we cannot rule out, but the torment of flames is a physical torment that demands a physical body.
D. Where?
In a classic passage of the return in victory of our Lord Jesus Christ, the very place of His touch-down is recorded. Zechariah in chapter 14 gives in vivid detail the geography of our future. He says that the day of the Lord is coming. He repeats the oft-spoken theme that all nations will be gathered to battle against Jerusalem. There will be another captivity. After horrific plagues spoken of by other prophets, the Lord Himself descends and His feet touch the very Mt. of Olives where he had ascended so long before. The impact of that landing will split the mount in two, allowing a place for those who need to, to flee. Then there are the signs in the heavens, the river of life is opened, the Lord becomes King over all the earth. But from Jerusalem. At that time, adds Jeremiah (3:17) Jerusalem shall be called “The Throne of the Lord.” All the nations shall be gathered to it! They will no longer walk after the stubbornness of their evil heart. The Gentiles will be gathered to the capital city of the earth, the new Jerusalem.
Jesus Himself indirectly mentions this very thing in John 14. He said that He was going to the Father’s house to prepare a place for the disciples. Then He promised to come back, and receive them to Himself. Why come back? Why not just call them up? Because, when Jesus comes back, He brings the New Jerusalem with Him, gathering His elect from the four winds as He comes, and all His own are changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, as He returns.
The New Jerusalem is the logical outcome of the New Covenant, the expanded Israel which takes in whosoever will, Jew and Gentile alike. She is the reigning capital of the New Earth, but will reign over the kingdoms of the world that have real names that we recognize.
The host of Scriptures that point out Jerusalem as the center of this world’s future begins with the Psalms (2:6). "Yet have I set My King on My holy hill of Zion." The hill theme is consistent throughout. See Psalm 24:3 and Revelation 21:12 (on the new earth). The gates of Psalm 24:3 are also found in Revelation 21:12. Psalm 48 mentions the City of our God, and the holy mountain thereof. Psalm 99:9 invites us to worship at His Holy Hill. So Psalm 132:13-14. Then comes Isaiah talking about a mountain that shall be established on top of the mountains, to which all nations shall flow. See Isaiah 25:6, 26:1, 35:10, 40:1, 52:1, and 66:12-13.
Then there is Ezekiel who also mentions a holy mountain (20:40). And in 40:2 he himself is taken to a very high mountain, to see the structure of a city and a special house inside of it. In 43 he sees the eastern gate, the inner court, the place of God’s Throne, “where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever.” Now Revelation 21:3, speaking of the new heavens and the new earth, likewise talks of the tabernacle, or dwelling-place, of God being with man. I believe the same basic city will be visible at both times. I believe Ezekiel’s vision refers to the Millennium because of his mention of a temple, absent in the New Earth’s City, and his insistence on the literal David being present to reign under Christ.
Ezekiel is given a vision of the rest of the holy land of those days, roughly the size of David’s old kingdom, with Jerusalem being 10-12 miles in every direction, according to Revelation. See Ezekiel 47-48.
The Revelation City, like Ezekiel’s, has high walls, 3 gates on each side (Ezekiel 40:6 ff, Revelation 21:12), with tribal names inscribed on them (Ezekiel 48:30, Revelation 21:12). There are healing waters and trees. One can imagine the need for the healing of the nations after the pollution of what seems to be a nuclear war on the planet (Ezekiel 47:1-12, Revelation 22:1-2).
Ezekiel tells us further that the whole area surrounding the mountaintop is holy. No foreigners, uncircumcised allowed in, as in Revelation 21:27. There is a special place for the “prince” and the Lord, Ezekiel 44:1-3, 45:6-8. And for priests, 45:1-5.
Joel adds that Judah abides forever, 3:20, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. The Lord dwells in Zion, 3:21 !
Zechariah (2:10) "I am coming. I will dwell in your midst…" 8:3, "I will return to Zion and live in your midst."
