The
Consummation of the Redeemer’s Return or The Millennial Reign
Chapter 10
"And the Lord shall be
King over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and
His name one."
Zech. 14:9
It should now be evident to
every unprejudiced reader that there are two distinct stages
in the Second Coming of Christ:—His coming in the air, and His coming to the
earth; His coming for the saints, and His coming with the saints. The first great
purpose before Him in connection with His return is to receive His people unto
Himself. Just as of old God translated Enoch to Heaven before He sent the
Deluge upon the ungodly, so will the Church be removed frown this earth before
the vials of His wrath are poured out upon it. The second
great purpose before the Lord Jesus will be to return to the earth itself,
there to set up His Kingdom and reign in righteousness, and it is the nature,
the scope, the blessedness, and the duration of this Kingdom-reign which is now
to engage our attention.
In popular
parlance the era of the Messiah’s reign is referred to as the
"Millennium" which is a compound word signifying a thousand years.
From the remotest antiquity men have longed for and talked of a Golden Age, of
an age in which righteousness and peace should prevail, and oppression and war
should cease. Poets have sung of it, politicians have dreamed about it, and
inspired prophets have described it. This era of blessedness
is variously denominated in the Scriptures. It is termed "the
Regeneration" (Matthew 10:28); the "Last Day" (John 6:40); the
"Times of Refreshing" (Acts 3:19); the "Times of
Restitution" (Acts 3:21); the "Kingdom" (1 Cor. 15:24); the
"Day of Christ" (Phil. 1:6); the "Dispensation of the Fullness
of Times" (Eph. 1:10).
There are more Scriptures
which treat of the Millennium or Kingdom-age than perhaps any other one subject
in the Bible. The difficulty is to classify them all. For purpose of
simplification we shall now consider the Millennium under seven heads, namely,
the Millennium in relation to Satan, to Christ, to the Church, to Israel, to the World, to Creation, and to Sin.
1.
The Millennium in relation to Satan.
In our last chapter we saw
that Christ descends from Heaven to find an organized effort
to prevent Him coming back to the earth. Under the leadership of Anti-Christ,
the kings of the earth with their armies assemble together at Armageddon with
the express purpose of making war upon the Lamb (Rev. 17:14). It is in
connection with this impious revolt that we read, "He that sitteth in the
heavens shall laugh" (Ps. 2:4), laugh at their folly and madness,
"The Lord shall have them in derision." As well
might a worm seek to resist the tread of an elephant as the creature hope to
succeed against the Almighty. As well attempt to roll back the ocean as aim to
frustrate the counsels of the Most High. "For the Lord of hosts hath
purposed and who shall disannul it? and His hand is stretched out, and who
shall turn it back?" (Isa. 14:27). A short work will our Lord make of the
proud rebels—"And the Beast was taken, and with him the
False Prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them
that had received the mark of the Beast, and them that worshipped his image.
These both were cast alive into the Lake of Fire burning with brimstone"
(Rev. 19:19). This accounts for two of the persons in the Trinity of Evil. But
one other still remains to be dealt with. Before the Messiah’s Kingdom
can be set up, the great Usurper must first be cast out.
There can be no thousand years
of righteousness and peace on earth while the great Enemy of God and man is at
large. Post-millenarians, who expect the Kingdom to be brought in by the
preaching of the Gospel and the activities of the Church, and Peace-idealists
and Social-reformers who look for a Golden Age to be brought about by
legislation and civilization, all leave out of their schemes and considerations
one dominating factor, namely, the Devil. Behind all anti-Christian systems,
back of all the inveterate opposition to the Gospel, beneath all the evil and
wickedness which stalks rampant through the earth, is that old Serpent, the
Devil. And nothing finite can remove him. Nothing human can
disturb him. None on earth can bind him. Man is incompetent to cope with his
mighty adversary. Legislation cannot reach him, and the Church is powerless to
rid the world of his awful presence. The only One who is mightier than he, is
God-the Almighty, and there can be no Millennium, no era of righteousness, and
peace, no Golden Age, until the Son of God Himself returns in person
and removes and imprisons the Arch-Foe.