It was over Jerusalem that Jesus wept. It was Jerusalem that Jesus entered. This is the place to which Jesus referred in John 14 when He said He was going to prepare a place for His disciples. It was outside Jerusalem that Jesus was crucified. It was Jerusalem where the Spirit of God fell and inaugurated the church of Jesus. This is the city which Abraham sought, the one with foundations built by God (Hebrews 11:10), the city that shall reign over the Gentile nations of the earth one day, the city that will be transferred to Heaven itself, and descend at last upon a new earth created by God. This is the city to which you have come when you came to Christ- though you have no continuing city here- Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22, 13:14). We see the city being surrounded by the enemy one last time in Revelation 20:9. Then, as the earth flees away, somehow Jerusalem is caught up to be with the Lord, then it descends out of God’s heaven to the new heavens and new earth of Revelation 21. As a bride to a bridegroom, after this city and the kingdom it headquarters is given up to the Father, it is given back to the Son as His eternal bride in this glorious new setting.
Is New Jerusalem identifiable by both John and Ezekiel? Ezekiel’s City has a temple, but not John’s. One has day and night, not the other. I believe Jerusalem which is above is the same city throughout, with variations that fit the situation. Ezekiel saw her in her Millennial phase. John saw her in her New Earth phase. Right now she is in her heavenly preparation phase. But the streets of gold are still there, along with the tree of life, the water of life, and whatever else is needed to make a heavenly city. Both John and Ezekiel saw these features. What a wonderful future is ours!
E. New Heavens/New Earth
Peter (II Peter 3:7, 10-13), talks of how this present earth is reserved for fire, how the heavens will pass away with a great noise, the elements will melt with fervent heat, the earth and its works will be burnt up, the heavens will be totally dissolved, and a new heavens and earth will replace all of the above! His statement of seeming immediacy has caused me, and I’m sure a few others some puzzlement, as John has later come along, in Revelation, and injected a thousand year reign between the original fire and the actual replacement. In his narrative it seems that there are a thousand years that must pass before the new heavens and earth can come. People have asked, If all is melted and dissolved on the great day of the Lord, where could the 1000 year reign be held?
When the New Heavens and New earth appear in chapter 21 and 22, after the thousand years, coupled with the New Jerusalem, it is not quite as easy to believe that John and Isaiah (65) are saying the same thing as Peter and Jesus and the rest: Yes, this earth will be totally judged, and yes, replaced with the new world, as all things become new. But immediately? Well, not necessarily. See the previous discussion (C above) on the 1000 years, and gaps in general .
Will the new earth and heaven be recognizable as the present planet? There will be no sea, we know that. But the basic requirements of water and plant life and the like seem to be evident. Perhaps we can liken this distant period to the resurrection of our own bodies, wherein we will be recognized but vastly superior. This total new creation must be seen in contrast to the renewed earth of the Millennium, renewed in fact by man with God’s power. The earth will recover from its devastation and desolation, at least in part, and will be healed in most every way, getting itself ready for its final presentation to the Father by the Son. Knowledge of this is interesting in the light of the presence of those among us now, even in the church, who are dressing things up for the return of Jesus, not knowing that His next visit is one of unimaginable wrath and fierceness.
In all, not much is said of the final state of mankind. Revelation 21-22, reminding us of portions of Ezekiel and Isaiah, are the most complete descriptions. I say reminding, because Ezekiel has the 1000 years in view, with the prince David under Christ, an actual temple, real sacrifices, a very Jewish restoration of the nation, which corresponds to the first phase of things. But in describing elements of the city, it becomes obvious that John saw the same city, in its final form, a city that has been lifted from earth before the earth is removed, transported to Heaven, then descending in the 21st chapter of John’s work.
In this final world, there is no more death. Not so in the millennium. Natural life will be greatly extended, but not eternal. Death itself is defeated once and for all and “cast into the lake of fire” only at the end of the 1000 years. Paul had said 30 some years earlier that Jesus must reign until God has put every enemy under His feet (I Corinthians 15). That is the purpose of that 1000 years. And when it is over, death is finished, along with pain, the temple, the sun, night, closed gates, the curse. Enter nothing but the glory of God, the water and tree of life.