The removal of Satan from this
earth is described in Revelation 20:1-3, "And I saw an angel (We believe
this "angel" to be the Lord Jesus Himself—the uncreated Angel of the
Covenant (Mal. 3:1). If it should be asked, Why term Him an angel? the answer is, To connect Him with Israel, the covenant and
earthly people. See Genesis 22:15, 16; 48:16; Exodus 3:2; and compare
Revelation 7:2, 8:3; 10:1) come down from heaven, having the key of the
Bottomless Pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the Dragon,
that old Serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand
years, and cast him into the Bottomless Pit, and shut him
up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till
the thousand years shall be fulfilled." Satan will be "bound"
which is the fulfillment of our Lord’s word in Matthew 12:29—"How can one
enter a "strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the
strong man? and then he will spoil his house." The "strong man"
is our Adversary, the Devil; his "house" is the children of this world, in contradistinction to the children of God who
are the "House" of Christ (Heb. 3:6); the "binding" of the
Strong Man is described in the Passage quoted above from Revelation 20; the
"spoiling of his house" is the delivering of his captives (see Isaiah
42:7). Satan will be "cast into the Bottomless Pit" which is the
fulfillment of Isaiah 14—"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son
of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground which
didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into
Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the
mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the
heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought
down to Hell, to the sides of the Pit" (vv. 12-15). Satan will
be shut up in the Bottomless Pit and a "seal" shall be set upon him,
which is God’s answer to that which we read of in Matthew 27:66, "So they
went and made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone, and setting a
watch"—what he has sown that shall be also reap. Thus will terminate that struggle
which has lasted for six thousand years, a struggle which has been waged for
the dominion of the earth.
At last the "roaring
lion" (1 Pet. 5:8) will have been overcome, overcome by the Lion of the
tribe of Judah. The Man with the bruised heel will have crushed the Serpent’s
head, and the word spoken in Eden will then be fully accomplished. And who can describe or even imagine the blessed consequences! No
more shall the brethren be accused before God (Rev. 12:10). No more shall the
daughters of Abraham be "bound, lo, these eighteen years" (Luke
13:16). No more shall Satan tempt and try, harass and hinder the saints of God.
For a thousand years the earth shall be rid of the Evil One and in his place
there shall come "Times of Refreshing from the presence
of the Lord" And this leads us to consider,
2.
The Millennium in relation to Christ.
It has been divinely ordained
that our Lord should fill three great offices—the Prophetic,
the Priestly, and the Kingly. As Prophet, He acts as God’s Spokesman: revealing
God’s mind, communicating God’s will, unveiling God’s heart. As Priest, He acts
as Mediator between God and men, and by means of His atoning sacrifice He
reconciles believers to God, represents His peoples’ interests before God,
interceding for them and pleading their cause. As King, He will reign over men,
enforcing God’s laws, and upholding on earth the claims of
His Throne. It is of Christ as King we shall now speak.
Toward the dose of David’s
reign, the word of the Lord came to Nathan, bidding him go to the king and,
among other things, tell him, "And when thy days be fulfilled,
and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy Seed after thee, which
shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish His kingdom. He shall
build an house for My name and I will establish the throne of His Kingdom for
ever" (2 Sam. 7:12,13). At a later date, in one of the great Messianic
prophecies, it was announced concerning our Lord that "His name shall be
called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, the
everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and
peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His Kingdom, to
order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth
even for ever" (Isa. 9:6,7). Hence it is that the very first verse of the
New Testament reads, "The Book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, (thus linking Him with Israel’s throne) the son
of Abraham."
Just before our Lord was born,
an angel appeared unto Mary and said, "And, behold, thou shalt conceive in
thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call His name JESUS. He shall be
great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord
God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over
the House of Jacob for ever: and of His Kingdom there shall be no end"
(Luke 1:30-33).
Sometime during our Lord’s
infancy certain wise men, who were led by a star, came to
Jerusalem (the royal city), asking, "Where is He that is born King of the
Jews?" (Matthew 2:2). Our Lord, then, was born King of the Jews, but as
the inspired Word informs us, "He came unto His own, and His own received
Him not" (John 1:11). Israel would not own Him; instead, they cried,
"We have no king but Caesar" (John 19:15). And when Pilate wrote an
inscription and placed it over the Cross—"This is
Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews," they desired him to alter it and
substitute, "He said I am King of the Jews" (John 19:21), which is
further proof that the Jews had rejected Him as their King.
It was announced then, in Old
Testament prophecy, and confirmed by the angel to Mary,
that our Lord should occupy the throne of David. In order to the fulfillment of
this, our Lord, according to the flesh, sprang from one who was a lineal
descendant of David, and therefore, He was born "King of the Jews."
But as we have seen, Israel rejected their King and crucified Him. And what we
now desire to emphasize is, that, Jesus Christ has never yet assumed the
Kingship! On the contrary, He taught His disciples to pray,
"Thy Kingdom come." Furthermore, He said, "A certain nobleman
went into a far country to receive for Himself a Kingdom, and to return. And it
came to pass that when He was returned, having received the Kingdom" etc.