Is the lake of fire still visible, perhaps as a star in the sky, wandering forever on that old earth in the “outer darkness”? Wherever it is, Isaiah 65:24 and Revelation 22:8 seem to say, yes, it will forever remind mankind of the justice of God. It is something God is aware of every minute, His judgment over evil, and He will give His people the grace to live with that constant, also.
I give here several reasons why I believe that the New Heavens and New earth follow the 1000 years, as opposed to being simultaneous with them, as I believed for a short while, and as many still do.
1. Its mention is in the last two chapters of both Revelation and Isaiah.
2. Isaiah 4:5 says that after the great tribulation is passed, the Lord will create a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night, protect His people (or the Gentile nations?) from storm and rain. Storms and days and nights are all a part of the old earth.
3. “logic” . There is a sabbath rest for the people of God, Hebrews 4:9. If there will be indeed exactly 6000 years of earth history before Jesus comes, a 1000 year rest-day would be in perfect order to complete that history.
4. The rebuilding project. Isaiah 61:4 and 49:8 suggests that people will be preserved to restore the earth after its devastating blow at Armageddon and the rest. See also Jeremiah 31:4 and Ezekiel 36:33-37. Desolate land will be tilled. God is here given credit for the restoration, but he uses man.
5. The burial project. After Armageddon, there will be seven months of burying the dead. This does not match with the instant recreating of a new earth.
6. If the earth is blown up, where will the people of God go? No mention is made of an off-planet hiding place. Jesus indicates that for the elect’s sake, He returns. The elect are waiting to take over the earth, and he will not disappoint them.
7. If the earth is immediately annihilated and replaced, how does the resurrection take place, the first, and especially the second? These wicked dead have been buried in the earth, and must be raised from that earth 1000 years after Jesus comes, per the apostle John.
F. WHO IS THERE?
It may be a shock to some to realize that there are several categories of persons who will be present on that great day of the Lord.
1. First and foremost will be Jesus Himself.
Yes, the Father is always present when Jesus is here, but these 1000 years will be especially the Son’s, per I Corinthians 15. Only at the end of this Kingdom does the Son somehow give all to the Father. This is a mystery somewhat beyond us now, but we’ll have 1000 years to learn how it will happen.
2. Jesus will be accompanied by the angels
So it says in every passage talking of His coming, Matthew 13:40,41, 24:31, 25:31, I Thessalonians 4:16, Revelation 19:17, 20:1.
3. The holy people.
They are not only on the earth, but on the hill, in the City. Psalm 24: 3-6 takes on a new light as we see a literal hill before us, ascent thereto allowed by only a literal people with clean hands and a pure heart, the generation of those who seek His face. It brings us to Revelation 21:27, talking of the same city in a new world, telling us that nothing that defiles will ever enter that place, only those who are in the Lamb’s Book of Life. These are people that (22:14) do His commandments, and therefore have right to the tree of life, and to enter at will into the City.
This people is called in Isaiah the “daughter of Zion” (62:11,12). "And they shall call them the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord, Sought Out, A City Not Forgotten!" “The Righteous Nation That Keeps the Truth” is her awesome title in 26:2!
Jesus tells Nicodemus that the way to see the kingdom of God is to be born again, John 3:3-5. He freely gives the kingdom to His followers, Jew and Gentile, promises to come back for them in direct statements and parables, John 14:1-6, Matthew 13. In Matthew 24:31, on His way to earth, Jesus gathers His own from the four winds, and Paul adds that while they are being called up they are being changed in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, thus to be ever with the Lord. I Thessalonians 4. Revelation 19 shows that group of saints now at the earth as an invading army. But whatever their form, they are the “in” crowd, they are the redeemed, who come to Zion with singing, and everlasting joy shall be upon their head.