(Luke 19:12,15). Christ’s receiving of the Kingdom and His return synchronize
(cf. 2 Timothy 4:1). Christ, then, is not King today, for He has not yet received the Kingdom, nor has He yet occupied the throne of
His father David. Nowhere in the Epistles do we find Him denominated "The
King of the Church." Jesus Christ is Savior of the Church, Lord of the
Church, Head of the Church, but He is not King of the Church, for He has not
yet entered upon His Kingly office, and He will not do so until the beginning
of the Millennium. In the Millennium Christ will rule and
reign over the earth, not only as King of the Jews, but as King of kings and
Lord of lords. It is then that the prophecy of Zechariah shall be
fulfilled—"And the Lord shall be King over all the earth: in that day (a
yet future day—see the context) shall there be one Lord, and His name one"
(Zech. 14:9). Our Lord’s Kingship over all the earth leads us to the
consideration of another important line of truth.
When Adam was created God
said, "Let us make man in our image, and let them have dominion." At
the beginning, earth’s scepter was committed into the hands of man (see Psalm
8:4-8). But right on the scene of his creation came one who disputed Adam’s right to earth’s sovereignty, and who succeeded in wresting
the scepter from his hands. Satan brought to bear upon him a diabolical
temptation: Adam succumbed, and falling, he forfeited his dominion over the
earth. As the consequence, Satan became "The Prince of this world,"
and as such approached our Lord in the temptation, when he took Him up into an
exceeding high mountain, and "sheweth Him all the
kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto Him, All these
things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me" (Matthew
4:8,9). But on the Cross, the Lord Jesus regained the scepter which Adam lost;
and here is the key to Revelation 5.
In the
fifth chapter of the Apocalypse a remarkable scene is brought before us. The
beloved apostle sees a book—"written within and on the back side, sealed
with seven seals"—in the right hand of Him that sat on the Throne. Then he
hears an angel saying, "Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the
seals thereof?" Next we are told, "And no man in heaven, nor in
earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book,
neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to
open and to read the book, neither to look thereon." Many have been the
conjectures concerning this mysterious "blink," but by comparing
Scripture with Scripture we think there can be no doubt as to what is here in
view. In Jeremiah 32:6-15 we read of a field being bought, and the receipt (the
"evidence") of the purchase is termed a
"book," and this book was "sealed." It is to a similar
transaction that Revelation 5 refers. The book seen by the apostle contains the
title deeds to this earth. These title deeds which Adam lost have been
recovered by Christ. They have been recovered by "purchase," and the
price paid was the precious blood of the Lamb. In Matthew 13:44 we read of a
Man who "goeth and selleth all that He hath, and
buyeth that field" and in verse 38 of the same chapter we are told
"The field is the world." Hence it is that the apostle was told,
"Weep not: behold, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath
prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof" (Rev.
5:5). What is seen in vision in Revelation 5 becomes actual fact when the Lord
Jesus returns to the earth. It will be at that time the
"purchased possession"—the earth—is "redeemed" (Eph. 1:14).
Hence, when he comes back, His first act will be to eject Satan from it,
establish His Kingdom upon it, and exercise "dominion" over it.
Another Scripture which throws
light upon the Millennium in relation to Christ is 1 Peter
1:13. Here the second coming of our Lord (to the earth) is termed, "The
Revelation of Jesus Christ." This is in contrast to the first advent. When
He was here before, His Divine glory was veiled and much of His power and
majesty were concealed. But when He comes back again His Divine glory shall be
fully manifested, instead of appearing as the gentle Lamb, He will come as the
Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Instead of standing before
human tribunals to be judged of men, He will summon all nations before Him and
sit in judgment upon them. Instead of appearing in humiliation, weakness, and
shame, He will be revealed in regal power and majesty. Instead of coming to be
the Victim, He will return as the Victor, to sit upon the Throne of His Glory.
So, then, the Millennium is the time when our Lord enters
into the exercise of His Kingly office, when He will reign in power and
exercise dominion over all the earth, and when His personal Glory shall be
fully manifested. We turn now to consider,
3.
The Millennium in relation to the Church.
As we have seen in previous
chapters, it is at the first stage of Christ’s second coming that the Church is
removed from the earth. At the Redeemer’s descent from Heaven, the Church, like
Enoch and Elijah, is miraculously caught up, caught up to meet the Lord in the
air and evermore shall it be with its glorious Head. Therefore, when the Savior returns to the earth, the Church will
accompany Him. This is clear from Colossians 3:4 and Jude 14, so often quoted
in these pages.
Exactly what part the Church
will play during the Millennium it is not easy to say. Few details are
revealed. A moment’s reflection will show why this is the case. It is in the Old Testament that the Millennium receives the fullest
consideration, whereas the Church is the subject of New Testament revelation.