The other groups of Revelation deserve some special note, for they are surely City-dwellers. I will take a pass on trying to identify the four living creatures and the twenty four elders, but there are some purely human groups that come to our attention starting in 6:9-11. If indeed most of Revelation describes the coming tribulation and wrath of God, then these martyrs crying out after the fifth seal have just been killed by antichrist. These are Christians. They are given a white robe like all the saints of God. They were killed for defending the Word of God, and for their testimony. They are promised that some fellow-servants are going to join them soon, and indeed they do, in the next chapter. In chapter seven , more saints are before the throne, and given a white robe. Their identification: just came out of the tribulation. Not by rapture. By death. The coming again of Jesus is later in the Book. They are safe now in the city, and will return with Jesus when He comes.
Daniel is told (12:12) that a blessed group of people will “wait and come to the 1335 days.” The end of the tribulation period. These are the ones who make it all the way. They are given special honor for special endurance. Who among us is worthy of this position, we who must have our comforts and our pleasures and our distractions?
Then there are the 144,000. A Jewish remnant. I start the tracing of this group in Isaiah 4:2. "In that day the Branch (Jesus) shall be beautiful, the fruit of the earth excellent for those of Israel who have escaped." 1:9 talks about how the Lord in His mercy left us a very small remnant. If not, annihilation like Sodom. Isn’t that what Jesus said, Except those days be shortened…but for the elect’s sake, they shall be shortened? Is the Jewish remnant in mind here? There they are again in 10:20-23: "The remnant of Israel will never again depend on him who defeated them, but will depend on the Lord." Saved Jews. At the end of all things. The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob. "For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them will return…" What must we think of the Jews returning to Israel in our own day? Not the same flavor at all.
An escaping remnant is likewise mentioned in 37:32 and 66:19. In that last passage the escapees are sent out to the nations to declare His glory to the Gentiles! They shall actually bring people physically to the City of God in that day! A rescued remnant used to preach for Messiah during the reign.
Micah sees such a people, the remnant of Jacob in the midst of many peoples, like dew from the Lord, like showers in the grass, like a lion among the other animals.
And Zephaniah (3:13), "The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness, and speak no lies."
And don’t leave out Ezekiel (6:8-10)! " Yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some who escape the sword among the nations, when you are scattered through the countries. Those of you who escape will remember me among the nations where they are carried captive."
Just Old Testament imagery, not to be taken literally? In Matthew 24:15, Jesus tells those who happen to be living in Judea in that day, to flee! Escape! These are Jews. According to Revelation 7:1-8, 144,000 Jews are marked out for a special dispensation of grace. Those Jews are, I believe, the same as the “woman” of Revelation 12:6 , who flees into the wilderness, where she is protected by God miraculously, in the midst of the tribulation . It is this picture, and not a rapture, that corresponds perfectly to the deliverance of Lot, and of Noah in the Old Testament, men who were removed from the trouble, but not from the planet! We see the re-emergence of the 144,000 in Revelation 14, after the danger is past, safe with the Lord. Special people of God, Jewish. Yes, there is a Gentile elect, and yes, we are all one Body, but it is important to see here that God has not given up on the idea called Israel. God still has a very Jewish heart. Will grafted-in Gentiles be a part of this 144,000? Let’s wait and see on that one.
How is the group known as the 144,000 different from the rest of the Church? All we can appeal to is the purposes of God. The church in this age is called to suffer and give its life for Christ. The 144,000 are hidden and delivered. Could it be that the reason they are not killed off is because they are not yet saved? That it is in the wilderness that He speaks to His people of their sin, and causes them to love Him and accept Him? So while the church is being called to martyrdom, the 144,000 are called to salvation.
4. What about Old Testament saints?
Are they a part of this first resurrection and this glorious reign in the City? Of course. Theirs was the first call, and those men who grasped and believed the promises of God are the original elect to whom the Kingdom was given. They were not given the Spirit in the measure given to His church, but the promises are theirs. Ezekiel 37:12-14 spells this out: In explanation of the rising of the dry bones, God says, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land.
Get ready for it! This is going to be a very Jewish kingdom! Not only will Abraham and Jacob and Moses and Joseph and David be there, but Jesus promised that His own Jewish apostles will sit on twelve thrones judging the kingdom! Paul says that Old Testament saints did not receive the promise (Hebrews 11:39, 40) in their day, but only because God was waiting on the rest of us to come in! Don’t rule out the Jew. It is His kingdom first, then yours. Nevertheless properly grafted Gentiles will be fully operational in that wonderful land of Immanuel. There the King and the Queen rule. The Queen, His bride, is you in Christ. Notice how the last (Gentiles) become first in receiving the work of the Spirit in its fullness in this church age, while the first (the Jews) will not receive that until they are resurrected.
5. There’s life outside the city, too.
There are kings and their kingdoms, for the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. They will somehow bring glory to the City. This reality demands a closer look and a discernment, to avoid blurring the two entities.
We begin with Daniel who in chapter 2 explains the king’s dream in terms of the nations to follow him, and even their end-time disposition. In 34-35, Nebuchadnezzar is said to have seen a stone cut without hands striking the image of the vision on its feet, representing end time nations. At this time, all the elements of the statue disintegrate. The stone? It becomes a great mountain and fills the world. For at the end of history, a bloody end mind you, the God of heaven sets up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed (2:44). It shall break in pieces and consume all these nations. In 7:11-12, Daniel’s angel tells us that after the final kingdom is destroyed (we believe this to be revived Rome ruled by the man of sin), the other kingdoms (the rest of the world, I take it) , though their dominion is taken away, their lives are prolonged. Gentile nations are allowed to enter, sans leadership, into the millennium.
The Father tells the Son (Psalm 2: 6-9) to ask Him, and He will give Him the nations for His inheritance, and the ends of the earth for His possession. He is in fact to rule these nations with a rod of iron. That’s why nations of today are warned (2:10-12) to get on God’s good side. Especially should nations be a friend to Israel. Though Israel will be punished by God through Gentile nations who are so disposed to hate her anyway, those nations will in turn be punished for touching her. Since just about every nation hates Israel in our day, the conflagration at the end will be nearly universal.
The mention of the rod of iron lets us know that the Gentile nations, though subservient to Christ, and yes, without Satan’s temptations, as he will be bound for the duration, are still not heart-followers of Jesus. Many of these citizens, (we know not how many, yet they are as the sand of the sea), will, when once given the Satanic nod at the end of the 1000 years, turn against Christ and be damned forever.
Isaiah has interesting insights about the Gentiles of this future day (56:6-8). The sons (for they shall give birth) of the foreigner (Gentile nation) who joins himself to the Lord, of his own will, will be allowed to come to the mountain where Jesus and the holy people reside. God comments that not only the outcasts of Israel but “others” will be gathered to Him in that day ( Isaiah 2).
The difference in people groups is brought out again in Isaiah 61:5. It is indicated that the foreigner will be servant to the people of God, who will be a special priesthood. The saved people will eat the riches of the Gentiles. Honor will be given to God’s people. That is why we must never seek it now.
The classic passage in Isaiah 2 is not for us, but for those special Gentiles allowed to live at this time. All nations will flow to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. "Many will come and say, let us go up to the house of the Lord. He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths. He shall then judge between the nations, and rebuke many people." Notice it is many, not all. The invitation to come will be ignored even still by some, but these folks will not be in any way a threat to the security of the age. Jesus will rebuke them, and they will straighten up or else! All power will be in Jerusalem. Isaiah later adds in 26:9-14 that when God’s judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Oh yes, there were many other masters in centuries past, even trying to rule in the name of Jesus, but they and their memory are perished.