Moreover, we must remember that the Millennium is the time when God’s Kingdom
is revealed on earth, whereas the Church is a Heavenly creation, and has a
heavenly citizenship and destiny (Phil. 3:20; 1 Peter 1:4). Nevertheless, one
or two things are sure. The Church will be with Christ
throughout the Millennium, and not only so, the saints will reign with
Him—"And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the brook,
and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and has redeemed us to God
by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast
made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on (or
"over") the earth (Rev. 5:9, 10). And again we
read, "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on
such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of
Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years" (Rev. 20:6). Who can
picture the blessed accomplishment of this promise! For two thousand years the
saints have (more or less) lived as strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Many
of them have been maligned, ostracized, persecuted and
martyred. They went forth unto Christ "without the camp, bearing His
reproach" (Heb. 13:18). But now shall they be richly rewarded. They
suffered "with Him" and now shall they be also "glorified
together" (Rom. 8:17). And then will it be fully manifested that "the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which
shall be revealed in us" (Rom. 8:18).
In the Parable of the Pounds
we have a Scripture which sets forth one aspect of the reward which shall he
enjoyed by the faithful in that day. "And He (Christ) said unto him, Well,
thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities" (Luke 19:17). This
Scripture seems to intimate that during the Millennium the saints will occupy a
prominent part in the government of the world. Yea, it is written, "Do ye
not know that the saints shall judge the world?" (1 Cor. 6:2). Ah! how
different things will then be. The first shall be last, and the last first.
Positions shall be completely reversed. Today the children of
God (that is, those who really walk as such) are despised and hated by the
world. This is the promise of our Lord: "And he that overcometh, and
keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and
he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be
broken to shivers: even as I received of My Father" (Rev. 2:26, 27). Yes,
Christ’s position. Christ’s power, Christ’s prerogatives,
shall be shared by His people, for He and they are one.
Again, it is during the
Millennium that the Unity of the Church—in contradistinction to the innumerable
sects in Christendom which now divide believers—will be fully manifested, and
our Lord’s prayer of John 17:22, 23 fulfilled— "And
the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as
We are One: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one;
and that the world may know that Thou has sent Me, and hast loved thrum, as
Thou hast loved Me." Not until the "Day of Christ" will the
world "know" these ‘things, for then it is that we shall all have
come "in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge
of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:18). Yes, and then it is, also that Christ
shall come "to be glorified in His saints and admired in all them that
believe" (2 Thess. 1:10). In that day, the Church will be an object of
beauty, wonderment, and admiration to all the world. It will then be fully seen
what great things the Lord hath done for His Church, in
giving it a higher place—a place nearer to Himself than that which even the
holy angels will occupy. We turn now to consider,
4.
The Millennium in relation to Israel.
"And
it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a
smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In that
same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,—Unto thy seed have I
given this land" (Gen. 15:17,18). Here the two great periods of Israel’s
history were made known to Abram in figure. The vision of the smoking furnace
and the burning lamp intimated that the history of
Abraham’s descendants was to be a checkered one. It was a prophecy in symbolic
action; and like all prophecy was to have a double fulfillment. The order was
first the sorrow and suffering, and then the glory and joy. There was first the
smoking furnace of Egyptian bondage, and titan the burning lamp which typified
the brilliant reign of Solomon. After which there was the
furnace, again, the furnace of the Babylonian captivity, and since Israel crucified
her Messiah the furnace has been seven times hotter than ever before. Yet is it
written, "For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, for Jerusalem’s sake 1
will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the
salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth" (Isa. 62:1).
A remarkable statement is
found in Deuteronomy 32:8 which antedates the actual history of the Jews.
"When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He
separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the
number of the children of Israel." Israel is here seen to be present
before the mind of God six hundred years before they had
any national standing in the earth, and two hundred years before the birth of
their father Abraham. Yet, even at that remote period, God assigned to the
descendants of the then scattered sons of Adam, their position in the earth
according to the number of that people which was not then born. Here, then, we
learn God’s purpose concerning the chosen nation—Israel is
God’s earthly center.
In Genesis 13:14,15, we read
"And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift
up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art northward, and
southward, and eastward, and westward. For all the land which thou
seest to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever." And again in
Genesis 15:18 we are told, "In that same day the Lord made a covenant with
Abram, saying, Unto they seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt
unto the great river, the river Euphrates." The land of Palestine has been
given unconditionally to Abraham and his descendants, "For the gifts and
calling of God are without repentance" (Rom. 11:29).