Out of Jerusalem will be sent those who will go to all the Gentiles and attempt to bring them to the city, Isaiah 66:20. Those who come will fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah 14:16-17, where it says that all who are left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King. And if they do not go up, there will be no rain on their land! Some, it seems, hold out to the end. The Gog-Magog confederation of Ezekiel is perhaps the northern army of Joel 2:20. It is this slaughtered army that is being buried for seven months. The remnant is pushed back to a barren and desolate land (as Siberia, for example). Here the hatred for Jesus Christ , it seems, is allowed to fester, and in the very last of days, at the end of the 1000 years, this nation will once more be instrumental in an assault against God’s priorities (Revelation 20).
Individual nations are outlined in Isaiah 19:18-25, and 27:13. Assyria, that we see as extinct today, will be in most favored status in that day, along with Egypt “My people”, though according to Joel 3:19, Egypt will at first be a desolation, along with most of the world. Egypt is differentiated of course in this passage from Israel, “My inheritance.”
These nations will be willingly, for the most part, subservient to the Kingdom people. Psalm 47:3,8 foresee a time when God will subdue the peoples under “us”, sitting on His holy throne, reigning over the nations. Psalm 48 is a similar picture of the elevated Jerusalem having become the joy, and no longer the burden, of the whole earth, because it is the city of the great King. God is in her palaces now. Terrified kings are seen passing by and marveling! So in Psalm 72:11, and in the oft-quoted Psalm 110, where the Lord says to the Lord (Jesus) to rule in the midst of His enemies! These are the conquered Gentile nations, whose leaders have already been destroyed. Something like post-war Germany without Hitler. Terrified, conforming. For, vs. 5-6, He shall judge among the nations, and execute the heads of many countries.
Though conquered and serving, Zechariah puts the best face on it when he says in 2:10 and 11 that He is coming to dwell in our midst, and many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day. They shall become His people.
Also, could it be, there are sorcerers, sexually immoral, murderers, the crop of evil that Satan will use at the end of 1000 years to lead a rebellion against that city, after he goes on a whirlwind campaign around the earth to deceive the nations again! All this in Revelation 20:7-10. (Here dies the theory that says all unbelievers are dead until the 2nd resurrection, and that all the saints are with Christ in Heaven for that 1000 years.)
G. Lifestyle:
What will life on earth be like during the millennium? Let’s allow several men to give us their vision of things, to add to the picture we have already drawn above.
1. Solomon
(Psalm 72:2ff) tells us of a time of universal righteousness. Justice for the poor. Peace. No oppression. The needy will be delivered by crying out.
2. Isaiah
Isaiah (2:3) describes a constant flow of people to Jerusalem, all wanting to know the ways of the Lord. No more war. Agriculture will flourish. The house of the Lord the centerpiece of the world. (11:6ff), Rule by the rod. The wicked killed. Animals all get along. Children safe. The earth full of the knowledge of the Lord .A place of constant praise. (27:6), Fruit everywhere, supplied by Israel. (35:4ff), All blind see, all deaf hear, all lame leap, all dumb speak. The Highway of Holiness opened. Everlasting joy for the ransomed of the Lord. No sorrow, not even sighing. (54:13), All children taught by the Lord. They shall have great peace. (55) Nature in harmony. No briers.(56:7), Burnt offerings restored. God’s house a house of prayer for all nations. (60:5ff) The abundance of the sea will be ours, and the wealth of the Gentiles. People come by air and water to bring gifts to God. Thus Jerusalem’s gates open day and night. Nations that refuse this honor to the Lord shall perish! Yet no violence in the land, for matters will be dealt with immediately, quickly. The sun not our light now? A little one shall become a thousand, a new nation. Birth and death shall continue. (62:2), You will be considered “married” not forsaken (a bride adorned for her husband). (66:23ff), Weekly and monthly worship, and we will be able also to see a ghastly reminder of what sin will do.
3. Jeremiah
(31:5ff) Israel to be rebuilt, a people of the dance, a people of vines. Abundance. Some of the measurements of that City are mentioned.
4. Ezekiel
(28:25ff) Build houses, plant vineyards, be secure. (34:25ff) Animals tamed, people live in safety. Trees abundant. No longer a prey to the nations. A garden of renown to be there. (36:30ff) No famine. You will loathe yourselves as you remember your evil ways. The ruins shall be rebuilt. I will do it, you will pray to Me about it. (39:12) First seven months, burial of Gog a type of employment.(40:38-43) a description of the new city and new temple, and sacrifices there. (43:13-27) the new altar (44:10-31). The new priesthood, as revelation 20:6 mentions that those of the first resurrection will be priests to God! (46:1ff) the Sabbath and the new Moon will be observed, with the other feast days.
5. Joel
(2:26ff) never shame again to the people of God. (3) No aliens pass through Jerusalem again. Much wine, milk, water.
6. Amos
(9:14) Waste cities rebuilt and inhabited. Vineyards, gardens. Never pulled up again.
7. Obadiah
(17) Deliverance and holiness.
8. Micah
(2:12ff) So many sheep that they will make a loud noise. Led by the Lord and their King. (5) He is great to the ends of the earth. He feeds His flock.
9. Zephaniah
(3:19-20) The lame saved and those driven out, appointed to fame and praise.
10. Zechariah
(6:12), Messiah shall build the Temple. He shall rule on His throne, and be a priest also. Those far away shall likewise build the temple. (8:4ff), Old and young sit in streets of Jerusalem, very old. The vine and the ground shall prosper. Fasts to be kept at certain times. Inhabitants of one city shall go to another and say, "Let’s go to pray and seek the Lord! Many strong nations shall come to seek the Lord in Jerusalem! Ten Gentiles of ten nations will grab a Jew and say, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you." (12:10ff) At the beginning, great mourning as Jews realize who they have rejected. (13:1 ff), Fountain opened for sin and uncleanness. Prophets not accepted. No need to prophesy now that the Lord is here! (14:8ff), living waters flow from Jerusalem. The Lord King over all the earth. Specific geographical note. Nations that came against Israel, remainders shall worship the Lord in person from year to year. No go, no rain! Holiness to the Lord will be the universal theme.
H. The Throne(s).
The center of the Kingdom of God has always been the Throne. Psalm 45: 6, "Your Throne O God (says the Father to the King, Messiah) is forever and ever, a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom."
Isaiah says that the government (of this whole world) will be upon the shoulders of the Son Who is the Father. Of the increase of that government and of peace "there will be no end upon the Throne of David and over his kingdom, to order it and establish it from that time forward even forever"(9:6-7). So the eternal (forward and backward) throne comes to earth, meshing with the throne of David, and takes its forward thrust into eternity from there.
In Ezekiel 43:7, the Lord says to Ezekiel that the Millennial temple foreseen by the prophet is “the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of Israel forever.”
Daniel 7:9 makes mention of thrones, showing us the uniqueness of the reign of Christ as opposed to the reign of the Father to follow. Perhaps included here is the idea of the prince, David, not to mention the twelve thrones of the apostles. A lot of reigning going on in the New City, but no question as to who is in charge!
Zechariah 6:13 mentions the throne of the Branch, Zechariah’s code name for Jesus.
Hebrews 8:1 gives us the present situation of the throne in heaven, with the Son at the right hand of the Father. And in Revelation 3:21 Jesus is sitting down with the Father in His throne, as we are to sit with the Son in His throne. (Is this the same throne?) Jesus’ throne is the throne of David, that covers all things human. Jesus sits on that throne, the heir apparent of all humanity. But He also sits in the Father’s throne, for He is God and over all things. Revelation 7:15 , 8:5, 19:4, 20:11, 21:5-6, 22:1 all refer to the throne. From chapter 4 of Revelation, The Lamb and the throne are inseparable. The rule of God through Christ with us is thus well established .