But these Divine promises have never received anything more than a partial
fulfillment. The patriarchs themselves were but sojourners in a strange
country, so much so, they needed to purchase a burying ground it for their
dead. It is true that in the days of Joshua, Israel entered into possession of
the Promised Land, but it is to be particularly noted that they entered Canaan
under the Covenant of Law (see Deuteronomy 27:1-3, 8-10;
28:1 etc.), and hence their continued tenure of it was conditioned upon their
obedience to Jehovah. But, as is well known, they failed to walk in the Divine
statutes, and turned aside after false gods. And long did Jehovah bear with
their waywardness. Prophet after prophet was sent unto them, calling them to
forsake their sins and return unto the Lord and He would
abundantly pardon. But in vain. Ultimately the point was reached when God’s
patience became exhausted, and in judgment upon them He sent them into
captivity, from whence nothing more than a remnant has ever returned to their
own land. It was to be descendants of this remnant that the Lord Jesus came. To
the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" He was sent (Matthew 10:5-7;
15:24). But He received no better treatment at their hands
than did the prophets who were before him—"He came unto His own and His
own received Him not."—He was despised and rejected of men, and Israel
disowned their King and put Him to a shameful death. While their Messiah was
hanging upon the Cross, "All the people said, His blood be on us, and on
our children" (Matthew 27:25), and God took them at their word!
A few years later Jerusalem was besieged, captured and destroyed by the armies
of Titus; hundreds of thousands of Jews were slain, and the remainder of them
carried away into captivity. Since that time they have been a homeless nation,
and wanderers on the face of the earth. Literally has the prophecy of Hosea
been fulfilled, "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without
a king" (Hos. 3:4). And yet, in spite of all, they
have preserved their national individuality, and have never been absorbed by
the other nations.
Now, it is evident that the
nation of Israel has been preserved for a purpose, and what that purpose is,
God’s Word makes known. A marvelous future yet awaits these
descendants of Abraham. Jerusalem is now trodden down of the Gentiles, but it
is only to continue thus "Until the Times of the Gentiles be
fulfilled" (Luke 21:24). The tabernacle of David, now fallen down, is to
be restored (Acts 15:16), and the one who has been for so long the sport of the
nations shall yet become its "head" (Deut. 28:13).
The restoration of Israel
occupies a most prominent place in the Scriptures of truth and three things
should be particularly noted in connection therewith. First, the restoration of
Israel cannot take place until after the Church has been removed from the
earth. Second, the restoration of the entire nation will be a gradual one. Third, restored Israel will occupy a much more exalted and
glorious position than any it has held in the past, not excepting the reign of
Solomon. The first of these three statements is based upon Acts 15:14-17 where
we are expressly told that it is not until "after" God has taken out
of the Gentiles a people for His name that He will return and build again the
tabernacle of David. The second and third statement, above,
will now be considered at more length.
In Zechariah 12:9,10 we are
told, "And I will pour upon the House of David, and upon the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplication: and they shall look upon Me
whom they have pierce, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth
for his only son and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in
bitterness for his firstborn." Here is the starting-point of Israel’s
moral restoration, namely the repentance of Judah. Be it noted that this
prophecy contemplates the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem only,
for it is not until a later date that God deals with the Ten Tribes. With the
above Scripture should be linked 2 Corinthians 3:15,
16—"But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their
heart. Nevertheless when it (Israel) shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be
taken away." One of the first consequences of Judah’s turning unto the
Lord in repentance will be the removal of the veil now upon their heart.
The
restoration of the Ten Tribes is brought before us in Ezekiel 34—the whole
chapter should be read— "For thus saith the Lord God; behold, I, even I,
will both search My sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his
flock in the day that He is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek
out My sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been
scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them
out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to
their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and
in all the inhabited places of the country. I will teed them in a good pasture,
and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie
in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed My flock, and I will cause them to lie
down, saith the Lord God" (vv. 11-15). The Ten Tribes restored to
Palestine shall be united to the House of Judah and the two Houses become one again—"Thus
saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the Children of Israel from among the
heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side and bring
them into their own land: And I will make them a nation in
the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one King shall be king to them all:
and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two
kingdoms any more at all: Neither shall they defile themselves any more with
their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their
transgressions: but I will save them out in all their dwelling-places, wherein
they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so they shall be
My people, and I will be their God. And David My Servant shall be King over
them; and they all shall have one Shepherd: they shall also walk in My
judgments, and observe My statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the
land which I have given unto Jacob My Secant, wherein your father have dwelt;
and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and My Secant David shall be
their Prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them: it
shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and will
multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My
tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be
My people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do
sanctity Israel, when My sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for
evermore" (Ezek. 37:21-28).
With the restored and
re-united twelve tribes God will make a new covenant—"Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house
of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I
made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them
out of the land of Egypt; which My covenant they brake, although I was a
husband unto them, saith the Lord: but this shall be the covenant that I will
make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I will put My
law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts;
and will be their God, and they stroll be My people. And they shall teach no
more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord:
for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them,
saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their
sin no more" (Jer. 31:3l-34; cf. 32:37-40’s; Isaiah 59:20, 21).
Early in the Millennium
Jerusalem will be rebuilt: "Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will bring
again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwelling-places;
and the city shall be builded upon her own little hill, and the palace shall
remain after the manner thereof (Jer. 30:18, cf. 31:38-40). Furthermore, the
Temple itself will be re-built, built under the immediate
supervision of the Lord Himself—"Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying,
Behold the mart whose name is The BRANCH; and He shall grow up out of His
place, and He shall build the Temple of the Lord: Even He shall build the
Temple of the Lord: and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon
His throne; and He shall be a priest upon His throne: and
the counsel of peace shall be between them both and they that are far off shall
come and build in the Temple of the Lord, and ye shall know that the Lord of
Hosts hath sent Me unto you." (Zech. 6:12-15). This Temple, which is fully
described in Ezekiel 40 and 41, will be an imposing structure of vast
dimensions, upwards of a mile in extent. The Shekinah Glory shall enter it and
from it radiate the whole earth—"And behold the Glory
of God of Israel (i. e., the Shekinah Glory, see 11:23), came from the way of
the east: and His voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined
with His glory" (Ezek. 43:2). The Old Testament ritual (with a few minor
modifications) will be employed in this re-built Temple—see Ezekiel 46 etc.—and
as of old the sacrifices and feasts were anticipative, so those offered up and celebrated in the Millennium will be commemorative.
During the Millennium the land
of Palestine will be apportioned equally among the Twelve Tribes—see Ezekiel 47
and 48—and upon thrones shall sit the twelve apostles judging the twelve tribes
of Israel—"And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto
you, That ye which have followed Me; in The Regeneration (i. e., the
Millennium) when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also
shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel"
(Matthew 19:28). Apparently, it was to this Isaiah referred when he
wrote—"Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule
in judgment" (Isa. 32:1).
Many are the passages which
describe Israel’s millennial glory and blessedness. The last six chapters of
Isaiah are occupied more or less with this theme, and from them we quote a few
portions. After speaking of the Redeemer’s return to Zion (Isa. 59:20,21), the
prophet cries—"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee" (Isa. 60:1). The prophet
continues—"And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the
brightness of try rising. Surely the isles shall wait for Me, and the ships of
Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with
them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and the Holy One of Israel, because He
hath glorified thee. And the sons of strangers shall build up try walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in My
wrath I smote thee, but in My favor have I had mercy on thee. Therefore thy
gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men
may bring unto thee the wealth of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be
brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish: yea,
those nations shall be utterly wasted. The sons also of
them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that
despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they
shall call thee, The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I
will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Thy sun shall
no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself:
for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning
shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the
land for ever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be
glorified" (Isa. 60:3, 9-12, 14, 15, 20, 21). The Lord shall "appoint
unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of
joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of
heaviness; that they might be called Trees of Righteousness, The planting of
the Lord, that He might be glorified. And they shall build the old wastes, they
shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities,
the desolations of many generations. And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,
and the sons of the alien shall be your ploughmen and your vinedressers.
But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers
of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory, shall
ye boast yourselves" (61:3-6). And again; "And the Gentiles shall see
thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new
name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of
glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the
hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land
any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah (My delight is
in her), and thy land Beulah (Married): for the Lord delighteth in thee, and
thy land shall be married" (62:2-4). Not only will Israel enjoy glorious
blessings themselves, but, in the Millennium, they shall be a blessing
to "all families of the earth" (Gen. 12:3). Then will be fulfilled
that word, "He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel
shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit" (Isa.
27:6). And further we are told, "And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the
midst of man), people as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the
grass"(Micah 5:7).
We turn now to consider,
5.
The Millennium in relation to the World.
The
Millennium will be the time, when, instead of Satan being the world’s
"Prince," the Christ of God shall be its King. The form of His
government will be theocratic not democratic—"And the Lord shall be King
over all the earth" (Zech. 14:9). The scope or range of His government
will be world-wide. All nations will be subject to His rule, and the uttermost
parts of the earth shall be possessed by Him. "He shall have
dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They
that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before Him; and His enemies shall lick
the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring present: the kings
of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him:
all nations shall serve Him" (Ps. 72:8-11). This is what is in view in
Revelation 11:15—"And the seventh angel sounded; and
there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are
become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever
and ever."
Perhaps at this point it would
be well if we endeavored to meet a difficulty which many
inquirers experience in connection with the Millennium. It may be stated thus.
If the saints are all caught up to meet the Lord at His descent into the air,
and the wicked are all destroyed during the Tribulation period, who will be
left to inhabit the earth during the Kingdom age? The answer is simple. It is a
mistake to suppose that all who are left behind at the Rapture will be
subsequently destroyed by God’s judgments. It is true that
"the slain of the Lord will be many," yet the earth will not be
entirely depopulated. This is evident from Matthew 25:31. It is also true that
"all" who now believe not the truth will "perish" during
the Day of God’s vengeance—2 Thessalonians 2, yet many of the children of these
unbelievers will be spared. Not all of those who will be gathered together for
the battle of that great day of God Almighty will be slain,
as is clear from Isaiah 66:19, where we read of "those that escape."