6. AFTER THE ONE THOUSAND YEARS
Very little is recorded for us regarding the period after the reign of Christ. We have already seen that God will receive this beautiful product called the kingdom at the hands of His Son and His Son’s bride. The earth will flee away along with the old heavens (Revelation 20:11). There will be no place for them. Then comes the final judgment of all earthlings except those who were raised 1000 years before and have already been reigning. This would include all the unsaved dead of all time, including the last thousand years, plus the Gentiles still living on earth who have not accepted Christ’s terms, and have once more yielded to the wiles of the Devil as he is released. Satan and all his followers are cast into a lake of fire. Is that lake on the old earth? Does it stay there? Is the earth then cast adrift? Would this explain the term outer darkness, used by Jesus several times, and the “blackness of darkness” used by Jude? However it seems that this lake is visible, even in the new world, according to Isaiah 66 and Revelation 21-22. We’ll have to wait and see on this one.
When the planet goes and the judgment is passed, all God’s people are in Heaven, and soon descend from that heavenly state to a totally new planet that has no sea, no divisions of persons. This is what John sees in Revelation 21, the final status of the City. It is my belief that the city has been lived in for the thousand years, but is now making a new appearance for the new earth.
7. IMPLICATIONS
The major heresies of our day can be exposed by a clear understanding of the foregoing messages . Nearly all the aberrant philosophies have as their goal a full-orbed kingdom of God now, before Jesus returns, and dictated by men’s ideas. Rome, for example, has long been proving to the world what she does when given the power to do so. By acting in this way she exposes herself as a pagan religion, for "kingdom now" has always been the driving force of this world’s political machines.
Joining her in this day is the liberal church, that is slowly evolving towards Rome, but that has always been more concerned about injustice and poverty and race than it has about who sits on the throne in Jerusalem . Of course, he is the One Who alone can bring true justice to the world.
Add to this the charismatic offshoots, with their “kingdom now” philosophies, and their utter openness to physical unity. Today the idea of getting together is trumping all other ideas, including sound doctrine, the history of the Protestant martyrs, the sufficiency of the Word of God, the blood of Jesus, the Holiness of God. This much energy will eventually lead to a one-world church, complete with signs and wonders to deceive if it were possible, the very elect. More people are concerned today with a feeling or personal experience than they are with the revelation of Himself that God has given!
Even evangelical groups are joining the madness of forgetting. They blindly join with any group that seems to have evangelism in mind, regardless of whether that evangelism is Biblical or not. Worldwide goals for discipling whole nations and whole neighborhoods and great masses of people conceal the fact that the definitions of evangelism are being changed. No longer is a straight presentation of the Gospel sufficient, for acceptance is the aim, not faithfulness to the Truth. Books of strategies for church growth are everywhere. Games and gimmicks and programs abound. Much activity, even much growth, but the apostasy abounds even more as flesh produces flesh.
Blending in to the mix is the ever-present secular society, headquartered at the United Nations. World peace may be their visible goal, but world domination must be their method before it is all over. Their sponsorship of the United Religions movement lets us know how “spiritual” they have become, and how related to Satan’s huge end time scheme.
Dominion theology is the word of the hour. More and more Christians will make the world better and better and give us a stronger and stronger voice, more and more power, and…the end of this stream is obvious, and is so clearly removed from Christian thinking as to be preposterous. We've actually been there and done that, and it wasn't all that pretty. Jesus calls His Church to be faithful. To pray. To preach. To baptize. To teach. That is all.
Believers need to be on the outlook for “restoration” or “kingdom now” or “dominion” power plays, that make the Christian seem like any other power-seeker of this world. Beware of those who want to “win the world”, “save the world”, “make our influence felt”, “become a mighty church”. All these things are reserved for the Kingdom I have preached to you, revealed painstakingly in many pages of the Scriptures. This worldwide dominion of the Lord is coming. Jesus will make it happen Himself. This mighty church of Jesus will rule the world. When Jesus comes. Our influence will be felt in every neighborhood of this planet. Later. The world will be saved, then replaced! And no man will receive the credit for it.
Meanwhile, go into all your world, preach the good news to every member of creation that you can. Give them an alternative. Offer them forgiveness. If they say yes, get them together with others and teach them. If they say no, move on. Be faithful unto death, and yours will be the crown of life.
And you will inherit the Kingdom of God forever.