The slaughter at Armageddon will be inconceivably dreadful, for from that
battlefield will flow a river of blood two hundred miles in length and several
feet in depth, yet we know from Zechariah 14:16 that a "remnant" will
be spared—"And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all
the nations which came against Jerusalem, shall even go up
from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts." Finally; there
will be a Jewish remnant miraculously preserved by God (Rev. 12) and these
together with their resurrected brethren who were slain by the Antichrist (Rev.
20:4) will form the nucleus from which will spring the Millennial Israel.
The seat of Christ’s
government will be Jerusalem, the royal city, "And many people shall go
and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the House of
the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk His paths,
for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word the Lord from Jerusalem" (Isa. 2:3).
The character of Messiah’s
government is brought before us in Isaiah 11:3-5, "And He shall not judge
after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears: but
with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and He shall smite the earth with
the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked.
And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle
of His reins." During the Kingdom age—in contradistinction to the present
dispensation of Grace wherein God endures with much long-suffering the vessels
of wrath fitted to destruction—wickedness shall be promptly
dealt with and evil doers will meet with swift judgment: "Whoso privily
slandereth his neighbor, him will I cut off: him that hath a high look and a
proud heart will not I suffer. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the
land, that they may dwell with Me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall
serve Me. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within My house: he that
telleth lies shall not tarry in My sight. I will early
destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked-doers from
the city of the Lord" (Ps. 101:5-8).
We turn now to some of the
results of Christ’s government. During the Millennium our Lord will rule as
"The Prince of Peace." For the first time since the flood, the earth will be completely delivered from the horrors of war.
Then it will be seen that "He maketh wars to cease unto the ends of the
earth" (Ps. 46:9). The. Kingdom age will be a time of universal peace
"And they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into
pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall
they learn war any more" (Isa. 2:4).
During the Millennium there
shall also be universal blessing. An exceedingly sublime picture of the
conditions that will then obtain is to be found in Isaiah 35:5-10, "Then
the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be
unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and
streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the
thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay,
shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And an highway shall be there, and a way,
and it shall be called the way of holiness: the unclean shall not pass over it;
but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools,
shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go
up thereon, it shall not be found there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall
return, and come to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads: they
shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."
At the
beginning of the Millennium there shall be a universal worship of
Christ—"And it shall come to pass that everyone that is left of all the
nations which came against Jerusalem, shall even go up from year to year to
worship the King, the Lord of hosts" (Zech. 14:16).
What a
glorious time the Millennium will be for our poor sin-cursed earth! Universal
righteousness, universal peace, universal blessing, and universal worship! Surely
we have reason to pray "Thy kingdom come." And now,
6.
The Millennium in relation to Creation.
The blessings which will be
brought to the world upon the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom will not
be confined to the human family but will be extended to all creation. As we
have shown in earlier chapters, the Curse which was pronounced by God upon the
ground in the day of Adam’s fall, and which resulted in a creation that has groaned and travailed ever since, is yet to be
revoked. Creation is not to remain in bondage for ever. God has set a hope
before it, a hope, which like ours, centers in the personal return of Christ.
"For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of
the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will,
but by reason of Him who subjected it in hope; that the creation
itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty
of the glory of the children of God" (Rom. 8:19-21, R.V.). A passage
closely connected with the one just quoted is found in the ninety-sixth
Psalm—"Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea
roar, and the fullness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is
therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice. Before
the Lord: for He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth: He shall judge the
world with righteousness, and the people with His truth" (vv. 11-13).
These verses picture the joy of all Nature consequent upon the advent of its
Creator to the earth.
One
striking effect of Creation’s deliverance from its present bondage is described
in Isaiah 30:26—"Moreover the light of the moon shall be (in the
Millennium) as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be
sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the
breach of His people, and healeth the stroke of their wound." An
illustration of the Curse being removed from the "ground" is found in Isaiah 35:1. When the Times of Refreshing shall come
from the presence of the Lord then shall "the desert rejoice and blossom
as the rose." This is further amplified in Isaiah 41:17-20—"When the
poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for
thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I
will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst
of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land
springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree,
and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and
the pine, and the box tree together: That they may see, and know, and consider,
and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy
One of Israel hath created it."
Not the least of the
beneficent changes introduced during the Millennium will be the restoration of
the animal kingdom to its Edenic state. The present ferocity of the wild beast
is abnormal and due to the fall of man. It is very dear from Genesis 2 that, originally, man had full dominion over all the animal
kingdom, but this was forfeited when he rebelled against his Maker. In the
kingdom age—the Times of the Restitution of all things spoken of by the
prophets—the fierce nature of the beasts will be subdued, for in that day,
"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down
with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their
young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw as the ox. And
the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall
put his hand on the cockatrice, den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My
holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the
waters cover the sea" (Isa. 11:6-9).
By comparing Scripture with
Scripture it would appear that, during the Millennium, there will be no
earthquakes, no tornadoes, no storms at sea, but all Nature will be at rest and
share in the general blessing which the personal, presence of
Christ shall bring. And yet, there will be droughts and plagues upon the
rebellious and disobedient (see Zechariah 14:18,19), which leads us to
consider,
7.
The Millennium in relation to Sin.
In spite
of the fact that Satan will have been removed from the earth, and that Christ
reigns in person over it, yet conditions here will not be perfect even in the
Millennium. Unregenerate human nature will remain unchanged. Sin will still be
present, though much of its outward manifestation will be restrained.
Discontent and wickedness will not be eradicated from the hearts of men, but
will be kept beneath the surface by means of the Iron Rod.
Multitudes will yield to Christ nothing but a "feigned obedience (Ps.
18:44, margin). This "feigned obedience" will be, the product of
power not grace; it will be the fruit of fear not love. In Psalm 72, which
gives a graphic picture of millennial conditions, we read, "They that
dwell in the wilderness shall bow before Him; and His enemies shall lick the
dust" (vs. 9). Again, we are told in Psalm 110:2 that
the Lord shall rule in the midst of "enemies." In Psalm 149, wherein
the children of Zion are bidden to "be joyful in their King," we are
told that His saints shall "execute vengeance upon the heathen, and
punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles
with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honor
have all His saints. Praise ye the Lord" (vv. 7-9). In
Micah 5, where we have another description of the judgments which the remnant
of Jacob will execute upon the Gentiles, we are told, "And the remnant of
Jacob shall be in the midst of many people, as a lion among the beasts of the
forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both
treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine
enemies shall be cut off" (vv. 8-10). These verses do not conflict with
those Scriptures which speak of great blessings, spiritual as well as temporal,
coming upon the Gentiles during the Millennium, but warn us that the Kingdom
age is not the Perfect State, and that while most if not all will worship
outwardly, yet at heart many are still the enemies of the
Lord.
At the close of the Millennium
Satan will be temporarily released from his prison in order to test humanity:
"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his
prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together
to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went upon the
breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the
beloved city" (Rev. 20:7-9). Thus will be fully and fiscally demonstrated
the incurable evil of the human heart. Even a thousand years of millennial
blessedness, with Satan away from the earth, will not
effect any change in man. Let Satan be loosed and allowed to go forth once more
and deceive the nations, and it shall be seen that the carnal mind is still
enmity against God, and prefers a Murderer to the Lord Jesus. Nothing avails
short of a new creation. Miracles, a beneficent environment, temporal
blessings—nothing without, can alter fallen and depraved human nature.
"Except a man be born of water (the Word) and of the
Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5).
The final revolt of man under
the leadership of the Devil will meet with swift judgment—"And fire came
down front God out of heaven and devoured them" (Rev. 20:9). What follows
is told us in few words. Satan himself is cast into the Lake of
Fire where the Beast and the False Prophet are, and all of the unsaved dead
from Cain onwards will be raised from their graves, to stand before the great
white Throne and be judged according to their works. The purpose of this
judgment is to determine their respective sentences, for there will be degrees
of punishment among the lost, as there will be degrees of glory among the
redeemed. "And whosoever was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the fire." (Rev. 20:15). Oh, my reader, is your
name written in the book of life? If it is not, there is nothing before you but
a hopeless and endless eternity of suffering, of suffering so fearful that no
human pen or tongue can adequately depict it.
"And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the Lake of
Fire." Unsaved reader, what an awful prospect is thine! The day on
reckoning fast hastens on God is yet going to call you to account and take full
satisfaction to His justice. Long have you defied Him, but soon He will put
forth His power and deal with you in judgment. What He has threatened that will
He most surely perform. The lake of Fire! Eternal
suffering! Tormented day and night for ever and ever! Such a portion will be
unendurable, and yet it will have to be endured by every Christ-rejector, and
endured for ever and ever. Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be
strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken it, and
will do it" (Ezek. 22:14).
Following the great white
Throne judgment and the casting of the lost into the Lake of Fire, Christ will
deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, "when He shall have put
down all rule, and all authority, and power. For He must reign, till He hath
put all enemies under His feet. And when all things shall be subdued unto Him,
then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that
put all things under Him, that God may be all in all" (1 Cor. 15:24,25,28;
and see further Revelation 21:1-5).